#silly and grumpy. I’d get into it but we’d be here all day | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

Visit Blog

Explore Tumblr blogs with no restrictions, modern design and the best experience.

Fun Fact

In 2020, 27% of US Tumblr users had an annual household income of over $100,000.

#silly and grumpy. I’d get into it but we’d be here all day

unknwnxquantity · 19 days

Text

I love when the Hispanic ladies at my one job be like “Buenos Dias chica!” Like yes!! I am a chica!! Or a “hi mami”. And I’ll be like Buenos diassss como Estas and they’re like bien y tu and I’m like bien gracias! I used to only say “good morning” but I told them I wanna learn Spanish! I’m trying more now than I did before. But I don’t wanna look silly so sometimes I’ll revert to “good morning” but I try to make the effort to say something in Spanish. I want to be connected more to my roots goddamn it! They’re so cute tho. They’re very clique-ish (there’s some that are grumpy and mean so I don’t say anything to them. I’ve tried!! They’re just standoffish), and they all love to eat together whenever they can, they hug and kiss each other on the cheek sometimes when they greet each other. They hold the other persons arm or have them close to them almost lovingly sometimes too when they’re greeting. It’s cute to witness. There’s this one Hispanic woman at the one job in particular who I’d used google translate with to talk to since we worked in the same area together, as she’s learning English and I’m trying to learn how to say Spanish phrases and understand. She really appreciated that I’d talk with her and try to include her in conversations. We all do, but the other yt ppl just only speak English at her, try to show they’re joking to include her, while I tried more to get to know her and ask questions about her life. She felt safe with me. She came from Educador? Honduras? Fuck I’m sorry😭 six months back. Her dad passed when they got to the US. So she’s been on her own. I remember her first day, we didn’t know where to put her, and one of the Hispanic lady’s was being a jerk (the jerk in question actually looks like my grandma in the face a little, it’s weird… she was standoffish with me too but now she’s warmed up to me) and translating to her we didn’t want her with us on the truck. She started crying :(( we all felt bad. The other coordinator who’s older than me started crying too bc she felt bad for making Maria feel bad. But she knows now we love her in the back and she’s amazing to work with. She would tell me every now and then when we’d have our google translate convos, that I have a beautiful heart and soul. I’d tell her I think the same of her and I’m glad I met her. Now she works later shifts bc of her other jobs she had to pick up, so I haven’t seen her in a couple weeks :(( miss her. At first most of the Hispanic ladies were cold toward me when I first started working. A lot of people were cold actually and most are middle aged it’s kinda weird. I guess it’s just the times we live in now. But also they were probably like “what is that thing, what do we call it😭😭 she’s a girl, but she’s strong like a guy” since I work in the back and carry stuff. I carry myself more masculine. People never know if I’m a guy or a girl sometimes, it’s pretty funny. Adds to the mystery. I’m androgynous looking and I like it that way, but at the end of the day, I am just a little girl in this big scary world.

I get called bro boss man sir brother… you name it I’ve been called it. Especially when I worked in the city. At times I just sigh and walk away, or say nothing. It messed with my mental health for a while. Even tho I wanted to be a guy when I was younger, and now that I am comfortable being a girl, but bc I look like this masculine woman, I’ll always get confused ppl here and there. I hate going into public bathrooms especially when I’m alone. But then I just walk a little more feminine 🤣 Especially when I have a mask on. I’ll just take it off. Omg a few weeks ago a Hispanic security guard man unironically called me papi at the dmv (I didn’t have a mask on). That was a canon event for me😭😭 I was like …. So I look like a papi huh 👁️🫦👁️

#unknwnxquantity

0 notes

kaleidoscope77 · 3 years

Text

Amazing (NaLu One-shot)

Summary: Natsu and Lucy's monthly routine is interrupted by a seemingly harmless question.

Rated: T

Words: 1998

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

"Lucy?" Natsu scanned the room for his blonde teammate, a little hint of worry on his face.

Mira had told him about how she came into the guildhall incredibly grumpy that morning, and she's been cooped up in her apartment for the rest of the day.

The girls advised him to give her space for a bit, and while Happy decided to heed their warnings and lay low, Natsu knew good and well what was going on.

"I'm in the kitchen!" The sound of Lucy's voice was enough to prove that his suspicions were correct, she sounded so out of it right now.

Natsu poked his head into the kitchen, and gave a sad smile at the sight of Lucy hunched over on the counter. "You okay?"

"Do I look okay?" Lucy grumbled, "Where have you been?"

"We just got back from a job yesterday," Natsu rolled his eyes, "I was sleepin'."

"...Well, I need you. Now."

"Hm… It's early."

"I know it's early. Just be glad it's not while we were on the job. Now c'mon," Lucy held her arms up, Natsu quickly getting the hint and scooping her up to carry her.

"Bed or couch?"

"Bed, please."

Just as she requested, Natsu brought her to the comfort of her bed and gave her a moment to get situated amongst the pillows before he joined her in laying down.

The two wrestled with the comforter for a bit before ultimately deciding to go without it, and as patience began to run thin, Lucy pulled Natsu closer by his scarf, bringing his body flush against hers.

"You know what to do," She mumbled, earning a quiet growl in response.

"Yeah, I know," Natsu didn't like being rushed, but he knew she had good reason to be impatient. He wrapped his arms around her abdomen and warmed up his hands, Lucy immediately sighing in pure bliss from the feeling.

"Ah, yes…" She snuggled back into him, leaving no space between their bodies, "I've been waiting… all day for this."

Natsu frowned, had he known she was in pain, he would've came over sooner. "Sorry."

"Don't be. Like you said, it came early this month. Hit me like a ton of bricks, though."

"Then you should get something to warm your belly up when I'm not around…"

"I actually do have a heating pad," Lucy turned around to face him, making sure his hands didn't lose their place over the source of her pain, "But your hands are so much better."

Natsu couldn't deny that he really liked hearing her prefer his magic over something else, but a part of him still felt bad. He didn't mind doing this every month, it was the only time Lucy allowed him to not only be in her bed, but to also be this close to her while doing so.

It's nice to feel like she depends on him, and to be able to do something for her that no one else can. And their alone time during these days are always nice, sometimes she'll fall asleep in his arms, and other times they'll pass the time by just talking about any and everything.

But, he still hated that she had to be in pain for them to get this… close.

"Thanks for always doing this for me, Natsu," Lucy smiled. He couldn't help but smile back at her.

"'S not like I got something better to do."

"Mhm," She wrapped her arms around his middle, now each of them holding the other tightly, "You're the best. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Me too."

"Really?"

"Yeah…"

"Aw, that's sweet," Lucy laid her head against Natsu's chest, closed her eyes and took in the peaceful moment. It was amazing to think about how she'd been in so much agony this morning, only for him to show up and relieve so much of the pain in seconds. She considers herself quite fortunate to be close with a fire mage like this. "...Do you think you could do this for me forever?"

"Of course," Natsu couldn't see how that could even be a question. He'll always be here for her when she needs him.

"You sure? Forever is a long time…"

"Yeah, it's not like it's hard to lay here with my hand on your stomach."

Lucy let out a quiet giggle, "That's not just it, though. Like, would you do it even in the distant future? When we're older?"

"...I don't see why not."

"Okay, and even when we go off and get married?"

"Uh, obviously… C'mon, I thought you were smarter than this, Luce."

"What? Don't start with that," She rolled her eyes, "Do you actually think our future spouses would be okay with us cuddling once month?"

Natsu stared at her, and when she didn't get a response, Lucy pulled away from his embrace to look into his eyes. He seemed genuinely confused, like there was something he was silently trying to wrap his head around.

"...Lucy."

"Yeah? You're thinking pretty hard there-"

"Why wouldn't it be okay for us to cuddle once a month?"

"Oh, c'mon. You know why," Lucy's face began to flush. It was obvious that these moments were pretty intimate, she'd only been ignoring it because her cramps are too ruthless for her to be worrying about that sort of thing.

But for him to be so confused, it was like he hadn't even noticed how close they are, and how close they've been since he started being her personal heating pad not too long after they met. Lucy assumed being able to lay with him like this was great progress in the direction she wished to go with him, but perhaps it's not reciprocated.

"Actually, nevermind. Just forget I asked-"

"Wait, I don't get why you think I'll stop doing this for you when we're married…"

"When we're-" Lucy shook her head, choosing to ignore his choice of words and the way they sounded, "Look, my future husband may not like you in my bed, holding me like this."

"...Yes I would, though? And you just asked me to do this for you forever, why would that change when you're my wife?"

It took a full minute for Lucy to process what he just said, and then another minute for her to replay it over and over in her head to make sure he really just said that.

Her face was bright red, burning nearly as hot as his hands on her stomach. "N-Natsu…" She willed herself not to stutter, but it was impossible with the way he looked at her.

"Yeah?"

"I didn't mean we'd be married to each other..!"

"What? Why?" Natsu's face broke out into a pout, and it was just the cutest thing.

Now, Lucy's heart felt like it'd just explode. "Oh my gosh! You seriously- I- I don't even-" She was at a lost, she'd been harboring these feelings for so long, just for him to blatantly admit something like that. "You… you'd wanna marry me?"

"Uh, duh?" This whole conversation had Natsu so confused, "We're basically already married anyway."

"W-what!? No we are not..!"

"We're not..?"

"No!"

"Oh…" Now the sadness on his face doubled, causing Lucy's heart to get tight.

"But…" She took in a deep breath. If he could say it so casually, she need to be upfront with him too, "I mean… I'm not opposed to being l-like… that with you…"

"Oh, so you're cool with it?"

"...Yeah, I'm c-cool with it."

"Cool. Now let's get married so you won't have to ask stupid questions like that!"

"Huh!?" Lucy squeaked when he began to sit up, stopping him before he could start carrying her, "Wait, lay back down!"

"Oh, right," He almost forgot about her current predicament, laying right back down and warming up his hands to offer her comfort. "We'll do it once you're done."

"Oh my gosh…" Lucy still wasn't convinced that this was real life right now, and that he was actually serious about this, "...We can't just go off and get married, Natsu."

"Huh? Says who?" Now he seemed to assume there was something coming in between them, the angry look on his face nearly making Lucy laugh.

"We aren't even dating yet…"

"...So?"

"So, we can't just get married when you haven't even… asked me on a date yet…" Lucy played with the loose ends of her hair, now refusing to look him in his eyes. It was easier to say these things knowing that he wants something like this, but it's still incredibly embarrassing.

"Oh."

"Y-yeah…"

The room fell back into silence, and Lucy let out an awkward cough when she realized he wasn't going to say anything more on the subject. "Uh, Natsu?"

"Hm?"

"...We can't get married before we start dating…"

"Yeah, I heard ya."

"...So, ask me on a date, silly!"

"Oh," Natsu had just assumed that was a rejection, he didn't know he could just ask like that, "Okay, uh, wanna go on a date?"

"I do!" As Lucy engulfed him in a big hug, Natsu's own heart began to flutter. She could be pretty confusing at times, but he was glad to have her right here.

"We can get married now, right?"

"Ugh," Lucy tightened the hug so she could hide her flushed face, "I don't know if you're doing this on purpose…"

He wasn't, but if it got her to react like this, he'd be sure to keep it up. "You're so weird."

"Me? You literally just assumed we'd get married! Imagine if I didn't feel the same…"

Natsu growled, he did not like imagining that. Besides, it was pretty obvious to him at this point, it's not like Lucy just let's anyone cuddle with her.

"And to answer your question- we can't get married now, that commitment takes time to think about."

"Eh? But I've had plenty of time…"

"...You've been thinking about it for that long?" Lucy's eyes sparkled, but she quickly brought herself back to reality, "I mean, no. That's something we'd need to discuss together in due time."

Still, Natsu couldn't understand why she'd want to wait so long, but if all she wants is time, he was willing to be patient. "Alright."

"Mhm. Leave it to you to wanna get married before we've even…"

"Hm? 'Before we've even' what?"

"...N-no, nevermind."

"C'mon, Lucy, I wanna know what else I gotta do."

"We, uh, we haven't had our first kiss…"

At the same time, they leaned back to gouge the other's expression, their eyes darting to each other's lips.

Lucy stifled an awkward laugh as she saw the look on Natsu's face, "Oh my gosh, are you blushing?"

He huffed, she was acting like her face isn't bright red right now. Before Lucy could convince herself that she shouldn't have said that, Natsu cupped her cheek and inched closer, her face heating up with each second.

Lucy knew he'd go for it as soon as she said that, and she fought the urge to cowar away when his lips came down to meet hers.

The kiss was quick and clumsy, but it had Natsu grinning against her lips and puffing out his chest in pride.

Lucy let herself giggle once they separated, she was overcome with giddiness and excitement. In her head, things would've been more romantic than an awkward confession in her bed while she's battling period cramps, but that doesn't matter right now.

"Can we kiss again?" Natsu mumbled, already leaning towards her lips.

Lucy answered by closing in the space between them, crashing her lips onto his and deepening the kiss.

Her hands ran along his body, feeling him up and down and enjoying every second before they had to separate for air.

"...Amazing," Lucy mumbled, though it wasn't like she had anything to base the kiss on.

Natsu was in the same boat, and he was actually more concerned about kissing her some more. "Yeah… Amazing."

#ft nalu #fairy tail #lucy heartifilla #nalu #nalu fairytail #natsu dragneel #nalu fluff #fanfic #oneshot #nalu fanfic #natsu x lucy

364 notes · View notes

statticscribbles · 3 years

Text

Misunderstoond

Summary: Newt Scamander/Reader; Nothing’s worse than a family misunderstanding

“Dougal can you not sleep?” You frown when the Demiguise tugs at your leg and then slowly clambers up to rest in your arms. He makes a soft chittering sound and you frown; he was still sick and no matter what Newt had given him it didn’t seem to help. You were hoping it was just a mild flu. You wrap him up in a blanket and place him in the hammock you normally sleep in when you need to stay in the case. You sigh running your hands through your hair before thinking maybe a warm bath would help the Demiguise; considering he had quite a few aches and pains from how he whined and mumbled to Newt. You watch as he blinks, his eyes glowing blue before he smiles slightly and rolls to his side, managing to cover himself in the blanket fully so he’s just a lump on the hammock. You leave him when you hear the door open.

“I’ll be just a second; I bet that’s your daddy with everything.” You chuckle at the joke, Dougal having acted like a clingy toddler the minute he first sneezed. You turn watching Thesues awkwardly standing there. “Y/N. I was wondering if uh, Newt was around.” He breaks the silence. “Oh no, I’m sorry Theseus he stepped out for a minute; had to get some stuff. I’m really sorry we haven’t visited; we’ve been swamped here. Dougal has some sort of cold and we don’t really know what’s wrong; I’m convinced it’s the flu but Newt says it’s something else; so he went off to go get whatever herbs he needs to treat whatever he thinks is wrong. Sorry I’m rambling.”

“No I; uh; Dougal?” Thesues question; you can see what you think is a faint recognition on his face and you smile. “Yes; I don’t think you’ve been properly introduced; the last time we saw you was what about six or so months ago; Dougal wasn’t really that comfortable around new people. I really am sorry we haven’t stopped by. Oh but he’s sick; I’d hate for you to see him when he’s grumpy.” You frown and Thesues looks increasingly surprised. “Really Y/N; it’s alright; just come round when he’s feeling better. We can all talk over dinner. If you and NEwt can make it next week?” You beam at him, turning slightly when you hear a faint whine from the hammock. “Give me a second sweetie.” You offer but Thesues shakes his head smiling. “Don’t worry about it, tell Newt I stopped by.” He smiles waving and you nod turning to Dougal as Thesues leaves.

You mention to Newt that Theseus stopped by and he sighs nodding pinching his nose. “He’s been bothering me about a family dinner.” “I know he mentioned it to me.” You smirk when Dougal lifts his head and Newt chatters softly to him. “Did you miss me huh Dougal?” He grins offering out a potion he’d mixed and Dougal frowns reaching towards you. “Aww you’re gonna have to take some medicine Dougal; it’ll make you feel better.” You assure him as he wraps his arms around your neck.

It had taken a week and another two days of the potion Newt had created but Dougal was fully recovered although he still looked wary when Newt would walk around with the bottles he used for medicine. You’d been surprised to find four bright red letters all addressed to Newt; as well as two plain envelopes addressed to you from three separate owls. “Newt. Do your family normally send Howlers?” “No did they?” He peers from where he’s feeding the mooncalves. “Yes; one from your mother, one from your father and two from Thesues.” “Did one get lost in the post then?”

“No they were sent at the same time; apparently he has very strong feelings about you not taking him up on his dinner offer.” You chuckle and Newt nods. “He was very odd when I ran into him at the ministry the other day.” “Really? Did you talk about the dinner? Maybe he’s bothered about that or maybe that you weren’t in?” “We didn’t; he did ask about Dougal though; seemed really concerned about him. He asked me how old he was; seemed horribly offended with my answer.” “What did you say?” “Well I told him that age doesn’t really matter in my line of work; but Dougal was very young in comparison to most of the other creatures here.” You nod along with his explanation.

“He then complained it was rude to you that I forget; and ‘preposterous’ that” he mimics Thesues’ voice and you chuckle “I couldn’t remember Dougal’s age; since you said it had been around six months since we last seen him and taking care of him couldn’t have scrambled my brain that badly.” You furrow your brow but nod for him to continue. “He scolded me for not informing him and that he’d told mother and father and they were furious with me as well. He glared at me when I left after I said we’d make it to dinner this week, and I could bring Dougal if he wanted to see him so badly.” “Did anything else happen? Maybe someone told him what a demiguise can do; and he wants to see it in person?” “I can’t think of anything. Maybe we should check the letters.”

“Maybe let’s open mine first and see if they give us any clues.” You peel the envelope from Theseus open. “Oh no.” You sigh scanning back over the letter that Theseus has written, before turning to Newt. “Good news it’s all been a huge misunderstanding.” “So it explains the Howlers?” “Yes. The bad news is; Theseus doesn’t know what a Demiguise is; at all. He thinks Dougal is a human child; specifically our child.” “Oh.” Newt nods slowly turning in horror to the Howlers. “So which one is the worst?” “Which one did Thesues send second?” You hold up one of the letters and he sighs pushing it away. “Let’s start with my fathers first.”

You’re sitting with Newt trying not to laugh at his fathers stuttering anger and his mothers cutting tongue both describing how horrified but unsurprised they are that they haven’t met their sweet grandson Dougal. You can hear the overlap of the letters; the ending outrage the same sentence reminding you both that they need to meet Dougal. “How upset do you think they would be if we brought him?” Dougal appears at the edge of your vision before vanishing and you watch one of the nifflers run past; a small shimmer in it’s mouth, you watch Dougal, invisible yank the niffler up and pull whatever the shimmering object is back towards his habitat. “Oh they’d be furious. I think Theseus might actually faint from anger. Which I would pay to see; maybe we should bring him. If he’s our son after all.” He laughs about to open the first letter from Thesues.

“NEWTON ARTEMIS FIDO ; I AM APPALLED that this entire situation has transpired! I just-“ You chuckle when Thesues trails off muttering in anger before sighing and resuming his yelling; you let it go on for fifteen minutes of him repeating how horrible it is that Newt left you alone to care for Dougal; and he should take more pride in his son and everything being a parent to a human child entails. He’d spent a further twenty minutes explaining how he had to be the one to tell not only their parents but also his own friends. How Queenie was so shocked she didn’t actually say anything despite reading his thoughts. You’re trying your best to keep quiet with your laughter Newt looking more and more ashamed as Thesues continues to berate him. “Now the second letter I sent. Is just for you Newt. I don’t want Y/N to hear any of it. And you don’t either.” He snaps and you tilt your head confused Newt rolls his eyes and the Howler tears itself up and you pass him the other one. “Do you want me to go tend to the Kelpie?” “No I’m sure he just says a curse word or maybe swears to hex me next time we see him.” Newt laughs and you nod. “Alright; here we go then.” He nervously tears the seal on the howler and grimaces when it forms and there is silence before Thesues voice snarls from the paper tongue.

“What on earth happened to you wanting to marry her!! You had a plan! Bring her to New York to meet everyone under the guise of a MCUSA meeting; and then show her Frank! Have a nice dinner and ask her to marry you! You’ve gone and muddled that all up! I know you’ve never been one to do anything traditionally but think about how Y/N feels in all of this Newt. She loves you. She loves you so much and you probably never considered how alone she might feel! She hasn’t even met our parents and she already has a family to take care of! I’m ashamed of you Newt; I hope when we see each other next you’ve apologized to Y/N properly.” The letter goes silent and tears itself up. Newt stays just as quiet.

“I’m sorry Y/N Thesues is-What?” He looks confused at your face which you’re sure is flushed. “You want to marry me?” Newt furrows his brow. “Of course; that’s a silly question dear; but what Thesues was saying; about me not considering your feelings about-“ “About Dogual? The Demiguise?” You chuckle a bit and he shakes his head. “No about traveling; about running across every continent looking for creatures and never staying n one place long enough to see the towns; let alone find a home or friends.” “Newt; if I didn’t want to be with you out here discovering these creatures with you; then I wouldn’t be. Thesues was right; I love you; I love you so much; and that means I love travelling with you, and sleeping in the case and running through god knows what forest to find something everyone thinks is going to kill us but was really just scared because it doesn’t like copper.” “Oh well since we don’t have a son to show my family when we visit; how about;” He pauses whistling softly and you watch Dougal appear nest to Newt and hand him whatever the shimmering thing the niffler had earlier. “Y/N; will you marry me?” He offers out the ring and you nod tearing up slightly. “Of course Newt.” He grins, pulling you up from the hammock and spinning you around. “So; would you like to meet Frank?” “The thunderbird?” “Yes; as well as my friends.” “I would love to, shall we respond to Thesues and your parents about joining them for dinner?” “We should; but maybe a quick trip up to the market; the prices of some of the magical herbs they have is so low. i could restock everything and- Right. What do you want to do?”

“Well personally I’d love to go check out the market; I got a really good tip off that they have incredibly low prices on some herbs we need.”

Support My Writing?

#newt scamander x y/n #newt scamander x you #newt scamander x reader #newt scamander #fantastic beasts and where to find them #fantastic beasts and where to find them imagine #fbawtft reader insert #fbawtft imagine #fbawtft #stattic

158 notes · View notes

twoidiotwriters1 · 3 years

Text

Written In The Stars CXXX (Harry Potter xF!Oc)

Words: 4,022

Series’ Masterlist

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Damage Control.

Harry didn't ask how on earth was she capable of doing what she'd done the previous night, but she would often catch him staring.

He was used to the harmless version of her, for years she'd threatened others and claimed to be ready to hurt anyone who would dare touch her friends, but he always knew those threats were empty, Mel couldn't hurt a fly, not before, at least.

"Dumbledore will be back before long," said Ernie Macmillan. "They couldn't keep him away in our second year and they won't be able to this time. The Fat Friar told me that Umbridge tried to get back into his office last night after they'd searched the castle and grounds for him. Couldn't get past the gargoyle. The Head's office has sealed itself against her. Apparently, she had a right little tantrum..."

"Oh, I expect she really fancied herself sitting up there in the Head's office," said Hermione as they started to climb up the entrance stairs. "Lording it over all the other teachers, the stupid puffed-up, power-crazy old —"

"Now, do you really want to finish that sentence, Granger?" Malfoy walked up to them followed by Crabbe and Goyle. "Afraid I'm going to have to dock a few points from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff..."

"It's only teachers that can dock points from Houses, Malfoy," Ernie made a face.

"Yeah, we're prefects too, remember?" Ron raised a brow.

"I know prefects can't dock points, Weasel King. But members of the Inquisitorial Squad —"

"The what?" said Hermione.

"The Inquisitorial Squad, Granger," Malfoy showed them a tiny silver badge that was proudly pinned under his Prefect one. "A select group of students who are supportive of the Ministry of Magic, hand-picked by Professor Umbridge. Anyway, members of the Inquisitorial Squad do have the power to dock points... So, Granger, I'll have five from you for being rude about our new headmistress... Macmillan, five for contradicting me... Five because I don't like you, Potter... Weasley, your shirt's untucked, so I'll have another five for that... Dumbledore, five because your presence is enough to lower the school's quality — Oh yeah, I forgot, you're a Mudblood, Granger, so ten for that..."

"Don't!" Hermione stopped Ron from attacking Malfoy.

"Wise move, Granger. New Head, new times... Be good now, Potty... Weasel King..."

"You know, Malfoy, if you keep calling Ron your king you might as well bow and lick his shoes," Mel scowled.

"Why don't you shut your mouth for once, Nutty? Or I'll tell Flint to break your other wrist as well. Did I mention he's the Head of the Inquisitorial Squad? That's right," Malfoy smirked. "You're done for, Dumbledore..."

