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peaceoutofthepieces · 4 years

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Sink Or Swim

tag list: @cleocc @feeling-kinda-so-so @hopelessromanticvirgo @dreamy-slytherin @adora8 @lockerfivethreefive @painfully-oblivious @poeticinemaa @jjustonemorething @saraben00 @wedarkacademia @coolguyssyndrome @hischbabe @suckerforsobbe @tayspots @starmansander @theah0lt @zoenneforever @invisibleme @chibibanane

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Tuesday, 18:47

Song: EDEN - how to sleep

Lucas seizes up as the front door opens, gathering himself up and pushing to his feet. If he does it naturally, he can probably slip to his room without his father protesting too much. He can probably excuse himself with homework. He won’t have to interact, not properly.

His plan would work perfectly, in normal circumstances. Normal circumstances just usually don’t involve running into a moving skeleton three steps into the hallway.

He’s mildly embarrassed by the squeak he lets out, and by the pitch of his voice as he screeches, “What the fuck?”

His father curses under his own breath, moving the skeleton flapping in his arms out of his face, and mutters, “Language.”

“Dad,” Lucas sputters as the dummy is shoved into his hands. “What the hell is this?”

Hugo ushers him back into the sitting room, following behind with shopping bags hanging heavily from his hands. He dumps them on the coffee table and takes the skeleton out of Lucas’s arms to prop him up on the couch, watching them with a gaping, toothy grin. “Halloween decorations.”

Lucas bites back the urge to sarcastically thank him for stating the obvious and chooses to further his question. “Why?”

After the scoldings Lucas has gotten over the past few weeks, watching his father turn to him with his hands on his hips is a rather nerve-wracking thing. The smile on his face, however, turns out to be the most disconcerting. “So we can decorate.”

“We?”

“I thought it would be something nice to do together,” Hugo shrugs.

Lucas blinks at him. He feels the need to tread cautiously. He’s very worried that he’s somehow being played, in an oddly surprising way. “But...Halloween is in four days.”

“Exactly.”

“Everyone else has had their houses decorated for weeks.”

“Yeah, but we’ve only been getting moved in. We have the best excuse.”

Lucas continues to stare at him.

Hugo sighs, rubbing his hand over his brow, gesturing at the skeleton. “Do you have to be such a moody teen over everything? I bought a skeleton, buddy.”

The old nickname softens Lucas a little bit. Just a little. He looks at the skeleton once more. Flimsy, about three-quarters the height of Lucas, black smudges dotting his gray-toned bones. The right number of ribs, missing a tooth (with another cracked), eye sockets deeply sunken. Just on the realistic side of cartoonish.

Lucas asks, “What’s his name?”

His father grins proudly. “Tim.”

“Tim?”

“Same as one of my old-coworkers. Piece of work himself. One of the know-it-all types. Even worse than a moody teenager.”

Lucas can’t help it. He snorts. “Poor Tim.”

His father waves a hand at him. “Well, he’s a member of the household now. A blessedly silent member.”

Lucas raises his brows. He examines the skeleton once more, then leans forward and gently picks up its left arm. He presses the small button on the inside of its wrist.

Tim’s eyes flash red as his jaw drops open in evil, mechanical laughter.

Hugo jumps and curses under his breath again and Lucas lets out a laugh, delighted. He leans back in to grip Tim around the waist, picking him up and drawing that same arm around his shoulder, playing with the skeletal fingers. It’s unexpected. To be turning to his father with a grin, to feel the remnants of laughter settling cosily in his stomach. He likes it, and he likes the soft smile that lightens his father’s eyes, and he likes the comfort of the small space when it lacks the tension and the animosity of the previous few days, of the past week.

He asks, carefully, “What else did you get?”

His father beams. He moves to the bags on the table and begins pulling banners out of the way, followed by a packet of bats and pumpkin lights and various other witchy products. Lucas feels his pleasure grow at each new item and nods approvingly.

“Good idea?”

Lucas nods, humming. “You’ve definitely had worse.”

The man accepts the jibe with nothing more than a small shrug. “You happy enough to take an hour to do it now? I’ll start hanging these around the place and you can get Tim situated. Maybe somewhere around the door?”

“Sounds good,” Lucas agrees. He grips Tim’s arm tighter and carries him out into the hallway, making sure to press the little button once more as he passes his father. He chuckles at the swears he receives in response.

It’s almost therapeutic. Even as the desire to let Tim’s bones scatter on the street grows, there’s something simplistic and soothing about decorating the place. Something that makes it feel a little more like it’s his. A little more like a home. It helps that he loves Halloween. He loves the spookiness, the eeriness, the beauty in the horror. It’s satisfying, watching the angry little pumpkin faces emit a stunningly bright glow. There’s a sort of poetry to all of it, he supposes, to the veil around the world becoming foggy, to the masks people wear becoming visible.

There’s an artistry, too, that he appreciates more than anything. The sharpness, the otherworldliness, the darkness. The meaning under it all, of the in-between.

Beauty in the horror.

He supposes there’s a little beauty, too, in doing it together. They work together to hang the string-lights up in the hall, and the silence isn’t strained or uncomfortable. It’s companionable, filled with little huffs of laughter as one or the other gets caught, or trips, or drops the line. The usual simmering anger that sits in his chest is entirely absent, just for these few moments.

“You used to love Halloween when you were a kid,” his father says suddenly, and Lucas glances over at him. “Your mom always avoided buying stuff she thought would scare you, but you never flinched at any of it. You wanted all the weird loud things that used to make Kes bawl his eyes out. The only things you didn’t want were the spiders.”

Lucas laughs at the idea of little Kes, terrified, and Lucas enjoying scaring him as he had with his dad today. He remembers how his friend would retaliate, finding the biggest fake-spider in the place and sneaking up to set it on Lucas’s shoulder. He’d only stopped at the age of twelve, when Lucas had given him the silent treatment for a week in response. “I did notice you didn’t bring any of those back.”

“I do pay attention, sometimes. I also remember that you liked it most because of all the sweets.”

“You could have just brought back a cake,” Lucas agrees lightly, shooting him a grin.

“Yeah, but we couldn’t have shared that. You would’ve eaten it all yourself.”

Lucas laughs quietly, realising he can’t argue, that there’s plenty of proof in the past to refute anything he would say. There’s a calm that has settled over him, and he relishes in it.

For a moment.

“Hey, Luc,” his father starts slowly, and some of the tension in Lucas returns. “I know this hasn’t been easy for you. It’s a big change, and a bad age to be making it, and I don’t know how many times I can apologise for it before you’ll forgive me.”

Lucas tacks his end of the lights to the wall and listens carefully.

“I should be making it easier for you, but I think it’s pretty obvious that I just have no idea how. It used to be so easy for us, too, you know? I used to know you so well. Now I keep stuffing up.”

Lucas slowly lowers his hands to his sides and turns to face him. “Dad,” he starts, but the man shakes his head.

“I was harsh on you the other night. And the week before that. I know that. I just don’t know what else to do. You don’t let me in. I can only react to what I see. And maybe I overreacted, but I only do what I think is right. I think what worried me most, about the weed, is that it didn’t surprise me. And now, I know, it’s probably natural to all of you nowadays and it might not surprise many, but it’s more that—well it didn’t surprise me that you managed to hide it from me. It was just another nail in the coffin.”

“I don’t hide everything from you,” Lucas says quietly. “You surprise me a lot more often.”

“I know,” Hugo says, just as gentle, abandoning his task to turn to Lucas too. “I know, buddy, and I am sorry. I’m trying to do better. But I need you to try with me.”

Lucas swallows thickly, averting his gaze to his feet for a moment. There’s a war going on in his chest, the childish urge to hold onto this leverage over his father and the desperate desire to give in, to claw for some semblance of harmony. Beyond all of it, canceling out all the rest, is the whisper that whatever answer he gives won’t matter. The harmony could never last, and he’s stupid to hold onto that tiny bit of hope, a tattered little shred he hadn’t even realised he held.

But it’s this little whisper that strengthens his resolve, that makes him return his gaze to the man before him and give a tiny nod.

“Okay. I will. Promise.”

His dad squeezes his shoulder, and none of his anger returns at the contact. He leans into it, and he lets himself hope.

Hugo lets him go and moves to tack up the middle of the string-lights. “So as it’s my proposal, I feel like I should make the first move, and say if you wanted to have a few friends or something over for Halloween, that would be okay.” He pauses. “You have friends here, right?”

Lucas huffs. “Yes, I have managed to make friends here. But everyone will be going out for Halloween. They know I’m not allowed out, so they probably already have plans, or whatever.”

The realisation settles in that this may very well be true, and it’s another sting settling in his heart. He’s still too invested, much too invested, and he still hasn’t figured out what to do about it. Managing his emotions felt a lot easier when he was pretending—even with himself—that he didn’t have any.

Now every time he sees Jens without him, he aches, and when he sees Jens with Jana, he breaks, and when he sees Jens at all, he has various emotions that he really doesn’t want to think about in such close proximity to his father.

His father, who is currently frowning at him in genuine concern. “You really think so? Surely good friends would make the effort to include you.”

Lucas thinks of Jens messaging him about meeting up even while thinking he was in a different country. Of Jens dragging him to the party a few days before that. Always of Jens.

He directs his gaze back down to the ground and shrugs. “Maybe. But I wouldn’t ask that of them. I haven’t even known them that long.”

Hugo sighs and makes his way back to the kitchen, leaving Lucas to stand alone for a moment before following. They hang up half a packet of bats before the older man says, “A curfew is still kind of a punishment, right?”

Lucas whips his head up to look at him. He’s focused on the bat in his hands, unwilling to look at his son and the excitement suddenly building in him. “Yes, definitely. Better than grounding, really. More embarrassing. Will definitely get me laughed at.”

“So, say, if you wanted to go out with these friends of yours. That would be okay, as long as you’re back by midnight?”

Lucas nods quickly. Much too quickly.

Hugo’s eyes narrow. “Midnight’s too good, isn’t it?”

“No, of course not, midnight is super lame.”

“No, make it ten.”

“Ten?” Lucas tosses his hands up. His dad turns to look at him, now raising his brows in challenge. “Eleven,” Lucas counters.

The man considers him. “Ten-thirty. Final offer.”

“Midnight was your first offer!”

Brows are raised further.

Lucas blows out a breath and turns on his heel to collect more bats. “Ten-thirty.”

It takes ten more minutes of hanging decorations before Lucas chances asking.

“So, does this mean I can have my weed back?”

His father stares at him. “Buddy, I might not be able to stop you from smoking it, but I can’t just give it to you. I have some parenting skills, you know.”

“It could be bonding! We could share that too.”

“Nice try. Give me that orange tinsel. We’ll give Tim a little sparkle.”

#van der stoffels #vds #wtfock #skam nl #sink or swim #vds season fic #sos clip

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littlemisslol-fic · 4 years

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44 (Puppy love) and 20 (Breaking the rules) for Varian and Hugo? I just want dumb boys doing dumb things together,,,, UggHhHH

Hey anon!! Thanks for the ask! I merged both of these into one story, but it’s basically a full fledged oneshot by now so oops. Have some modern-day-au-varigo!!

44 (Puppy love) and 20 (Breaking the rules)

“We’re going to get into so much trouble…”

Hugo looks at him like he’s lost his mind.

“What’s wrong, goggles?” The blond laughs, “Scared?”

Varian bristles at the taunt, scowling. He shifts awkwardly- his shoes scuff the dirt in a way that only accents how stressed out he feels. The forest around them sings with birdsong, the rustle of trees in the wind, and the gentle snip-snip of Hugo’s wire cutters. The moon shines down on them, full and bright, a hole punched in the middle of the sky surrounded with starry shrapnel.

Varian’s hoodie- Hugo’s hoodie that he’d stolen, actually, not that he’d admit it- is soft and warm around him, the green fabric surrounding him like a hug. Hugo grins like an animal, and turns back to the fence in front of them. Varian watches with apprehension as Hugo snips away at it, chopping an ugly, but functional entrance.

“I’m not scared.” Varian finally mutters, shifting his weight again. The late August air is still warm, but starting to cool the closer they get to midnight. “I’m just… concerned.”

“Sure, Var,” Hugo laughs, sticking out his tongue as he snips at the last of the fence. “Keep telling yourself that.”

Varian scowls again, flushing. The woods around them are dark, but Varian isn’t concerned about that- he grew up here in the small town of Old Corona, after all, he knew these woods like the back of his hand- no, what scares him is the idea of getting caught.

“Seriously, Hugo, if we get caught my dad’s gunna-”

“Flip out?” Hugo blows a lock of blond hair out of his face as he snips at the last of the wire. “Yeah, I know. That’s why we’re not going to get caught.”

Varian grits his teeth. Hugo, content with snipping the final chunk of fence, stands back up and shoves the wire cutters in his backpack. With a rough kick- Varian cringes at the noise, blue eyes scanning the treeline frantically- Hugo’s perfectly cut square goes flying away from the fence, leaving a doorway chopped out of the wire.

“See, easy.” Hugo grins. Varian scoffs, but when the blond offers him a hand he takes it. Hugo leads him through the hole in the fence and Varian follows with a grumble; as much as he’s bitching he’s curious about what exactly his boyfriend is up to. Hugo was nothing if not spontaneous, showing up at Varian’s house at nearly eleven at night and dragging him through the woods towards one of the only dangerous places in Old Corona.

The old fairgrounds, while only recently abandoned, had been locked tight for two years. Varian can’t help but look around in awe, seeing the way that the rusting metal and cracked concrete are slowly being overtaken by nature once again. It’s dark, the kind of inky black you can’t see inside the city, the kind that makes the milky way above so vibrant and bright in comparison- like a river of stars snaking across the night sky.

Varian can’t help but stop, just looking up and into the sky. Hugo pauses, grinning and letting him stare. Varian doesn’t get out much- not with his usual obligations as the mayor’s son- and these are the kinds of things he missed while growing up… the kind of things that Hugo is nothing but glad to show him.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Varian hears Hugo ask him. He nods, dumbstruck, but when he looks at his boyfriend- Hugo isn’t looking at the sky. He’s staring Varian dead in the eye. He feels his face grow hot- he must be a shocking colour of red by now- but Hugo doesn’t make mention of it. Instead he holds out an arm, an offering that Varian gladly takes. He worms his way into Hugo’s side, delighting as a strong arm wraps around his shoulders and pulls him close.

The old fairgrounds are the kind of quiet that sinks deep in your chest. Not that they’re silent- Varian can hear the chirping of crickets and the creaky whine of metal swings as they pass a swing ride- a large tower with a round disk at the top, nearly a hundred swings hanging from rusty chains. When the wind blows they swing along in soft, meandering arcs. Out here, nearly in the country, the quiet is something that seems sacred. The kind of silence reserved for graveyards and churches, shrines and memorials. It feels immoral to break it, so they don’t.

Hugo leads Varian up to a large roller coaster, the wooden frame still nearly perfect. Varian looks at it with apprehension, digging the heels of his hightops into the cracked concrete as Hugo begins to tug him forward.

“We’re not going up there.” Varian declares, “I don’t have a deathwish, and neither did you last time I checked.”

“Relax goggles.” Hugo grins, “I was up there earlier this afternoon, checked it myself. It’s sturdy. We gotta hurry though, or we’re going to miss it!”

Hugo spins on his heel and hops the metal turnstile, not looking back. Varian scowls, following despite himself. Hugo knows him too well- knows that Varian would follow him to the ends of the earth if Hugo asked it of him. They draw close to the base of the coaster, shuffling up on top of a series of boxes left behind by previous explorers- or maybe Hugo himself that afternoon, apparently. Varian can’t help but scowl… what did his boyfriend even get up to while Varian wasn’t keeping track of him? Risking life and limb to climb unstable ruins, apparently.

Hugo begins to scale the main hill of the coaster, the path easy as on the left side is a set of metal stairs for maintenance. Varian follows, his hand firmly planted on the railing as they climb higher.

“Are you just leading me up there to murder me?” Varian calls, shuddering as the wind picks up a little as they reach about halfway up. The hill’s nearly five stories high, easily the tallest attraction in the abandoned park. Varian can almost see the tops of the trees from here.

“Why would I take you all the way up here?” Hugo asks, turning around and smirking at him. “If I wanted you dead I would have killed you on ground level.”

“I… that’s not assuring!” Varian gripes, “If anything that makes this worse!”

Hugo, the bastard, laughs.

“You don’t like bullshit.” Hugo says, and Varian can’t help but melt. Hugo turns around and keeps climbing, his boots making little thunk-thunks on the aging metal. Varian scrambles up after him, breathing in the wind as they finally reach the top. Hugo had been telling the truth, it seems, as there’s already a small setup at the very peak of the arch.

Two small camp chairs, a blue cooler in between, all precariously balanced on a small flat space at the very top. Varian assumes it was once for maintenance, like the stairs; a cluster of blankets hanging from two long flagpoles attached to the safety rails make a little roof, and when Hugo hits a little battery back a series of string lights flick on in a rainbow glow. Hugo crawls down into the little fort, looking back and smiling. Not his usual smirk, but an honest-to-god smile.

Varian can’t help but fall a little more in love.

He crawls in after Hugo, laughing as they get tangled up for a second. For a second they become a flailing cluster of arms and legs, giggling like children as they trip over each other. Varian gets an elbow to the gut and grunts- Hugo’s arms are suddenly wrapping around his waist.

“Sorry, sorry,” The blond snickers, “Didn’t account for your stupid legs-”

“What, you just want me to leave them behind next time?” Varian groans, resting up against Hugo’s side with a sigh. Hugo’s warm and solid as Varian leans into him- settles under Hugo’s arm like he belongs there, sinks into the heat of the other’s body, curls into the embrace like he was made for it.

Hugo’s chin settles on his head, and Varian smiles softly to himself.

With Hugo’s back propped up against the pole, they both face out over the forest. In the distance, Old Corona glows with street lamps and houses and cars. Above them, the stars shine just as brightly, if not moreso. Varian smells pine and something distinctly Hugo- breathes it in and lets it settle deep in his chest like a balm.

Hugo’s arms tighten around his waist, the two of them looking out towards the distant light of home. Varian feels at peace, the gentle waves of tranquil silence and soft lights from their little makeshift tent soothing the ails of day.

And then, just as Varian’s getting used to the relaxation-

Pop-pop, pop pop pop-pop-pop-

Fireworks scatter across the sky in a rainbow of light and colour, vivid oranges and blues and purples glowing across the inky sky like a scattering of magic. Varian’s eyes go wide, watching with a childlike glee as they fizzle and spark. Hugo’s hold on him gets a little closer as Varian shifts, as if the blond’s scared he’s going to pull away-

“Did you know about this?” Varian asks him, turning in his arms. He can see the reflection of colour in the lenses of Hugo’s glasses- and in the warm look in those green eyes.

“Sure I did.” Hugo says, “I know a guy who knew a guy.”

Varian snorts, refusing to look away. Hugo’s trying to play this off- of course he is- but Varian knows that he’d probably been planning this for a while. He feels his heart start to thump at the thought, that Hugo had set all this up, had thought of doing all of this for Varian-

He grabs Hugo by the strings of his hoodie and pulls him into a kiss. Hugo smiles into it, leaning into it and pulling Varian close. They kiss for what feels like hours and seconds, Varian can’t tell, before they break. They both breathe a little heavily, gasping for air a mere few inches from another kiss.

“I love you, goggles.” Hugo whispers, like a prayer.

“I love you too,” Varian murmurs, lost to the moment.

When they meet again, Varian can’t help but smile.

#varigo #varian #tts #asks #fic #these are fun!!!#sorry it took a bit anon #love you!! hope you see this!!

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glacecakes · 4 years

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Revenge is Sweet but You're Sweeter

Andrew kidnaps Hugo to get back at Varian.

Warning for blood, torture, general violence. Nothing too graphic. GOD THIS TOOK FUCKING FOREVER TO GET OUT. Basically my cat had a cancer scare and my depression is at an all time high so I was unable to get anything done. I wasn't happy with this fic for most of it until I sat my ass down and said I Will Finish This If It Kills Me. I'm still not THRILLED with this piece but it's finished and fuck it it's done i'm DONE I HAVE DEADLINES.

Hugo’s vision blurred into existence after a few blinks. As far as he could tell, he was trapped in some old barn, arms trapped behind his back. He flexed, tugging at the restraints on his hands. The ropes burned his wrists, but they didn’t budge. His legs scrambled in an attempt to stand, but it didn’t work, and he was stuck still on the floor. His eyes scanned the vicinity, trying to gauge his surroundings.

“What the…” he mumbled. His eyes blinked asynchronously as he struggled to focus.

How the heck did this even happen?

The last thing Hugo remembered was that he was talking to Nuru and Yong, sharing some hot cocoa while Varian got some more firewood. They were talking about Varian’s unusually anxious behavior as of late. He was already an anxious guy, but ever since he got a letter from home, he’d been a wreck. He started looking over his shoulder constantly and even sleeping with a weapon by his side. And anytime any of the three asked, Varian would abruptly change the subject.

“What if we all asked him about it? Like, at once?” Yong asked.

Hugo bit his lip. If he were in Varian’s position, he wouldn’t want to spill. He doesn’t want his position compromised, and Varian likely didn’t want the same done to him.

That’s what he told himself, anyway. He definitely did not have a crush on Varian and wanted to keep Varian as close as possible for as long as possible.

He moved to object, but Nuru and raised her mug in agreement.

“When he gets back, we’ll confront him. Something’s bothering him, and we’re his friends. We only want to help.”

Help, or bother? To Hugo it felt like they were too nosy for their own good, and were excusing it as concern. But hey what did he know. Not like he had many friends before them. He’d thrown back the cocoa in quiet acceptance, said goodnight to the others… and now…

Moonlight filtered in through the barn’s broken windows and decaying roof, seeping into every crack and filling the room with shadows.

A shadow from which a man stepped out.

His hair was slightly greasy, yet kept in an immaculate bun. A long, well-groomed beard did little to hide the feral grin on his face. He sauntered across creaking floors, circling around the teen like a shark. He carried a sword which left imprints on the floorboards,

Hugo puffed his chest up in defense. He wasn’t going to be intimidated by this… kidnapper? Assailant? Whatever he was he looked like a jerk.

“Finally you’re all awake. I was worried I’d used too much.”

“Too much?”

“Sleeping powder. Just sprinkled it into your water supply when you weren’t looking. Child’s play, really.” The man laughed, resuming his pacing.

Hugo cursed internally. He let his guard down and paid the price. Being with the trio of hooligans he called friends made him soft, as Donella would’ve said. How long had this man been following them? How long had he waited to strike, judging them and gauging every opportunity, deciding that tonight was perfect to attack mere teens? He just hoped the other three were safe.

Wait, no. Don’t think that. Remember Hugo, you don’t care about them. They’re a means to an end.

As Hugo’s eyes adjusted to the dim barn, he began to notice more silhouettes creeping in the dark. They slowly joined their comrade, as if summoned. They were of varying shapes and sizes, age and creed. They were dressed too poorly to be bounty hunters, looking more like weary travellers. Further back, near a large hole in the barn roof, was a hot air balloon. It was likely how the teen was transported here. A floorboard splintered under the largest man’s weight.

“Who are you?” Hugo barked. “What do you want with me?”

“You mean your friend never mentioned us?” A short woman asked, stepping up to him and patting his head in mock sympathy. “You poor sheep, travelling with a wolf.”

He recoiled at her touch, nose scrunching up and eyes screwing shut. Her hot breath tickled the strands of hair on his neck.

“We are the separatists of Saporia. I’m the leader, Andrew.” The man bowed. “I hope you don’t mind that we… borrowed you for the evening?”

Ah, Saporia. Something about rebels against Corona, right? Varian had mentioned them in passing once. His face had screwed into pure disgust at seeing a crest painted on a wall in Bayagnor.

“Pricks,” He’d muttered, throwing a goo bomb to destroy the paint.

