eternally6pm

[eternally6pm]

Takumi, initially unable to even look Camilla in the eye because of the revealing cut outs in her armour eventually becomes so desensitised to it that the first time she dresses in anything that resembles ordinary clothing, he can't quite handle it - to his absolute bewilderment, he finds her sexier with more on.

The first time she visits Hoshido, Hinoka excitedly orders a full set of robes and furisode made for Camilla, and when Takumi finally sees her in it, his mind almost breaks. He's never seen anything more arousing in his entire life.

[eternally6pm]

So. Does anybody know if Chapter 13 of Revelation (A Lost Peace) contains any dialogue for Ryoma if challenged with Takumi?

or am I going to have to rely on the dodgy wiki that has lied to me about the name of Camilla’s wyvern

I’m... bothered by the fact that Ryoma has specific dialogue for his retainers, but none for his brother, or even Sakura (not that I believe anyone is reckless enough to attempt that sort of tactical suicide with the poor girl) - it’s baffling.

[eternally6pm]

Irresistible Force - Part 5

A Two Hour Vacation

Rating: M

Characters: Jakob, FCorrin, Xander, Silas, Camilla.

- It's okay if that's not enough time | Pleasure is best in small bits - 

SOUNDTRACK

PART 4

---

She woke with a start from a dreamless sleep, disoriented and immediately afraid that she had slept through her alarm.

It was bright outside and her bedside clock read half-past ten.

Where was Jakob?

In a blind panic, Corrin leapt from her bed, threw open her bedroom door and ran out into her apartment.

And there he was, standing by the sink, dressed gorgeously in black pants, a collared shirt and a leather jacket, snipping off the bottom of the stem of a deep red flower.

“Jakob – what?”

“Chrysanthemums,” he replied simply, and stared a little, before returning to the task.

Corrin realised she was in nothing but a large blue shirt.

“No,” she countered, tugging the shirt down to her thighs, “we’re late!”

“We’re not going to the university today,” he said calmly. “I switched off your alarm last night. I thought you deserved to sleep in a little.”

She gaped at him as he continued to cut and measure, carefully placing the flowers in a tall clear vase she didn’t even know she owned.

“I’m quite fond of these. Good colour.”

“Yes,” she agreed faintly. “They���re really nice.”

“But unfortunately, because I got them, I forgot to get you coffee. So if you’d like to get dressed, Miss Nohr, we’ll go get you some breakfast.”

Still reeling with confusion, Corrin stepped back into her room and shut the door.

What was going on? She glanced at her clock again. It clearly said Thursday, and she definitely had classes on today. Was he actually suggesting that she skip them?

She slowly opened her door and spoke through the gap. “What should I be wearing?”

“Something nice.”

Her stomach instantly  erupted in butterflies and she had to poke her head out beyond the doorframe to check on him. 

“Goodness, Jakob!” Her tone teased, but she wanted it so badly to be real. “Is this a date?” 

“No.” He smiled, properly smiled, and god, he looked so handsome, she wanted to scream. “Of course not. That would be against the rules.”

With every ounce of self-control she possessed, Corrin gently pulled her bedroom door closed again. And then threw herself onto her bed, burying her face into her pillow to stifle the excited giggling that bubbled up from her throat.

She picked out a wine-coloured blouse, a shade of red similar to the chrysanthemums he had brought and matched it with her favourite black skirt and tall black boots.

After a moment’s hesitation, she sprayed herself with perfume and carefully applied some lipstick.

Let him know, let him stare.

Back in the apartment, she found Jakob by the window, his back turned to her as he pushed back one of the long grey curtains. He moved with ease and efficiency, sure in every motion he performed, tidily controlled even though she could see the strength in his broad shoulders, his arms and hands. 

She wanted nothing more than to have him hold her close and let him overpower her.

“Hey,” her voice sounded small, her mind still clinging to the remnants of her daydream. “Nice enough?”

He turned to cast her a brief once over. “It’ll do,” he replied, nonchalant. 

She stuck her tongue out at him. “Mean.”

As expected, he stepped past her and into her room, and she knew he was heading to the far left of her walk-in, where she kept all her coats. He returned with a thick, cropped black jacket with a high collar, holding it out to her so she could slide it on.

She heard him sigh as he gently tugged the zip upwards, and then, to her surprise, he seemed to reach out as if to touch her face. The thought passed a second later when she realised he was pushing her hair back over her shoulder to finish zipping up the coat.

She had to stop doing this to herself, or she would go insane.

“You’ll need this today, it gets a bit cold.”

She raised her eyebrows at him, but he had already turned away and she followed him towards the living area where he gestured at the sofa. He had obviously taken his bike today, because he paused to pick up his helmet from the leather seat, but beside it was another helmet and anticipation was already bursting in her chest before she even realised what she was saying.

“Is that for me?”