He walked away, laughing along with Crabbe and Goyle.

"He was bluffing," said Ernie. "He can't be allowed to dock points... that would be ridiculous... It would completely undermine the prefect system..."

"They can," Mel made a face, "Flint took points from me the other day, though I can't say I didn't deserve it..."

"But he's your friend!" Ernie exclaimed.

"Yeah, but he has to pretend he's not," Mel sighed.

"Noticed, have you?" said Fred, walking down the staircase with his brother.

"Malfoy just docked us all about fifty points," said Harry, trembling with anger.

"Yeah, Montague tried to do us during break," said George.

"What do you mean, 'tried'?" Ron asked.

"He never managed to get all the words out," said Fred, "due to the fact that we forced him headfirst into that Vanishing Cabinet on the first floor."

"But you'll get into terrible trouble!" Hermione gasped.

"Not until Montague reappears, and that could take weeks, I dunno where we sent him," said Fred. "Anyway... we've decided we don't care about getting into trouble anymore."

"Have you ever?"

"'Course we have," said George. "Never been expelled, have we?"

"We've always known where to draw the line," said Fred.

"We might have put a toe across it occasionally," said George.

"But we've always stopped short of causing real mayhem."

"But now?" said Ron.

"Well, now —"

"— what with Dumbledore gone —"

"— we reckon a bit of mayhem —"

"— is exactly what our dear new Head deserves," said Fred.

"I'm in," said Mel, but Fred shook his head.

"I'm sorry lady, but it's better if you stay out of it this time."

"What?" She frowned. "No! My uncle's gone, I don't have to keep a low profile now."

"Yes, you do. Our friends still need you here, and you could put Erick on a tough spot, we ran into him a few minutes ago and he told us he's the Head of Umbridge's group, apparently breaking your wrist gave him extra points with the toad. He's doing his best to keep most of the squad from doing really nasty things, but he can't ignore you now."

"You mustn't do it either!" Hermione insisted. "You really mustn't! She'd love a reason to expel you!"

"You don't get it, Hermione, do you?"

"We don't care about staying anymore. We'd walk out right now if we weren't determined to do our bit for Lady Dumbledore and her uncle first. So anyway," Fred checked his watch, "phase one is about to begin. I'd get in the Great Hall for lunch if I were you, that way the teachers will see you can't have had anything to do with it."

"Anything to do with what?" said Hermione anxiously.

"You'll see," said George. "Run along, now."

Fred pulled her apart from the group for a second, his eyes scanning her face.

"Really Mel, you should lay low for a while," He told her. "At least until your wrist heals properly."

"Why are you so worried all of a sudden?"

"Don't you remember what Sirius said? You have a target on your back, I can't let you do it, out there you're in more danger than in here with that old cow."

Mel hated to admit it, but he was right. She couldn't risk it.

"I don't want you to get expelled, though," She sulked.

"I know," Fred smiled. "But you don't need me around anymore, do you?"

"Don't say that!" Mel exclaimed, knowing what he meant.

"We'll talk about it later. Now go."

The twins left quickly, Ernie did so as well, leaving the three of them alone.

"I think we should get out of here, you know," said Hermione. "Just in case..."

"Yeah, all right," said Ron.

"Have you seen Erick?" Harry asked her.

"Not really," Mel said worryingly. "He must be under a lot of pressure, I know it sounds weird, but I'm glad he broke my wrist, thanks to that Umbridge trusts him. He'll try his best to keep things under control, but Malfoy is an animal, he'll find a way..."

"I'm not so happy about him breaking your wrist," Harry frowned. "But having him on our side is helpful..."

"I want to talk to Daphne and the others, see if anyone suspects them..."

"If you talk to them they will, it's better to keep your distance..."

Harry stopped and looked to her left, Mel let out a surprised yelp when she noticed Filch was standing right beside them.

"The headmistress would like to see you, Potter," The man said. "And you too, Dumbledore."

"I didn't do it," said Harry stupidly.

Mel nudged his side, scowling at him.

"Guilty conscience, eh?" Filch chuckled darkly. "Follow me..."

They threw one last worried look over their shoulders to Hermione and Ron before following Filch.

"Things are changing around here..." Filch commented happily once they got to the first floor.

"We've noticed," said Harry.

"Yerse... I've been telling Dumbledore for years and years he's too soft with you all. You filthy little beasts would never have dropped Stinkpellets if you'd known I had it in my power to whip you raw, would you, now? Nobody would have thought of throwing Fanged Frisbees down the corridors if I could've strung you up by the ankles in my office, would they? But when Educational Decree Twenty-nine comes in, Potter, I'll be allowed to do them things... And she's asked the Minister to sign an order for the expulsion of Peeves... Oh, things are going to be very different around here with her in charge..."

Mel had a few things to say about it, but Fred's worry had done its job and she found her voice losing all conviction before she'd even started to speak.

"Here we are," Filch said as they reached Umbridge's office. He opened the door a bit. "The Potter boy to see you, ma'am. I got the Dumbledore girl as well."

"Thank you, Argus," She heard the woman say. "Tell Miss Dumbledore to please wait outside while I talk to Potter."

"Not at all, ma'am, not at all," said Filch, pulling Mel back as he closed the door. "You stay here."

It didn't take long before Harry finally walked out of the office, Mel did a quick examination and noticed he was perfectly fine, just a bit grumpy. Harry looked at her and opened his mouth to speak, but Umbridge talked over him.

"Miss Dumbledore, please come in."

Harry tried to warn her silently, but Mel didn't understand what he was trying to say. She walked in and closed the door behind her. She froze at the sight of Erick, standing right behind Umbridge's desk. She felt torn between relief and worry, he was there and he would be able to hear everything, but at the same time, he couldn't help her.

"Sit down, sit down! What would you like to drink?"

"Hmm?" Mel said, sitting clumsily.

"Pumpkin juice? Tea? Coffee?"

"I— er... coffee," The girl replied.

"Very well," She turned her back to her and prepared the drink.

Erick stared down at the bandages around her wrist without saying anything, brows furrowed.

"There you are," Umbridge placed the cup in front of her, smiling. "Drink up!"

Mel looked at the cup for a couple of seconds, then at the woman.

"Why am I here?"

"I wanted to have a word with you," Umbridge smiled. "Drink up, dear!"

"I prefer my coffee cold, thank you," Mel replied shortly. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Silly little things that you might want to tell me, now that your dear uncle is no longer in charge," Umbridge laughed in that childish way of hers. "It must be hard, being the only heir, and with all those rumours around you! It's okay, girl, you don't have to keep enduring nonsense, you can do as you please."

What Mel wanted to do was to throw the coffee at her face, but she was intrigued by her attitude, so she remained silent. Umbridge touched her cup with her wand and pushed it forward.

"There, your coffee's cold now."

Mel reached to hold the cup. The drink was obviously tampered with, but she didn't know what else to do, not until she looked at Erick. He lifted three fingers without Umbridge noticing, then he put one down. She then lowered the cup.

"You know, you won't last long as Headmistress," She said casually.

Umbridge laughed. "I don't think you have the power to decide that, dear."

Erick put down a second finger. Mel grabbed a hold of her wand with her free hand.

"Well, no... but I'm not sure you've got what it takes to control the students."

Erick put down the third finger. Almost immediately he sneezed and stumbled back, crashing against a few of Umbridge's decorative plates. As the lot fell down and smashed into pieces, Umbridge looked back at the mess, startled by it. Mel vanished the contents of her cup and hid her wand up her sleeve. Erick also waved his wand around, fixing the plates in an instant.

"Sorry, Professor," He said.

"That's quite all right, boy," Umbridge replied, though she looked annoyed. "I should clean the shelf more often... the dust tends to gather around quickly..."

"Okay then, let's finish this up," Mel tilted the cup and pretended to drink its whole content in one long sip. She licked her lips and put it down. "What do you want from me?"

Umbridge's eyes shone with hunger. "Where is your uncle?"

Mel straightened in her chair, she figured it wouldn't hurt to have a bit of fun.

"Which uncle? I have two, you know. One of them isn't really my uncle but feels like it, I love him dearly. I guess he's looking for a job—"

"I meant Dumbledore," Umbridge said. "Where is he?"

"Oh," Mel blinked. "Out."

"Where?"

"Dunno."

Umbridge blinked, staring at the empty cup.

"I'm sure you must know, hasn't he been teaching you his nasty little secrets for years? Haven't you been planning to attack the Ministry since you started school?"

"Oh yeah, every Wednesday we sit in his office with tea and biscuits, talking about how much we hate Fudge and his stupid hat," Mel snorted.

"Watch your words, child," Umbridge's voice trembled. "Very well, you don't know where he is then, I guess he was wise enough not to trust kids... but you certainly know where Black is hiding, don't you?"

"Under his mother's skirts!" Mel replied brightly. Erick had to turn his snort into a second sneeze.

Sirius would often refer to the Black mansion in the very same way, and Mel thought it funny to use his reference at the moment.

"I caught Sirius in the Gryffindor fire in October, Miss Dumbledore! And he was talking to you and Mr Potter!"

"The only thing you caught that day was cinder."

"Enough of your foolishness, girl!" Umbridge spat. "You will tell me the truth now!"

"The truth?" Mel shrugged. "Alright... I struggle to tell Fred and George apart, especially if they have their backs turned to me. I dislike the taste of treacle tarts but they're Harry's favourite so I don't have the heart to tell him his taste sucks, and I'm actually scared of owls so I always try to find a way to make someone else attach my letters — What else..? Oh! Every time I see your face it makes me think of Neville's pet —"

"ENOUGH!" The woman stood up. "Mr Flint, please leave us alone.

"Erick's eyes widened. "Professor?"

"Make sure no one comes to interrupt, dear."

"But—"

"Do as I say!"

Erick hesitated, then he walked out of the room avoiding any kind of eye contact with her.

"You insolent child," Umbridge said quietly. "You've been under Dumbledore's protection for too long, it's given you a false sense of confidence. That's over. You respond to me."

"You think so?" Mel leaned further on the table. "Would you like to try and see if I listen?"

Umbridge smiled.

"I know the Dumbledores well enough to know they value their well-being too little. However, I also know that the only way to get through you it's through those you care about. Tell me, how long will it take to break you once I start punishing your friends for your impertinence? I believe some of the members in my Inquisitorial squad are quite eager to start..."

"You wouldn't," She said shortly.

Umbridge giggled, leaning closer.

"I will break every single thing you care about until you decide to speak."

BOOM!

An explosion rose from the first floor, cutting short their discussion.

"What was — ?"

The explosion spread around, the floor trembled. Umbridge walked up to the door and pushed aside Erick and Harry, who'd been waiting outside.

"What's happening?" Mel asked.

They followed the noise, and soon found the source of it. The twins had ignited a bunch of colourful and magical firecrackers.

Filch and Umbridge were standing, apparently transfixed with horror, halfway down the stairs. As Harry watched, one of the larger Catherine wheels seemed to decide that what it needed was more room to maneuver; it whirled toward Umbridge and Filch with a sinister wheeeeeeeeee.

Both adults yelled with fright and ducked and it soared straight out of the window behind them and off across the grounds. Meanwhile, several of the dragons and a large purple bat that was smoking ominously took advantage of the open door at the end of the corridor to escape toward the second floor.

"Hurry, Filch, hurry!" shrieked Umbridge. "They'll be all over the school unless we do something — Stupefy!"

A jet of red light shot out of the end of her wand and hit one of the rockets. Instead of freezing in midair, it exploded with such force that it blasted a hole in a painting of a soppy-looking witch in the middle of a meadow — she ran for it just in time, reappearing seconds later squashed into the painting next door, where a couple of wizards playing cards stood up hastily to make room for her.

"Don't Stun them, Filch!" shouted Umbridge angrily, for all the world as though it had been his suggestion.

"Right you are, Headmistress!" wheezed Filch, who was a Squib and could no more have Stunned the fireworks than swallowed them. He dashed to a nearby cupboard, pulled out a broom, and began swatting at the fireworks in midair; within seconds the head of the broom was ablaze.

"C'mon," Harry laughed, "We should go before they decide to punish us for this."

Erick and Mel followed, they walked into a fake tapestry and there they found Fred and George.

"Impressive," Harry said brightly. "Very impressive... You'll put Dr Filibuster out of business, no problem..."

"Cheers," George laughed. "Oh, I hope she tries Vanishing them next... They multiply by ten every time you try..."

"Shouldn't you be trying to help Umbridge?" Fred asked Erick with a smirk.

"I suppose," Erick let out a long, dramatic sigh. "Let's see..."

He peered through the tapestry and yelled 'Evanesco!' and soon enough the firecrackers multiplied.

"I'm sorry, Professor! I'll go get help!"

He came back and laughed along with the group of Gryffindors.

"Thank you for helping me back in the office," Mel said, gently nudging his arm.

Erick made a face. "It's the least I could do after breaking your wrist... I can't do much..."

"You can," Harry replied. "Sabotage Umbridge from the inside. Daphne and the rest of the Slytherins still have her trust..."

"I can't believe they turned out to be more decent than a Ravenclaw girl," Fred shook his head in disappointment.

"We're not monsters, you know?" Erick raised a brow. "We just happen to have the common sense you Gryffindors lack."

"Yeah, yeah," Mel rolled her eyes, standing on her tiptoes to surround the boy's shoulders with her arm. "Gryffindor dumb, Slytherin smart— You still have to admit you've had more fun with us than all those years stuck with the snakes..."

"You didn't hear it from me, though," Erick smirked.

"Dear, dear," said Professor McGonagall sardonically, as one of the dragons soared around her classroom, emitting loud bangs and exhaling flame. "Miss Brown, would you mind running along to the headmistress and informing her that we have an escaped firework in our classroom?"

Umbridge's threats now felt empty as Mel watched her running around, trying to get rid of the firecrackers and failing miserably. The teachers were having a lovely time pretending to not know how to get rid of them. You could feel the solidarity around the school, and it was all directed against Umbridge and her Inquisitorial squad.

Fred and George were treated as war heroes that night. Even students from other houses were there, celebrating their doings.

"They were wonderful fireworks," Hermione admitted.

"Thanks," said George, surprised and pleased about her reaction. "Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-Bangs. Only thing is, we used our whole stock, we're going to have to start again from scratch now..."

"It was worth it, though," said Fred, who was writing down the new orders from his classmates. "If you want to add your name to the waiting list, Hermione, it's five Galleons for your Basic Blaze box and twenty for the Deflagration Deluxe..."

"I will admit," Mel sniggered, "I find you really attractive this evening, Fred."

The twin laughed, and to her surprise, a blush crept up his neck. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek, a few students whistled and Mel laughed, walking away and following Hermione back to their table.

"Oh, why don't we have a night off?" said Hermione, looking at the way Ron and Harry were pouting at their bags. "After all, the Easter holidays start on Friday, we'll have plenty of time then..."

"Are you feeling all right?" Ron smiled a bit in amusement.

"Now you mention it, d'you know... I think I'm feeling a bit... rebellious."

"Talking about rebellious," Mel started. "Umbridge threatened me — She'll try to convince me to speak by punishing you, so I'd appreciate it if you do your mischief carefully. I'd like to keep my mouth shut for a while."

"That's new," Ron snorted.

"Shut it," Mel grinned, throwing him a cushion.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Harry asked. "I heard the way she was yelling at you..."

"I've had worse," She shrugged. "I mean, little can beat that one time Quirrel broke my skull, or when Lockhart called me dumb... or when an actual death eater kidnapped me — If Umbridge wants to scare me, she'll have to try harder."

"I've been looking everywhere for you!" Mel exclaimed in the middle of a busy hallway. "We need to talk..."

"Are we breaking up?" Fred asked.

Several students turned their heads in their direction, sudden interest adorning their faces. Mel scowled at them and dragged him away from the crowd.

"You should learn to be quiet..."

"Never been good at it," He smirked. "I like the attention too much if you haven't noticed..."

"We can talk about that another day..."

"Right," He nodded, adopting a serious expression. "We're here to get a divorce."

"How do you know I'm breaking things up?" Mel scoffed. "What if I'm trying to ask you on a real date?"

"Lady, I've seen the way you look at me — like I'm a pup you can't bring yourself to give away. It's flattering, I didn't know I had that power," He grinned stupidly. "But you're right, it's about time we end things."

"I wish I didn't have to," Mel pouted. "I'm having fun!"

"But we don't like each other like that," Fred reminded her.

Mel lowered her gaze before quietly replying, "No, we don't."

"And you don't hate Harry now."

"I never did," Mel sighed.

"And I saw him arguing with Cho last night," Fred raised a brow. "So maybe you'll get a second chance after all."

"No," Mel disapproved. "You know is not like that anymore, the whole point of this was to help me get over Harry."

"Yeah," Fred tilted his head, staring at her with a funny little smile. "Sorry, that's true. It's strange... I always thought it'd be you and Harry, now... I have no idea."

The news about her breakup spread around the school in less than an hour. Everyone approached with words of comfort as if she had gone through the death of a loved one, she was starting to regret her decision when Harry sat next to her with such a grim look she knew she wouldn't be able to accept his condolences without spilling the truth.

"Listen," She stated bluntly. "Yes, it's really sad that Fred and I broke up, but—"

"What?" Harry looked at her in disbelief. "You broke up?"

"...You didn't know?"

"When did that happen?" He questioned in confusion.

"A few hours ago," She said, pushing aside the subject. "What were you going to tell me?"

Harry looked around the hall and pointed towards the empty classroom near them. She got up from the bench and followed him inside.

"What's the matter?"

"Snape banned me from his office."

"What! Why?" She exclaimed. "He has to teach you!"

"That's not the point," He said, "I saw a memory — He made me promised I wouldn't say but... I need to talk about it with you."

"Why?"

"I saw my father..." Harry paused before adding. "Emily as well."

Next Chapter —>

Taglist.

@dee123ksha @vampiregirl1797 @siriuslysirius1107 @stardusthigh @mikariell95 @vernon-dursley @thesuitelifeofafangirl @tomshollandz @kylosleftbuttcheek @reverse-hxlland @bloodorangemoonlight @omiwashere @t-rexs-world @just-here-to-escape-from-reality @21bruhs @i-am-scared-and-useless-bisexual @dielgonacoffee

#twoidiots writing #hp fanfic #Harry Potter #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter xoc #WITT fic

20 notes · View notes

ask-ethari-anything · 3 years

Note

Ooooh!! I need to know more about that first time where Runaan fell asleep before you started courting, because he was hurt and all.

Please? 🥺

It’s my pleasure, love.

Young assassins are often given guard duty for little trips outside the Silvergrove, to give them practice with awareness and responding to relatively safe situations--compared to taking humans, anyway. Runaan really seemed to enjoy those trips before he was cleared for assassin missions--he really embraced the idea of protecting people by standing between them and danger, and by sorting out tense situations to keep others safe. He has a knack for that, as much as he does for um, harder things.

He was often assigned to guard me while I went on a gem-finding trip. I loved those trips! Pulling rough gemstones from the earth, from caves, from riverbeds, seeing them sparkle in their first light of day, it warms my soul. If Runaan loved his guard duty, then these were the trips I loved. I always asked for them, whenever the village needed more rough stones, and I was good at finding them and bringing them back as intact as possible. Glow crystals are easy to find since they give off light, but it’s almost as if I can hear the gemstones pinging in the earth, and I love that first moment of discovery like nothing else.

But I do get overly focused on my work, and that’s why I need someone watching my back. *sassy grin* So Runaan and I made a great team even when we were younger, and he trekked out with me many times before we had romantic inclinations for each other.

One time, I insisted on traveling out during a rainstorm because the cache of opals I was after lay beneath an overhang that had been undercut by craftsmen so much over the centuries that I worried for its stability. I wanted to get out to it and retrieve my opals before the overhang got too soaked and became dangerous--and the storm was going to be a big one. Runaan advised that we wait a few days, but I was impatient and insisted. So he dutifully traveled out into the drenched forest with me. I could read his judgy silence, though. He didn’t say a word for hours, and I knew he was grumpy with me for being rash.

We reached the overhang, a muddy slit just big enough to crawl back into, beneath a large chunk of dark gray rock. The vein of opals extended quite a ways, and there was plenty of space beneath it--as long as you were sitting down. Runaan handed me a padded hat. I glared at him, and he glared right back. So I put the stupid thing on to protect my horns and crawled under the overhang through the mud until I reached the back of the rock wall. I began unearthing them as quickly as I could and stashing them carefully in my bag.

After only a few minutes, a massive bolt of lightning struck a tree nearby, and the thunderclap that followed literally shook the earth. And then it kept shaking.

Runaan called my name and scrambled in under the overhanging rock. He began dragging me out, but before we reached safety, the overhang started to tip and collapse. He seized me in a fierce hug, rolled me over top of him, and then thrust me past him out into the rainstorm!

And the overhang collapsed on top of him.

A few very important things became instantly clear to me as I sprawled in the wet grass, then. I’d been a fool. Runaan had been right to worry. And he might just have died trying to save me from my own stupidity. I had to make it right.

I was on my knees at the edge of the overhang in an instant, chucking big rocks aside and crying his name. Surely he’d be just under this rock, or this one, or this one...

Well, he’d nearly made it to the edge before he was buried, so I did find him soon, although it felt like a million years. I found his hand first, and I squeezed it tight, trying to get a response from him. I nearly cried with relief when he faintly squeezed me back! I unearthed him even faster than I’d been working--and when I found his head, I had to laugh.

He’d stolen my padded hat when he booted me out into the rain, and it protected his horns under all the rocks--and I had been so worried, I never noticed that he’d taken it!

“Thief,” I blurted, grinning. “You took my hat.”

Runaan looked up at me from the rocks, bearing scratches and bruises on every part of him that I could see, and utterly slathered in fresh mud. But his wide turquoise eyes still managed to look shocked. “Sorry...” he began.

“Moon and shadow, I’m joking! I’m just glad to see you alive. Let me get you out of there, hold on.” And I unearthed him the rest of the way, and helped him up. But he’d been squished pretty thoroughly, and he couldn’t walk well. One of his feet had gotten a bit twisted among the falling rock.

We stared at each other in dismay for a moment, as the rain started to wash the mud off of him.

“I guess we’re camping out here tonight,” I said, at the exact moment that he said, “You should head back without me.”

Then we chorused, “Don’t be stupid.”

Runaan glared at me, and I snorted and started laughing. His glares had a lot less weight when he was two whole inches shorter than me and also covered in mud!

“Come on, I know a place we can dry off. And when we get there, I’ll need that medkit of yours, the one you always bring in case I’m, er, stupid.”

I wasn’t completely sure, but it seemed for a second that he blushed under all his mud.

It was cute, I’ll admit, even way back then. Silly overachieving assassin trainee, striving so hard to be perfect. He tried to limp along ahead of me to scout the way, but his foot was in bad shape, so I insisted on carrying him on my back. “That way, you can still see ahead and let me know if there’s trouble,” I told him.

“I’ll get you muddy,” he protested.

“Yes. And?” I pointed out that I was muddy from the knees down after having crawled in after my opals.

Well, he still thought it was unseemly for an assassin to show so much weakness that he had to be carried. Poor elf was in quite a quandary! So I said, “Listen, I won’t tell anyone if you won’t. But we can’t stay out here in the rain, and you need to rest. You just had a whole boulder collapse all over you!”

Runaan struggled mightily for enough justification to let me carry him. It was written all over his cute little face! But eventually he gave in and nodded. I backed up and bent down, and he leaned against me and wrapped his muddy arms around my neck, and I scooped him up under his knees, and away we went.

He didn’t say a word the whole time, and his hands were flexing like mad. I didn’t understand what that meant back then, not really, but it was clear that he was pretty tense.

I hiked to the nearest dry cave and set Runaan down in a safe corner. He was mostly mud-free at that point, except for where we’d been pressed together. He didn’t want me to check him over for injuries yet, so I told him I’d scout around for some supplies. He immediately gave me a list! Luckily for both of us, I’m very good with lists. I made him swear that he’d be alright when I returned, and he did so, readily. So I headed back into the rain to gather berries and leaves and stones and roots and moss, and a few flower petals, if I could find them. He’d added them to the list with another blush, so I was determined!

Well, I found everything he asked for and brought the damp lot back in my opal bag. He seemed surprised at my competence, but I told him, “Craftsmen know their way around the same forest assassins do.” That seemed to make him think for a moment.

Then I asked him what all the supplies were for, and he started spouting assassin knowledge at me. I could barely keep up! Moss and stones to give off a radiant heat with only a little light, berries and leaves for pain and wound cleansing... but he didn’t want to tell me what the flower petals were for.