Likely this guy had beef with Donella, which meant it was up to Hugo to get himself out of here safely. He wondered what she did to earn this anger.

“Yea sure, love getting kidnapped by washed up Coronans,” Hugo snapped, bracing for the inevitable smack that followed. The other kidnappers laughed at his pain. He’d seen this scenario many times under Donella. Sometimes he was the victim, sometimes he was the instigator. But it always worked the same. Those who tried to play the hero, those who tried to resist, they always got the worst of the treatment.

Sure enough, Andrew snapped his fingers, and his cronies descended.

“Hope you don’t mind, we have to… prepare you for our guest of honor.”

How long did he sit there, taking hit after hit? They were never intense, rather a series of mildly painful blows that built up over time. Andrew refused to let his compatriots hurt him too much.

“He needs to stay alive and intact.” He said. “Save the broken bones for our dear old friend.”

That didn’t stop any of it from hurting. It didn’t stop the blood that trickled down his nose from a particularly nasty punch, nor the stinging of Andrew’s knife across his back. One eye was beginning to swell shut, and his ribs, while not broken, still ached from repetitive kicks. Individually, it was nothing Hugo couldn’t handle. But combined, the wounds were starting to wear him down.

He never let it show though. If his tormentors got wind of his breaking will, they’d mock him to no end. He had to keep his chin up and show he was better than them. That’s what Don taught him, anyway. Either play up the child act and gain their pity, or stay determined. But above all, never give away information.

He never played hero normally. But then again, he was usually the youngest, the favorite. Donella would let heads roll if her cronies let Hugo suffer when they could take the hit. It was her way of showing she cared, in a twisted way.

In this scenario, he had to be the hero. There would be no sympathy shown, there hadn’t been so far. No, he’d have to figure this out on his own. Yong and Nuru could come save him, sure, but he didn’t want them to risk it. Not that he cared about them or anything! It was just… they were likely to fail. Right?

Oh who was he kidding. Hugo didn’t want to get the others involved.

Responsiblity sucked. How does Varian do it?

BANG!

“ANDREW!”

Speak of the devil.

The door to the barn was blasted open, revealing Varian filled with a fury the likes of which the other had never seen. His eyes were wild, pupils like pin pricks. He rapidly scanned the area, softening only slightly when he saw Hugo was alive, only to reignite to even further anger when he saw Hugo’s current state. His chest rose and fell with rapid breaths, indicating he ran here.

Andrew spread his arms wide, greeting Varian like he was visiting for dinner, as opposed to holding his friend hostage. “You made it! I was worried you didn’t get my message.”

Varian held up a piece of paper. The words were impossible to make out from afar, but the implications sent shivers down the spine. “I got your note.” He growled, crumpling the paper in one hand and tossing it to the floor. “Now what do you want?” His voice was venom.

It sounded a lot like Donella, in Hugo’s opinion.

Andrew’s companions slinked ever closer, forming a semi circle behind the prisoner, while Andrew saunted up close to Varian.

To say Hugo was shocked was an understatement. He’d never seen raw fury like that from the normally awkward and intelligent alchemist. And apparently he knew this guy, which meant it was not about getting revenge on Donella.

What had Varian done to get himself an enemy like this?

“Oh come on, I can’t say hi to an old friend?”

“We are not friends. ”

“We were, at some point.” Andrew hummed, wrapping an arm around Varian. “Such a shame. And I think you know what I want.” The younger was as tense as a stone. He sent a death glare up at the man and didn’t answer the question.

He patted Varian’s cheek condescendingly. It was a facsimile of the constant, warm touches of home. Varian wanted to throw up.

Varian grit his teeth, shoving Andrew off and backing up towards his friends. A hand slipped into his pocket, preparing to throw down a bomb, but one of the goons surged forward. His broad muscles pinned Varian to the floor, cheek falling with a loud smack. The bomb rolled across the floor.

He flailed his feet, akin to a rabid animal, but it was no use. The man drug Varian to the wall where previously unnoticed shackles glinted in the moonlight. Each cuff was wrapped around Varian’s wrists. He pulled, able to get about a meter away from the wall, but that was as far as it let him.

"Oh come on," Andrew said, circling around Varian like a snake ready to swallow its prey. "You act like you’re all mature now, but I’ve seen the real you. Deep down, you're still the same naive, evil brat I met in prison."

Prison? When did Varian go to prison?

Varian's body shook with fury. "I am nothing like you." He growled.

"Are you sure about that? Didn't you do the same thing I did?" He fiddled with a knife, getting into Varian's personal space and dragging the weapon down Varian's cheek. "We both wanted something, so we kidnapped the one our target holds dear. And we both threatened to kill them if they didn't cooperate."

Hugo felt his insides turn to ice.

“I want,” Andrew whispered, leaning up to Varian’s face, hot breath ghosting across his cheeks. “For you to suffer.”

Varian met his friend’s gaze, and his body shook with barely hidden disgust. He’d let Andrew hurt the ones he loved once before, he’ll be damned if he lets it happen again. From the looks of it though, he was too late. Guilt and anger bubbled in his stomach like a volcano.

“Don’t worry, goggles,” Hugo said, keeping his voice steady. “I’ve had way worse. Trust me, it’s like kitten scratches.”

Varian’s eyes twinkled with unshed tears, yet he smiled, bunny teeth peeking out from between his lips. “You look like shit.” A faint blush spread across his cheeks. Even now, covered in bruises and blood, Hugo still managed to take Varian’s breath away.

If we get out of this, he vowed to himself, I’m going to tell him how I feel.

For a brief moment, he glanced down at his hands, and then back up at Hugo. The older teen followed with his eyes and allowed a small smile.

A bobby pin.

He put his hands behind his back, to prevent anyone from seeing.

Distract him, Varian mouthed.

How? Hugo hissed back.

Varian shrugged. The older alchemist rolled his eyes.

“Hey Andy, was it?” Hugo raised his head to stare Andrew down. He let a familiar facade slide into place. “Ya mind explaining why I’m here?”

Varian’s eyes widened, and he banged his head against the wall in frustration. Not like that! He thought.

“Like I get that he’s here to suffer or whatever,” He raised his eyebrows to imitate quotation marks. “But uh. I don’t get why you need me. Maybe I’m just not smart enough to understand your plan.”

It was a cheap shot, appealing to the ego, but it did the trick. Andrew seemed like the type to gloat and monologue, and sure enough, he slunk across the room towards Hugo, a pep in his step.

“See, it’s quite simple, really. Varian here… well. He hurt us a while back.” Varian rolled his eyes, but made no comment. With the attention off of him, he picked at the lock. The soft clinks of the metal were easily ignored.

“For a while, I thought that if I ever saw him again, I’d make good on my promise, and splatter his body on the ruins of Corona.”

“Yea good luck with that last bit.” Hugo rolled his eyes. “So what, I was just bait?”

“Oh no,” Andrew’s grin was near maniacal. “We figured death was too light of a punishment. No. If there’s one thing the kid never shut up about, it’s family. Oh, I love my dad, ooh I can’t wait until we find a way to free him, ooh those darn royals tore my family apart blah blah blah. So what better torture…”

He slashed Hugo’s cheek with the knife. Blood oozed out the cut as Hugo hissed in pain. From the corner of his eye he saw Varian flinch, arms shaking as he tried to pick the locks faster.

“...Than to force him to watch us kill the ones he loves most?”

The word love and Hugo were not commonly used together, let alone when talking about Varian. And yet… Hugo’s stomach fluttered at the idea. He was a loved one? It seemed almost impossible, but he could see the frantic energy Varian exuded as he tried to work as quietly and discreetly as possible.

No, he probably just means friend… right?

What if he doesn’t, a traitorous voice whispered. What if it’s exactly what you think it means?

He couldn’t help it. “Varian?” He asked, voice soft.

The younger alchemist gave him a sheepish smile, hiding his hands behind his back.

A mental war was raging in Varian’s head. Every fiber of his being screamed to save Hugo, go to him, protect him, but he couldn’t do that while cuffed. The only way to save Hugo was to keep the attention off himself and solely on Hugo. He couldn’t let Andrew see what he was doing.

“Aw, how sweet,” Andrew crooned. He leveled the sword and Hugo’s chin, redirecting his gaze. His soft expression morphed into a scowl of defiance.

With the sword still at his jaw, Andrew shoved his fist into Hugo’s stomach. The wind was knocked out of him, but Hugo kept his head steady. Any sudden movements could mean he bled out.

Varian let out a whine.

He had to focus.

After a few more seconds, the first cuff was open.

“Trying to play it cool, huh?” Andrew stood to his full height, dropping the sword. He loomed over Hugo and grit his teeth. The man was no longer in a playing mood. He wanted Varian to suffer, and by god the kid was gonna suffer sooner rather than later.

He raised his boot, and slammed the toe into Hugo’s face with a crunch . His glasses cracked on impact. His head hit the wooden beam with enough force to rattle his skull.

Andrew gripped his neck and squeezed. The air escaped Hugo in a rush and he moaned in protest.

Varian couldn’t suppress the scream that pushed its way out. The still intact chain rattled with his tugs.

“Andrew please,” His voice shook on the second word. “Let him go. It’s me you hate.”

“Did you not listen? You’re a smart kid, Varian. I’m going to kill him, and then I’m going to kill everyone else you love. ” His fingers tightened around Hugo’s neck, and he turned back to the older teen.

Hugo’s vision was darkening. “Varian,” He wheezed.

The second cuff snapped off.

And Varian lunged.

With an inhuman cry, he toppled Andrew, sending the man sprawling onto the floor. They rolled onto the floor until Varian was on top. Quick as a flash, he grabbed the discard sword and put it to Andrew’s neck.

Hugo gasped for breath, coughing as sweet air filled his lungs. He blinked the dark spots out of his eyes.

The other Saporians ran to help their leader, but faltered at the sword.

“Stay back!” Varian screamed. He pushed it deeper into Andrew’s neck, nearly drawing blood. “Release him!” He ordered. “Let Hugo go or I kill him right here, right now!”

“You wouldn’t,” Andrew snarled. Varian’s glare pierced his very soul, and the furious teen smacked him across the face.

Damn that felt good.

The last time Varian had been this angry… god, it might’ve been when he was 14. When he saw how happy Rapunzel was with her family, while his own suffered, while he withered away and turned to ash.

The Saporians were quick to obey, one of the taller men untying Hugo. He slid down the pole, grabbing at his throat with his now free hands. His wrists were stained red with ropeburn.

Slowly, he stood to his feet on shaky legs, leaning against the pillar for support.

Satisfied, Varian turned back to Andrew, who was smiling.

“What are you so happy about?” the alchemist hissed.

Andrew laughed. “You really haven’t changed a bit.”

Varian’s eyes narrowed. He slammed the hilt of the sword into Andrew’s head, and the man fell unconscious. He stood off of him.

The other separatists did nothing. They knew what he was capable of. Without any leverage, without their leader, it was a losing battle. Especially now that Hugo was free.

Pointing the sword at the Saporians, he said, “Next time, I won’t let you guys go alive.” He slammed it down into the floorboards with a huff.

“Now get out of my sight.”

The walk back to the campsite was quiet for the most part.

Hugo was leaning on Varian heavily, one arm wrapped around Varian’s neck and the other clutching at his waist. Everytime he staggered or tripped, Varian’s grip tightened ever so slightly.

His eyes were stone cold, but never directed at Hugo. If he saw Hugo looking, Varian’s eyes softened, glittering under the stars. It was nearing daybreak. The smoke from their campsite was now visible.

The tents came into view, and Hugo’s entire form sagged in relief. He was so ready to drop into bed and not wake up for 12 hours, but he needed medical care.

Nuru and Yong had long gone to bed, blissfully unaware of what had transpired. The next hour was quiet as well, Varian silently tending to the most serious ones. It was a tender moment, their own little world. A bubble that would be broken by speaking. So for now, Hugo was silent. He let Varian dab at the blood under his nose, let him remove his glasses for safekeeping, let his breath trail over Hugo’s cheeks as they both blushed.

At last, the worst was over.

“So…” Hugo finally said. “That was… something.”

Varian snorted. “Understatement.”

“We gonna talk about what just happened? Any of it?”

“Which parts do you want to talk about?”

Hugo hummed. “I mean I’d like to know what the fuck that guy was…” Varian turned green. “But not right now.”

Varian breathed a sigh of relief. “Then, what?”

Hugo bit his lip, preparing for the worst. “You love me…?”

“Oh…” Varian’s face lit up bright red. His eyes averted, looking anywhere but Hugo. “I-I mean… maybe not love… not yet at least. Not that I hate you! No, I…” He winced. “I… like you. A lot.” He moaned. “That was the worst confession ever please stab me now.”

Hugo laughed. He couldn’t help it. After everything that had happened today, from kidnapping to torture to this , it was so overwhelming and horrible and also so perfect.

“How about, instead of that…” He said. “I uh… say I feel the same? Not love yet, I don’t think but… if you wanna try and get to that point?”

The sun rose behind Varian as he smiled. “I’d like that a lot.”

#tangled #varian #tangled the series #varigo #varian and the seven kingdoms #varian and the seven kingdoms au #hugo the human #tts #tts varian

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krazy-kipo · 4 years

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hey! I love your headcanons you're putting a lot of work into them and you can tell!! They are just really fun to read 💕 If you have time could you maybe do some for a reader who was friends with Hugo when they were younger and living in the burrow (maybe Hugo used to have a little crush on them? 👀) and now they meet again after 13 years? How would he react seeing an old friend of his?

(I may have made it more than a lil crush lmao sorry

Hugo had always liked you. He wasn't really sure why but something about you always made his heart flutter.

Maybe it was your smile when you entered his room or your laugh when he did something funny. You were always so kind and gentle so it could've been that, but there was something about you that just always made him happy. He didn't know how to ask Song and Lio what these feelings were but he knew they couldn't be bad. Nothing involving you could ever be bad.

He wanted to tell you he could speak. That he was intelligent and understood the conversations you had with him. That you two were so alike and had a lot in common. That you always had. But he knew that would make Lio and Song upset and he didn't want to upset them. He was a secret after all...

You've been coming for years. Lio and Song knew your parents so even before he evolved you'd come and play with him or watch him do things curiously. You'd always been there just like Lio and Song.

He's watching you closely. You had come in to visit and he was excited to see you. You were both around the same age and he liked when you came to visit him, you did it a lot but every time felt special to him. You were his only true friend.

Emilia didn't really like you coming in but Song said it helped with his emotional development and maybe it could help mutate him faster so she let it slide.

You step into the room and Hugos whole face lights up as his heart begins fluttering again. He makes happy noises like Lio and Song taught him.

"Hello Hugo." You smile at him and he smiles back. He wishes more than ever he could talk to you. He wants to tell you about his thoughts and ask you questions. Not sit like a dumb animal and coo at you. "I brought a new book. This one has fairy tales." Inching closer he sits on your lap when you sit down. You giggle and his heart races face heating up. He touches the book and you let him trace the delicate pages.

You begin softly humming and he gets that feeling in his chest again. Something akin to happiness but more bubbly, something that made his heart tremor and knees weak. Opening the book you point at the table of contents with a list of stories. He could easily read them all and wouls love to read them too you but his mouth remains closed. "Which one looks the most intresting?" You hum pointing at each one. Hugo tries to laugh at how dumb you assume he is but just laughs a bit and points to one. "Kings and Queens it is. Good choice." He nods excitedly and you flip to the first page of that story.

He leans against you closing his eyes and taking in the moment. He always enjoyed when you read to him. Or sang. He loved your voice.

Months later you find out he's actually intelligent. The formulas Emilia made and ordered Song and Lio to shove down his throat had begun working a long time ago. Hugo could speak and think almost the entire time you'd know him. He could never tell you but know you knew and despite being a mute you still cared for him.

He's trapped in a cadge and forced to run on this machine Emilia made and you can't do anything about it. He sees it tearing you up inside and it hurts him. Emilia tries to push you away but your his friend! You don't let her tell you what to do and he admires that. You were always so brave and like Lio and Song you thought outside the box. You didn't let others stop your creative thinking or your compassion.

You sneak in at night too see him. Your parents are fast asleep and the lab door is always unlocked so you come and visit. You can't open the cadge door but you can give him treats and small trinkets through the feeder slot. Little things that show your still thinking of him and want to help. He doesn't like seeing you upset and you always look so upset when you look at him in the cadge they call his home.

"Are... are you okay?" Your shaking as you put your hand against the glass. You've just learned to stop crying. Whenever you used to visit you'd give him the things you'd brought start crying and have to leave so no one would discover you.

He hates this. Hates he can't touch you. Hates that there's glass between you. Hates Emilia trying to keep you apart. He eats the cookies you brought him and tries to stay positive though. Your here now. You still care.

"I'm not hurt. Sore." He admits honestly. "But not hurt." He watches you sniffle eyes puffy as you try and force yourself to smile. He misses your real smiles. Misses your hugs and excited laughter when he did something you thought was entertaining. You were always so vibrant and now you were depressed.

"Good. Good." You hum shaking. It's fake. He can tell from your voice and face. But he continues to smile. You may be miserable but here together he's the happiest mute in the world.

He waits excited. Lio and Song keep promising they'll leave soon. He's going to get away from Emilia. Away from this treadmill and terrible life. He's going to ask you. He's going to beg you to come too.

Kipo hasn't been born yet but soon she will be and he'll be a big brother and he'll be free with his family and he's excited. However the possibility of freedom will never mean anything without you. Soon they'll leave and soon you'll know how he feels and leave too.

He wakes up alone. His cadge which had once trapped him had now saved him and lay broken to pieces around him. Song and Lio were gone and he sat tears in his eyes as he stared at the ruins of his old home. He blinks back tears as he looks around terrified. The burrow was gone... but he'd made it to the surface.

Hearing loud roaring he snaps his head up and looks from behind the rubble shaking. Emilia was using his phermones on the mega mute that'd destroyed his home. A giant monkey. He gets up and knows he needs to get away. All he can think of is running. Running and finding you.

That was years ago. You were years ago but as he collected humans and controlled them he never stopped thinking of finding you. Every mask he put on his humans faces was to make it stop hurting when he saw it wasn't yours.

He sat on his throne as a new human was dragged to him. He'd heard of them and had been looking for weeks. Finally he had them in his clutches. He had a mask in hand ready for them and hummed as he watched the human fight. What primitive creatures. Truly serving him was a better calling then they could come up with.

"..." Grunting as your pushed to the ground he hears you growl and watches as you glare at your new king. Your hair falls in your face and he feels his cheeks darken as his heart quickens. It couldn't be.

(Y/N)...?

The first thing he notices depsite you being older and looking different was you still had beautiful eyes. Even when full of anger and fear they shined warmly, holding a kindess he'd grown to love. You were still strong too. So much bigger than when you were both kids. You struggle against the humans holding you down and he rushes forward mask clattering to the ground and cracking as he runs too you. His only true friend.

"Off them. Off! Can't you tell a guest from a prisoner-" He begins to scold his humans but pauses as he watches you stare at him. Your eyes are wide, your clothes torn, and you look so vulnerable and yet you stare up at him with a relieved look. What most would consider their doom you see and smile. You were as different and beautiful as ever.

"... Hugo?" It's so soft, he almost doesn't hear it. His old name is like ghosts whispering in the wind but he allows it to be used.

You sound so gentle. Just like you always sounded in the burrow. So unlike the cruelty of humans. He reaches for your hand to help you up and before he can react you wrap your arms around him in a hug. Scarlemagne shakes as he closes his eyes and hugs back.

"(Y/N)..."

Finally... together again.

(Tell me if you want a part two :3

#kataow #kataow scarlemagne #kataow x reader #kipo insert #kipo and the age of wonderbeasts insert #kipo x reader #kipo and the age of wonderbeasts #scarlemagne x reader #scarlemagne #hugo x reader #hugo

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suhmayzooka · 4 years

Text

cursed child broadway, feb. 23, 2020

third time seeing cc in three months for one reason: my sister is, in her words, “in love with joey labrasca” (karl). she thinks he’s absolutely perfect. this past week i’ve endured her talking about how hot he is. i mean, i’ve gotten quite a bit of good lily luna material for my fics now, but at what expense? did i need to know that joey’s (very mild) acne made him look handsomer? did i need to know about how deep his eyes are? did I?

i teased her about what she’d do if he wasn’t on, and she said she’d be so upset.

we get to the theatre, i look at the cast…and james romney was karl.

my sister was shocked. the love of her life, who most likely has forgotten about her existence, wasn’t there for what looks to be our final time seeing the year 2 cast. she was devastated.

we also got to see antoinette robinson as hermione and tom patrick stephens as ron! and sarita amani nash was myrtle!! and kimberly dodson as polly!!

james!karl was great and i will bombard my sister with as much james romney content as i can in order to piss her off further :)

patrick du laney was the sorting hat and aaron bartz was the station master. we actually saw aaron walking into the theatre as we waited outside for part 2. he definitely has the draco swagger.

anyway let’s get to the good stuff!

~james snyder as harry! great as usual. i don’t think he did much differently than last time, or if he did it wasn’t very noticeable.

~diane davis as ginny – same w james. i think she held on to albus longer when they hug in godric’s hollow this time?

~jonno roberts as draco: okay this guy singlehandedly inspired me to start a fic back in december (that has…….yet to be finished………) with how his draco and bubba’s scorpius behaved and this was no exception. idk whether his mic got caught on something or if he was really bringing it all out, but when he shoves scorpius’s head against his desk in the dark world, he GROWLED the “you do NOT use her name in vain” line ???? i’ve never heard him say it like that, it’s usually more of a hiss. idk how to describe how he said it other than “growl.” almost like an animal.

then when he said “do it safely, i can’t lose you too” he’s looking directly at scorpius. it’s different from how i’m used to seeing him and closer how i picture him saying it; usually he’s looking away, like he’s afraid of showing vulnerability to scorpius. but here, with him looking directly at him, and said with so much emotion and love, even in such a dark place…oOOF

he refused to let go of scorpius when they met again in godric’s hollow. my heart…..always one arm around scorpius’s shoulders, or one hand on his chest, as scorpius clings on to him.

~kimberly!polly SMILED and giggled when she stepped in blood? “oh, potter, i’ve got blood on my shoe!” *delighted* and then as the staircase rolled away, she turned on her stomach to gaze down at scorpius, grinning flirtatiously. this is my second time seeing her as polly, but from what i remember, katherine!polly wasn’t as sadistic in the dark au as she was. i personally prefer kimberly!polly.

~sarita!myrtle!! like w kimberly!polly this is my second time seeing sarita!myrtle and i don’t really remember much about lauren!myrtle to compare, but sarita!myrtle was hilarious. she got a round of applause just for appearing. “girls….*turns around, stares directly @ albus* AND BOYS” *albus turns around, confused, as if she’s talking to someone behind him* UGHHH she’s so good and she’ll absolutely kill it as (main) polly, i can feel it.

~this was my first time seeing jack pravda as young harry! his voice is deeper than zell’s, and he was so adorably confused in the graveyard scene. “why are there so many flowers?”

~antoinette!hermione was a lot less playful than jenny!hermione. she does try for comedic effect, but she’s a bit more serious overall. she was so scary in the first timeline! when she waves her wand to dismiss the class and she’s standing all alone, she looks out with such a distant, despairing expression, then composes herself immediately.

~tom!ron was very funny! again, my issue with ron in cc comes down to how he was written. he may have been relegated to shitty comic relief (why……is one of the first things he says……a fart joke…..?), but it’s up to the actors do what they can to flesh out some semblance of a likeable character from the bs that the script gave us. and tom!ron was great!! he’s not as…dopey? dorky? as matt!ron, who’s very funny but a bit—childish? i guess? tom!ron feels more like an adult who still has a childish sense of humor, if that makes sense.