“It’s a present. Congratulations on getting through your midterms.”

Corrin barely stopped herself from clapping her hands together as she laughed in delight. “I get to go on your bike!”

“If you behave yourself and don’t get us killed.”

“I promise! I’ll be good!” She grabbed the helmet and he sighed, but she expected it - in that moment, he was the most wonderful person in the world, and it made her feel almost dizzy with happiness.

“Come on, then.”

He had parked it on the street outside, and it was the first time she had seen it up close, all matte black surfaces and larger than she expected it to be.

She loved it already because she got to stand close to him again as he helped her with her helmet and she felt anonymous, concealed as it slid over her head, muffling the sounds around her and it gave her an excuse to focus on the slight frown Jakob wore as he checked that it fit securely.

“Hold onto me, and relax,” he instructed and she was thankful for the visor, because the idea of holding him at all made her feel warm and restless.

He pulled on his own helmet and zipped up his jacket, mounting the bike easily before gesturing at her to join him. She slid a leg over the seat and found that even though it wasn’t necessary, she could press herself snugly against his back. Pulse racing, she put her arms around his waist, almost breathless when she could feel him move, the flex of his toned torso as he planted both feet to steady the machine and started the engine. The motorcycle growled to life, a deep noise that rumbled through her chest and made her hold tighter, and she almost jumped when he reached back and patted her knee, as if to assure her.

Trust me.

He kicked the bike into gear, and they accelerated so suddenly, Corrin gasped, the sound swallowed by the roar of the engine and then she was laughing, her heart soaring with the speed at which they tore through the streets. He was with her and she was holding him and she had never felt more blissfully free.

When Jakob parked, it was on a busy street somewhere she had never been before, with clean white concrete pavements and a long strip of shops. Reluctantly, she released him so he could get off the bike, pulling off his helmet and then helping her do the same. He quirked an eyebrow at her, and she realised that he was staring at her hair.

“Hey, it’s not like yours isn’t messed up either.” And it was cute too, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. Instead, she pushed him playfully, trying to smooth down the stray strands on her own head with her other hand. 

She followed him into a café with a black cat painted in the window, and a bell hung over the door and immediately, she was greeted with the rich scent of buttery, baking pastries and freshly ground coffee.

The woman behind the counter seemed to know Jakob and gave him a small wave as she cheerfully chatted up another customer and frothed milk at the same time.

They passed through the entire store, and then at the very back, he led her up a narrow wooden staircase. They emerged in what looked like something completely separated from the café downstairs. Rows upon rows of books filled clean black shelves, laid out according to genre, author, area of interest. Here and there amongst the aisles there was a beanbag, a small table with a stool.

“There’s more on the floor above as well, but first, let’s get you something to eat.”

Corrin didn’t quite know what to say or where to begin.

She took a seat by a window, and waited, or rather, gleefully took an Instagram of the small cactus in a pastel coloured pot on her table. 

Moments after she posted the image, her phone started to ring.

It was Silas.

“Where are you?” He asked, worry in his voice.

“I’m out with Jakob. We decided to skip class today. Sorry.”

There was a short silence on the other end of the line, and somehow, even though she couldn’t see him, she could sense the irritation like a cold draught, a deliberate pause to alert her that she was in the wrong.

“You know we still have to finish that report that’s due tomorrow, right?”

Jakob appeared again, carrying a tray.

“We weren’t going to do it at uni anyway,” she replied, distracted as she watched him arrange before her a latte, a large breakfast of eggs benedict and a plate of pastries. The smell made her mouth water. “I’ll do it tonight.”

“Look, what if I come over?”

“Okay, sure,” she agreed with half a mind, the rest of her too busy watching Jakob take a sip from his own espresso, and then reach over to start cutting up the toast on her plate. 

“What time will you be back?”

“I-I don’t…” she felt herself flush hotly when he held out the fork, loaded with toast and egg to her lips. Obediently, she opened her mouth and ate, not realising that she hadn’t even responded until Silas prompted her to.

“Hello? Are you still there?”

“Um, yes. Sorry, sorry, I don’t know when we’ll be back.”

Jakob was reaching for her again, and this time she felt her heart leap when his thumb gently grazed the corner of her mouth and he brought it back to his own lips. Watching him made her feel faint.

“Well… let me know when you’re back. We need to get this done.”

“Yeah. See ya.”

Corrin put her phone face down and didn’t even care if she had hung up or not.

“What are you doing?” She asked weakly.

“Feeding you breakfast,” he replied, unconcerned and seemingly unaware of how flustered she felt. “I should think it would be obvious.”

She stared, unable to stop her face from getting warmer and warmer as he continued to carefully feed her another forkful of food.

“Should I stop?”

She shook her head. 

No. Never stop.

---

“Let’s play a game,” Corrin suggested, running her fingers over the spines of several books. “We’ll each pick a book. You have to read what I pick, and I have to read what you pick.”

