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adashofniallandasprinkleoflunacy · 2 years

Note

https://headspace-hotel.tumblr.com/post/673087710776393728/listen-i-wouldnt-just-fuck-an-alien-id-take-an

Alienrry my beloved

The idea of her randomly taking him out on a date one day before they sleep together is so funny because he’s so used to doing it without any lead-up that he can’t quite grasp the concept, so he’s just standing in the middle of the bowling alley holding a ball gingerly and frowning at her in befuddlement, wondering why things have switched up all of the sudden. “I thought we were gonna have sex?”

Y/N shushes him, giving him a certain glance to silently warn him to keep his voice down, given that there’s hoards of people around. “We are, but I figured we’d go out on a date first. It’s usually customary.”

He blinks at her quizzically. “A date?”

“Yeah! It’s a way of appreciating each other’s company outside of my bed.”

His gaze softens almost sadly, his voice weighing in timid and fragile. “Do you…not like my company inside your bed?”

The girl’s eyes widen as she deciphers his body language, quickly steering him from his self-deprecating assumption. “Of course I do! This is just something extra humans do to make those moments more meaningful.”

“More meaningful...” Harry repeats slowly, as if tasting the idea for the first time and trying to figure out if he enjoys its connotations. “It’s a type of intimacy ritual?”

“You could call it that, yes.”

“Hm.” He balances the heavy ball between his large palms, shifting its weight skeptically as his brain processes this new experience. “I’m still confused. Are we gonna have sex here, then?”

“No.” Y/N scowls at him playfully, entertained by his innocent antics. “That’ll come later. We’re just spending time together first, for the hell of it.”

“Oh. For fun?”

“Mmhm.”

“Alright…” Harry turns forward, studying the pins at the other end of the aisle, calculating trajectories and methods in his head as he continues to chat with her casually. “You said this is customary, right? Do humans always parade their sexual conquests around in public?”

Sexual conquests? For an advanced lifeform, he can be so fucking stupid sometimes. “First of all, never say that again.”

“‘Parade’?”

“‘Sexual conquests.’ It sounds idiotic and misogynistic.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way, I was just—”

“I know, Harry.” Y/N prods gently, feeling her lips twitch fondly at his sudden surge of apologies. Even though he’s adapted pretty well to life on earth, he still makes mistakes sometimes when categorizing human mannerisms, particularly when it comes to communication. She never holds it against him; she can only imagine how difficult it must be to learn a foreign planet’s dialects and social cues, especially when he’s the only one of his kind doing so. “I know you didn’t mean it in a dickish way. I just wanted to tell you for future reference.”

“Thank you.” He sighs grandly in relief, casting his gaze down sheepishly as he skids his bowling shoe against the polished wooden floor, his nerves still frenzied. “I’m sorry. Again. I didn’t mean to sound like an asshole.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve met my fair share of assholes in my life, and I can promise you, you’re far from becoming one.”

He glimpses up at her below his lashes, nodding his gratitude one last time before returning to the task at hand. Y/N watches him prep with endearment, clearing her throat quietly before continuing their conversation from before.

“The purpose of a date isn’t to parade you.” She explains with an amused huff, shaking her head as an afterthought. He’s always so quick to pose questions and draw such clinical conclusions, and she supposes that stems from the fact that back home, he’s a world renowned scientist whose entire life’s mission revolves around gathering research. Constructing hypotheses and collecting information is ingrained into every molecule of his being, and that inherent curiosity will always persist, whether his genetic material contains nucleic bases and sugar-phosphate backbones, or whether it is made up of cosmic matter and light photons. Some things never change, even when physical forms do.

“The purpose is to express the fact that I see intrinsic value in our relationship— and in you as a person— exclusive of my own self-interests.”

“Fascinating.” Harry mumbles distractedly, taking in a deep inhale before reeling back his arm and swinging his bowling ball forward with impressive precision. The pair watch the object travel in a perfect straight line towards its intended target, hitting it in a head-on collision and knocking over every single obstacle in the most flawless strike Y/N has ever witnessed. He turns towards her with an easy smile dimpling his cheeks, shrugging his brows coyly as he speaks in a blasé tone that suggests he already expected victory long before he let the ball fly. “From what I’ve studied and experienced, humans rarely put energy into anything that doesn’t benefit them one way or another. Your species has an unhealthy inclination for ulterior motives.”

“That’s a very astute observation.” Y/N replies airily, reaching over to retrieve a bowling ball of her own so she can run the course of her turn. “Come up with that theory all on your own, now did you?”

“I think I’d go as far as to say it’s not a theory anymore.” Harry responds shrewdly, relaxing back against the ball dispenser and crossing his ankles nonchalantly, folding his arms across his strong chest as he cocks his head to the side with a knowing air. His eyes twinkle as he speaks, and she’s come to notice that they always tend to do that whenever he makes a new discovery. It’s cute. “From a scientific standpoint, the very definition of a theory is an idea that is widely accepted, but contains the potential to be disproven. It’s a respected possibility, but not a solid fact. Can we agree on that?”

“Sure, Dexter’s Laboratory.” Y/N shrugs indifferently, stepping to the side to begin aiming her ball. “You’re the genius here, not me.”

Harry chooses to ignore her affectionate dig, though it does bring a satisfying buzz to the pit of his stomach. “Humans have shown time and time again that every action they partake, even when presented through a philanthropical lens, always has an accompanying countermeasure. There’s always some underlying incentive, and it’s usually selfish and self-preserving. Money, fame, ego, power, greed— the list is endless, really. This behavior is common amongst your kind on a fundamental level, therefore it’s not really a theory anymore, as much as it is an overarching theme. It’s edging on indisputable, basically.”

Y/N pulls back her arm in preparation for her shot. “Ouch. Cynical much?”

“Not cynical, logical. Your people are nothing if not consistent.”

“Wow, thanks. I love hearing about how my species is the scum of the universe.” Y/N releases the ball in her possession, watching as it rolls halfway down the aisle only to end up in one of the gutters. She sighs in disappointment, craning to face Harry with a light shrug. “Not all of us can calculate physics and geometry in our head. Some of us just have to wing it.”

“Fair enough.” Harry shrugs in return, giving her a wry smirk. “And I never said you were scum, I just pointed out the truth.”

“Your point isn’t entirely true, though.” Y/N deflects smoothly, drifting over to take the spot beside him, surveying other groups of people as they mingle and play amongst themselves. “Most humans have the capacity to be selfless, it’s only a matter of exposing them to the right environment and hoping they have enough moral drive to reciprocate accordingly.”

The alien’s head slinks to the side, his eyes tracing the curve of Y/N’s jaw as she keeps her attention glued to the group of young adults one aisle over. One of his eyebrows inches upwards with newfound intrigue. “Elaborate.”

A thoughtful pause suspends the air as Y/N gathers her bearings, and then she lets out a winded exhale, as if what she’s going to say next requires all of her energy. “I feel like this is getting more into my own thoughts and opinions on life, but it’s good to share because if I have these views, that means others do, too.”

Harry hums lowly, marveling her outlook on the matter. “You’re placing all your bets on hope?”

She peels away from the scene before her to return Harry’s stare, locking their eyes in an intense gaze full of unspoken emotions. “Don’t we all?”

“Not always.”

“But the majority of the time, we do. You do.”

“Me?” His other eyebrow raises to join its partner. “How so?”

“You’re placing all your bets on finding that talisman in order to repair your ship and get back home. That’s hope, if I’ve ever seen it.”

Harry purses his lips as he mulls over her argument, finally forfeiting after a few seconds of background noise and quiet assessment. “I guess you could say that, yeah.”

“I rest my case.”

He isn’t quite done, however. He’s really enjoying this conversation— this date, as she’d called it— and he wants to continue to pick her brain to see what else he can learn about her civilization through her. “I’d still like some examples, though— of humans acting selflessly. I reckon that citing your sources is an intergalactic practice, no?”

“It is.” Y/N confirms, copying his stance by crossing her arms over her chest as she leans in closer, absorbing any body heat he can spare. If college has taught her anything, it’s how to site her claims. “And I’m more than happy to abide by it.”

“Great! Let’s hear it, then.”

She ducks down, resting her temple against the slope of his shoulder as they talk, seeking the typical comfort he’s always more than happy to provide. Harry tenses momentarily, as he alway does when she brushes against him; he can’t help the way she makes his pulse spike, no matter how hard he tries to tame it.

When she speaks, her voice is sweet and tender, as if she’s recalling a beloved memory. “An example would be how I took you in after I found you.”

Harry’s mouth parts slightly in utter shock. He hadn’t been expecting that reality check at all, to say the least.

Y/N continues her exposition, and the elegance with which she expresses herself leaves him baffled and dazed.

“I didn’t have to do what I did, and I think we both know that. I could have just ignored what happened that night— could have just pretended I didn’t see something falling out of the sky and into the field behind my apartment, and went on about my evening as if I hadn’t witnessed a thing. But I didn’t. I put on a jacket and I went out there because I was concerned— because I cared, even if it wasn’t necessarily my responsibility to do so. I went out there, and I found you naked and unconscious on the grass, and I made another decision that was completely independent of my own convenience: I grabbed you, I dragged you back to my place all on my own, I clothed you, I fed you, I bandaged any wounds you had, and I nursed you back to health. None of that was for my benefit, was it? I did all of that for you, and I didn’t ask for anything in return because I didn’t want anything in return. I did it because I felt a moral obligation to help someone in need; I wouldn’t have been able to sleep with myself if I knew I turned you away when you so obviously needed guidance.”

Harry stares down at the metal tips of his bowling shoes, allowing her points to sink in. Before he can comment, however, Y/N pipes up again, apparently not finished with her dissertation.

“If I had truly wanted to put myself first, I would have just turned you over to the authorities and let them deal with you instead. But I didn’t, because I knew that they wouldn’t have had your best interest at heart; they would have taken you to a lab somewhere to experiment on and interrogate you, and I couldn’t stand the idea of you possibly getting hurt when I could keep it from happening. And despite the fact that I knew taking care of you would be a challenge, I still chose to do it. Aside from having to balance a job and school, now I have to feed two mouths instead of one, and pay two phone bills instead of one, and buy clothes for two people instead of one, but I don’t mind it because I wanted to help. If we’re looking at everything from a logical perspective, like you said, the decision to leave you there would have saved me a lot of trouble and would have been more favorable than the alternative, but I chose the hard path because it was the right thing to do. And quite frankly…” One of her hands gradually untangles from where its situated against the inside of her elbow, coasting across his thigh and onto his knee, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “I’m happy I did.”

Harry’s lashes flutter as if he’s just been smacked between the eyes, his mind rendered speechless from her detailed analysis. He mulls over the last remnants of her verbal essay, sweeping his tongue over his teeth in thought as he connects all of the puzzle pieces she’d laid out for him, studying the contradictions she’d presented that dismantle his own observations. Y/N may not be a scientist, but he’s come to learn that textbook intelligence isn’t all its chalked up to be. She’s just as smart and resourceful as he is, and has the ability to make him feel like an idiot when he least expects it, and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t adore that about her.

“So,” Y/N says breathily, giving his leg one final grasp before dislodging her hand in order to move it back onto her own lap, “with all of that taken into consideration, what do you think?”

Harry’s own hands suddenly jut out from where they’d been tucked against his chest, snatching hers out of impulsivity, the action so swift it causes her to gasp in surprise. He cradles her palm in admiration, petting over her knuckles daintily as he brings them up to his mouth and dusts a chaste kiss across the valleys created by her silky skin and sturdy bones.

Back when he was an incorporeal orb of cosmic energy and light matter, the concept of touch seemed useless and almost barbaric, given that he never saw any evolutionary advantages in tangibility. Tangibility meant vulnerability— it meant aging, and entrapment, and being susceptible to outside forces. It meant restraint, pain, and posed a threat to your freedom, because a body could be beaten, caged, and could be used as a vessel to snuff out your life. But now that he’s gotten to experience it firsthand with Y/N, he’s not ashamed to say he’s receding all of his previous allegations. Either he was wrong, as rare and unlikely as that is, or Y/N is the exception.

“I think…” Harry’s lips skim over Y/N’s flesh as he murmurs his words in a resigned whisper, and the overwhelming sensation is nearly enough to drive him to his knees. “I think what I said is a theory, after all.”

“You think it can be disproven?”

“I think it just was.”

#alienrry

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lifeofkaze · 3 years

Text

An Art of Balance #12

Word Count: ~ 2.400

______________________________________________________________

Chapter 12: Secret Santa

December had come around, bringing with it the heaps of snow Hogwarts had been spared from so far. Within days it buried everything in sight under a thick white blanket, transforming the landscape outside into a powdery winter wonderland.

Peeves had took it as his personal assignment to dump a heap of snow on every unsuspecting passer-by from questionable heights until Professor McGonagall publicly threatened to turn him into a Christmas cracker if she saw him with so much as a single snowflake in his unsubstantial hands again.

And as the castle was slowly but surely covered in ornaments and twinkling lights, the festive spirit spread into even the most remote corners of the dungeons.

It had become tradition for the Hufflepuff team to celebrate the holidays in their own way. Even back when Orion hadn’t been captain, the team used to gather after the last practise of the year for a small get-together in the Common Room, including a game of Secret Santa.

Whereas the idea of material gifts had never posed much of an interest to him, Orion couldn’t deny the astounding effect the game had on the rest of the team. The excitement of receiving a present from someone unknown positively electrified his friends. Consulting the ones closest to your assigned person for a suitable gift never failed to knit their team closer together.

So he had just continued entertaining this ritual after he had stepped up into his position. Especially this year, they could do with a little bit of festive unison.

The snowfall had increased again just as they were wrapping up their last manoeuvres. Everyone practically jumped off their broomsticks to retreat into the comforting warmth and light of the Common Room.

McNully was already waiting for them as they entered through the narrow passageway, a trail of melted snow dragging on behind them. A small jute pouch adorned with an embroidered Christmas Tree rested on his lap. Fully immersed in the festive spirit, he was sporting a particularly nasty sweater picturing a badger dancing with a raven instead of his usual white shirt and tie. His golden snitch was still pinned to his chest, however.

He wiggled his eyebrows in anticipation as they all got changed into their yellow and black team sweaters and settled down around him. A pot of hot chocolate was passed around, the warm smell spreading in the Common Room as each player poured themselves a cup, glad for something to put their freezing hands around.

McNully reached into the pouch and started mixing up the slips of parchment he had prepared in advance while reminding them of the rules.

“It is time for our annual Christmas draw, ladies and gentlemen! As we have some new faces to join in on the fun this year,” he inclined his head towards Everett, “I will present to you the rules once again.”

Orion shook his head with a chuckle. Murphy McNully, forever the presenter.

“Everyone is to draw a name of another member of the team. You have time until Christmas Day to buy, craft or create a suitable present for your assigned person. You may not reveal your identity to them unless they guess correctly. You are not to reveal your draw to another person unless your un-festive mind can’t think of anything to gift and needs creative assistance. If you fail to deliver on your task, I will brand you a Christmas troll and announce it publicly on your next friendly.”

Orion bit back a laugh at Murphy’s newest addition to the rules. His friend took the holidays very seriously.

They all took their turn lining up and dove their hands into the pouch, pulling out a neatly folded piece of parchment. The reactions to the names written on them ranged from relief over confusion to horror when it was a particularly difficult person to find a gift for. Orion found it fascinating to observe.

Laughter erupting from one of the armchairs drew his attention. Skye slumped in it while Lizzie was sitting on the floor with her back against the yellow armrest. Lucy had just showed her parchment to them, looking more chagrined than anything. Upon reading what was written on it, Skye had whispered something to them, prompting the girls to burst into laughter.

“You are not supposed to show who you got just yet!” Murphy scolded the girls. Spreading Christmas joy was a very serious business to him.

“Sorry!” Lizzie tried to appease him while still shaking from suppressed laughter. “Just go on!” Skye muttered something into her ear, drawing another set of giggles from her.

With an indignant huff Murphy returned to monitor the drawing while Orion quietly observed the scene. There were still some stray snowflakes hanging in her hair which was curling around her face as it dried in the warm air of the room. Her cheeks had turned red from laughing at Skye’s joke, a smile lingering on her lips, reaching up into her eyes.

He hadn’t seen Lizzie as carefree since what had happened back at the concert a few weeks prior. Everyone but McNully had left Hogsmeade soon after she had suddenly disappeared. They had found her in the Common Room, curled up in front of the fireplace, nose buried in a book and Mouse snuggled up on her lap. She had retreated to her dorm almost immediately after their arrival.

Neither of them had mentioned what had happened with so much as even a word. It wasn’t like Orion had a problem with that. He wasn’t entirely sure himself in what direction they had set their steps that day, or why he couldn’t get a hold of the reason everything had gone out of hand. It was like smoke, evading his grasp as soon as he tried to set his mind on unravelling what had taken place between them.

But he had noticed how Lizzie had started avoiding his company. Where she had been perfectly comfortable around him before, she now made sure someone was with her at all times, positively clinging to Skye when they had practise or her friend Rowan during their tutoring lessons.

It was this change of atmosphere Orion felt truly sorry about. He considered his friends his family and Lizzie actively seeking her distance from him unsettled him more than he cared to admit. It had never been his intention to cross a line. Like a fool, he had let himself get carried away in the spur of the moment. He should have known better by now.

He missed chatting with her in the greenhouse the most. Lizzie was one of the few people seeing beyond him being the captain of the Hufflepuff team. She was actually listening to what he had to say. Instead of tuning out when she didn’t understand his point, she gave his words a thought until she had figured it out.

As much as he longed to equilibrate their friendship again, he would have never forced her to talk to him if she clearly did not wish to do so.

Perhaps it was a good thing the Christmas break was so close. For the first time in years Orion was glad almost everyone was returning home for the holidays. Having the Common Room mostly to himself was the perfect occasion to take a step back and regain the balance he had been struggling to maintain as of late.

He wasn’t the only one watching the chuckling group of girls, however.

Everett seemed to be oddly interested in their conversation as well, his intense gaze trailing Lizzie’s every movement. Sensing Orion’s attention shifting to him, he suddenly perked his head up. His grey eyes narrowed as they made contact with Orion, an unspoken challenge hanging in the air between them.

Orion had no interest in a fight with him, so he merely held his gaze with level eyes. It took Everett a moment, but eventually, he broke the contact and turned away.

“Why is he looking at you like that?” McNully had finished monitoring the draw and came over to him. Everyone else was chatting excitedly about gift ideas and the upcoming break by now.

Orion’s eyes followed Everett as he got up and strutted over to the boys sharing their dorm. Maybe choosing him for the team had not been the wisest decision after all.

“People with strong characters like him often feel the inherent need to establish a hierarchy between them and others they deem a threat to their dominance,” Orion responded, half lost in thought.

“A threat, you?” McNully chortled.

He had to smile at his poor choice of words. “While I may not portray a dominant character, as captain I do fill the most prominent position in this team,” he explained his meaning. “I consider every one of us a vital piece of the greater picture and I find rivalries within our team to be unfortunate; we should always strive for unison. Because without unison, how can we reach a common goal?”

McNully stared after their roommate, silently calculating. “Whatever this is about, if he happened to have drawn your name, I’d like to inform you that there is the small possibility of 9.2 % that a present from him might be really unpleasant.”

His face suddenly lit up again and he shoved the almost empty pouch in Orion’s face. “Speaking of which, there’s only you and I left now.”

Not being half as enthusiastic as his friend, Orion waved him on. “Go ahead, I’ll take the last one.”

McNully pulled one of the two remaining slips of parchment out of the bag. A grin spread on his face when he read the name written on it. “Oh, that’s a tough one,” he mused, grey eyes sparkling. “Brilliant! I like a good challenge.”

He upended the pouch into his hand and handed the last parchment to Orion; he always took the one that was left.

The corner of his mouth quirked up in a wry smile as he read the name written on it. Apparently, the universe had his own twisted sense of humour.

“Who’d you get to make you grin like that?”

Skye had suddenly appeared by his side, craning her head to catch a glimpse of the piece of paper between Orion’s fingers. He shifted his arm slightly to block her view and folded it up again.

“Skye, are you coming? We need to finish that Charms essay before the library closes,” Lizzie called over to her friend. She had gotten to her feet, her hand resting only lightly on the back of the armchair. She seemed very eager to leave the scene.

“Go ahead if you don’t want to wait, I’ll catch up to you.”

Lizzie hesitated for a moment before stepping back towards the group. She rubbed her hands against her arm and joined them, albeit subtly standing as far away from Orion as possible without it looking suspicious. He noticed it anyway.

Their eyes met for the briefest moment as she caught him looking at her and she immediately dropped her gaze, suddenly very invested in pulling on a loose thread at the hem of her sweater.

Skye tried to use his distraction to her advantage. With a quick movement she attempted to snatch the piece of parchment he was still holding between his index and his middle finger out of his hand.

“You are not supposed to know!” McNully shooed her away as Orion tucked the paper into the pocket of his pants.

“Don’t violate the rules, Skye Parkin, I’m warning you!” McNully scowled at her. “Lucy shouldn’t have shown you her parchment either. What was so funny about it anyway?”

Skye stuck her tongue out at him. “Of course, now you want to know.” She snickered again. “Lucy got Everett and has no idea what to get him. I told her maybe a braincell or two wouldn’t hurt.”

Orion tried to suppress his grin in vain, while even Lizzie started giggling again. Everett really didn’t seem to be the most popular member of their team.

“This is not what this game is about!” Murphy scolded, but he was grinning at Skye’s suggestion all the same. “Don’t ruin the Christmas spirit with your bad jokes.”

They were the only ones left in front of the fireplace. The other members of their team had one after the other filed away, now minding their own business. Skye sat down on the armrest of the sofa, resting her feet on the cushions.

“Speaking of Christmas, what are your plans this year?”

“I’m with my mum and grandma of course ,” Murphy told them while pointedly pushing Skye’s feet off the seat again. “Orion is going stay at the castle, I presume?”

Orion inclined his head. He always stayed at Hogwarts if he could.

“I’ll be with my family as well,” Lizzie added to the conversation. “We haven’t had a family Christmas for two years in a row now. My parents have been visiting my brother Jacob in the States.”

“I remember; you were at Weasley’s place for the past two years, weren’t you?” Skye mused. “That was when you and him- “

“Exactly; I’m really looking forward to being home for a bit,” Lizzie shut her friend up hurriedly.

Orion could see her cheeks blush slightly. He wondered why she was so intent on silencing Skye.

“It’ll be great to spend a bit of time with my family,” she quickly continued, brushing over Skye’s protest. “I’ll probably meet Penny some time as well; her family doesn’t live far from us.”

Skye had stopped protesting at her words; a sad expression shone in her eyes. The relationship between her and Penny was still strained, as far as Orion was aware.

He watched the girls chatter on about Christmas in silence. He saw Skye lean in to Lizzie. Although he didn’t mean to overhear their conversation, Skye was talking too loudly for him not to hear her words.

“You’re meeting Penny?” she asked silently. “Do you think you could talk to her on my behalf? Things are still so weird and I just want this to be over with,” she pleaded.

Lizzie shrugged. “Sure, I can try.”

“Smashing!”

Orion was still thinking about Skye’s request after the girls had left for the library and he and McNully had started a round of Wizards Chess. The Christmas break came at exactly the right time. It was an opportunity to look at things from a healthy distance and to get things back to order.

Apparently, he wasn’t the only one who was desperately in need of it.

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #orion amari #orion amari x mc #quidditch #murphy mcnully #skye parkin #art of balance #lizzie jameson #quidditch squad #the quidditch squad

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tinybibmpreg · 3 years

Text

a oneshot as a birthday gift for myself lol. was going to be more adult themed but then i got sidetracked by angst & lore and then a happy fluffy family resolution. so. lmao.

my temperamental prince character Gaelwin and his elf knight (future) husband, Tasnear, working out some misunderstandings and family secrets about their daughter. past/post mpreg

Blykren: Getting to Know You

Gaelwin smirked down at him, mismatched eyes blazing with some emotion Tasnear wasn’t sure he wanted to know the identity of. Gaelwin shoved him onto his bed and climbed on top of him, like a predator holding down its prey- ready to kill. Tasnear resisted the urge to throw off Gaelwin, to fight against him and escape. It wouldn’t do to hurt a prince of East Atalan. He was already in such low standing with the King, Gaelwin’s grandfather. He quite liked being allowed back in the palace, being with he and Gaelwin’s daughter. It wouldn’t do to get himself exiled again.