~ROMIONE. watching a new take on romione was like falling in love w romione all over again. tom/antoinette was a very loving pair. jenny/matt tease each other a lot more, but tom/antoinette are more tactile. their kiss was so sweet

~there’s hardly any love for sara farb’s delphi for some reason. i’m not sure why; her shift from delphi diggory to delphi riddle is so chilling. delphi diggory has a high pitched voice and is really goofy around albus. scorpius absolutely hates her lmao. as soon as she switches, her voice drops to a low growl and she’s downright terrifying. i’m sad to see her go!

~WILL CARLYON. is it possible to fall in love with the portrayal of a character in a handful of scenes? he’s got like five lines total but oh my god. one thing a lot of people note about nicholas!albus is the way he’s so obviously a fourteen-year-old child. will’s james sirius potter is SUCH a thirteen-year-old in the opening scene…it’s somewhat disconcerting watching this very-obviously-twenty-something-year-old man flap his arms going “WATCH OUTTT FOR THE THESTTRRAAAAAAALS” but it works? it’s believable?? he’s so close with lily luna. this is my third time seeing him and every time he pretends to pounce on her and hug her during the thestral line i fall in love?? ginny scolds him and he is sheepish, but he won’t stop making the troll face at albus. “SLITHERING SLYTHERIN STOP WITH YOUR DITHERING” *smacks albus*

~yeah i promised jsp content and i’m fucking delivering

~he’s sO excited watching albus get sorted. when the hat goes “SLYTHERIN” he’s absolutely shocked. he’s confused. he just stares at albus, confused, until yann (jonathan gordon, who once again gives us a delightfully dislikable yann) says some shit and james just turns to him and swats his hand at him. he genuinely looked ready to fight yann. i couldn’t tell but i think he tells him to stop?? it was hard to hear but his mouth definitely moved, i think to tell yann to cut it out.

~the scene with the students eavesdropping on mcgonagall’s meeting with the parents. oh my god i don’t think he did anything that much differently than last time but i need to talk about this because i didn’t do it justice in my last recap.

~they sit on the stairs (iirc) top to bottom craig, yann, karl, rose, james. i’m gonna ignore craig, yann, and karl since there are some serious family feels going on w rose and james

~jsp and rose begin the scene smiling, snickering as they hear that albus and scorpius fucked up. “ahaha they got into deep shit” but then when they learn that they wrote rose and hugo (??whom??) out of time and then killed harry, their faces fall. james’s eyes become vacant, far-off as he learns what happened to his brother. his breathing becomes heavier and faster until he’s a few breaths from hyperventilating. he leans his forehead against the stairwell/banister and shakes his head, mouthing/whispering “no…no…”

~nadia brown’s rose is such a little shit but she’s so good in this scene. when she learns that she didn’t exist in the new timeline, she grabs james’s shoulder and he grabs her hand. they don’t let go for the rest of the scene.

~i’m like half convinced that will got the part because of his amazingly expressive eyebrows. i think my sister calls it “back row acting?” his eyebrows can probably be seen from the back row. after the mcgonagall scene is over he sits on the stairs, raising one eyebrow at rose and hermione, then goes back to reading the scroll.

~i didn’t mean for this to become a will carlyon fan account but he deserves it. according to nicholas he’s the biggest potterhead in the cast. he’s a ravenclaw. he can sing. he’s so fucking valid and i’m so glad he’s staying for year 3. he’s got two followers on youtube and one of them is me. please guys like no one talks about him and i’ll fill this niche. same with the lovely sarita. she’s so kind and so beautiful and so talented she can sing so well and she gives everything during wand dance listen i spent the beginning of this thing making fun of my sister for liking joey so much but sarita……..

~cc nyc said straight girl/lesbian solidarity

~anyway…

~nicholas podany as albus. so. Many. Tears. i didn’t realize this before but his whole body trembles when he cries?? i first noticed this when he and harry were in the slytherin common room. i was like “are his pajamas vibrating?? is this an optical illusion (they’re striped pajamas)???” no, his whole body was shaking with suppressed crying. once i noticed i couldn’t un-notice and this continued for the rest of the show.

~bubba weiler’s scorpius didn’t seem much different from usual? i could go on about him but….that’s what my unfinished fic is for……one day……….

~okay so this is where i elaborate on the scorbus moments that made me want to YEET myself off the roof of the theatre (if you had to make sense of my typos on discord: i am Sorry)

~the slytherin dorm scene: scorpius tickles albus to wake him up. he then makes himself comfortable on albus’s bed and won’t stop rubbing and patting his thigh.

~in addition to being austistic, bubba!scorp is bisexual (jon case would be proud) and here is PROOF: to flirt, bubba!scorpius leans against objects, sprawls his body out, plays with his hair, etc all extremely cheesy, greasy, suave moves. he blows a kiss to polly as he’s sprawled across the stairs. when he ROLLS down the stairs (looked painful…) to see rose at the end, he plays with his hair, shoots her a finger gun (further proof he’s bi), and lowers his voice. but the comparison i need to highlight is THIS: when he says rose smells like bread, (1) he leans against the suitcases, trying to look suave, and (2) his face is instant regret. he silently bends back and mouths “WHAT WHY BREAD?? WHAT??? WHY???” and now…when he delivers his “ENGORGIMPRESSED” line to albus, he (1) leans against the sink, (2) grins, lowering his voice, and when the pun doesn’t land, (3) his face immediately falls, instant regret, the literal definition of “oH MY GOD WHAT WHY DID I JUST SAY THAT” the same expression he had when rose wasn’t impressed. coincidence? i think NOT. he’s trying so hard to flirt but he has no idea how to interact w people im --

~delphi in the church: when the adults have all surrounded delphi with their magic in the center of the stage, albus, ginny, and scorpius are huddled together. scorpius is behind albus, clutching his shoulder and hand. albus breaks free for “SHE’S A MURDERER I’VE SEEN HER MURDER” (an underappreciated line imo) and scorpius just watches him, clearly wanting to help but not knowing how

~the final hug. my initial, endorphin-fueled reaction was, verbatim: “THE FUNAL HUG NSCWR SEEN IR LAST SO LLNG NEVER SAW NICJ HUG HIM BACK NOSES ALMOST TOYCHONF.” not even this is enough to convey my reaction to the final hug, but i’ll try my best to transcribe it.

scorpius: runs up the stairs, grabs albus into a hug

albus: stunned for a moment, then wraps his arms around scorpius’s shoulders and hugs him back, burying his face into the crook of scorpius’s neck. this is the first time i’ve seen him hug back, at least so fiercely. they stand there for a good 3-5 seconds, then albus says, quietly, “what’s this? i thought we didn’t hug.”

scorpius, pulling back but still close to albus: “i wasn’t sure whether we should…” *looks up at albus, literal inches from his face* “in this new version of us…” *more gazing into each other’s eyes for a few seconds*

albus: “well…you better ask rose if it’s the right thing to do…” he sounded unsure? not as playful as before?

scorpius: *stares at albus for a few seconds* “a..aaha………..yeah right!”

he turns around and runs down the stairs. albus goes “i’ll see you at dinner!” and scorpius turns around, smiles at him, and walks off, albus grinning and gazing so lovingly as he departs i’m gonna c r y

i can’t think of anything else to say about the show itself? but my sister has given me a lot of material so i’m gonna talk about what went on with her because it’s relevant to our stage door interactions.

as we ate, she described how she would rewrite cc. she has valid and absolutely invalid suggestions. she would keep the father/son issues, make scorbus canon, remove or rewrite rose, and rewrite delphi’s backstory (valid). she would remove the sorting hat and the dark timeline (not valid).

during the intermission between acts 3 and 4, we started looking through the playbill and she started gossiping/venting about how much she hates the people in her school’s theatre (valid, since they’re bullying assholes). i brought up a meme i sent her that i saw on twitter about how no high school theatre guys can sing, act, dance, and not be sexist. somehow this discussion went back to nicholas podany? she was like, “i’ve been listening to his songs and deep blue is a low-key bop.” i asked if she heard his most recent song, telling myself. she hadn’t and she immediately went to soundcloud to listen to it. her reaction was PRICELESS. she absolutely adored it. she was dancing in her seat, going “okay this is actually really good??” like ofc it is? i don’t recommend bad songs? she tried to replay it but then her data ran out and the lyric theatre wifi is shit so she got very upset. then the lights turned off and she reluctantly took out her earbuds.

there was a little girl (around 6-7ish, i’d say) in the very first row dressed as hermione for part one--complete with a doll and a broom. for part two she was wearing a hedwig costume that looked homemade! she was very adorable, and bubba waved hello to her when he came for the curtain call.

stage door:

~sarita came out first! we told her that this was our third time at the show and second time seeing her. i congratulated her on being cast as polly and she was so happy! dare i say…..loml

~tom and antoinette were so happy to have been the first cover romione we saw! tom was like “ah, you saw the best ron (himself)!” we were in front of a man from the uk who had seen the london show five times, and he and tom struck up a conversation about where they were from.

~nadia brown was so happy to see us! she didn’t remember us lmao but she’s so friendly

~edward james hyland (amos/dumbledore) was…politically campaigning?? the people in front of us were from vermont and he was like “ah…vermont…do you support bernie??” just like that. they were caught off guard but i think they gave an affirmative answer, and he was like “and if he doesn’t get the nomination…?” they were still caught off guard and he just went “you’ll vote blue, right…? cause it’s the right thing to do….?” idk i’m firmly liberal but i thought this was a weird place to get political but okay

~EVERYONE was telling nicholas podany about how much they love telling myself. he was telling the people in front of us about how it was mastered/mixed by solange’s producer(?) and my sister and i exchanged :0 looks. she was getting shy, but i was like “tell him! he’ll love to talk about it, i guarantee it!” because even though i produce 0 content, i *am* an artist and i *do* know that we artists love validation

~so he came to us and she started talking about his songs! we’re fortunate that it was a more rock-y song so we’re…able to sound like we know what we’re talking about lmao. growing up our mom would play us classical music (check out beethoven’s wig yo) and our dad would play us the ramones. one of my earliest memories was arguing with my sister (probably around 4 at the time) about the lyrics to “i wanna be sedated” ahh… (she was correct btw)

~(don’t argue with me the ramones may not be poets but they’re valid)

~i was right! he was SO excited to talk to us!! my sister complimented the song and the production. she said “i ADORE your new song!! it’s a high key bop!” and he broke into the BIGGEST smile. she was like “i’m gonna play it until i hate it” and he said something along the lines of “i was in the studio listening to it nonstop for 8(??) hours i can’t stand it.” he was talking about how he made the song with his “own scorpius” but i forgot who…he said scorpius and my mind blanked lmao. he’s brought this person up before in interviews so i can probably find it. she complimented the fact that it was different from his usual stuff and he told us about how he had a rock band in high school. @nick where tf is your rock content pls deliver

~i actually spoke this time and cut in to tell him about how she was trying to listen to it on repeat but the signal gave out. she was trying to tell me to shut up but it’s my legal duty as the older sister to embarrass her.

me: “I told her about your song during the intermission—”

her: “don’t!”

me: “no, nO, i told her and she was listening and then she ran out of data—”

him: “aaAa noo!”

her: “I listened to it!”

~then i told him that we loved seeing how he played albus and that we’re going to miss him, that we were going to see the cast change show but we couldn’t get tickets (i kindly left off the reason why), and he was so sweet about it *clenches heart* he told us how much he loves being able to experience this, that we’ll be so lucky to have james romney take over, etc etc i kinda wasn’t listening bc I was too emo, but I remember going “…but I don’t want to say goodbye…” and he just. gave me a sad look like “I know.” there was so much pity in his expression. why is he leaving us.

~the uk guy behind us was talking about how he’d seen the london year 3 and 4. nicholas was like “oh, joe and dom? yeah i’ve spoken to joe and dom—wait, no, i haven’t met dom? i know he has an impressive social media presence” and they started talking about how different actors bring different things to albus and how the show allows them to explore different aspects to their characters and he just…wasn’t making any of this any easier for me lmao i’m mourning the loss of nick!albus and it’s not even march

~i feel bad that we weren’t able to speak with fiona reid (petunia/umbridge) because nicholas was talking to us.

~jonno roberts. this was the first time i’ve interacted w him at sd. his draco has made such an impact on me, he’s my favorite actor in the show, and what do i say? what great words come out of my mouth? “hi you were great.” my sister KICKED me with her heeled boots. good thing i’m a lesbian because my doc martens protected my feet from the force of her anger.

~james snyder was enraptured in conversation with the people in front of us and just took our playbills to sign as he spoke with them. then he went “hi,” passed over us to talk to the guy behind us. my sister was like “you were great!”

~tbh sd was kinda messy bc we were at the end of the line and the barrier things didn’t allow for the actors to get enough room to interact with the fans at the back. also jonno was standing there and he’s not a small man.

~saw several male actors leaving sd, waving goodbye at us and just walking away. MOOD. i was exhausted and i wasn’t the one running around on stage!

#ccsquad #cursed child #hp #i see cc

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feliannefluff · 5 years

Text

Last Song, A FeliAnne fic

Disclaimer: Fire Emblem and characters belong to the original creator

Summary: Becoming separated from the Kingdom's army after a battle during the war, Annette finds herself in dire situation, thinking about the one she loves most. In her final moments, the pure-hearted girl does what she does best. (Felix x Annette)

After doing literally 6 runs of this game and all routes, I've finally gotten around to writing a fic for my 2nd OTP of the game (the first being Dimileth). Hope ya'll enjoy

This is bad. So bad...I can't believe I really screwed this up.

Annette anxiously thought as she stumbled her way through the dark, unfamiliar woods of the Empire's territory. With each strained step forward, the redhead kicked herself as she lamented the biggest mistake she had ever made since joining the war with her companions.

The surroundings grew cold and damp as rain began falling through the tree tops, causing the ground to become muddy and slippery. Eventually, Annette found she could go no further. Her body was beyond exhaustion and hurt intensely. The female's body collapsed against a nearby tree. Annette slowly slid down into a sitting position and watched as the large drops of rain poured down.

If I hadn't forgotten part of the Professor's plan and followed my unit to the east instead of west, I wouldn't have gotten separated. I really am...such a klutz...

Tears sprung to Annette's eyes as she balled her hand into a fist and shoved it into the dirt. As she did, the beautiful sparkling ring on her finger became coated in mud.

"Oh no...!" She shouted, immediately realizing what she had just done. Annette used her other hand to dig around in her pocket in search of a handkerchief. Pulling out the piece of cloth, the clumsy girl began tentatively rubbing it against the ring's surface.

With only a few seconds, the ring was as good as new, thankfully. Annette breathed a sigh of relief.

Oh, thank the Goddess. Leave it to me to immediately mess up the ring he just gave me...Annette let out a half laugh as she forced a smile, Really, I can't believe myself sometimes.

Annette ran her fingers along the ring's pretty gem that reflected her face in it as she looked at it. Her somewhat pained grin transformed into a happy one as she thought of the man who had given the ring only a month ago. While the two of them had been dating since their reunion at Garreg Mach, the actual proposal had come as a complete shock. Though the happiness she received from it certainly out-wayed the surprise.

Annette shut her eyes and let the memory of that day she received the jewelry play back in her mind.

"Marry me."

Annette dropped the watering can she'd been holding, sending a bunch of water spilling everywhere. In sync with this, the girl's mouth also fell agape while the rest of her face went blank.

"Eh? W-What?" The somewhat air-headed girl found her sight falling down at the box being presented to her by her boyfriend, Felix Hugo Fraldarius. Unable to find the right words to respond with in the moment, Annette simply mumbled nervously, "F-Felix, I d..."

"What, you don't want to? Tch." As usual, Felix's voice was stern and somewhat cold. The heir to the Fraldarius house let out an annoyed sigh before turning away, trying to hide his red face, "Forget I said anything then. See you." Was all the man said as he began to take his leave.

Annette felt her surprise turn into instant panic when she saw him walk away. Without even thinking it through, she quickly grabbed hold of Felix's arm, followed by giving the limb a hard yank. The force pulled Felix back towards Annette, and before the two realized, the couple was on the floor with Felix on top. Both of the Blue Lion member's faces turned redder than Edelgard's armor.

"W-What the hell was that for?!" Felix shouted, feeling far more embarrassed now than a few moments ago.

"Because you were about to leave! I had to stop you!"

"Y-Yeah, I was, because you obviously didn't like the ring, woman!"

Annette shook her head dramatically, "T-That wasn't the reason, Felix! I was just shocked. I mean, who just pulls out a proposal in the middle of tending the greenhouse?"

The tsundere warrior clenched his teeth like that of an angry wolf as his cheeks blushed even brighter, "I knew I shouldn't have listened to that dumbass..."

By 'dumbass', Annette could only surmise that her boyfriend was referring to their house's famous playboy Sylvain Jose Gautier.

The couple removed themselves from the floor and turned away, both of them too flustered to know what to say to the other next. However, the silence only lasted a few minutes before Felix gathered up what little was left of his courage to voice his thoughts,

"Look, I get it, all right. I realize better than anyone that I'm not the best choice for a husband. Hell, even I don't think that role suits a warrior like me." Felix groaned while running fingers through his strewn about bangs, "I mean, before I met you, Annette, I never planned on marrying anyone, even for the sake of continuing my family's line. When I first started at the academy, I only wanted to grow stronger. I had no interest at all of taking a partner or doing the cliche things any son of a noble family has to do. But now, things are...different."

Annette parted her lips to say something but her boyfriend placed his fingertip to her mouth to stop her.

Felix's beautiful red orbs trembled as he let out every honest feeling he had, "We've been going out since basically the Blue Lion's reunion. I just thought, that, given the recent events during this goddess forsaken war...and since I'm the one who will have to carry on my family's house since my idiot of a father's gone...a-and since I..c-care about...you, I figured if I had to take a wife, then..."

Annette felt her heartbeat speed up as she observed the precious sight that was a nervous, stuttering Felix. This moment was just as endearing the last time he'd gone into this state, which was ironically the day he confessed to liking her, which had also taken place in the very same greenhouse they stood in now.

Also just like before, Felix ended up becoming so overloaded with his feelings that he suddenly cut himself out and shouted, "Damn it, just forget it, okay! I don't have a frickin' clue what I'm even saying anymore!"

As the dark-haired man made yet another attempt to flee, Annette responded once more with reaching out to him. However, instead of grabbing his arm, she pulled Felix into the tightest hug her tiny body could manage.

"I'll marry you."

"Huh?" Felix looked down at Annette who was peering up at him like an adorable kitten. The only words the embarrassed man could respond with, were, "...You will?"

"W-Well, I do love you too, so o-of course I will!" Annette lowered her face so that her orange bangs fell over her eyes, "I'm sorry, I never meant to make it seem like I rejected you. I was just so...shocked. I guess I've just been having too much fun lately, with us spending all our free days together that I never imagined anything would change." The sweet-hearted girl closed any remaining distance between the two of them. She then rested her chin onto Felix's shoulder lovingly, "Except, I do have one condition. Is that okay?"

Felix, still at a loss, simply returned the hug and whispered back, "What is it...?"

"The next free day we get, you have to help me with writing my newest song."

Felix's gaze fell into his love's as she flashed him one of her famous angelic smiles. Without even realizing he was doing it, the tsundere responded with his rare kind smirk that he only ever showed her when they were alone, "O-okay, sure. What song will it be this time? More swamp besties, or maybe a sequel to the library piece?"

Annette's smile deepened as her boyfriend continued to excitedly press for details about the song. Though he didn't know it yet, Annette had the most perfect idea for this song than any of her past works. And she knew once it was finished, Felix would be happier than he ever had been listening to the other songs.

Ahh...that's right. We never got to...finish it...

A thick stream of red flowed down Annette's chin as she came back into contact with realty. Slowly, she raised her left hand to admire the ring again. However, this time, the sight of the lovely jewelry was blurred and hard to make out.

Hot tears fell as Annette tried to calm her breathing, feeling a disturbing feeling rise from within her.

"It'll be okay. I may be too weak to use any of my white magic to heal, and I've also run out of all my concoctions the Professor had given me before the battle, but..."

The sight of Felix's handsome features flashed through Annette's mind in time with a bit of lightning that struck near where she rested. The loud sound of thunder crackling was drowned out in Annette's mind by her love's voice repeating things he'd said to her over their time together,

"You have nice footwork."

"I can't forget. It's permanently etched into my memory."

"If you blow up the library, where will we put the books?"

"You shouldn't dance up there, you could fall."

"What, you're not going to sing anymore?"

"It's like I'm your captive. I hear you sing whenever I'm asleep, or on the battlefield..."

"Sing for me, please Annette?"

The light in Annette's eyes soon became as gray as the sky overhead as she listened to her memories carefully. With each second, she could feel her consciousness begin to fade. So an idea came to mind.

Using the last bit of energy remaining within her, Annette pulled out her magic grimoire and cast a spell she had recently learned in secret back in the Garreg Mach library. Though it was her first time really using the spell, she was sure it would work. After mumbling an incantation, a clear orb of light appeared in midair. Annette stared into the orb, watching her reflection in the orb's clear surface.

He never...got to hear the finished version...and knowing Felix, I'm sure he'll be super angry if he doesn't get to listen to it just once.

Despite the fact that Annette's body had lost all feeling and ability to move now, she pushed herself with everything she had to flash one goofy grin at the orb. Her blood-stained lips then parted as she began to sing.

"Hey, you hear something?"

Two Imperial soldiers walked along the woods, set on the task to find any remaining enemies still sneaking around.

"No, do you?" The second Imp asked his comrade who seemed to be looking off in a specific direction.

"Call me crazy, but I swear I hear a girl singing. It's coming from over here..."

The two followed the sound until, just as the first soldier had stated- a girl came into sight before them. Her voice was hoarse and weak. The singing had gotten much quieter too in the short time it had taken the Imps to discover her. The men approached the tree, both drawing their swords as they did so. The singing immediately stopped as the dying woman looked up at them with eyes as dead as a fish's.

"Tch, this bitch is totally finished. Just look at that disgusting face over hers."

"She's probably a stray from that damned Kingdom army. Just finish her and we can go back home."

The first soldier leered down at her as he raised his sword. Weapon ready to strike its final blow, the man asked the girl, "Any last words, you brat?"

She watched both men for a minute, her expression still and unshaken. For a moment, the soldiers wondered if she'd already bit the dust. However, without warning, a weak smile found itself across the girl's face. A shaking arm covered in bruises and crimson reached out to one of the men.

The Imps just exchanged looks and shook their heads in disgust. His patience completely gone by this point, the soldier brought down his sword. As he did, the girl's voice could just barely be heard as the steel of the weapon slashed through her flesh.

"Well...did you like the song...Felix...?"

The sound of her body falling into the mud was drowned out as the rain pounded down harder than it had. The only thing that could be heard after was the sound of two cackling males.

"Felix, slow down! If you keep charging through enemy territory like this, we'll get sniped before we can ever find her!"

"Shut the hell up, Sylvain! Finding her is more important than anything else right now!"

The two distressed childhood friends rode through the last place their fellow comrades had seen Annette before she'd gotten separated from the army.

"J-Just calm down, man! It's bad enough you cursed his Highness and Teach out before stealing one of the army's horses and..."

"I SAID TO SHUT UP!"

Sylvain had basically lived his entire life being screamed at by Felix. Their entire relationship really was just 99% of the grouchy male shouting at the playboy. However, the way Felix had shrieked at him just now was unlike any of the other times. Felix's voice was beyond cracking, almost as if he were choking back the urge to cry from the fear he was currently experiencing.

From the moment Byleth had informed their class of Annette's missing whereabouts, Felix had become an entirely different person. Honestly, his disposition was reminiscent of Dimitri's wild behavior from a month prior.

Deciding to remain quiet, the son of the Gautier house continued riding behind Felix. It didn't take long before they finally reached the place they had set out for. Though what they discovered there, was far from anything the two had hoped for.

"Oh shit..." Sylvain choked out as he and Felix dismounted their horses.