“Intriguing,” he admitted. “Maybe I should find you the book that actually contains the Ferris wheel scene.”

She punched him lightly on the shoulder. “Oh my god, could you just let it go?” But she was laughing, and he wore a small smile that made her stop and stare so she could lock away the memory and keep it to herself. Suddenly impulsive, she turned to face him, stepping up close, and she was pleased when he did not move away. “Do you want to know why I chose to talk to you that day?”

“A burning desire to discuss incorrect details to irrelevant narratives,” he quipped dryly.

She laughed again. “Fine! Forget it, I’ll never tell you.”

The corner of his lips lifted upwards. “A tragic loss.”

In the end, he picked out for her the very book that he had been reading that day in the café where they first met. She picked out a huge coffee table book of astronomical prints, galaxies, stars, planets and clouds of stellar dust.

“Not much of a read,” he remarked, “though, I find the subject matter coincidentally fascinating.”

Supremely pleased, she grinned so hard at him, it made her cheeks ache.

---

“Is he your boyfriend?”

The woman took Corrin’s hand in her gnarled and wrinkled one, patting her gently as though she intended to share some of the worldly wisdom that sat behind her kind eyes. 

Corrin turned to look at Jakob, who stood several meters away, and seemed to be carefully considering the contents of a glass case.

“Actually, he’s my bodyguard.”

Clearly, the woman thought it was a joke, and chuckled. “That’s good. Make sure he guards your body and your heart. You make a lovely pair.”

Corrin liked her. “Thank you. I think I’ll tell him that.”

---

It was dark, the patrons were loud and the music was louder. Heavy bass throbbed in Corrin’s head, pulsing almost palpable in the air as she took a seat at the bar and let Jakob indicate what their order would be. 

The place only served one thing – burgers. Dripping, hot, fresh from the grill and served with a generous side of shoestring fries, they were incredibly, the most delicious thing Corrin had ever eaten. She wolfed her dinner down, watching in amusement as two other diners who had possibly had one too many beers got up on the table to dance. They stopped when the man from behind the bar came over, but instead of calling security, he climbed up onto the table with them, and to shouts and whistles of encouragement, started to dance too.

It was a Thursday night. Corrin could only imagine the chaos here on a weekend.

She turned to look at Jakob. The day was done, she knew, and after this he would return her to her apartment, back to a reality where he was her bodyguard and she was his client and they were bound together by nothing but a signature on the bottom of a contract signed by her brother. Back to being near but never close.

But surely, after everything they had done today, not all of it was an act. He couldn’t have just been nice for the sake of being nice, and even indulging her could only go so far before it became difficult to pretend.

Or so she hoped. 

She hoped, with all her heart as she stood from her seat and swayed to the music, holding out a hand to him.

Jakob stared at her for so long, she started to feel stupid, but then he stood as well and let her drag him into open space where she twirled and flailed her arms with absolutely no regard for rhythm or anyone watching, and finally, finally, he laughed, and she would have sold her own soul to have that evening never end.

---

He walked her to her apartment, not because it was romantic or the right thing to do – he did it because he was being paid to do it.

This is what Corrin reminded herself as she dragged her feet from the elevator, knowing that time only stopped for this fantasy so long as she did not reach her front door. The question burned in her throat but she was a coward and she wasn’t sure if she could handle hearing him tell her that it was all nothing but a beautifully planned lie.

“I hope today hasn’t taken too much of your time away from you,” Jakob said, swiping his card and entering the pin code to hold the door open for her.

“No,” she replied and would have told him the same thing even if it had taken away years of her own life. “Thank you so much for everything. For being so good to me.”

“Think nothing of it.”

There it was, his professional voice slipping back into place, a straight-backed stance at arm’s length. 

Corrin sighed in defeat. “You must be tired, Jakob. You can go. I’ll be all right from here.”

He nodded. “There’s just one more thing.”

She stiffened, her breath a lump of anticipation caught in her throat.

He unzipped his jacket pocket, and pulled from it a small flat blue box. He held it out to her and hesitantly, she took it, barely keeping her hands from shaking as she pulled open the lid. 

Inside was a silver necklace, a simple, elegant loop of fine chain that ended in a smooth silver pendant in the shape of a star.

“It’s not much,” he mumbled, “I’m sure you’ve received better –“

“Why?” She shut the box with a loud snap, and now she was no longer afraid, her heart thumping in her ears as she moved closer and she needed to know. “Why did you do this? Why did you tell me it was a date?”

He shook his head. “It wasn’t a date.”

“No,” she said. It was clear that he was avoiding her eye, afraid to lie, afraid of giving something away. She leaned close, almost against him, and he couldn’t step back because the door was behind him, and there was nowhere else to go. “Tell me, Jakob. Please.”

“Because… I wanted to.”