He’d just have to hope that Gaelwin was just being mischievous, trying to scare him, one last thrill before he went off to sleep. The prince’s siblings were quite vocal at times that that was what their brother did- terrify people. For fun or out of cruelty. He’d scare them into obedience, go into wild rages and smash everything around him, destroy their things, hurt himself in the process. But he’d never lay a hand on them unless he was grabbing them and carrying them off to what he believed was safety.

Tasnear wasn’t sure if that applied to him, seeing as he wasn’t one of Gaelwin’s siblings. He wasn’t even sure Gaelwin actually believed he really was Orwina’s mother.

Which certainly wasn’t good. Gaelwin could be downright violent towards people who he didn’t see as family, especially with his new powers. He could rip people to shreds with a wave of his hand if he wished, and he’d done so before. Having spires of ice erupt from the ground to skewer an assassin through, using wind to send projectiles of dirt and rocks to go through a man who had swore at him. Everard had told him how Gaelwin, before getting his powers, would throw and stomp on people who offended him. He always had a reason for reacting so badly, Averil insisted, even if the reason didn’t seem strong enough, or obvious enough. It wasn’t violence for violence’s sake, even if it really seemed to be.

He wasn’t sure what he had done to offend Gaelwin. Perhaps Gaelwin was finally convinced he was lying about being the one to give birth to their daughter. Perhaps he’d gotten sick of him befriending his siblings. Tasnear couldn’t think of anything he could have said to upset Gaelwin. He was always kind to his siblings, and never said a bad word about him to the children nor to anyone else. Orwina loved her father, and though Tasnear feared the man and the danger he posed to everyone around him, he would never try to change his daughter’s mind.

So Tasnear didn’t dare speak now. He just stared up at Gaelwin, bracing himself for whatever the prince might do to him. But the man did nothing- he just kept him pinned, that devilish smirk on his face.

Minutes passed and Tasnear found himself growing bored. With a different person, he might have thought that they were waiting for him to let his guard down, but Gaelwin didn’t seem the type to try that tactic. He just seemed to be thinking, rather, barely breathing or blinking, eyes losing their intensity and glossing over as time dragged on and on. Tasnear debated internally on whether or not to snap Gaelwin out of his thoughts. He opened his mouth to speak, then hesitated. Before he could make up his mind on whether or not to say anything, Gaelwin blinked rapidly and shook his head. With a huff, he pushed himself up, now only kneeling with his legs on either side of Tasnear.

“Huh. Got lost in my head for a while there.” Gaelwin rubbed his eyes, blinked a few more times, and looked down at Tasnear. Confusion flickered across his features, only to be replaced by a grin. “Hello, Sir Tasnear.”

He didn’t bother correcting Gaelwin that he wasn’t a knight anymore. “Is there something you need of me, Prince Gaelwin?”

“No, not really, Tas.”

Tasnear chewed his lip for a moment, not expecting the diminutive from Gaelwin, then asked, “Ah… Has Orwina has begun calling me that to you?”

Gaelwin placed a hand on Tasnear’s chest, fiddling with a clasp on his tunic. He nodded, then undid the clasp. He continued down the elf’s tunic, undoing all the clasps until he could expose his undershirt. Tasnear didn’t know what to think of being undressed. Was Gaelwin merely curious about his clothing? Had he just wanted to do something with his hands, like a nervous habit of picking at buttons? Gaelwin’s siblings had assured him Gaelwin had no interest in anything but keeping them safe or indulging basic curiosity and harmless impulses. Tasnear didn’t fear being taken advantage of by the prince.

“Tell me, Tas,” Gaelwin started in his questioning tone that demanded an answer no matter when or where or to whom he asked. Pale, bruised fingers drew down Tasnear’s front to stop on his belly. “Are elves as humans? Is a mother’s body marked forever by its pregnancy?”

Not at all what Tasnear expected to be asked, though if he was honest with himself, he’d had no clue what the prince was going to ask. At least it was something he could answer easily. “Yes, typically. If an Elvin mother shows during their pregnancy, they will have marks, just as a human would.”

“Tas.” The way Gaelwin said his nickname was… odd. Tasnear felt embarrassed, and he wasn’t sure why. He was fine with the nickname, had grown up being called that by family and friends and people who were familiar with him. But the way the prince said his nickname, as if in knowing it he’d indulged some great curiosity, made his ears twitch. Gaelwin’s eyes flicked to the movement and he moved a hand to Tasnear’s left ear, pinching the point of it between two of his fingers.

He swallowed at the prickles of sensitivity. His other ear twitched involuntarily, though Tasnear tried to suppress it.

Gaelwin tilted his head, his messy blond hair falling into his eyes. He finished unbuttoning Tasnear’s tunic and pulled it open, then shoved up his undershirt. Tasnear bit his lower lip, his face growing hot.

A cold hand spread out over his belly. Tasnear glanced down and saw as Gaelwin traced his thumb over the stretch marks on his abdomen. Though they’d somewhat faded over the past few years, they were plainly visible. Grinning, the prince suddenly was over him again, a wicked look in his eyes.

“Prince Gaelwin? Mmph!” Tasnear jolted as Gaelwin surged down and kissed him, their teeth slamming together painfully. His hands went up to push Gaelwin off reflexively, but he managed to stop himself and instead held onto the front of Gaelwin’s tunic, closing his eyes.

The kiss was more of a bite than a kiss, far too forceful. Tasnear wasn’t sure what to think of it at first. Surely, Gaelwin wasn’t attracted to him. His siblings made it obvious that Gaelwin would never view anyone as desirable, and Tasnear had figured that for himself through watching how Gaelwin treated people. Gaelwin only viewed people as threats or as things beneath him. He didn’t make friends, much less take lovers.

Still, the kiss was thrilling in a way. During moments in his pregnancy, he’d imagined what it would be like for the father of his child to be there with him. He’d wake up to fleeting dreams of a charming prince holding him and touching his belly, claiming him. Tasnear hadn’t tried to entertain ideas of what it’d be like if the 15th princess’ son had taken him as a lover instead of just requesting a child of his own when his mother asked him what would make him happy, but he’d been emotional and overwhelmed and couldn’t help himself.

It wasn’t the gentle embrace he’d dreamed of, but it certainly felt like he was being claimed. Being pressed into his bed, Gaelwin biting him as if he were trying to devour him…

Definitely not what he’d imagined while he was pregnant, but still something he, surprisingly, would have and did enjoy.

Tasnear’s hands moved from clinging to Gaelwin’s tunic to wrapping around him, one hand going to holding the back of his head. Gaelwin dipped his head down to bite his neck and Tasnear’s fingers tightened in his hair, which only made him bite harder until it drew a whimper from Tasnear as he felt the prince’s teeth slice through his skin and draw blood. Gaelwin hummed and lapped at the blood. When he pulled up, leaving Tasnear catching his breath beneath him, his teeth were stained red. He ran his tongue over them.

“G-Gaelwin…”

“Hm. I believe you.”

Tasnear furrowed his brow in confusion. “What?”

“I said I believe you, Tas,” Gaelwin repeated, shrugging. “I didn’t before. But now I do.”

“Ah… about…?”

“About what you said. About Orwina.” Gaelwin rolled his eyes as if Tasnear was being ridiculous. “My mother never told me where she came from, just that by using magic, she was mine. So I guess your whole story about a knight telling your family your exile would be lifted if one of you did a favor for the son of a fifteenth princess wasn’t made up, and you really did carry and give birth to my daughter for me.”

“Oh. I’m- I’m glad.”

“Sorry my mother lied to you. She did that sometimes to make things easier for me.”

“It’s… alright. I’m very fond of Orwina. I’m glad I’m her mother.”

Gaelwin climbed off of him and sat on the edge of the bed. He looked over his shoulder at Tasnear, an impatient look on his face. Tasnear scrambled up and perched next to him, pulling down his shirt and starting to button up his tunic.

Before he could get too far, Gaelwin made an unhappy sound and reached to yank his shirt back up. “Hey, I still want to look at you. Do the marks go on your sides? Is there anything else?”

He felt his ears go hot and start twitching again, which he didn’t bother trying to suppress. He was too flustered. Gaelwin raised a hand to one and pinched it again.

“Why are your ears moving so much?”

“They do that when I’m…”

“When what, Tas? When you’re aroused or embarrassed?” Gaelwin asked, twisting Tasnear’s ear curiously. Tasnear’s whole face felt hot hearing Gaelwin ask if he was aroused. Not something he’d ever expected from the prince. Seeing his face go red, Gaelwin tugged on his ear and huffed, asking, “Are you going to answer anything?”

“S-sorry. I’m just… just flustered. I’m not used to- to any of this.”

“Neither am I. So your ears twitch when you’re flustered?”

Tasnear nodded slightly. “Yes. Elves’ ears can also twitch when they’re angry or upset or- or aroused. Any strong or sudden emotion, really. Joy or surprise, as well… As adults, we try to suppress the twitching. If we hear something in the distance, sometimes, as well.”

“And my other questions?”

“It would be easier to… to show you, I suppose.” At that, Gaelwin raised an eyebrow and sat back, waiting. Tasnear couldn’t believe he’d offered that, but pulled off his tunic and shirt, setting them aside. He looked down, refusing to meet Gaelwin’s eyes.

Gaelwin put both hands on his abdomen, leaning in close. “Wow. You’ve got a lot of stretch marks.”

“They were quite red, during the pregnancy… I used salves to try and help, but it didn’t do much…”

“Did they hurt?” Gaelwin picked at a larger one with his nail.

“They itched. The salves helped with that, at least.”

He brought his hands up to Tasnear’s chest and traced the lines on the underside of his breasts. “Oh. You’ve got some here as well.”

“Mm, yes. My chest developed a bit during the pregnancy as well…” His chest was still somewhat soft. “I used to be quite flat-chested.”

Gaelwin tilted his head. “Hm. A bit redundant, since you didn’t get to keep Orwina very long after she was born.”

“Excuse me?” Did Gaelwin think he’d gotten to be a mother to Orwina when she was a baby? That couldn’t have been right.

But Gaelwin ignored him. “I know my mother lied to you about the reward you’d get, but it’s still quite surprising to me that anyone would agree to have a baby knowing that it would eventually go to a different realm entirely. For all you knew, you’d never get to see her again.”

“But I never got to see her.”

Gaelwin sat up, confused. He stared at Tasnear, searching his face. Finally, he asked, “What do you mean? Didn’t you give her to someone acting on behalf of my mother after she was born?”

“You… you couldn’t tell how old she was when you first got her?”

“I wasn’t allowed to see her for three months after my mother received her.”

That was mind-boggling to Tasnear. Aghast, he asked, “Your mother didn’t let you see your own daughter until she was three months old?”

Gaelwin shrugged. “She never let me near my siblings when they were babies. She didn’t trust me.” Tasnear couldn’t help but give Gaelwin a horrified expression. Gaelwin waved it off and explained, “I don’t blame her. My mother loved me, she really did, but I was dangerous. Once my siblings were weaned my mother would help me hold them, and once Orwina could walk I was allowed to hold and play with her with my mother or father watching.”

“You didn’t get to hold your own daughter until she was old enough to walk? Prince Gaelwin…”

“Is that… bad? I didn’t really like that Everard and Averil and Eberlein got to spend more time with her before I was allowed to, but once she was old enough I would always hold her and carry her around. She really loved riding on my shoulders when she was a toddler. I should ask her tomorrow if she still likes that, in case she’s just been too busy to remember to ask.”

Something about the story didn’t seem right. “Why couldn’t you spend time with Orwina for so long?”

“Oh, because there was… an accident, with Averil. I was left alone with my siblings for a while, and my guardian took Eberlein away to change him or feed him. Everard and Averil were only about three… We were playing a chasing and hiding game in the library, and then I fell into a bookcase. Everard will swear now that I did on purpose, but I didn’t, and it landed on Averil’s leg.”

Gaelwin’s sister was missing half of one of her legs and walked with a crutch and prosthetic. Tasnear had a bad feeling about where the story was going.

Continuing, Gaelwin told him, “My father’s library was very old, and that bookcase was very tall, top-heavy, and crumbling at the bottom, and I fell very hard against it. I couldn’t get it off of Averil and she wouldn’t stop screaming and there was all sorts of blood, and my guardian wasn’t much help when we tried to lift it off of her. So I grabbed one of my father’s swords and cut off her leg to free her. It was mostly severed anyway. The doctors said it would have been removed eventually. But… my mother believed Everard.”

“So you weren’t allowed to spend time with Orwina until she was older.”

“As I said, my mother didn’t trust me.”

Then why did she trick me into bearing you a child to make you happy if she thought you were so dangerous? She could have lied and said it was impossible and you would have shrugged it off and thought of something else to wish for. It makes no sense, Tasnear thought but didn’t dare voice. Gaelwin seemed to be agitated by the story, even if he spoke of his mother’s distrust casually. Gaelwin and his siblings’ conflicting stories about their parents bothered Tasnear.

At least now he understood why Gaelwin was so misinformed about the real age Orwina had gone to live in the other realm with her father and grandmother.

He almost didn’t want to bring it up anymore.

But the prince brought it up anyways, “So what did you mean by you never getting to see her before we got off track?”

He swallowed, nervous about telling the story. It had been so upsetting when it happened, the depth of deception and the omission of details when he had agreed to carry a prince’s child to restore his family name. Gaelwin grabbed his hand, squeezing it to coax him into speaking. After taking a deep breath, he started, “After my family was disgraced and exiled, we didn’t think there would ever be a chance for one of us to restore our family name and reverse the king’s decision, not even after my father’s death. But one day a knight from the royal guard showed up at my family’s door and announced that the fifteenth princess, the daughter of the King who my father had betrayed, was willing to take away our disgrace if we did a favor for her and her eldest son. I accepted, even though my family begged me not to, afraid that the favor would be too great or impossible since my father’s betrayal had been unforgivable to King Ataria Erwyn.”

“You didn’t know what the favor was?”

“No. The knight took me to see a few of the royal mages, who told me that the fifteenth princess, your mother, wanted to choose someone to be the mother of her son’s child. I could have backed out, but I thought it was a blessing. All I had to do was bear a prince’s child, and my family name would be restored, I could return to my position in the palace as an honor guard. I even asked if I could do that, once the child was old enough for me to return to full-time service in the guard. They simply said I would be rewarded as your mother had promised.”

Gaelwin seemed to get where the story was going, nodding. “So you thought that you would become a consort for a prince, essentially. That by being a mother, you would be bearing and raising a royal child.”

“That’s exactly what I thought. The spell took a few days to perform, and then it took a week before the mages could test and see that I was with child. After they confirmed it, I thought they would take me to see the prince in the palace, so I asked if I could be with my family for a while instead, and they told me they’d intended to bring me back to my family anyway, that I’d stay with them until I gave birth.” He took another deep breath. “The pregnancy went by fine. Any difficulties I had, the mages provided remedies for. They checked on me frequently. My family and I prepared for the birth, prepared for the baby… we thought that the baby and I would remain at the family home for a few months until the baby was strong enough and I had recovered enough to make the journey to the palace.”

Gaelwin scoffed. “I can’t believe they let you think that. It just seems cruel.”

“...It was,” Tasnear said softly.

The prince moved closer to him until they were sitting pressed together. Gaelwin wrapped an arm around him and leaned his head against his shoulder.

Taking that as an invitation to continue, Tasnear did. “Things seemed alright when I went into labor. The mages were alerted and they stayed largely out of the way as my family helped me. Elvin children are born earlier and at a smaller size than human infants, and Orwina took after you. It took a while… but when I was pushing, the mages…” He stopped, biting his lip.

As he waited for Tasnear to finish telling him what had happened, Gaelwin took his hand again and played with his fingers.

“Um, they forced my family to leave and barred the entrances to the room with magic. As I finally gave birth to Orwina, they readied a spell. When she was born, one of them caught her and told the others that she was a girl and they cut the cord and covered her up and- and another two held me down and they used a spell to vanish with her. I never got to see her, I barely heard her cry… I first saw her when she and your siblings arrived in the forest of this realm, but I wasn’t really sure if it was just wishful thinking for a while until Everard started telling me about your letters from your mother…”

“I don’t know what I’d do if someone took away Orwina or one of my siblings from me.”

Seeing as how Gaelwin had tried to destroy the kingdom when he’d gotten separated from them upon first arriving in their realm, Tasnear had a pretty good idea of what the prince would do. “My family tried to help me forget about it. We weren’t even sure if she was alive, or who her father really was.”

“Not a prince, that’s for sure. At least not until we showed up here.” Gaelwin sighed heavily and flopped backward, Tasnear’s hand still in his. “Goodness. Those were upsetting stories.”

Tasnear wiped his eyes, finding that he’d teared up a bit while telling the story. He took another deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He didn’t have to be so upset anymore. Orwina was alive and well, very happy in her new life in the palace with her family. Tasnear got to see her every day, as the children’s unofficial guard. He couldn’t be a parent to her, but it was enough, knowing she was safe, seeing that she was happy and well cared for.

Even though Gaelwin was dangerous, Tasnear didn’t believe he’d ever hurt their daughter.

He laid down next to Gaelwin. The prince lifted his hand to inspect it as he fiddled around with his fingers.

“Are your nails naturally this color? Orwina doesn’t have black nails.”

“Yes. Elves have dark nails. Black nails are a trademark of my family… Usually, anyway. I guess hybrids don’t inherit that.”

“They’re nice. I like them better than mine.” Gaelwin’s nails were short and chewed on, bruised and scabbed underneath. “I wonder if we had another baby if she would have black nails.”

Prince Gaelwin was full of surprises. Any lingering upset over bad memories was quickly overtaken by shock. Tasnear turned to stare at him, eyes wide.

Seeing his expression, Gaelwin looked confused once more. “What?”

“What?” Tasnear repeated. “Is that- is that something you’ve thought about, Prince? Having another child?”

“No! I didn’t even believe that you were Orwina’s mother until I saw your body.”

“But- but you said she.”

“I just figured if we had another it’d probably be a girl since Orwina is. And I don’t know, I think another daughter would be nice. I mean, I’d be just as happy if it was a boy, but I’d prefer a girl. Not that I’d be upset at all if it was a boy.”

“Are you… trying to convince me?”

“I don’t know. Do you think you could be convinced?”

Tasnear wondered how it could have gone from him thinking that the prince was going to attack him to now, with Gaelwin possibly asking for a baby. It was due to this whirlwind that he found himself saying, “I- I suppose I could be.” Upon realizing what he’d just said, he quickly added, “But- but we barely know each other, Prince Gaelwin! Now I’d prefer to know the father of my child better. I’d rather… have a relationship with that person.”

“Well, we can’t get married,” Gaelwin said plainly.

“I didn’t-!” Tasnear felt flustered all over again. “That’s not what I meant, Prince Gaelwin. Um, why not, though…?”

Gaelwin gave him an exasperated look. “Tas, I’m married.”

“What?” The prince’s siblings had never mentioned that.

“You know that. To Queen Fractura?”

“Oh. Is that marriage actually binding, still…?” Tasnear felt relieved, for some reason. Gaelwin had been tricked into marrying a queen in order to receive his powers, and she’d tried to use him to destroy the kingdom of East Atalan, where his grandfather ruled. Thanks to his siblings and Tasnear, that hadn’t happened. He’d figured that with the evil queen in a dungeon somewhere that Gaelwin’s marriage to her would have been nullified or that the King would have insisted on a divorce.

Gaelwin nodded solemnly. “Yes. We’re still husband and wife.”

“You’re not seeking a divorce, Prince Gaelwin?”

“No. I don’t have any reason to.”

Tasnear could think of a handful of reasons off the top of his head, namely that the queen had tried to kill Gaelwin once he’d seen past her deception, and that she’d tried to use him to destroy a whole kingdom.

He kept quiet about that, though. Instead, he clarified, “I just meant getting to know each other better, Prince. Becoming friends, spending time together… building a measure of trust.”

“I trust you not to hurt my siblings if I’m not around.”

“And- and I trust you, not to purposefully harm me nor our daughter,” he told Gaelwin, finding that he was telling the truth.

The prince was quiet for a moment, and then asked him, “Do you want to go check on Orwina? All this… I wouldn’t mind making sure she’s tucked in.”

“I’d like that.”

Both of them got up and Tasnear pulled his shirts back on. He followed Gaelwin through the palace to the royal family’s living quarters. Gaelwin let him into a decent-sized room with a large bed- his own room. Then, the prince brought him through another door into another living space connected to his bedroom, where two smaller bedrooms branched off. In one room Tasnear saw Gaelwin’s brother and sister Everard and Averil on their beds, who eyed the both of them warily. In the shared space, Gaelwin’s youngest sibling, his brother Eberlein, was laying on his stomach on the floor, writing on a few pieces of paper, with an open book beside him. And in the other small bedroom, there was an empty bed that belonged to Eberlein, and another where Orwina was sitting and looking at a book, her blanket and pillows all shoved aside.

“Hello, Gael,” Eberlein greeted, not looking up from his writing. “Hi, Tasnear.”

Tasnear returned the greeting quietly. “Hello, Prince Eber.”

“Studying, dear Eberlein?”

“Mhmm. My tutor wants me to learn more about war history, so I’m writing down all the interesting battles I want to hear more about or anything that I want explained.”

“Good boy. Don’t stay up too late. That goes for you two as well, Everard, Averil.”

Everard scoffed, but his twin shyly replied, “Yes, brother. We were just talking.”

“Anything interesting?”

“We were waiting for you to get back and wondered what was keeping you, that’s all,” the girl admitted. “Eber went looking for you, but a guard told him you were in Tasnear’s room, so he came back.”

“We were worried about Tasnear,” Everard added, narrowing his eyes. “I guess we didn’t have to be. He looks fine.”

Suddenly aware that he was likely covered in bite marks and bruises around his lips and neck, his hair and clothes probably ruffled. Tasnear felt humiliated.

Gaelwin, who had no such marks and permanently ruffled hair, wasn’t ashamed. “Of course you didn’t have to be. You knew all along he was telling the truth. I was just making sure of it, and he was!”

“Oh!” Averil clapped her hands together. “I- I’m so glad, Tas! Now Gael doesn’t have to worry about you being our friend. Eve and I were worried he wouldn’t ever believe you.”

“Y… yes, there’s no need for anyone to worry, now.”

“Are y-you going to bed now, Gael?” Averil asked. “We’ll help shut off the lights.”

“Just a moment. Poppet, are you still awake as well?” Gaelwin stepped into Orwina’s bedroom, Tasnear close behind. “Oh! You’re reading?”

“Gael!” Orwina sat up in excitement. “And Tas!” She slid off of the bed and ran up to Gaelwin, hugging his legs.

“Hey, ‘pet.”

“Eber said you two were spending time with each other! Does that mean you’re friends now? I hope so!” Tasnear couldn’t help but smile at how earnest the little girl was. She looked thrilled at the idea of them being friends.

Gaelwin lifted her up. “I don’t hate him anymore.”

Orwina beamed. She turned to Tasnear and told him, “You’re friends with Gael! If he doesn’t hate you then he really likes you!”

Even a seven-year-old could tell Gaelwin was very difficult. “Oh? I’m glad…”

“I’m happy! Gael, are you happy?”

Gaelwin pressed his forehead against hers. “I’m happy to see you.”

She giggled and hugged his neck. “I’m happy to see you too!”

All of the bad feelings from before melted away seeing his daughter so happy with her father. Tasnear was so grateful that Orwina was such a happy child, always overjoyed to see her family and friends. Even if he could only be a friend to her, he was thankful.

“Tas and I wanted to come to say goodnight to you.”

Orwina’s eyes widened. “You called him Tas!” She looked back at Tasnear. “That means Gael really likes you a lot!”

“Do you want a hug from Tas, Poppet?”

The surprise on her face would have been comical if Tasnear wasn’t sure that his own expression mirrored hers. Glancing out of the bedroom door, he could see equally shocked faces on Gaelwin’s three siblings.

Prince Gaelwin didn’t let anyone else but his siblings touch his daughter.

Orwina reached out for him, the dull points of her ears twitching with excitement. He took her in his arms and she squeezed him tightly, making a happy noise against where she buried her face against him. Tasnear hugged her tight as well, relishing getting to hold his daughter for the very first time. He closed his eyes, feeling tears welling up, and tried to burn the memory into his mind so he wouldn’t ever forget it, so it would make up for the past seven years, for the grief he’d gone through when she’d been taken away as a baby.

“Poppet, do you want to sleep in my bed with Tas and me tonight? We both had a bad day…”

She popped up, ending the hug sooner than he wanted. “Yeah!” she answered, and Tasnear was glad that Gaelwin wasn’t immediately taking her back, instead just reaching to pet her hair as the elf held her. “Oh! If you had a bad day, can I read to you both before bed? Gael, my book-”

“I got it, ‘pet.” Gaelwin grabbed the book. “Let’s get to bed. Goodnight, everyone.”