Felix's face that had been full of panic and anger a moment ago was now overtaken with a mix of horror and sorrow as he took in the disturbing sight by a tree in the forest's center.

"Ah..." Felix stumbled through a mix of dirt and blood on the ground over to a figure lying motionless on the ground. With each inch closer the usually stoic man got to the scene, his heart clenched painfully. Eventually, Felix made it over so he could get a clear view of the sight. For a moment, he just stood still. Looking down at the body, he noticed a bloody ring shimmering up at him.

Sylvain swallowed hard while he waited Felix to voice their worst fears. However, when Felix stood motionless for a solid two minutes, the redhead became concerned and tried to call out to his best friend. As Felix's name left Sylvain's mouth, another bolt of lightning flashed- lighting up every part of the dark scenery around them. Time itself seemed to come to a stop for only a second. In the lit up area, Sylvain felt his breath leave him when his eyes caught sight of Annette laying there at Felix's feet, her face lifeless as could be. As the lightning finished striking, Felix fell to his knees. As he did, the tie holding his long hair back snapped. Black locks flew around and then coated over Felix's face. His mind shutting down, Felix's body began moving on its arms took hold of Annette's breathless body. Holding her close, Felix ran fingers along his fiance's ice cold cheeks. He pushed some straying hairs out of her still opened eyes as his hallow ones stared down at her.

"...Sorry...for being late..." Felix's voice was disturbingly calm as he spoke. His head fell against Annette's own, "I've been late the last several times during our cleaning duties lately too...you'll have to scold me later, won't you..." Though his eyes held no emotion in them anymore, beads of water formed in their corners, "...Annette..."

Sylvain turned away from the scene, partially to give his best friend some privacy but also because his own heart could barely take this scene.

"Why the hell did this have to happen to her of all people...Damn the Empire..." Slyvain shut his eyes painfully as he lamented everything about this situation. Of all the horrors their class had witnessed in this awful war, this was by far the worst. After some time, the rain finally let up. Noticing the change, Sylvain decided the next course of action they should take. He slowly made his way over to Felix who was still holding Annette in silence.

Placing a hand onto Felix's shoulder, Sylvain spoke, "Hey, Felix...I think we should start heading ba-" But the red haired male was cut off mid-sentence when the corner of his eye caught something odd shining from the ground nearby. Walking over to it, he picked up what appeared to be a sphere of some sort.

"What the hell is this...? An enemy's weapon they dropped, or...?" In an attempt to discover what the item was, Slyvain began messing around with the orb in hand. After pressing a finger to a certain spot, the orb suddenly glowed more brightly. A moment later, Annette's smiling face could be seen mirrored in the sphere's center.

"F-Felix, look!"

Hesitant to listen to anything at this point, said male reluctantly looked back. His red eyes widened greatly when he spotted the face of his love reflecting from the sphere in his friend's hand.

"What..."

Before the two men could say anything else, Annette's voice echoed from the object and her face began moving as if she were still alive before them,

"Hi, Felix. If you're watching this, than, uh...I may...already be gone. I'm casting a special spell so I can make sure I show you something special, just in case...you don't...make it here in ti-"

The sphere showed Annette hacking up blood before she continued. Both Felix and Sylvain watched in agony as the recording continued.

"S-Sorry about that! You know me, Felix, I'm such a klutz. I kinda...got into some trouble after getting separated from the others, so please don't mind my, ...appearance, okay? Hee hee."

Felix's vision blurred intensely as he kept watching the last moments of Annette from the sphere.

Anyway, I didn't ever get to show you the finished song. You know, the one we came up with together. I made some changes to it without telling you, and I wanted you to hear it. I think you'll really like this one. Be sure to let me know what you think, okay? Remember Felix, I won't forgive you if you don't tell me how you feel about it afterwards! Oh, and..." Annette paused before bringing up her hands in an apology gesture, "I never made a dance to go along with this one. Sorry about that...I know how much you loved my footwork after all. But to make up for the lack of dance, I-I put in extra love! Oh, geez, that actually sounded way less cheesy in my head...Uh, anyways...here it goes. I hope you enjoy it, Felix!"

Annette's face brightened as her took in a deep breath. A second later, her beautiful singing sounded out.

The song was unlike anything Felix had ever heard from her. It was as cutesy and happy as any of her others, but the her voice went to a different level when it sung this number. The lyrics spoke of her feelings for him and the future she was excited to share with Felix once the war was finally over. Though the song only lasted a moment before the recording finally cut out, the music touched to his very core. Unable to hold himself back any longer, Felix dropped to the ground again and took hold of Annette's body. As the lyrics of her song ran through his mind, the sound of his pained sobs drowned out everything else. Meanwhile, Sylvain walked back over to the horses and turned his eyes towards the sky. How cruel and how ironic the sky looked overhead. It had been pouring since the moment the battle against the Empire started but now it was free of clouds and showing the first sight of the sun peering down at them.

...That sky...it's a lot like Annette herself. Bright and free of any dark at all. I wonder if she's watching us from up there with the Goddess...

Sylvain buried his head against the neck of his horse as he too let his emotions overcome him.

Meanwhile, Felix still clung to Annette. As he did, his low voice could be heard singing back the song Annette had performed in the magic sphere.

As the song repeated over and over, the ring on Felix's finger clenched against Annette's.

By a strange turn of fate, two very different people met at the Officer's Academy five years ago. The two were polar opposites in near every way but despite this, the two found joy in each other's company. Though their future together had been ripped away, the Blue Lions would never forget the love that had been shared between their powerful warrior and pure angel.

Author's Comments: Let me just say one thing...I apologize for the abrupt end of this. I do think I wanna write one more chapter to this but my brain just gave out at the end here and I couldn't think of any more so I'm very sorry *bows*

I also apologize for not actually writing out Annette's song. I so very wanted to but Annette has such a unique song style and I can't write songs for crap any ways. Though if any one is willing to come up with one, I'll be more than happy to include and credit you in the next chapter.

I bet you guys are wondering just how TF I'm gonna write another chapter after this major angst, so I'll give you a hint: Byleth's powers. That's all I'm gonna say.

Anyways, thanks so much for reading. Please, please, PLEASE leave a review if you enjoyed and what you hope to see in the next chapter. Feedback is very appreciated

#felix hugo fraldarius #annette dominic #fire emblem three houses #fanfic #felix x annette #felianne #felix #annette #angst #fe3h #fe #fire emblem #sylvain gautier

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nextgensquad · 4 years

Note

Which kids from the next gen don't get along that well (if there are any)?

Thank you so much for this question, anon! Sorry it took us so long to answer. This got a little bit long since four of us had answers, so we’re putting it under a cut to save everybody’s dashboards. This was really fun to think about, so thank you!

Ellie:

I tend to write my kids as being a fairly disparate bunch these days, so while a few pockets here and there do count each other as actual friends (Dominique and Molly, for example) most of them have the majority of their friends outside the family. Not to say they dislike each other, they just aren’t especially close. That being said, there are a couple who just don’t get along at all:

Lily and Victoire tend to butt heads a lot. Lily thinks Victoire is patronising and judgey, and Victoire thinks Lily is attention-seeking and fake.

Rose and Lily also do not get on so well. Lily thinks Rose is weird and finds her quietness creepy. Rose thinks Lily is deliberately flakey and also attention-seeking and it pisses her off too.

None of them really have a clue what’s up with Hugo, and he tends to avoid them all when he can.

Albus hates Fred because he thinks Fred is preachy, a suck-up and boring. Fred loves Albus all the same.

Becca:

I always have trouble answering these questions because I have more than one version of my next gen, and the one that I’ve written most isn’t necessarily the most interesting on paper (I love them very much all the same, but I invented them a long time ago). However, they’re a lot more fleshed out than the other version, so I’m going to answer for them.

In my primary universe, the Weasley-Potter clan is a close-knit family, who nevertheless bicker and argue constantly. They grew up in each other’s pockets so they know each other extremely well, especially the ones close in age, which is sometimes an advantage and sometimes distinctly not.

James and Rose argue all the time, to the point that the rest of the family get sick of it. In some ways they’re too similar; in others, very different. They’re both much too competitive, like to be in charge, and enjoy scoring points off other people, and they know exactly how to wind each other up.

In fact James is probably the one who argues most with other people in his family, mostly because he’s just kind of a dick.

Molly and Lucy don’t get on too well a lot of the time, not because they don’t love each other (they do) but because they each find the other very frustrating. Molly can’t understand Lucy’s weird obsessions and enthusiasms, and Lucy just wishes Molly would get passionate about something for once.

Are we including the non-Weasley next gen here? Because if so, James and Scorpius have a deep-seated dislike of each other. Nobody can quite understand where it comes from or how it started (beyond the obvious family divide, and the fact that, again, James is kind of a dick), but it seems to have been an instant, automatic and mutual thing. It lasts the whole way through their school years, and although it improves a bit later, they’re never going to like each other.

Pearl:

I love this question, thank you so much, anon! I do tend to have most of my kids getting along decently because that’s one value I think all of the Weasleys would have imprinted on their kids no matter what, but of course, there’s no fun without drama.

After Teddy and Victoire break up, there’s a bit of a divide between who will speak to Teddy and who won’t. Dominique and Louis take their sister’s side and Louis never liked Teddy that much anyway. James and Lily lean towards Teddy’s side and Al is kinda caught in the middle entirely.

James and Fred and Louis were close when they were kids and shoved together because of being the same age but they drifted apart once they were sorted into different Houses and Fred and James in particular have never been able to recover their friendship–Fred thinks James is feckless and destructive to those around him and James thinks Fred is overly-sensitive and nerdy.

The Potter kids love each other a lot but James and Lily have never fully accepted Scorpius as Al’s best friend and likely won’t for a long while because they think he’s bad for Al.

Al and Rose’s relationship gets damaged around their early teens due entirely to both of them having feelings for Scorpius and not confiding in each other and they both think the other is a coward for the way they handle things.

Hugo and Lily never really get along; Lily thinks he’s a stuck-up dick and Hugo thinks she’s an annoying attention-seeker. Dominique tries to help but never succeeds.

Jane:

Oh, this is fun! As the others tease me for, I have about four established verses and then a handful of dynamics which exist for one-offs and oneshots, but I’ve decided to go with my third universe because it’s the one I was using to do the nextgenmeme with. It’s not the most interesting for this question, unfortunately (e-2 has a lot more in-fighting and inter-family feuds, and e-4 has more creative conflicts because of all the spies, crime, lies and running away to live in a forest), but it’s the one with the dynamics I’ve explored the most.

There’s a big blow-up between all the school aged lot (James, Molly, Al, Rose, Scor, Lucy, Roxanne, Lorcan, Lysander, Lily, Hugo + their own overly opinionated friends) when Al’s in Sixth Year and James is in Seventh. The Weasleys themselves are actually pretty well-behaved—a lot of the conflict comes from the opinions of their friends who get involved—but Al catches feelings for James’ girlfriend/Rose’s best friend, and it’s a fiasco. Albus has no intention of doing anything about it (his best friend is Team Homewreck, though, despite being in love with Albus himself, because he thinks Albus deserves what makes him happy—Lucy almost breaks his nose when he expresses this opinion, because she is firmly Anti Homewreck), but James ends up breaking up with his girlfriend because he doesn’t want to hurt his brother (and Albus never had any intention of telling him, because he didn’t want to hurt his brother), and the Hogwarts lot all have their opinions on what the right course of action was.

Rose and Albus never stopped being friends, but they had their own distinct friend groups, and the incident sort of brought them back closer together than ever, although there was some initial sharpness on Rose’s part towards both Potter boys because her best friend ended up getting her heart broken from the whole mess. Lucy, on the other hand, thought they were all being absolute dicks about the issue and basically argued with literally every cousin who’d had any part to play, either as a main player or just adding opinions which contributed to the mess, until they apologised to said ex-girlfriend.

Hugo and Lucy are both extremely opinionated and fight all the time. Lucy’s always stuck to her guns about doing the right thing, even to the point of going up against her entire family, whereas Hugo’s Slytherin to his core and whilst he inherited his mother’s values, he also inherited her ruthlessness and is very much an ‘ends justify the means’ type. They love each other, but family dinners tend to feature equal parts them arguing and Lucy mocking his monogrammed cufflinks being pretentious, which all only get worse as they get older and he decides to run for Minister with the aid of Alexandria Greengrass’ campaign team. It’ll get better around about when they’re in their mid-to-late twenties, but there’s a lot of arguing to sit through.

James and Lucy used to argue in Hogwarts, but that was pretty minor stuff. Mostly James knows Lucy has excellent reflexes and thinks she’d be an astounding Quidditch player, and she always point-blank refused to have anything to do with the sport. Gryffindor common room saw a lot of him cajoling her.

Hugo and Roxanne don’t understand each other at all, which leads to some tense moments at times (like when Roxanne wants to be a muggle mechanic and he just can’t fathom why), but generally they just take half an hour and calm down again.

Louis and Scorpius fall out for a bit in their twenties, but generally get along pretty well. Hugo and Lorcan don’t get on at all, though. Hugo, Lucy, Lysander and Albus are probably the more difficult personalities of my lot, although Rose has her moments when she gets irritated.

#ask #anonymous #ellie #becca #pearl #jane

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glamrockmonarch · 5 years

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Summer Lovin’ - Ben Hardy Fluff

Request: Hey I sent a request a few weeks ago I just wondered if you received it? It was about Ben taking the reader in cute ass date (go carting or something really fun) and to an American diner like something out if grease and he keeps hold of her hand all day and is super attentive and sweet. (Thank you @littlehopelessdreamer47 for this request because it is so cute I needed it! And I’m so sorry it comes so late :S)

A/N: It’s a bit longer than I anticipated... but I think it’s cute af so proceed!.

Ben pulled his red jacket on and turned around in time for you to come back from your room with your bag and denim jacket in your arm, not quite certain that you would need it for that day’s date.

You smiled at the sight of your blonde boyfriend, he looked handsome as ever with his casual outfit and hair combed to the back and to the side as he finally let it grow out after having wrapped shooting for his last film. He also had the appearance of a kid who was about to follow his mother into the playground across the street.

Of course, you were still not sure what the two of you were doing this day, he had basically called the night before and asked to see you in the morning. He arrived early and you were still in the shower so he had to chat with your roommate for a while before you were ready to go out with your hair pushed back by a ribbon, curled at the ends in what you would call record time. You felt cute in your white summer dress and sandals, hoping for a sunny day in London was a lot, but up until now, it had been worth the morning prayers to Apollo.

“Are you excited?” You inquired as you came up to him, being received by his strong open arms. “What do you know that I don’t?”

Ben pursed his lips and his pointy chin looked more prominent but a side smile cracked his expression and he chuckled as he leant down to capture your lips in a tender kiss.

“Can’t a man treat his girlfriend from time to time?” He said in a soft playful voice, his hands squeezing your sides as he looked up from your pink lips to your e/c eyes. “I missed you so much these past months… next time you have to come with me!”

You rolled your eyes at his comment. You admitted to him a good month into shooting that you missed him like hell, his remedy had been to get Joe to send you a cardboard cutout of himself. Yeah, Joe did and jokingly he also added that you should update Ben via IG about your adventures with this little “gift”. For months you had been feeling like a child, thankfully distracted by the task at hand: placing Cardboard Ben on benches, sitting him on the London underground, taking him to a night out at the club and making it look like he was drinking with you, getting on the London Eye with him when Rami was in town so you and Lucy took him on the cheesiest tour around town to visit the classic tourist attractions (although he had already seen half of them).

“I have a job to do over here, you know?” You laughed and put your hands around his elbows, looking deep into his green eyes. “Maybe next time we could get on the same project…”

Ben let out a laugh and took a step back, going for the door as he blabbered about not liking musical theatre.

You were glad to follow him, Ben pulled you behind him by holding your hand in his. The two of you made your ways downstairs and left the apartment building to find an oddly warm day developing outside.

“I really don’t get it, you have such a lovely voice!” You complained as you started walking towards the stairs leading to the underground.

“Everybody knows you’re the voice in this relationship Y/N. Don’t try to change it!” He warned you, walking side by side now.

A smile spread across your face and you pulled his arm closer to your side as you leant onto his side. Ben pulled his arm out from your grasp and wrapped it around your shoulders, pulling you closer.

“Alright, where are we going?”

You looked at your boyfriend once you went down the stairs leading to the underground, feeling a sudden chill run down your spine as you left the warmth of the sunshine behind in favour of the shadow provided by the ceiling.

“Well, you will see!”

And oh, boy did you see! Ben took you on a long ride through the underground, changing at a few stations and making a run for it once when you thought you would be left behind by the crowded car. You finally made it before noon and you could not stop laughing at Ben when he pulled you inside a large building where you then found out you were going to be driving go-Karts.

“Ben no!” You laughed, following him to the desk at the front as he greeted the person in charge.

“Ben yes!” He turned his head back at you and beamed with joy.

The blonde had made a call the day before and clearly, the people at the establishment were expecting you. He had to agree to take a picture with one of the young girls working there and as you were showed some helmets he answered some of the girl’s most pressing questions about what it had been for him working so close to Roger Taylor.

“Are you ready to lose?” Ben wondered, picking out a dark blue helmet for himself.

You put the bright yellow one you picked out for yourself against your hip and stuck your tongue out at him.

“Hell no! You’re going down Hardy!” You pulled your bag’s strap off your shoulder and shoved the bag onto his chest, starting to walk towards the karts parked on the side of the large track.

“Hey, not fair!” Ben called back, looking down at your bag and wondering what to do with it as his instinct told him to run behind you.

It was a long day at the track for the two of you. At first, you were taught the basics about the karts, they were absolutely not for children, these small cars would not go as fast as a formula 1 car, but they could run quite fast. You were told to change gears and look out for the breaks as you should not go too fast once you were in the curves. Between jokes and laughter, you and Ben had a slow first lap around the track.

The everlasting joke throughout the day was that Ben had chipmunk cheeks with the helmet on. It was hilarious and distracting, you would not admit: he looked cute.

Although you would have loved to spend more time there, you had to leave at some point and after goofing around the track and having a couple of races your stomachs begged for attention.

“I cannot believe it, I must have hit the brakes or something…”

Ben made up excuses as to why you had won on the last race. Both of your faces were still marked with lines from the cushions inside the helmets.

“Suck it up, you’re a big boy!” You poked his ribs with a smile and watched him laugh at the tickling. “I’m hungry.”

Ben took a jab at you, “suck it up, big girl!”

Narrowing your eyes at him you put out your bottom lip, feeling honestly disappointed in him for not agreeing with you that he was hungry too.

He mended it a second later when he pulled you through the street and said he knew just the perfect place to go eat.

You walked along and had a laugh while listening to your boyfriend talk about his new friends from his last project. It seemed he had had a great time and this always lifted your spirit: knowing he was happy and living his life on a positive note, enjoying his time working as much as his time between projects.

You were asked by the blonde about your own gig, while he was away you prepared to appear on the West End production of Les Mis as Eponine (at last!), which was a big accomplishment since landing the role of “whore number 2” was your usual best when auditioning for the production in past seasons, but on this one...yeah, on this one you had worked your ass - or better put: your vocal chords with your vocal coach during the break to help you improve your technique and support higher notes with as much power as you usually could. The role of Eponine was in the bag, your coach said it himself, and when Ben got the news from you he was so proud he could not help but brag about your talents with his cast members in the midst of shooting.

Ben heard everything about your first rehearsal and how you were bored out of your mind when you had to give the book by Victor Hugo a read (again) in order to get a better understanding of your role on the play.

Once you started talking about the other cast members you reached a large building with wide windows around the front. A snort escaped you and Ben turned his face to grin at you.

“Care to come?” He extended his arm and opened one of the double doors for you, allowing you in as you rolled your eyes and twisted your tongue inside your mouth with great amusement. “I thought you’d like it here.”

Ben’s sweetness had been evident all day, he had been the most thoughtful man! His hands gripped on your waist as you walked in front of him, and he followed with a happiness that he could only ever achieve while being with you, his best friend, confidant, and not least importantly: lover. It bothered him sometimes that other men stared at you, or even went as much as to stare you up and down while he was around, so he made sure you were secured in his arms at most times.

“You’re tickling me!” You complained about a playful tone to your voice. “I like this booth, come on!”

Ben sat across from you and the two of you smiled at each other without saying a word for a moment. The place was decorated in a retro style like an American diner brought back from the ’20s. The black and white tiles on the floor, the thick frames all over the walls… it all seemed casual and relaxed, you did not need more than a second to love the place, although it was a bit far from where you lived.

“Love, I can’t live like this anymore,” Ben shook his head with a line forming between his brows, suddenly you felt your heart drop.

“What?”

“You are thirty minutes away from me when you should be at arm's length -at most!” He complained.

You processed his words so slowly you could almost hear the dial-up sound coming from your head.

Ben held your hands in his, smiling.

“Just move in with me already?” He cocked a brow, pleading with his eyes.

You looked at the menu on the side of the table and pouted.

“Maybe if you help me finish a large order of fries and…” you paused for dramatic effect as you cocked a brow at him, “a milkshake.”

Ben bit his lip and stared at you before re-adjusting himself on his seat and nodding.

“I’d finish a half-pound burger for you, but if that’ll do?” He looked away in search of a waitress and put his arm out to call her to your table, “it’s game on!”

“Actually...I want to add the half-pounder pretty boy, see how you handle that.” You played along.

Ben winked at you, of course, it was not the best meal to keep Ben’s “Angel” body, his coach would kill him when he found out Ben had eaten this kind of food, but God Bless him...he deserved a treat and what was the point of coming to such a nice place if you were going to get a water and a salad?

Tuning out Ben’s conversation with the waitress you only managed to catch him asking for two straws on your milkshake and a glass of water for each.

“This place is wonderful, Lucy had us all come here for her birthday, you’re gonna love their cake and -”

“Hey, Ben?” You nodded at his words but wanted to tell him something real quick. He stopped talking and hummed as a positive response. “you know I will move in with you, right?”

“Of course, I know!” Ben shrugged with a look of cockiness. “Cause you love me. ANNND, I’ve got you wrapped around my finger!” He made a gesture with his hand, rolling his index in the air with a smug grin.

“Oh!” You rolled your eyes, “no, no, no, no! Don’t get it twisted Hardy!” You shook your head and leaned forward and halfway across the table, “I am the one accepting this deal!”

Ben huffed and turned his head to the side, looking around for a second before he licked his lips and leaned across the table too.

“But I am the one punching way above my weight!” He stared you in the eyes. “I mean look at yourself! I’m dating freaking Eponine? What’s next, the Witch of the West?”

You pouted to try and hide your smile.

“I am the one sitting over here with the unofficially adopted son of a rock legend.” You argued, “besides, your career is taking off! I am shocked you even speak to me still…” You put a hand on your chest over your heart.

Ben let out air through his lips and rolled his eyes.

“Drama queen.” He muttered.

“Takes one to know one.” You said equally low.

The two of you gave each other serious stares for a moment before you leant forward and delivered a peck to the tip of his nose.

“Love ya.” You mumbled, Ben’s hand cupped your cheek in an instant ready to put an actual kiss on your lips, although he knew it would only leave him wanting more. Much more.

“Ditto.”

#ben hardy #requested #requests #ben hardy imagine #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy fluff #ben hardy x you #summer lovin'

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albuspottrss · 4 years

Text

Feb 16th Hpcc recap part one!

So many covers! Lola!Myrtle, Tom Gilbey!Draco, Jim Fish! Harry, Lucy!Delphi, Rosie! Umbridge, Sinead!Polly, Duncan! Yann

Act one notes

You know it’s going to be a great show when the first note you’ve written is “I love Gordon’s jacket!”