Corrin stopped, frowning in confusion. 

“Because I wanted to see you happy,” he continued, his voice barely a whisper. His hand reached towards her and the tips of his fingers grazed her cheek as he leaned forward. “Because I’m selfish.”

He was close, so close that she could feel the warmth of his exhale on her lips, and her eyes slid shut, wishing, wanting so badly that she didn’t even hear her phone chiming in her jacket pocket until she felt his hands on her shoulders gently pushing her back.

“You should get that.”

Dazed, she could only obey, pulling her phone out of her pocket and catching Silas’ name before the call rang out and the screen went dark.

“Good night, Miss Nohr. Call or page if your plans change.”

And before she could utter a word of protest, he was gone.

[eternally6pm]

Irresistible Force - Part 4

Tending Towards Zero

Rating: M

Characters: Jakob, FCorrin, Xander, Silas, Camilla.

- They dance -

PART 3 | PART 5

---

Jakob found himself settling into routine before he even realised the month had ended and it was time to turn in his first report to Xander. Corrin was perhaps one of the easiest assignments he had ever been given – she was transparent and cooperative, and any potential threat to her safety seemed to be minimal at worst. 

And yet at the same time, this job was in fact the most difficult thing he’d ever had to do. No matter how many times Jakob tried to school the jumble of inappropriate thoughts in his head into submission, it was painfully apparent that the more time he spent with Corrin, the worse his crush on her became.

At first, he tried to fight it, skirting the idea like the time bomb that it was, trying to convince himself that the frantic fluttering in his chest he felt when she lit up at the sight of the coffee he brought her every morning was the effect of the first few sips of his espresso, and that he only reason he had to swallow the heavy feeling he had on evenings where she dismissed him early was because he didn’t like the idea of having to commute on the trains during rush hour.

But it wasn’t duty that made him stop her at the door so he could retrieve a coat and make her put in on before he drove her to university, or any written clause in the contract they’d signed that required him to impulsively buy her flowers under the guise of “brightening up the place”.

“You’re always underdressed,” he complained, helping her into a long tan coat.

“I don’t remember the weather report. You’re my reminder.”

“What happens one day, when I’m not around to remind you?”

She grinned. “I’ll freeze and die. So you’d better be around.”

And it was at half-past eight, on a gloomy Wednesday morning, standing by her front door with her silk LV scarf in his hands, late again for classes, that he decided that he couldn’t fight it anymore. 

Not when she spoke so thoughtlessly – empty, playful comments that made him wish for more time, more contact, more closeness. Not when her smile ignited something in Jakob that made him feel like everything inside him was alight, burning until it consumed every last beat of his heart, every last breath.

I love her, I love her, he realised, and it felt like someone had held a gun to his head and blown reality away.

---

The younger boy was nervous and Jakob suspected that he might have been intimidated by the prospect of confrontation, but once he finally found the courage to speak, it was clear that the subject of discussion was what had him on tenterhooks. 

 “Are you into her? Corrin, I mean.”

Jakob peered over the rim of his drink at him. He took another swallow. It was a sorry virgin substitute for a gin and tonic – the bartender had given him a very confused look when he asked for tonic water with a squeeze of lemon – and it was awful. But not as awful as this conversation he was being forced to have.

“Why?”

“Why do you think?” And all of a sudden, Silas was angry, his eyebrows scrunching, the corner of his mouth turning down. It overrode his nerves, but only served to make him look less anxious and more irrational. “You follow her around everywhere, it’s freaking weird. Every time I call her, she’s either with you or she says she’s gotta take you with her. What is hell is up with that?”

“It’s nothing,” Jakob replied simply.

Nothing. Just a contract.

He looked to where Corrin bent over at the pool table, lining up a shot as her tongue peeked out at the corner of her lips in concentration and her skirt rode up to where her patterned stockings faded at the border of the top of her thighs.

“I don’t have friends here. My mother wanted her to make sure I wasn’t spending my time alone.” Sometimes, he surprised himself with how easily the lies came to him.

“Oh,” Silas blinked, visibly relieved at the explanation. 

“You know how Corrin can be.”

Silas nodded, unsuccessfully hiding a smile with a large swallow of beer. He picked up the coaster and folded it in half. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to imply –“

Jakob waved him off. “It’s fine.” God, he hated not being able to drink on the job.

“I mean, I thought it was pretty weird anyway, being her cousin and all, but if you were into her,” he chuckled awkwardly, “how messed up with that be?”

More than you could possibly imagine.

It was a mess of lies, a mess of secrets, a mess of emotion, a mess when he thought about her for too long while he lay in bed alone.

“Quite,” Jakob agreed.

But it wasn’t as messed up as this. The boy would take this as permission, of course, confirmation that it was acceptable to go ahead and sweep her off her feet, and Jakob had just given it himself, while still barely getting his head around the fact that the idea of her spending time with someone else – falling in love with someone else – made him feel sick with despair.