“Runaan. Just tell me. Is it for a tea? Do you eat them? Here, you take them and do what you want with them,” I offered, holding them out.

But he blushed again and looked away. So stubborn! I pretended like I was going to crumple them up and toss them away, and he reached out and grasped my wrist tightly.

“Wait. They’re... healing petals. For the scratches on my face. I... it’s easier if someone else...”

I grinned so widely, I thought my face would split! “Runaan. Are you telling me you’re worried about your pretty face?”

He blushed again and glared at me.

“Because you’re still pretty, but now you look like the badass who saved my life,” I added seriously. “Did you think I wouldn’t tell everyone how brave you were? How you selflessly saved me first and risked yourself? How you did exactly what you’ve been trained to do? So what if you took a few scrapes? That just proves how dangerous your work is, and how strong you are to survive it. Doesn’t it?”

He stared at me dubiously for a long, long moment, and then his eyes narrowed thoughtfully and he looked aside. He let out a slow sigh, and then he glanced at me and offered his cheek toward me for a petal bandage.

I scooted forward and used my softest craftsman touch to press the first one over a scrape along his cheekbone. “There we go. I’ll have you looking pretty as a lunabloom in no time,” I murmured.

He glared up at me for implying that he wasn’t already that pretty, and I winked at him. “A lunabloom who didn’t just save my life in spectacular fashion,” I amended. Another petal pressed against his forehead, and another beside it, covering a large abraded area. He winced slightly, and I paused. “Did I hurt you?” I asked. But he shook his head and looked down.

I turned his chin lightly, looking for more scrapes to cover, and found a pair along his jaw. I softly pressed more petals over them and then looked his face over thoroughly. “Alright. I think your legendary beauty will recover now,” I pronounced.

Runaan rolled his eyes and looked away again, but I saw a little smile on his lips.

We snacked on a few moonberries, and I tended his foot under his sharp-eyed instruction, patching and binding it for him. He propped it on a stone and lay by the warming moss, and I lay nearby with my head next to his, in case he ever decided to talk again.

He went still, and then he huffed suddenly as if waking. A few minutes later, he did it again. I realized he was trying not to doze off.

“Runaan, you just got buried in rocks, and you need to rest. Don’t worry. I’ll stay awake and keep watch for you.”

“Do you even know what to watch for?” he asked sleepily.

Sassy assassin. “I imagine anything that darkens the cave entrance will be worth waking you for,” I sassed back.

He rolled his eyes again, but then he nodded, as if in agreement with my very general assessment of his watch duties. I sat up then, facing the entrance of the cave with Runaan stretched out beside me.

He tapped my knee with something, and I looked down to see him offering me his sword. I blinked in shock, and then I took it, slowly and reverently, and held it across my lap. As if I knew what to do with the thing aside from admire its craftsmanship.

But he nodded seriously, having successfully passed watch duty to me, and soon enough, his eyes slid shut and he relaxed into sleep.

I’d never seen an assassin sleep before. That’s like seeing a shark sleep. They just don’t sleep around other elves. They don’t sleep much at all, I’ve since come to realize. But there he was, a young, earnest injured assassin, soft and slumberous at my side. And he’d given me his sword.

The amount of trust in those two gestures astounded me, even though we both knew he had no other choice due to our circumstances. He was taking a chance on me. And as I sat there in the dimness, with an assassin’s sword in my hands, I began to feel... something amazing.

I wanted to keep him safe. From everything. He was so tense, so worried, about me as his charge, that he’d neglected to worry over himself. But Runaan was definitely worth worrying over! He’d trained so hard and so earnestly, and he truly enjoyed helping keep others safe. I wanted to make that as easy as possible for him. Because he was overdoing it by a fair bit and he needed to relax!

While he slept, I contemplated that sword. I wondered who had made it for him, and if a better one would serve him more efficiently. I wondered about enchantments and secrets and maybe even moon opals. And so I hauled out my damp notebook and started writing down ideas.

“What are you doing?” Runaan’s voice startled me some hours later.

“Making notes. On swords.”

“Swords?”

“You need a better sword.”

“My sword is perfectly functional, Ethari.” He held out his hand, and I returned it to him.

“But what if it could be better?” I asked eagerly. “Listen. You’re an assassin. You performed your duty today and saved my life. Let me return the favor by making you a better sword, so you can be even more efficient.”

“But you’re a jeweler.”

“I’m a craftsman,” I said, a little too forcefully. “I can make anything I like. And I want to make you a better sword. It’ll take time, because I’ll need to change my training focus, but... if you’ll be patient with me, Runaan, I want to pay you back for saving my life. And this is how I want to do it. I want to make you a better sword.”

He lay in the dimness and stared up at me with those blazing turquoise eyes I’ve come to adore, and he simply said, “Thank you.”

#ask ethari #story time #runaan #ethari #young runaan #young ethari #just a couple of soft young boys changing their lives for each other #hurt/comfort

26 notes · View notes

rimalupin · 3 years

Text

Sasuke x MC: Our First Christmas Tree

A/N: Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays/Seasons Greetings/Wonderful Winter to you all! I hope everyone’s been doing alright this winter. :) I just wanted to hop on here and repost this story I originally published last year for an IkeSeries-themed Secret Santa. While I was making my masterlist, I couldn’t find this fic for the longest time, so I just assumed it was sucked into the Tumblr void asdfghjkl. Anyway, I hope y’all enjoy some cutesy Christmas time with our or at least my favorite ninja astrophysicist. Take care! <3

(fic below the cut)

*Also quick definition time! In a nutshell (b/c my sources are a few Japanese cultural websites that came up when I Googled the term lol), furoshiki refers to the art of Japanese gift wrapping by using fabric, which is also known by the same name. Traditionally, furoshiki was used to wrap packages and supplies for transportation, and over the years it has transformed into an element of gift-giving.

*****

Kasugayama Castle, 500 years ago, Christmas Week

“Sasuke, could you hand me some more fabric?”

“Ah, of course.” Sasuke nods before handing you a freshly cut square of light blue-dyed fabric.

“Thanks! This color will be perfect for Kenshin’s present.” You take fabric from him and proceed to snugly wrap the warlord’s gift.

Sasuke watches you observantly as you expertly fold and tie the cloth. “It was smart of you to color-code everyone’s presents. I wouldn’t have thought of using *furoshiki until you brought it up.”

“Well, it was thanks to your idea of giving everyone presents.” After giving the knot on top a final tug, you place Kenshin’s present alongside the other gifts you and Sasuke had finished wrapping. You proudly smile at the pile of gifts crowding along the wall: you knew that the hours that you and Sasuke spent shopping and preparing the presents were going to pay off on Christmas day. “I still can’t believe you managed to get yours and Nobunaga’s teams to meet up.” Let’s just hope they don’t fight the moment they see each other, you think to yourself.

“I suppose that means I am an expert in Sengoku-era party planning.” He winks - or rather blinks - at you, indicating that it was a joke. “Plus, I thought it’d be interesting to teach some of the greatest men in history about Christmas.” He places the gift he had finished wrapping in the pile as well. “We might as well give them a heads-up about the most wonderful time of the year.”

You giggle at how seriously he made that adorably silly statement. "I wonder how they’ll react to the idea of receiving their presents from ‘Santa Claus.’”

Sasuke lowers his gaze, thinking for a moment. “My guess is that they’ll believe in Santa Claus more than reindeer that can fly.”

“Ieyasu will definitely be the most skeptical about that one.” You let out a laugh as you imagine the grumpy warlord protectively holding his dear deer Wasabi. “There’s no way in hell I’m letting any of you test out that ridiculous theory,” he’d probably say.

As your giggles die down, you turn to the window to gaze at the dark winter sky. "I'm still amazed at how bright the stars are here. They remind me of the Christmas lights from back home."

Sasuke turns to look with you. “You’re right. Though, it’s rather difficult to see the different colors of the stars from down here. Spectroanalysis could definitely help us to see them more clearly, but Christmas lights are more widely available in stores.”

“No need for any expensive telescopes: just some outlets and a whole bunch of cords.” A wave of nostalgia begins to hit you: you think of the winter holidays you had spent with your friends and family in the future. There was always something magical about Christmas that gave you something special to look forward to in the winter. “You know, every year my family and I would decorate the Christmas tree in our living room. We’d use everything: string lights, ribbons, ornaments that we made together…” Your heart starts to ache a little when you realize that this year is your first Christmas away from your family.

Noticing your expression, Sasuke moves to sit closer to you. “That sounds like a wonderful tradition.”

“It is.” You turn to look up at him and smile. “And I can’t wait to share that tradition with everyone here.”

The smile on your face eases his concern, and he takes your hands in his. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to show you something.”

You raise your eyebrows in surprise. “Oh? Of course. What is it?”