Dombus has the most massive grin on his face at the prospect of being on the platform he’s just so full of utter delight to be there and it’s adorable

JSP kept whispering into lily lunas ear during Albus and Harrys scene on the platform 🥺🥺

JSP gave his mum a kiss on the cheek and then had some banter with his dad as he nearly ran into him

Fish! Harry had a right chuckle at the idea of Ginny being in slytherin

Scorpius is sat reading his book with such a grin on his face, he’s so into whatever he’s reading, he looks up to see Karl and tries to make a friend, has the second of heartbreak when he runs away and then heads back to his book, as if he completly expected to be treated like it :(

Throughout Scorpius explaining his parents, Albus keeps opening his mouth as if he wants to say something to him and make sure he’s okay, then on the “father son issues, I’ve got them” the recognition in Albus’s face is everything!!he sees himself in that line

During his sorting Scorpius was definitely murmuring something that looked a bit like “please” and then looked elated when he got into slytherin, Ronnie and Gordon were going mental jumping up and down to welcome him in

Karl ran right into Madam Hooch they proper smacked into each other and it was hilarious

Karl was jabbing Albus with his broom as he teased him

Karl getting signed on the platform by Harry let out the biggest shriek of EEEEEEEE

There was a big Potter bro play fight on the platform bless them

Yolly walked past as Draco was talking about the rumours and the nastiness of the hogwarts students, and Draco properly death stared at them, he was just so angry that the people at Hogwarts were so mean to his poor son.

Yann responded to this by screaming “AHHHH” and the pair of them ran away

Albus is so pleased with himself that he got incendio right, that boy just loves magic so much 🥺

The way Al says “of course” in response to “come to the funeral” is so utterly heartbreaking, he’s so sad for his best friend and sees it as a given that he’ll be there

At the start of wand dance Albus nearly got woooshed by the teachers spell bc he was so close

JSP was supportively shouting at Albus and slowing down to look out for him!

Lola!Ravenclaw girl was so happy she was the first one to get the spell “I did it! Ahahah!!” Whilst jumping up and down

Fish!Harry had such a wonderful dynamic with Hermione in the Office scene! They were bouncing off each other and constantly making the other laugh, after “it’ll go with the scar” Harry did the loudest “ HA HA HA HA”

For “no longer chaotic” he had the biggest grin on his face and put on his poshest voice whilst holding onto his wand at both ends.

Harry really seemed so invested in how Hugo was doing, he had the most genuine voice asking the question and reached his hand out across the table towards Hermione.

Ronnie cloak swished so hard bringing the table off that his hood went up

When Amos mentions Cedric Harrys face fell so much, he still feels so responsible and it destroys him

Lucy!Delphi very matter of factly went “I’m a theif” and did a cute little head tilt before pointing her wand at Albus aggressively

She’s so expressive it’s adorable and she constantly uses her hands

On the “once great Harry Potter” line fish!harry nodded very awkwardly, Harry was clearly so uncomfortable in the situation

Albus lights up when he sees his brother with pink hair and starts giggling, he has a puzzled look on his face when he sees the wings trying to figure out what they are but once he’s worked it out he just looks so happy because his sister is simply overjoyed by them and her happiness is infectious.

Fish!Harry gritted his teeth as if it was painful to think about his poor mum and clasped his hands together moving closer to Albus’s face to say “I think she would have wanted you to have it too”

“I used to LOVE packing” Harry is just desperate to find a way to chat to his son bless his heart and he sounded so enthusiastic about it but awkward at the same time

On *that* blanket scene line Harry punches his hand down, he was so angry, and then the regret of what he said started to crawl over his face and it was so painful, Albus sounds so broken on the “you meant it dad” his voice fully cracked

Craig as Dudley was absolutely hilarious today, he screamed “LOOK AT HIM” when he saw Hagrid and put his hands over his mouth and then fully fell over onto his stomach on the floor.

Dudley kept peering out from under the pillars of the staircase, whenever the word magic was mentioned Rosie!Petunia would cover his ears, when yer a wizard happened, Dudley stuck his head out as far as possible, and then Petunia stuck her arms out a bit too late and had to stretch super far to cover his ears

Fish as Harry seemed to me like he had all this hatred for Dumbledore, he said the line in the bedroom with ginny so sarcastically, as if he knew it was a fucked up thing for Dumbledore to say to a child

On the first train hug Scorpius flailed about but then tried to go back into the hug

The trolley witch missed JSPs compartment and he was very frustrated and distraught that she skipped him and was sort of aggressively waving out for her to come back

Albus tries to shove Scorpius up onto the train roof but gets fed up and goes first, Scorpius hurriedly follows after him, he doesn’t want to be left behind, and his legs were flailing about as he was getting up.

On the rebel line Scorpius did some jazz hands.

Scorpius is just so sweet and polite he tries to maintain eye contact and smile and nod along with what the trolley witch is saying even though she’s probs very terrifying to him at that point in time, what a good egg

In the EGM Susan was giggling so much at Draco’s sass and was absolutely living for the dramaaaa

Craig in St Oswalds was brilliant, “oh no” as he saw the old witches and wizards approaching and then “how are ya Susan? Did you enjoy Bessys birthday party?!” (At that point I died on the spot, I have the best friends ever for making that happen and now there is an offical character in CC canon named Bessy)

Albus tried to have a convo with Craig as he ran by in st Oswalds but there was just to much chaos

Scorpius always tries to protect Albus he keeps putting his arms around him to keep him safe, they stand so close to one another 🥺

“It’s going to be dangerous” “we know” Albus has the biggest grin on his face that boy loves the idea of an adventure

“I’ve heard it tastes of fish” Albus takes a big sniff trying to check it out for his friend and seeing if it does

Jons!Scorpius polyjuice transformations are just getting more and more extra and I live for themmmm, he was sticking his tounge out and fully shaking and going “vvvvvvvvvvdhdjdgyd”

Fish as Scorpius was incredible he had all of Jons mannerisms perfectly and was constantly giggling, especially at himself after telling Albus off he couldn’t stop laughing

Gilbey!Draco was nearly full on crying at “my soul heir” He remained steely and had such a front up for the start of the scene and then the vulnerability shone through :(

The search for hiding places was very dramatic, and then Fish!Scorp was pounding on the door like “LET ME IN” and Tom!Ron was like “ I CANT”

Tom!Albus’s fake vomit after kissing his aunt was wonderfully extra and then he started trying to wipe his mouth on his sleeves

Tom!Albus was completly starfished out over the door to stop hermione getting in!

He was looking desperately around for something to say before finishing with “A HOLIDAY” and then started to kiss Hermiones arms?! 10/10 flirt there

Fish!Harry walked past them both and jumped away like he was scared Ron was going to jump on him next

Fish!Scorp looks so upset about what Albus’s dad has said to him, he cares so much about Albus.

Fish!Scorp was so extra in the best way, “woahhhhhhh” *crouching down, flapping arms in the air*

One of my notes says “Fish crouched like spiderman.” So I’ll leave you all to imagine what that was like, he also at certain points looked like he was attempting the mobot

Fish kept throwing himself on the floor and crawled about then sat down in despair before getting sucked into the bookcase

Act Two

Fish!Harrys hand kept twitching in his sleep and he kept fiddling with his hands, is that where Albus gets it from?!

Lucy!Delphi did a finger gun on wizzo, and was being so encouraging to Albus with the expelliarmus. She stuck her hand up in the air to answer the question- she seems so incredibly dorky, a bit like the boys, you can see the hints of her manipulation how she plays up their traits in herself, to gain their trust

Scorpius speaks to Albus and only really to Al he just tries to ignore the fact that Delphi is also there

Delphi held the durmstrang robes above her head and then chucked them right in Scorpius’s face

The notes you’ve all been waiting for:

Bane.

Adrians neighs are more of a roarrrr than a neigh, they seem incredibly aggressive and quite frankly absolutely terrifying

Edge of the forest was so beautiful yesterday, it literally brought me to tears as soon as the boys emerged. Scorp just looked so happy, he was grinning and doing tiny giggles and even scrunching his nose up, and Albus was so desperate to let his friend know that he’s his best friend 🥺

Triwizard time!

Duncan tapped Ronnie on the shoulder and sent him off back to slytherin.

Craig started spelling out T W T with his hands to a bemused Lola

At least two attempts at a Mexican wave which were 60% successful?!

When Krum was mentioned Craig gave a big thumbs up to Scorp and Albus

Craug was down on his knees with his hands in the air proclaiming “I LOVE YOU FLEUR”’

Craig and Lola were being very sassy to the gryffindors at the mention of Harry, both making Ls with their hands and putting it to their foreheads at them

Ronnie got told off by Snape

“ITS THE DRAGON ITS THE DRAGON” - Lola bouncing up and down

Lola fainted at Cedric and then everyone started laughing whilst Ronnie pointed at her

Craig did his little high kick

Scorp fully throws himself at Albus after he’s hurt from the time turn he’s so scared that Al might be hurt :(

His voice cracked ok the “are you sure you’re okay?”

There seems to be this utter conflict in Fish!Harrys relationship with Dumbledore, he wants to be able to hate him for what he put him through but when the man is there in front of him he cracks, his “i missed you” sounded more like he missed him being around and missed speaking to him rather than like I’ve missed you at your portrait

Albus was sat crossed legged on the bed, and his legs were shaking when talking about hogwarts.

He’s so quick to rush in and defend Scorpius and is so upset that that’s how his dad sees him

When Albus is talking about Ron running a joke shop he’s grinning so hard like he’s reminiscing about all the fun he’s had at said joke shop

Fish!Harry was right up in Scorpius’s face when he walked past and then stood sassily waiting for Albus with his hand on hip.

Fish!Harry said the line “and he may not like me again” so incredibly sadly, it was such a contrast to the anger, he was just so devastated about the relationship with his son

During the whole DADA scene Lola and Craig were living for the gossip and kept turning to look at each other and then glare at Albus

In staircase ballet, Albus kept opening his mouth to try and say something, and did actually mouth a few words but I couldn’t make out what it was :(

Scorp always smiles at Albus whenever he sees him on the stairs, Scorpius still has that hope that maybe this time he won’t ignore him, when he’s sat on top of the stairs, and Albus runs through below him, he attempts to reach out through the gap and get to him.

The duel was so amazing, Fish and Gilbey have such an energy to them that is unmatched, Gilbey sassily sat on the table and went “tut tut tut” whilst shaking his finger, and on I wear it better, he reached out and licked his finger before stroking his hair.

When Ginny catches them Fish!Harry fries his best to look less suspicious

and sticks his hands behind his back and looks around the room trying not to meet his wife’s eye.

Delphi appeared so excited to be in hogwarts, she was fully trying to take everything in looking all around and imitating nearly headless nick sticking her neck out to the side.

She plays to his weaknesses so well, telling Scorpius she was ill as a child obviously evokes a lot of sympathy from him because of Astorias illness and it’s so easy to see how he was manipulated into trusting her since he sees his sickly mum in her.

Delphi is so fed up of Scorp not being able to see how much Albus needs him she was like “Scorpius NOoooOo” and rolled her eyes at the shoulder to cry on because he wasn’t getting it

During Dracos monologue He seemed like he was full on about to sob, he could barely say Astorias name without breaking down, his family is the one thing that can break down his icey barriers.

Mcgonagall fully starfished over the exit so that the boys wouldn’t be able to escape in the library scene.

When talking about Scorpius being kind from the tips of his fingers, Albus grabbed his own fingers to emphasis what he was trying to say

“That’s a nice thing to say” Scorpius reaches across and placed his hand on Albus’s knee

Scorpius came in very close to Albus as he said “I didn’t much like my life without you in it either” and his voice was all shaky like he was about to cry because he had missed his best friend so much

The new sparkly surprise was so cute, Albus lifted one hand as if it was a firework being launched into the sky, and then did three little firework explosions each complete with its own little pewwwww

When talking about making cedric larger, Albus lifted his arms out from him to mime something growing bigger

Lola!myrtle:

-> “do I moan?!” she spun her head around and kicked her legs up whilst pouting.

-> she leaned back and when talking about being partial to a Potter did a little upside down wave at a very taken a back Albus

-> C E D R I C D I G GORY - her way of saying cedric Diggory was absolutely hilarious

-> “waaaaaaaaaa” *albus rushes forward to say something else*

*does a very sassy stop right there hand motion*

“Excuse me, I’m crying” * returns back to wailing*

-> she waved Albus down the sink and then stuck her leg out across the top to prevent Scorpius from following him right away and stuck her face close to his whilst saying “I do like braveeeee boysssss”

-> the adults on their way in “uH oH” sticks hands over face like she’s playing peekaboo

-> she then proceeded to make kissing pouts at Harry

I love how in the lake Albus decides that although there’s a 5 min rule with the time turner he’s got plenty of time for a couple of underwater backflips

Scorpius is so elated when he gets out of the lake he’s so pleased he thinks everything is fixed so his first shout of Albus is all bubbly and then it slowly gets more and more panicked until he’s completely desperate and realises he’s all alone

Rosie!Umbridge put her hand on heart after mentioning Potters death, and then did some sassy hand on the hip action for “we bravely overthrew”

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minetteenfers · 5 years

Text

Marichat May Day 3: Kittens

Marinette sat in her craft room working on a new dress for Emma. She loved making her kittens clothing and she always loved to design them with them. She would often make sketches with them beside her, watching her work on it. Emma had requested a dress that was a version of her father’s Chat suit. She loved her daddy more than anything in the world and Marinette had given up on being hurt by it years ago. Emma was always a daddy’s girl and that always brought a smile to her face.

She sat beside her with the two boys running around them, sword fighting. Their house was hardly ever quiet. Quiet just wasn’t a thing there. “How about we add the bell here?” Marinette drew the bell on the middle of the collar as a zipper pull like her husband’s. “Is that okay?” She smiled over at Emma and watched her eagerly nod.

Hugo and Louis jumped up on the couch and hit their swords against one another, screaming. Marinette rolled her eyes and grabbed one of the swords, without looking, to stop them. “Alright, outside. Both of you. I don’t need you sword fighting around me and Emma.”

“You heard the lady.” Chat chimed in as he crawled through the window and Marinette watched Emma jump off the couch and run towards him.

“DADDY!!!” Emma held her hands out and he crouched down to catch her.

He made a groan as she slammed into him. He chuckled as he stood up with her in his arms. “How’s my favorite, Princess?” He poked her on the nose and she giggled.

“Mommy is making me a new dress and it’s gonna look like a kitty. Just like daddy.” Emma raised her hands in the air with excitement as Marinette let the sword go.

The boys ran outside and she sighed as she leaned back to watch how Emma snuggled against Chat’s leather suit. “She really does love you, Minou.” Marinette set her sketchbook beside her hips. “And so do the boys. If they weren’t distracted right now.” She rolled her eyes and Chat laughed at the whole thing.

“They’re older and independant. They used to be so in love with their mother. Now they’re grown up.” Chat sighed as he walked over with Emma to sit beside her. He leaned in and kissed her cheek. “And how is my favorite girl?”

Emma sprang away from him with her hands on his chest as she glared at him with a pout. “I thought I was your favorite girl?”

Chat chuckled and kissed Emma’s cheek. “You are my favorite little girl. Momma used to be my princess. Now, she’s my queen. One day you’ll be a queen too for some lucky man, kitten.” Chat warmly smiled at her and her eyes sparked with wonder.

Marinette giggled and shook her head as she watched the love that Emma had for him.

“I hope… that my future prince is like you, Daddy.” Emma jumped up to wrap her arms around his neck.

Chat looked over at Marinette and shrugged at her. She burst out laughing harder. “I’m sure you’ll find the right prince for you.” Marinette smiled at Chat and winked at him.

“And right now this kitty wants to spend some time with his girl. Why don’t you go play with your brothers.” Chat placed Emma on the ground and she ran off to play with the others.

Marinette leaned her elbow on the back of the couch and stared at him with an interested expression. “Well… what were you out doing while I had three kittens running around me?”

“Oh you know…” Chat peered off to the side and unzipped one of his pockets. Marinette’s gaze went down to his hand as he held something out to her. “Just running an errand for a very busy Princess that forgets about herself often.”

“Chat- I mean Adrien. This is- this is too much, kitty.” She gasped as she took the velvet box from him. Marinette opened it to reveal a thin platinum band with a pattern of rubies and black diamonds around it.

“Nothing is too much for my Purrincess.” Chat leaned towards her and captured her lips with his own soft ones.

“You spoil me.” Marinette smirked as he pulled away from her.

“Here.” Chat took the box and pulled the ring out, taking her left hand in his. Tears filled her eyes as he slowly slipped the band beneath her engagement ring and wedding band. He brought her knuckles to his lips and peered into her sapphire eyes. “You spoil me by existing, M’Lady. My world revolves because of you.”

“Stop….” Marinette giggled and shoved him away by his shoulder, causing him to laugh. “Still as flirty as the day I fell on you.”

“Literally.” Chat rolled his eyes and laughed at her. “And you’re just as beautiful and stubborn.”

Marinette burst out laughing as Hugo ran into the room, crying. “Louis hit me….”

She sighed as their son whined and heard Louis’s voice trailing in through the doorway. “NOT UH… He’s lying! Don’t you believe me….”

“I got this, bugaboo. You go do what you want to.” Chat touched her shoulder and she nodded as she picked up her sketchbook to go start on the dress for Emma.

Chat cleared his throat and turned his attention to the boys. “Louis! Get in here!”

“WHAT? It was Hugo’s fault!” Louis crossed his arms and pouted as he stood in the doorway.

“I want two paws planted in front of me, please.” Chat made his voice stern and pointed a clawed finger in front of himself. He heard Louis groan and stomp over to him. “Don’t stomp your feet. Just come here a moment. We’re gonna talk this out.”

Hugo stood still with his arms crossed in front of him and sniffed. “He’s the one lying dad!”

“Ah! I don’t want to hear it. One at a time.” Chat raised a finger once both boys stood in front of him. “Hugo, you can go first because you came in here first.”

“What’s the point he’s gonna lie.” Louis spoke under his breath in a clipped tone.

“I AM NOT!” Hugo burst out with his fists clenched at his sides.

“Louis… you can sit right there and listen quietly.” Chat pointed at a chair across the room and watched Louis storm off towards it. He took a deep breath and turned his attention back to Hugo. “Alright, Hugo. What happened?”

“We were sword fighting and-” Hugo began, but Louis was quick to interrupt him.

“WE WERE NOT….” Louis burst the words past his lips and Chat gave him a stern expression.

“If you can’t sit quietly, I’ll bring mom in here!” Chat threatened and Louis stopped talking. He lowered his voice and focused on Hugo once again. “Thought so. Now, go on Hugo.”

“We were sword fighting and he took his sword… and… and… he hit me in the head with it…. And I fell down… and then he started punching me….” Hugo whined and rubbed his eyes with the backs of his hands.

“Come here.” Chat pulled Hugo close and hugged him. He looked up at Louis and sighed, “Alright, you may talk now.”

Louis ran towards his father and began to plead with him. “I didn’t do it…. He’s lying…. I was- I was hitting his sword and missed. I didn’t mean to hit him. It was an accident, dad. I swear!” Tears began to roll down his cheeks. “Don’t- don’t you believe me?”

Chat sighed and set Hugo on one thigh and gestured for Louis to sit on his other one. “Look, I didn’t see what happened between you two, but I do know that hitting isn’t nice. Regardless if it was an accident or not. You need to apologize to him. And what did we teach you two? The one rule we have when playing with staffs or swords is…” He looked at each of them and waited for them to answer.

“Only hit sticks with sticks.” Both the boys spoke in unison and Chat nodded.

“Exactly. So, that being said. What do you need to do Louis?” Chat stared at his son with a raised eyebrow and watched Louis worry his bottom lip.

“I’m sorry, Hugo.” Louis sighed and Hugo sniffed with a nod.

“It’s okay.” Hugo wiped his nose with the back of his hand.

“Alright, pound it and go back to playing. Nicely please.” Chat sighed and watched the two boys hit fists. He set them free and they ran off to play again.

Marinette walked back in and leaned on the door frame with a smirk. Chat peered over his shoulder. “How long were you listening?”

“Long enough. Nice touch with the I’ll get mom.” Marinette giggled and he rolled his eyes at himself.

“They’re a handful.” Chat groaned as he let his head rest against the back of the couch. He peered at her and watched her walk towards him.

She ran her hands through his hair and he closed his eyes to purr as she leaned closer to him, pressing her lips to his in an upside down kiss. Marinette broke the kiss to giggle at him as he slowly opened his emerald cat eyes to peer into her sapphire ones. “A lot like a man I know, who happens to be sitting in a cat outfit on my couch.”

Chat laughed and dropped transformation, leaving Adrien in his wake. “What about now?”

Marinette thought for a moment, peering off to the side. “Mmm…. nope still the same… ornery man.”

Adrien laughed and twisted to yank her onto the couch and into his lap. “Same… silly girl.”

Marinette rolled her eyes and grabbed his face to pull him down to kiss her. “I think I prefer my kitty.”

Adrien gasped at her and transformed back to Chat Noir. “I can make that happen.”

“Only if you catch me first.” She pushed him away and began to run through the house from him.

Emma screamed and joined in, running from her father. Hugo and Louis began to chase after Chat. Screams and laughter erupted through the house as Chat caught up to Marinette, tickling her sides until she fell to the ground with him.

“Get her…” Chat laughed as the kids began to tickle her with him.

“Stop! Stop!” Marinette gasped as she grabbed her sides and shielded herself from the tickles. “Get Daddy!”

The kids turned on Chat and began to tickle him, causing him to stop tickling Marinette. She joined in and giggled until her insides hurt and her lungs ran out of air. She loved her family, as much as, he did. Nothing could separate them.

@marichatmay

Song I wrote this to:

youtube

#Marichat May 2019 #Marichat May #Day 3 #Kittens #Miraculous Ladybug #Chat Noir #Marinette Dupain Cheng

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noodlecupcakes · 5 years

Text

Nothing More Contagious Than Laughter - Chapter 23

Warnings: Smut, Sex, Oral sex, Language, Arkham antics, Threats, Emerald not taking Hugo Strange's shit, And my poor writing again :D

Shout at me if you want to be added to the taglist :D

Please reblog your writer friends work, Tumblr hates artists

Chapter 23

Emerald’s P.O.V

After that night we had murdered Galavan, Oswald decided we should take a holiday and get out of Gotham for a little while. A well-deserved break for the both of us. Oswald had taken us to Paris, the world’s most romantic city. One week down and one week left. Oswald took me out for dinner each night, complete with various gifts and romantic gestures. I decided tonight was the night I was going to whip out the black lingerie I had brought with me. I was ready for this. Oswald was currently out getting us more wine so I undressed and put the underwear on, complete with stockings.

I positioned myself on the bed in a seductive pose, propping myself up on my side facing the door and waited. Oswald soon returned carrying a bottle of wine, which he almost dropped when he saw me. I smiled and patted the space on the bed next to me. He put the bottle down and hopped up on to the bed. I pulled him closer, kissing him softly at first. The kisses soon become more heated and Oswald pulled me on top of him, his hands roaming my body. He pulled away from the kiss and held me at arm’s length, looking into my eyes. “Are you sure?” He asked. “I am. I want this, I want you.”

With that Oswald pulled me down for another kiss, his fingers in my hair. Oswald soon rolled us over so that he was pinning me down. He mapped out every inch of my body with his hands and lips, assessing my reactions to see what spots made me moan and gasp. He placed kisses across my neck and collar bones before making his way down to my chest. I arched my back so I could unclasp my bra, removing the lacy material. Oswald took my breasts in his hands, squeezing them gently before taking a nipple between his teeth. I moaned softly, closing my eyes at the pleasure.

Oswald seemed to enjoy taking his time, working me in to a state that wanted more and more. His entire focus was on me and he didn’t seem to worry about his own pleasure at the moment. He continued his descent with his lips until he reached my panties. I lifted my hips to help him take them off. He parted my legs a little, placing feather light kisses on my thighs. I was gripping the sheets, my mind and body screaming at him to get on with it. I needed to feel his tongue. My chest rose and fell quickly as he still kept me waiting.