“Well, um, thanks for that.” Silas raised his beer at Jakob. “You’re not too bad, you know? Just need to cheer up a little. You’re always so serious.”

Jakob tilted the drink in his hand, watching as Corrin leaned back and gave a small victorious pump of her fist. She turned and caught his eye, flashing him a smile that made his heart twist with longing.

“You’re not the first to tell me that.”

---

Corrin was tired. 

She couldn’t remember exactly when it had started to build up, but all of a sudden, midterms had arrived and she had three other assignments due within the week of each other, two quizzes worth ten percent of her final mark and no time. All of it seemed to blend into an endless, indecipherable blur of late nights and a constant feeling of dread, like something was chasing her and the moment she let her guard down, it would seize her and shred her to pieces.

Her only comfort lately had been, ironically, her own bodyguard. When Xander had insisted that they hire a new one, she had tried to talk him out of it. She was old enough; she could look after herself, and besides, no one knew who she was anyway. It wasn’t like the Paparazzi were camping outside her apartment.

But Xander would not relent. She had to either get a bodyguard or move back home. Defeated, Corrin asked for a compromise: she would accept another bodyguard if she was allowed to choose the person protecting her. Xander agreed to let her accompany him downtown to the offices of Northern Fortress, and there, a block away from the conversation she would have with Gunter over a bunch of files, she met Jakob for the first time.

She shouldn’t have been surprised when his photo came up ��� of course the tie and the black bomber was a uniform – and once it did, she immediately lost interest in every other guard she had seen. He was handsome even in the standard headshot, his pale hair pulled back neatly to reveal the strong lines of his jaw, his blue gaze dark and solemn, and she knew the voice that passed those lips was accented in a way that gave her butterflies when he spoke.

I want him.

And he turned out to be more than just a firm hand and a handsome face. He was intelligent, efficient, serious to a fault, but also incredibly witty, and she found herself more and more prone to laughing in his presence. He was thoughtful. After she had commented on his coffee on the first day of semester, he brought her coffee every morning, a tall, strong latte that she knew he ordered hot so that it would still be warm by the time it reached her.

He was attentive. As the weather grew colder, Jakob wouldn’t let her leave the house without putting on a coat. The first time, it was genuine forgetfulness on her part – Corrin liked to wear skirts and dresses, and with the heating running at her apartment almost constantly, she never knew what the true temperature outside would be. But when he briefly vanished and reappeared with a coat from her wardrobe and then proceeded to put it on her and slowly button it up to her collar, she felt herself flush pleasantly from the feeling of his hands on her. 

Every morning she forgot afterwards was entirely deliberate.

Jakob stood close when he did this, and she could smell the faint, fresh scent of his cologne, momentarily imagine that all this was happening in reverse and he would undress her, take her to bed and do things with his pretty mouth that would make her lose her mind.

He was kind. The one time she panicked at the sight of a spider, he had come running, so suddenly wrenched from his own evening that his hair was still damp from the shower she had clearly interrupted. But he still helped her even though he didn’t have to, and he’d even stayed afterwards to make her dinner. Corrin had pushed the limits of what was appropriate that evening, going so far as to try and get him drunk, but he was still, infuriatingly, a gentleman, even with almost four glasses of wine in him, and she had drunk too much herself to do anything other than fall asleep on the sofa. It was a small miracle that he’d woken her to get her to go to sleep properly and then somehow made it home without killing himself.

The only thing she’d really gotten out of that had been the fact that he used to be a ranking officer in the Royal Marines, and the thought of him in uniform only helped elevate her daydreams to a level that left her agitated and distracted.

It was almost ridiculous, how quickly and desperately attached to Jakob she had become, even though she knew he had nothing but a professional interest in her. Despite his ability to be constantly and consistently wonderful, he always seemed to be standing an arm’s length away from her, and it drove her crazy how someone could be near her every single day, and still not be close enough.

In fact, if Corrin took a step back from the sheer physical attraction that clouded her judgement, she found that she craved conversation with him the most, the hilariously dry banter that he would toss her way to bat back, the way he sighed when she said something nonsensical, the very rare smiles  he would occasionally turn away to hide. She wanted to know him, not just be beside him, and it frustrated her to no end that it was impossible, given his role in her life.

Still, there were moments where these lines blurred and she couldn’t quite tell if Jakob was carefully toeing some sort of boundary, or if she were simply choosing to see it that way. He had brought her irises one morning, beautiful and so blue that they made his eyes almost look violet, and her heart had leapt excitedly into her throat at the sight of them, even though he said it was for no reason other than the fact that her apartment looked too dull and grey for his liking.

Lately, he had taken to the habit of remaining for just an hour or so after he drove her home from the university to make her dinner. She had told him it really wasn’t necessary, but he simply continued to do so, going so far as to set the table, before leaving for the day.