“Come with me. And please stay close: it’s rather chilly outside, and I don’t think the snow is forecasted to stop tonight.” He begins to slowly stand up and you follow him outside, the two of you still holding hands.

~~~

As Sasuke had predicted, the snow continues to fall in a delicate descent. You feel the fresh snow lightly crunch under your feet as you and Sasuke walk out of the town and into the forest. The cold winter breeze makes you shiver, and - staying true to your promise - you move closer to Sasuke for warmth. He keeps an arm wrapped around you and checks in with you every-now-and-then to make sure that you are warm.

Fortunately, the walk isn’t long: soon enough, the two of you are standing among several rows of flowering cherry blossom trees. You widen your eyes in awe at the beautiful sight: the pink flowers that decorate the branches are lightly brushed with the snow that had fallen throughout the day. The white snow lying below the trees and the stars glistening from above made the trees’ colors look more vibrant. “Wow,” you sigh, “I haven’t seen cherry blossoms at this time of the year.”

A small smile crosses Sasuke’s face as he admires your adorably enchanted expression. “Some cherry blossom trees do bloom outside of springtime. The ‘autumnalis rosea’, or the ‘winter-flowering cherry,’ has a long blooming season through the fall and winter.”

You continue to stare at the trees with childlike wonder. “They look so beautiful in the snow. Almost like the Christmas trees at home...”

“I agree. And although it’s not the usual evergreen conifer…” Sasuke steps closer to you and gazes at you earnestly. “Would you like to decorate a Christmas tree with me?”

“Wha-?” Just then, he reaches into his bag and pulls out a small box wrapped in cloth. You blink in surprise. “Sasuke, what is this...?”

“I was going to give it to you later, but I think that now is a more appropriate time to do so.” He places the box in your hand and gestures for you to open it. You take a breath before carefully unwrapping the cloth and opening the box. Inside is a small glass sphere painted to look like the starry night sky.

“Sasuke, this is beautiful,” you say while gently picking up the sphere by the string attached to it. As it slowly spins around, you notice that the silver spots and swirls that sparkle on the dark blue surface of the glass are lightly tinted with different colors of the stars. You also notice that the “stars” are carefully arranged and clustered in specific patterns as if to mimic constellations or a map of a galaxy. “Where did you get this...?”

“It was actually a DIY project of sorts: Yuki received some new shipments this week, and I asked if I could use some of the materials to make you a present.”

“You made this...?” Sasuke nods, a faint blush crossing his cheeks. You feel your heartbeat quicken for your loving boyfriend who never ceases to amaze you. “Sasuke, this is so thoughtful of you.” You make a mental note to give Sasuke his Christmas present early as well.

“I’m glad you like it. So,” he gestures at the tree standing in front of you both, “Will you do the honors?”

You nod enthusiastically. “I’d love to!” After handing the box back to Sasuke, you hold the ornament close to you and walk toward the tree. The nearest branch is slightly taller than you, and your fingers barely touch the lower end of the bough when you're on your tiptoes. You giggle a little, remembering the moments in your childhood when you would try to place an ornament on a branch much taller than you. Your little hands would reach as high as they could go until a loved one lifted you in their arms to help you reach the exact branch you wanted to hang your ornament from.

Noticing your struggle to reach the branch, Sasuke moves to stand beside you and grabs the branch easily, gently lowering it a bit more. You gaze up at him, your reliable and more-than-moderately awesome ninja who never fails to put a smile on your face, and you can’t help but press a light kiss on his cheek. “I like how we’re doing this together.”

He blinks in surprise before giving you a heartwarming smile. “So do I.” His hand moves to cup your cheek, gently turning you to face him so that he can press his forehead against yours. “I hope we get to do more things like this in the future.”

His cheeks grow redder when you guide his free hand to hold the ornament with you. “I know we will,” you say as you hang the ornament together.

#merry christmas and happy holidays!!#i hope y'all are taking care!#<3 #ikemen sengoku #ikesen #ikesen sasuke #sasuke sarutobi #sasuke x mc #ikesen fanfic #fanfic by me #rima writes #wow i can't believe i wrote this a year ago :o #and now i'm too lazy to write/too shy to share my stories ASDFGHJKL RIP #welp anyway ty to those of you who are still following me and reading my content LOL i appreciate y'all <3

20 notes · View notes

wildcreationmagic · 3 years

Text

Nozel x Oc

Past to Present chapter 3

NOTE: (Y/n) changed to Ophelia

WARNING: Mild suggestive content, some angst

While waiting to hear back from the Captains you finally get ready to face up to figures of your supposed past.

“Rhya!?” You call out his name giving a sigh placing a hand on your forehead to gaze against the light of the sun. Looking for this man was like finding a four leaf clover. A gentle warm wind blows the white fabric of your skirt about as you turn scanning the area. Spotting a head of white hair by a stream you huff and march over stopping with your hands on your hips as your shadow is cast over the sunbathing elf. “Rhya.” You repeat softer but still firm yourself as finally a gold eye cracks open.

“Huh, I’m surprised you could block the sun out like that given how short you are Ophelia.” Grinning his eye closes again seeing it is just you and you shake your head walking up to the rock he is propped against.

“Rhya.” You huff warningly and he chuckles.

“What? I’m just saying, being that short Patolli is going to outgrow you any day now.” You cross your arms and lean down in Rhya’s face a bit as he keeps his eyes closed.

“Very funny Rhya, now get up. You promised Charla to help.” Reaching you attempt to yank him up as a soft snore comes from him. He has to be joking! “Rhya, I swear if you don’t- ah!”

About to yank him again you’re tugged down and straddling his lap as he opens an eye again with a smug grin. “Aw do I get a kiss?”

Making a face you are nose to nose with him practically and turn your tinted cheeks away . “I’m going to ignore that horrible joke of yours-!”

“Who said I was joking?” Grinning and bobbing his eyebrows you roll your eyes leaning away back on your heels rolling your eyes. Still able to feel the heat of your blush to the tips of your ears.

“I’m not just here for you Rhya, you promised Charla you’d help her today!”

Blinking he thinks and scratches his head a bit. “Huh, was that today? My bad, say was she able to get along okay without me?” Lazy lidded eyes stare at you as a yawn passes his lips making you inhale deeply through your nose to keep yourself from doing so as well.

“No, because she needs your help to get it done. You promised you’d help her, she has spent the past hour looking for you!”

Bored the white haired elf leans back against the rock putting his hands behind his head. “If she spent that long looking for me then she could have had the chore done by now. Say why doesn’t she get Vetto to help or something?”

Arms crossed you watch him clearly unimpressed. “She would have had one of the other men help, but everyone else is busy. Everyone except you Rhya.”

“Aw, don’t be so harsh Oph. I do work. When I have to, besides I am working. I’m thinking.” Stretching his arms above his head he smiles sleepily and you glance away flustered.

“And what are you thinking about so hard that you can’t help today?”

“Well, I was wondering if it is possible for us to be reborn after this life. Not that I’d want to, but I wonder if we’d come back as elves yet. What would happen if we were reborn as humans instead?”

Surprised you slowly shift so you’re not straddling his legs anymore watching Rhya in a bout of unease coming over you. Gold eyes on you he tips his head seeing if you’ll respond. “Why, I mean what makes you think about something like that?”

Uncomfortable you turn your head away making Rhya sit up a bit more in concern. “I mean, it’s a legitimate question. I wonder if you’d still be short as you are now if you were a human.” You know he is attempting to make you feel better, but…

Frowning you could see him leaning forward to try and catch a glimpse of your face as you sigh. Head tipping down a bit with some of your hair forming a curtain between you and his gaze. “I just don't like thinking about that or talking about it. The thought scares me.”

Hand in his hair Rhya sighs shaking his head with a lopsided smile on his lips. “You worry too much, what scares you about this? Not everyday you get a chance at new life.” Reaching he pushes some of your blonde locks out of your face to reveal your worried profile.

Brows furrowed as you let out a sigh and lace your fingers together to stop their shaking. “What if, let's say I get reborn. Is that person really me? They look like me and act similar, but would they really be me? How do you know it’s not just someone who looks like me?” Turning towards Rhya a bit more he gives a thoughtful grin. Before you know it you're wrapped in his arms pulled to the taller elf’s chest. Surprised you glance up with teary blue eyes.

“Even without your memories you’d be yourself yet. Besides I don’t think anyone could act quite like you, especially putting up with me.” Grinning down at you he may be lazy, but when it counted Rhya was there for others he cares about.

Neither of you say anything until a sharp feminine voice is heard. “There he is!” Whirling you see Charla and Licht walking over, with Charla looks understandably upset. Licht’s expression is pleasant as ever as he smiles at the two of you.

“Rhya, Ophelia there you are. Charla told me you went to help her look for Rhya, but we didn’t expect to find you together.” Chuckling a bit you get out of said elf’s lap and flush glancing away.

“I- was! It’s just someone distracted me with his nonsense.” Trying to scowl at Rhya he places a hand over his heart.

“See what I have to deal with Licht? She is so mean it hurts.”

Walking up beside you Charla crosses her arms giving Rhya a piece of her mind. “If you don’t get up you will be hurting!”

Glancing up at her timidly you whisper softly. “Charla, it’s alright. More my fault I didn’t make him get up.” Eyes on you she smirks a little giving a nudge.

“You’re too soft on him Ophelia. Why do you let him get away with so much? Perhaps if you like him that much why don’t we arrange a wedding after Licht and Tetia get married.” Arms relaxing as she teases you blush hiding your crimson face.

Holding up a hand Licht gets the attention of all three of you. “Now don’t tease (Y/n) too much Charla.”

Head turning up, Rhya yawns and blinks lazily watching Licht. ‘Hey Licht, mind giving me a hand? Suppose I can’t get out of it now.” Glancing at Charla with an exhausted expression as a hand is offered to him.

Taking it Rhya grins at Licht as he helps the other up, making you shake your head. When you try to get him up you get pulled down, but of course he would accept it from one of his closest friends. Another yawn as Rhya sighs at Charla. “Okay, what do I have to do?”

In no time Charla is already practically dragging Rhya along, not letting him slack off again talking about how useless some men are making you chuckle as Licht smiles. The two of you heading back to the elven village and a youthful voice calls out for Licht.

Patolli bounding to the other side of you as he makes a grumpy face. “Did you find him?! I bet he was just sitting around doing nothing!” Licht smiles, shaking his head.

“Rhya was thinking a bit, Patolli. I think he and Ophelia just got distracted when she looked for him. You know how he is.”

“More like he distracted her from getting him with his nonsense!” Glancing at Patolli you gently shake your head.

“No it’s fine. It’s my fault really, I just got a bit… lost thinking about what Rhya said.” Noticing your change in demeanor Licht’s gold eyes watch you in concern.

“Is everything alright Ophelia? You seemed a little upset when Charla and I arrived.” Licht’s gentle voice beside you keeps you at ease and the panic from surfacing.

Walking beside him you glance down slightly, and a hand is placed on your shoulder gently reassuring you. “Rhya was just thinking about if we could be reborn as humans ever. I… got scared. I still am, it scares me thinking about if that would really be me yet. The thought of supposedly living another life, but having no memory of before isn’t really me is it?”

On the other side Patolli is watching you and Licht worried with such a seemingly heavy topic having upset you. Gently grabbing onto your hand and you give a grateful glance to him as Licht speaks regaining your attention.

“I think no matter what you remember or don’t, in the new life you are still you. The thing that matters is that your soul is there, that is what makes you no matter how you look or act. It’s what makes all of us who we are.” With a smile bright as the sun it is impossible not to smile back and even Patolli is grinning a bit nodding at Licht’s words.

“Thank you Licht. I hope I didn’t bother you with worrying over something so silly.” Giving a sheepish smile at him the elven leader shakes his head.

“Not at all, we are all family. It’s only natural we help one another…” Words muffling you can’t make out the next bit that is said as you, Patolli and Licht keep walking. The colors and smells fade as well with the image.

Waking up you blink and grunt a little still groggy. The sound of growling outside reaches your ears as you realize that must have woke you up.

Your wolves.

Sitting up abruptly at this realization you toss off your covers without a second thought as your white nightgown swivels around your ankles. Grabbing your grimoire you fasten the belt slipping on some shoes and you rush out your bedroom door hearing your father, his voice sleepy having been woken by your wolves as well. Asking you to see what they are upset about. This isn’t anything new, occasionally your wolves would alert you to something outside and you’d go check. They are your spell after all, and you’re the only one in the family who can fight with your magic.

Stepping outside the beta, Fenrir, is in the front of the others with his hackles raised and teeth gleaming in the moonlight. If it had been a bandit the culprit would have ran off by now and your wolves in hot pursuit, but this is different. This time they are simply staring at the trees near your home growling while staying close and at your appearance two wolves flank you on each side as you move up to Fenrir gently putting a hand on the large canine’s head.

“Fenrir what’s wrong?” Speaking gently to the wolf he didn’t move his eyes from the treeline ahead and you frown something is clearly bothering them. Deciding not to use your communication spell you walk forward with the small pack moving out to flank you with their appropriate positions, and Fenrir stays close ready to defend need be. Entering the trees you think it could just be some wild animals. They are wolves and rely on instinct to an extent. You’re almost about to shrug it off as that until you sense mana, and the amount is almost suffocating, but you continue until you start to see two figures in a small clearing in the grove of trees. Their eyes exactly where you are in the shadows of the trees and carefully you step into the clearing recognizing Rhya. Or the man that calls himself Rhya, even if his hair and eye color was different from your dream you can’t shake the uncanny familiarity between the two.

However your eyes don’t stay on him for long, wandering to the figure next to him wearing robes like Rhyas except the fact they are worn correctly and perhaps a little more elaborate. Studying him you notice he also has red markings on his face framing on the outer part of his eyes is a red crescent shape with three buds and a dot above each eye where his eyebrows should be. Unlike Rhya his eyes are an all too familiar gold making your palms start to sweat. Even though hair is braided back into several long extensions you’re certain he is the same man.

Softly you breathe out his name even if your focus is on the other figure. “Rhya.” The stranger inclines his head letting a smile graze his lips. “What are you doing here, I thought I told you to leave me alone, I'm not whoever you’re looking for.” Upon your words the other man turns to Rhya for an explanation.

Rhya yawns drawing your attention back to the sleepy man. “Well Licht, looks like we didn’t have to draw her out, she came out on her own. Though I don’t like the way these wolves are eyeing us.” As your anxiety peeks hearing Licht you hear a snarl from your wolves.

You’ve had your wolves circle around them out of caution and are reacting to how you’re feeling, being you’re partly controlling or willing them yet they are in tune with you. Tails tucked and ears pinned their glowing green eyes making them look intimidating as their teeth gleam in the moonlight.

Head turning Licht allows his eyes to leave you a moment to speak to Rhya. “Don’t say things that may startle her Rhya, it is clear she is scared not knowing what is going on.” Gold eyes land back on you as he raises a hand holding it palm up in a friendly gesture. “Ophelia, it’s good to see you again face to face. When I first learned about you it came as quite the surprise so of course I had to come see you. You do remember us don’t you?”

Yes you do remember him from the dream, but this familiar feeling with someone who is a stranger once more is driving you insane. You shouldn’t know either of them, you’ve never met them Swallowing you shake your head side to side once throat tight. “No.”

Yawning with a hand over his mouth Rhya watches you with tired dark eyes yawning again. “Eeeuuu-aahh, that's a lie.”

Startled by Rhya’s claim you gaze at him wide eyed in shock, how did he know that? No he couldn’t-.

“That’s a shame.” The gentle voice of the other man, Licht, gains your full attention once more. “Rhya told me you acted like you never met him.” His golden eyes on you are full of sadness. “It must be true if you have forgotten about his ability to tell when someone is lying.”

His tone isn’t accusing, simply gentle and soothing. Enough to make you drop your guard a little even if your nerves are making you sick. About to speak Rhya’s tired voice drifts over instead. “You say you don’t know us, but are you really sure about that? Not even a dream where you knew us?”

Your breathing increases and you can’t help it, eyes glimmering with shock. Recognition of his words making you take a step back. Your wolves respond to Rhya’s questions with low growls as they draw a bit closer to the threat, but in turn you have them fall back by your sides warily. You may be scared, but you don’t want to hurt anyone because of it.

“I’m sure-” your voice trembles as fear causes it to crack. “I’ve never met you before- this is the only life I’ve lived!” Lips trembling you let out a shaky breath watching them as the two exchange a glance and Rhya closes his eyes with a slight smile.

“That’s another lie.” Rhya yawns as Licht takes over much to his relief.

“You really haven’t changed.” A small smile of refeif plays on his lips. “Even though you’ve been raised by humans you are the same as ever. Looks like your fears of changing should you be reborn were unnecessary.”

Shocked he mentions something from the dream you recoil a little as your eyes tell them all they need to know. Gold eyes closing Licht tips his head down speaking softly yet. “I won’t bother you anymore tonight, I just had to see with my own eyes it was you. Even if you don’t remember us right now remember we are family, and we always take care of our own.”

Listening to him there is little you can say about that as he smiles gently. Exactly like from your dreams as his attention turns to his companion beside him.

“We don’t want to scare her more, Rhya. It would be best if we leave for now and let her think about what we’ve said. Allow Ophelia to come to her own terms with this.” Attention turning to you again his words are welcoming and inviting. “If you ever need us we will be more than glad to help you Ophelia. That’s what a family does.” You hardly blink and in a blinding flash of light Licht is gone making you gasp eyes wide.

He’s a light mage?!

“Aw man, he didn’t take me with him. What a pain.” Sighing Rhya stretches his arms over his head. “Oh, well guess I should get going though.” Lips turning up, he gives a halfhearted smile at you tipping his head.

“I know this may be hard for you to believe, and you’re probably scared, but we both know that those dreams are something more than you want to accept. Just think about it, kay?” Falling backwards a portal opens behind him and closes the moment he falls through leaving you alone with your wolves. Rhya’s words resonating through your head.

Crouching for a moment you wrap your arms around the nearest wolf as you bury your face into it’s fur. Eyes shut tightly taking a breath until you rise up again heading back to the house with a stoic expression. Your mind and emotions go a mile a minute trying to process everything that's happened as you slowly return to your room falling into a restless sleep.

The next day you wake exhausted, right away your mind already thinking of the meeting that happened last night and what was said. You can’t get it out of your head even when your parents ask if you’re alright. Of course you tell them your fine, it isn’t like you can just say you may have been an elf. The next question is about your wolves last night and again you have to lie, brushing it off that they were just restless thinking they saw something.

Everyone gets ready to work for the day your sister and mom head into town while your dad goes off to a field aways away from the house. Leaving you at home, but that was fine. If anyone was around that would just lead to more possible questions and more lies. The weight of such already making your steps feel heavy taking your first steps outside as Fenrir and his pack trot beside you. Their large bodies are surprisingly light and limber compared to how you feel right now.

Going about your routine you give a heaving sigh lifting the four tined hay fork to heave the last of the hay over the fence to the lone bull in a smaller portion of the pasture. Mimicking your movements, to an extent, the bear you summoned reinforces your strength as you huff lowering the fork and sticking it in a nearby bale. Petting the bear’s brown fur it’s glowing green eyes bore into you as you dispel it, and once you do the bull slowly comes over. Snorting and bowing his head to where the bear just was, pawing the ground with a front hoof still wary as you shake your head. Looking up from the spot they were napping your wolves yawn and get up following you once more. Grabbing a bucket and trowel heading back a fair distance from the house as you sit at the edge of the potato patch.

Gesturing with an arm you use your mana to will and control your wolves telling them to dig a bit. Pawing a little at first they get the point starting to scrape away dirt and uncover some of the buried spuds. Loosening some of the dirt around the plant you set the trowel down and pull up on the stalk. Tearing it from the ground and with it some potatoes with it. Plucking them from the roots you brush any extra dirt off and place them in the bucket before proceeding to dig using the small shovel to root around to make sure none were left behind.

Hearing a couple whines you look up and chuckle shaking your head. “Okay, okay I’ll get there.” Each of the wolves are sitting in front of the plant they dug up as you pull the stalk up removing your bounty. Digging in the loose dirt to make sure none is missed as you repeat the process with the other wolves and have them go dig up some more while you work on another yourself.

Yanking on a stalk you grunt, palms slipping on the rough fibers of the plant as it doesn’t come up yet. “Ugh, come on.” Another tug and it still doesn’t come up leaving sweat dripping down your forehead. It is hot enough and hard enough to do any work in this heat, you didn’t need this! Behind you a faint rustling is heard and as you glance back your wolves growl in defence at whatever is moving in the tall grass.

Rolling out of the grass now you let out a scream yanking the stalk you held yet in your hurry to shuffle backwards, and it flies out making you fall on your bottom. Gasping as clods of dirt rain down on you, heart still racing from the shock of someone else popping out of the grass.

Cracking your eyes open you see Rhya who rubs his eyes watching you. “You’re awful noisy Ophelia.” Yawning he blinks looking at your expression and grins. “Aw I didn’t mean to scare you. I know I’m not the best looking man, but I don’t think I look that bad.”

The wolves bristle and growling at him and you calm them down using your mana to make them ease off as your eyes never leave Rhya’s. Taking several deep breaths to calm your trembling body, both in exhaustion and leftover adrenaline from the shock of him popping up out of nowhere. Finally you speak after what seems like ages, surprising yourself and him with your exasperated tone. “What were you doing in the grass!?”

Grinning he props and elbow up with his palm under the side of his head. “It looked like a nice spot to nap so I did.”

A little wary of him yet you give a long look and finally close your eyes shaking your head at him in disbelief. The action felt almost natural. “You’re impossible, besides it’s too hot to just sit in the sun comfortably.” Brushing the last of the dirt from your hair you go back to work with his tired eyes on you.

“So you’re talking to me now?” You roll your eyes at the smug note, blue eyes scanning over your wolves a moment. They are calmer and laying down panting heavily from the heat, not that you blame them.

“Well, you aren’t going away anytime soon it seems like. Besides I’m trying to get this done so I can rest.” Sitting back on your heels you wipe a few beads of sweat off gazing tiredly at the sun as the rays burn your skin.

“Oh, well I could help with that.” Stating it matter of factly you glance back raising an eyebrow of disbelief as he grins and snaps his fingers for some flare. Not even a second later dirt and potatoes rain down on you and your wolves. One of them being bopped on the nose making it shake it’s head.

“Ack! Rhya!” Shielding yourself you slowly lower your arms once the assault stops and sighs. “I just got the dirt out from when you scared me half to death.” Grumbling a little you go around collecting the unearthed potatoes.

“What? I helped you out, give a guy a break. We finally can have a good talk after how long and you’re already nagging me.”

Shaking your head you sigh a little. “I appreciate it, but you could have not had them land on top of me.” Finishing you kneel on the ground with a sigh using the back of your arm to wipe any excess sweat from your forehead. Your wolves are also panting heavily from the heat as Rhya sighs gazing upwards.

“Man, it’s hot today. Hey Ophelia how about you and I go into town for a drink?” Grinning at you he sits up tipping his head, the expression and phrase familiar as so many things have been with him.

“No, I have things to do yet. I don’t drink anyway.” Rubbing the back of his neck he heaves a sigh.

“I could have guessed, it was like that before too.”

“Besides, how do you know I don’t have a boyfriend or something?” Remembering from last night he could tell lies you word your sentence carefully making him raise a brow.

“You have a boyfriend? I find that hard to believe, not that you aren’t pretty- you’re gorgeous.Hearing this you pause, but try to seem busy.

“Well you don’t know I could.”

“Hm, alright. Then why hasn’t he been around?” Not bothered at all he lays back down arms behind his head cracking an eye open seeing your red face.

Huffing out a bit turning your head away sharply you reply. “Well, he could be busy is why. Not everyone can take it easy as you Rhya.”

Letting out a hum he watches you for quite some time and finally you can’t take it anymore. You don’t have anything to do distracting you from his gaze. “Oh, alright!” Amused he tips his head up while you continue. “I don’t have a boyfriend, I lied.” Cheeks burning you glance down at your hands curling them in your lap.

Chuckling he sits up yawning while his eyes crinkle smugly. “There we go. See I knew it would be the same, you’re all work as usual. You need to let yourself relax more.”

Sighing, you shake your head. “I can’t relax, I have to care for my family. Besides, I don’t even know if I can find someone.”

“You never know, they could be right in front of you and you just never noticed.” Rolling your eyes at his joke you press your lips in a line making him close his eyes in defeat. “Alright, alright. We don’t have to talk about it.” Holding his hands up he sighs heavily. “Say, you couldn’t get me a drink could you? This sun is killing me.”

Taking a few seconds as you nod gently standing up dusting your knees off as you go into the house grabbing a pitcher and glass. Drawing the water from the well you walk back over finding that Rhya has moved, but only to use one of your wolves as a pillow. “Weren’t you just complaining you’re hot?”

Ignoring your comment he keeps his eyes closed. “See, I knew you’d make a good wife.”

Half tempted to pour the pitcher on him you shrug it off, this man. “Here’s your glass.”

“Well I was hoping you would just pour it on me after saying that.”

“I was tempted, but then you’d be all wet, and your clothes would have to dry. I don’t think I’d be able to explain a man half naked in the house if anyone came home.” Pouring the water you hand the glass over as he takes it starting to take it as you feel a drop of water. Glancing up, and Rhya doing the same, you feel another on your nose noting the sky clouding over from the perfectly sunny day it had been.

In a matter of seconds the two drops turn into a downpour making you gasp as cold drops hit your body all at once soaking through your clothes. Glancing over you see Rhya mouth open head tipped back collecting the rainwater and you groan. “Rhya! Come on, you’re going to catch a cold!” Grabbing him you try to haul the man to his feet and thankfully he complies as the two of you run inside with your wolves taking cover as well.

Door slamming open you huff as the two of you stop once safely inside, dripping wet but at least out of the rain. “I’ll get a couple of towels, wait here-.”

Yelping as the rain lets loose in an all out downpour you scurry from the garden and yank Rhya up by his collar. Half asleep he doesn’t realize what is going on at first until you yell at him to run otherwise you’ll both be soaked and sickly. Getting to a grove of nearby trees the two of you huddle together and settle on the grass waiting out the rain. A slight shiver overtaking your body from the sudden chill of the air, and Rhya wraps his arms around you tightly. Smiling up at him you lean into his warm embrace as the two of you sit together waiting out the rain.

“Ophelia, are you okay?” A hand waving in front of your face you gasp and snap out of it. Replying you’re fine out of instinct even though you’re grabbing the side of the table to keep upright from shock. Watching your shoulders heave Rhya shakes his head, arms folding. “You sure don’t look alright, what happened?”

“I-I.... g-give me a minute.” Legs trembling you head into the bathroom grabbing two towels, but no matter how much time passes you can’t seem to shake the fear and shock. Returning with two towels you hand one to him drying your hair and clothes best you can sitting in a chair you pull out from the table. “I… think I remembered something. Has something like this happened to us before?”

Pausing Rhya lowers his arms and gives a gaze showing you he was indeed reminiscing about something similar. “Yeah, it has. You were worried about me getting soaked and sick then too.”

“I see.” Eyes lidding you drop your arms as well staring at the now soaked towel. The two of you watch one another in near silence as you slowly stand up walking towards Rhya who holds out his arms without a word, and embraces you as tears stream down your face realizing just how much you’ve forgotten.

The next day Rhya ends up popping out of nowhere as well, nearly making you fall out of the tree picking apples as you cling to the branch scowling at him. “Rhya, are you trying to kill me!?”

Chuckling he holds up his arms offering to help you down and you accept reluctantly. Hanging you brace yourself as you let loose on a count of three and land on top of Rhya toppling you both. You land on top of him nose to nose with a light blush tinting your cheeks as he grins.