Finally, his tongue flicked out and connected with my clit. I let out a moan, my fingers in his hair pushing him closer to where I needed him the most. He smiled before continuing. His hands gripped my legs, keeping them open as he continued to gorge himself. I was a panting, whimpering mess, my hips bucking and begging for more. Too soon for my liking he stopped and kissed his way back up to my lips. I began pulling off his clothes until we were both fully naked apart from my stockings of course.

Oswald slowly pushed his way inside me, both of us moaning at the feeling. He began a slow, gentle pace, pressing his forehead to mine. I wrapped my arms and legs around him, pulling him closer. I moaned softly and captured his lips with mine once more. Oswald winced and I knew his legs must be playing up. I smiled kindly and carefully rolled us over so that I was on top instead. I started a faster pace, lacing my fingers with his and using this as leverage to keep my pace.

Oswald relaxed into the sheets, moaning my name as I continued to ride him. His hands went to my hips, as he matched my pace. It had been months since someone had touched me and I craved this attention. I leaned down, our lips connecting while Oswald pulled my hips down flush against his over and over. I moaned into his mouth. It was clear that Oswald was a lover instead of a fucker, the tender touches and kisses gave it away. I was already getting close to my peak, the louder moans giving it away.

Oswald continued the pace, kissing my neck and kneading my breasts until I finally reached my end, gasping and going stiff, my eyebrows knitting together. Oswald then reached his letting out a loud moan. I rolled off him and lay back before he pulled me into his arms. We stayed like this for a little while in comfortable silence while Oswald stroked my hair. “You know what will happen when we go back don’t you?” He asked. “They’ll arrest us and we’ll plead insane and go to Arkham. It’s nothing to worry about Oswald trust me. I’ve been there, it’s not that bad, the inmates pretty much run the place as it is and you’ll have me to look after you,” I said, reassuring him the best I could.

He forced a smile, I could tell it still worried him. We just had to pretend to be sane long enough for the stupid shrink to let us out. “The only thing you need to worry about is the food,” I smiled. He chuckled and kissed my cheek, “as long as you’re with me through all this.” “I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”

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Sure enough upon re-entering Gotham the cops arrested us and carted us off to Arkham. This place was going to end up like a second home to me I’m sure of it. I was handed the same black and white uniform and shoved into a cell. I changed into the clothes and sat down on the creaky bed. I smiled to myself. Everything was fine so far. Upon dinner time I was led to the rec room, a tray of food being placed in front of me. I spotted Oswald who looked lost and motioned for him to come over. He smiled and sat with me.

Oswald didn’t like the fact some of the other inmates were already making fun of him. They were just batshit crazy, they wouldn’t do anything. Oswald didn’t see it like that though, he saw it as an invitation to make his importance known to the whole damn room. I hid my face in my hands. He needed to learn that you cannot threaten or intimidate a crazy. The inmates sat there in stunned silence before they began mimicking him once more. The only way you can stop a crazy is by showing them who was more crazy. I locked eyes with one and growled, making them soon shut up.

I took Oswald’s hand in mine and explained my logic to him. He still didn’t seem to get it. I continued to eat my dinner, doing my best to get Oswald to ignore the crazies. He was still clearly upset, looking defeated. “Look, I know this is the last place you want to be, you’re not used to a life like this away from luxury but this is your life for now and you gotta accept that or things will get worse. The more you resist or provoke others the worse it gets. I’m your expert follow my damn lead,” I explained. “You make me sound like a pompous ass.” “That’s because you're acting like one. In here there is no king-“

My attention was averted to a male watching us through the mesh gate. Bald with a beard and round glasses. He was clearly of Asian descent. I didn’t like the look of him, something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. He began talking to a dark skinned older woman with bright pink lipstick and a silk top to match. A guard came over to me and pulled me out of my seat. I growled but knew it was best not to struggle. Comply or else you end up in the damn chair.

The guard led me down a set of corridors and into an office. They stood with me until the bald guy showed up and sat down at his desk. I read the plaque ‘Doctor Hugo Strange’. What a quaint name he had. He motioned for the guard to leave and then offered me tea. I raised an eyebrow, so either he was stupid or could defend himself. Let’s hope he was stupid. “Sorry to pull you out of dinner like that, but I was hoping for us to get to know each other a little better,” he spoke. “You could have waited till after dinner or anytime between meals. I got plenty of free time on my hands.”

He smiled, “I’m Doctor Strange-“ “I can read thanks.” He raised an eyebrow and I motioned to the plague on his desk. “Now what would you like to know? How stupid you are putting yourself in a room with a dangerous criminal?” I asked. “You won’t hurt me Emerald-“ “Wanna bet?” “If you were to do that I could make your stay...difficult.” “A lot of men have said that to me.”

Strange sighed and placed a cup of tea in front of me. I ignored the gesture, maybe I would throw it at him instead. “I wanted you to know that I will be helping you with your recovery and I think it would be in your best interest to comply with my methods,” he spoke. I yawned, “that’s nice. Good luck with the recovery. You're gonna need it.” “I’m not one for threats Emerald.” I laughed at this, “you think you're scary mister? I’ve seen scary and you haven’t got his smile.”

Strange smiled at this before taking a sip of his tea, “you're referring to the late Jerome Valeska I assume.” “The one and only.” “I would have loved the chance to meet him.” “So would have a lot of people. Now can I go back to my dinner? This ‘meeting’ seems a little pointless to me.” He sighed, “the next one you won’t find so ‘pointless’ I can assure you.” I got to my feet and left his office, the guard taking me back to dinner or what was left of it. Great now it was cold and that made it only taste worse. Oswald looked a little concerned, “well what did he want?” “Oh it's nothing, just another doctor that thinks they can cure crazy. Nothing to worry about.”

Taglist: @belathora, @my-world-of-imagines, @genevievedarcygranger, @warriorqueen1991, @suicidesqwads, @maddybeck01, @musicalcoffeebean, @neganismyobsession, @emoryhemsworth, @just--a--nobody-here

#gotham #gotham fic #gotham fanfic #gotham fanfiction #gotham feels #gotham fluff #gotham smut #gotham angst #Oswald Cobblepot #oswaldxoc #oswald cobblepot smut

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theabominableblogger · 5 years

Text

My Reaction to “Gotham” S5E2

In Which Harvey Continues to be the Best Goddamn Thing in This Show

I was a lucky son of a duck and managed to get this reaction while the episode was airing live on FOX last night. For episodes 3-12, I will be waiting for Hulu to receive them because of an upcoming spring semester at college. So for episodes 3-12, I will be in the dark until Friday or Saturday (so no spoilers from y’all).

Also, on TV, there are so many GOD. DAMN. COMMERCIALS.

AN: I managed to record my reactions to this episode and hopefully I can transcribe what I said into this post.

*Recaps shows the chopper* OK, so who freakin’ shot down the chopper?

Oh, Tabitha...

*We see a whole bunch of injuries on Will’s back* What the...

“They call themselves the Soothsayers.” The Sooth- what?

“They’re digging some sort of tunnel.” *gasps and reels back* It’s Jeremiah! ‘Cause he has a tunnel! Oh my God!

What’s the tunnel for?

OK, never mind then, I don’t think Jeremiah’s in charge of the Soothsayers

“The second you [Jim] step outside that door, someone’s gonna take a shot at you, and if it’s not you that’s getting hit, it’s the schmoe standing next to you.” *laughs*

*Jim hangs up on the radio* Who’s on the other end?

“Four shells each. Half a mag each.” Wow.

“Will says the Soothsayers are here, which means we have to pass through Sirens territory.” Ooh.

“She’s [Barbara] gonna be thrilled to see you [Jim] after what happened with Tabitha.” Ooooff...

Wait, so is the Dark Zone like around Gotham? At the docks or...

What?

So this is Robinson Park, OK... so this is where Ivy is.

Oh, these sets look nice. Getting some serious Arkham Knight flashbacks.

Swore I just saw someone move in the background...

*Bruce catches a guy trying to sneak up on him* Yeah.

“They came for help too!” What district are they from? Why are they British?

*jams along with opening theme*

*silently headbangs to heavy metal cover of "Ring of Fire” by Social Distortion playing in Barbara’s club*

*Everyone stops dancing when Jim arrives* Oooohhhh... ooohh hoo hoo hoooo...

“It’s a police matter.” “You know, they should really write that on your tombstone.” *laughs*

“Drive right into this nightmare you’ve created.” Actually it’s Jeremiah... kay...

“HAVE AT HIM! RIP HIM TO SHREDS!” Ooof.

*Panning shot of an absolute dark Gotham* Oh my God.

*laughs* There’s just this one random burst fire hydrant!

So is this whole episode gonna be them [Jim and Harvey] fighting their way out of the Dark Zone?

*jaw drops when someone shoots an arrow at Harvey*

“It’s a freaking arrow, Jim! IT’S A FREAKING ARROW!” *scoffs in shock*

Whooooo I remember her [the Day of the Dead lady] from the trailers!

Yeah, that’s the same... freaking tunnel

“The smoke... you [Gabriel] should take it.” No.

“It’ll give you energy-” Oh my God, is that Viper? Is that Viper from S1?

“-see the future.” What?

Or does Jeremiah shanghai this whole tunnel later this season?

“Once this tunnel is complete, we will have exclusive access to the mainlands.” Oh my God, they are going to the mainland!

God, that guy [Sykes] just spit everywhere!

Sykes? Isn’t that the bad guy from Oliver and Company?

“In Penguin’s grace, we will remain.” Ohh, that’s a good line.

“What are the cattle prods for?” “Fun.” *scoffs in hilarity*

“If he [Sykes] moves, kill him.” Oh ho! Jim’s not messin’ around!

Yeah, that’s that same tunnel that Jeremiah [and Ecco] are in in some of those pictures.

AN: Take a shot every time I mention the damn tunnel.

So is Gabriel Will’s older brother?

“Why would anyone be a cop in a world like this?” “Well, the Halloween shop was all out of gas masks so it was either this or Sexy Nurse.” *reels back in chair from laughter*

“Let take ‘im, boys.” CHEESE IT, BOYS!

*Sykes and his men try to take the kids* Oh no.

*Jim comes to the rescue* Yay.

*One of the car tires get shot* Ooohhh...

*Commercials start* OK... OK... so... what?

Wait, so is Jeremiah gonna leave for the mainland? Like “Syke, I’m gonna get out of here!”

Noo... because his mission is Bruce so I don’t think he even wants to leave Gotham. It’s the whole “I don’t wanna kill you! What would I do without you?” mantra going on.

Whaaaaaatt...

What is she [Ivy] wearing?

“You have to believe me.” “Forgive me if I find it hard to do so.” COLD.

“It wasn’t me. It was the park.” *in unison with Bruce* The park?

“The plants are my protection.” ...OK.

“Maybe we can help each other.” Bruce...

TELL HER IT’S SELINA!

“There’s a seed. It’s growing under the oaks. It’s said to have magical qualities. When digested, it goes to the damaged tissue and bone.” A seed?

Wwwhhhhaaaattt?

Ed? Hello? How are you? Where are you? Are you in the library again? Why are sleeping with your glasses on?

What is going on?

That [library] looks like Oswald’s old house [the van Dahl mansion]

Oh my God, are we gonna see Ed peeing?

EEUUGGHHH we don’t need to be seeing this...

Oh my God, there’s someone in the frickin’ [bathtub]...

“There’s nothing there.” *laughs*

Waaaaiit... what’s going on?

[Ed] You’re gonna attack him [the Street Demon] with a toilet plunger! *cackles*

“Did I uh...” *chuckles*

“We’re gonna have to do all this again? Guess so...” *scoffs*

What is that place?

“It’s not safe out there.” No dip, Jim.

“Maybe there’s still good people left in Gotham.” Mmmmmm....

Yeah, you’re [Jim and Harvey] gonna leave three kids there [in the lobby]. All alone. In a strange building. Great.

Harvey, you’re a blessing.

Yeah, you’re gonna leave the three kids there. Right. Great idea. Great idea.

These sets are fabulous.

“Hello?” Blaaggghh! Jump scare!

“GCPD.” Take a shot!

Was that a crow [in the background]?

There’s just a bunch of random folded clothes everywhere.

*Harvey finds the dinner table full of body parts* Oh my God...

Are those teeth?

*Harvey finds a plate of bloody fingers* :0

Oh my God, freaking- they’re freaking cannibals?!?

*gasps when Mother attacks Harvey*

*has to leap out of seat to cool off when commercials start*

Oh wow, I love Sweeney Todd.

*ends up coughing up a lung*

So far, again, this feels like a foundational episode. It’s just like “OK, we gotta work on this, we gotta make sure this is safe,” and yeah.

I wonder if the Jaime Murray character is gonna show up at the end of the episode or something.

AN: You may think that... but no.

I also wanna know what kind of crack these writers were on for this final season. Tze Chun had the good shit; I dunno about the others.

*gasps in disgust when Ed hits the Street Demon in the mouth with a wrench.”

“[Ed] You wanted to know where the Street Demons base was.” Why?

“Aaand you wanted to make sure the boss would be there.” Why?

“OK, how did I [Ed] seem? Was I... confident? Flamboyant? Charisma for days?” *giggles*

“Or was I conserved, kinda repressed, a little nerdy?” *laughs*

Soo... did Hugo combine the two personalities? ‘Cause the pushing up the glasses is a new thing.

*gasps when Ivy kills the men who were holding her.”

“[Bruce] You are so utterly naive.” Oh my God.

“[Selina] She is paralyzed and has lost the will to live.” “Good.” What?!?

“That bitch destroyed the last of the Lazarus Water.” ExCUSe me?!?

“Let her suffer.” Noooo...

You can tell that Peyton List [Ivy] is just wearing a whole bunch of face powder on.

“I am feeding the earth these wretched creatures. It consumes them.” She has lost her freakin’ mind.

*Ivy starts caressing Bruce’s neck* Do not prick his neck.

“Those men you killed were right. You are a witch. A murderous, callous witch.” WHOOOOOOO- oh my God...

Hoo!

“What’s your name?” “I- I can’t remember.” What?

“She found me?” “Who?” “The ghost!” The ghost?

“She makes me call her.. Mother.” *reels back and puts hands in the air* It is Mother and Orphan!

Wait, is that the kid?

*The kid stays behind* It is the kid! That’s Orphan!

Oh my God...

“The lights will make you dizzy. And then you’ll go to sleep.” Oh this is cool..

“Jim, I don’t feel so good.” Wow, I love Infinity War.

Actually no, I hated it. I was sick the first time I saw it.

*gasps when Mother sneaks up behind Jim*

They really do need to put a flashing lights warning on this.

*gasps when Mother fights off Jim and Harvey*

*Harvey tries to leave* There’s an open window! You broke a window! Go through the window!

*looking through the Gotham tag on Tumblr during commercials* Wow, someone wrote some fanfiction quick.

Oh wow, I love Ghost Adventures!

*gasps when Ed and the Street Demon find the Street Demon leader wiped out.”

[Penguin Was HERE] Really?!?

*imitates the guitar riff going off*

*Ivy leads Bruce to the seed* Oh my gosh, that’s so pretty

*Ivy gives Bruce the seed* I ain’t eatin’ that...

“One thing’s for certain... the seed will alter her [Selina] forever.” Great.

“Some say, the darker angels of our mind-” Great.

Also, yay for natural lighting finally in this show. I love it when they use natural lighting in the show. It looks so nice.

“What’s the matter, Bruce? Don’t know if you can trust me?” I don’t trust you.

“I don’t.” “Good. then you’re finally becoming a man.” Ivy, you’re like his age. shut up.

*Ivy sits in one of the low sitting trees* OK, so if the tree branches just grab her and just sink down into the ground, this will be the greatest thing.

“Detective Gordon, your hand’s bleeding.” Uhhh...

*Sykes and his men arrive* Oh my God... monster truck!

“Wait just a minute! Please...” Whoaaa... who are you?

I don’t know who that is. She [the Day of the Dead looking lady] looks cool though.

*commercials start* Who is this? Who are you?

Five bucks: Barbara comes in and saves the day even though she still hates Jim. She hates everybody. She comes in like “I’m just here for the kids, not you.”

Oh noo...

“Did you [Bruce] find the witch?” “It was Ivy.” Great! Alfred’s like “Oh bloody brilliant!”

“What choice do I have?” Bruuuce...

“I want to help Selina as much as you do but Ivy’s a maniacal, cold-hearted killer.” You met her like twice, Alfred!

But true, she is.

“So if Ivy wants to kill me, she can have at it.” Oh my God...

Who wrote this episode? I’m gonna have words.

*Bruce gives Selina the seed* Yeah, you’re gonna shove that down your throat. Great.

Is she gonna chew it?

*Selina starts chewing the seed like a gummie vitamin* OK then...

It’s the Spiderman bite except in fruit form.

*freezes when Selina starts seizing*

“God, what have I [Bruce] done?” *extremely sad face*

“I’ll tell you what! I’ll [Sykes] take his head! And you can have the rest of him!” *scoffs in shock*

*gasps when Jim shoots the Day of the Dead lady*

Is that a monster truck?!?

My sister: Is that a tank?!?

That’s a monster truck!

*both immediately at loss of words when Barbara hops down*

Wow, I love Hot Wheels!

*jaw drops when Jim uses his last bullet to kill Sykes and defend Barbara*

Wow... that just... came out of nowhere!

“Wow. Wasted your last bullet for me. Must be love.” No it is not. Barbara, how dare you say that?

*Barbara tells Jim she wants to kill Penguin.” Great. Great plan.

Wait, you’re gonna invite Barbara to the Green Zone? Yeah, great plan, Jim. Great plan!

*Jim and Co. arrive at the Green Zone* Whoa!

He [Lucius] looks fab!

Wait a minute, is this [the Green Zone] that apartment complex that got blown up in the trailer?!? Are you freaking kidding me?

They’re gonna freaking blow this place up later in the season. God dang it. Who did it and why? Who does it and why?

We stan one future police commissioner.

“See you around, killer. We have some unfinished business, you and I.” Nooo you don’t. Cool off!

Oh crap, is she [Selina] gonna be gone in the morning?!?

Oh my God, Bruce hasn’t slept in like 48 hours?!? Great.

*gasps* She’s [Selina] not there! Did she go out the window?

Did she pull a “Dark Knight Rises” and back flip out the window?

“Bruce...” Oh no.

She [Selina] looks like Michelle Pfeiffer.

“[Selina] How do you feel?” “Different.” Why are her eyes closed? Open yo eyes!

“I’m better. Even better than before in fact.” Mmmmm no!

*Bruce hugs Selina* Yay hug! We like hugs! We like some hugs! Yay!

Oh my God, she’s gonna go on a murdering spree and kill some people, isn’t she?

*Selina’s eyes* WHAAATT the frick?!? Wha-

WhaAAAAttt?!?

*gasps when Ecco pops up in the promo for next episode*

*ejects out of chair to cool off*

AN: Ecco, your man better treat you right or I’m gonna fight him AND the writers.

We’re getting WhaAAAtt??? WHaaaAAT??

Oh my God...

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clarenecessities · 6 years

Text

so. today. i was trying to keep from physical altercations (mostly to stave off the nagging of certain parties, Mom) but that wasn’t always an option.

i showed up a few hours early & joined the protest--someone (whose name i didn’t catch despite teaming up for like 90 minutes) gave me their spare megaphone bc i was “good at heckling” so that passed some time until the rally started & we moved onto noise tactics

the cops apparently learned from their failures on the 3rd, bc the plaza, instead of being roped off, was double-blockaded w traffic barriers. they had one fence between them and PeePee & one (+street) between them and us. so there were no physical altercations (baring one guy in a hawaiian shirt who just walked down the line trying to pick a fight, to baffled laughter) until the marching started

and the shit hit the fan

they got to go in the street, which is bullshit because not only had the cops been playing the same recording for 40 minutes telling us to get out of the street, but on the 3rd they had to stay on the sidewalk. i guess their whole cage set-up didn’t allow them to walk on the sidewalk, but traffic was still going on, you know? anyway, they got perhaps thirty feet & started to turn down an adjacent street, coming within feet of us, so naturally things escalated. people started throwing shit (mostly water bottles) on both sides, there was yelling, scuffling--i was hanging back, but i had a good view of the front line and it was... rough.

so the cops let this go on for about a minute, then start firing something at us with their not-guns. i thought at first it was rubber bullets, because they were clearly aiming to hit us (and when has a cop ever used a rubber bullet properly?) and i got nailed in the foot--my good foot! still mad--and it hurt like hell, but then i heard some coughing. it occurred to me i hadn’t inhaled in a while, so i took an experimental whiff & promptly had to book it because turns out i’d been shot with a pepperball! .... honestly, compared to the bear mace it’s kind of a walk in the park (pun intended). my shoe is super spicy now though :(

so we were forced down a block by the pepper cloud. i helped get a woman with a head injury to a couple of medics, but it was just a cut so i gave a concerned party some of my nitrile gloves & kept going.

a block up, PeePee was starting to come back up towards us. the initial plan was to block off the street, but that didn’t work very well because almost immediately, they charged us. well--the military LARPers did, anyway. if you’ve never been rushed by a bunch of forty year olds in flak vests and american flag capes, i recommend it. shit’s kind of hilarious.

i was still trying to avoid fights, mostly kept to people’s flanks to provide support as we moved down the street. cops set off a whole mess of flashbangs. what the fuck is the tactical point of a flashbang? all it does is get people frenzied. if you’re storming like, someone’s house, sure, but trying to get people not to attack anything? c’mon. anyway. i was watching someone’s back, didn’t actually engage, when this old guy comes up and just shoves me? no preamble, no gesture, just--shove. so i sort of stared at him incredulously for a second, like, are you fucking kidding me?

and uh. i may have. blacked out. a little bit

next thing i knew, i had his flak vest in one hand and his jaw in the other. no conscious memory of moving. i was kind of shocked/bewildered so i didn’t really resist when one of his buddies scooped me off and tossed me down the street. scraped my elbow & my knee but those are my worst injuries of the day so like hey! could definitely be worse.

i’m not gonna lie y’all i’m kinda freaked out about that part. what’s the point of training and shit if my gd PTSD is gonna take over whenever it can? why the fuck did lizard-brain!clare think it was a good idea to just grab a man’s jaw??? might have to avoid combat situations in general instead of just hanging back..... guess my shitty fuckin’ brain didn’t get the memo.

anyway. someone helped me up (by the bag again; why do people think hauling me up by the bag is a good idea?), the cops eventually separated us, and PeePee was forced back down the street, so they moved up another block.

now here, fate smiled upon us. the thing about this area is, there’s a lot of construction. and what do they have at construction scaffolds? barriers! do you see where this is going bc they sure didn’t. we built a barricade. it was amazing. victor hugo’s ghost shed a single tear.

well, so they turned on down and went up another block. some folks in black bloc grabbed a construction cordon and carried it up.

they went up a fourth block. they were moving pretty slowly between the cops and the flag-waving, so we beat them there. we blocked off the street. people threw some more shit--including a recycling bin? like the kind you leave out on your curb? it was incredible. so there were some more flashbangs, some more pepperspray (though fortunately i was across the street from it this time). that’s when the cops declared it a riot, and we were ordered to vacate the area.