The only time Jakob stayed to eat with her, she had asked him to explicitly, sick of how empty her apartment felt after he was gone, hungry for more time in his company so she could tease him and hopefully this time, get him to laugh.

“Are your tests and assignments done?”

She sighed heavily. “Almost. I’ll be done by the start of next week.”

He moved another helping of green beans onto her plate. “Make sure you eat. Drink plenty of water, rest. And not at your desk. Go to sleep in your bed.”

“Yes, mum,” she rolled her eyes.

He cleared his throat, but it might have also been a noise of amusement.

“Would I… be able to help you at all?”

She looked up at him and saw that he had stopped eating, watching her almost uncertainly as he waited for her response.

“You’re already doing plenty.”

“Well,” he sighed quietly, “let me know if I can do anything else.”

You could kiss me, she wanted to say, but it was absurd, because he was just being nice, and she was being monumentally stupid about all this, letting her mind run away with deliberate misinterpretations, just because he had agreed to have dinner with her.

“Thank you, Jakob,” she said instead.

He shooed her to the study after dinner and insisted that he would do the dishes. By the time she returned to check on him, he had already left.

---

It had been almost five whole minutes since he had shut off the engine, but in the darkness of the basement garage, he sat without moving, his hands still on the wheel as he watched her sleep.

Gently, ever so gently, he reached across to push the hair away from her face.

She looked peaceful, beautiful enough to break his heart.

“Corrin,” he whispered.

Her eyelids fluttered open.

[eternally6pm]

FE FATES Revelation Run: Moms 

[eternally6pm]

On a scale of 1 to Bordering on Inappropriate, how much does Camilla love Xander?

[eternally6pm]

I think I am going a little mad 

from thinking too long about how Takumi is quite possibly depressed, 

and Mikoto’s death has triggered a very severe exacerbation of it. 

His family love him, but his older sister and brother aren’t the greatest at handling someone quite so sensitive (they were never shown how, and likely subconsciously recognise it from a distance as lack of discipline, impatience, weakness)

and Sakura is his best bet at finding emotional support, but he’s her older brother - he cannot bring himself to burden her with anything. 

Contrary to what some of his dialogue would have you believe, Takumi is profoundly thoughtful - in fact, he may suffer a little from overthinking, and tends to drive himself into mental corners, self-defeating cycles of hope, denial, regret.

Meanwhile Camilla is also more than just some ridiculous armour, a sister complex and a yandere tendency. 

There is a melancholy to her that feels like a deeply embedded sort of mourning for the childhood that she was denied, 

alongside an unhealthy helping of Venting with Violence. 

I find her violent in many ways: violently affectionate, violently sensual, violently physical. 

To an extent, I think this to be a sort of mirror of Takumi’s behaviour. Both of them are brash, but while 

Takumi is deliberately alienating, Camilla is determinedly possessive. 

Takumi lashes out, while Camilla attempts to nurture, 

and both do this in response to the traumas they carry with them, but also as an attempt at absolution, and if you’re still with me somehow I have another 45 minutes of straight up stream of consciousness about how this makes them perfect for one another in their similarities and complementary ways, but also sometimes horribly toxic in their inability to cope with the extreme emotions they are saddled with but have never been given the security to properly

[eternally6pm]

Here here now, don’t cry, you raised your hand for the assignment Tuck those ribbons under your helmet, be a good soldier

[eternally6pm]

fallen star

[eternally6pm]

Irresistible Force - Part 3

Warm Blood

Rating: M

Characters: Jakob, FCorrin, Xander, Silas, Camilla.

- Let down my guard tonight  |  I just don't care anymore -

SOUNDTRACK

PART 2 | PART 4

---

It was two weeks into the job, and he was towelling his hair after a shower when his pager went off for the first time.

The shriek he heard on the other end of the line when she answered his call nearly caused him to trip right over as he tried to tug on a pair of jeans while cradling his phone between his shoulder and face at the same time.

“Where are you?”

“At home – oh, god, could you come help me? Quick!”

Her voice made him want to jump out of his own skin with anxiety. “Are you able to move?”

“What? Yes! Of course I can move!”

“Go somewhere safe. Leave the apartment if you have to. Close the door. Call nine-one-one.”

“Wait, why – “ she shrieked again, and Jakob dropped the phone this time, cursing as he snatched a clean shirt from a hanger in his wardrobe and picked up the phone to hear the tail end of a babbling string of words. “- could be! Could you just come, please? Please!”

“Stay calm. I’m on my way.”

Dragging his damp hair into an elastic, he pulled on his boots, grabbed his baton, jacket, helmet and keys and all but ran out the door.

The lift in her building took an eternity to perform its function and when it finally opened on her floor, he charged straight out, key card at the ready, jabbing the pin code in before shoving the door open.