“If you wanted a kiss all you had to do was ask.” Your eyes going wide despite your embarrassment you don’t recoil right away. Glancing away and sitting up apologizing slowly as a memory comes to you once again of a similar situation.

Falling from the tree you brace yourself, but the ground never comes. Instead you’re met with a firm chest and arms wrapped securely around you. Grinning down at you is Rhya as he chuckles softly giving you a little peck.

It was short like the flash of memory yesterday, but Rhya picks up on it and gently strokes your hair. “Did you remember something?”

“Yeah.” Humming in response he nods eyes closing arms behind his head now. “It’s still hard to believe, but I can’t keep denying it forever.”

“You’ll remember eventually, and we’ll be here for you every step of the way.” Grinning referring to Licht and himself you can’t help but give a small smile back feeling a little better.

“Thank you.”

Almost a week later you pause washing some dishes as Rhya was sitting at the table in the small kitchen, noticing you stop as he looks over. “Everything good?”

“I was wondering something.” Glancing down you dry your hands finishing the last dish, hands on the counter curling a bit before you take a breath facing him. “Rhya, am I really the same as before?” Face contorting in worry you watch him as his expression shifts from his normal sleepy one to one of gentle and thoughtful.

“If there was any doubt I think it should be cleared by that reaction. You remember when you worried about that before?” Walking over he places a large hand on your head. A little over a week ago he was a stranger you somehow knew, but now it is like you’ve known him your whole life. Which you have, one of them at least. Leaning into his touch feels so nice, so warm and familiar.

Facing his chest you speak into the fabric muffling your concern, but Rhya hears it all the same. “How can you be so sure that I’m… me? Or who you think I am?” Trembling you let out a shaky breath.

Sighing he shakes his head brushing a hand through his hair. “Aw, c’mon don’t do this to me. I’m not good at all this crying stuff.” Listening to him you mutter an apology to which he shakes his head. “You always were one to worry, but if you really want to know we can sense one another. Elves are connected to each other with an unbreakable bond. That’s how I knew you right away, and one of the reasons I was so familiar to you.”

Watching him with trembling eyes you are shocked yet relieved as you hug him tighter. “You don’t know how relieved I am. It really is like Licht told me that day, it’s my soul that determines who I am.”

Hearing you speak of Licht he is surprised but just enjoys the moment with you giving a gentle smile. “Yeah, exactly like Licht said.” Eyes closed if anyone was watching a lone tear would slip from an eye holding you all the tighter.

Yet another week has passed and still no word from the Magic Knight Captains. Internally you shrug it off finishing up watering the garden, having drawn several buckets from the well already. Per usual in the Clover Kingdom the sun is hot as you work under it’s sweltering rays, and having finally finished the last of your chores you retreat inside to the shade. Entering you get yourself a glass of water, and finish it in almost a matter of seconds. Inhaling deeply as you pull the glass from your lips taking in a breath of relief, at least you’re cooled down a little bit. Hearing a rustle in the other room you pause and peek around the corner, giving a mildly amused expression shaking your head.

“Here you are. I was wondering why you didn’t bother me yet, you always seem to get lucky with my family not being here.” Cracking open an eye he grins lazily at you stifling a yawn.

“Nah, I can tell when they are coming back no need to worry about old Rhya.” Stretching he moves his feet so you can sit down, which you do gratefully with a heaving sigh. “Hard day?”

Head leaning back, your eyes flutter open glancing over at him somewhat exasperated- especially as his legs fall over your lap sprawling over most of the couch again. “What do you think?” Too tired you let your body sink into the cushions.

Only getting a half asleep hum and you give yourself a few moments to relax…

Straddling Rhya’s waist you smile and kiss his lips softly as golden eyes open gazing at you fondly. A smile curling up on his lips as he tucks a stray strand of hair behind your pointed ears. A large hand trailing down your back and hip to rest on your thigh for a moment. Rough fingers brushing along the bare skin between the slits of your dress, and in turn you lean forward slipping your hands under the top of his robe slipping it down his shoulders.

Lips parting as the two of you take a few breaths staring at one another, his deep honey gold staring into your gentle blues. Eyes fluttering closed as his face draws closer you feel your lips touch once again, while your fingertips caress his jawline slowly tangling into the base of his snowy white hair. In turn you feel a hand come up cupping the side of your face as his thumb strokes your cheek deepening the kiss as your bodies slowly mold to one another.

Rousing from your sleep you blush stretches from cheek to cheek from the dream you had, you and Rhya had been-. Feeling a body shift under you your eyes flick to his face as realization dawns on you. You had fallen asleep and ended up resting your head on his thigh- oh no. Face redder than ever you don’t get a chance to sit up as his eyes crack open gazing directly into yours.

“Well I don’t know about you, but I had a nice dream.~” Grinning down at you as you sit up huffing and looking away embarrassed trying to blow it off.

“I don’t know what dream you’re talking about, but it surely wasn’t the same as whatever you’re thinking!”

Chuckling his lips part until a small portal opens as an owl flies in and five letters whack into his face swooping out another small portal after dropping the delivery off. Rhya gives what you assume is a muffled ‘ow’ as he plucks a letter off his face raising an eyebrow. “Someone sure is important.” Teasingly grinning at you it seems the previous conversation is forgotten as you gather the letters off him, and he sits up yawning, placing a hand on his head gazing at the letters.

“It’s the letters from the Captains I was told to expect.” Glancing over them sure enough there was one from each of the Captains; Black Bulls, Silver Eagles, Crimson Lion Kings, and the Golden Dawn.

“Well it sure took them long enough.” He leans closer to you glancing over them and you shrug in return.

“They are Captains, so one can only assume they’re busy. I almost didn’t expect a response.” Finally getting over the shock this happened you turn your attention to Rhya holding a fifth letter.

“Hey, you missed one.” Holding it out so you could read your eyes go wide you missed one, but that isn’t the issue! This one was from the Wizard King!

Deciding to read his first you open it not expecting what you find.

Dear Ophelia, I’m so excited to have heard about you from not only one, but four of my Magic Knight Captains! I hear you have a unique kind of Magic and I would be most interested to see it in action! Being that all four Captains would like you on their squad I must insist you come to the Capital and discuss with me on joining our ranks! If you don’t want to join the Magic Knights though there is of course always a position to work for me, I’m sure Marx my assistant would appreciate it greatly! Apologies for not getting these letters out sooner, the Captains have been very busy since returning from Carney…

Chuckling a bit baffled, you read the rest of the letter as he asks about your magic, what it can do, limits and various other questions giving him a child-like curiosity. You’d reply after reading the rest of the letters, and perhaps you should reply to the Wizard King first telling the Captains you’d be in the capital seeing him…

P.S. I heard you have a spell that can create gryphons, I would very much like to meet him! Would you mind sending him to deliver the reply if it isn’t too much trouble?

“Geeze, that guy sounds like a pain. He has too much energy.” You glance at Rhya who is reading over your shoulder and give a roll of your eyes.

“Or you don’t have enough he does seem a bit eccentric, but nice.” Going on you read Captain Yami’s letter shaking your head. He is talking as if you’re already going to join to the point of discussing that they have a room ready for you! Moving on to the next letter you feel Rhya lay back down.

“Wake me up when you’re done will ya?”

Giving a side glance you gently nod, the feeling almost nostalgic as you continue to read. Captain Vangaence is very kind in his letter yet formal nothing you wouldn’t expect from what you saw of him. Next is the Crimson Lion Kings, you can almost hear the Captian’s booming voice yet the letter contains a note of warmth and welcome to it.

Miss Ophelia, I apologize for not getting this to you sooner. Unfortunately my duties have kept me from writing sooner, but I haven’t forgotten the way you assisted myself and the other Captains. I formally invite you to join the Magic Knights as a member of the Crimson Lion Kings. Due to your bravery and willingness to help I believe you will make an excellent member of my squad.

Captain Fuegoleon Vermillion

Smiling you gently fold the letter back and pick up the last one, pausing as it is Captain Silva’s. You’re both curious yet dreading reading what he has to say.

Ophelia Forestier,

I sincerely hope for your sake you have thought of my offer to join the Silver Eagles and our prestigious ranks. It would be a waste of opportunity for the betterment of yourself and your kingdom. As a citizen of Clover Kingdom it is your duty.

Captain Nozel Silva

Finishing you give a quick sideways glance to Rhya standing up getting some paper and writing your reply to the Wizard King. With that done you write the same reply to the Captains explaining the letter from Julius and how you can give them a straight answer right away due to him wanting to discuss the situation with you. Standing up you glance down expecting to see Rhya sleeping, but he is sitting up rubbing his eyes watching you.

“So, ya get that all done?” A yawn comes from his lips and you smile shaking your head.

“Yes, I just need to send them off. Do you want to step outside with me?”

A lazy ‘sure’ drags from his lips as he stands and stretches popping a few joints. “Now we can.”

Shaking your head you walk out and open your grimoire holding a hand in front of you. “Wild Magic: Gryphon’s Gift!”

Mana whirling it shifts and forms into your main gryphon, Gustaph. His deep brown fur and feathers glinting in the sunlight as his glowing green eyes stare at you for a moment. Tail flicking as his attention shifts to Rhya, stalking around you two getting a good look at the man as you sigh. “Something tells me he doesn’t like me.”

Rolling your eyes you hold out the letters to Gustaph and pet the side of his flank. “He just is moody at times.” Giving a snort the hybrid nudges his beak against you lovingly and gently takes the paper in his beak. “I need you to take this to the Capital alright? At Clover Castle where the Wizard King is.”

Nodding he steps off and spreads his large fluffy wings working into a trot as he gives them a harsh downwards beat lifting off. Front legs curled back towards his belly and back haunches pulled up as well. Gustaph didn’t know exactly where the Wizard King was in the Capital but he is a smart enough creature to figure it out. Watching until he is out of sight you and Rhya head back inside sitting back on the couch as a silence stretches between you two.

Hands folded in your lap you glance down thinking, wanting to talk and Rhya picks up on that shifting his body to face you a bit more directly. “Got something on your mind?”

Gaze meeting his, you hesitantly nod, speaking softly. “Say Rhya. It will take Gustaph a couple days to reach the Capital, and I was wondering if I could speak with Licht?” Dark eyes blink as you get his full attention, but he still is easy going as ever waiting for you to continue.

“I feel bad for the other day, and having spent more time with you I feel like I’m ready to try speaking with him again. I want to listen to what he has to say.” Lifting your eyes you clearly are serious and wanting to make amends as he rubs the back of his head tousling his dark hair.

“Well, who am I to turn down someone in need?” He gives a lopsided smile. “I’ll see if he is around for you and we can go see him tomorrow.”

Keeping his promise Rhya appears the next day looking quite proud of himself while closing his eyes in content and you shake your head. “One of these times you’re going to get caught you know, just how do you know my family isn’t around?”

“Nah, your sister is in town, mom is outside the same with your dad in a nearby field. I think I’m good.”

You sigh and shake your head as you have many times with him. “So when are we going?”

Cracking an eye open he smirks at you. “Well, we can go right now.” Creating a portal Rhya steps aside and patiently waits for you to go through. “After you, ladies first.”

A nervous smile turns up on your lips and you glance at the portal hesitantly, your throat suddenly tight and palms sweaty with your stomach in knots. Seeing your hesitation an arm wraps around your shoulders in a comforting manner giving you a bit of courage as you smile at him gratefully. “Thanks Rhya.”

He gives a hum and shrug letting you step forward and through the portal into the unknown. The first thing you notice is the slight cool, damp air. Walking hesitantly you notice three figures with their backs to you turning their heads at the sound of your echoing footfalls. One you immediately recognize as Licht, one a female with pink hair you remember from your memories a little and the other a large male with shaggy blonde hair. Unsure you take a couple steps forward, at least until Licht starts walking over as the other two face you fully.

The bulky male speaking in a gruff voice, even though his smile was friendly it still set you on edge. “Ophelia it’s good to see you, still putting up with Rhya even in this life?”

“Yes, it’s good to see you...see… you.” Fana, at least you think with her blue-green eyes stares and speaks in a monotone voice. Licht however is oddly quiet as he pauses halfway over to you.

Scared you pause glancing back at the portal, wondering briefly if Rhya was just going to leave you alone. Thankfully he steps through moments later glancing between you and the others. As if sensing the tension he puts an arm around your shoulders again guiding you forward. “C’mon now, you wanted to see him.”

Only a few feet from Licht now you can feel eyes on you adding to your nervousness as his calming voice washes over you echoing slightly. “Ophelia, I’m glad you came. I’d like to introduce you to Fana and Vetto, do you remember them?”

Glancing at them your eyes dart away just as quickly staying on the ground speaking timidly. “They are familiar, but I don’t remember them fully. I’m sorry.”

“That will come in due time, don’t worry about rushing to remember.” Gently Licht’s hand is set on your shoulder with an encouraging smile.

The rough voice of Vetto growls out through the cave. “So it is true, you have lost your memories… those humans will pay for what they did to us.”

From over on a rock Rhya yawns and reminds his friend. “Easy there Vetto, she just got here you want to scare her off again? She still is uneasy about you all this.”

Grinning, showing off his shark-like teeth Vetto taunts the man back a little. “Yes, we know. Not all of us were close to Ophelia as you were Rhya.” Eyes closed and arms behind his head Rhya hums from the rock he seems to be napping on.

Something about this all was a little familiar, and you can’t help but give a small smile. They really do seem like family, as you listen to the three you’re watched by Licht who has been mostly silent.

Sympathetically Licht gazes at you and walks guiding you gently as the others stop to watch what is happening. “Ophelia, what is the last thing you remember?”

Nervously you glance up and then away just as quick, feeling almost ashamed that you can’t remember everything. “The last memory I have is…” your eyes flick to his golden ones as he gives a gentle nod of encouragement. “Is the day you and Tetia married, then after that…” unable to keep eye contact, your face contorts to one of despair as the feelings resurface. Your voice grows quieter until it is just a whisper as tears threaten to surface. Happiness, joy, love and togetherness. All that was quickly replaced that day by fear, confusion, sorrow and anger.

You can’t count how many times you had that memory, or how many times you’ve woken up sobbing from the pain it caused. The fact that those people were real and some of them here with you now makes the pain worse than it has ever been. Gently a pair of arms envelop you as Licht’s voice is close speaking soothingly. “It’s alright, we are here now for you, and that won’t happen again.” A slight edge to his voice makes you glance up as you see tears wanting to pool over the edge of his eyes.

“I’m sorry Licht, I didn’t mean to…” glancing away you feel him hold you tighter as you can tell he shakes his head side to side.

“Do not worry about me, what upsets me the most is that you cannot remember those you used to call family. Tell me, do you remember any others besides the four of us, or any memory that stands out?” Pulling back composed now you don’t feel any pressure off him to remember or tell if you aren’t comfortable with it. However you can’t help but feel a bout of guilt come over you.

“I only remember a couple others really...Charla and Patolli.” Everyone goes quiet for a few moments and Licht gently encourages you to continue. “They all feel so fragmented, and I just can’t connect to any of them.” Eyes squeezing shut Licht’s soothing voice reaches your ears.

“It will be alright there are only a few of us now, but soon everyone will be here again. We’ll have our family back and you won’t have to worry anymore Ophelia. Even without your memories they would and will welcome you with open arms.” His warm smile makes you feel better and like everything will be alright. Turning to the others he speaks a bit louder. “We won’t have to hide anymore and we will be able to walk freely again despite what humans have done to us.”

A slight pang of worry comes over you, unsure what he means, but it is eased as Licht’s level gaze is on you once more. “Ophelia, I have something to show you. It’s what we have been working towards to bring everyone back. Rhya, can you open a portal?”

Reaching up a lazy hand he gives it a wave as a portal opens for you and Licht who smiles. “Thank you my friend.” Humming Rhya goes back to his nap not worried in the slightest and that reassures you. Licht after all was the leader of the elves, so why should you worry?

Once more gently guiding you with an encouraging arm at your back you step through. Stepping out it is just the two of you as your eyes land on a large stone tablet with lines connecting indents together that you quickly realize is in the shape of a tree and a tingle runs through your body. Licht glancing over at you calmly taking in your reaction. “Do you know what this is?”

“I... think so.” You speak carefully, racking your brain for the name. “Isn’t this a monument to the Tree of Life?” You only break your gaze when Licht speaks again.

“Yes.” Gold eyes bright on you, he turns his attention to the monument. “If we complete it then we can bring everyone back and possibly your memories will return fully as well.” Noticing your questioning glance he smiles. “When all the magic stones are in place we will be able to resurrect the others. I was able to bring Rhya, Fana and Vetto back through reincarnation magic, but my power has a limit. With this everyone will return and things can go back to the way they were.” Gaze shining as he looks on you watch him. Wanting to ask about the reincarnation magic he smiles so warmly yet. “If you have questions please ask, you have nothing to fear.”

“The magic you used to bring Rhya and the others back..” trailing you don’t know how to finish as Licht hums softly.

“As you can see they aren’t quite themselves because of it. Getting the stones can change that, once we get all of them they will be reborn fully into their bodies.”

Relaxing you gently nod as Licht gives a light squeeze on your shoulder. Licht doesn’t tell you the whole truth, only what you want to hear, but being who he is you trust him. “I hope that can happen soon, even if I don’t remember everything. I still want to help.”

Hearing this a glint shines in his golden eyes as he speaks. “There is a way, those stones on the monument. If you see a stone like that please tell us about it. We need all of them to bring everyone back, and hopefully your memories along with them. I know this is all a lot to take in, so please take your time.”

Gazing back at the stones you feel a click inside your mind, you know where one of them is now. You may not remember everything, but you still mean something to these people. Even if you have your own life you can help rebuild theirs and in a way your own. “I…” just at the one word you have Licht’s utmost attention. “I know where one is.”

You don’t see it since you’re focusing on the stones and monument but his eyes widen in shock as an almost devilish smile crosses his features for a split second. By the time you look back at him his expression is intrigued and joyus. “Where did you get it? Would you mind bringing it here? It would mean a lot to me. To all of us.” Despite his calm tone you can see the excitement in his eyes.

Slowly nodding you speak gently. “Yes, I can get it.” His head bows a bit and eyes close in thanks, taking your hand giving it a reassuring squeeze, and the two of you head back through the portal.

Head raised Licht speaks up. “Rhya, take Ophelia back home to get something will you?”

Stirring he cracks an eye open. “What? Why is she leaving and coming right back, besides you two took some time coming back. It takes a bit of mana keeping that portal open.”

“Ophelia knows where one of the stones are so we can bring the others back.” At this Fana and Vetto come over and Rhya sits up fully awake.

“Do you really... know where one is? That is wonderful Ophelia… wonderful.” Eyes blank she pads over taking your hand in a one of hers and patting the top of yours with her other.

Even Vetto looks happy about it and you feel a little less scared of him despite his appearance. Hopping up from his rock Rhya stretches while walking over. “Alright, you ready sweetheart?” Giving another yawn he opens a portal and you give an amused smile. Glancing back at the others for a moment you step through and Rhya follows shortly.

Letting out a baited breath you are relieved to find no one is home yet. Hurrying up to your room as he walks lazily behind you. “What’s the hurry? It isn’t like Licht can’t wait another few minutes to get the stone.” Glancing back you head in the direction of your room listening and feeling carefully for any mana about.

“How many times do I have to tell you it would be difficult to explain?” You hiss in a hushed voice much to Rhya’s amusement.

“It’s fine everyone is out yet, besides if someone did walk in you could always tell them I’m your boyfriend.” Tone teasing you can’t help but blush, especially at his suggestion given the memory you had yesterday.

Entering your room you take a breath and focus walking over to the small wooden vanity with a hand carved wooden box on it. As you feel Rhya curiously watching from behind you lift the lid and gently take out the rectangular stone. Some kind of white marking on it with the stone itself being a peridot green. Gently taking it off a piece of cloth your fingers brush a broken bracelet with what looks like butterflies on it and a feeling of sadness rushes over you.

About to hand it to Rhya he shakes his head. “You give it to him, it will make him happy. Besides, how long have you had it anyway? Seems like you’ve taken good care of it.”

Glancing back at the stone you nod. “Yeah… I found it when I was little. I think around five years old. It was around in the dirt of one of dad’s fields, part of me thought it was pretty, but also I felt drawn to it. It was sad seeing it laying there.”

“Hmm so back then you knew huh?” Giving a shrug you stare at it a little more while his eyes wander inside the box to the broken bracelet. “You know, you could fix that up and wear it again. It always was your favorite.” Surprised you glance back to the box as well and bite your lip.

“This was mine?” Nodding he gives a smile as if remembering something and you shake your head. “I can’t, I feel so sad looking at it. All I can remember is… that day.” Thinking back your heart aches remembering the running, screaming, smoke and blood. Remembering seeing Licht holding Tetia’s body. Running towards Rhya having found him, moments later a pain running through your body as his gold eyes go wide. Shouting your name as his fingers catch on the bracelet and it breaks.

Hand on your shoulder Rhya lets you know he is there, and remembers as well. “Maybe someday.” Giving a halfhearted smile you gently nod back, blinking away any tears threatening to fall. Arms around you he stays with you for a while until you relax again. “Let’s get back to Licht.”

Letting out a heavy breath you nod, and the two of you walk through a portal back to the others. Seeing and sensing your return in a blink Licht is at your side. Startled you gasp and scream nearly dropping the stone, but two hands wrap around the one you hold it in.

“I think you should do the honors.” Gently handing it back, Licht wraps your fingers around the stone again glancing at Rhya as the man nods, opening a portal. Hesitantly you nod in agreement and eager to get it in place he ushers you through the portal. Coming part way towards the monument with you and stopping letting you continue the rest in your own time.

Slowly you approach the tablet as your kneel to put the stone in its proper place. With a deep breath in and out you insert the stone gasping. A rush coming over you as you feel others, not with you directly but… they are so familiar it brings tears to your eyes. Staring you don’t speak for a while too shocked from what you experienced. “I-... what that…? I think I felt them.” Standing up shakily to face Licht wide eyed as he nods solemnly to you.

“Yes, that was them. The spirits of everyone else from our tribe, I hope if you had any doubt left of who you are it is cleared up.”

Closing your eyes to steel yourself you nod. “Yes.”

Gently smiling he holds out his hand. “Let’s go back to the others, I know Fana has been wanting to speak with you. She misses you greatly, and would like to catch up.”

The next day you visit the others Fana talks to you trying to connect the best she can. Asking what you remember or telling you about a memory you don’t quite remember. Vetto is surprisingly chatty as well, speaking to him about your magic when asked and by the time you leave again you almost don’t wish to.

Back at your home Rhya is about to lay on the couch as he blinks and glances over to a spot in the living room mildly annoyed. “Aw man, what a pain.”

Unable to ask what he means the man falls backwards through a portal on the couch. Simultaneously a pair of large double doors open up revealing a portal, and a man with curly brown hair piled on his head steps through. “Hello, hello! I’m looking for a Miss Ophelia, would you be her?” Nodding you are surprised as he takes a scroll out making it all very formal and very real “I am Cob, Cob Portaport one of the Wizard King’s advisors! As requested by Julius Novachrono the 28th Wizard King I am here to bring you to the capital!” Tone chipper and cheery you are relieved.

“Oh, please give me a moment! I need to tell my family.” Smiling he nods and says something a bit odd.

“Oh of course- of coursity course Miss!”

Quickly you run outside to tell them only to meet at the door, they must have felt the extra mana it was hard to miss. Thankfully it is kept short. In between Rhya’s visits you explained to your family about the letters, or rather reminded them, and even though they are hesitant a request from the Wizard King and four Captains is hard to turn down. Saying goodbye was a bit odd, but you would see them again. Besides you’re an adult, this was a step not only for you, but for giving them a better life.

Returning to Cob you smile and nod at him nervously as he smiles. “Step right through Miss! You’ll be taken right to the Wizard King’s office!”

Entering the double doors you come out on the other side in a well furnished building with what seems like marble tile. Eyes wandering the room you see a man with blue hair who straightens up and addresses you. “Ah, you must be Ophelia. Thank you for coming, and welcome to the Capital.”

#oc ophelia #black clover #black clover oc #nozel x oc #nozel x ophelia

10 notes · View notes

ksgeekgirl · 4 years

Text

Back to the House that Love Built - Chapter 1: Bucket List

Title: Bucket List Word Count: 2800k Warnings: None in this chapter...but they are coming! Pairing: Francisco Morales (Pedro Pascal, Triple Frontier) x Kaylah Riley OFC Chapter Summary: Takes place about 18 months before the happenings in Triple Frontier. Your standard grumpy pilot boy meets girl :) Author’s note: After watching Triple Frontier I couldn’t believe how they did my boy Frankie, so I decided to give him the back story he so richly deserved. Big thanks to @heather-lynn for helping me with story structure, being a kick ass beta and encouraging the shit out of me. If you like it, please let me know!

Kaylah stretched her arms over her head, rolling her neck slowly in a circle. She’d been ma’am’d to death, had her heart blessed and had way more people than she was comfortable with knowing a little bit of her personal details. She’d even had one man, who sounded old enough to be her grandpa tell her “you sound real pretty, i’m sure we can work something out.” Hard pass.

Despite that, every call ended the same way -- way out of her price range or unwilling to help. So now, she was down to the last name. Her final shot.

She picked up her phone and tapped in the number, a little too aggressively, as she got psyched for one last call.

“Okay Francisco Morales,” she said to herself as she popped her airpods back in and hit send, “ I dare you to tell me no.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Frankie had been working at the airport for eight months and it was a good fit. He was flying copters, getting in the air daily and keeping him close to the team. His brothers. They had been to hell and back in the nearly 20 years they were together in the Army -- then it all ended about 18 months ago.

That first 10 months had been rough, he’d never really thought about what he’d do when he got out because he didn’t think he’d live to see the day. And he wasn’t alone. All of the guys were a little afloat after leaving the Army, except for Pope who was doing the same work, just without the flag. But, things had settled and while it wasn’t exciting it was so much better than he deserved, in his opinion.

He was working four days on and three days off lately running workers out to oil rigs and various other projects. This was the end of a four day shift and he was running the post trip checks to make sure the bird was ready when he came back.

The beginning notes of Go Away by Godsmack began blaring from his phone, which only meant an unknown number. Frankie contemplated ignoring the call, but he was still on the clock and he was nothing if not responsible.

“Morales…” there was a pause before Frankie heard a very determined Southern drawl.

“Mr. Morales, my name is Kaylah Riley. Johnny Rowland over at Channel 9 said that you were the man who would be able to help me.” Kaylah didn’t even slow down before launching into her ask, not wanting to give him a chance to tell her no.

“I’m looking for someone to take my mom and me up on a private tour. I know it’s a big ask, but i’ll be happy to pay for your expenses…” she heard him start to ma’am her on the other end and barrelled on “..and an additional fee for your time, we can make any time work to fit your schedule,” another soft ma’am on the other end “...we’d just really…”

“MA’AM” Frankie almost yelled to get her attention. “I’m sorry, but we’re not a charter service. I’d be happy to give you the name…”

“Mr. Morales, you don’t understand, I…”

“No, Miss. Riley was it? I do understand. I’m sure one of the charter groups would be a much better experience. Like I said I'd be happy to recommend someone.” Frankie was not in the habit of giving Southern belles helicopter tours. He was about ready to give her a name when he heard her voice crack.

“Mr. Morales, I’m going to be honest with you.” Kaylah could hear the defeat in her own voice as she laid it out. “I’ve called every charter and pilot in a 100 mile radius. You’re my last chance.”