PeePee slunk back to the plaza and we regrouped in the restricted zone. We headed back up in a different direction than we’d come, and found that in the interim, the cops had closed the adjoining park.

so it now goes na/zis, barrier, cops, barrier, street, cops, entire park, cops, street, us.

it’s almost as if the cops don’t want the na.zis to get hurt?

kind of a terrible idea, anyway. they wouldn’t let us in the park, but we were still allowed on the sidewalk, so we just walked right by ‘em. PeePee was too scared to march again so there was more waiting around. A cop (Brillard, i believe) yelled at a native woman for conducting a smudging ceremony & told her to go back in the park... which we were banned from. she blessed his family.

eventually the PeePee rally was also declared a riot, and they were ordered to leave the plaza. why they weren’t declared a riot at the same time as the rest of us remains unclear, given that they were the aggressors in all cases of assault (well; battery. i did see a lot of our folks throwin’ shit) and kept trying to stab people with their flagpoles bc the cops had taken their weapons as condition for entry to the plaza. i for one quite like that condition, as it kept me from getting bear maced again (really cannot overemphasize how much i hate bear mace).

they moved to the sidewalk outside of the plaza and proceeded to talk for another forty minutes or so. during this time, our side was pepper sprayed again, for reasons i still don’t understand? we were standing across the street, perfectly peaceful--we literally had our hands in the air. anyway one tall fella was hit in the eye (he was wearing sunglasses, but like damn, that’s not a good place for a pepperball) and i was actually able to do something useful for once. so i helped him flush his eyes & then another person came up and poured straight-up antacid in there?? i just kind of looked at her like ‘hey, why?’ and she told me to rinse it with my water. i showed her where it said ‘L.A.W.’ but i don’t think she knows what L.A.W. is ‘cause i had to explain it wasn’t water. the dude was okay though, he filmed the whole process.

so i dunno maybe i’ll get some better training and focus more on street medic stuff? it did feel nice to help him, and i didn’t black out even a little.

eventually i moved up and around a few blocks to see what was going on--they’d been chanting Rufio (incorrectly) because one of their guys goes by Rufio for some ungodly, un-Basco-sanctioned reason. anyway i guess that guy got arrested.

they were starting to leave by the time i got up there, and there were so few of us that we were actually outnumbered by a couple people (as opposed to our 4:1 odds all day). the cops were standing by but didn’t intervene when PeePee came over to our side of the street and people started getting up in each other’s faces. I for one had an enchanting conversation with a man who doesn’t know how child support works and thinks abortions are worse than the ICE centers, despite his adamant claims that the children there are being r*ped? it was somewhat incoherent, i’m not gonna lie to you. he also tried to stare me down but kept fucking it up. anyway he got pulled away by a shepherding Proud .Boy and they continued to retreat up the block, with our contingency in leisurely pursuit and the cops having moved to the other side of the street.

there’s some speculation based on how they handled today that this was intentional on their part, and not merely incompetence. the two groups were very often put into situations that allowed for physical clashes--sometimes forced into them--and the cops waited an inordinately long time before intervening. if the new policy is “let them fight” i have to say i’m on board, because no fuckin’ way would those cowards show up.

anyway a Proud /Boy punched someone and they retaliated, knocking the PB over. It was just those two hits (followed by some yelling but nothing physical) and the cops swooped on in. well. their flashbang did. once again i’d like to complain that flashbangs are absolutely useless as a riot suppression tactic and in fact actively encourage people to riot? anyway i got hit with some shrapnel in my upper back but idt it broke the skin. i’m mostly just irritated.

the cops walked us down the street, yelling at us the whole time (”move back!” “turn around!” “pay attention!”) but there were only about six of ‘em and perhaps ten of us? so it felt a bit more conversational than usual. the person they were mostly yelling at asked if it was necessary to point a gun at him, and the cop insisted it wasn’t a gun (it was a pepperball “launcher” (cough: gun)) according to “terminology”. when i asked if the yelling was necessary and suggested he use his words, he maintained they were ‘very loud words’. so i gave him shit about terminology. one woman suggested they do their jobs better and a different cop flipped up his visor and yelled “YOU ARE AN ADULT” which was as bewildering as it was hilarious. i think he was trying to suggest we should protect ourselves from the na/zis, but like...... we always have? cops have never fucking protected us. they just sucked at protecting the na.zis today.

anyway they all got on their rented “CHOOL BUS” and puttered on back to vancouver at the end of the day, so a rather anticlimactic finish compared to the 3rd’s waterfront clash.

one guy tried to heckle my phone case? but like, very poorly? and when it didn’t work he started heckling my boobs? like sir... sir..... i don’t care what you think of my fucking boobs? why are you hanging out of a chool bus window to tell me this when you look to be about 57 years old??

all in all, a much more violent event, but i’m much less injured, owing primarily to the hands off approach the cops took. all my injuries this time were a result of my own hubris (and getting thrown down a street i guess, but if we’re being real that one’s on my hubris too) as opposed to being a pinata for a pissy porcine party like i was on the 3rd

i’m not even as sore this time since i’ve been actually exercising this month! i’m basically unstoppable now

#protest shit

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thethespacecoyote · 6 years

Note

Fluffy Xmas Rhysquez -- baking Christmas cookies and/or watching A Muppet Christmas Carol for the third time this month

Day 5 of Requestmas! I hope you like this—it’s just sugary fluff.

Neither Hugo nor Rhys was particularly good at baking—Hugo could cook well and good, while Rhys was just helpless with all things culinary—but at the very least they could follow simple instructions. And considering store-bought cookies just couldn’t hold a candle to the home-made stuff they both remembered from their childhoods, they’d decided to take the plunge and find the most basic recipe for gingerbread and sugar cookies they could find.

Hugo had been worried, especially since he’d once witness Rhys burn grilled cheese to an absolute crisp, but so far the baking was going smoothly. Rhys had managed to get himself splattered only once while he was creaming the butter and sugar together, and before long he had a decently sized ball of dense, oily dough ready to be rolled out into delicious cookies. Soon enough, Hugo had a sticky lump of gingerbread to join it, and they both spent a good couple of minutes picking at the raw dough before popping it in the fridge to chill.

The next hour or so was spend casually making out on the couch to the sound of The Muppets Christmas Carol playing for what was probably the fifth time this season. Before long, Rhys was snickering too much to keep up the kissing and the two settled besides each other to watch. But Hugo grew antsy as his belly started to growl, prompting Rhys to drag him towards the kitchen to cut and bake the cookies.

They had an odd menagerie of cookie cutters cluttering one of the many kitchen drawers, providing many options to shape the dough. They made a couple with more traditional shapes such as gingerbread men and christmas trees and bells, while also opting for some more bizarre alternatives such as cacti, unicorns, and dinosaurs.

“This one is you,” Rhys snarked as he cut a large teddy bear out of gingerbread, nudging Hugo with his hip. His boyfriend snorted, squishing his own cutter into the sheet of sugar cookie dough.

“Oh yeah, well this is you…” Hugo picked the dough away from the intricate snowflake design he’d cut out.

“Wow, really?” Rhys snorted, dabbing Hugo’s nose with flour and getting some in the man’s beard. “You’re so immature.”

“Says the one getting flour all over my face,” Hugo huffed, grabbing Rhys by the waist and smothering his lips with kisses, making sure to get all the flour on his boyfriend as Rhys wiggled and squeaked in faux outrage.

Baking time was spent with a little more hungry kissing before the smell of spice and sugar became too intoxicating to ignore and they just had to pull the cookies out of the oven, unable to wait a moment longer. Rhys nearly burned his tongue popping a gooey sugar cookie into his mouth, chewing the soft, piping hot sweet with a goofy smile on his face.

Hugo, to his credit, waited a couple of minutes before biting the head off a gingerbread reindeer.

They’d bought icing from the store—an open admittance that neither wanted to tackle anything involving whipping egg whites—as well as a variety of food coloring, sprinkles and various candies to decorate their cookies with. They mostly ignored the preexisting Christmas palette and just adorned their cookies with whatever colors they deemed fit. Rhys made almost all of his cookie with bright blue frosting, practically coating the treats with the stuff, while Hugo tried to keep a steady hand and make most of his designs tasteful, but Rhys kept “accidentally” nudging him and causing him to splatter frosting and ruin his beautifully pristine lines.

“Oh please, this isn’t the first time I’ve made you go off early,” Rhys teased when Hugo fixed him in a glare. The bigger man retaliated by squirting frosting over Rhys’ cheek.

“Oh, hmm, now there’s a familiar sight.” Hugo smirked as Rhys spluttered, grabbing a towel to wipe the frosting off of his face.

“Shut up,” Rhys grunted, picking up one of his messily decorate cookies and shoving it into Hugo’s mouth. The man let out a muffled chuckle, a couple crumbs escaping his lips and clinging to his beard.

A couple of cookies got destroyed in the ensuing scuffle, ending up in each other’s mouths or crushed on the floor, but soon enough the couple ending up laughing and kissing, their mouths dusted with sugar and frosting. Now armed with two tall, frosty glasses of milk and a plate piled high with the surviving cookies, they snuggled together on the couch, ready to watch whatever Christmas special was playing next on the TV.

#spacetext #long post #12 Days of Requestmas #fanfic #rhysquez #fluff #tftbl #hyperionhugo

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captainderyn · 6 years

Text

Illusions (2/2)

PART ONE

Title: Illusions

Part: 2/2

Summary: Corellia is never kind to anyone, even those fighting for her freedom. The war for Corellia is reaching it’s peak, one last challenge standing between the resistance forces and Capitol Square. Tensions rise, lives fall apart and Rielay’s still waiting for the punchline to this mess that surely must be a joke.

Word Count: ~8,300

Warnings: Mentions of character death, spoilers for Corellia story quests (if you squint)

**Esrin belongs to @delavairesslegacy

The war may have come to an impasse, three factions too wounded and scattered to deal the final blow, but it wasn’t over. Capitol Square still stood unclaimed, the command center that would be the key inside just out of the grasp of the resistance.

The Republic had gone silent, communication completely severed, the resistance forces too thin to risk another assault against the Empire. The Empire itself too scrambled to play defensive.

Relative peace could only last so long. Empire forces were the first to find their feet, laying waste to an old cantina that served as the main Republic base of diplomacy and strategy. An airstrike with firepower that hadn’t been reported in by their scouts.

How could they hide that much power? They should have known.

Resistance forces could do nothing. They were blind, only able to hear the repeated wail of ‘Republic base decimated, no survivors found’ in every corner of their own decrepit hovel. Then it turned to ‘Civilian survivors trickling in, no reports of military personnel.’ Haggard men and woman, soldiers and civilians, all hushing each other as they huddled around radios filled with static. Some were silent, horror-struck. Their silence was filled with the cries of those with family in that base, maybe brothers or sisters, mothers or fathers, children.

Rielay could still hear it, the words choked out through layers of white noise, even from the other side of the room. It wound through her mind, jumping to the rapid tap of her foot, the bouncing of her knee. Her eyes were fixed firmly on the ground, her hands clenching and unclenching where they rested on her thighs.

No military personnel found. Only a few weeks ago she had been there, she had been with Esrin. Where she had promised to come back and he had promised to stay safe.

He had promised.

“Turn that off or get out of here.” Hugo’s voice cut through the din like a vibroknife, rough and sharp. “Stars we can’t ever catch a break from it.”

Muttered apologies followed the static as it shuffled away.

The silence was a welcome peace and Rielay let out a sigh, hanging her head. Hugo’s footsteps were quiet as he walked over, his exhalation a tired sigh as he eased himself down beside her. When she looked over his face was drawn, hands steepled in front of his eyes like he was trying to blind himself to the world around him.

“It just never ends, does it?” He didn’t sound like he wanted a reply so her gaze returned to her bouncing foot, up and down, up and down, up and-

Her next breath hitched, whistling out in a choked noise.

Bringing a hand up to cover her mouth she sucked in a harsh breath and squeezed her eyes shut. Even then her breath still stutters again into a muffled sob and she scrubbed her hand up to swipe at her eye. It came away slicked with tears. She didn’t try to still them, instead submitting to the raw pain.

Hugo’s hand was gentle when it rested between her shoulder blades, rubbing small circles. His voice was soft; “I’m sorry, Rielay.”

“Rie…lay, you sure you’re okay to do this? I need you in the moment.” Hugo stumbled over an old nickname. Where she might once have winced there was nothing, frown tightening only slightly.

She fiddled with her blasters, voice empty. “Losing Esrin didn’t break my ability to shoot.” Clicking the safety off she glanced at him. “I’ll be fine.”

Fine, a relatively poor word to use between the two of them. Out on a scouting mission for Darth Xin, one weighed down by leadership, one reeling at the loss of the center of her world. Neither with time to grieve for those ripped away from them, neither willing to give up the fight.

“You don’t need to stay.” Her way out offered once again. A reminder that she was only here at his request, not his demand. She smiled grimly, eyes flashing dangerously.

“You kidding me? I’ve got a home to take back and a sith bitch to kill. I’m not leaving until I win or I’m dead.”

Right now the latter seemed more likely than the former. Capitol Square seemed less and less obtainable with each passing day, with each meeting ending in arguments and half-hearted threats.

It only took one set of stinging failures and seven lives lost for the resistance to begin to crumble. It was all the council’s fault and by that, Hugo’s fault they whispered behind their hands. They should have acted on Xin sooner.

They had a whole squadron dead, including a Jedi master, and a scarred Jedi who was no more than a boy to show how well acting on Xin turned out.

That sith scum. Rielay scowled, Xin had always been a problem but since murdering Dakhroel she had become worse, prowling the streets and picking off soldiers like prey. No one knew where she came from, no one knew whose orders she was acting on. It was like she appeared from the shadows, made her kill and then…vanished.

No one would go against her again, no matter how loud they protested that they needed to eliminate her. No one would even volunteer to track her movements. And so it came down to Rielay and Hugo, the leader and hired gun.

And they were going to take her down. That blow to the Empire, the irony of two guns taking down a Sith Lord was too good to pass up. Call it for the greater good, call it revenge…Rielay didn’t care.

Hugo caught her arm, pushing down her blaster. “We aren’t engaging her unless we have to.” He reminded, perhaps a little more enunciated than it needed to be. She had to remind herself, he had lost the person he was closest to the sith.

She took a deep breath, consciously easing her hand away from the trigger of her weapon. “I know.”

“I want her gone as much as you do.” Hugo pulled away, leaning his shoulder against the block of duracrete they were crouched behind. “But the two of us alone can’t do that.”

“She’s the only thing that stands between us and the command center,” Rielay growled in irritation, glaring out across the deserted and pockmarked street. “We could end this.”

Hugo scoffed and she realized a second too late that she had hit a frayed nerve. “Like I don’t already know that. You’re starting to sound like Cazi.”

Tempers had been on edge since they had left the base, perhaps longer. Without thinking she snapped back; “Well then at least I don’t elect to send people to their deaths.” Her jaw snapped closed with a click. She did, she had agreed to let Dakhroel lead her men against Xin right along with the scarred twi’lek soldier. And she could see it in Hugo’s eyes, the double meaning of her words. Hugo didn’t elect to send people to their deaths either, it was just an unhappy arrangement. Shit. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t fair.”

“No,” Hugo’s jaw tightened. “It wasn’t.” He didn’t look at her but she could feel the distance he was putting between them, the silence that fell less than amicable. There was a line drawn in the dirt here and she had overstepped it by leaps and bounds.

Of course, she had. There were precious few times she had done the right thing with Hugo, insinuating he willingly let those soldiers die was beyond unfair, it was cruel.

A familiar prickling sensation accompanied by a shiver that trickled down her spine caught Rielay’s attention. “Did you feel that?” She hissed. At Hugo’s nod, she peaked over the duracrete. “That’s her.”

“Get down.” Hugo hissed back.

She sank back down, though she wondered if it really mattered whether or not they hid. The Force was more nonsense than anything to her, the way it was used scary more than intriguing, but she had seen countless Jedi and Sith alike sense people without seeing them. Xin could know they were there already.

Beside her, Hugo was fiddling with the settings of his blaster, jaw set, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice. He hadn’t lied, he was chomping at the bit as much as she to get a shot at Xin, a little taste of revenge. As much as she hated to admit it, that aggression wasn’t something she thought Hugo was capable of.

She hadn’t thought Hugo was capable of a lot of things before.

In the harsh line of Hugo’s glare, Xin was in the open air without fear, saber visible at her hip between the folds of her robes. Chaotic power rolled off her in palpable waves, or perhaps it was just old fear attaching itself to Xin’s image.

To execute that fear would perhaps make this whole war effort on Corellia worth it.

Hugo’s sharp intake of breath snapped her gaze to follow his, fixating on a small group of resistance forces making their rounds through their patrol area. Where Xin was headed.

“Shit,” Rielay swore, lifting her blaster. All the resistance fighters were armed, visibly, but one shot is all it would take to bring Xin down before she could attack. From behind she had an even better shot, Xin’s back an open target without any armor. Taking the chance that she would sense the bolt coming straight towards her, of course. Assuming her robes hid no sturdier armor.

“Don’t.” Her blaster was shoved down again, her incredulous noise met with a sharp look. “You’re going to give us away.”

“We can’t just let her attack.” Rielay kept her voice low. “Now when we’re right here.”

Shouts rose from the group when they finally caught sight of Xin, panicked with the sounds of people scrambling for their weapons. The click of blasters loading. A tense silence. Then, a lone voice, shaky. “Well? You going to do something? Huh?”

Hugo was peering over the edge of the duracrete, hand still pressed firmly against Rielay’s shoulder to keep her from firing. The words were no more than little puffs of air from his lips. His other hand pointed out to the road. “She’s leaving.”

His hand eased away from her shoulder and slowly she rose far enough so her eyes were just over the duracrete. Xin was backing away from the group of soldiers, five blasters trained on her chest. Her hands were raised slightly, held out and away from her sabers.

“I don’t need to attack you.” Her steps were quick but measured, clipped Imperial accent still dripping with scorn. “My presence alone does enough.”

“See how well that presence does you in Republic custody!” Rielay winced, squeezing her eyes closed and waiting for the cry of a dying man. It didn’t come.

Instead, there came a biting laugh. “You’d love to find out, wouldn’t you?” Her steps paused as she pivoted on one heel. The silence fell in her wake, uncertain and tense. When she finally melted back into the shadow the silence broke and boots thundered away.

“Xin never retreats.” Hugo dropped back down beside her, eyes wide as they met her’s there was something close to hope in them. “She’s finally failing!”

The hope was snuffed out as quickly as it had ignited when Rielay grimaced. “Did you know she wasn’t going to attack?”

She had had her shot to take Xin down, a clear and open shot and he had stopped her. Wasted, a wasted chance. They could have ended this.

“Did you know she wasn’t going to attack?”

“I…no.” Hugo’s brows drew together. Kneeling on the road they were very near eye level. “I didn’t, okay?”

Rielay threw her hands up, scoffing. “You didn’t know if she was going to attack? Why didn’t you let me shoot?”

There it was again, that brief change in his expression. That line in the sand, scattering. But right now all she could see was the clear shot she had, of Xin fading back into the shadows.

“Xin would have had your own blaster bolt through your chest before you could take your finger off the trigger.” Irritation, maybe a little bit of anger. “Be realistic, Rielay, you can’t take her down yourself.”

Her voice rose. “So it’s okay for five people to be at risk? It’s okay for Xin to have potentially killed three more people?”

“It’s not okay-”

“Then why did you just sit here?”

Hugo’s voice rose to meet her’s and she snapped into silence, recoiling. His voice wasn’t loud, it was…strained. “Rielay! I know you want her gone, I know you want to get your revenge for what happened to Esrin but listen. We needed that information on Xin. We needed to know that she’d retreat.”

She began to respond, bristling again but his hard look stopped her. “If you had missed then she would have shifted again and we’d be back to square one.”

“You were going to let our people die for information?”

A heavy sigh, a closing of the eyes that lasted a few seconds. “Yes, Rielay. Those are the choices I constantly have to make for my people.” He pushed himself to his feet, turning his back on her glare.

My people. A clear distinction, intentional without question. Fine, he could play the leadership card. A small voice in the back of her head reminded her that it wasn’t a card, it was his reality. It wasn’t her place to question his coices, she was an interloper in his organization. That didn’t make his decision or anger any less bitter to swallow.

The quick anger dropped back to a terse professionalism, near formal. “We need to get this back to the others.”

–

“I can’t believe you guys got this.” Coraa’s stern mask broke into a rare smile, glossing over the tension between Hugo and Rielay as they delivered the news of Xin’s retreat. The remains of their council gathered close, glancing at each other and sharing excited looks. Tacka, however, leaned on the table, expression grim.

Coraaliya, a Republic soldier, ex-commander of Havoc squad who had been stranded with resistance forces in the last attack along with a few of her men. She was formidable, thought with a military mind, and had offered guidance to the flailing resistance. Hugo, at the very least, had seemed relieved to be able to shift some of the weight from his shoulders and share it with someone who had experience in the art of military strategy. She hadn’t protested the chain of command partially passing to her, something that Rielay both praised and was wary of. Thir little resistance didn’t need to flounder as the Republic had--was--in this war.

Coraa pushed herself away from the group, pacing in front of the hand-scrawled notes they had made, documents of their position, and the projected maps of Coronet City’s surface. Without the Republic’s major intel they were running on slim information, but between their combined knowledge they were doing alright. Alright might not be enough to drive off the Empire, nor would it be enough to drive off Xin. They needed more than alright. Still, despite her hands still behind clasped behind her back, there was an unusual bounce in her step. “Now’s our chance, she’s finally weakening. Three weeks ago she would have decimated that group.”

“We just need to find the chink in her armor.” Cazi inspected the smaller version of the map glowing above the table. “If we can take her out then we’ve won this war.”

It couldn’t be that simple, it never was but Coraa did have a point; Xin was weakening or at least becoming more cautious. They could use that caution to their advantage if they played their cards right.

“Nearly won. There’s still the rest of the Empire to worry about, Caz.” Coraaliya reminded, though her smile broadened. “We have a chance.” A glance over at the silent end of the table. “Smile, Hugo, you’ve nearly made it.”

The barest of smiles, never quite reaching his eyes followed her words. “Don’t want to jinx it, Coraaliya.”

"Wouldn’t want to catch her attention talking smack, who knows what she can hear through her connection to the Force.” Laughter rose around the table, driven just as much by relief as it was by the intense realization that their time on Corellia could really be ending.

Rielay let her hip rest against the table, crossing her arms and leaning in to look at the map. A grin tugged at her lips, though she didn’t laugh outright. To her left, Hugo didn’t laugh, nor did the young Jedi sandwiched between Cazi and the table. If anything the young Jedi just looked uncomfortable, eyes darting around the table at Coraa’s snide remark on the Force.

“How do we take her down?” The laughter faded and slowly the tension seeped back into the room. Rielay gestured at the handwritten notes on the wall with a broad stroke of her hand. “It’s not like we’ve had much luck before.”

“It’s a matter of disposing of her and taking Capitol Square. That’s been our endgame this whole time. We can’t give the Empire time to regroup after we take her down. We’d just end up outnumbered and outgunned.” Hugo ran a hand across his face, frowning at first the wall, then the map. “We need to cut their attention in two, focus it in different locations.”

Coraa narrowed her eyes, looking over her shoulder to scan over some of the notes. “We could send in two forces, one to take the Square and one to handle Xin.”

Hugo shook his head. “It can’t be that simple, can it? We don’t have the manpower for large fighting squads.” Resting both hands on the table he sighed. “She’s taken out squads of nine for less than an attempt on her life.”

The names of the fallen could testify to that. Each Republic or Corellian flag laid down another glaring truth in his statement. They just had to look at each hearse transport that had flown off before the lockdown.

“That was when she was at full strength. She wasn’t looking for a confrontation today, she’s never left resistance forces standing before.” Rielay met his glance squarely, jaw set. He wasn’t wrong, but she was baiting him, still smarting from their confrontation. After the words left she scolded herself, she wasn’t a little girl anymore, and this wasn’t just a schoolyard squabble. “She’s not strong enough to keep fighting.”

“Xin’s powerful, but she’s uncontrolled.” Tacka’s voice, though quiet, sliced through the air like a vibroknife. Four pairs of eyes snapped to the Jedi, with his eyes fixed on the map and brows furrowed. Gazes shifted between the others as they realized that between all of them, Tacka was the only one to have come close to fighting Xin head on.“If you get her to lose that control…it’s insane. But she’s left completely drained.” He lifted his eyes, drawing in a long breath. “It’s what happened..between her and Dak. After..she stumbled a lot…like she could barely stand.”