A trio of goodnights, two confused, one normal, followed them. Tasnear felt a bit too embarrassed to look back at the twins, sure that they were feeling rather odd at knowing someone would be sharing their brother’s bed. But that embarrassment was just in the background. Being able to carry his daughter in his arms, feel how she settled against him, a weight that belonged there- that joy shone above everything else.

He couldn’t wait to write to his family and tell them that at last, he’d found his daughter. Something he’d been keeping from them in fear that he’d never get to be close to Orwina and would eventually be sent back home, returning to exile.

After setting Orwina down in Gaelwin’s bed, he took off his boots and tunic and set them on a chair. Orwina directed him to take the left side of the bed, as Gaelwin always slept on the right where there was an abundance of pillows. The prince went into his bathroom and came out in sleeping clothes, then climbed into his nest of pillows and handed Orwina her book. She flipped to the front of it and started to read.

A few pages in, Tasnear realized that Gaelwin was staring at him. He bit his lower lip, glancing at Orwina’s book to try not to think about it.

Midway through, Orwina was yawning and Gaelwin was still staring. After a few more pages, the book flopped over with a soft thud as their daughter fell asleep. Tasnear carefully picked up the book and set it on the nightstand. He tucked Orwina in, and Gaelwin turned out the lights with a wave of his hand, a breeze going around and blowing out all the lanterns. The two of them settled down, Gaelwin’s cold stare returning.

Somehow, Tasnear managed to fall asleep despite it. And when he woke up in the morning, Orwina had sprawled out with half her body on his chest and arm, and Gaelwin was awake, bags under his eyes, watching.

“Ha. I told you Gael would stay up all night.” Everard’s voice startled the both of them, the boy standing at the end of the bed with a tray of food in his hand. Tasnear kept himself from jumping, not wanting to wake up Orwina. Gaelwin hissed and glared at his brother.

Averil gave them both an apologetic look. “Oh, Gael. We told you Tasnear is safe. Why’d you let him stay here all night if you were worried?”

“It’s called trust-building. He slept all night and didn’t do anything to Orwina, so he passed a test. Ugh… Now I’m going to bed.” Gaelwin turned over and buried his face in his mound of pillows. He grumbled until his breathing slowed and he fell asleep quickly.

Everard rolled his eyes. “We brought breakfast. Avie’s got a kettle and we’re going to make some tea in our common room.”

“You’re welcome to join us once you’re free.”

“Free?” Tasnear echoed.

“Orwina has you trapped. You’re stuck under her for a while.”

“We can just wake her up.”

Averil laughed a little. “Okay. If you think you can bring yourself to. Only her tutor is stronghearted enough to wake her, and Eve asked her not to come since you’re here.”

“Yes. In bed with our brother, bruised up. That kind of gossip will spread, and Gaelwin doesn’t like rumors.”

“S-sorry. I’ll cover up before I go.”

As nice as it was to have his daughter sound asleep on top of him, sometimes embarrassment could win out. The twins snickered as his face reddened and walked to their living room, leaving him trapped under Orwina and keenly aware of how the bruises on his face and neck were aching.

In his letter to his family, he would definitely have to leave some things out.

#mpreg #past mpreg #just a warning this story has a brief mention where tasnear is worried gaelwin will attack or assault him but very quickly he realizes #that he wont lol. and also mentions a past child injury (princess avie is fine now) and a baby being taken away (orwina is now back with Tas #original story #oblio's fics #Gaelwin 'Gael' Blykren #Tasnear 'Tas' Lyreale #Everard 'Eve' Blykren #averil 'avie' blykren #Eberlein 'Eber' Blykren #Orwina Blykren #Blykren - story tag

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coldwind-shiningstars · 3 years

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ok ok prompts!!! so, I would be Delighted by some more qinxiyao family fic (deleted scenes or things you might have wanted to include in the big bang fic but didn't get to?), or, alternately, anything in the modern tcgf au? anything at all; they're all so excellent <3

both of these are such excellent prompts I started working on both of them, but the modern au got finished first! I’ll probably both a) do a lot of edits on this and b) do the qinxiyao family fic in a week or so, but here this is for now. Also, for those not in James and my brains, this is a very small part of a very large AU! Small note, all characters appearing in this fic are trans; however, He Xuan is still very much an egg and so they are referred to throughout the fic as “he/him,” although SQX at least is aware of this and wondering when to bring it up with her. She is, however, unaware that “Ming Yi” is a stolen identity and He Xuan is actually the eco-terrorist who’s been blowing up her brother’s fish hatcheries. It’s a long story.

If Xie Lian was being honest, he didn't much like the internet. It was so bright and everything moved too fast. People used a bewildering array of slang and images. It was surprisingly difficult to avoid spending hours reading upsetting news stories. People spent days arguing about pornography.

Also, his phone didn't really connect to WiFi very well. Even by the loosest definitions of the word, he hardly counted as a netizen.

People were usually shocked when he told them this, though, because Xie Lian's best friend was one of China's most popular beauty influencers.

Xie Lian's face appeared on her Weibo with some regularity. She talked about him often. He'd gone viral three separate times on Douyin, entirely accidentally.

What Shi Qingxuan was most famous for, however, was makeup tutorials. He had never actually appeared in one of these, but, since there were very few people in the world capable of saying no to a very determined Shi Qingxuan, this was about to change. He was used to being in her charmingly decorated little apartment but not quite used to becoming a decorated thing himself. He'd even put on one of the outfits Hua Cheng had designed and sewn for him, based on some of his old dance costumes and a few frantic weeks of historical research, and kept swishing the skirts around his legs.

Shi Qingxuan started setting up, chattering away to Xie Lian as she did. "You need anything before we start? Bathroom, water, a snack? I edit my videos pretty heavily, so we can always take a break, but it’s good to be comfy."

"No, I'm fine," Xie Lian said, and then had to close his eyes when she clicked on the ring light.

He fiddled with the makeup compacts laid out on the table.

Shi Qingxuan adjusted her light, scootched Xie Lian’s chair a little to the left and a little back, and then fiddled with the camera. It was quite the involved operation, Xie Lian thought; he knew a lot went into making videos, but he hadn’t realized it took this much effort before the camera was even on. Shi Qingxuan had done his makeup before, of course, but mostly just for fun, or something she could take a picture of and post on Weibo. It had been so long since he'd been filmed.

He watched Shi Qingxuan press record on her camera and then sit back and flash it a smile, putting on her Influencer Face. She squeezed his hand under the table.

“Hi everyone, welcome to Feng Shi!” she said, chirpy. “I’m Shi Qingxuan, and today we’re doing xianxia makeup with my good friend, Xie Lian. Now, for this look, we’re going to need…”

When Xie Lian was little, the makeup artists for his dance troupe had known he took about twice as long as anyone else did to get his makeup done. He was the darling of the company, though, so this was tolerated with fondness.

He didn't like the way the foundation felt on his face when it dried. His eyes watered when they put on eyeliner. He liked to spin his chair from side to side.

He'd had much worse things on his face than paint since then, and had learned how to be still.

Shi Qingxuan patted his hand cheerfully as she pulled out the setting powder.

"You're always one of my favorite models," she said. "You're so photogenic and so patient!"

"Thank you," Xie Lian said, and held still while she brushed it in his face.

Ruoye, probably noticing the warmth, slithered out of Xie Lian's robes and curled up on top of his head so she could get the full blast of heat from the ring light. She flickered out her tongue to scent Shi Qingxuan when she leaned in with a liquid eyeliner pen.

Shi Qingxuan made little kissy sounds at her, which only confirmed Xie Lian's certainty that he had good taste in friends. Most people were startled by Ruoye originally, but how they responded to her after Xie Lian introduced them was a good litmus test.

Ruoye settled in, and Xie Lian reached up a finger to stroke her scales.

He was feeling good, content and warm, happy to sit still. Then the apartment door clicked open, and Xie Lian stiffened.

"Ming-xiong? Is that you?" Shi Qingxuan called.

Ming Yi mumbled something back and shuffled into the room, buried deep in his black hoodie. As always, Xie Lian's first thought upon seeing him was wondering how he could see through all that hair.

The hoodie had a fish skeleton painted on it that he recognized instantly as one of Hua Cheng's drawings; it made Xie Lian smile, thinking of how insistent San Lang was that they absolutely weren't friends, no way, there was no particular reason he would make custom hoodies for Ming Yi. The fish were a coincidence. He’d even made Ming Yi custom salmon breakup boots while proclaiming it meant nothing.

Xie Lian, wearing an elaborate hanfu Hua Cheng had designed, sewn, and embroidered himself, even making him a period-appropriate duduo to flatten his chest, absolutely did not buy any of these excuses. Hua Cheng covered people he cared about with his art.

Ming Yi grunted a greeting and wandered off, probably to raid the fridge. Shi Qingxuan winked at Xie Lian.

“I’ll edit most of this out,” she said, conspiratorial, “But my viewers love Ming-xiong. Especially when he’s out of focus in the background. They’ve made memes. I haven’t told them anything about him. It’s good to keep a little mystery! It keeps people watching.”

Xie Lian, having no real idea what she was talking about, smiled and suppressed his instinct to nod. Shi Qingxuan began painting a flower on his forehead with red pigment.

Finally, Shi Qingxuan gently removed Ruoye from Xie Lian’s head and shoulders and settled a wig cap over his hair, then the wig she’d pre-prepared. A few bobby pins, a few tucks, and then she stepped back, grinning.

“Ta-dah! How do you like it, taizi dianxia?”

“It’s beautiful,” Xie Lian said, honestly.

“We’ll end the video here, I think,” she said, “But I’ll get some posed photos of you to edit in here if that’s alright. Oh, tilt your head back and forth a little? Good. Smile at the camera!”

Shi Qingxuan fluttered her fingers at the camera in a wave; Xie Lian waved too, a few seconds later. As she leaned forward to click off the camera he straightened his legs out to try and loosen them up. His knees made terrible crunching sounds as they stretched.

“You can take a little break if you want,” Shi Qingxuan said. “I’ll set up the area where we’ll take photos, but I’ll try to make it quick. You’re a darling for sitting through all this, you know?"

She was already bustling around again. She seemed to have an endless fountain of energy; Xie Lian found it admirable. He laid flat on his back on her bed, careful to not get makeup on her sheets or wrinkle his clothes. Ming Yi sat next to him, eating shrimp chips. He put a few directly into Xie Lian's mouth, feeding him like a little bird, and Xie Lian felt warm. Like Hua Cheng, it could be hard to know when Ming Yi liked you, but there were ways to tell.

He let Shi Qingxuan pose him until she was satisfied with the numbers of pictures she’d taken, trying very hard not to feel like the chuunibyou teenager he’d once been. He felt himself mostly immune to embarrassment at this point, but he supposed there were always exceptions.

Eventually, they cleaned up, although Xie Lian had promised Hua Cheng to show off the full look, so he didn’t get changed or clean his face.

“I’ll buy dinner,” Shi Qingxuan said. “We deserve it. You too, Ming-xiong!”

She herded them both out of the apartment and down the street to a small noodles stall. They all ordered (in He Xuan’s case, three bowls) and Xie Lian was fumbling for his phone when he heard Shi Qingxuan cheerfully tell the clerk to put it all on the same ticket. She tapped her phone to pay for it all before Xie Lian could protest.

A few people asked Xie Lian for pictures as they ate. He posed obligingly, hoping he hadn't spilled any sauce on his clothes while eating. When he was done, he packed up his leftovers, let Shi Qingxuan nag him into calling a Didi instead of trying to walk home, and bid both her and Ming Yi farewell. Ruoye, who had spent most of the time they were eating in Xie Lian's backpack, made a brief appearance too like she wanted to say goodbye as well.

Xie Lian clicked his own apartment door closed quietly and tiptoed over to slide his leftovers into the refrigerator. Down the hall, a light shone out from underneath Hua Cheng's studio door.

There was an old picture of the two of them on the fridge; it was them in a hospital pediatric ward group room. Xie Lian, age fifteen, was beaming at the camera, his "FIGHT! JUVENILE SLE" shirt a bright red and his pants an immaculate white. Next to him, Hua Cheng, his right eye patched with patterned tape, bald and tiny, stared up at him with devotion.

Ruoye bonked her head gently on the freezer door. Xie Lian pulled out one of her mice and slid her gently into her tank before giving her the treat; she was swallowing the mouse as he left the kitchen.

Hua Cheng turned to him as Xie Lian opened the door to his studio. His eye got wide, and his face looked like it did sometimes when he looked at Xie Lian, like he was seeing something holy. He slid his headphones off his ears.

Xie Lian did a little twirl for him, letting him see the way the fabric moved, and then tilted his face up for a kiss when Hua Cheng came over to him.

“Gege, you look beautiful,” he said.

“San Lang,” said Xie Lian. “It’s all you and Qingxuan. I’ll get her to send you the pictures later.”

Hua Cheng kissed the top of his head. He was dressed down, in a soft shirt and pants, not wearing his prosthetic eye. Xie Lian leaned his head into Hua Cheng’s chest.

“Gege seems tired,” Hua Cheng said. “Would you like to get ready for bed? Do you need dinner or your medicine? I can help you take all that off.”

“San Lang, you’re working,” Xie Lian said. “I already ate, so I think I’d like to sleep. But you don’t have to help.”

"Gege is more important than commissions," Hua Cheng said, and Xie Lian let him bundle him off to bed.

post about prompts!

#replies #my writing #body in abyss heart in paradise #paradife-loft

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jarienn972 · 3 years

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La Sirena - Chapter Eight

Captain Swan Supernatural Summer

We’re nearing the completion of this @cssns tale, and despite the challenges this story has posed, I’m a little bit sad that it is nearly finished.

This chapter has a lot of action as we pick up right where we left off with Regina’s nefarious plan to “test” Killian’s worthiness. Our poor lieutenant has no idea what the devious siren has in mind and it isn’t going to be pleasant.

Thank you, @kmomof4 for all of your beta assistance, especially with your suggestions for this chapter! And thanks again to @courtorderedcake for her beautiful artwork!

Catch up from the beginning on AO3 or FF.net Tumblr chapters: One Two Three Four Five Six Seven

“Retribution”

No amount of naval training could have prepared him for this, Killian thought as he inexplicably found himself standing barefoot on the shore. One moment he'd been crouching inside the cavern awaiting Emma's return and the next, he was facing down the tempestuous ocean, thoroughly exposed. His knuckles had gone white clutching desperately to the cutlass, but as he stared out at the sea, he knew in his heart that the weapon was no match for this unnatural battle.

Above the whitecaps in the distance, he could just make out the crest of Emma's head and that of another person with darker hair coiffed beneath some sort of massive, glistening crown. Was this the mysterious sister that Emma had spoken of? He couldn't make out anything they were saying over the roar of waves crashing against the rock. But it was the dichotomy of their expressions that sent a shiver down his spine. He didn't even dare hypothesize the meaning behind the look of abject horror that spread across Emma's delicate features.

Shivers washed over him and his gut filled with apprehension when his gaze was drawn to movement on the horizon. Could this be signalling the arrival of the siren council that had Emma so concerned? The surface of the water seemed to rise, bubbling and foaming in the most unearthly manner. It was like nothing he had ever seen in all his years at sea and in a mere moment, he was about to wish it could be unseen.

As a mariner, he'd often heard tales of encounters with the legendary kraken and he'd shrugged them off as nothing but fantasy. Perhaps he'd been too quick to judge legend from truth, he found himself thinking as he marveled at the sheer size of the tentacle that emerged from the depths. It was simply beyond belief. From his experience with squid and octopi snared in fishing nets, Killian suspected that this creature would have to be supernaturally large, and that thought was confirmed as it reared its humongous head above the bay.

Even if he hadn't been practically paralyzed with shock and trepidation, he never would have had a chance to outrun the beast's speed or reach as another of its incredibly strong tentacles snatched him off of the beach. The slimy appendage constricted around his upper body, lifting him into the air and pinning his arms to his sides as it threatened to crush him.

First pirates, then sirens, and now he was eye to eye with a bloody kraken… All of them apparently competing to see who would kill him first…

Grimacing in pain, he struggled against its grasp and cried out to Emma for help. He may have been at the mercy of these mythical beings, but his own survival instincts remained fully intact. He wiggled his right arm free enough to draw the cutlass from its sheath. He didn't exactly have full range to properly wield his weapon, but he managed to secure an angle that allowed him to thrust the blade into one of the circular suckers on the underside of the tentacle encircling him. The monster howled and retaliated by lashing Killian into the waves, stunning the sailor as it increased the pressure on his body and dislodging the sword. The blade dropped into the ocean below while a barely conscious Killian could both feel and hear his ribs cracking under the assault.

Emma could only watch in a panic as the kraken scooped Killian off the shore with its tentacles wound tightly around him. She tried in vain to repel the monstrosity with her magic, but her barrage of light energy blasts had little to no effect on the creature.

"Your magic isn't strong enough to deter a kraken," an amused Regina insisted.

"Call it off, Regina!" Emma shouted angrily as the monster's tentacle squeezed ever tighter around Killian's very mortal body. She could hardly bear to see the agony expressed by his features. "This isn't the way! The beast is going to kill him!"

"He was on borrowed time already, sister," Regina reminded her sternly. "But if this pitiful human is as worthy as you claim he is, he certainly should be capable of defeating a kraken - shouldn't he?" She chuckled giddily as Emma's gaze focused on her weak little human, completely aghast by the impending carnage.

"I do not know what you and lord Triton conspired upon, but this is a repulsive abuse of power!" Emma admonished her sister while whipping around in the water to confront the rest of the council when they surfaced to take in the spectacle. "Why can none of you understand that he survived because he did not hear the song? Are you all complicit in this? Serving him up as hapless prey to a kraken is hardly the task our kind was given! Do you think this is what the great Poseidon intended? We were created to sing and only to sing! Any further judgement belongs to the gods, not to the sirens!"

There were a few nods and murmurs from the council but despite Emma's fervent pleas, none of the members seemed to be willing to challenge Regina.

"Cowards…," Emma hissed as she returned her attention to her sister. "I don't know what power you wield over the council, Regina, but I believe that even they know this is wrong. If you want to challenge him, do it with your voice, not with Triton's oversized toy…"

"But this way is so much more fun," Regina smirked and that was what finally pushed Emma over the edge. With a flip of her muscular tail, Emma lunged at Regina, shoving her tentacled sibling beneath the surface and yanking the coral and shell studded crown from atop Regina's head. "Why you insolent little bitch!" Regina cried out as Emma flung the headdress aside. "You've always been a poor excuse for a siren and now you're proving that by all of this fervor to save your human pet!"

Regina flicked two of her tentacles toward Emma who defensively batted them away with her arms and tail fin. The skirmish sent many members of the council scrambling to get out of the way.

"Why are you doing this?" Emma demanded with a brisk swish of her tail that lifted her out of Regina's reach for the moment. "This has never been our way… Please - call off that kraken!"

"You have been away too long. You've gone soft," Regina scolded. "You're practically fawning over a human. How deranged can you possibly be? Have you forgotten what it is to be a siren or are those powers wasted on you?"

"The only deranged one here is you! I know I did the right thing no matter what you believe. Maybe I did go soft but if his life was spared from the siren call, he deserves to live…" Emma couldn't stop her voice from cracking as she continued to plead for Killian's survival. How had this man managed to affect her so greatly in such a short amount of time? Why did she care so much? Compassion wasn't an emotion that sirens were supposed to have…

"No human is worthy to pass through this realm. That was the edict of Poseidon himself," Regina sneered, raising her right arm above the water's surface as she prepared to unleash her magic on the helpless human who'd gone limp in the kraken's grip.

"PERHAPS I SHOULD BE THE JUDGE OF THAT," a booming voice sounded above the bay, silencing all, including the roaring sea beast.

A glistening trident with tines that blazed as brilliantly as lightning bolts broke through the waves. Emma immediately bowed her head even before the god's visage appeared and her action was followed by the siren council members who'd remained. Even Regina demurely lowered her head at the sight of Poseidon's face, but no amount of posturing would spare her from his ire. With a scant raise of his trident, the seas instantly grew calm and the kraken, still clinging to its human prey, was now frozen in time.

"Enough distractions," Poseidon said as his attention fell to the combative sirens. "The creatures living in this bay alerted me to all of this… whatever this is. What in the name of Olympus is going on here?"

"Mighty Poseidon," Regina began as she slowly lifted her chin to gaze upon the god of the sea. Her eyes darted back to the sea at the sight of his deep-set scowl. "We were just trying to complete some unfinished business, but there has been some disagreement over doing what needs to be done."

Poseidon shook his head in disdain as he glowered at the brunette siren. "This is a disagreement?" he queried as he nonchalantly pushed his glimmering three pointed crown back into position atop his pure white hair, echoing Regina's earlier behavior. "I think this is a ruckus and I would like to know how a council of sirens got themselves into such a bizarre situation. I don't recall krakens being a part of the siren song."

Regina's cheeks burned with embarrassment and anger. How dare Emma and her human put her in this position? "My apologies. Had Erimetha not abandoned our code and rescued a human, we wouldn't be here. The kraken was merely a suggestion from your brother, Triton, as a means to expedite the process."

"Was it now?" Poseidon quipped sarcastically before his scrutiny passed to Emma who, to this point, had remained reverent, silently treading water as she awaited the inevitable wrath of the god. "I'll need to have a stern conversation with my brother about his suggestion, but Erimetha - pardon me, I forgot that you prefer to be called Emma - is what Regina says true? Did you rescue a human from a doomed ship?"

Emma managed a weak smile over the fact that Poseidon had remembered her preferred name and even corrected himself. Maybe, just maybe, she wasn't being viewed as the villain here.

"Regina's words are partially true. The man had already survived the siren song. He never heard them sing. All I did was prevent him from rolling off of his makeshift raft," Emma replied as she dared raise her head to face Poseidon.

"What possessed you to do such a thing?" Poseidon asked with a raised brow, intently listening for her response.

Emma had to pause for a moment, trying to best form her words, but the best she could come up with was: "My instincts told me I should."

"I see…" The god of the seas scratched idly at his beard as he contemplated Emma's answer - one that Regina clearly didn't believe to be good enough.

"She admits she helped the human," Regina rehashed her opinion, crossing her arms over her chest indignantly as she awaited the god's agreement.

Giving no audience to Regina, Poseidon continued his interrogation of Emma as only the outcast siren's first-hand account was going to answer the questions he wanted answered.

"You claim the human did not perish during the siren encounter because he didn't hear their song. What led you to that conclusion, Emma?"

"As he was recovering from his injuries sustained at the hand of the pirates who had abducted him and during his escape from the sinking ship, we conversed a few times. He believed the ship's crew had abandoned their vessel after striking the rocks and left him behind. It wasn't until after Regina came to my cove the first time in search of a survivor that he learned the truth about the siren attack, but he didn't recall hearing any music before the ship began to go down. It was my belief that he might possibly have been deaf to the song so I tested the theory by singing to him and he never heard me. He never fell victim to the trance. Does that not make him worthy to live?"

Poseidon pursed his lips and rubbed his whiskered chin as he pondered his next query but grew irritated by Regina's refusal to be silent when she interrupted his thoughts.

"This doesn't prove anything," Regina interjected, only to be immediately shushed by the god.

"Regina - my questions are for Emma at this time. It would be in your best interest to remain quiet until I address you," he warned sternly. "When I have a question for you, I shall ask. Do you understand?"

An embarrassed Regina nodded and gave a sheepish "Yes, your majesty." before floating further back from him.

"Emma, what do you know of the history of the sirens?" Poseidon inquired.

She was caught off-guard by the unusual question, but she did her best to surmise the history she knew. "Centuries ago, the gods lived in peace with humans, but a time came when the humans no longer showed reverence to the gods. As the human realm grew in size and they began to traverse the globe, you and Triton established this part of the mighty oceans as your sacred realm. We sirens were created to guard entrance into the realm as our song was supposed to determine whether a human was worthy to pass.

"Over many generations, only one human proved to be worthy - although the precise means of how his worth was determined remain unclear. Anyway, this human gained your favor and in time, was granted permission to marry your daughter, Ursula. Their civilization then flourished for many years, until the same insolence led to the destruction of that advanced civilization.

"Humans were once again regarded as evil, and while there are many tales of your descendants being spared, no one but you, your majesty, knows the veracity of that. All I know for certain is that even long before I isolated myself away from the sirens, no human ever traversed this realm successfully. All of them perished - until Killian came along. I do not know what criteria you intended us to use to judge men such as him, but he isn't evil. If he was able to make it off of that ship alive, does that not mean he was worthy of passage?"