“Corrin!”

The apartment was empty.

“Jakob!”

Her bedroom door burst open and she barrelled at him so quickly, he wasn’t ready, staggering almost back out the door and dropping his helmet and baton as she threw her arms around his waist.

“What,” he spluttered, stunned into awkward inactivity as he tried to figure out what to do with his arms.

“You came!” 

She beamed, as though she honestly thought he wouldn’t. To his relief, she let go of his waist and grabbed his arm instead, pointing into the kitchen. 

“Now go kill it.”

“What?” He repeated.

“The spider! I said there was a spider – and I lost track of it, I don’t know where it is, please, just get rid of it, please.”

Jakob gaped at her. “I thought you were being attacked.”

“I was! By a spider!”

“You –“ He shut his eyes and rubbed a hand over his face, torn between laughing and groaning out loud. He settled for sighing instead. “You can’t call my pager for things like this.”

Corrin actually pouted, and he wanted to shake her, frustration, and strangely, affection assailing him all at once. 

“I’m sorry,” she apologised, looking down at her feet like a child that had been caught doing something wrong.

“It’s… it’s all right.” Something in him relented, a weight lifting from him as he settled into the realisation that she wasn’t in any imminent danger and he gently patted her shoulder with his free hand. “I suppose it’s what I do. Protect you. Even if it is… from a spider.”

She gave him a small smile and then jabbed a finger in the direction of the kitchen again. 

His arm was quickly released as he stepped into the tiled area. The first thing Jakob noticed was shattered glass on the counter below an open cupboard.

“Please do not tell me you threw a glass at it.”

“I threw a glass at it!” Her voice came from the living area and he turned to see her standing nervously behind her coffee table, a distance unnecessarily far from where he stood. “Don’t judge me!”

He couldn’t hold back a small snort of amusement.

“Are you laughing at me?”

“No.”

He peered into the cupboard and there it was, wedged in a corner just behind the door, dark grey and hairy all over with alarmingly long legs.

“Your aim is miserable.”

“I panicked, okay?”

He picked up another glass from the shelf. “Clearly.”

Carefully, he hovered the opening of the glass over the spider, trying to gauge if it would be wide enough to fit over the thing. Perhaps a bit too small.

“Do you have a –“

It jumped.

Corrin screamed, and Jakob leapt a mile, a yelp of shock escaping him as he dropped the glass and frantically brushed at his shoulder where it landed. Again, she screamed as it tumbled to the floor and started to dart away and Jakob thought fuck it, and stomped down on it as hard as he could.

For a long, long moment, neither of them spoke.

It was Corrin who broke the silence by starting to giggle.

“You… you…” she couldn’t form the words, overwhelmed with laughter as she doubled over, her arms folded over her stomach.

Jakob could only sigh, huffing a small laugh himself at the ridiculousness of the entire scene.

“Broom,” he requested and Corrin staggered towards the laundry, howling uncontrollably.

She returned with a dustpan as well, and a less hysterical edge to her voice and tried to start sweeping, but Jakob took the items from her and pointed her out of the way. 

“The sound you made!” She perched on a stool at the counter and tried to imitate him, waving her arms in a goofy, exaggerated manner and starting to laugh all over again. “I would have never expected that from you.” 

He shook his head and continued to sweep. “I suppose I’ll leave you to deal with it yourself next time, then?”

Corrin propped her chin in her hands and watched him clean, seeming remarkably content now that the threat had been eliminated. “Thank you for coming,” she said, her voice softer. “I know this isn’t part of the job description. I just… I didn’t know who else to call.”

He located the bin in the corner and dumped the spider and the shards of broken glass. “I don’t mind.” And he realised that he truly didn’t. He glanced at his watch only to find that it wasn’t there, having been left behind in the rush to get here. The digital display on Corrin’s fridge read eleven minutes past seven. “Technically, I’m still on duty.”

“Well, thank you, Jakob, for doing your duty.”

He tucked the broom back into the handle of the dustpan, a thought occurring to him. While he was here, he felt like doing something else outside of his job description.

“Have you had dinner?”

Corrin’s eyes widened in what he was starting to recognise as her playful expression. “Are you asking me out? You know that’s against the rules.”

He forced himself to refrain from smiling, even though her teasing made him want to cover his face with his hands and just grin from ear to ear.

“No, Miss Nohr, I’m asking you if you have eaten, and if not, I’d like to know what you intend to do about it.”

“No and nothing.” She folded her arms. “What are you going to do about it?”

“Nothing,” he deadpanned, walking out of the kitchen and to the laundry to return the dustpan and broom. He felt her watch him, staring as he picked up and collapsed his baton, scooped up his helmet and headed for the door. As he pulled it open, he turned back.

“I’m joking. Get your keys, I’m going to make you dinner.”

The smile that replaced her look of dismay lit up the entire room.