Coraa’s pacing had frozen, her hand falling hard on the table causing the group to jump. “That’s it, kid!” Tacka slowly brought his eyes up to the Zabrak’s. “We don’t throw resistance forces at her, they don’t know how to fight Sith.”

The poor kid’s eyes widened and Rielay opened her mouth, ready to step in but Hugo beat her to it. “Absolutely not. If you’re thinking of sending Tacka in-”

“No.” Coraa shook her head. “No, no. I wouldn’t send him back into combat at all.” Tacka dropped his head, frowning though his shoulders rose and fell in a quick, relieved breath. “It’s too much. But we do have people here that have fought Sith before.” Across the table, Cazi grinned, nodding slowly.

"You thinking we need a little bit of Havoc?”

Coraa grinned back, fingers tapping on the table as she thought. “There’s…five of us here in your base, Hugo. If we go out, break her, you and the Captain can infiltrate Axial and get the codes we need for the command center. Then all you’ll need to contend with are your regular brand Imperials.”

Hugo looked over at Rielay. “Taqq, can you get Deryn down here?”

With a shake of her head Rielay answered, “No, he’s been taken out by his own business planetside. But I think we can manage a few bucketheads.”

She wished Emeldir could come back planetside. Then she could have her rock back, and they could end this war with a few well-placed shots and scattered snark. she wouldn’t even have to think about fighting alongside the kid. She’d have to make due.

“We can stealth in, shoot down only who we need to and seize the codes. Then we can get to the Square.” Hugo mused, eyes fixing on the holographic label of their target.

“From there you should be able to get CorSec to back you up if you need it.” Coraa tapped a path on the map, finger trailing through the blue projection. “We can wear Xin down, she can’t fight heavy guns and armor for long.”

They had a plan or at least some base of it. For hours after, until the city outside was dark except for the red and orange of flames burning in skeletal buildings they fine-tuned and reworked until they had something that could stand against Xin.

Planning wound down from there until they were filtering out of the room except for Coraa and Tacka, who she held back with a hand on his shoulder, asking if he’d be willing to talk more about Xin. With a determined nod, Tacka started talking and the door slid closed behind them.

When Hugo delivered the news to the resistance they cheered and for the first time since in a long time his smile reached his eyes.

Rielay slipped away from the celebratory chatter, the enthusiasm to an empty room and pulled out a holocom. While it searched for a signal pickup she sank down against the wall, drawing her knees up to her chest. Even among so many people, she felt an aching loneliness and she longed for some semblance of familiarity that might ease the knot of nerves tangling in her stomach.

It took a few moments before the signal connected and Emeldir’s grainy image appeared. “Taqq!” Through the static his expression was worried, eyebrows drawn. “I heard what happened...are you doing okay?”

Of course, he would have heard, the Republic was probably panicking over the radio silence and the Empire was probably gloating over its small victory. But of course, he wasn’t asking if she was okay with the Republic. There was only one part of the Republic, one person that she cared about.

“I’m managing, kid.” Rielay sighed, scrubbing a hand across tired eyes. “I just wanted to tell you that we march on Xin tomorrow. Hopefully, this will finally end.”

A pause, then a hesitant: “That’s great, but why are you making this sound like a goodbye?”

That earned a small laugh from her, though his expression didn’t shift. Emeldir worried far too much, could read her a little too well, though perhaps there was a reason for that. “It’s not a goodbye, I fully expect to come out of tomorrow alive.”

If he expected her to fling herself into needless danger just because she had lost Esrin then...well, he wasn’t wrong. If they had marched the day before then maybe she would have. Before reality had weighed her down too much to even try. Before she decided she was just tired.

He didn’t sound convinced and she didn’t know how to change that. “Good. We can figure things out once you Xin is gone, you get your planet back and the Voidwolf is taken care of, okay?”

She offered a small smile. “Yeah, we can.” Something out of her view caught his attention, shifting worry to a scowl. When he glanced back at her his look was apologetic.

“Speaking off, we just got a read on the Wolf himself. If he escapes one more time I swear...” He muttered something that was probably unsavory until his voice softened again. “Stay safe tomorrow, Rielay.”

She didn’t want to break the connection, didn’t want to be alone again. Instead, she nodded. “Always. That means you too Deryn. Stay safe.”

A brief smile, an even briefer farewell, and her holocomm went dark. She let it roll out of her hand to the ground, fixing her eyes on it as it spun. Her fingers itched to plug in another familiar frequency but she knew it would just bring back static where she desperately wanted a voice. And she knew it would just bring her to tears again.

She wanted this to stop, to go back to before she had decided to come to Corellia and before she had got tangled up in this mess. But even then, maybe she’d have been hearing the same news in her ship, helpless to do anything just as she was now. Her luck just didn’t work in her favor like that, and she no matter where she was stuck.

Pushing herself up she set out to brave the celebration again. If things were to end by the next night then she needed to set things right.

“Hugo.”He was leaning sitting in a chair, watching the excited chatter without seeing. When she approached his eyes snapped to hers and he started to stand before she motioned for him to stay.

“I just wanted to apologize, for what I said.” She ran a hand through her hair, letting out a tired breath. “I know this whole...situation puts you in a difficult position.”

“I didn’t want them to die, you know.” Hugo leaned his elbows on his knees, looking at her sideways. Whatever energy he had been granted by the knowledge that they could take Capital Square tomorrow had been sapped. Rielay grabbed a free chair and swing it around so she could face him, flopping down into it and resting her chin in her hands. “If I had had a different choice I would have taken it.”

At least he sounded like he was trying to convince her and not himself. But she shouldn't have doubted that it would take a lot to turn him to happily letting others die. “I know. I just..” She let the words drop off, giving a slight shake of her head instead.

“I know.” He let his face rest in his hands, muffling his voice. “Stars, I know.”

It didn’t matter that she didn’t know whether he was referring to leadership slowly breaking down who he was, or whether he had caught what she hadn’t said, that she was struggling and breaking too. Hidden his own words the same truth was there, and for a moment she felt like they had finally found common ground for the first time.

“This whole situation is shit.” Rielay mumbled and Hugo choked out a laugh.

“I’d have to agree with you on that.” He raised his head and met her watery half-smirk. “All we have to do is fight our way through a couple dozen Imperials and we’re done.”

“Only a couple dozen.” Rielay sniffed, laugh quiet. “All in day’s work, right?”

For the second time she broke in front of Hugo, but in their corner, he was breaking too. Their watered-down humor shifted as their thoughts drifted to those they’d rather have at their sides to see their possible victory.

For a few minutes, between the two of them, the celebration was muted.

Dawn turned everything orange-red in as the resistance mustered. Rielay attached her blaster to her belt, making sure her pouch of medical supplies were attached and that her comm was securely attached. It was an automatic motion, formed over years of experience. Her secondary check of her supplies felt empty without Esrin rechecking, reminding her that she had forgotten this or that. But she would manage, and keep managing with her eyes straight ahead.

Hugo spoke softly with Coraaliya off to the side. The zabrak woman and the five members of the old Havoc Squad looked like something off of an old Republic propaganda poster, heavy armor gleaming in the sunlight and heavy guns slung over their shoulders. The kind of posters Rielay had seen when she was a kid, if she thought about it, Coraaliya and all.

Rielay drifted closer, listening to the tail end of their exchange.

“We’ll comm you when we have her targeted.” Coraa was saying. “From there it’s up to you.”

Hugo nodded curtly. “We’ll send word as soon as we take the Square.”

Behind him their troops shifted restlessly, checking and rechecking weapons and armor. They would lose some of them today to Empire forces as they stormed Axial Park, fighting to get their planet’s independence back. Their armor wasn’t current military grade, if they had armor at all, their weapons not new and shining.

Coraa held out her hand and Hugo shook it, eye to eye and on even ground with the Republic’s most revered. “It’s been an honor fighting with you, no matter how short.”

“Thank you, for all the help you’ve given the resistance.” Hugo’s voice was subdued but sincere, still in the restlessness surrounding him. “Good luck against Xin.”

The stepped away from each other, turned to face their troops. The six Republic soldiers exchanged brief words and quick grasps of hands and arms before they walked off into the red light.

“Fight like hell today.” Hugo raised his voice to be heard by his troops, who hushed as his voice swept over them. “We’ll end this today, on our terms. We’ve lost too much to give up now.”

With a cheer the resistance streamed forward into the rubble, leaving Rielay and Hugo in their wake.

He tossed a stealth generator to her, face grim. “Here we go.”

“Into the fire.” Rielay agreed, attaching the generator to her belt before taking a deep breath. “Let’s go.”

The droids that she and Emeldir had seized powered up behind them and the massive forms cast shadows them in shadow. Dawn glimmered off their metal hides, sparkling and Rielay looked up at them with a small amount of awe. They would be their key to the command center.

With their droids in tow they hopped on their speeders, and with a blue holomap with a blinking dot to mark their destination glowing above the display, they set off into the ruins of the city.

The roads were quiet, forces from all sides had retreated back to their respective corners to try and hold their ground. As they drew closer to Axial Park, where Xin had stood between them and the codes they needed, the muffled sounds of fighting began to pick up. Blasterfire echoed through the skeletons of buildings, cannon fire shook the ground. Through the signs and edges of buildings, smoke could be seen rising into the sky. They breezed through it, eyes dutifully kept ahead.

It was too easy to get into the command center, too easy having droids at her back that could blast through near anything and take blaster fire with little more than a slight rock and a scorch mark to show for the hit.

It was too easy to walk through the shelled out remains of the building, to walk by crumbled walls and shattered windows, too easy to turn each corner and find nothing more than silence to greet her.

If Hugo felt the same, he made no mention of it.

They moved quickly, sifting through rubble to make it to the main room where a row of holoterminals waited for them. With a dataspike in hand, Rielay pulled the access codes they needed from the terminals.

“Here we are,” Rielay muttered, tucking the spike into her jacket. “Step one is done.”

“This was the easy part, apparently.” Hugo was attaching detonator charges the major pillars of the room, he had been doing that the entire time they had been walking through. More destruction, but for a claimed good cause. It was a funny thought. “Where are all the Imperials I haven’t been able to blink without seeing for the last six months?”

Rielay caught the detonator trigger he tossed her way, scoffing. “I don’t know, but I’d rather not find out. If we can take a nice, leisurely walk into Capital Square then I’m good.”

“Maybe we’ll get a big, warm, welcome too.” Hugo’s voice was dry as Tatooine sand but she could catch the bitter humor underneath the surface.

As fate would have it they did get a big welcome when they reached the Square. “I this the warm, fuzzy welcome you wanted?” Rielay barked from her spot behind a chunk of rubble, back pressed against the cold metal.

“Not really.” Hugo pulled back as a blaster shot sent dirt flying up just beyond his cover. “I think they’re mad about the command center!”

If Rielay looked between the two buildings directly in her line of sight she could see the smoke curling from the ruins of the command center. The detonators had made quick work of the gutted building, wiping out any remaining data that had been stored there. “So we didn’t make a good first impression?”

“I don’t think they’ll be asking us to stay for dinner.” She could almost hear Emeldir shouting back over the roar of blaster fire and the droids firing back over their heads. All she got was what seemed like a laughing shake of the head, most likely in exasperation.

Really Rielay? Is now the best time, Rielay? There was no way to know what was really going through his head, but if she were to guess she wouldn’t be that far off. Gritting her teeth she pushed those thoughts away, peeking over her slab of metal to fire off several shots in succession. Two grey uniforms fell, with two more to take their place. It became a rhythm, diving behind cover, popping up to fire a few shots. Rinse and repeat until she was comfortably numb.

They lost their droids halfway into the command center. Torn into piles of scrap by turrets hidden on the sides of pillars. The barrage sent Hugo and Rielay scrambling, rushing to turn on their stealth generators as they sprinted down the hall. It wasn’t heroic, it wasn’t collected. It was Rielay’s heart hammering in her ears loud enough that she almost couldn’t hear Hugo’s ragged breath beside her, it was blaster shots smoking in the wall only a few feet, a few inches away from her. It was running until they couldn’t run anymore, their stealth generators deactivating and Hugo doubling over as Rielay spun on her heel, blaster raised.

As the whine of her blaster faded her arms shook but the tide of probe droids and soldiers that had followed their trail had been stemmed. “Stars.” She breathed out softly, adrenaline pumping too hard for it to have been anything less than too close of a call. “Hugo, you good?”

“Fine.” He sounded anything but fine, the word a little too breathless, but when she turned around, holstering her blaster he had straightened and she let it go.

"We should stealth the rest of the way.” Rielay fumbled with her generator until it reluctantly coughed back to life. “I don’t think we can shoot our way through this many people.”

After a few seconds, Hugo’s own generator sputtered back up as well, cloaking him from sight except for his voice. “I agree. CorSec should be somewhere up ahead.”

There wasn’t much left of CorSec, or the group of Force users called the Green Jedi that accompanied them. Just enough to help them wade through the growing mob of Imperial soldiers, just enough to bring them to the Corellian leaders that had damn near orchestrated this entire mess.

Rielay had never thought she could feel so much hatred towards a group of bureaucrats. Now she knew that she could. Making a deal with the Empire was one thing. Making a deal with the Empire and sitting by as the planet and people that they swore to protect burn was another beast.

Hugo kept her back with one hand firmly on her shoulder, warning in his eyes. Now was not the time to tear into them, it would do nothing to leave them peppered full of blaster fire. She knew, but it didn’t temper her anger any. She, no, too many people had lost everything in this conflict to let the bureaucrats walk free.

They didn't walk free, that was a small mercy. They were bound by the remaining CorSec officers to be held for a trial. It wasn't the resolution she itched for, but they had more a more pressing duty. In the courtyard, there was a dais that could broadcast to the entirety of Coronet City. There they finally made contact with the Republic.

Through a grainy transmission, they could hear as a ceasefire was brokered, the firing ordered to stop.

It was through a grainy transmission that they realized that they had never heard from Coraa and the rest of Havoc. Xin was in custody, alive--a state that Rielay wasn’t sure the sith lord should be kept in, but she had information to give by Republic standards.

But they had lost all of Havoc. Murdered by Xin.

No, they corrected, lost almost all of Havoc. They had Coraaliya and one other member, both in critical condition.

Rielay’s smile fell from her lips, eyes widening as she shared a horrified glance with Hugo. “No.” Her voice broke. “No, they were supposed to win. They were supposed to be alright, make it out.”

Hugo’s eyes shattered, looking at the transmitter with empty disbelief. “Damnit.” He breathed softly.

In their stunned silence as the transmission went black, Rielay’s hand found his and they clung to each other like they were the last solid things in each other's worlds.

They held a memorial for their fallen members, just as they had for Dakhoel and her fallen squad. Too many Republic and Corellian flags laid down, too many names read out.

Rielay did not know most of them, but she stood with her shoulder against Hugo’s as the names washed over her. She bowed her head as Cazi’s name was called, feeling Hugo’s shoulders slump a little more. By the time the names drifted into silence her eyes were burning, shoulders quivering.

Coraa remained as the only surviving member of Havoc, the member that had been brought in with her lost only a few hours later. Rielay made a point to walk into the Republic medcenter with her chin held high, trying to look past the mourning people all around her.

Coraa herself was subdued, but not in foul spirits. Even weighed down with the loss of so many of her people even she could not help but smile at the victory, no matter how small the smile was. When Rielay stepped through the door her eyes were surprised but her greeting was kind. “Captain Taqq, glad to see you made it through.”

“And you.” Rielay returned the smile sent her way, though it was strained. She wanted nothing more than to get back to her ship and fly away from here, maybe return to Nar Shadaa for a few weeks to find some hint of normalcy again. Or at the very least forget these past few weeks had happened. “I wanted to come and...thank you for what you did. For helping us win this thing.”

There was a pause, lengthy and weighted before Coraa spoke again. “Thank you, Rielay. For doing what you did. I signed up for this, you didn’t.”

Not expecting her thanks to be turned back on her Rielay floundered for a moment. “I..uh..it’s...not what I thought would happen.” She finally sighed. “I just want to go home.”

Coraa gave a low laugh. “I can agree with you on that. Where’s home for you? I’m just looking forward to getting home to my two daughters.”

Rielay’s smile loosened. “I’ll probably go back to Nar, stay away from galactic conflict for a while.”

That earned another small laugh from Coraa and for a few more minutes they spoke just like that. Smuggler and Soldier were set aside, and instead, they were just two people lucky and happy to have made it through to the dawn.

By the time she said her farewell she was feeling significantly lighter, even if her smiles still did not reach her eyes and her steps weren’t quite light.

Duty brought her back to the Legislature building, shoulder to shoulder with Hugo with Corellian, resistance, and Republic faces alike tuned their way. They were here to be addressed by the Chancellor herself, a formality that Rielay would have preferred to have skipped. At her side, Hugo looked far more uncomfortable than a named hero of the war should have. He glanced at her as if feeling the weight of her eyes, offering a small smile.

Sh returned it, without guilt for perhaps the first time since she had landed planetside. They had been through hell together, lost everything together. Fought and bled and mourned together. Now, her guilt lingering from five years past felt unimportant.

“We have the Senate on standby.” One of the Republic’s generals, a man by the name of Aves, said over his shoulder before opening a holochannel. The pixelated form of Saresh appeared and in the background, the blurry forms of other senators shifted.

“Supreme Chancellor, senators,” Aves began formally. “The legislature has been taken, the Empire has formally surrendered and is falling back. From here on out its just clean-up. The message has been broadcasted across Corellia and I am proud to send it to you on Coruscant; Corellia has been liberated.”

When he faced Rielay and Hugo, gesturing them forward they shared another nervous look. She started to step forward, nudging Hugo’s shoulder until he stepped with her. The smile the general offered them was warm, the corners of his lined eyes crinkling.

“Our victory belongs to many, but two individuals stood out among the rest. Our victory rests heavily on them.” He addressed the crowd standing at their backs as well as those a holocall away. “Captain Taqq helped lead the final stages of the fight for her home planet, helping to seize the Legislature without backup. And this man, Hugo, led the resistance force that was the final barrier between the Empire and freedom when the Republic was incapacitated.”

It was all talked up, no doubt for the benefit of morale but it still sent a flush through Rielay’s cheeks to be praised for it. As if they had been the only two to do anything.

Saresh looked at Rielay and Hugo though her words fell mostly to the smuggler captain. “I must personally thank you for your service to the war effort, from what I hear you were quite indispensable.”

Rielay raised her chin, giving a small shake of her head. “Thank you Chancellor, but I didn’t fight alone.” She paused, finding Hugo watching her inquisitively. So he had been expecting to be pushed into her shadow again. That wouldn’t do. Briefly, she thought of Tacka, standing somewhere off to the side and looking to Hugo like he was the world to him. They had lost what was closest to them, that sacrifice couldn’t go unnoticed. “I came here by Hugo’s request, he’s been in this fight from the very beginning.” A deep breath, pushing back the emotion when she thought of those they had lost in the first attempt at taking the Legislature.

“He’s the one who fought at my side in every step. Not only him but every member of the rebellion who came together because they wanted to help. Without the fallen that went toe to toe with Xin we would never have been able to take Corellia back. So I thank you Chancellor, but it wasn’t me.” With a small incline of her head, she stepped back, clasping her hands behind her back, letting out a shaky breath and blinking rapidly.

Saresh might have been smiling, it was hard to tell with the quality of the holocam. “Then the Senate and Republic thanks all those who fought alongside the Republic. May Corellia flourish under it’s regained freedom.”

The call ended without preamble, a few more words being addressed to Aves. She looked up as Hugo touched her shoulder, eyes shining as he mouthed thank you.

“There is no title or medal that can truly represent what you’ve accomplished.” Aves stepped forward, much to Rielay’s surprise. She had just thought that Saresh’s words would be the end of it. A brief commendation and they could be on their way. “But you’ve both earned these.”

From a soldier at his side he took two metals, bronze circles that held together two red stripes. Rielay sucked in a breath, feeling her eyes widen. “First class Corellian bloodstripes.” Aves explained. “The highest honor Corellia can give, awarded to those who keep fighting no matter the odds.”

To enthusiastic applause, the medals were pinned to Rielay and Hugo’s chests and as Aves moved on to address the people around them Rielay looked over at Hugo, feeling tears brimming in her eyes.

Here they were, at the end. Their roles were played. Never had she thought she’d be proud to call herself Corellian, to fight for her planet and be awarded their honors.

Never had come.

She clasped Hugo’s hand tightly, putting as much sincerity as she could into a single look and her words. “Thank you.” She hoped that could convey everything she couldn’t say here. For standing by her, for fighting for Corellia, for helping her when she lost Esrin to the fighting even when his own loss was so fresh.

He seemed to understand and pulled her close into a one-armed embrace quickly if only so his low, hoarse voice could carry to her ear; “You’re welcome Rielay. For everything.” Rielay’s smile was warm when they pulled away and they parted with a promise to speak later.

She found Emeldir, or perhaps Emeldir found her in the crowd. He said something about the Voidwolf as he pulled her close, not seeming to mind when all she did was wrap her arms tightly around him and breathe for a moment. “Taqq, there’s something important you need to know.” When she looked up at him, eyes wary he laughed. “Sorry, it’s not as ominous as I made it sound.”

Without too much question she followed Emeldir through the waves of people and out into the open air, where she stopped and let out a choked noise. “Esrin?”

Her grip tightened on Emeldir’s arm, her knees dangerously shaky. All her breath seemed to have left her, her eyes disbelieving and thoughts grinding to a halt.

But there he was, moving towards her. When he was close enough that she could lurch off Emeldir’s arm and unsteadily throw herself into his arms he was real. He was real as he held her, as her arms went around his neck and her face buried against his shoulder. His voice was real as it whispered through her hair, apologies and I love yous that sank in slowly like she was hearing them from deep underwater. Somewhere between one word in the next her shoulders started shaking and her tears came in earnest. Somewhere in a mix of tears and sniffling breaths her return I love yous were lost in incoherent babbling. When her cries had faded to trembling breaths her question was pleading. “Come home with me? Please.”

A murmur agreement, as soothing as his arms around her, and her world started spinning again.

She didn’t need an explanation right now, she didn’t need to have details. Right now she just needed her reality.

Rielay spoke one final time to Hugo, in the spaceport as she was squaring away the last of the paperwork she needed to fly and he was arranging a transport off-world.

“Where will you go?” she asked carefully. There wasn’t anything left for him on Corellia, not that she knew of.

Hugo shuffled the sheets of flimsi in his hand back into order, handing them off to a droid standing behind a booth. “I’m not sure. I think I might go to Rishi, I know someone there.” He took a breath, letting it out with a sigh. “Tacka is going back to Tython for now, I hope he can find some peace there.”

“The kid needs it.” Rielay agreed, resting a hand on Hugo’s shoulder. “But you do too.” Her clearance papers were handed to her and she nodded in thanks to the droid before looking back at Hugo. “Take care of yourself, okay?” She let it tip up into a question.

Hugo’s hand rested over hers briefly, giving her a half smile. “I will. Try not to get into too much trouble, Rielay.”

“I think I’ll be staying away from trouble for a bit.” At his disbelieving look, she laughed. “Really!” She shoved at his shoulder lightly. “Now I think you have a shuttle to catch.”

After a quick, laughing goodbye he disappeared deeper into the spaceport. Rielay stayed a few seconds longer before she disappeared into the hangar where the Promise stood, bounding up the extended ramp.

Before long her ship’s engines roared to life around her, her ship soaring out of the hangar and into the sky. From the chair beside her Esrin’s fingers twined with hers when she leaned back and together they watched Corellia’s surface disappear below.

#swtor #swtor smuggler #swtor fanfic #oc: Taqq #oc: Hugo #oc: Emeldir #oc: Coraaliya #oc: Tacka #other peoples ocs: Esrin #otp: Mischief Managed #Taqq and Deryn #better late than never with this right?#this is kind of shit but I want it out of my drafts

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