Poseidon raised a brow at the thoroughness of her reply. He'd known for quite some time that Emma was unique amongst her kind, but he'd not expected to find such an underlying passion for life within a being who'd been created to kill.

"You are very much correct, Emma," he said at last, leaving a disgruntled Regina aghast.

"But Lord Poseidon, she defied the siren code by interfering!" Regina insisted and she was met with a harsh rebuttal.

"Regina, my instruction was for you to remain silent until you were addressed, but you seem to have difficulty following such a simple directive," he admonished the unruly siren. "You and the council are dismissed!" Lifting his trident, he aimed it at the frozen kraken, divesting it of its human prey. In a flash, an unconscious Killian Jones was removed from the creature's grasp to reappear safely upon the sandy shore. He waved off the layer of imposing clouds that shrouded the skies, allowing the sunlight to bathe the cove once again. The kraken reared to life as Poseidon's spell wore off, but the god quickly neutered its wrath. "And since you summoned it, you can return that blasted beast to my brother on your way home to your end of the island! Once I have completed cleaning up the mess you have made here, you will stand before me to answer for this abuse of your powers! Even with the most convincing apology, you may find yourself relieved of those powers."

Regina's lips parted to complain but wisely, not a single whimper escaped as she turned away from the intensity of his glare. Glancing around the bay, she could see that not a single council member had stayed behind to see her humiliation, so perhaps she could count that as a single victory. It was still her belief that she'd done no wrong, but for now, it was far better to lick her wounds and depart than further provoke the wrath of a god who had just publicly castigated her in front of her rival.

Visibly shaken, Regina gave one last little flutter of her wrist to vanquish the kraken, scowling eyes locked on Emma the entire time. Despite her fallen crown being forgotten and abandoned to the sea floor, she held her chin up audaciously before slipping beneath the waves with the knowledge that this may have been her last act as a siren.

#cssns #captain swan supernatural summer #cssns20 #cs ff #cs au ff #la sirena #siren emma #one more chapter to go #are emma and killian going to get their happy ending?

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yurtletheturtlehenderson · 4 years

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S.T. REWRITE - S2:E9; Chapter Nine, The Gate - [Pt. 6 - FINAL PART]

A Will Byers x Reader Series

The survivors turn up the heat on the monstrous force that's holding Will hostage, and Y/n's powers are put to the ultimate test in the process. Eleven makes plans to finish what she started.

A/n: your snowball outfit is completely up to you since everyone is different. IF you need ideas, I have a pinterest board you can look at if you want. My username is the same as my Tumblr, which is in my description. Also, I was wrong again, THIS is the longest chapter. Happy reading!

We’re finally here!!

Ps: you think this chapter is cute jUST WAIT FOR COSMIC 3 🤭😉☺

||3rd Person POV||

"Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock,"

The light and blithe tune of Bobby Helms' classic, 'Jingle Bell Rock' fills the Hawkins Middle School gym as everyone prepares for the annual Snow Ball. A mix of faculty and volunteers are spread across the gym hanging decorations, including Mr. Clarke who finishes hanging the large banner reading; Hawkins Middle Snow Ball '84.

"Jingle bells chime in jingle bell time,"

The Byers house is once more filled with soft music and laughter, smiles are worn by all. In the time of Will's recovery, everyone had been ecstatic to find his memories promptly returned to him. The dark fog over his brain had been cast away, returning to him all his forgotten memories.

Many new drawings hung on the fridge mixed in with older ones, one, in particular, sat front and center for all to see. None more proud to see it than Joyce who had wrapped her son in a tearful hug upon seeing it. It was a bright and smiling picture of Bob in the classic Superman pose, a bright red cape flying behind him and written boldly beneath were three words; Bob Newby Superhero.

"Yeah, you got it. See?" Joyce says, a big smile evident in her voice.

"Mom!" Will pleas, thoroughly embarrassed.

There's another beat of silence as Joyce dances around the living room with her son, a smirking Jonathan off to the side filming.

"Jingle bell, jingle bell Jingle bell rock,"

The two bounce across the floor as he gets used to the rhythm, short bursts of frustrated muttering under his breath do not go unnoticed by his mother.

"Will, honey," she smirks knowingly when he worriedly meets her eyes. "You're doing fine."

He tries to shake the nerves away, and the rising blush attempting to make an appearance. He tries to take his mind off his anxieties and redirects his attention to his older brother. Jonathan seemed intent on getting every angle, and it only put Will on edge further despite the small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. After all, it wouldn't be Jonathan if he wasn't trying to document everything.

Still, Will quirks a brow, trying to sound as polite as possible.

"Do you always have to be filming everything?" He asks.

"No, no," Jonathan chuckles, peeking out from behind the camera's scope to smirk at his brother. "Just the good stuff."

Will's eyes flicker from their bouncing feet and his hand on his mother's arm, the other in her hers, unsure. All week he had been racked with nerves as the Snow Ball got closer, not to mention how uptight he had felt all of that day.

Will wanted his dance with Y/n to be perfect.

He had decided early on he would ask her to dance, no matter how nervous he got. After she had saved him, things had been... different between them. They were both a bit of a blushy mess, but never said or did anything about it given Will's recovery. Something had already changed between them when he was rescued from the Upside Down. Since she kissed him on the cheek. But again, both of them had been too scared to do anything, or Dustin, Mike, or Lucas would interrupt before something could happen.

But now? The Snow Ball? Everyone had decided to go as a group, so they would meet up there anyway. But Will decided he couldn't hide it much longer, and he had hopeful suspicion she felt a similar way. So he planned on changing everything tonight.

But none of that put any of his nerves at ease.

What if she said no? Or worse, what is she said yes? And then he would be dancing like this with her and no one else would be, and she'd laugh.

"Are you sure people still dance like this?" Will asks finally.

"Yeah," Joyce shrugs, still bouncing them around the room. "It's what's happenin'."

He looks to her expectantly, only to see her smirking at him. Confused, but allowing himself to feel a bit hopeful, he looks to Jonathan past the camera. Unknowingly, his mother keeps her smirk screwed on her face as her eyes follow Will's.

"Is it what's happenin'?"

Jonathan shrugs, going along with the charade. "Yeah, yeah, it's what's happenin'."

Will lets out his arm, allowing his mother to duck and twirl. She unravels in step, spreading out her arms in a big show and a proud smile before returning to her son's arms.

"That was good," she cheers. "That was good, very good."

Will relaxes, nodding to himself and returning his attention to where he steps.

"Hey," she says softly, bringing his head up to look at her. She grins sweetly, her eyebrows shooting up. "You two are gonna have fun, I know it,"

Jonathan can't stop the chuckle before it breaks loose, and hides behind the JVC as Will turns pink.

"Mom!"

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

The shutter of Karen Wheeler's polaroid camera hooks sharply into Mike's ears as does the blinding white light of the camera's flash that blinds him. The freshly printed polaroid falls to the ground and she quickly grabs it.

"Oh, wait!" She orders to a stiff and uncomfortable Mike who stands at the end of the stairs in a tie and sweater vest.

"Alright, that's enough," he huffs, hand still on the banister.

"One more, okay?" She pleas. "Just one more."

"Why?"

She grins proudly behind her camera and coos. "You look so handsome."

"Mom!"

"Mike." She retaliates, cheerfully.

The shutter clicks, grabbing another picture of Mike. This time, a pouty and exhausted expression on his face instead of a flat and embarrassed one.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"Hey... wanna dance?"

Lucas shakes his head, hands on his hips as he tries to clear his head. He stands before his mirror, working through his nerves as he practices asking Max to dance. He felt a little silly doing it, but he deemed it necessary it if meant he was more prepared to dance with the girl who made his heart skip a beat.

"We should, you know, get out there, like, do our thing... Stop," he tells himself suddenly.

Even he felt himself growing uncomfortable at that request. But he tried again.

He looks at himself in the mirror, raising a finger and gesturing to his reflection. His mouth opens to say something clever, anything, but nothing comes out.

Okay, he needed to shake this. He was better than this! He smacks his face lightly, rubbing his puffed-out cheeks around trying to wake himself up a little more if possible.

"I love this song," he beams into the mirror with a charming smile. "You?"

Okay, that wasn't bad. That could work! He could feel the confidence swelling up in his chest like a balloon.

And then it popped.

"Yeah, I love it." Came an exaggerated, sickly sweet voice from his doorway. "But not as much as I love you, Lukey."

His face drops when he sees Erica in the mirror behind him, a mischievous grin stretching wide across her face. He whirls around to face her and stomps towards her as she bats her eyelashes, feigning innocence.

"Get out of my room!"

The door slams shut, leaving a giggling and rather pleased Erica out in the hallway.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"Ow, ow. That hurts." Max protests.

Max sits in front of the mirror, her mother behind her as she pins back her long bangs in one thin braid. She smiles at her daughter through the mirror.

"It's gonna be worth it. Promise."

Max catches movement out of the corner of her eye, and she turns her head to see Billy who had come to a stop outside her door when she caught his eye. He looks at her blankly, testing the waters but she has none of it.

"Jingle bell time is a swell time,"

The radio continues it's Christmas melody, like Susan Hargrove, blissfully unaware of the hostile glare Max holds her stepbrother in. The threat of that night still burns behind her eyes, sending him walking.

She returns her attention to the mirror, where her mother finishes fluffing her long red curls and beams down at her.

"See? Pretty."

The word sends Max into a sigh, and she throws her head back with a groan.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"Son of a bitch! Son of a bitch!"

Dustin marches out of his room in a cornflower blue button-up, black suspenders, bowtie, and a frown. He passes his mother who sits in her usual armchair, she is cuddling the family's newest edition; a young kitten she had dubbed Tews. Y/n took quite a disliking to the name, wishing her mother had been less obvious she was trying to replace Mews. Especially since she knew what had really happened to their "missing" cat.

The kitten purrs in delight as Claudia Henderson strokes Tews behind his small ear. She looks over at her son who angrily enters the kitchen, his head of damp curls bouncing near his shoulders.

"Where did you see it last?"

"Right here," he argues, gesturing to the counter. "Where I put it."

"What's in there that's so important anyway?" She asks gently. "You look fabulous, baby."

Dustin's hardened exterior melts, his worry dissolving completely into relief when he spots the brown paper bag hiding away behind a box of 'MeowMix'. He picks it up, testing its weight and he smirks back at his mother.

"Got it,"

Dustin dashes across the living room and back into his bedroom, just missing the sharp and quick ring of the doorbell.

"That's your ride." She perks, eyes darting to the door. "Dusty!"

Dustin unravels the bag on his bed, pulling out the cold tin can of Farrah Fawcett Hairspray, and uncaps it. He glides towards the mirror, taking a deep breath, and starts the first coat.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Soft moonlight spills over the faces of Jim Hopper, El Hopper, and Y/n Henderson as the truck they sit in navigates through the trees and into town. In the time since their defeat of the Mind Flayer, and especially since the latest news of El's adoption, Y/n had been over a handful of times. The only other person having been allowed to the cabin being Mike, each visit carefully planned and spaced out so as to not draw any suspicion.

When the news had been broken to El, she hadn't stopped smiling for weeks. Not only was she finally allowed a normal life, but she was also finally surrounded by people who would love her and nurture her, always. No more uncertainty of where she would end up, or if she were ever allowed to leave. She knew now her freedom was certain.

When she had first broken the news to Y/n, her smile was still screwed to her face as she repeated the word with great excitement.

"Adopted!"

Y/n had erupted into giddy laughter, more than thrilled for her friend. "El, that's fantastic!"

And when Hopper brought home the dress he had picked out - with the welcomed help of Joyce - and told her about the Snow Ball? She was elated. It wasn't long before plans were made with Y/n. And even though Y/n was there to offer her help with getting ready, Hopper couldn't quite pull himself away from offering his own assistance with whatever the girls needed. Whether it be hair, make-up, or simple advice.

He was just happy to have a daughter to worry about again, and she didn't seem to mind.

They now traveled in comfortable silence, the Christmas music on the radio blended with the steady white noise of the engine, and the tires traveling on the road blanketed the silence. El and Y/n sat together in the back seat that had recently been installed, Hopper turning his attention into the radio to give them as much privacy as possible.

El kept her eyes glued on the passing scenery outside her window as she took several deep breaths, her right hand absent-mindedly twirling the braided blue hair tie Hopper had gifted to her around her wrist.

Y/n, recognizing the behavior all too well, smiled timidly at her friend.

"You excited?"

El turned to her friend, trying to ignore the flutter in her stomach at the question. Her smile quickly matched Y/n's.

"Yes,"

She takes another deep breath, forcing her shoulders to relax and slowly they sink back down. El is quick to catch the quirked brow sent her way.

"It's okay to be nervous," Y/n says, drawing El's attention back to her.

El looks at her best friend, studying her. She feels herself relax a bit when she senses Y/n's words are completely genuine. Y/n offers El a soft smile that eases away any remaining tension. As the truck passes a clearing in the trees another ray of moonlight glides across Y/n's face, making El smile to herself.

'Pretty,' she thinks.

"It's completely normal to be nervous for a dance," she continues. "I'm nervous about it, too,"

El nods, thinking about this.

"I think it'll be different once you get there," her next words bring a small blush to El's cheeks. "Once you see Mike, I think it'll all get a bit easier,"

There's another beat of silence as El contemplates her words. Finally, she turns to Y/n, this time being the one to pull her attention away from the window to look at her. Her eyebrows raise in question, a small grin tugging at her lips.

"Same with you?"

Y/n's head tilts subconsciously to the side in question.

"What do you mean?"

"With Will? It'll be better when you see him?"

El grinned when Y/n broke away her gaze in a nervous laugh, her ears, and neck beginning to burn.

The two fell into shushed fits of laughter that would sneak back up on them for the rest of the ride. And as the two sat together, continuously feeding into one another's laughter, a warm thought crossed El's mind.

El wasn't quite used to this mood she was in. The mood Y/n had been bringing out in her lately since things had quieted down. It was a giddy and mischievous, light-hearted banter that always cropped up when she felt most relaxed. But she quite enjoyed it, and the feeling it brought to her chest.

El supposed this was what it felt like to have a sister, that this was what it meant. And she enjoyed it immensely.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Steve's car comes to a gradual halt in front of Hawkins middle, a less than eager Dustin in the passenger seat. He had to say he was quite impressed with the kid's technique, he did okay on the hair in his opinion.

"All right, buddy, here we are."

Dustin's eyes are fixed on the propped open entrance to the school where they were taking tickets and his stomach flutters. He takes a long and shaky deep breath.

"So, remember, once you get in there..."

Dustin looks to his friend and nods, affirmatively. "Pretend like I don't care."

"You don't care,"

"I don't care,"

"There you go," Steve chirps. "You're learning, my friend. You're learning."

Dustin nods as if psyching himself up and he eagerly reaches for the review mirror to check his reflection. Wounded at Dustin's self-doubt, Steve frowns, pulling the boy's hand away from the mirror with a gentle voice.

"Hey,"

"What?"

"Come on. You look great, okay? You look," He says, readjusting the mirror and turning to Dustin, giving him an okay sign. "You look great,"

"Okay? Now you're gonna go in there..."

"Yeah,"

"Look like a million bucks," he continues, matter of factly.

"Yeah!"

"And you're gonna slay 'em dead."

Dustin nods, feeling his excitement - and confidence - build at Steve's reassuring words.

"Like a lion." He adds.

He draws back his lips and rolls his tongue in his signature purr. Steve bites back a wince and says as gently as possible. "Yeah, don't do that, okay?"

"Okay," he nods.

Steve sticks out his left palm in gesture, and Dustin takes it happily giving it a firm shake.

"Good luck."

Dustin nods in thanks and exits the car with a blooming sense of pride. Unknowingly, Steve lingers behind assuring he gets in safely, a proud smile tugging at his lips.

When Dustin enters, he takes one swift deep breath expelling the creeping anxieties. He makes his way to the ticket table that Mr. Clarke manages. The teacher in question looks up from his clipboard and smirks.

"Looking very snazzy tonight, sir."

Dustin nods proudly. "Thank you, m'lord."

Dustin drops his ticket into the bowl as Mr. Clarke jots down his name. Steve watches happily from the car, and without his permission, his eyes drift past the young Henderson boy and through the gym doors windows. He can make out Nancy at the punch bowl near the entrance. Her hair is up in curls and on her face is her usual warm smile as she passes out punch to kids.

He feels a tug at his heart at the sight, wishing more than anything things had gone differently between them. But the words exchanged between that one night, ring in his ears. And yet he does not regret them.

Steve knew as he looked at her now, things had worked out for the best. She seemed truly happy, and in the end, that's all he ever wanted for her. A bittersweet look crosses his features as he silently says goodbye to his first love, and quietly he takes off into the night.

Dustin enters the gym, a new rush of excitement overpowering him as he sees the gym transformed. Curtains of silver, and flowing streamers hung in the center stretching out over the center of the gym in a beautiful canopy. The entrance he walked through was lined with three large balloon archways and several soft twinkle lights dangled from the ceiling and walls like stars. And at the very edge of the canopy, was the large glittery letters that hung before it; 'Snow Ball'.

It was surprisingly breathtaking for a small, middle school dance but it was still appreciated. Another deep breath leaves his chest before he stalks forward to tackle the task at hand; finding the rest of the party amongst the crowd. As he passes the punch table, he sends a smirk and a quick salute to the young woman behind it.

"Hey, Nance,"

"Hey," she smiles back.

As the ladle sinks once more into the punch bowl, collecting the contents for the next cup, a young boy approaches the table.

"What's in this?" He asks curiously.

A wistful smirk flickers across her face as she hands him the filled cup. "Pure fuel."

He stalks off with a curious look into his cup, and Nancy takes a moment to rest her arms against the table. Her eyes travel across the gym at the younger kids having fun, and it reminds her of simpler times. She stops when she sees a group of kids at the photo arch, smiling wide as they pose for a photo. The camera flashes and they wander off as Jonathan prepares the next shot. He feels a pair of eyes on him, and he glances over his shoulder to find Nancy.

The two smile warmly at one another, a small but noticeable spark deep in their chests.

Dustin approaches his friends with a grin and enters with a showy twirl, excited to show off his new do. His heart sinks when he's met with several chuckles. Mike even jumped up from his seat, wide-eyed.

"Holy shit, what happened to you?"

His friends circle around him, each of them failing to fight back a smirk.

"What do you mean, what happened?"

"What?" Mike asks bewildered.

"Dude--" Lucas begins, only to be cut off by Max.

"-Your hair!"

Lucas steps forward with a mischievous smirk, his hand reaching up to prod at his friend's styled hair. "Is there a bird nesting in there?"

Dustin pulls away, throwing Lucas's hand away from his head. His eyes dart back and forth between his four giggling friends and whines.

"No, what do you mean, 'what's wrong'?" He glares at Lucas. "There's no bird nesting in here, asshole. Okay?"

Dustin subconsciously pats his work, assuring not a single hair had gone astray. "I worked hard."

Everyone's attention is pulled to the dance floor at the newest song change. Quickly recognizable as Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time blasts through the gym's speakers, they all watch as kids all across the gym pair up for the first slow dance of the night.

Lucas takes a deep breath and turns excitedly to Max.

"Max..." she turns to see him grinning nervously at her. "Um, it's nice, right?"

He looks around at the room, gesturing to the song. A wide and bemused smile breaks out on her face as he continues to stumble. All the while, a deflated Dustin watches the exchange.

"Um, you wanna like, you know...?" Lucas gestures between himself and Max, a hopeful look on his face. "Like, just... you and me?"

"Are you trying to ask me to dance, stalker?"

His face falls as he begins to panic. "Um, no...? Of course not."

The expression breaks when he notices the great look of amusement on her face, and he perks a bit.

"Unless you want to?"

Max sighs despite her grin, interlocking her hand with his own and she shakes her head.

"So~ smooth," she chides lightly, pulling him onto the dance floor. "Come on,"

The three remaining boys stand awkwardly watching off to the side, a bit unsure of what to do. This feeling only worsens for Will when he hears the dreaded nickname he had been itching to escape since the moment he was tagged.

"Hey, Zombie Boy,"

His eyes are pulled to a girl he recognized from class approaching him. She offers a small smile.

"Wanna dance?"

A pit forms in his stomach at the unexpected obstacle. He was nervous enough building himself up to ask Y/n. Just thinking about seeing her soon sent his heart aflutter in the best way possible, but this was not something he could have possibly anticipated. Or asked for.

He gulps, unexpectedly swallowing a large ball of saliva as he begins to panic. His words come out in a panicked stutter.

"I- Well, I, uh... I'm-"

His eyes dart quickly between Dustin and Mike, silently asking for help but he only finds expectant - and a slightly threatening on Dustin's part - expressions. Dustin elbows him lightly and Will clears his throat, collecting his breath.

"Thanks," he mutters with a polite smile, slowly gathering courage. "But, I'm waiting for someone. Sorry..."

She smiles, nodding. "No worries,"

Her eyes catch a familiar face across the room. She sends one more polite smile at Will and the others before departing towards her friend. The three friends stand rooted to the floor as an awkward silence hangs in the air. Mike looks down at Will, his eyebrows shooting up weakly in a surprised manner.

Upon seeing this, Will scoffs nervously, both of their eyes returning to the entrance as they wait. Unbeknownst to them, Dustin's eyes sweep across the gym at all the new couples, starting with Max and Lucas. He can't deny the pang he felt in his chest, but he also wasn't surprised at the turn of events. It was something he had seen coming for a while.

Instead, he scans the gym and he smiles to himself when he sees his classmate Stacy across the room. She was laughing amongst a group of her friends.

Dustin tugs at his blazer readjusting it and lets out a puff of air grabbing Will and Mike's attention. He turns to them.

"Wish me luck, gentlemen." He nods in the girl's direction with a confident simper. "I'm going in."

Dustin sends his friends a wink and a click of his tongue before marching onto the battlefield. Will and Mike watch taken aback, turning to one another as they share a bemused look.

The closer Dustin grows the more intense his heart beats, but he embraces it, Steve's words still ringing clearly in his ears. When he apparatuses the group and she doesn't seem to notice, he brushes it off at first. She was deep in conversation.

"Stacy?"

Her conversation continues without skipping a beat.

"He just broke up with Jennifer."

Her eyes bug out slightly as she continues, shaking her head a bit in disgust.

"Plus he's, like, not my type." She laughs.

Dustin clears his throat as politely as he can, not wanting to overstep his boundaries.

"Stacy?"

Finally, she breaks away from her conversation, clearly filled with great agitation. Her eyes widen when she spots his hair, not bothering to hide her distaste.

"Yeah?" She spits.

Dustin brushes it off in the moment, clears his throat, and bows his head as he gently extends his right hand out to her. He sends her a warm and charming smile.

"Shall we?"

Her eyes bug out once more, a chuckle leaving her lips.

"Um, no, thanks," she scoffs, voice dripping with sarcasm.

The girls around her burst into fits of laughter, and she joins them. Together, the pack of girls stride off, still overwhelmed with laughter as they begin talking about Dustin. None of them bothered to wait until he was out of earshot.

He watches sullenly as they disappear through the crowd, and he tries his best to stamp down the aching in his chest. He allows himself to perk a bit when he spots two other girls chatting quietly off to the side looking rather bored.

Dustin begins making his way towards them, but it isn't long before he halts in his path. Upon seeing him, they quickly whispered back and forth between one another before promptly scurrying.

He blinks several times, trying to keep the tears that threaten to spill at bay. He looks around the gym, heart sinking completely when he finds everyone in pairs. Everyone except himself.

He was completely alone.

Gifted with a small lull in which there was no punch to serve, Nancy's gaze sweeps the dancefloor. Her jovial composure fades almost instantly when she spots a lost and wounded Dustin planted on the sidelines. His shoulders sag and his lip begins to quiver as he searches the crowd sadly. Not a moment later does he slink off, disappearing behind the curtain of streamers.

The sight is enough to send a crack through her heart.

Dustin sits on the bleachers, his hands tucked into his lap as he invests all his energy into suppressing his sobs. His bottom lip quivered with intensity and a rather large tear he had been holding back finally broke free, gliding down his cheek.

It takes far too long in his taste for him to register the figure approaching is heading for him. Nancy pulls back the streamer curtain and offers him a gentle smile.

"Hey,"

He straightened immediately, swiping furiously at his cheeks as he tries to get rid of the evidence.

"Hey," he sniffles.

"Wanna dance?" She asks, offering her right hand.

He looks up at her in shock, his wide eyes still glassy. "What?"

"Come on," she grabs his hand, pulling him up to his feet and through the veil of streamers. "Let's go,"

He looks around bewildered as he finds himself pulled to the dancefloor. But already he can feel himself perking, and he smiles weakly at Nancy, not exactly knowing what to do now.