“Miss Riley, I…” Kaylah barreled on.

“You see, my mom is dying. She has taken care of me my entire life and I’m trying to help her knock off her bucket list before she is ripped from me. Unfortunately the crazy woman’s list includes a helicopter ride.” a laugh bordering on panic bubbled out of Kaylah’s chest. “Please Mr. Morales, you really are my last hope.”

Silence stretched on the line as Frankie took off his baseball cap and laid it on the workbench, running his free hand through his shaggy hair as he dropped onto a stool. He should tell her no. It wasn’t his problem. He could feel in his bones that this wouldn’t be a simple job.

“Mr. Morales, please?” her voice was pleading. The edge from earlier gone and replaced with anguish.

Shaking his head, Frankie pulled his cap back on. “Yeah. I’ll do it.” Frankie couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across his face as he heard her clap on the other end. He swore he could feel her smile through the phone.

Frankie looked at the reports, “Weather is shit this weekend, pardon my language, but next Saturday should work. Can you be here at 10?” His hand rubbing the back of his neck as he talked.

“We’ll make it work. And Mr. Morales,” Kaylah took a big breath, a tear escaping her eye, “thank you.”

“Yeah. Next weekend.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kaylah was excited to get home that night and tell her mom the good news. Dropping her backpack by the door and kicking off the shoes, she didn’t bother yelling for her mom. She knew the tiny woman would be planted on the back patio, ice tea in one hand and book in the other.

She grabbed a beer on the way through the kitchen, leaning against the frame of the french door watching her mom a bit before breaking the silence. She’d nodded off, her chin resting on her chest and snoring lightly. Kaylah pushed off and walked over to the wicker loveseat, shaking her lightly.

“Momma..” She jerks awake, looking around until Kaylah comes into focus.

“Kaylah-girl. How long have you been home?” Her mom’s accent sounded so weird to others, but it was comforting to Kaylah. Born in Dublin and married to a Texas native, Maureen Riley had the odd combination of twang and lilt that could make her almost impossible to understand. Even after forty years in America.

“Just got here,” She sat and slid an arm around her mom. “I have some good news.”

Maureen’s eyes sparkled as she took in her daughter, “Good news? Let me guess...you have a date?”

“Sort of,” Kaylah smiled as she saw her mom’s mouth drop open, “WE have a date to go up in a helicopter next Saturday.”

Honest to god her mom squealed like a six year old, causing Kaylah to break out laughing, but that was followed by a very serious expression.

“Momma, what’s wrong?”

“Oh nothing baby...i’m just trying to figure out what you wear to fly in a helicopter!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His little corner of the airport was dead on Saturday. Frankie got there early that morning, one to get the bird ready and two, because he wouldn’t put it past Kaylah Riley -- because she always used both names -- to be there early.

He had grabbed a couple of blankets on the way out this morning. It got cold up there and he’s not sure that his suggestion to dress warm really got through to her when she called on Thursday. It may be the South, but it was still January and the combination of altitude and wind could make it brisk to say the least.

Frankie had just gotten the headsets tested and ready to go when he saw a beige SUV pull up. He checked his watch, 9:30, just as he’d expected. He was walking out to tell her she’d have to move to the parking lot as she rounded the front of the car.

He didn’t know what he’d expected, but he could say without a doubt it wasn’t the pretty redhead that was headed his way. Frankie didn’t know if you could be fearless and fragile at the same time, but that was what popped in his mind seeing Kaylah Riley for the first time. Shit.

“Mr. Morales,” the wind whipping her ponytail as she walked up to Frankie, hand extended, “Kay…”

“Kaylah Riley. Got it.” Frankie gripped her hand in a strong shake, trying not to get distracted by her bright red lips. “You’ll need to move your car, you can’t leave it there.”

“Good morning to you to Mr. Morales…” Kaylah was glad she had on her sunglasses so he couldn’t see her eye roll. “I’d planned on moving it, I simply wanted to drop my mom off first...walking really wears her out,”

Kaylah pulled her hand back, realizing that she was still holding his long after the shake, shoving her hands in her pockets. “I mean, If that’s okay with you…”

“Yeah. That’s fine,” Frankie nodded his head at the tiny woman headed their way “but I think she got tired of waiting for you.”

Kaylah turned to see her mom strolling their direction. She couldn’t tell what made Maureen look more silly, the mirrored aviator sunglasses, her dad’s old leather bomber jacket or the long white scarf that was roughly the same color as her hair.

“Ma’am,” Kaylah turned to look at a smirking Frankie, one hand on his hip, “is she dressed like the Red Baron?”

She couldn’t help but laugh, “Mr. Morales, my mom is not what you’d call understated.”

To his credit, Frankie didn’t laugh, but the way his eyes crinkled showed how amused he was. Before she knew what he was doing, Frankie stepped around her, jogging towards her mom and offering his arm like a proper gentleman. Kaylah watched them walk towards her, Maureen’s charm in full effect, but her eyes were on the man next to her. Baseball cap pulled down, jacket stretched across his broad shoulders. Dear lord, she was staring like a teenager.

“A Stór, Francisco was just delightful to help me over here wasn’t he?” Maureen smiled up at Frankie. “Now go park the car and hurry back so we can get up in the air!”

Kaylah smiled and gave her mom a small salute. “I’ll be right back” and headed back to the car. When Maureen turned to watch her go, Frankie followed her gaze. Kaylah’s black moto jacket ending at her waist and drawing Frankie’s eyes down her slim frame. Biting the inside of his jaw, he pulls his hat down a little lower, definitely not what he’d expected.

Maureen was watching Frankie watch Kaylah, a glint in her eye as a smile spread across her face before she squeezed his arm. “Francisco, do you have somewhere I can sit down?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kaylah looked back at the retreating figures as she started the car and pulled towards the parking lot. She was a little embarrassed at what she had expected with Francisco Morales. Johnny had told her that he was a vet, the best pilot he knew and a man of few words. What she had constructed in her mind in no way matched the man that was chatting up her mother. He wasn’t what passed for handsome these days. She’s seen handsome up close and that was surface level at best. He was something else.

She parked and turned off the car, checking her reflection in the mirror, searching for the right word to describe him. Shoving her wallet and phone into her jacket pocket she jumped out of the car as the word came to her.

Masculine.

Francisco Morales was inherently masculine. Not macho, but just so comfortable in who he was there was no need to try and convince others. Like the Marlboro Man...with a helicopter. The only other man she’d known like that was her dad.

Kaylah shook off that thought as she walked, looking up to see her mom already strapped into the front seat of the bird, headset in place and blanket tucked around her.

“Momma?” Kaylah shielded her eyes as she looked up at her mom. “You two leaving without me?”

“If you don’t hurry up we will,” Maureen shouted. “Now hurry up so Francisco can get you strapped in. I want to fly!”

“Yes Ma’am!” Kaylah hurried around the copter where Frankie was waiting. She was trying to get in when she felt warm hands on her waist lifting her up drawing a little gasp out of her.

“Sorry.” Frankie mumbled as he strapped her into the seat, tightening the belt around her soft hips, his eyes catching on the glimpse of freckled thigh through the stylish tear in her jeans. He bit his lip as he handed her the headset, using the bill of his cap to keep from looking at her. “You’ll be able to talk to us without doing anything. Just say something if you have a problem.”

Kaylah nodded her head, at a loss for words...a condition that seldom plagued her. She watched as Frankie went through his process to get the helicopter running and then, they were in the air.

While she took in the sites from 1,000 feet up, Frankie was the perfect tour guide. He and Maureen talked non-stop. No, that wasn’t accurate. Maureen talked non-stop and Frankie added the well timed “hum” or “really” that kept her in peak storytelling mode. In fact, she could have stayed on the ground and neither of them would have known. It was glorious.

With their conversation as the soundtrack of the trip, the tour had passed quicker than expected as Kaylah saw the airport below. Coming to an end as Frankie sat the helicopter down as gentle as putting a baby to sleep. Kaylah was impressed as she heard his deep voice through the headset.

“Wait until the blades stop before you unbuckle, then I'll come help you out.”

Kaylah couldn’t help herself, her smart ass comeback slipping out before she even thought about it. “Aye, aye Captain.”

“I was never a Captain,” the scratchy voice caused her to snap her head up to see Frankie looking at her over his shoulder. She couldn’t tell if he was joking or if she’d offended him. Kaylah was fairly sure that Francisco Morales didn’t have a funny bone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was about 30 minutes from when they landed until Kaylah headed back across the apron towards her car, leaving her mom in Frankie’s capable hands until she could return.

Frankie watched Maureen get misty watching her daughter, seeing that as his cue to distract her and keep her focused on the great day. “Mrs. Riley…”

“Francisco...please call me Maureen” she patted him on the leg, dabbing at her eyes.

“Maureen then, you remind me so much of my mamá. Not just your personality and, um...stature,” Frankie smiled remembering the feisty little woman “but I don’t think anyone outside of Uncle Sam has referred to me as Francisco since she passed. Visiting with you today has given me a little piece of her back. Thank you.”

Maureen smiled as she watched the years fall away from Frankie’s face as he thought of his mom. “What a lovely compliment Francisco. How old were you when you lost your mother?”

“I was 20,” Frankie stopped, the muscle in his jaw working as he thought of that time. “In fact, I've been without her longer than I had her.”

Maureen stood, and without saying a word, wrapped him in the kind of hug that only can come from a mom. “I know I can’t replace her, and lord knows you’ve had time to learn to live without her, but you don’t hesitate to call me if you need a stand-in mom.”

She pulled back as she heard the car approach, patting him softly on the chest before turning to wave at Kaylah. Frankie moved to help her toward the car, walking in companionable silence as Kaylah came around to open the door.

As they reached the car, Maureen turned and looked up to Frankie, patting him on the cheek, “I meant what I said Francisco.” Frankie smiled and took her hand, kissing the back of it...the same sign of affection he used to bestow on his mom.

“Yes ma’am.”

Frankie stepped back as Kaylah got Maureen situated in the car and shut the door. She turned, pushing her sunglasses on her head, as she looked up at Frankie, extending her hand.

“Mr. Moral…” Frankie interrupted her as he enveloped her small hand in his, “Please, call me Frankie.”

“Okay. Well, thank you for everything,” Kaylah smiled up at him, pushing her sunglasses back down as she broke the handshake. “Frankie.”

Kaylah made her way back to her side of the car. Getting in with a quick wave and driving off, leaving Frankie standing on the apron as her taillights disappeared. He scuffed his boot against the seam in the asphalt, shaking his head as he looked down. He knew this wasn’t going to be a simple trip.

Shit.

#frankie morales #catfish morales #pedro pascal #please read this #just the beginning

18 notes · View notes

beautifulletdownfics · 4 years

Text

Twenty Good Reasons :: Part Six

Harry romanced me into staying.

Our parents came and went, leaving New York happy and proud of the young man they were fortunate enough to know so well.

Those five days with them I spent sightseeing and exploring a city I had been in many time before, but doing so with the safety of parents and siblings came with an extra serve of freedom. I'd have never been able to experience it the same way if Harry had been tagging along.

He met us for lunch, or would go out somewhere with me in the mornings but most of the time he was busy working. In the evenings before and after Harry’s show there were early dinners and late drinks in beautiful restaurants but they always ended with the stress of trying to leave paparazzi swarmed locations safely.

For our families' sake, I forced myself into happiness during those four day. But really I felt like I hardly spent any time with Harry.

I missed him.

It melted away though, the night of the first show of tour. Harry was so nervous for it, the added pressure of everyone's families being there was always in the forefront of his mind. He didn't eat anything all day, I knew because he had most of it off and spent it firmly holding my hand wherever we found ourselves.

By the time it hit four o'clock and it was time to head to the venue for the last minute sound checks and pre-show rituals Harry was looking and feeling unwell. Anne had been pestering him all day to eat something before it was too close to the show and too late but he wasn't having any of it. I didn't want to push him in any direction, he knew his body and what worked for him by now.

Twenty minutes before he was set to go on, Harry sent me a text from the other side of the room where he was going over some last minute details with the band. He asked me to get a banana and meet him out in the corridor, slightly around the corner away from everyone else.

He ate the piece of fruit slowly, leaning back on the wall in front of me. I carefully asked and he shut his eyes as he listed off all the reasons why he was so nervous for this performance in particular. Harry excused them all as silly, rolling his eyes at himself. He was nervous for the whole tour mostly; for being away and being 'on' for so many months in a row.

We had a cuddle in the hallway echoing with the sounds of crew running through their final checks and tasks before the show could start. The whole stadium felt like it was buzzing as well as it filled with his fans. I got Harry laughing by slipping my hands into the back pockets of his jeans and giving his bum a squeeze. He squirmed away from me in surprise and the smile on his face was exactly what I had wanted to see.

"You're evil!" Harry accused through pink cheeks.

I stepped back up to him and adjusted a few pieces of the hair around his face, "All my evil I learned from you."

He tilted his head to one side briefly, giving his shoulders a small shrug, "Well, that's true."

I laughed.

"But it also means I must've gotten all my sweet from you," Harry continued, lowering the tone of his voice at the end to be proper sappy.

"You're an idiot," I told him, messing up his hair in retaliation.

Harry looked surprised by my actions for a moment before he grabbed for my waist and ghosted his fingers up my side in the beginnings of a tickling motion, "Gimme a kiss."

"Don't tickle and I will," I bargained, trying as best I could to push his forearms so he'd stop touching the sensitive bits of me.

Harry's arms stilled and he lifted them up to hold his palms up to me, "I'm not. Look, I'm not, promise."

I narrowed my eyes at him playfully, "Okay."

"Woo!" Harry cheered, making a big show out of drawing his arm back around my lower back in a sweeping movement to get me close enough to his body for him to kiss me.

It was a slow kiss, and I felt Harry breathe out through his nose in one long, calming motion. As his lips opened to deepen our movement he took a steady stream of oxygen in, hugging me tighter and letting me know exactly how much he needed me here. I clutched my hands into the back of his t-shirt, letting my thumbs rub light circles in continuous patterns.

I loved this man so much.

Harry slowed it down just as quickly as it began, holding my face lovingly and resting his lips without moving them against mine for just a few seconds before moving away.

"Hmm," He hummed, swaying me another in a hug, "I'm a lucky guy."

"You're going to have a great show," I told him confidently.

"Damn right I am," Harry lightly pressed his lips to the corner of my mouth, “I’ve got my lucky fiancé here."

"Much more practical than lucky underwear," I retorted, earning a squeeze from Harry.

He took a deep breath then, filling out his shoulders and moving back to stand up straight in front of me, “Alright, let’s do this then.”

I tilted my chin to adjust to his height, “I love you.”

Harry nodded, and just when I thought he was going to turn and start leading us back to everyone else he reached up for his hair and sighed before looking back down at me, "Will you stay?”

I frowned, “You mean here? You don’t want me to watch the show?”

“No,” Harry shook his head quickly, holding onto the back of his neck and pulling so his head automatically moved back. He stared at the roof for a few seconds before speaking again, his voice cracking with the words when they finally came, “I mean tomorrow when everyone goes home … Will you stay with me?”

My eyes rimmed with water, I didn’t feel ready to go home either, “Of course I will, H.”

He let out a small laugh and one tear fell down his cheek, “Okay. Good.”

“Come here, you big softie,” I teased, holding my arms up and pulling his shoulders down against my own.

Harry lifted me off my feet when his hands latched around my waist, “I love you, Neens.”

******

The show was fantastic.

Being the first of the tour, the band were all glad to be back and the enthusiasm with which they met the show was genuine for all of them, back on stage together and excited to have themselves an audience again.

Harry himself shone. His day of nerves turned into a fun and high energy stage presence. His voice sounded beautiful and he looked confident up commanding the whole arena. It was obvious to me that he genuinely loved all the people up on stage supporting him and his band enjoyed performing with him just as much.

Afterwards, Harry corralled everyone he could to come back to the hotel bar for drinks with our families who would be flying back in England in the morning. Nobody seemed too concerned with being out late, although my mother looked as though she wasn't far from sleeping upright.

We were standing at the bar together waiting for the drinks we'd ordered. Harry leaned down to kiss the side of my head, "I'm so happy you're staying."

I squeezed his side with the arm I had around him.

******

The show the next night was even better than the first.

It was amazing to see even just the subtle ways that being rid of the first night nerves made such a difference to Harry’s performance. His voice was properly warmed up this time (after a day of him happily drinking the required three litres of water and eating the right sorts of foods) and it was like all the notes I had sensed him hesitating on the night before he completely obliterated.

“I give your vocal performance a nine-point-eight out of ten tonight, H,” I told him happily, resting my head on his shoulder in the car on the way back to the hotel.

“Nine-point-eight?” He questioned, “That’s pretty generous seeing as most of my runs are the same as the last leg. I need to figure out some new ones.”

“Different audiences to the last leg,” I patted his thigh encouragingly, watching him type a text to his dad, “They’re new to ninety percent of who you’re singing to every night.”

“I think you’re severely underestimating just how many videos of each show get posted online,” Harry was practically rolling his eyes at me as he was focused on his phone.

I covered his phone screen with my hand and sat up slightly, “Why are you being grumpy at me for?”

“I’m not grumpy at you,” Harry sighed before letting out a long breath as he pocketed the phone and then kissed my hairline gently, “I’m sorry my tone wasn’t very nice. I love you.”

“Apology accepted,” I settled back into his side.

“Thank you. Now,” He reached for my hand and rested our joined ones easily back on the top of his thigh, “How about a midnight swim?”

“Harry,” I let out a groan, “Really?”

He nodded eagerly, “Really. It’s late enough that they’ll close it off and we can have it just to ourselves.”

“That doesn’t make me any more keen,” I told him.

“Why not?” Harry asked, twirling my engagement ring around my finger absentmindedly.

I let out a huff of breath, “I’m about to get my period.”

His confusion was evident, “How does ‘about to’ translate to ‘no swimming’? It’s only ‘about to’.”

“I just … I’m all bloated and I’ve got chin pimples and don’t want to be in a bikini right now.”

“Please?” Harry requested sweetly, his eyes darted to my chin, “If it makes you feel any better I hadn’t really even noticed your chin pimples until you just pointed them out.”

“Liar.”

“It’s true!” He insisted, “Your face is beautiful, that’s what I see every time I look at it.”

“It’s also a little thing called concealer,” I told him, “Which comes off in water.”

“Oh come off it, Neens,” Harry shook his head but kept his eyes out on the road, “Don’t pretend I’ve never seen your spots before. Mine are always nastier than yours anyway.”

I ran my fingers up his temples and pushed the hair off his forehead to inspect his clear skin, “You barely get any pimples anymore, H.”

“Hardly ever get my period either,” He joked.

I dropped my hand and jabbed him in the side, “No period jokes!”

“Okay, okay!” Harry laughed at himself briefly but then settled himself down, “Just a little swim?”

“Half an hour,” I instructed, trying to put my foot down.

When we arrived at the hotel Harry carried both our day bags over one shoulder, holding my hand with his free arm. It was a hotel I found myself internally applauding for the fact they had their main entrance underground where only permitted vehicles could access. It meant there wasn't a crowd of people waiting for the band when they got back after a show.

Harry had already had a quick shower at the venue after the show, so when we got back to our room he instructed me I had five minutes while he made us each a tea in which I was to get into my swim suit. I came back out of the bathroom, after spending a few minutes assessing the state of my bloated tummy in the mirror, to Harry standing in the small kitchenette wearing just a tiny pair of electric blue shorts.

"Are you not going to ask me what sort of tea I'd like then?"

Harry didn't turn around straight away, I could tell by the movement of the muscles on his back that he was still dunking one of the teabags vigorously, "I made a raspberry and a peppermint so we can both have some of each," He said, "You never know what you feel like at this time of night anyway."

"Cheeky," I warned, coming up behind him and resting a hand on his bare lower back.

"Oh, hey!" Harry jumped at the contact and turned around in my arm, his eyes went down my body from first meeting my eyes, "Well aren't you a vision in black?"

"And you in blue," I smiled brightly, accepting the kiss he was bending down to give me. As he did so I pushed one of the two t-shirts of his I had brought with me from the bedroom for us to wear on the way.

“To the pool!” Harry declared happily after he pulled away from me, clutching the fabric of the shirt I’d given me and watching me amorously as I pulled my head through the other and let it hang down my body.

He carried both mugs of tea the whole way through the halls and then down a few levels in the elevator to the pool while I trailed alongside him with two hotel towels hanging over my shoulder. In the elevator he’d stood by my side making silly faces in the mirrored door and twice on the walk to the pool he’d tried to trip me up by sticking his foot out in front of where I was about to walk.

I was dealing with playful Harry tonight.

When were were standing in the eerily deserted pool room Harry walked right over to the edge of the pool closest to us and placed the mugs side by side just back from the lip. He then stood up and peeled the shirt from his body before turning back to the chairs I was putting the towels and my own discarded shirt on and threw it at me.

“You’re a terrible shot,” I told him, taking a step away from the chair to pick up the shirt that had fallen short a few feet.

“This is the money maker,” He held a hand up to his throat, a cheeky glint in his eyes, “People don’t care much if I can throw things, do they?”

I walked over to the pool just as Harry had crouched over the side and was lowering himself down into the water showing off all his upper body strength as his arms flexed under the weight of the rest of him. When he was standing on the bottom of the pool he took a few steps back to make way for me. I sat on the edge though and put my legs into the water.

“C’mon,” Harry coaxed, stepping back up to the edge and putting both his hands over my thighs, “I didn’t bring you for a paddle.”

I braced my hands on his shoulders then, waiting for Harry’s hands to go to my hips before sliding forward and into the water in front of him. Harry smiled pleasantly as I adjusted to the temperature and bobbed myself up and down where I wasn’t as tall as him and couldn’t reach the bottom so comfortably. The water came up to just below his collarbones.

“You picked the deepest end,” I complained, springing off the bottom from the tips of my toes one last time before latching onto Harry and curling my legs around his hips.

“Ah, my little, angry, shortass,” Harry sighed sarcastically, kissing my hairline just below my temple.

“This was a deliberate ploy,” I accused.

“Yep,” He laughed, moving one of the hands resting on my hips to the middle of my back and then a little lower, “This was my intention all along.”

I couldn’t help but give up the small crease I’d held on my forehead to jokingly berate him, laughing with him and planting a wet kiss on his lips, “You’re in a happy mood tonight, I like it.”

“It’s having you here,” Harry explained easily, “Being around you is magic.”

I felt the air around us quieten down then, and I ran my fingers through the front of his hair, “I think all this time I was too scared to come out and meet you I forgot the simple fact that yeah, maybe it would be a lot of attention but I mean, it was you,” I ended on a whisper, “That I’d be coming out to meet you. I missed out on so much time we could’ve had together.”

Harry walked over to the edge then, reaching for a mug and handing it to me before taking the other himself, “You can’t think of it like that, Neens. We’re okay.”

“I just don’t like the thought of all the times when I could’ve made you happy like this but didn’t because I was too scared to be with you,” I explained, taking a slow sip of raspberry tea but keeping my eyes on Harry.

"Don't let hindsight fool you into thinking we used to be unhappy, Nina," He told me with all the wisdom of a man much older, "Just because this is fantastic doesn't mean I was miserable before. I mean, sure," Harry admitted slowly, "I prefer you being here ... But usually I would've just called you after a show anyway."

Something that had been bothering me this week suddenly came to the forefront of my mind, I initially hadn't know how to broach it with Harry and then with everyone else rambling around there never seemed to be a good time. Or I would forget about it.

“Neens?"

"Sorry," I shook my head, realizing I'd curled into the thoughts into my head mid conversation.

Harry's hand found my arm under the water and he drew little patterns on the underside of my forearm, "What's got you?"

"I haven't really known how to approach Tim," I said quietly, "I feel guilty and don't know what to say. I don't want to make it worse for him."

Harry frowned, "How could you make it worse? No, wait. First, why do you feel guilty?"

We were both talking about Tim’s recent breakup that it was evident he was still adjusting to and I hadn't really spent any time with him since. I’d spent the last week desperate to reach out to Harry’s bandmate but not knowing how to.

"Alexis was always on tour with you guys," I said, feeling the slow rise of tears, "Surely if anyone should've broken up it should've been—

“—Oh no," Harry shook his head, put his mug down and stepped closer to me, "No, no. It doesn't work like that and I won't let you think like it either."

"But Harry, I mean she was here all the time and surely he's thinking it's not fair that here we are getting engaged and me staying on with you I mean ..."

"Nina," Harry wrapped his arm around my middle and slowly moved me closer to him, I hooked my legs around him again and he held me steadily, "We don't deserve to have broken up instead. That's not how it works. It's one thing to be sad with Tim, but it's another entirely to feel guilty for being happy at the same time. He's not bitter like that and I can promise you he's not standing by watching us together wishing us ill."

"I miss her," I told him, "It doesn't seem fair that her and Tim aren’t—"

“—Nina,” Harry interrupted me again, "It's not about fairness. Tim and Alexis were the two most important people in that relationship and it ended because of choices they made. We had nothing to do with it and we certainly can't be blamed now."

"I'm not saying we broke them up," I conceded slowly.

"I know, but it's an extension of the thought process, Neens. A dangerous one."

"I know."

He let out a long sigh like an admission was about to come, "And it's one I recently spent a fair bit of money keeping out of the press."

I put the mug of raspberry tea down as my hand started to shake, I didn't like the sound of that, "What are you talking about?"

"After our engagement," Harry leant his head back and looked at the roof, "After it was in the press some idiot at The Sun wrote an exposé about how I was flaunting you by proposing off the back of their break up. It was mean spirited and nasty and I couldn’t bear Tim having to see that shit online.”

"Why didn't you tell me about it?" I asked softly.

Harry gave me a sad sort of smile, “My team saw it first, and I wanted to deal with it quickly before anyone got upset by it. Especially seeing as it was all a load of horse shit."

"So what," I questioned brashly, "You just paid off a tabloid?"

"No," Harry shook his head calmly, "We sent a Cease and Desist, and told them to nominate a children's charity based in London for me to donate to on their behalf. Told them if they didn't cooperate we’d publicly slam them for it."

“You’re a good friend," I whispered against Harry's cheek when he pulled me in for a hug.

"He is," Harry argued back, “If I didn’t have Tim with me I doubt tours would go half as well.”

"Every time I see him I just want to give him a big hug ... But I don't want to upset him more."

Harry chuckled, "Nina, you should just give the guy a cuddle. He'll appreciate it."

"I'll be sure to find him tomorrow," I decided after a few breaths of silence.

Harry's hands slipped from my body then, and he stepped back as he lowered himself down in the water. I reached for the edge of the pool to hold myself up as I watched his head disappear under the water. I lowered myself down too, just enough to cover my neck and have my chin nearly fully in. Harry's hair stuck slick down his face when he resurfaced, and to get it out of his eyes he ducked back under and pulled his head forward to push it back.

"Can you help me out with some songs tomorrow between shows?"

I was surprised by the question but replied easily, "Of course."

Standing, Harry used his fingers to skim the surface of the water around him, his eyes stayed off me as he continued, "Thanks. I just ... I wrote a new one recently that needs a bit more musicality and I'm not really ready to share it with anyone else yet."

I smiled, "That's exciting though, right? You've been writing loads lately."

He looked back at me with a shy pride, "I'm starting to be really happy with what I've got down."

"Yeah?" I grinned.

"Yeah," Harry agreed, "I'm not really sure what to do with it yet. Or how it might work. But. It happening."

“Can you help me write a symphony after we sort out yours?”

Harry gave me a glum look, “Wish I could, babe, but I’m not even close to being at that level … Are you feeling any better after a bit of time away from it?”