As if reading his mind, she smiles, grabbing his hands and gently placing them in her waist. "Here,"

He freezes, still not quite believing what is unfolding. She places her palms on his shoulders and he smiles wistfully. A wide smile plasters Nancy's face when she notes his distance, and she tries to reassure him.

"Closer,"

He stumbles forward a few inches, his eyes on her still wide and moonstruck.

"A little closer," she assures, smirking fully now. "Okay,"

Dustin's chest swells at her kind smile, and already he can feel his confidence returning. Both of them have yet to notice the spiteful glares being sent their way from Stacy and her friends.

"Now feel the music," he head sways gently with the beat. "The rhythm. Start to move to it."

Dustin's feet finally receive his brain's commands, and they begin to shuffle slowly as the dance begins. Nancy nods, eagerly.

"Yeah," she chirps, brightening his grin. "There."

"Good?" He asks hopefully.

She nods.

"That's good. Yeah."

"Okay,"

"You know," she begins. "Out of all my brother's friends, you're my favorite."

His grin stretches from ear to ear, his chest swelling once more in pride.

"You've always been my favorite."

"Really?"

"Yeah," she nods, her own heart-swelling seeing him happy again.

The distant sound of murmuring brings Nancy's attention across the room, where she spots a pack of perturbed girls. One brunette in particular, who stood at the center with a flustered glare fixed on Nancy. Upon being caught, she blinks rapidly trying to brush it off and looks away.

Dustin's eyes follow Nancy's, and that's when she returns her attention back to Dustin.

"Girls this age are," she rolls her eyes quickly. "dumb. But give them a few years, and they'll wise up. And, uh,"

Nancy softens when she notes Dustin is still beaming at her, hanging on her every word.

"you're gonna drive 'em nuts."

"You think so?" He asks hopefully.

She nods, a series expression befell her briefly. "Oh, I know so."

The two fall into a comfortable silence as they enjoy one another's company, and the music that fills their ears and sways their bodies.

Just across the room, still sat glumly at their table as they wait - and hope - are Will and Mike. They look around the room at all the dancing couples, and all they wish for is the sight of the two party members who have yet to show. Other than the occasional word, they sit in silence.

Will is the first to break it with a sigh, and he sits forward in his chair before rising. Mike looks up at him, his attention snapping towards Will as his mind jumps to the worst possible conclusion.

"Everything okay?"

Will nods, forcing a smile through his nerves.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I think I'm gonna freshen up a bit though. Use the bathroom while I can."

Mike nods, less than convinced though he shoves down the thought. He merely watches with a worried frown as Will stalks off towards the back of the gym. He relaxes a bit when he sees how many times Will's eyes fly to the entrance on his way back, and he supposed the jitters were all it really was after all.

Mike sighs, slumping back into his chair and he counts the minutes as they march on.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Joyce watches as her wind carries anther fallen leaf across the pavement, and checks her watch for the thousandth time. Logically she knows the dance is far from over, but she can't bring herself to leave. A familiar gruff, but soft voice pulls her attention up.

"Hey,"

Hopper approached her with a weak smile, hands stuffed into his pockets.

"Thought I might find you here," he says.

Joyce lets out a defeated breath meant to be a laugh, her body leaning against her green Ford Pinto.

"Will wanted me to give him some space, so..." she shrugs, and a small chuckle breaks loose from her chest. "I'm giving him a few feet."

Hopper pulls a pack of cigarettes that had been hiding in his pocket, gives it a small tap and he smirks at the woman.

"What d'ya say?" He opens up the lid, pulling out one of the remaining cigarettes. "I'm pretty sure that Mr. Cooper retired in the seventies, so..."

He stepped forward to join her against the hood of the car, speaking through a smirk as he lit the cigarette that dangled from his lips. "we might be okay."

He takes one long puff of the cigarette, letting the smoke sting his lungs and he passes the stick onto her. She gladly accepts, taking the next puff only to be sent into a coughing fit. They both laugh lightly, and she passes the cigarette back to Hopper with a wince. It really was like old times.

He always picked the worse brands.

His next question does not exactly surprise her, but it definitely catches her emotions off guard. Immediately she feels a large lump growing in her throat.

"How are you holding up?"

She shakes her head, eyes falling back to the concrete as she nibbles at her nail.

"Ya know," She mumbles.

"Yeah, I mean," he nods, tsking another drag of the cigarette. "that feeling never goes away. But it is true what they say, you know..."

Joyce looks up at the man that towers over her, he holds the bud in his hands with a frown before handing it back to her.

"Every day does get a little easier."

Joyce takes the cigarette in her shaky hand, taking one long puff hoping it will replace the sadness that sits on her heart. But when the smoke leaves her lips the weight remains, and she finds it growing even heavier as the memory engulfs her once more. Her head grows heavy and dangles off her shoulders and into Hopper's side.

He can feel his heart lurch at her sadness, wanting nothing more than to take it all away. But he knows more than anything that healing took time. Instead, the two remained locked in one another's embrace. They feel the breeze carry the snippy winter air over their bodies unaffected in each other's warmth.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"Y/n Henderson! I thought that was you,"

"Hey, Mr. Clarke,"

El timidly follows Y/n to the table with the familiar man who she almost immediately recognized. El watched silently from Y/n's side as she placed the bright red ticket in a glass bowl on the table. El froze suddenly when Mr. Clarke suddenly addressed her.

"Well, hello there, Miss," his eyes tightened into a friendly squint, and he gestured towards her. "Have we met? You look awfully familiar."

El's eyebrows twitched upwards, her mouth parting as she looked to Y/n not quite sure what to do. Y/n quickly jumped in with a rigid smile.

"She gets that a lot, but no," she explained quickly. "This is an old friend of mine, El,"

Y/n meets eyes briefly with her friend and they share a quick smile before returning nonchalantly to Mr. Clarke, hooking their arms together.

"She's my guest for the night,"

The man nodded in understanding, clicking his tongue as Y/n handed him El's ticket along with the special form.

"Ah, well," smiling up at the pair, unknowingly giving El a strikingly similar welcome as he had the year before. "Welcome to Hawkins Middle, El. We're happy to have you."

The two look at one another before departing, the largest of grins breaking out on their face. They burst into another fit of giggles as they head for the door, leaving Mr. Clarke to shake his head and smile as he welcomes the last of the guests.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"Every breath you take,"

Mike sits alone, twiddling his thumbs. A small sigh builds up in his chest as he realizes yet another song change has been made, and still no El. He wasn't mad, just worried. All he wanted was to see her. To dance with her. To hold her.

"Every move you make,"

The usual creak of the gym's wooden door rings in his ears once more, and lazily he turns to see who else had risen his spirits. But his heart stops when he sees two figures entering the gym. One of them, his long time friend who glances excitedly behind her as she beckons the other shy figure behind her.

When he realized it was really El, he jumped to his feet, unable to blink. Too afraid she would vanish in thin air. She was gorgeous. Her hair was slicked back in adorable dark curls, and the dress she wore complimented her perfectly. But none of that mattered to Mike, just her being there was enough to take his breath away.

"Every bond you break Every step you take"

The girls crept forward under the archway of balloons, their eyes sweeping across the crowd. El breathing stopped momentarily just as Mike had. Y/n noticed this and smiled. The two were locked in a wide-eyed stare across the gym, and she laughed silently to herself.

"I'll be watching you,"

Mike watched as Y/n gave her a playful nudge, urging her forward. She watched warmly as the two glid across the sidelines, coming to a gradual stop when they came face to face.

Mike shook his head, unable to rid himself of the beaming smile even if he wanted to.

"You look beautiful," he blurts.

Her gaze drops to the floor in a wild blush, a bright smile on her face to rival his. He casts one glance at the dancing pairs around them and looks back at her.

"Do you wanna dance?"

She looks around the room nervously for a moment. Her eyes wander back to Mike's, and she looks up at him shyly.

"I... don't know how." She admits.

He shrugs, much to her relief.

"I don't either. Do you want to figure it out?"

El quickly nods, feeling her heart burst when he takes her hand in his. They wander onto the dance floor together, both a nervous - but happy - blushing mess.

Y/n smiles to herself once more from the edge of the gym when she sees them disappear into the crowd. Her eyes continue to venture around the room, her heart sinking when she finds no sign of Will.

"How my poor heart aches,"

Together, El and Mike blend in with the crowd of kids when they found a spot to dance. Gently, he takes her hands and places them over his shoulders.

"Like this,"

She smiles, her hands creeping up further to rest comfortably around his neck and he nods.

"Yeah, like that,"

They chuckle lightly as they softly begin to sway, loving nothing more than being in each other's company.

"Every vow you break,"

Nancy and Dustin begin twirling further, a joyous laugh bouncing between them.

When Y/n spots them, among Lucas and Max, the smile grows smaller. Both were pleasant sights, as each pair seemed to be having endless amounts of fun. But like her brother minutes ago, she began to feel lost.

"Every smile you fake, Every claim you stake,"

Finally, she spots Jonathan off by himself, taking advantage of the lack of kids waiting to get their pictures taken to clean his camera lens. Quietly she slips over to his side.

"Jonathan?"

His head picks up, and he smiles when he sees her.

"Hey, Y/n,"

His happy composure quickly falls when he sees her worried expression.

"What's wrong?"

In the back of the gym, the door to the locker room opens and Will enters boredly. He wipes off beads of water he had missed when drying his hands. He trudges back to his spot where he left Mike, his eyes glued to the floor. His head picks up when he sees Mike is no longer there, and he scans the crowd. His eyes widen when he sees him dancing with someone, El he realized it was. His heart began beating sporadically when he realizes what this meant.

"Since you've gone I've been lost without a trace,"

Quickly, Will shuffles forward, even rising himself up onto his tiptoes as to see over the sea of heads to find her.

"I dream at night I can only see your face. I look around and it's you I can't replace,"

"Hey Will the Wise,"

There it was, the voice he had simultaneously been waiting for, and afraid of all night, rang in his ears. Her voice was gentle and equally as nervous.

He blushes at the name, until he sees her. At that moment he swears he forgot how to breathe. When she caught his gaze - and the blush that raged like wildfire on his cheeks - a small laugh escaped. Her hands were shaking but in the best way possible. Like Will, she was just happy to have found him. To be here with him finally.

"You, uh, you're,"

Her eyebrows rose as did the heat in her cheeks at his sudden stutter. And though he seemed to be at an unending loop, he couldn't wipe the grin off of his face. It spread from ear to ear as he looked at her. Finally, he cleared his throat when he decided this was not how he wanted to remember this moment. The thought alone seemed to do the trick and he shook out his nerves as best as he could and exhaled.

"You look..." he shakes his head, unable to find the proper word, but none seemed to do her justice. "amazing."

He winced a little on the inside, finding the word ill-suited for how he usually saw her. He tries once more to shake it off, and just as Lucas had, the millions of scenarios run through his on how to ask her. But before his mouth could even part to speak, she extended her hand.

A playful smile paints her lips at the cheesy words that form on her tongue, but she leans into it, happy to see the delighted and bright warm smile that breaks out on Will's face as he chuckles.

"Care to dance?"

Will feels as if his chest just might burst with the rapid speed of his heart, but he couldn't be happier. His mind jumps back to the bit of advice Jonathan had given him when helping him get ready. At the time he had thought it had been too much, but now as he looked at Y/n, the two of them wearing big goofy grins, he quickly finds himself extending his right arm for her to take.

Gladly, her arm snakes under his arm, trying her best to suppress the violent storm of butterflies raging in her stomach, not realizing Will is doing the same. The pair find themselves in the center of the gym, and shyly their hands come to wrap around one another. Gradually, they begin to sway with the music. They share the occasional giggle as their gaze falls to the floor so as to not step on one another's toes in their nervous state.

In near percent sync, the gym full of students sway with the beat of The Police's Every Breath You Take. Everyone in question can feel themselves getting lost in the beautiful, fleeting moment.

The giddy, and frivolous pair of Lucas and Max twirl with the music. Max's eyes fall briefly to Lucas's lips as he smiles down at her. She can't help but blush back up at the boy who had managed to worm his way past her walls and made her feel welcome. Finally, she pulls him forward, bringing him into a soft and sweet kiss.

"I feel so cold and I long for your embrace,"

She pulls back, smirking up at his awestruck face. He blinks slowly, trying to process what had just happened and he can no longer contain the excited grin breaking out on his face. Softly Max giggles at his reaction, and brings her head to rest on his shoulder.

"I keep crying baby, baby, please,"

El and Mike remain with eyes locked on one another, their hearts beating at dangerous speeds as they sway with one another. The first and only time their eye contact is broken is when simultaneously, their heads inch closer together until their lips meet in a fiery explosion that melts their hearts.

Even when they pull apart, they can longer stand the small distance between them. In a happy, content lull, their foreheads meet, eyes fluttering closed as they lose themselves in the music.

"How my poor heart aches, with every step you take,"

At the very heart of the Snow Ball, Y/n's gaze mingles properly with Will's for the first time since they started dancing, and immediately her skin flushes. Heat resides the most in her cheeks and the tips of her ears and even the back of her neck. Will was her best friend in the whole world, the one she could always confide in and felt most comfortable around. But now she could hardly look at him without melting into a puddle. The way he treated her, just the way he looked at her now set her heart aflutter.

"Every move you make and every vow you break,"

They had been turning numbly in circles, and all she could do to take her mind off of her nerves was to put all her attention into commanding her feet. And yet, anytime she dares steal a glance at him, and feared he'd grow annoyed, he would just be smiling at her. It was a smile of genuine admiration, and it was as if he was silently telling her, 'it's okay. I'm nervous, too,'.

"Every smile you fake, every claim you stake, I'll be watching you,"

Her anxieties began to tell her to look away again, but now as she found herself looking into his kind hazel eyes, she couldn't bear to pull herself away. Y/n is quickly reminded of the dark times just one month ago. How awful it had been to look into these eyes and see nothing but hatred and darkness. But strangely, it assured only further now. These were the kind eyes that had always admired her from afar. These were the kind eyes she had missed so much.

"Every smile you fake, every claim you stake,"

The way he had always felt about her was undeniable, and as she felt the warmth brewing in her chest, spreading to her stomach and even dizzying her head, she knew she felt it too. She wondered why it had taken so long to get there, but more than anything she knew she wanted to hold onto it. What he had felt all these years.

Simultaneously, their smiles melted away, the blood pumping fast through their veins. Will and Y/n both felt it, the unbreakable magnetic pull that drew them towards one another. The closer they grew the quicker their racing hearts blended closer into one sporadic heartbeat. Finally, their lips met in a tender kiss as the music swelled around them. Will tried desperately not let his knees buckle, his stomach doing flips. It felt as if a firecracker had went off inside of Y/n's stomach, the warmth in her chest exploded and spread all the way to her fingertips, unknowingly her hands and arms warming his shoulders.

The kiss had lasted seconds but felt like a lifetime in the best way possible. It was a kiss that still lingered on their lips when they broke apart, a feeling they never wanted to let go of. The pair broke out into matching grins that neither one of them could contain. Finally, they were together.

"I'll be watching you,"

Finally, they were happy. And they would be, in the many months to follow.

"I'll be watching you,"

The four young pairs - even Dustin and Nancy who happily bounced their heads along to the rhythm of the beat - danced long into the night. The music from the speakers blasting through the gym, and echoing out into the cold December night.

"Every breath you take and every move you make Every bond you break, every step you take"

Each and every one of them blissfully unaware of the greatest threat Hawkins had ever known, towering above their heads in the Upside Down.

Watching.

I'll be watching you.

Waiting.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

More helpful links for the Black Lives Matter movement. Please don't ever stop fighting!!

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Petitions That Still Haven't Met Their Goals

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[Link]

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DM me, or drop by my inbox if you want to be added!

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guiltysecretpasttime · 4 years

Text

Airbender’s Wife (part 2)

Hmm, posting this fanfic before the weekend is over *twiddles thumbs*. Still incomplete though; will add the continuation within the week.

The Airbender’s Wife (part 2)

Note: This is literally a continuation of The Airbender’s Wife, which is an off-shoot of Contentment – which follows the “what if” Lin Beifong and Tenzin had a happy ending/beginning (all posted under the linzin fanfic tag in my tumblr).

Pairing: Legend of Korra: Lin / Tenzin; not canon compliant

------------

Tenzin’s body clock has always been programmed to be on time for morning meditations. No matter how tired he was, he will feel restless and wake up at the same time (getting up is a different thing altogether though).

That day was not an exception.

He stretched his arm to his right, intent on drawing his wife closer for a few more minutes before rising, but instead his hand landed on cool bedsheets. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he got up nimbly and wandered around the house, hoping to catch his wife before she left.

The airbender found Lin standing in the dining room, garbed in a long Earth Kingdom-styled dress, a small face mirror propped in front of her at the sideboard as she attempted to clip a rather stubborn curl of her hair.

“Up early?” He approached her, landing a kiss on her cheek.

“Ba Sing Se day, Tenzin.” She responded, not looking away from the mirror.

“Ah, here, let me.” Taking the clip from her, he easily pinned her hair, tucking it behind her ear. “How about I join you today? I don’t have any council business.” He gave her a hug from behind, squeezing her hips lightly, hinting of a promise that would likely end up with a less than productive day for them both.

“Right,” She brushed him off. “But you’re off to train the Avatar -.”

“Korra, dear.”

Lin rolled her eyes affectionately. “You don’t have council meetings today because you have to train Korra.”

“Then how about I bring Korra to Ba Sing Se?” Tenzin persisted, placing a kiss on her shoulder.

“You also have scheduled meditation with the air acolytes today. And Tenzin, do be serious,” She finally faced her husband. “The girl has barely gotten used to Republic City – you wouldn’t want her presence to cause intrigue in Ba Sing Se. Next, you’ll hear Izumi would be requesting for the Avatar to drop by the Fire Nation.”

“Fine,” The airbending master glumly conceded as Lin pushed him slightly to get around the table to prepare for her trip. “Can’t say I didn’t try though.”

In general, the airbender disliked being apart from his wife for long periods of time – what more today when she was looking particularly radiant. As much as she did not prefer what she called as business outfits, they suit her well. He also knew that Lin dresses up accordingly as what is expected of a Beifong lady.

Tenzin observed Lin who was in a layered dress of forest and emerald green, with a low v-collar, lined with golden accents. The dress also had slits, which he (as a husband) appreciated on her but (also as a husband) especially minded that other people would likely appreciate it on her as well. His wife insisted on them though (“That is too high, Lin.” “No, it’s not – it’s functional, enough for bending”), explaining that a tight dress would only hinder her bending, and in turn be an obstacle in protecting herself.

Not like there was anything he could do to sway her when she has set her mind to something.

“What,” He pulled her closer to him as she paused as she caught him staring, raising an eyebrow in return. “I can’t help it, are you sure you don’t need a bodyguard to join you?”

“Bodyguard – you? Mr-Violence-is-not-the-answer?” She felt his lips creep from her cheek to the side of her lips.

“You know what I mean.” Tenzin said seriously as they stood close to each other.

“I’ll be fine,” Lin responded and adjusted her bangles and bracelets. “I’m prepared as always.” The metal bangles and bracelets would function as more than fashion accessories should need arise. She swept the folders and other envelopes into the beaded bag she had on the dining table. “I’ll be back before you know it, I just need to reach the train station in time for the first train to Ba Sing Se.”

“No, you’re not riding the train to Ba Sing Se in that!” Tenzin sputtered, gesturing to her clothes.

“Why? As far as I know, the train stations are pretty safe,” Lin was offended. “I made sure that there were roving guards and security checks. People travel via train daily.”

“Well,” Tenzin conceded. “But not you!” He tugged at his beard in slight agitation, as Lin placed her hands on her hips. “Take Oogi with you.”

“Travel via sky bison -no thanks!”

“For my peace of mind, take him please.” He softly requested and he saw his wife ready to give in with a slight incline of her head. “And, wait a second.” Tenzin hurried to their bedroom as Lin finished packing her bag.

Lin felt the familiar weight of a pendant and the silky ribbon on neck when she straightened up. Her husband gave her neck a small kiss after he fastened the necklace.

“There, everyone will know that Lady Lin Beifong has yet to leave her airhead husband.”

“Tenzin.” Lin said with warning.

“Oh come on, you know what they think of me in the upper ring. I bet some of them have been hoping that you leave me or have had me offed for whatever nefarious reason.”

He was well aware of how, despite being middle-aged, desirable his wife was in all aspects. He might be the prized airbender but in the modern world (or even in the not-so-modern Earth Kingdom), she was definitely worth more with the literal Beifong legacy of wealth, power and social clout, not to mention her own bending skills were far more superior than most, and of course her position in Republic City was nothing to scoff at. And of course, barring knowledge of any of those, he recognized that his wife posed an attractive (albeit mysterious) figure.

“I think I can handle myself,” She said ironically, as the safety of Republic City’s entire population did rest somewhat on her hands. “Okay fine,” She gave in, seeing her husband not budging, arms crossed. “I’ll take Oogi but only to make it easy for me to travel back and forth.”

“You’re the best,” He gave her a light kiss and strode off to the stables.

-----

“Good morning, Korra.” Lin watched in amusement as the Avatar slowly inched her way to the dining room, rubbing her eyes and rolling up her air acolyte clothing sleeves, mumbling a response.

“Tenzin’s not going to like your outfit, kid.” She raised an eyebrow at the teenager.

“What?”

“Your sleeves.”

Korra unfolded her sleeves and plopped on the nearest chair as Lin poured her tea.

After taking a sip, Korra became aware of a far-away noise and that it was the Chief of Police sitting in front of her.

“Wow Lin, going somewhere?”

“Hmm?” Lin absentminded fiddled with her betrothal necklace; she appeared to be waiting for something as she had already finished preparing for the trip. “Ah yes, Ba Sing Se for estate and business matters.”

“Not in your police uniform?”

“No, I don’t think the business people will take me seriously. They’ll probably think I’m my sister’s bodyguard.” She snorted, an action seemingly out of character with the fine clothes she wore. “I have to know how to play the role of Lady Lin.”

Now, it was Korra who snorted and coughed, realizing that this was Lady Lin. The Avatar took the opportunity to inquire, to learn more about her airbending master’s wife.

“What does being Lady Lin Beifong entail?”

“Ah well, I just don’t think I should be called Lady anything. Sounds a bit archaic, if you ask me.”

“But why are you Lady Lin?”

“My mother is currently Lady Beifong. So I guess my sister and I just follow? And they just haven’t been sure what to call the wife of Master Tenzin I suppose.” The earthbender shrugged gracefully, exhibiting the result of years of being trained in etiquette befitting the Ladies Beifong.

“But still…” Korra’s eyebrows furrowed as she sipped her tea. “What’s in Ba Sing Se?”

“Well,” Lin continued. “It’s the mid-point across Gaoling, Republic City and Zaofu so that’s where my sister and I conduct regular meetings with the board and the executive committees of the Beifong companies and properties.”

The Avatar was about to probe further when there was a commotion outdoors and the Avatar vaguely heard Tenzin talking to an air acolyte about saddling Oogi.

“He’s a bit overprotective, sometimes.” The metalbender stood up, ready to leave.

The presence of the airbender halted their conversation. “You sure you’ll be okay?”

“Yes, dear. I’ll be safe.”

“See you later.” Tenzin gave her a quick kiss as she passed by him.

Lin slung her bag and nodded to Korra. “Avatar.”

“Chief.” The Avatar gave a small wave.

“Well, let’s get to business.” Tenzin beckoned for his pupil to follow him outdoors.

Korra quickly finished her tea, scalding her tongue. But at least she would be awake.

-----

Unfortunately, there was not much difference from the previous day. Korra was still unable to release a puff of air from her hands and had difficulty getting through the airbending gates. Tenzin was similarly frustrated with himself.

It was at this sad state of things that Lin arrived at early evening.

Korra was lying on the ground trying to airbend when Oogi made a landing and sent dust skittering off.

“You okay there, kid?” Lin checked in on her as she slid off Oogi’s back, several packages in hand.

Korra just made an X with her arms, while having her eyes closed.

The earthbender smiled sympathetically. “It’ll get better.” She stepped over the defeated Avatar-in-training and gave her thanks to the air acolyte who had taken Oogi’s reins to lead him to the stables. “Clean up and dinner will be ready soon. I brough home food from Ba Sing Se, including Water Tribe dishes.” She entered the house, coming across her husband in the living room.

Tenzin eyed the packages that Lin brought home. “Had fun shopping, dear?”