“A little,” I said vaguely, playing with the necklace sitting in the middle of Harry’s chest, “Haven’t thought about it much, to be honest.” “That’ll be a good thing, you’ll see,” Harry encouraged, “Takes the pressure off.”

“Is this the part where you say ‘I told you so’?”

“No,” Harry whispered, leaning into give me a kiss, “I’ll be saying ‘I told you so’ when I’m sitting watching the London Symphony perform it in eighteen months’ time.”

I let go of my arms around his neck and watched Harry float off on his back across the pool. We were quiet for a number of minutes and I got to thinking about where we might be in eighteen months time.

"There are no fun games for two people in a pool," Harry complained suddenly from the opposite side, "We can't do shoulder wrestling and Marco Polo would just be shit."

I laughed, "And if we had a handstand competition you'd get huffy and leave again like the last time ..."

"You have a clear genetic advantage!" Harry argued back, "Girls are naturally better at gymnasticy things."

I rolled my eyes, "Alright, darling."

Immediately a huge splash of water came up into my face, "Don't 'darling' me! Sounds like my mum."

"That was the idea," I laughed again, wiping my fingers down over my face.

Harry swam towards me then, a playful glare on his face and before I collected enough good sense to back away he had lunged and grabbed me around the waist. He spun me around so that he was holding my back to his chest and started dragging me into the deeper water with him.

"Hey! Mind your hands, grabby!" I squirmed away from where one of Harry's arms around my stomach started shifting upwards.

His laugh sounded in my ear and he kissed my temple, "You're beautiful.”

I hummed out a laugh of my own, “So are you, cheeky.”

******

The next morning Harry’s alarm went off at five fifteen a.m.

He made himself sit up as soon as the noise ended, flicking on the light and holding his head in his hands tiredly. I watched his back from my place lying, still buried beneath the sheets. Harry was a morning shower person and I had the fleeting thought to join him as he padded across our hotel room and disappeared into the bathroom. Then, I decided closing my eyes for another ten minutes was a much nicer idea.

“Neens,” A slightly damn face pressed up against my cheek what felt like only seconds later.

“I’m up,” I croaked, digging myself further into the mattress.

“I let you have fifteen minutes more,” Harry said gently, he smelt of shaving cream and my shower gel, “If you still want to come with me you have to get up now.”

I took in a deep breath and then lifted myself up onto my elbows, “I’m up. I just need some clothes.”

Harry’s hand came down and he ran his fingers through my hair slowly, “Don’t rush, you’ve got time to get ready properly,” I felt his lips come down on the top of my head, “Wear comfortable shoes. There will be breakfast for us in the car.”

Our swimmers were hanging in bathroom and they were the first thing my eye was drawn to when I turned on the bright light. I found my blue jeans from the day before threaded over another of the rails. I had planned on wearing all black to disguise the way I wasn’t feeling particularly comfortable in my skin today, but Harry had beat me to the all black ensemble.

“Harry? Can I wear that black dress shirt that you—

“—This one?” He appeared in the doorway behind me and I saw him in the mirror, the silky material managing to hang from just his pointer finger. “Sure. Need help with those?”

I was struggling to pull up my jeans over my thighs and did not appreciate the raised eyebrows he was shooting my way, “No, don’t be rude. I’m bloated and gross and don’t need you pointing it out. Will you get me a bra, please?”

Harry left the room with a thoughtful look on his face that could easily have been mistaken for a deeply mindful musing but he returned holding a black lace bra with a cheeky smirk across his face, “Yes?”

I had the good sense to role my eyes at him before snatching it from him and turning back to the sink. I briefly assessed what needed to be done to my face makeup wise and then hooked my fingers underneath the hem of my sleep shirt. Just as I had started lifting it up over my stomach, Harry cleared his throat behind me.

“Are you just going to watch then?” I accused, dropping my hands to my side and giving him a look.

“Yeah,” He coughed, his eyes darting to my fingers, “I was.”

“Don’t be a creep!” I laughed, turning and taking a few steps so I could push his chest firmly, “Go finish getting ready.”

Harry clutched his hands around my arms, the smile huge on his face, “I am ready! It’s you who needs to hurry up! This is no time for stage fright, put your clothes on.”

I huffed and whipped off my sleep shirt in one, smooth movement. Harry watched on quietly as I fixed my bra with quick fingers behind my back and then tucked his shirt into my jeans, leaving the top two buttons undone. I pulled my hair into a low but scruffy ponytail, and allowed myself two minutes to apply mascara and sort out my spotty skin.

“Ready?” Harry asked when I turned back around to face him, he gave me a satisfying nod.

“No thanks to you,” I mumbled as I walked past him.

His arm swooped around my middle then, and he held me firmly up against his side, “I’m sorry,” Harry said tauntingly with smiling lips pressing into my temple, “From how I read the situation my help wouldn’t have been appreciated. You know I prefer removing the lingerie, putting it on isn’t in my skill set.”

“Don’t I know it.”

“I love you,” He moved his lips around around my face.

I relaxed slightly into the peppered kisses he was giving me, “You had your beady, little eyes on me,” I whined quietly.

“I like watching you,” Harry replied simply, “And it’s cute when you blush as though I’ve never seen your body before.”

“I’m in a delicate emotional state.”

“I know.”

“Should I bring a book today?” I changed the tone of the conversation and slowly Harry clicked his thinking into work mode. “Or will there be people I should be talking to?”

“Yeah, a book is a good idea,” He nodded, letting go of my waist and stepped around me, “Bring my laptop as well, and something warm to put on later.”

“No, I’ve learned my lesson, I’m definitely bringing something lighter to wear during the show tonight,” I snatched up a cotton dress and stuffed it into my handbag, “The venue felt like a sauna yesterday.”

“You know I’m always and advocate for legs out,” Harry said distractedly.

“Do you know where my headphones are … Oh I guess I shouldn’t bring them, hey, be a bit rude, ” I trailed off and stopped rummaging through my handbag when I caught the sound of Harry chuckling behind me. I turned to see what all the fuss was about but he was busy picking up things off the coffee table, shaking his head at whatever was amusing him, “Sorry? Did I miss the joke?”

Harry gave me a loving smile, “There’s no joke, just you having no idea about press days.”

I frowned, “What did I do?”

He shook his head again gently, “You don’t need to entertain anyone today, but it’s admirable that you were willing to.”

My shoulders sagged, “I only meant that—

“—I know what you meant,” Harry held out a hand to me and I stepped towards him tentatively, it wasn’t long before I was pulled up against his chest again, “I wasn’t laughing at you. I was having a moment of confounding incredulity over how lovely a person you are, Miss Lawrence. You’re not on duty today,” He bent down to place a kiss to my lips. “Just keep me sane between interviews.”

We gathered everything we would need for the day and left the room relatively quickly then. Harry tucked his laptop under his arm so he could take one of mine and still have the other hand free to hold the take-away juice cup that was waiting in the hands of a junior assistance when we arrived downstairs at the car.

There were more bodies than I thought there would be, lost of them weren’t familiar from the shows I’d been going to at night. Harry whispered into my ear who a few of them were, explaining how having international PR agencies meant that on press days there were often a few new faces in the mix.

“I’m sorry,” And unfamiliar girl stepped up to us, wearing a lanyard and looking more frazzled then I thought possible at six a.m. She was pretty and dressed in a simple, but professional looking outfit.

“It’s okay, love,” Harry smiled at her, taking the brown cardboard box that she was holding out to him, “What’ve we got in here?”

“This is breakfast,” She explained, looking with great concern between Harry and myself, “We only had a food list for you, Harry, so I just got two of everything. I wasn’t sure what you’d eat, Nina.”

“Oh! No, that’s—

“Nina’s not fussy,” Harry cut in, giving her a friendly smile and squeezing my hand as well, “Thanks so much for this. What’s your name?”

“Angela,” She told him before turning back to me, “I got a juice for you as well, but if you’d prefer tea or a coffee I can get you something else.”

“I’ve been converted to the morning juice thing,” I told her, trying to ease her qualms, “It’s perfect.”

Angela took a pause, “Okay. Good. I’ll leave you then.”

“Love your work, Angela,” Harry said, “Thank you.”

I took a long sip of the juice and took a small step to be closer to Harry. A PR person came over shortly after Angela left and started to run through what the day would look like. Harry nodded along and asked a few questions, never dropping my hand or making a move to leave my side.

It wasn't long then before Harry’s manager arrived from his hotel room upstairs and we got into the car, leaving everyone else behind.

*****

Harry had a folder on his desktop labelled in capital letters, ‘NINA OPEN ME’.

I smiled, yawning and wriggling further down into the last studio sofa of the day. It was a drive-home radio station that the bad where Harry was being interviewed and performing a few songs life. After this one last interview we’d be taxied to the venue to have a small amount of downtime before the preparations for the show tonight began.

I had been shown to a small staff room and left here alone which suited me perfectly. I could see the backs of Harry and his team through a few glass walls, although there were so many people moving around the offices now—most likely to get a look at the in studio guest—that my view was continuously obstructed.

I was curious as to what Harry left for me to find but as soon as I opened and saw the files I internally scolded myself for not figuring it out sooner.

Three audio files were neatly lined up for me to see, all of them named and dated. One of them was familiar, I could recall a melody that Harry and I had worked on together in London and the title drew out of my memory the lyrics that went along with it.

I had no idea what to expect from the other two as I connected my headphones and started kicking the musical side of my brain into gear. I started by clicking on the track I was familiar with, using it to reconnect with Harry’s familiar style and musicality that poured out of the songs he wrote on his own watch.

There was always something special about them.

Harry put his soul into the music he wrote, and the lyrics were always straight from his heart and dripping with all the characteristics of the man I had come to love. Many of them were written about our relationship as well, and it was sometimes confronting to hear Harry’s interpretation on our life together.

I listened to the song I knew first, taking mental notes on where he had changed things from the last time I’d heard it and listening out for anything in the music that I thought could be made better. Once the first play-through finished, I doubled clicked the track again so I could simply sit back and enjoy it.

I was nervous picking which of the two new songs to listen to first.

Both had me in tears.

The first one built slowly, and the start of it featured just Harry singing and playing the piano. As I sat back and listened to it with my eyes closed, I could tell that this rough recording was a live one and I could practically hear Harry’s own fingers across the ivory keys. His voice was featured as the main instrument, which I loved because there was nothing to me like Harry carrying a melody himself.

It’s lyrics were simple in the message they sang out; that Harry would continue running home. It was the width of the song that really struck me, that while I sat back and listened to it I felt as though the world was expanding with his words and the fact that I knew they were for me made it all the more special.

But it was the second song that had me completely ruining my mascara.

It began quietly, and Harry’s voice told a story, one that I’d been living for three years with him. The picture he painted was so vivid because I had lived it before, and mixed in with a soft melody and Harry’s voice I was completely lost to my emotions. It was so sincere and heartbreaking and made me grateful for the fact we’d been able to hold onto something he painted as so precious.

Just as I hit replay a movement across the room caught my eye and I pressed paused automatically. Harry was smiling as he opened the door and closed it behind him, then he got a good look at me.

“What’s the mat—Oh,” He took in the open laptop and earbuds going into my ears, “Neens,” Harry said quietly and kept moving towards me.

I held up my palm to him and let out a shaky laugh, “Stay back, I’m ruined.”

Harry smiled with his eyes and sat himself down next to me, so close he might as well have just sat on my thigh, “What’re you listening to here?” He asked innocently, snaking an arm around my shoulders and pulling me close against his chest.

I moved the laptop so it was resting over his lap and tucked my knees up to my body, “Your songs. The two new ones are incredible.”

Harry carefully removed one of the headphones from my ear and put it into his own, “They are, are they? Let’s see here.”

He clicked play on the one I had already been listening to, its title ‘Incomplete’.

I rested my head on his shoulder and shut my eyes again, hearing the story of us play out while Harry held me and gently hummed under his breath, the notes coming out as rumblings through his chest.

Silent tears slipped down my face again and I think Harry was surprised to see them when the track had ended and he craned his neck around to try and gauge my reaction.

“More crying?” He asked, tenderly moving my hair behind my ears and swiping his thumb at the wetness on my jaw.

“I can feel that song,” I told him shakily, “Like if I breathe in too much it’d take the life right out of me. And your voice … I’ve never heard you sound so vulnerable, Harry.”

“I always feel vulnerable when we’re apart,” He admitted lowly. “I mean it when I say I love you and I want the rest of my life with you.”

I placed a hand flat against the top of Harry’s chest, “I know you do. This music is a new level of honesty. It’s phenomenal. Really.”

“I’m glad you think so,” He smiled.

“Why haven’t I heard those two before though?” I asked, running my fingers underneath my eyes as I started thinking about where we still were and the fact it must’ve been time that we were ushered onto the next place.

“I wrote them for you,” Harry told me calmly, “I wanted them to be close to finalised before you heard them.”

“I love them,” I told him earnestly. “Thank you for loving me so much.”

His eyes sparkled with the smile he gave me, "Didn't have a choice. You had me from the moment you started crying on our first date."

"You're a sap, Harry Styles."

His grin only grew. I leaned over to kiss it and found when I pulled away a moment later it had transferred onto my face as well.

Harry’s long fingers shut the laptop then, and he sweetly kissed my cheek before hustling me to pack up my small collection of belongings. He took everything in his arms, carrying it all for me as he took my hand and started leading me back to where everyone else was still chatting animately and laughing loudly with the radio crew.

Within ten minutes we were in the car and I once again found myself snoozing on Harry’s shoulder.

The traffic was heavier this time, and driving into the venue was tricky due to all the fans lingering around for just this moment. The drivers and security were experts though, and it didn't take long for us to be barreling into the venue—for the fourth MSG show—and everyone to disperse for an hour and a half of free time.

"You be in charge of snacks," Harry instructed me carefully, “I’ll find rugs or towels or something to lie on. Just make sure you bring something chocolate?"

We were headed in the direction of the main green room, Harry’s boots clicking steadily beside me. He wanted to find somewhere grassy to lie in the sun and read, and after a day shuffling between one indoor space to another I was more than happy to oblige hi.

There was nobody in the green room yet and Harry held the door open for me to walk in.

"Stand in front of the door for a second," I instructed him, fishing the dress out of my bag and starting to tug at the buttons of my shirt. I peeled my jeans down my legs before taking the dress shirt off and holding the dress out in front of me to figure out which was the right way around.

When I was pulling it down over my shoulders Harry’s palm pressed against the bare skin of my lower back in a silent show of affection as he moved around me to start picking up two towels. I shivered with the goose pimples that rose up on my skin, momentarily taken aback by his touch. The material feel loosely around my hips and I tugged the shoulders into place. I folded my old clothes and put them on the end of a table in the corner of the room to collect later on, I left my bag there as well.

Despite his long day, Harry was humming to himself as he gathered what we would need. His happiness wasn’t ostentatious but it was striking to me in the way that it was a combination of simple things in his normal life making him feel so. And it wasn’t that I though Harry was usually miserable doing his job without me here—much like he had said last night in the pool—it was just that he didn’t need anything else to be okay. It was a settling thought, that together or apart I was still enough for him to be happy with.

I walked up behind him and latched my arms around his stomach, “Hi.”

“Hello there,” He chuckled, turning slightly to drape his arm over my shoulder heavily.

I stood up on my tippy toes and tilted my head for a kiss. Harry’s free hand came up to cup my jaw as one of my own moved to hold the back of his neck. It took only a moment for his tongue to trace my bottom lip before he finally open his mouth to deepen our kiss. Harry went slow, probably knowing the element of sweetness behind the moment was as far as social appropriateness would allow at that moment. But it still felt lovely and dizzying to be held by him, and to engage in a small moment of intimacy after a long, tiring day.

“I love you,” I told him quietly when it was over and we were both somewhat satisfied.

“I’m fucking lucky you do,” He said hoarsely.

We chatted easily as we walked through the halls to the back of the venue, exiting via the loading dock. It looked as though the security had extended the temporary fencing during the day so that it also corralled off a large grassy area that I could have sworn wasn’t included in the perimeter the day before. Although as soon as we were a certain amount up the hill there was a roar of screams behind us from the lingering fans who were waiting outside before the show.

“Jesus,” I turned at the noise and was holding a hand up to my forehead so I could see clearly.

Harry’s hand found my shoulder gently, “You okay?”

I took a stock and decided the small crowd was far enough away that they wouldn’t be able to properly see anything. Maybe a few photos would surface, but they’d so zoomed in and grainy I tried not to worry about them.

“All good,” I told him with a smile.

“Sure?” He asked.

I replied by taking two more steps up the grass and then planted my backside down heavily, giving him an exaggerated, cheesy grin. It didn’t take Harry long before he threw himself down beside me and started laying out the towels for us to lie on.

“How does it work that I’m up on a hill with the person who’s the worst at tanning in the entire world?” Harry asked, rustling through the snacks I’d picked up from the catering table.

“It’s after four,” I explained confidently, happily taking the chocolate bar out of Harry’s hand before he could open it, “I’m only out here because the sun’s not so dangerous now.”

“I was actually going to eat that,” Harry muttered, settling himself down on his back and stretching right out beside me as he watched me bite into the treat.

“I know,” I said pleasantly, watching as Harry turned over onto his stomach and open a bag of crisps instead, “Chocolate isn’t good for your voice before a show.”

“I’m going to get bossed about by you for the rest of my life, aren’t I?”

“Yep,” I popped back.

“So back to our conversation about before Christmas then,” Harry offered carefully, squinting as he looked up to catch my reaction.

I raised an eyebrow at him, “Hmmm.”

“Yeah,” Harry smiled slowly and I was happy just to have him talking about the wedding that sometimes didn’t feel real to me, “Still want to get married that soon?”

I nodded, “Do you know what kind of wedding you want? I honestly can’t pick with you.”

“What do you mean?” Harry struggled to get the lid off his juice when his fingers were greasy from the crisps, I slipped my fingers around it and opened the bottle for him. He said a quick thanks as I handed it back.

“I can imagine you wanting something small, but you’re such a romantic I wouldn’t be surprised if you want to go all out instead,” I laughed, but knew that Harry’s preference would be for what he knew would make me more comfortable.

“Small,” Harry replied immediately.

“I just want to find a nice garden somewhere,” I added.

He hummed an agreement, “Shouldn’t be too hard in England.”

“Somewhere close to home for us both? There are so many beautiful gardens in the midlands.”

Harry gave up on the snacks and pulled himself up to be sitting with his legs crossed out in front of me. He was watching me with a thoughtful look on his face.

“Let’s research some and then next time I’m back in London go and look at a few” Harry was watching for my reaction with the sweetest hint of nervousness, “There’s really not very much time when you think about it.” I craned up onto my knees and lent across to give him a kiss, “Sounds perfect.”

The rest of our time before the show was spent chatting back and forth over the music Harry was playing from his phone. He held my hand when we were both lying down in the last rays of the sun for that day. The whole thing just felt nice and settling, and it was one of those moments where you wonder if anything else in life could’ve been better for you.

Listening to Harry yap on about the television show Tim had told him we should be binge watching in our hotel room after shows, with my woefully trying to seem interested by asking questions about actors I knew nothing about, was a genuinely perfect moment.

I could live a lifetime of moments like that.

#1dff #one direction fanfic #one directin fanfiction #hina #fic: twenty good reasons #harry styles #harry styles fic #harry styles fanfic #harry styles story #one direction fan fiction #fanfic #fanfiction

55 notes · View notes

winryofresembool · 4 years

Text

Things We Lost in the Fire, ch 4

aka Caleo uni au

Fic summary: Calypso starts studying at a new university, but to her annoyance her new flatmate is a loud mouthed mechanic who also likes to sneak his dog in whenever. But as she learns to know him better, she realizes they might have more in common than what she first thought. Eventually, even the darkest secrets come out…

Chapter summary: Leo makes a deal with Piper and Jason.

A/N: Time to introduce more characters! I'm currently reading The Burning Maze (yeah, wish me luck) so I'm not gonna lie, I'm feeling for Jason and Piper more than before and that will probably show in this fic too. But worry not, no body is dying in my story (yet). Anyways, I had a lot of fun with this chapter and Leo's pov and I hope it shows! As usual, thanks to the lovely Cris for noticing my silly mistakes! Feedback would be really loved as it's the only way for me to know what you guys think of this (and it really motivates me!)

Characters in this ch: Leo, Piper, Jason

Words: 2100+

Genre: romance & hurt/comfort (in the future chapters)

Warnings: none

previous chapter / next chapter / AO3

...

“You know, when you told me you’d be moving out of our flat, I didn’t realize you’d be switching our modest mancave to… basically a mansion.” Leo whistled. He was visiting Jason and his girlfriend Piper’s new home for the first time, only to find out that the place was a new two-floor, 5-bedroom house with a big yard and a garage. Leo knew Piper’s dad was a famous movie star but even so, he couldn’t help but be surprised by the size and the fanciness of the place.

“Yeah,” Jason agreed, ruffling his short, spiky hair awkwardly. He knew about Leo’s background, the part about no biological parents and having to live on the streets for weeks between different foster homes until the police finally picked him and made him go to another family. That’s why Jason didn’t like to make a big number of living in such a place and about the fact that both his and Piper’s dads were rich and well known. As a matter of fact, Jason has moved away from his childhood home already at 16, living with his sister Thalia and working after school to pay for his living because he didn’t get along with his father well. Having Piper’s dad fund the new place had not been an easy thing to swallow for him and Jason swore that once he had gotten a job, he would pay him back. “I told Piper’s dad that we’d be perfectly happy with something smaller, but he refused to listen,” he told Leo too.

“Must be pretty great to have a father like that,” Leo mumbled under his breath, and Jason didn’t miss the tone of his voice.

“I know what it sounds like, but believe me, both of us have had our own issues with our parents.” It wasn’t a lie. Jason’s mother had died of a severe illness when he was young, and his father had always expected him to take over his business when he got older. However, Jason had never wanted that, which led to a huge argument and his father telling him he’d disown him entirely if Jason didn’t listen to him.

Piper’s dad again was almost never home, being busy with his work, and her mother had left her family when she was a young kid. Piper had visited her occasionally until her teenage years, but these days she only saw her about once a year. From what Piper had heard, she was constantly running after new men and busy with her beauty business. All that meant that Piper was basically raised by a nanny, and she was suspecting that her dad had gotten the house mainly out of regret.

Either way, even though Jason and Piper’s experiences hadn’t been quite as traumatic as Leo’s, perhaps the problematic family backgrounds had been an important uniting factor for the three of them when they learned to know each other. It was also a big reason why Leo wasn’t actually bitter towards his friends about this new luxury. He knew they deserved to have good things in their lives after what they had gone through.

“Yeah, I know,” Leo replied to Jason. “Don’t worry man, I was just surprised, that’s all. Now you have some space to invite Uncle Leo over sometimes too, right?”

“As long as you remember to pull your head from your machine clouds sometimes,” Jason jabbed back. “It’s been a while since I’ve heard anything from you. How are things going?”

“Busy busy,” Leo answered. “You know, the usual: the profs being a huge pain in my ass, people lining up to get me to fix their things that in reality would take them like 3 minutes to fix and… oh, I have a new flatmate.”

“You do?” Jason asked curiously. “What’s he like?”

“First of all, she’s a she and it’s a long story so I’d prefer to tell it when Piper is hearing it too so I don’t have to tell it twice,” Leo said, so that Jason wouldn’t ask more questions. The blonde boy simply nodded and gestured towards the entrance of the house. After that he gave Leo a quick tour on the first floor.

“You have this much space here and no workshop? Holy Hephaestus, dude, you need to sort out your priorities!” Leo exclaimed once he had seen most of it.

“Hephaestus? That’s a new one,” Jason said with amusement.

“Yeah, well… my new flatmate is into Greek mythology… and Hephaestus is the god of blacksmiths… so that’s kinda cool,” Leo explained as nonchalantly as possible.

“Yeah, but did you really pay attention to the mythology lessons? I thought you only care about sciences and handicrafts,” Jason pointed out.

“Fine, you got me. Everything I know about Greek mythology is through my childhood nanny.” Jason couldn’t help but snort at that.

Leo had to admit he was rather impressed by what he had seen even though the house was still lacking a workshop. Besides, Jason had already promised the guest room would be open for him any time he wanted, which was an offer he would definitely be using soon enough.

“Hi, Leo!” a brown haired girl greeted him happily as soon as he reached the living room.

“Pipes, hi!” Leo greeted back, throwing her a high five as was their usual habit every time they met. “Would your dad be willing to buy me a place too so I could move away from that old, dusty building?”

“He’s a nice guy, Leo, but he has his limits too,” Piper noted, knowing that Leo wasn’t asking seriously. “Trust me, Jason and I don’t like owing him either. But I thought you liked it in your current flat? What’s the issue?”

“I guess it just isn’t quite the same without you guys hanging out there all the time,” Leo shrugged. “And my new flatmate seems to think after 10 PM is not an appropriate time to fix people’s machines. Go figure.”

“Yeah, why would anyone want to sleep at night?” Piper replied sarcastically but then smiled at him. “So, you do have a new flatmate?”

“Yeah,” Leo nodded, not elaborating more.

Jason couldn’t help but tease a bit: “And it’s a girl and he refused to tell me anything about her.”

“Oh,” Piper said, a curious gleaming in her eyes, “Is that so, Leo?”

Leo punched Jason on his bicep, which however only made him laugh. “Your boyfriend here is changing facts. I only told him that I’d like to tell the full story when you’re hearing it too because I don’t care about going through it any more times than necessary.”

“You’re being quite grumpy about it, though,” Jason retorted. “C’mon, we’re curious.”

“Fine.” Leo sighed. “Her name is Calypso and she’s a history student,” he said simply.

“Wow, I feel I basically know her already,” Piper replied sarcastically. “There must be something else too,” she urged with an encouraging tone that usually never failed to make Leo talk. “What about the long story?”

Suddenly Leo blurted the whole story from their meeting to her cold attitude to Festus breaking Calypso’s desk and to him fixing it and finally cracking her shell a bit. Not much, Leo felt, but at least she greeted him now when they were in the common area at the same time and didn’t seem quite as angry at him anymore. She had even smiled at him the other day. Briefly. Leo tried to shake that thought out of his head. Damn it, why did he always have a thing for girls who were way out of his league (and who hated his guts)?

“Tough luck, man,” Jason said when Leo finished his story. “Maybe she will come around, though.”

Piper, who was very good at reading people’s emotions, though, reacted quite differently.

“Try to think about it from her point of view. She has, based on what you just said, just moved to a new town where she knows no one, and then the first person she meets was – don’t take this as an offense - maybe a bit different than what she expected and then he also breaks what little she owns… I’d probably be pissed off too. So instead of firing back – if she’s still angry – you could try a different approach. You know, actually being nice to her and not making jokes at inappropriate moments.”

Leo frowned. “Hey! It wasn’t like I was intentionally trying to be rude or break anything! I did apologize and fix the desk! She just makes it so easy to be snarky sometimes…”

“Have you really tried to get to know her, though?” Piper asked. “She could be happy if you showed some actual interest in her.”

Leo blushed a bit at the word ‘interest’. “I’m really not so sure about that… To me she seems the happiest when I just let her be.”

“But you’re gonna live together for a while, you can’t just avoid her forever,” Piper pointed out.

“I hate it when you’re right, beauty queen,” Leo rolled his eyes at her. Jason decided to change the topic.

“Hey, how about a card game? If Leo wins, we’ll let you withdraw into your tinkering cave for one more week. If you lose, then we are challenging you to talk to her within the next 24 hours.”

“Sounds like a pretty unfair deal,” Leo muttered. “But knowing you guys you won’t be giving me a choice. However, if I win, I demand to get to live here from next Friday to Sunday, free food and foot massages included.”

“I’m not gonna touch your dirty feet!” Jason protested.

“But if I’m gonna have to talk to her either way, I feel it’s a fair deal.” Leo grinned as if he had won already.

“Alright. You can spend here even a whole week if you want and we will buy your food BUT we are not gonna massage your feet,” Piper tried to compromise.

“Bummer. I was really looking forward to that. But fine, I’ll accept the deal.” Leo shook both Piper and Jason’s hands to seal it. “Now, let me show you what a real card master can do!”

…

Leo turned out to be an amazing card mixer (his hands always fiddled with something so he had definitely practiced card mixing too) and a good strategist (his main strategy was trying to distract his opponents with bad jokes) but Piper and Jason weren’t bad either. After playing for over 30 minutes, the winner still hadn’t been decided so the trio decided to go all in, the next round would decide the winner.

Piper dealt the cards this time, Leo and Jason taking theirs. A wild grin spreading to Leo’s face when he checked his cards.

“Woah. Sorry, Grace, but I’m afraid I won this game.”

“Is that so, Valdez?” Jason asked, rather confidently as well. Leo glanced at him with confusion only for a moment before he smashed his cards on the table.

“Quads!” he exclaimed happily as he spread the cards on the table for the others to see. Jason’s mouth twitched.

“Not bad, Repair Boy,” the blonde boy said, using the nickname Piper had come up with. “But I’m afraid that won’t win this.”

He showed his cards, revealing five hearts, numbers 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Leo’s face paled a bit and the grin disappeared.

“Straight flush! That’s impossible!” he yelped.

“It’s not!” Piper said. “But don’t worry, I think this is a win for both of us. We don’t have to buy your food and you get to stop being stubborn a bit faster. C’mon, this could be a good thing. You might have formed your opinion on her too fast.”

“Hmmph. But fine. I’ll talk to her. Tomorrow. Today, my pride has been wounded.”

Jason and Piper both muffled their giggles. Not much later, Leo decided to go home as he supposedly had homework to finish (in reality, he had already finished his physics exercises in class while bored of listening to the professor talk about something that was way too obvious to him) but the other two knew he was simply making excuses. When Leo had decided he didn’t want to do something, it was /really/ hard to get him to do it, because he was that stubborn. And clearly talking with that girl was one of those things.

Once Jason and Piper had waved Leo goodbye and watched him strut farther on the road, Piper asked quietly: “Should we have told him that the dealer may have been a bit partial and she’s also good at card tricks?”

“Nah, let him think it was a fair game. Otherwise we’ll never hear the end of it.”

“Yeah, you’re right there,” Piper admitted and the two burst into laughter.

#caleo #leo valdez #calypso #heroes of olympus #percy jackson and the olympians #trials of apollo #jason grace #piper mclean #my fics #caleo uni au

8 notes · View notes

unpack-my-heart · 5 years

Text

IT Fandom Prompt Week 2019 - Day 2

I wrote a silly little meet-ridiculous for day 2 of the It Fandom Prompt Week! (College AU / Coffee Shop AU / Roommates AU)

Read it on AO3 or posted below the cut.

Preview:

“This isn’t my room”

“It is not”

“You aren’t … in my room”

“Nope”

“I’m in your room”

“Yup”

[OR: Eddie Kaspbrak has a really bad day]

@constantreaderfool

By all accounts, Eddie Kaspbrak had had the worst day possible. No day could possibly have gone as badly as today had gone.

To start with, his alarm hadn’t gone off.

6:45 ….

6:53 …

7:08 …

7:31 …

8:04 …

“SHIT!”

After launching himself out of bed with all the strength of a river salmon propelling itself upstream, he’d promptly slipped on the hoodie he’d discarded last night, and landed on his knee awkwardly. A dark red mark almost immediately bloomed on his right knee, and Eddie cursed knowing that it’d become an ugly, mottled yellow in a few days.

Hopping on his left foot and cursing past-Eddie for being such a slob and not putting his clothes away properly, Eddie scrambled around trying to find his safety goggles and steel-toe capped boots for today’s lab. They were doing … something … with six-cylinder piston engines, and despite racking his brains, Eddie couldn’t remember what. Maybe Bev would know.

To: Miss Marsh:

What r we doing today?

From: Miss Marsh:

Dunno, didn’t look at the schedule

To: Miss Marsh:

You bring dishonour on yourself and dishonour on your cow

To: Miss Marsh:

Love you too. See you in a bit x

Bev did not know.

One shoe on, one shoe lodged under the wardrobe, and Eddie still couldn’t find his goggles.

Two shoes on, the fundamental principles of aeronautical engineering lodged firmly in his backpack.

Safety goggles, still missing.

8:45 …

8:58 …

9:02 …

“SHIT!”

Eddie had never been late before. Ever. Never ever ever.

Saftey goggles be damned, Eddie sprinted out of his dorm room, slamming the door behind him, and charged off down the hallway.

Three minutes later, and puffing like a train, Eddie careened straight into his door, scrabbling in his pocket for his keys.

Locking the door this time, Eddie sprinted off to his lab.

– x –

If the morning had gone chaotically, the lab had been even worse.

The professor had berated Eddie for not bringing his safety goggles, and threatened to refuse to let him participate in the practical until Eddie had begged and promised to never let it happen again. Relenting, the professor let Eddie borrow his own safety goggles, and made Eddie promise on pain of death he wouldn’t break them.

Eddie broke them.

He’d been leaning over the engine, screwdriver held between his teeth as he wrestled with a particularly resistant bolt, when the glasses had slipped off his face and smashed on the concrete floor, splintering into four uneven pieces.

Shit.

Shit!

Panicking, Eddie picked up the pieces of safety goggle.

“Beverly”

“Hang on”

“Beverly Marsh!”

“Edward Kaspbrak! Hold yer damn horses, I just gotta –“

A loud pop echoed throughout the classroom.

“Fuck yeah!”

“Language, Miss Marsh!” came an angry voice from the front of the lab.

“Sorry, Professor.”

Beverly placed the severed bit of engine on the bench, and turned to Eddie, who was pitifully cradling the bits of goggle in his hands.

“Beverly,” Eddie moaned, “He’s going to eat me for lunch”

“Eh, I think you’re more snack sized”

“Not helping, asshole”

“Do you want me to tell him I broke them?”

“No”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know”

Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, Eddie didn’t have to do anything.

Without warning, water started to rain down from the ceiling, and piercing shrieks echoed around the room.

“FUCK!”

– X –

The class shuffled outside, drenched through. Waiting for them outside were members of the college maintenance team with guilty looks plastered on their faces.

“Sorry about this, guys. The sprinkler system had been malfunctioning in here for the past few days and we really thought we’d fixed it”

Luckily, the professor stormed off to the head of maintenance’s office, presumably to complain about the sprinkler malfunction potentially ruining the engines, but unluckily, Eddie was now soaked.

The students shuffled back into their lab to collect their abandoned possessions, and Eddie’s textbook was almost entirely ruined. The pages had turned to a mulchy soup, the ink running wildly on the page, rendering the text unreadable. Bev patted Eddie sympathetically on the shoulder as he yowled in pain.

“You can share mine”

– X –

Seeing as the lab was Eddie’s only class of the day, and he was now soaked through to his bones, he decided to go home and shower. Working on autopilot, Eddie beeped into the building, and started trudging up the stairs to the third floor. When he’d reached his door, he shoved it open and –

“DANCE THIS MESS AROUND, ‘ROUND, ‘ROUN– WHAT THE FUCK”

There was a naked man in Eddie’s bedroom.

Only, this wasn’t Eddie’s bedroom.

The walls were covered in posters of bands Eddie’s dad had listened to, the bed wasn’t made, the duvet was black instead of white, there were dirty plates scattered on the floor, and most importantly, there was a naked stranger standing in the middle of the room with comically large headphones on his head, a scandalised expression painted on his face.

“Can I help you?” naked-stranger asked, hands now covering his crotch.

“This isn’t 302”

“It is not”

“This isn’t my room”

“It is not”

“You aren’t … in my room”

“Nope”

“I’m in your room”

“Yup”

“Why am I still talking”

“Now that, I can’t tell ya, short-stack”

“I can’t – I can’t move”

“Too awe-struck?”

“What?”

“Y’know. Surveying the goods. Checking out the merchandise. Other synonyms that mean the same thing, checking me out?”

“Uh”

“That isn’t a no”

At that, Eddie’s brain seemed to kickstart, and he turned on his heel and sprinted down the corridor, naked-stranger’s laugh following him as he ran.

– X –

Three days later and Eddie had almost, almost, stopped thinking about the naked-stranger incident every five seconds. It was now more like every hour or two.

The thing that annoyed Eddie the most about the whole thing was that the naked-stranger was the most attractive person he’d seen for years. Years.

Eddie had been telling Stan about the naked-stranger at work, apron’s tied around their waists and faux-smiles plastered on their faces as they made complicated iced drinks for grumpy students.

“He was … kinda beautiful”

“Really?” Stan asked, pumping caramel syrup into a plastic cup.

“Yeah, he was singing this stupid B-52s song and leaping around like an excitable frog, but he had this hair and … well he also had really nice arms and he was tall and –“

“Was he?”

“Yeah, and he really couldn’t sing for shit but … I could tell that he was probably really funny”

“Funny, you say?”

“Yeah! He called me short-stack though which was fucki– really annoying, but … I could get over that for his arms”

Eddie, who was facing away from the counter cleaning spilt syrup off of a mug by hand because they had hit their mid-afternoon lull, looked up at Stan for the first time since he’d started talking.

Stan was staring straight past Eddie, trying and failing to not laugh.

Eddie turned around.

“Hello, short-stack”

Naked-stranger was standing directly behind him, leaning on the counter, and beaming. “

“What the fuck” Eddie hissed under his breath, and promptly dropped the mug on the floor.

“So you like my arms do you, sunshine?”

“I can’t breathe”

Stan and naked-stranger were cackling, and Eddie couldn’t breathe.

“Did you know – how did you know it was him?” Eddie directed at Stan, pissily.

“I’ve known Richie for years, and he told me that some short and adorable guy ran into his room a few days ago. I didn’t think much of it until you started talking about running into some tall naked guys room so I texted Richie to let him know that I’d found you”

“So you’re both taking the piss out of me, then”

“No!” naked-stranger – Richie – insisted, trying to reach Eddie’s arm.

Eddie swatted him away, and ripped his apron off, letting it flutter sadly to the floor.

“I’m taking my break”

– X –

Eddie was leaning against the back wall of the coffee shop when Richie appeared.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

“You’re an asshole”

“Hmm… kinda regret spending a penny on that, gotta be honest”

“What do you want?”

“Your number” Richie replied breezily, leaning on his side against the wall, looking at Eddie hopefully.

“Why would I give you that?”

“You like my arms”

“I don’t – I – fuck”

“Maybe after a few dates, Eds. I don’t put out that easily”

“I guess you do have nice arms”

“See! I knew these puppies would help me out one day,” Richie affirmed, flexing his biceps.

“So you promise this isn’t all a big joke? That you aren’t gonna stand me up or tell all your friends that you’re planning on tricking the –“

“Hey, ssh. It’s not a joke. When you burst into my room like that, I gotta be honest, I was a little bit surprised but when I heard that the most attractive guy I’ve seen around these here parts still has the hots for me after seeing me in all my naked glory, I couldn’t not do anything about it”

“Who’s the other guy that saw you naked?”

Richie rolled his eyes and shifted on the wall, bumping his shoulder against Eddie’s.

“You gonna gimme your digits then, or what?”

“Maybe”

Eddie pushed himself off the wall, and brushed his hands on his jeans.

“Ask Stan to text you my number”

“Oh, Eddie Spaghetti, you won’t regret this. I’ll wine and dine you real good”

“I’m already regretting it”

#reddie #it fandom prompt week #eddie kaspbrak #richie tozier #college au #coffee shop au #IT #it fandom #itfandomprompts

81 notes · View notes

besidemethewholedamntime · 5 years

Text

a bunch of hocus pocus

Fitzsimmons + Raking Leaves

{Read on Ao3}

Jemma steps out of their house on the first Sunday in October and finds the path carpeted in red/golden leaves. It’s a glorious sight, truly, and with the hills rolling in all directions and the wind whistling gently through the trees it makes a spectacular picture to send to her family back in Sheffield.

It’s beautiful, it really is, but the leaves on the path will only make it hazardous when the first frost of winter inevitably makes an appearance. They need to be raked up into a nice neat pile, the designated spot by the tree that they’ve marked for this exact occasion.

Fitz is in Glasgow, called there late last night by his mum who’s fallen and hurt her back. Nothing serious she’s been assured many times, but awkward and distressing for Fitz, who will take a few days to be shooed away from her house. Jemma can still see his face, phone in his hand, looking from her to their new daughter and back again.

“You’re going,” she had said, already dragging the suitcase out from the downstairs cupboard. “There’s not even a question.”

“You’re right,” he had said, dragging his free hand through his hair. “I just feel bad about leaving her.”

“She’s three months old, Fitz. A few days will not scar her for life, I promise you that.”

He’d nodded, exhaling heavily through his nose. “And you? You’ll be alright on your own?”

At first, she’d felt affronted – was she really that incompetent? – before realising that they’d had such little sleep as of late that only yesterday Fitz had put salt in her tea and Jemma had nipped to the shops with her pyjama top on, inside out.

“Yes,” she’d told him firmly. “We’ll be absolutely fine.”

Which they have been for the past twelve hours or so. Sarah had decided to sleep through the night for the first time in her short life and Jemma had managed to get down a full bowl of cornflakes before Sarah decided she would also like fed. Some washing and ironing has been done, and the living room has even been dusted for the first time in what feels like months, which is probably exactly how long it has been.

It’s just the leaves that present a problem. They need to be done, lest Fitz should break his neck on them when he returns, but Sarah isn’t content to be out of her mother’s sight and, Jemma thinks sadly, there’s only one of her.

The air is nippy and bites at her fingertips. She shivers, appreciating the view once more, before heading back inside. That’s when she sees the solution to her problem. Sitting on the hook behind the door, next to their jackets and scarves, is the baby sling that Sarah was gifted when she was born.

“Ah,” Jemma says, going over to inspect it. They’ve used it sporadically, out of forgetfulness rather than anything else. When there is two of them there never seems to be any need for it. It was a gift from May, who’d handed it over perfectly wrapped and with a smile and said, “This’ll come in handy. I hope you like it.”

Jemma feels herself smile. Of course, it would be Melinda May to the rescue. Hasn’t it always been?

“Come on then, darling,” she coos, taking it off the hook and walking over to her daughter who lies awake in her basket, blue eyes soaking in the world. “Let’s see if we can figure this thing out, shall we?”

It takes longer than Jemma was expecting. Firstly she has Sarah wrapped up in her winter wear (all gorgeously knitted by Daisy, who has taken up knitting in between saving the world), which is a feat in itself. Hats, it seems, are not her daughter’s favourite thing. Then she has to figure out how to manoeuvre an already irritable Sarah into position, a task that takes longer than she expected. After the fifth try she sets Sarah back down and rubs at her forehead, unsurprised when her hand comes away glistening.

“I know, I know,” she says as Sarah starts to mewl. “I just can’t figure it out. If I put your leg in that way then it seems like you’re hanging awfully low, but if I put it in the other way then it seems like your head is much too high.”

Jemma doesn’t remember having this trouble before. It just seemed so much easier when there was two of them to try and wrangle this contraption. She presses the heel of her hand to her eyes, not going to cry over something as silly as this.

“Right, let’s try this….” She brings out her laptop, pulling up YouTube, feeling like the biggest idiot in the world but accepting there’s no other way. It takes ten minutes, three videos and one very grumpy baby later but eventually Sarah is situated safely, if not entirely happily, against Jemma’s chest.

“Right then, darling,” she says, kissing the top of Sarah’s head. “Let’s go and rake some leaves, shall we?”

The view is breath-taking still, and even Sarah seems in awe of the hills and patchwork fields that surround their home. Her eyes are wide, drinking in everything there is to see, and not for the first time Jemma is reminded of how glad she is they moved here. This is the life they have envisioned for themselves, a home to call their own. A place to settle and have a family. This is what they deserve.

As she rakes Jemma sees the life they’ll have play out before her. There’s a corner of the garden that will be perfect for a swing set; she can already imagine Sarah will be quite the adventurer. There’s a tree with a sturdy limb, one that she’s sure would support a tree-house, designs of which she has already seen Fitz doodle away in his notebook late at night. This house was not chosen by accident. It’s going to give them everything they need, she’s sure of it.

It’s been a long time since she’s been able to just stand still and breathe in the frosty air and not have that permanent feeling of fear hovering at her shoulder. Yes, she’s worried for Fitz’s mum and she’s worried about Sarah and how they’ll manage to keep their draughty house warm in what promises to be an exceptionally cold winter, but she’s not afraid. There’s a feeling of ‘we can do this’ and nothing seems as insurmountable as it once did.

“Look around,” she whispers in Sarah’s ear, swivelling gently left and right to show her it all. “This is a wonderful place to grow up, isn’t it? This is exactly what you need.”

She’s been worried, when they’d first started looking at moving, that any place they’d picked wouldn’t be right. What if they thought it was a dream but it turned into a nightmare, the way it always seemed to before? What if they thought they were doing right by any future children they had, but it ended up being something held against them for the rest of their lives?

It was Fitz who had calmed her down, that stormy night when they were staying with her parents in the guest bed that was so enormous, she was afraid they’d lose each other in the middle of the night. He’d held her close, her head on his chest and his arm around her shoulder, and reassured her that everything would be fine.

“I’d live with you in a shack in the middle of the woods, you know that, right? We’ll be fine, Jemma. We just need to stick together and we’ll be fine.” He’d kissed her on the head. “I promise you that.”

They could have chosen a flat in the middle of the city, or a cabin on top of a mountain and it would have been fine, it would have been enough. What a change, to have Fritz be the one to soothe her fears and tell her not to worry. A change of their dynamic that has been their way since they were sixteen and yet it’s not unwelcome. A shake up is not such a bad thing every now and then.

Of course, with Sarah they are both frazzled, both the one to be peering into the baby books and scouring the netmums posts into the wee hours of the morning. She’s their whole world, this little bean who already has such a big personality it’s hard to believe. There’s nothing in this world they love more than her, not even each other. A scary kind of love, but one they wouldn’t trade for anything.

Jemma rakes leaves and thinks she wouldn’t trade any of this at all. Not the cold, not the leaves, not the sleepless nights and morning tantrums. Not one single second of it could she be persuaded to give away.

“You know, I used to be so afraid,” she tells her daughter, bouncing gently up and down as she rakes the leaves to their spot. “I used to be so afraid we wouldn’t get here, that something would stop us and we’d fall just short of our dream. It happened to us so many times before that I almost just expected it to happen again.”

All of those losses, those disappointments that she’ll never fully forget nor move on from. That sinking feeling in her chest that she became so accustomed to.

“But we got here, we did, and I’ve never been happier. And it’s such a silly thing to be thinking about while raking leaves, I know, and there’s not even any special reason for it.” She pauses, swiping away the beginning of a tear. “I’m just grateful.”

So incredibly grateful, filled with so much love she doesn’t know what to do with it. It won’t always be this way, she’s not stupid enough to think so. Some days it will be so hard that she’ll be transported to a time when everything was hard and she had to wade through the days like they were treacle and she had weights tied to her legs. But those days will not last forever, and once again the sun will shine and her daughter will smile and she’ll breathe the frosty air and decide yes, this was worth everything.

“This is a wonderful life, Sarah. It really is. Your father and I love you so much. You’ll have a ball.” She kisses her daughter on the head again, feeling silly and emotional but also blessed, and carries on raking the leaves into a nice neat pile so that her wonderful husband doesn’t break his neck on them when he returns, and so that winter may come at last.

#aosficnet2 #promptober 2019 #earth vs space #team earth aos #gosh i'm so behind #it's midterms week so i'm uploading this through tears #but it was a nice respite #and i love writing sarah!

11 notes · View notes

eclecticminded · 5 years

Text

Took You Long Enough

anonymous asked: Hey, Could you possibly write a partners to more than partners with either Amaro or Dodds? I miss my boys (and you know i wouldn't exactly be adverse to some nsfw if you wanted...) Thank you!

I picked Mike, I’m on a Mike kick since meeting Andy Karl. Hope you like!

Part Two

You and Mike are partners that fall for each other.

Words: 1694

Warnings: Cursing? Food mention. Mention of gun violence.

Tags: @southsiderepresent @glimmerglittergirl @madpanda75 @southern-magnolia @katmstanton @esparza-army @sweetsummertime99 @obfuscateyummy @lifeisbetterwithbarba @lyssa1385 @hux-me-up @bowieisawizard @sleepylunarwolf @mrsrafaelbarba anyone else ask! Also I have a Kofi (link in blog description) if anyone wants to donate!

Mike Dodds started at SVU six months after you did. Being the over achiever that you were, you volunteered to show him the ropes. He was a sergeant of course, but he’d never worked SVU. You two got along immediately and Olivia decided your dynamic worked well enough you were partners most of the time. If Mike went out, you went with him, you were his unofficial right hand man and no one seemed to care.

It was hard to tell who fell first, you or Mike, but you both fell hard. Everyone seemed to notice but the two of you. You of course knew your feelings and he knew his, but neither of you ever acted on them. Especially not with Chief Dodds dropping in so often. But boy did you flirt, it’s what made you the perfect undercover pair. No one paid much mind to the couple at the bar cozying up, that was until they were the ones arresting the SOB.

Mike was always early, something the military instilled in him and you were always just on time maybe a couple minutes late. He soon learned that meant you often missed out on coffee. After one too many grumpy caffeine-less days with you, he would buy you coffee if he stopped or have a cup waiting on your desk. You hated the coffee at the prescient because it was often burnt, but Mike made sure to get you a cup from a fresh pot.

You on the other hand, knew Mike often skipped his lunch and sometimes dinner breaks to get his work done. That shit didn’t fly around you. There were two sure fire ways to be sure Mike ate, you either literally dropped food on his desk, or said you didn’t have time to eat. It didn’t matter to him if he missed lunch, but the second you didn’t have time to eat he was dragging you to a nearby diner or ordering food for delivery.

Your dating life was practically nonexistent, and his girlfriend Alice broke up with him shortly after he moved back from Chicago. One night when you actually had a date, you got all dolled up and were going to leave straight from work. Mike was being grumpy and you wrote it off as a bad day, as you were leaving you got a text and all your plans were derailed.

“Fucking hell,” you huffed and slunk back to your desk.

“What’s the matter,” Olivia was packing up and on her way out.

“My date cancelled,” your shoulders slumped, “Guess I’ll finish paperwork.”

“Don’t work too hard, enjoy yourself,” she patted you on the back and left, leaving only you and Mike.

“Why’d they cancel,” he propped his feet up and tossed a ball in the air, catching it.

“Apparently being a cop and “you picked up your phone to read the message verbatim, “planning the date for them was too intimidating and I’m too intense.”

“That’s bullshit,” he tossed the ball to you and you caught it midair.

“Well that’s my dating life Sarge,” you threw the ball back and opened a folder on your desk, “I’m just too much.”

“Oh no you don’t,” he dropped the ball in his drawer and rushed to your desk, closing the folder.

“What,” you swatted at him playfully.

“First, you’re not too much. Second, you’re not gonna stay here on a Friday night all by yourself in a nice dress,” he pulled you up, “Let’s go.”

“Go where,” you grabbed your coat and bag, allowing yourself to be dragged to the elevator.

“Nice dress means you had a reservation I bet,” he called the elevator and eyed you up and down.

“Yeah so,” you went through the door first, blushing from his gaze.

“Well let’s go use that reservation,” he chuckled and pressed the button for the lobby.

“You going on a date with me Mike,” you crossed your arms.

“Uhhh…think of it as two friends who are going to have a nice meal,” he rubbed the back of his head flustered.

“Oh calm down, I’m teasing,” you shoved his shoulder, “But you get to drive.”

“Deal,” Mike led you to his car and helped you in. Damnit now you wanted a real date with him. The drive was how it always was with you two, full of jokes and stories and singing along to the radio. Dinner was the same way, and he insisted on paying to make up for your ruined date. You didn’t tell him, but going with him was better than any date you’d ever been on.

From then on out you and Mike were closer than ever, working overtime together. Kicking ass together. Hell, you gave him a run for his money when he challenged you to a sparing competition. You stopped looking for dates, and started spending your time with Mike. He drove you to the airport to visit your mom, and picked you up with pizza when you came back.

At one point you had to go undercover as a married couple looking for an escort. The girl you wanted was being forced into it by her pimp, and you needed to get her out. Afterwards Olivia joked you and Mike made a cute couple pretending to have sex. You were embarrassed and a little hurt it would never be real, opting to ride with Amanda instead of Mike home. You were head over heels and didn’t know what to do.

A few months later Mike and you were in a standoff with Munson, you got shot in the arm and Mike took a bullet to the stomach. After you were patched up, you were in his room by his side, not leaving once. Chief Dodds thanked you for being a dedicated partner and tried to get you to leave, but a low growl got him to back off. No one came between you two, especially not his father. He pulled through and you were both put on leave.

The entire month you were out, you and Mike spent most of it together. He knew a great physical therapist and insisted on driving you. He wasn’t supposed to be driving yet, but you told no one. To make up for it you’d cook him dinner those nights and sometimes he’d crash on your sofa. After the second time you insisted he either go home or sleep in bed with you because the sofa was no good for his injuries.

Mike of course jumped at the chance to sleep next to you and thus began a new tradition. If one of you was too tired to go home, you just crashed together. You’d often end of cuddling in the night, and though it made both of you ridiculously happy, you never mentioned it.

You were the first person to know about his transfer to terrorism and it made you cry. So much so you left his house in the middle of dinner and took a Lyft home. Not even thirty minutes later he was at your door breathing heavy begging to be let in.

“Please talk to me,” he pleaded, marching past you into the living room, “I thought you’d be happy.”

“Why should I be happy my best friend is transferring and I may never see him again,” you sniffled and blinked back more tears.

“Yes I’m transferring,” he took your hand, “but I’m not leaving your life silly.”

“Sure feels like it,” you pulled away and exhaled sharply, “I want to be more than your friend and you’re leaving.”

“But that’s a good thing,” he exclaimed and pulled you to him, kissing you deeply. You froze, not sure what was happening, but quickly caught up and kissed him back.

“How is it good Mike,” you challenged, “I won’t get to see you everyday.”

“If I stayed at SVU, I’d be your superior. We’d have to disclose and Liv and my father and who else knows would be in our relationship,” Mike tilted you up for another kiss, “If I go, we can do as we please. Spend non-work time together.”

“But by going over there, we can keep it our relationship,” your eyes went wide, “Wait relationship!? You want a relationship with me!?”

“Took you long enough to figure it out,” he chuckled and bear hugged you.

“I have liked you since day one Mike, day one. You’re the one that—“

“Day one too sweetheart,” he winked and kissed you again and again and again until you were breathless.

“Damn, we could have done this a long time ago,” you pulled back and rested your forehead on his broad chest.

“Well not exactly,” Mike grinned, “If my father got involved, you surely would have ended things.”

“Very true,” you nodded, “He gets on my nerves. You on the other hand, you make me feel alive.”

“You make me happy, something I haven’t felt in a long time,” his grip tightened and you didn’t dare move.

“We got two options here Sarge,” you patted small of his back.

“What’s that,” he pulled back to look at you.

“Either we can go to bed and ravish each other, pissing our doctors off that we had sex too early,” you smirked.

“Or….?”

“Or we can turn on some music and slow dance. I remember a certain someone being drunk while undercover and begging me to slow dance,” you winked.

“Slow dance now,” he spun you carefully and dipped you, “And sex when we get the all clear yeah?”

“Sounds perfect Sarge,” you swayed along with Mike to the music in your heads before turning on real music.

“You don’t have to call me that anymore sweetheart,” he kissed the top of your head.

“Mike, I’m gonna call you Sarge for the rest of our lives I’m sure. Even when you’ve gone up a rank or three,” you chuckled.

“Rest of our lives huh,” he teased, “I like the sound of that.”

“Play your cards right and I’m all yours,” you laid your head on his chest and enjoyed the moment, you were finally where you wanted to be; in Mike’s arms.

#mike dodds #mike dodds x reader #mike dodds imagine #mike dodds fanfic #law and order special victims unit #law and order special victims unit fanfic #law and order special victims unit imagine #law and order svu #law and order svu fanfic #law and order svu imagine #svu imagine #svu fanfic #mine #my writing

87 notes · View notes

Last Seen Blogs

lil-area-sfw

Area's Place

havenh

Untitled

katya-kazanova-is-trans

"Phrasing! Boom!"

fairygeek777

Fairy's Little Manga Shelf

oknstark

Request CLOSED!