“Just a bit,” She shrugged as she carefully placed them on the dining table. “Here’s the contract for the renovation; the Zaofu workers will be in Republic City early tomorrow morning.” She tossed him the folder. “I’m assuming you can file this in city hall?”

“Thanks.” He absentminded took the folder. “How is Suyin?”

“Su is Su. She lives in her own world – literally. I had to make her promise to avoid visits to Republic City for the time-being given the increasing clashes between benders and non-benders.” She looked up and knew from his expressions that he was worried. “How was training Korra today?”

“I can’t get through her,” Tenzin disclosed, frustration coloring his tone. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Be kind to yourself,” She began unpacking the food she brought home. “Republic City wasn’t built in a week. You’re both adjusting. These takes time, and you’re a pretty patient man and I know that from experience.”

“I don’t feel patient today,” Tenzin allowed himself to be embraced by his wife, murmuring in a downcast tone. “How about let’s eat quickly and retire early tonight?”

“Unfortunately for you,” She pulled up the newspaper from the sideboard and pointed to an article. “Tonight’s the Pro-bending semi-final qualifiers and you know I can’t miss it.”

Tenzin groaned in disappointment. “Liiiiin.”

“Tenzin,” She laughed. “Don’t worry, we’ll have dinner before I join the boys.”

-----

“Where are you going?” Korra asked.

“It’s Pro-bending night.” Both adults responded to her, one excited and one sullen.

“You don’t like Pro-bending?” The teenager asked her airbending teacher. “It’s been my dream to watch one of the matches live. Never thought I would be a ferry ride away from the arena!”

“It’s a mockery of the traditions of bending!” He threw up his hands.

“Oh come now, Tenzin,” Lin inclined her head to the grumbling airbender. “It’s no Agni Kai but it’s adequate entertainment.”

“That’s just it – entertainment.”

Korra looked back and forth at the volley of responses from her hosts.

“Spirits forbid anyone have fun in your vicinity, Airhead.” Lin took it in stride. “Mother did say you were always the serious one.” She tugged lightly at his beard before standing up to take the trays of food and drink outside.

“Can I listen too?” The Water Tribe born Avatar tentatively asked.

Tenzin frowned deeply as he met Lin’s amused face, eyebrow raised in challenge. “Fine, but meditation for you starts 15 minutes earlier tomorrow.”

Letting out a whoop, Korra stood up and took the other tray of drinks and followed Lin outside, where the White Lotus sentries were gathered around the radio.

“Hello, men.” Lin made their presence known as she placed the tray on the wooden table at the station.

“Good evening, Lady Lin, Avatar.” The sentries chorused as they scattered to make space in the half-circle to provide seats and to take the trays from Lin and Korra’s hands (“Call me Korra!”).

The Avatar-in-training watched in amazement as Chief Beifong sat among the White Lotus sentries, comfortable in her Earth Kingdom dress. The lady was laughing in camaraderie and was even exhibiting that she knew them all by name. She chatted with them as they shared the finger food she brought home from Ba Sing Se while waiting for the commentator to finish with all the introductions and recaps. Korra figured it was not their first time to do this.

“How is your daughter, Hung? Did she like the mini pots and pans?”

“Oh yes, Chief, she enjoyed having a mini kitchen set to play with.”

“Lady Lin, my mother sends her regards.”

“Ah yes, Minha, I hope she’s getting used to the South Pole well.”

“Yes and she appreciates the coat you sent her through Lady Kya.”

Korra enjoyed herself immensely, freely laughing and feeling the start of an affinity with the White Lotus sentries. It was a far cry from the feeling of isolation she experienced back in the South Pole. They booed and cheered accordingly as the matches went by. They did not seem to particularly take her Avatar status with a lot of fanfare, which she liked.

She watched the metalbender at the corner of her eye – for all her misgivings, it would seem that the airbender’s wife was not all that bad as literature and media made it seem. The woman was laughing, no condescension in sitting and eating at the same space as the sentries. If it were not for the golden filigree and her attire, Korra would have thought her a part of the team. She was pleased to see that Lady Lin had no airs, which was more than could be said of her own Northern Water Tribe cousins.

“Excuse me, good evening everyone.” Tenzin’s voice cut-through the din. “Just checking if I may now take my wife home?”

The sentries stood up to give a bow, which the airbender returned and waved off.

“But we’re just getting to the good part,” Korra almost whined. She anticipated that she would be told off to go to bed too.

“No, no, it’s fine.” Lin accepted her husband’s hand as he helped her up from her stool. “I’ll go ahead, you all have stay and finish the match.” She motioned to the group. “I trust you’ll be able pack up later and finish your shifts?” At everyone's affirmative, she placed a hand on Korra’s shoulder. “Alright, see you all tomorrow – well, maybe not all: Aki and Sansan, I think you're both off duty tomorrow.”

With that, the group bid the pair good night.

“Say what you will about those two,” Head sentry Yao, one of the more senior ones in the group, jerked his head towards the couple going back into the house, with the airbender still tightly holding his wife by the waist, tripping with faint laughter trailing behind them. “But they’re definitely a love match.”

“Never seen a more dedicated wife like the Lady Lin,” A dimpled sentry (Aki was his name, if Korra was not mistaken) commented wistfully (“And vice versa on the airbending master as a husband!” Another piped up). “I don’t get it why they get so much flak from the Order and the press.”

“Tradition,” Yao scoffed. The rest of the sentries turning to face him, relying on his experience as fact, being that he had been on Air Temple Island as a junior sentry during the previous avatar’s term. “If anything, they know the Lady would not be held down but they expected Master Tenzin to at least be a bit more pliable. A little bit more steeped into tradition, you know?”

Korra accepted a mini fruit tart that was being passed around the group, as they wait for the advertisements from the radio to finish. There was a lot, given that it was probably the third to the last ad slot.

“It’s not like Chief Beifong was wasting her time in Republic City,” Han revealed that he used to be part of the Metalbending police department until five years ago when he decided to heed an offer from the Order of the White Lotus. “She had always been fair – very strict – but fair. Highly competent and much more capable than the entire City Council put together in protecting the city (“Shhh, don’t let Councilman Tenzin hear you!” “He meant keeping the city crime stats lower – that can’t be achieved by peacekeeping alone.” “Ah, right right. True.”).”

Into the third round of the last match (the Fire Ferrets were proving to be a well-trained underdog) , they felt the ground trembling.

Korra immediately stood up, tensing. “What on earth is that?” Earth tremors were uncommon in the South Pole, and if any, it did not seem to forecast good fortune. She distinctly noticed the unease among the sentries as they communicated non-verbally with each other. “Should we prepare for something? I can go inside and warn Tenzin!”

“No!” The vehement chorus of No’s surprised her.

“Well, okay – no.” She was confused now. “Is there an evacuation plan or is this normal?”

The sentries looked at each other, appearing unsure to Korra.

“Well?” The Avatar-in-training was poised to run into action at the first sign of danger, putting down her cup of water on a nearby tray.

Finally, head sentry Yao cleared his throat. “Don’t worry Avatar, this is very normal.”

Eventually, the floor ceased its apparent movement and there was a collective sigh of relief.

The rest of the sentries cast furtive glances at Korra as she sat back down, unable to fully focus on the game. The sentries, though, were easily engrossed in the match.

The match soon ended (“And the Fire Ferrets wiiiiiin!”) and everyone pitched in to clear the area. Korra hovered awkwardly, still on alert and very wary of the earth tremors.

As the last of the cups and trays were brought away, Yao took pity on the Avatar and wanted to give her peace of mind.

“You sure that was normal?” Korra twisted her hands in slight agitation. “That won’t cause the island to split and sink or something?”

“Yes, Avatar, there is no need to worry about it.” The head sentry accompanied her to the door of the Air Temple residential building.

“I don’t remember the island sitting on any fissure that would cause it,” The young woman wracked her memory for any geological feature near Republic City that could result in an earthquake. Man, she really needed to brush up on her studies. “I don’t think I’ve read about a phenomenon in the text way back.”

“Uh, it wasn’t a fissure,” Yao looked downright uncomfortable now. “And it’s a fairly new, uh, phenomenon; just a couple of years old.”

They have reached the entrance to the house; Korra paused and tilted her head in question. Just then, the ground shook a bit more for a few seconds long then every thing was still. “Tell me I didn’t just imagine that.”

Two sentries (Ming and Jian?) passed by as part of their rounds. The head sentry nodded at them, “Will the two of you check The Area tomorrow?”

Ming and Jian saluted and Korra was left pondering why “The Area” sounded like it was said with capital letters, as though the White Lotus were talking about a very specific location.

“Better get some rest, Avatar. Good mood or not, Master Tenzin and Lady Lin wouldn’t appreciate it if we,” Yao rubbed the back of his neck as he turned back to the Avatar who was waiting for answers. “Continue to discuss the, eh, aftershocks of their evening exercises.”

Oh Agni, please swallow me into the ground now.

----

Welp. Playing with the idea on what the pair looked like to others they interact with on a day-to-day basis for more...~domesticity? Eh 😏 lemme know what you think.

===

My related posts:

Prologue (Contentment)

Airbender’s Wife 1 | 3 | 4

#linzin #lin beifong #lok #linzin fanfic #korra #tenzin #toccatina's fanfics #toccatina wip #toccatina airbender

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detectivedreameater · 4 years

Text

One For The Money|| Nell and Marley

TIMING: Earlier this week (during the living nightmares potw) PARTIES: @nelllraiser SUMMARY: A bounty gone wrong. Or maybe right? Alternate title: Manumbra Numba 5 CONTENT: Mild PTSD episode

There had been quite a few strange calls coming into the precinct in the past week, so taking a domestic disturbance call felt like a tiny relief in the tide. Marley didn’t normally deal with them, but Maynard had agreed to let Marley take the case on her own, which she was grateful for. She needed some time alone, away from the precinct, and away from Jane. As bad as she felt saying that, especially since they’d talked, she needed it. Things still didn’t feel quite right between them, and she knew that it was just all the things they didn’t have the energy to say right now. She was trying to give Jane time to process what had happened to her, but she also wanted her to come to her so that she could help. Marley had never really wanted something like that before, but dying couldn’t be something you went through alone. It just...couldn’t. She’d seen enough deaths and the pain they caused in her day to know that. But she wasn’t going to force anything out of Jane, so spending some solo time on the job was just what the doctor ordered. Or, well, what Marley ordered.

When she pulled up to the house, all the lights were off. Her car traveled slowly up the driveway, which was obscured only slightly by trees, a small dirt trail leading to the house. Her hands subconsciously gripped the steering wheel tighter and she felt her heart rate increase without her say. Why was it doing that? It was just a house. When she stopped her car, she could see distinct tracks leading inside-- muddy shoe prints and what looked like some sort of drag trail. She stepped out of her car carefully and picked up her flashlight, pointing it at the front door. “Hello?” she called out, walking towards the front slowly. Her palms were getting sweaty and her skin felt sticky suddenly. She couldn’t swallow. “P-police!” she called out again. Heard a thump from inside and stopped in her tracks. “Show yourself!”

With all the money she owed the hospital, Nell had been working overtime when it came to bounties, both supernatural and not. This was one of the latter, some regular Joe that had run out on bail, and was trying to avoid the law. Nell’s tracking spell had led her here to an abandoned house, and she’d wasted no time in flipping off the Karen who had threatened to call the police on her when she’d seen Nell poking around the eyesore of a home. If the police came it’d be easy enough to show them her license. Just a few steps into the house made for a pretty obvious picture. Her target had been squatting here, trying to law low before carrying on to wherever they’d gone next. Stomping a foot lightly against the ground, she uttered a spell that would tell her whether or not there was any living creature on the premises, and if her quarry was still holed up in this dump. Not one, but two results came back to her, the first closing in on her quickly. The question of who it was didn’t pose all that big of a mystery when a voice rang out through the dilapidated house. The police. Right on schedule. “I’m allowed to be here,” Nell started with a roll of her eyes, moving towards the voice. Poking her head out, her expression quickly changed to one of amusement, a crooked grin coming over her lips. “Well if it isn’t my old friend,” she teased, recognizing the woman who’d let her escape the police holding cell.

Something like relief flooded through Marley when she recognized the voice inside the hallway. Though her mind still held tight, her muscles relaxed and she lowered her weapon and flashlight. “You again,” she said to the small suspected spellcaster, putting her hands on her hips. “I half expected you to be climbing in a window the next time we met.” She stepped into the house, and the chill that ran up her spine made her freeze. She looked around the entryway and over to the living room, where there was evidence of a squatter. “You here for that?” she asked, pointing towards the mess of belongings. The hair on the back of her neck suddenly stood on end. A noise from upstairs made Marley’s muscles tighten. “Or...are you there for that?”

“Me again,” Nell replied with a shit-eating grin, all too ready to give the detective a hard time. “I could go back out and climb through the window if that’ll make you feel better,” she offered innocently, eyebrows high as she jabbed a thumb in the direction of the closest one. She’d parted her lips to answer Marley when the sound of the second being her spell had detected thumped from above. “I guess both now,” Nell replied, voice instinctively dropping to a hushed tone. “There’s something else here. I know that much for sure. And it’s not just some cat or rat.” A seriousness that hadn’t been on her when they’d first met came over the witch as she approached the stairs, figuring there was only one way to find out what the thing was, placing a foot on the first step as she slowly began to climb.

Marley crinkled her nose at the girl, but didn’t opt to reply as she watched the girl’s demeanour change almost on a dime. Whatever was here was serious, and she knew what it was. How, Marley wasn’t sure, but she had a hunch-- and she hoped her hunch would be confirmed here. Her body stiffened and she glanced towards the stairs. For a minute, her vision wobbled-- the hallway ahead of her stretched out, elongating, twisting, turning upside down. Marley held her breath for a moment, closing her eyes tightly. When she reopened them, the world was back to normal, and it was only after she’d glanced back over her shoulder towards the door that she realized why her heart felt like it was going to hammer itself through her sternum-- the lone car sitting in the partially obstructed driveway, the footprints leading up to an empty house, the darkened hallways. This house was the same as the one she’d gotten trapped in with Roland. Another thump from upstairs made her jump and she looked up to Nell, then to the stairs. “Wait!” she said, shuffling forward. Her arms were shaking. It wasn’t the same, she had to remind herself. This wasn’t the same. “I’ll go first.” Because she was the cop and the descending sun outside meant her abilities were kicking in.

It felt like the skin on Nell’s arm where her summoning sigil tattoos had been inked were itching, as if they could warn her of the danger that might be upstairs. That was ridiculous, though. There was no way they could possibly do that. Instead it was her own hyper vigilance that was causing them to prick, as if they were asking her to Summon something in case they’d be needed. But she waited, not about to bring three hellhounds into the world when there was no immediate need. The warping of the stairs and hallway was enough to make Nell’s shoulders stiffen, her magic instinctively pooling in her stomach should she need to call on it. Nevertheless, Nell was still perched on the stairs, beginning to ascend. After all, even if the home was turning into some sort of not so fun house, there was still something that didn’t belong here— and the only way to get to it was up. Marley’s call made her wait for no other reason than habit, and she looked skeptically at the detective, not all that keen on letting her go first. Plus, she simply wasn’t used to it. Nell always generally put herself at the forefront of danger. “It’s fine,” she rejected, also not liking the way Marley’s arms were quivering. “Don’t worry about it.” Then she continued her ascent until she reached the top landing, pausing cautiously for a moment. A moment was all the manumbra needed as it leapt from its ceiling perch, perfectly disguised until it was too late. Down it fell, straight onto Nell as it flattened her to the ground. Nell’s grunt of pain was quick to follow, an angry snarl coming from her not a second later as she twisted, grabbing for one of her hidden knives and jabbing it into the demon’s side. A fucking manumbra. Of course it was a fucking manumbra.

Marley’s heart hiccuped, then froze. Everything was so familiar. Everything was the same. Roland’s face flashed through Marley’s mind and for a minute, she considered turning and running. But the door closed loudly behind her and the creature dropped from the ceiling, pinning Nell beneath it, and Marley felt the same pull inside of her as she had when Roland had yelled at her to leave. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t leave someone behind. Not Roland, and definitely not this annoying kid who kept calling her old and breaking out of her jail cell. Marley took the stairs two at a time, her arms shaking, and pulled out the switchblade she kept on herself. There was too much error margin using a gun, so this would have to do. She stabbed it into the creature, hoping to distract it enough for the girl to get away. “Run!” she said, lifting the knife to stab into the creature again. “Get out of here!”

The two stabs, one from each of the women, was enough to make the manumbra scramble for a moment, and more than enough for Nell to wrestle the thing off of her with a growl. “Piece of shit!” she yelled before processing what it was Marley was trying to tell her. Run? Like hell, she would run. The witch had never run from anything in her life, and she sure wasn’t going to start now. In the flash of an eye, Nell was raising her knife to herself this time, drawing a careful line down her patchwork scarred forearm. In the same moment, she struck a knee firmly against the demon’s chest, trying to drive it into the ground in an attempt to make it stay still so she could banish it. Gathering the ruby droplets on her left hand, she began to draw a binding circle around the manumbra as quickly as she could, careful not to smudge the lines. “Help me hold it down!”

Why wasn’t Nell running? Marley could easily get out of this mess, but she couldn’t just leave someone behind. Not anymore. Before it would’ve been easy, but after she’d been locked in that house with Roland-- after they’d spent so much time in that place, alone, wondering if they were going to live or die-- after realizing she’d only survived because of him, she couldn’t leave him behind. She wouldn’t leave anyone behind ever again. “Dammit, Bambi!” she growled, stabbing the knife down. The creature made a loud noise and it rocketed up Marley’s spine, making her freeze. Suddenly, the hallway began to warp. The floor beneath her sank. And then the whole world flipped upside down. Marley went crashing to the floor-- ceiling?-- and felt her hand smack hard against wood, the knife falling from her grip. “Shit!” she shouted, rolling away just in time to watch the creature slam down where she’d just been. “We have to get out of here!” she said, scrambling across the ceiling towards Nell. “Quit messing around!”

Nell let out an annoyed growl as the manumbra escaped the circle she’d been working on, watching as it skittered around, trying to find an opening to pin it down once again. “Shit,” Nell cursed as she watched the detective fall...somewhere. She wasn’t entirely sure which way was up at this point. “I’m not messing around!” Nell yelled back. “I know what I’m doing if you’ll help me get it pinned!” Tracking the manumbra as it crawled along the ceiling-floor, Nell threw the knife from her hand towards the demon, a sense of satisfaction flooding her as it landed with a satisfying thud, and the creature made a pained noise. “I can bind it!”

The knife landed with a thud, but Marley knew better. “Bind it?” she shouted, looking over at Nell with bewildered eyes. “Are you serious? Just fucking kill it or run!” she called out, pulling for her gun finally as she came to a stop near Nell, kicking away at floorboards of the ceiling to try and distract the thing. Visions of her nightmares tried to flood her eyes-- dark hallways, closing in. Wood peeling like paint, floating around them. Hands gripping her throat, choking her. Marley shook her head, tried to refocus, but it wasn’t enough. She stumbled, grabbing her head. “Stop it!” she shouted at no one, “just stop it!” The creature took its chance, lunging. Marley remembered watching it drop hard onto Roland, remembered it trying to squeeze the life out of him-- she shoved Nell out of the way and felt it collide with her back, face hitting the floor-- ceiling?-- glasses falling from her face, snapping. It went to squeeze, she knew it was coming, and her body instantly changed itself, like an automatic muscle response. The creature slipped right through her and she pushed herself up, turning around to face it again, gun pointed. She fired into it several times, unloaded her entire clip. It screeched in pain, skittering backwards, away from them. The world shifted under them once again and the two were dumped back on the actual floor, near the stairs. Marley lay still for a moment, breath hard to come by, gun still aimed. “Where is it!?” she asked in a haze, “where’d it go?”

“Fine!” Nell yelled back, preferring to bind it, but willing to kill the demon if need be. “I’ll just kill it, then!” But it seemed the manumbra had other plans as it charged Marley. Called out to the cop as it looked like the manumbra would be aiming to end the woman. Instead of a squishing or squeezing, there was nothing. Absolutely nothing where Marley was, and the demon passed through her. “How did you-?” Nell began in surprise, not yet putting the pieces together of what were mara induced abilities. The world was moving too quickly to come to that conclusion at the moment. Finally, everything was still apart from the two women looking around in their frantic attempts to find the demon. Reflexively, Nell offered Marley a hand to help her up before once again performing the spell she’d done in the beginning of her house exploration. This time, the only signatures it returned were her’s and the detective’s. “It’s gone. It must have run. Are you alright?”

Marley looked up to the offered hand, almost immediately wanting to swat it away-- she was the cop, she was supposed to protect other people and offer her hand up to them after they were attacked. Rubbing her chin, she reached up and grabbed her offered hand after a moment, hauling herself up with some effort. Though she was physically unharmed-- she couldn’t be hurt that badly at night-- her body was still shaking and flooded with adrenaline and shock, shaking herself off. “I’m fine,” she muttered, wiping something off from her hand. “How did you know what it was? A-- what did you say? Man-something?” She wanted to get out of this house, but kept still, waiting for Nell’s response, before she realized she didn’t have glasses on her face. Hurriedly, she glanced around, only to find the broken in half on the floor where she’d landed. “Fuck…” she hissed, scooping them up. A piece of glass fell from one of the lenses. “Fuck.”

Despite Marley’s insistence that she was fine, Nell gave the woman a cursory once over, trying to see if there were any parts of the detective that was bleeding. However, it seemed that most of the wounds the manumbra had dealt were below the surface, as those were the kind it specialized in. “It’s a demon,” the witch began her explanation, figuring that was the best place to start. “And I...know demons.” There was no need to get into the specifics of it at the moment. Besides, what would she tell Marley? That her dead grandma left a journal behind that helped her figure out how to summon the creatures? “This one was a manumbra. They’re a bit rarer than their cousins. On a scale of demons, it’s not the worst. But it’s obviously...not great either when you’re its prey. The good news is that it doesn’t need any special rituals or anything to get rid of it. If you stab it enough or whatever- it’ll just die on its own.” Wordlessly, Nell took the glasses from Marley, waving a hand over them with a murmured spell to repair them back into one piece before handing them back to the woman. “We should probably get out of here for now.” Nell would have loved to stay and see if the demon returned, but she could tell that Marley wasn’t in the best of places at the moment.

“A demon?” Marley said, a bit breathless. God, she hated that. She groaned, pressing her palms into her face. “Great, perfect. So now I’m being stalked by a demon.” This was just what she needed right now, wasn’t it? Manumbra. She’d remember that name. She’d remember it and next time she found it, it wasn’t going to get away. She would kill it and burn the body and make sure it was dead for real this time. No more coming back or whatever the fuck it was doing. She looked up when Nell grabbed the glasses from her and waved her hand over them, fixing them almost instantly. “So I was right,” she mumbled when Nell handed them back, “you’re a spellcaster.” Marley only knew a few spellcaster-- they seemed just as secretive and hushed about their abilities as real supernaturals-- but she’d keep that to herself for now. “Thanks.” She glanced around, then back to Nell, before motioning for her to follow her down the stairs, weapon still drawn. They weren’t safe, after all, until they were out of this house. She was reminded that Nell was here for a bounty, but whoever it was, they were surely already dead. “Uh, sorry about your guy,” she muttered as they passed by his stuff, “maybe next time will be better.”

Once they were outside, Marley holstered her weapon and took a few long steps away from the building, looking back in. When she was sure they were safe, she turned back to Nell, quiet for a moment. “Thanks. Again. For--” nodded back at the house, but couldn’t finish the sentence. “Uh, you um-- stay safe out there, okay Bambi?” She dug through her pocket a moment before holding out her card. “I know you hate narcs and shit, but if you’re ever in trouble-- just call me. Promise I’m cooler than all the other narcs.” And then she slid her glasses back on and turned back to her cruiser. Next time, she’d finish this thing for good.

#chatzy #chatzy: nell #wickedswriting #one for the money #nell

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likeanemployee · 4 years

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Whiterose: Make-up, Wake-up

So I did that thing again where a drawing gets stuck in my head and I just had to write a whole scene about it. This time it was this post. check it out and thanks to the artist for the inspiration.

Ruby rolled over and smiled as she saw Weiss sitting in front of a mirror combing at the ponytail she wore even now. A corner of Ruby’s mind marveled at how she had found herself here because the thing was, she didn’t really know. It had all happened so suddenly and so... wonderfully. The previous night was a blur of passion and joy. She and Weiss had spent the whole previous day together, and it had been full of so much fun, so much laughter and so much love that it had passed by in an instant, before Ruby really even knew it had happened. Then at some point they had returned here, to Schnee manor, and the next thing Ruby knew she was waking up in Weiss’ bed in nothing but her underwear, while she stared lovingly at the back of a head belonging to a woman who only a few short years ago had been the coldest, cruelest being she had ever met.

And she couldn’t have been happier.

Her smile broadened at that thought and she rolled back lethargically to stare blankly at the ceiling as memories of all the times they had spent together flowed through her. Weiss turned at the slight sound the movement had created, and it was her turn to smile at Ruby. The room was well heated, and Ruby had the blankets pulled down, so they covered her only from the waist down, she had folded her hands behind her head and lay with her eyes open staring at the ceiling. She looked very much to Weiss like someone who was awake but didn’t want to get out of bed. Yet the smile on her face was so content, so comfortable already in this new place, both physically and in their relationship, that it touched a corner of Weiss’ heart with a burning joy which spilled onto her face and into her voice as she stood with a laugh

“I see someone finally decide to wake up” She teased walking back to the bed and siting on a corner of it as Ruby sat up with a wry smile.

“Well it seems that somehow, I got to sleep a little late last night” Ruby teased back “I had to sleep in to make up for it”

“That might be a good point” Weiss answered back “except that some of us were up just as late and still managed to get up early” she continued raising her nose in an aristocratic pose she had just a little too much practice at.

“Early?!” Ruby barked back “I don’t believe for a second you’ve been awake that much longer then me and that doesn’t exactly look early.” She finished gesturing out the window where the sun had clearly been up for hours.

“Well… ok maybe not early, but at least earlier” Weiss answered only slightly unwillingly before leaning forward to kiss Ruby. Ruby kissed her back without comment and when they separated again any desire to continue the teasing had been completely forgotten.

“Love you.” Ruby said simply, quietly and passionately as she stared deeply into Weiss’ eyes, their noses less than an inch a part.

Weiss smiled and replied, “I love you, too.”

They held one another’s gaze a moment longer and then Ruby flopped back onto the bed. They had no plans for the day nothing was going on and Ruby was in no hurry to go anywhere or do anything so instead she simply laid back and let her thoughts wander. Weiss sat silently for a moment watching over Ruby until a shiver ran up her spine. The room was warm, but it had also been assumed when the temperature was set that its occupants would be under covers or have on slightly more clothing then either of the women currently in it did. Weiss stood and found a previously discarded shirt, sliding it on for a little extra warmth but without bothering to button it up. She returned to the chair she had been in when Ruby woke up and contemplated her reflection in the mirror. She thought briefly about going back to brushing her hair, Ruby had been right she hadn’t been awake all that long before Ruby woke up and her hair was still fairly messy, but she wasn’t really that concerned about her appearance. She was in no more hurry to do anything then Ruby was and if something suddenly came up, she was capable of getting fully dressed and ready relatively quickly, so she didn’t need to sit here brushing away just to prepare for the day. In fact, she had really only been doing it in the first place because she had woken up before Ruby and didn’t want to disturb her. She had simply needed to something to do while she waited, which, she supposed, was more or less the same predicament she found herself in now. She had never been very good at sitting idle, neither was Ruby of course so there was a decent chance she would decide she was bored and that they should do something before long, but the younger woman could also be quite lethargic in the morning and it sometimes took Ruby some time to really wake up, get out of bed and start moving, especially on lazy days with nothing going on. Weiss wasn’t like that she wasn’t quite an on/off switch but in general once she was awake, she was awake, and she couldn’t stand just lying around in bed. That’s when she noticed the make-up kit sitting on the table in front of her. Weiss had never really been that preoccupied with her physical appearance, but her family had emphasized it since she was young, and she had become a highly competent make-up artist. What’s more, in what was at best a highly misguided gift and more probably a pointed suggestion, her father had always ensured she had access to all of the newest and most expensive beauty supplies. In any case she had always found the task of applying it mildly entertaining, or at least distracting and something drew her to it this morning. She pulled the brushes out and set to work. She went about it leisurely doing and undoing bits playing with various looks. She almost always went for a very natural look which avoided calling attention to the fact she was wearing make-up at all but today just for fun she went for something rather more extravagant with a blue lip stick and a somewhat dramatic blue eye shadow with stars on the corner of her eyes. As she finished she admired her work in the mirror fully intending to removing it before going out for the day, she decided the look needed earrings and grabbed the pair she had worn the night before, which were sitting on the edge of the table in front of her and put them on. Suddenly there was a chuckle from behind her and she turned to see Ruby had sat back up and was watching her.

“Very pretty” Ruby said, the compliment only slightly marred by the laughter in her voice

“You think so?” Weiss answered with a smile. She stood brush in one hand palate in the other and walked over to the bed. Ruby gave her a questioning look as she climbed onto the bed and walked on her knees across it until she sat on top of Ruby, straddling her. She leaned forward and kissed Ruby long and passionately. The brush and palate had been set on the bed just behind Weiss’ legs and she leaned against Ruby one hand on her chest the other on the bed as she smiled down deviously their faces only inches a part “Well?” she demanded.

“Oh definitely!” Ruby answered quickly “Very, VERY, pretty.” She continued a rather telling smile of her own crossing her face.

“Good!” Weiss declared grabbing the brush and palate again “now it’s your turn!”

“Wait no!” Ruby simply squealed as she realized Weiss had somehow managed to pin her arms under her knees without Ruby even noticing. She squirmed as best she could shaking her head back and forth refusing to give Weiss a stable easel

“Hold still, dolt!” Weiss laughed back managing to stay on top of Ruby but unable to get at her face with the brush.

The struggle continued for a few minutes with both giggling the whole time but then Ruby began to tire and accept the inevitable. She stopped squirming but every time Weiss got near her face with the brush, she would turn her head abruptly the other way with a defiant little “no”

“Would you just..ugh!” Weiss said in frustration after this had happened three or four times and set the palate down again to free one hand. She used that hand to push gently against Ruby’s chin lifting her head slightly and leaning in to kiss her once again long and gently. Ruby relaxed into the kiss, letting herself sink into the pleasure of it. Weiss pulled away after a long moment and stared into Ruby’s eyes. Ruby lost herself in that gaze, in the love between them and as she did, as her mind completely forgot the battle just past, Weiss struck. Her free hand tightened on Ruby’s chin just enough to keep her still and the brush was still in her other hand it moved forward and Ruby instinctively closed her eyes giving Weiss the perfect target. She slid that brush deftly across Ruby right eye and then sat back smiling triumphantly and declared “ha I win!”

Ruby’s mouth opened as if to reply but no words came out, instead she stared back with a slightly dumbfounded look on her face and before she could finish processing the betrayal Weiss leaned back in and kissed her once more. It wasn’t quite as long this time, but it was at least as passionate and when she pulled away again that loving stare was back. “let me finish?” Weiss asked softly, kindly but most importantly it was a question, if Ruby said no she would wipe the line she had made clean and let Ruby go. Ruby hesitated for a moment but she felt the love flowing between them and after a few seconds a soft smile slowly spread across her lips. She never said word, never once broke eye contact, she simply gave a tiny nod, so small it was almost imperceptible.

There had never been a chance Weiss wouldn’t recognize that nod even as small as it was, she was watching to closely and perhaps more importantly in that moment understanding flowed too perfectly between them. She smiled broadly, picked the palate up and went carefully to work. Her eyes were focused intently on the brush, lines and shades. Her mouth hung open ever so slightly as she concentrated. It was strange in many ways, Ruby had thought, Weiss was hoovering mere inches from her face staring more intently then she had even seen Weiss stare and yet Ruby knew she wasn’t really look at her, she was looking at the what she was doing. Yet, that too was wrong because she was looking at Ruby. She had to, to follow the contours of her face and blend the shades to her natural color. Ruby wasn’t sure how to describe it, all she really knew was it created this incredible, intense, wonderful sense of intimacy. Ruby stared back with perhaps the perfect inverse of the look Weiss was giving her. Ruby had no brushes, no make-up and nothing to do but stare. She looked not with the intense scrutiny at every little detail Weiss did but instead with wide eyes which attempted to take in everything at once.

In many ways Weiss’ appearance was very strange in that moment. Her hair was messy, still disheveled from the night before despite whatever work Weiss may have put into it, and it contrasted sharply with the extravagant make-up on Weiss’ face. It was remarkably backwards in fact, Weiss’ hair was normally well kempt and as pretty as the make-up may have been, and it was pretty, it was a much to extravagant look for Weiss’ normal style. As Ruby looked down the irregularities continued, a normally regal white button down was wrinkled, with its sleeves rolled up to Weiss’ elbows and its chest hanging wide open. A blue bra and panties revealed themselves from under that loosely hanging shirt and gorgeous white skin peaked out wherever it could find a hole, with a sensuality which defied the dignified, cold “Ice Queen”. All put together she looked beautiful, Ruby thought, perhaps more beautiful then she had ever before seen Weiss. Ruby didn’t know how long she laid their admiring Wiess’ beauty, time had ceased to have meaning to her but then look on Wiess’ face changed and the brush which had been moving constantly, softly, across her face stopped, hanging just above her eye.

“Well?” Ruby asked “am I pretty now”

“Oh definitely” Weiss mimicked with a laugh “Very, VERY, pretty”

Ruby laughed back, reached her hand up behind Weiss’ neck and pulled her in kissing her again. Weiss leaned back as the kiss ended and contemplated her work carefully.

“I think…” She said putting a little more color on her brush “You need…” whatever Weiss had been about to say was lost forever as the door opened and Klein stepped through. Both Ruby and Weiss whipped their heads toward the door and all three individuals present turned deep shades of red.

“Klein! What are you doing!” Weiss screeched angrily and the butler turned timid

“Oh dear… oh I’m so sorry miss Schnee, Ms. Rose, I came to inform you I had prepared breakfast for you I had no idea you might be…” his tone and mannerism shifted suddenly, eyes turning red, a devious smile crossing his face “Busy!” the final word came out dripping with inuendo and he snickered as a pillow came flying from the bed to hit him in the face followed only an instant later by

“GET OUT!”

“Right away, miss Schnee” a third face, this time with an exquisitely polite smile, appeared “As you say, and I will keep breakfast warm until you ah..ahem finish.” The snickering face didn’t truly return this time but there was a definite flicker in his eye, and he turned slamming the door behind him just in time to deflect a second pillow.

Weiss relaxed a little with a sigh as he went, and a chuckle sounded below her “Is something funny?” she asked in a dangerous tone.

“Well, yeah kinda” Ruby snickered back “Come on,” she continued as Weiss glared at her “It’s not like we were actually doing anything and we aren’t going to be able to keep this a secret. Well” she laughed as Weiss gave her an incredulous look “it might have been nice to keep this” she gesture at the make-up each wore “a secret but me being here what’s going on between us it was going to be fairly obvious any way and” her tone changed suddenly “I didn’t think we were trying to keep it a secret”

“no, Ruby of course were not.” Wiess said gently “I love you I don’t care who knows, I just would really rather prefer if the intimate parts of that love stayed as private as possible, I mean that was just, just… embarrassing!” she finished rolling off Ruby with a sigh to lie next to her on the bed her hands thrown over her face.

Ruby chuckled quietly to herself but let it be. It wasn’t that Ruby hadn’t been embarrassed too but, well she supposed she was probably a little bit more use to embarrassment then Weiss or maybe it was simply that more and more she didn’t care what anyone else thought as long as she was with Weiss. In any case her own feelings of dread had passed fairly quickly, and she had actually been amused by Klein’s little jokes and even more amused by Weiss’ reaction.

“You know this is your fault dolt.” Weiss said a moment later

“My fault!” Ruby shot back sitting up and pointing an accusatory finger at Weiss “This is your room, in your mansion, he’s your butler and it was your idea to play with that face paint!” she did her best to sound genuinely affronted but she couldn’t help smiling as she listed things off

“Face paint!” Weiss scoffed back “ ‘play with face paint’ she says!” Weiss continued seemingly to no one “how oh how did I end up with a dolt like this” She ranted on

“Cause you love me!” Ruby answered with a giant smile

“and that’s why it’s all your fault.” Weiss answered back folding her arms “If you weren’t so wonderfully fantastically, magnificently lovable we never would have ended up here!”

“oh of course!” Ruby laughed back “sorry I have no idea how I missed that. I’ll try to be less lovable in the future. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to though” She finished smiling at Weiss and fluttering her eyes

“just get over here and kiss me, you dolt!” Weiss answered with a roll of her eyes and just managed to brace herself before Ruby dived onto her.

#rwby #whiterose #ruby rose #weiss schnee #rwby klein

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johnconstantinesdick · 4 years

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If you could redesign any of the rwby costumes which would you change and in what ways? Also what's your favorite rwby weapon (I love cinders short sword bow thing I'm actually making it rn!)?

Oh man you sent this right before I went to bed so I’m sorry that this took a while, but!! This is such a fun question!

Short, funny answer that is nonetheless 100% serious: put Qrow in one of those corset-vests.

Long, also serious answer:

Honestly, while I have a handful of criticisms for the earlier designs, the really great part about those criticisms is that they’re usually all addressed (hah) by the next design for the character. Like, OG Ruby was a bit plain and boring on the top, and then Volume 4 Ruby adds a lot more visual interest at the top for a really cute and balanced design. I think that RWBY has done a pretty good job in general with having their designs actually be craftable, too, which is Very high praise. Like, I think they actually looked at more than one real item of clothing.

The 3d models have their ups and downs when it comes to conveying designs; the sleeve seams on Yang’s V5-6 jacket, for instance, are just. Weird. But the 3d model means that, generally, it’s easier to tell how clothing items actually Work. They’re Consistent, and there are actual visible seam lines. Ones that Make Sense, generally.

I’m usually pretty happy with the designs. However, the ones I’ve seen for V7 (haven’t actually watched it yet lmao), are... idk I’m not super happy with them?

I actually wrote a rambling complaint about some of the designs last night at like 5/6 in the morning, but in doing so I pretty much spitballed a redesign for Weiss, so I’m just gonna focus on her!

Here’s the ramble on Weiss, by the way, if you wanna read that before you see what I came up with!

Now, Weiss and Nora share the problem of there being Too Much going on. I think Nora’s could have worked better if the blue and pink were more pastel, but in general her design just. Doesn’t feel like her. Same with Weiss. They both honestly feel more like Blake designs to me.

Weiss, in addition to it Not Feeling Like her, has way too many things going on there. I would get rid of the belts and pouches on the middle. Make the skirt one solid thing, instead of the asymmetrical white thing going on. Gather the top of the dress in the same way as the boots. Add buttons to the boots like on the skirt. Or make the blue coat on top a full flaring coat, with a simplified dress underneath. Ditch the gloves, she looks like Cinder. Also, FUCK THAT HAIR. THE BRAID LOOKS CLUNKY AND BAD IN 3D!!! Give her a haircut if you want a change! Or have her wear her hair loose as a visual cue that she is free even though she’s back in the city her father tried to trap her in!!

Now, almost twelve hours later, I looked at that and went, “Yeah, 5am me was right.”

And drew this rough redesign:

[ID: A pencil drawing of Weiss Schnee from RWBY. She is a teenager with light hair, a serious expression, and a thin scar over her left eye. She is posed to show off the design, with one arm held down behind her skirt and the other held out to show off the sleeve. Her hair is loose and hangs down her back to her waist, save for a braid that circles her head like a crown. Diamond-shaped earrings dangle from her ears. She wears a dress coat with leg-o-mutton sleeves and a high neck. The coat fastens asymmetrically over her collarbones, with the right side fastened to the left side with a pin that looks like the hair comb/crown she previously wore. The coat is designed to reveal most of her outfit underneath, and is cinched in at the waist with a belt, before it flares out dramatically. A single bead on a decorative tie hangs from each edge of the bottom front of the coat, and she wears short gloves with a line of buttons, visible only on the hand she has held to the side. Weiss wears an asymmetric vest underneath the coat. It closes at an angle to the right with a line of buttons, and point in a V shape at the bottom front, the edge just below her hips. Underneath the vest she wears a dress. It is gathered in small pleats at the top, and the pleats continue into the skirt past where they are hidden by the vest. The skirt goes down to her ankles, and the pleated section is hidden partly by an overskirt. She wears a pair of Edwardian walking boots split into two sections. The section on the top curves out to just before her toes, and is fastened with buttons on the outsides. Her right foot is tilted out to show the heel. In the top left of the sketchbook there is another illustration of the boots where the tops are not hidden by the skirt. They go up to about mid-calf. In the top right of the sketchbook is a view of the back of Weiss’s coat, showing that her snowflake design is printed on the top back. The belt goes across the waist and is held in place by two belt loops. At the back waist, a pleat flares out to the bottom of the coat. End ID]

Boy oh boy, I may be biased, but I like this design better. In the original design, the belts and pouches were the most visually ugly for me, but I also wasn’t happy with the sheer amount of components going on, and I Did Not like the boots. So I simplified some things (the asymmetrical skirt), added more unifying elements (the pleats on the top and the skirt, the buttons on the vest, the boots, and the gloves), and overall made her hair less ugly. I also didn’t like how they had components that looked like two different coats, so I simplified that into one big coat. In general I think it makes for a design that’s a bit easier to look at, but that’s just my opinion. I think Volume 7 Nora and Yang would be other designs I would like to change around a lot, and I would change Jaune’s around a little.

I have... a lot of opinions about character design, apparently?

Yeah. Anyway, as for weapons, I’d have to say Emerald’s are my favorite. I just love how they look and function, especially the chain part. I think it’s a really clever design. The weapons are always going to be the place where RWBY shines, but I’m still always caught off-guard by how inventive the designs can get. Also, I can’t wait to see how you do Cinder’s bow! Props are Not My Area so whenever I see them I’m blown away, and Cinder’s weapon is such a neat design to do.

#image description #rwby #rwby volume 7 #weiss schnee #rwby redesign #eli rambles #sewing shit with eli #this counts i think #ask #i just got a new sketchbook and Fancy Pencils and this was my first time drawing with them #i still think there might be too much going on but at least its a bit better imo

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queen-scribbles · 4 years

Text

Taking Initiative

Sooooooo this was fun to write ;D Another technically sfw one. Technically.

...I think.

---

It proved much easier than expected to get the time alone they wanted after Belsavis. All it took was what some might consider a tiny abuse of power on Jorgan’s part when they stopped on Nar Shaddaa to refuel. ‘Mandatory downtime’ he called it as he effectively kicked the rest of Havoc off the ship.

‘Ridiculously overdue’ is what Keme would have called it, and she bit back an expectant grin as she finished cleaning her blaster carbine and stowed it where it belonged. “Turning them loose on Nar Shaddaa? You sure that’s a good idea?”

Jorgan shrugged as he closed the various weapons racks. “Way I see it, the only real risk is Vik remembering what he liked about this place and not coming back. Some R and R will do them all some good.” He leaned against the nearest gun locker and smirked at her. “And I figured some time alone would do us some good.”

“You did, huh?” She let out that grin as she mirrored his pose in the doorway. “I like a man who takes initiative-”

The armory wasn’t big, and he crossed it in two strides to pin her against the wall with a kiss. His fingers dug into her hair, hers curled around the lapels of his vest, and both pulled in an instinctive gasping breath when they parted.

“How’s that for initiative?” Jorgan murmured, voice so low it was almost a growl.

“Very promising,” Keme breathed with an even wider grin, her hands creeping higher on his collar to yank him in for another. This kiss likewise broke with a harsh breath, their chests heaving and hearts pounding mere centimeters from each other. Much as she was enjoying their current position, the heat building in her chest galvanized her to maintain one hand’s grip on his collar and kiss him to pull along with her as she shifted off the door frame and backed toward her cabin.

This time the low sound rumbling in his throat was definitely a growl.

They skirted the holoterminal, his vest and her belt dropping to the floor in the process, but walking backwards had Keme’s aim off and she backed into the wall next to her door rather than through the doorway. She growled impatiently at finding it closed and groped for the door controls. Shucked her jacket as the door hissed open, tossing the garment away without a care where it landed. Pivoted around the edge of the doorway, pushed off it as Jorgan’s hands slid under her shirt.

His fingers settled over the scar just above her hip, and while she didn’t flinch, there was just the barest catch to her breath and movements as she tugged at the clasp for his belt, the thought pressing in. He’s going to see...

Faint as the reaction was, he still noticed, and huffed a laugh that ghosted past her ear. “Told you you should’ve stayed in the bacta tank a little longer,” he murmured, shifting his hand away from her souvenir of Belsavis.

She shook her head and rested her temple against his jaw. “That one’s not a problem,” she whispered, which was mostly true. The ugly scar was still a little tender and was definitely not going to fade any more on its own, but it wasn’t enough to stop this. The other ones, though...

He started to ask, but his hand’s new position left it resting directly over one of the older scars, and he stilled. A moment passed before, “Already seen ‘em,” rumbled into her hair around a soft kiss.

Keme gave a small smile--slightly bitter, because he couldn’t see it--and pressed a light kiss to his jaw. “Not all of them.” Most, maybe, especially after that fight with the Gamorrean, but not all. Time to change that. She kissed his jawline again, then stepped back just enough to strip off her shirt.

Jorgan’s hands tightened fractionally on her hips as his ice-blue gaze ran over the full extent of the narrow ridges interspersed with the dark stripes that already patterned her fur. Shoulders to waist, front and back, deliberately cut to end slightly further in than the actual stripes. He gave her a wordless look and pressed a lingering kiss to the highest scar on her right shoulder.

Keme backed into the door frame for support again, eyes sliding closed as she let out a groan that bordered on a purr and her hands curled into fists so tight she could feel her nails indenting her palms.

Jorgan caught her eye when he straightened. “They don’t bother-”

“I didn’t think they would,” she cut him off, the words hitching as he mirrored the kiss on her left shoulder. “I’m not so much self-conscious about them as I hate the reactions from most people when they learn where they came from.”

He met her gaze, head tilted in curiosity, but didn’t push. Clearly, initiative for how much--if any--she shared was hers for the taking--or leaving.

It made her love him even more.

Drawing a deep breath, still uneven from their nearness, Keme gently rested her hands at his elbows and steered them to sit on the edge of her bed. She left her hands where they were, thumbs rubbing light circles against his arms as she dove in.

“I grew up a slave.” For most people that would be enough, and all they got. But Aric Jorgan was not most people. Not to her. “Born into it, actually. My parents were owned by Seven Brothers, a Rattataki-run syndicate almost no one’s heard of because they propped up the Hutt they used to work for as a figurehead so they could operate in the shadows. Name a vice, they deal in it. My parents worked in one of the mine processing centers for their front business; hard work, but not brutal enough to prevent starting... starting a family.”

Jorgan shifted when her voice caught and Keme slid her hands down to clasp with his as she continued.

“They had me. Then twins, girl and a boy, little over a year later. ‘Nother boy few years after that. Chronic runaways, the lot of us.” She snorted. “Dunno what they expected from Cathar slaves, really. My first real try was when I was nine, with my dad on his fourth. We got caught before we even made it off-planet, I got these” --she freed a hand to run her thumb along one of the scars that hooked back from the corners of her mouth--”and he got sold. Second time I was fourteen and it was with my sister. She went down fighting when they caught us, took one of the founding Brothers with her. Me... They decided there were better ways to make an example of me than as a corpse. Put the dead brother’s wife in charge of punishing me, and she made sure I knew how much she enjoyed herself as she killed my mother and brothers.”

He pulled a sharp breath, but she squeezed his hands before he could say anything.

“That was just the start; the payment for her husband. For running away... she made a show of informing me I was a troublemaker, always had been. Some might think I always would be; there’s that saying about nexu not being able to change their stripes. However, she'd never believed that saying was true.”

This time Jorgan slipped a hand free, running it down from her shoulder through the curve of her hip, his thumb brushing over the meticulous scarred ‘stripes’ between the natural ones. A shiver rippled down her spine as if following his touch.

“My third try was two years later, from the cage where they kept me, first chance I got. Actually made it this time. The Republic picked me up after the ship I’d stolen ran out of fuel, and well,” she gestured at the cabin. “Here I am.” It hadn’t been as easy as all that, but she didn’t want to spend more time on her past than she had to. Especially when they had the ship to themselves and the intensity in Jorgan’s eyes was doing things to her.

His hand lingered on her hip, thumb rubbing back and forth along one of her actual stripes, and he was quiet for a long moment. “Exactly what reaction do you usually get that makes you flinch at the thought?”

“Pity,” Keme said with a sigh. “People see the scars, and whether or not they hear I was a slave I get pitying looks and their body language screams ‘oh you poor thing’. I hate it.”

“I would, too,” Jorgan muttered. He withdrew his hand to curl around hers again. “For the record, that’s not what I think.”

She cocked her head and waited for him to elaborate.

“They don’t say ‘poor thing’ to me. They say you made it through a hell doing its best to crush the fire out of you. That you survived. And that’s incredible and admirable more than anything els-”

She kissed him, leaning so far into it she started to push up on her knees, let it linger until her lungs burned before resting her forehead against his as a breathless “Thank you,” whisked past her lips.

Jorgan chuckled, ran his thumbs over her knuckles before letting go of her hands to brace against the bed. “I aim to please, boss.” The mirth faded into sincerity. “And I meant it, Keme.”

He’d never used her name before, and her breath caught sharp at the way he said it, gentle and warm and strong, and she cupped his jaw with both hands to kiss him again.

They almost toppled backwards, but he shifted to keep them upright. She scooted forward to straddle his lap, and his arm curled around her waist to pull her close as this kiss kept going, repeatedly half-broken for air, but never fully interrupted until Jorgan leaned back to pull his shirt off.

Keme barely registered when the black tank top tangled and pooled around his wrist as that hand braced against the bed again. Her attention was caught by the scar across his chest, lower left ribs to right armpit, ugly and ragged-edged, especially in the middle. She couldn’t stop the soft gasp, or instinctive brush of her fingertips along the edges until she was halfway down. “What...?”

“Too close to an artillery misfire,” Jorgan said, covering her hand with his. “Not as bad as it looks, I got treated by a medic who was barely more than an intern, so it scarred worse than it might’ve.” He smirked and shifted their hands slightly to the side so she could feel his heart pounding under her palm. “ Way I see it, I didn’t wind up dead, so who cares if it’s not pretty.”

Keme laughed softly. “The things we suffer in the line of duty...”

He snorted a chuckle in response. “And yet, somehow, the permanent reminder some idiot on my own side didn’t know how to calculate a damn targeting algorithm counts as a mark of bravery.” He pressed his hand closer over hers. “Which means yours should, too. Even more than this does.”

Her fingers curled slightly. “Why?”

“This was friendly fire, wrong place, wrong time, an accident. These” --He shook his hand free of his shirt and cupped her cheek, thumb tracing along the scar. “All of them, aren’t cause for pity. They say you’re tough as hell for surviving what you did, Keme.”

Her heart did a somersault, and she felt his speed up under her hand as she pressed closer to whisper, “Say it again.”

He chuckled and kissed the hollow of her throat. “You’re tough as hell.”

“No.” She paused a moment, bit her lip as she reached back to nudge off her boots. “The other part.”

She could feel his grin against the curve of her neck. “Keme?”

Heat flared in the pit of her stomach and she gave a soft growl as she tipped his chin up for an insistent, greedy kiss. “Again, Aric,” she mumbled against his lips.

His growl was louder, verging on a purr, as his hand slid up the back of her head to tangle in her hair. “Keme.”

She exhaled a shaky breath and scraped her teeth over his lower lip before claiming another kiss that finally unbalanced them to fall back on the bed with a laugh.

-o-

They traded off kissing each others’ scars--there were plenty to choose from on both parts-- which led eventually to kissing everywhere. Jorgan didn’t even flinch when he found the brand on her hip; seven-point star over a chevron burned into her skin. (It took a few tries, but Keme managed not to flinch when her toes brushed the cold metal that was his left calf now; a forever reminder she’d almost lost him.)

It was, by the end of it, a thoroughly good use of their time. After all, there was no telling how long the alone-ness would last. And once gone, it would likely be a very long while before they got more, given the state of the galaxy.

“Well,” Keme laughed, grinning contentedly up at the ceiling as she tried to catch her breath. “That was...”

“Productive?” Stars, he sounded smug. She rolled her eyes and lazily swung her closer arm to smack his chest. He caught it and kissed the back of her hand.

“I was gonna go with relaxing,” she retorted as her toes curled. “But we can use your word.”

He chuckled and kissed the back of her wrist. “Both are good, I think.” Kissed just below her elbow. “Fun works, too.”

She snorted a shaky laugh. “Oh, there’s a lot of words for how good that was, Aric.” The next kiss fell halfway up her bicep and she bit her lip. “Mmh... despite my near-derailment via summarized tragic backstory.”

“Hey.” He kissed her shoulder. “I wanted time for the two of us. While this was what I had in mind--and worth it, by the way--if we’d wound up talking, that would have been good, too.” Kissed the juncture of shoulder and neck. “It’s you I wanted, whatever form that took.”

She turned her head and met him for the kiss she knew was coming, rolled with him when he pulled back so her chin rested on his chest. “Mm, good answer.” She kissed the center of his chest and lightly ran her fingers along the lower half of the scar. “You’ll have to abuse your authority to empty the ship so we can do this again sometime, Captain.”

He smirked in response to her teasing tone. “Oh, no, no, no.” He sat up, pulling her with him, and cupped one hand around the back of her head for another kiss. “Next time’s your turn, Major.”

She giggled against his mouth and kissed him again. “Deal.”

Jorgan leaned fractionally into the kiss before pulling away and sliding out of bed.

“Hey.” Keme grabbed his wrist to halt his progress. “Where’re you going?”

He shot her an amused look. “I need my clothes,Keme.”

“I don’t recall saying you could leave,” she commented, the faux-reprimand undermined by a snicker as she playfully tugged his arm.

Jorgan chuckled and braced one knee against the edge of the bed as he leaned back in. “Apologies, sir,” he drawled, tucking her hair behind her ear. He leaned his forehead against hers. “Permission to locate my clothes, sir? I don’t imagine we have too much longer before Dorne, at least, has had her fill of ‘relaxing’ and we’re not alone anymore. Sir.”

“Permission granted,” Keme sighed with only partially faked reluctance as she let him go. “Though if I know Elara half as well as I think I do--if she knows me half as well as I think she does--she’s well aware the likely motivation behind their ‘mandatory downtime’ and she’ll take her sweet time getting back.” She tented her knees and rested her chin atop them as she watched him crisscross her cabin for various pieces of his wardrobe. “Don’t think she’s the one we need to worry about.”

“Yeah?” He shimmied into his pants, dropped hers--and her bra--on the foot of the bed. “Who is the one to worry about? And where the blazes is my shirt?”

Keme laughed and dug the shirt out from the tangled sheets. “Here.” She tossed it to him. “And my credits are on Vik running into someone who wants to kill him and figuring the ship is safe turf.” She reached for the clothes he’d found and followed his example getting dressed. There, at least, he had a point. They had to be reaching the final dregs of their time alone. “Next time we’ll have to figure a way to guarantee a nice long stretch of privacy that’ll end on our terms,” she sighed as she stood up, toes curling against the cold metal floor. “Maybe somewhere with a real bed. And carpet.”

He tugged her back by her hips until she hit his chest and kissed her shoulder. “I like the way you think. Keme.”

She bit her lip and tilted her head back for a kiss despite the awkward angle. “Glad you approve. Aric. Can’t make you take all the initiative when it comes to dates.”

He chuckled and kissed the top of her head before letting her go. “Seems fair.”

They finished putting themselves back together and had just moved in the direction of finding menial and innocuous things to do when the holo beeped an alert the hanger elevator was in use. They paused en route to the armory to check.

“Looks like we had good timing,” Jorgan deadpanned.

Keme snorted a laugh as she tapped on the camera feed. “And like we were both wrong. Though I can’t really say I’m surprised,” she conceded, watching Forex trundle across the hanger toward the ship ramp. “Can’t be much to entertain him when he’s not allowed to shoot Imps.”

She heard the snicker Jorgan tried to bite off as he looked over her head. “True.” He squeezed her shoulder and ducked into the armory. Keme tapped off the cameras and followed suit. At least Forex was the least likely to get nosy about how they’d spent their downtime.

By the time the Thunderclap’s door slid open to admit the droid, Jorgan was busy with ammo inventory and Keme was perched cross-legged atop one of the shorter gun lockers working on her datapad.

“Hey, Forex,” she called at the first clanging steps toward the main cabin.

“Greetings, Major, Captain,” Forex replied enthusiastically, making his way toward his usual spot in the briefing room. “I hope you found the downtime as enjoyable as the rest of us, despite remaining shipboard.”

Keme cleared her throat, shared an amused look with Jorgan. “Yeah, it was, um, productive.”

“And relaxing,” Jorgan chipped in. She nudged his shoulder with her foot and got a smirk in reply.

“Excellent!” the droid effused, completely missing everything outside the words. “It only benefits the Republic for its top soldiers to be better prepared for action.”

“Couldn’t agree more,” Keme called after him, shooting a wink at Jorgan. “We’ll have to make sure we do it again sometime.”

And they would, she promised herself as her company distracted her from her datawork approximately every ten seconds, whatever initiative she had to take to make it happen.

Preferably soon.

#queens fic #kementari rand #aric jorgan #keme/jorgan #otp: got your back #(yaya there's an otp tag now)#god i love them so much #this was SO FUN

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darkpoisonouslove · 4 years

Text

Sparks of Life Actual Trivia

As the title suggests, I will do my best to try to keep this to things that are actual trivia and not the outlines of fics (even though, let’s be real, I could turn anything into story material). Here we go.

- Valtor’s most used emoji is a blue heart that he is always sending Griffin. He barely uses any of the other emojis and that one somehow always appears as the most recently used as well as simply the most used. Griffin finds it cute even when she jokes that her most used emoji is for certain the one that is facepalming. Not just when she’s texting with him but with the twins, too, and sometimes, yes, even with Faragonda (though, that is usually when the conversation steers to something Hagen did XD). Her actual most used emoji is the one with the sunglasses because she is a badass bitch. (All of this is totally Zarathustra’s fault as she is the one that gave Griffin the opportunity to use literally every single emoji there is (and annoyed her into doing it).) Her second most used emoji is the one that blows a kiss. That one can be used both ironically and unironically. She might be a sassy bitch but she is a sassy bitch that really loves her people and even shows it from time to time. XD

- Valtor bought Griffin a waterfall incense burner:

and she has not been able to recover from that gift ever since. It meant a lot to her since she immediately fell in love with the idea of a waterfall incense burner when she first saw it but she didn’t think of buying one for herself since Valtor has a delicate sense of smell and strong scents irritate him easily. She needs to be careful when she buys scented candles and perfumes (or she’d end up giving them to the twins, again) and she didn’t think it a good idea to have one of those as she rarely burned incense anymore because of his sensitivity. She was very touched when he bought one for her and absolutely loves watching the smoke cascading down like it’s water. They still have to maneuver with it sometimes but it’s all good.

- One time Emalyn had brought out the old albums with whatever photos she and Griffin’s dad had managed to take of their daughter. She and Valtor were going through them while Griffin was fussing on Valtor’s shoulder (no need to let go of him just because she’s not thrilled about his curiosity). Valtor noticed the bowl of gummy bears in one of the photos and asked about it. Emalyn laughed before telling the story about how for one of Griffin’s birthdays in college Ediltrude had made vodka gummy bears since Griffin really loved eating the things when she was little and, well, it needed to be appropriate for the celebration at hand so just ordinary gummy bears wouldn’t cut it. Valtor listened intently but Griffin could tell there was something making him sad as he wasn’t talking a lot after that. So she picked up a packet of gummy bears next time they went shopping and that was the first time Valtor ate gummy bears (and the first time Griffin ate gummy bears ever since those vodka soaked ones) as well as, quite possibly, the last. He wasn’t a fan and tried not to antagonize her about loving them. He made sure to buy her a packet once in a while instead. He also might have gotten her a gummy bear bouquet for her birthday.

- Valtor and Griffin love to train together. There is a fitness room in the penthouse and they do spend some of their together time in there even if Griffin rarely uses any of the equipment in it. She might use the treadmill occasionally but that’s about it. She prefers to do yoga while Valtor does his exercises. Their background music choices might have clashed a little as she basically needs hers to be soothing spiritual music while Valtor prefers more energetic tunes. They solved that with wireless earphones. The matter of getting distracted while watching the other (and even pulling the other into that distraction as well) has been harder to resolve but they love spending time together even when they are both absorbed in their own things and it is only about feeling the silent presence of the other so they keep it up. They even spar together as Valtor used to take martial arts lessons and he might have taught Griffin as well so that they can have all that fun together. You know, pressing each other into walls and pinning each other to the ground. ;) They love their training sessions.

- Bathroom commodities are a bit of a nightmare. Griffin has her vanity - luckily for her because otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to get to a mirror most of the time with Valtor is the way. He is not as much vain as he is a perfectionist and also self-conscious (thanks to his mothers) and he spends ages in front of the mirror. So does Griffin, though hers is more from vanity. Yet, she was the one saying she was surprised Valtor didn’t have mirrors in every room. They still have the regular weekly fight about the bathroom as a lot of the time it looks like one of them is only waiting for the other to come out so that they can go in. It’s a bit frantic in the morning which is a factor in why the bathroom issue is one of their biggest sources of conflict when they are still sleepy and irritable or running late. They also tend to love sharing it when they are truly sharing it, however. Joined bath is one of the most relaxing activities they can imagine, especially when they help each other wash their hair. And it is perfect for cuddling and all that good stuff. ;)

- They have a fireplace in the penthouse that they both love dearly. Valtor finds the crackling of the fire and the warmth soothing and Griffin loves curling up in front of the fireplace with a good book and a cup of tea. Even more so if Valtor is there although most of the time he has paperwork to attend to. She doesn’t mind if she can lean on him and read into the evening. Winter nights have never been cozier or warmer. Though, sometimes the atmosphere turns competitive when they play chess in front of the fireplace. They happen to play other games at times as well but chess is their favorite and the heat of the fire kind of adds to the intensity. It satisfies their craving for theatrics as they are both drama queens so it is certainly a favorite thing of theirs. They even had a “picnic” in front of the fireplace once. It was fun, though they almost managed to push one of the dishes into the fireplace so they had to estimate a safety distance there.

- Griffin bought Valtor pens in different colors to help him color code his schedule and know what is important and what is less so. It was really useful even if Valtor wasn’t really feeling the idea at the beginning. Once it started saving him time that he could spend with her, however, he was quickly on board with it. He’d also use them to draw Griffin pics on stray sheets of paper during the day while he was talking on the phone or having to wait for a document to get sent to him. He really started loving the idea. So much so that he didn’t notice he was signing paperwork with the pink pen until his secretary pointed it out. They had to print out all of it anew and he wasn’t thrilled about having to repeat the whole process. Griffin laughed - very uncharacteristically and unsympathetically of her - when he told her that evening and he wasn’t quite playing offended just to get her kisses. He didn’t mind that part, though, and he did keep the pens since they were useful and made his day somewhat brighter.

- They love to travel when they can. The weekends are usually free and even if that doesn’t leave them a lot of time for long trips, they still love exploring the “local” are. They just grab the car keys and some spare clothes and drive for as long as they can before they have to start coming back or until a town catches their eye. They sometimes pick a destination beforehand, though that is left to luck. Valtor usually lets Griffin pick it as they lay out a map and whatever she points to becomes their destination. It doesn’t really matter where they’ll end up when they are together. They even managed to get a little further away a few times when Valtor hired a private jet. It was a good way to see something new when they’d already explored a lot of the closer places and to add something different in their lives. And even if they had to come back too soon, they still have the memories and those magnets Griffin loves to buy from the places they visit instead of taking photos. Photos of them, at least. They end up with plenty beautiful shots of scenery. And one or two of Griffin when Valtor manages to catch her off guard. She has snapped loads of pics of him, though, as he would even pose for her (and she might have one or two framed in her office at work plus some more in the penthouse).

- Once they were on a date (before they moved in together), Valtor took her to a ferris wheel which stopped working right as they were at the very top. Valtor is still not over the crisis he had back then (nor the fit of rage) but it ended up being Griffin’s favorite date of theirs. Sure, they were stuck for about an hour and she needed to go to the toilet which might have been thanks to the low temperatures and the wind up there that had her freezing, but it wasn’t so bad when Valtor was with her. They watched the stars that they could see despite the city lights and they cuddled into each other for warmth. Well, she cuddled into him as he was still warm like an oven and she wasn’t sure how he was doing it. And of course, cuddling turned into kissing which also got intense. They both had to fix their clothes and button what had been unbuttoned when the wheel started again most unexpectedly. Griffin still looks on that date fondly and Valtor can be swayed into admitting it went quite well considering the circumstances when she reminds him about after the wheel when they were warming up.

That’s about it... Nine points for the 9th... of June. (I have connected the dots. XD)

#winx club #winx griffin #winx valtor #griffin x valtor #covenshipping #sparks of life #trivia #trivia tuesday #emalyn sylvane

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what-the--curtains · 4 years

Text

Braving the Elements

Chapter 8: Tonys Party

Tw: Alcohol consumption, swearing , bad writing???

Authors note: we about to get a lil soft and a lil angsty babyyyy

(The balcony)

(The next morning in the kitchen)

Honestly both songs r like how I envision they’re relationship ANYWAYS HERE WE GOOO

“So, just how fancy are these parties?” you ask Nat and Wanda who are currently lying on your bed.

“Think Jay Gatsby meets James Bond.” Nat responds

“Shit, don’t think I have anything that nice.” you say skimming through your clothes which had finally found their way onto hangers. You had a lot of nice pieces, but nothing suitable enough for a black tie event. You had left most of your more exquisite garments back at your old apartment.

“No worries we have plenty, you can borrow something from us.” Wanda says closing her phone, before declaring that you should all get ready so you won’t be late. Nat and Wanda leave, then re-enter, your room carrying various dresses.

The dress you end up choosing is a midnight blue satin number. The top has a deep v on either side, exposing your back and a good portion of your cleavage. The top is tight to your body and gathers at your natural waistline before flaring out into a structured A-line skirt. You twist your hair up and pin it, pulling a few curls down to frame your face. Nat’s settled on an off the shoulder black, skin tight dress with a slit going all the way up her thigh. Her red hair clipped to one side giving it a wind-swept look. Wanda emerges in a long sleeve, scoop necked, mermaid style, maroon dress, opting to keep her hair loose for the evening. Pulling on your heels, Wanda shuffles you both out the door in the name of getting to the venue on time.

You wind up talking to Clint for a while and after ensuring he knows that you were not joking when you had asked him to teach you how to shoot a bow and arrow, you decide to go talk to Nat who's just been left by Wanda whose now at the bar talking to Vision and the rest of the boys.

“Well they all clean up nice” you say to Nat and she turns her head to face you.

“You know,” Nat says “ I think Wanda may like Vision.”

“Right!” you exclaim a touch too loud, realizing that you were slightly tipsy already. “We should set that up.” You stress to Nat who whole heartedly agrees. As the two of you make your way to the bar you can’t help but notice the small group of beautiful women who had gathered around Bucky. You couldn’t blame them, he’d slicked his hair back exposing his perfect jawline and the navy blue suit he was wearing brought out those eyes you liked so much.

You reach the bar and say “Someone’s popular tonight” nodding your head in Bucky’s direction

“Oh he always is, it’s the eyes,” says Steve

“and the hair” Sam chimes in

“20$ says it’s the arm, I know a few girls with a metal kink” you joke, causing Sam and Nat to burst out laughing and Steve to turn a lovely shade of red. The four of you talk for a while politely making conversation with anyone who came up for a chat.

“Jesus how stuffy can this party get.” you say while fanning yourself. Half falling off your chair you slur out an “ I gotta pee.” to the rest of the group before heading off to the bathroom. Exiting the restroom you manage to catch the tail end of a conversation between two smug, older, looking business men.

“I can’t believe Tony Stark is slumming it with mutants nowadays, what would his father think? I thought the commie soldier was bad, but this? Bringing in freaks of nature it’s too much who knows what they're capable of.” one of them says “Very well put, wouldn’t mind fucking her though she’s got a great ass.” the other one says looking right at you, almost as if he wanted to make sure you had heard him.

You bunch up the skirt of your dress in your hands and swiftly make a beeline to the nearest balcony. You can feel your chest tighten and your eyes start to well up. Stop it, you will yourself. Stop it right now. Don’t let them see you cry. You swing open the balcony's doors and finding no one there you exhale, resting your elbows down onto the banister, and dabbing away the few tears that had gathered in your eyes. Staring out into the lights of the city you focus on your breathing tuning out to the clatter of the party behind you.

You weren’t the only one to hear the man’s cruel words. Bucky had been standing nearby and overheard it as well. After seeing you practically run outside, he pulls himself away from the girl he’s been with all night promising to be right back, suddenly finding that the only thing he could think about was you.

A familiar voice breaks your silence and the noise from the party seeps back into your auditory field. “Hey, I said are you okay” the voice asks again.

Wiping away a tear and composing yourself before turning to face Bucky you smile brightly

“Never better, besides I’ve heard worse. I mean they said they’d fuck me, god what a compliment!” you scoff leaning back onto the railing. He rests his forearms on the banister and looks at you. “Well they did get one thing right”

“Ya, you're right, my ass is pretty great.” you say absentmindedly, causing him to laugh.

“No well , I mean yes, but bringing me in was definitely a bad move.”

“Oh, well that was a given” you quip back pushing yourself off the banister and straightening your dress.

Between the dress you had on and the way the loose strands of your hair were blowing gently in the fall breeze Bucky couldn’t help himself. Moving off of the banister he places his non-metal thumb under your chin drawing your gaze to him. He wants to kiss you right there, but not wanting to look like a fool, he waits for you to make the next move.

You meet his gaze and for a second you think you can see his eyes dart down to your lips. Figuring that the multiple glasses of champagne had got you imagining things, you turn your head away.

“You should get back in there I bet the girls are missing you.” you say, giving his bicep a gentle squeeze before walking back into the party. God if there was ever gonna be a moment it was then and you just blew it. You compartmentalize your mistake by ensuring yourself that your mind was simply playing tricks on you. He had tons of lovely women wanting to leave with him, why would he want to waste his time with you.

“Stupid” Bucky mutters to himself watching you leave. He was stupid to think you’d want to be with him. He just thought after that night in the kitchen that you felt something for him. He knew he felt something for you. Feeling upset by the rejection he decides to keep his promise and return to the girl from the party.

You walk back to Nat and Wanda making up some kind of excuse for taking so long.

After a while It was just the three of you. Sam and Bucky had left earlier with a couple of the girls and Steve and Vision had offered to help Tony clean up a bit. You convince Wanda and Nat to stay a bit longer, not wanting to run into, or hear, Bucky and his date in the room next door.

“God we have to have an actual night out” says Nat “not enough booze here and not enough dancing!”

“You know I think I know the perfect place,” you slur , “next time we go out your gonna see the underground of New York”

“Alright drunky,” Wanda says” let’s get you home.”

10 A.M., the next morning

You wake up with a dry mouth, feeling like shit, and regretting drinking so much last night. You cover your face with your hands and drag them down realizing that you had passed up on an opportunity to have a night of fun with Bucky. Before you can get too caught up in your thoughts you feel spit gathering in your mouth and you know you have to get to the toilet ASAP rocky. You make it to the toilet just in time before spilling your guts into the porcelain toilet. You have just enough time to fashion the belt of your dressing gown into a makeshift hair tie before vomiting again.

“Death!” you shout dramatically causing a distraught Sam to run into your room

“Whose death? Where?” he shouts jumping from side to side

“MINE!” you yell “I think I just threw up the equivalent of a human being.” You groan while crawling out of the bathroom in an oversized t-shirt, open nightgown and recently repurposed belt wrapped in your hair. The ridiculousness of your outfit causes Sam to erupt in laughter.

“Don’t move! I GOTTA get a picture of this” he exclaims with glee before running out of your room

“Samuel, don’t you dare!” You shriek chasing out after him passing by Bucky and the gorgeous brunette from the night before, and running into the kitchen.

“ Oh my god.” says Wanda stifling a laugh.

“Hey I think I look pretty good for a dead bitch!” you exclaim before striking a pose causing them both to laugh as Sam snaps a pic

After politely escorting the woman to the door, Bucky turns around just in time to see you running after Sam.

Following you into the kitchen he laughs at the line. He was amazed how different you were from the girl who had jumped through a moving cars window a few days earlier. You seemed lighter, happier. He knew he wanted to spend more time with you but didn’t want to ask you outright, especially after you had rejected him last night.

“Send me a copy of that will ya bird boy?” he says pouring out a cup of coffee

“So lover boy how was she?” Sam asks

“I don’t kiss and tell” he responds

“So that what the kids are calling sex nowadays” Wanda says with a smirk “huh who knew!”

You laugh along with the others, but you can’t stop yourself from feeling upset at the thought of him with someone else, still not fully understanding why

#bucky x oc #bucky x reader #bucky x you #bucky barns #bucky barnes #avengers fanfiction #bucky barnes angst #fluff maybe idk???#Spotify

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