---

“What is the simplest thing you know how to make?”

Corrin watched in interest as Jakob added a bunch of basil to their trolley. 

“Cup noodles,” she replied honestly. “Tea.”

Jakob cast her a sidelong glance. “Do you really want to tell an Englishman that you know how to make tea?”

“Fine,” she rolled her eyes. “Cup noodles.”

He picked up and inspected a large onion. “Well, by the time I’m done today, the simplest thing you’ll know how to make will be this.”

Corrin gave him a small, uncomfortable laugh. “You’re pretty confident for someone dealing with a person who has never cooked in her life.”

“How have you survived this long on your own without cooking?” He pulled a tray of beef mince from the cold shelf and was wheeling the trolley past the rest of the cold and frozen foods when the display reminded him of the expired eggs in her fridge.

“Do you actually eat eggs?”

She stared at him, wide-eyed. “I have eggs?”

He chose to leave them alone for today.

Down another aisle, he pointed out a jar of tomato paste for her to retrieve and then, further along, some dried pasta. She wasn’t quite tall enough and he watched fondly for a moment as she stood on the tips of her toes and attempted to nudge it down, before reaching up to grab it for her.

“Ah, thanks.” She stepped quickly out of the way and almost knocked over a row of rotini. “Sorry, sorry!” She grasped at the falling bags, scrambling to straighten the display.

It seemed that there was never a dull moment around Corrin Nohr.

The groceries amounted to two bags of items that Corrin insisted she pay for despite the fact that Jakob had been the one to suggest they go shopping.

“You shouldn’t be doing this anyway,” she pointed out.

“You make it sound like a violation of terms.”

She waved a hand, mumbling something about a bad idea.

Back at the apartment, Jakob showed her how to cut an onion.

She took to the task with enthusiasm, but frightening recklessness.

“Stop, stop –“

He quickly reached around her to take her hands.

“You’re going to lose a finger if you do that.” He gently bunched her fingertips together and moved them to rest on top of the onion. “Keep them where you can see them. Like a claw.”

Suddenly, she pulled her hands away, scattering bits of onion as she ducked under his arm and darted behind him. 

“I don’t like this, it stings!”

Concerned, he turned to check on her. “Are you all right?”

Her face was bright pink and she sniffled as her eyes watered. “Yeah… I’m sorry. Maybe I should do something else.”

He got her to boil pasta.

Corrin helped him put together the rest of the sauce, obediently following his instructions and otherwise hovering just out of the way. As he finished, he beckoned her to come closer, dipping a clean spoon into the pot.

“Always taste.” He blew on the spoon and offered it to her. “Remember that this is being added to –“

Whatever he meant to say vanished from his mind, his chain of thought snapped cleanly apart as he watched her lips close around the spoon, her tongue dart out to catch the sauce at the corner of her mouth.

“It’s a little salty.”

“Yes,” he agreed, feeling breathless.

Bad. Bad, badbad, this was a mistake.

But it was salvageable, he thought, dropping the spoon in the sink. He could let her eat, clean up quickly and just leave before –

“Would you like a glass of wine?”

No. No.

“I at least know that Merlot can be paired with a red pasta sauce. Camilla taught me that.”

She smiled proudly, and Jakob would have rather dug the damn spider back out of the glass-ridden trash and swallowed it than said no.

Corrin wandered off to retrieve the bottle, leaving him with no choice but to serve a dinner for two.

Determined to eliminate the suggestion that this was in any way enjoyable, Jakob sat quietly across from her at the dining table, carefully directing his gaze at the view, but she was like a beacon even against the brilliant city skyline, irresistibly distracting. Corrin had a talent for conversation, and two glasses of wine in, Jakob was telling her things not even his colleagues, whom he had worked with for years, knew of.

“How long have you been in security for?”

“Two… three years.” Brief answers, no detail. Don’t get too involved.

“What did you do before that?”

“I was a Lieutenant for the Royal Marines.”

“The British military!” She took a long sip of her wine, sitting up straight with attentive interest. “Why did you leave?”

It was his turn to drink deeply from his glass. “Personal reasons.”

“Okay, I won’t ask. But it must have been really personal for you to leave the country entirely.”

He let a mouthful of pasta be his excuse for avoiding a reply.

“So are your family all in England?”

For the briefest of moments, he considered being a jerk. But she was refilling his glass with a gentle smile, and it couldn’t hurt, surely, to just tell her. He had to spend so much time with her anyway, it would be better to sate her curiosity than maintain this clinical indifference.

“I have no family. My parents abandoned me when I was very young.”

“Oh,” her face fell. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. It doesn’t matter much to me.”

“Still,” she said more to herself than in reply, “it must have been lonely.”

He shrugged. “I’m used to it.”

He was drinking too fast. He felt warm when Corrin stared at him and the way the soft lights caught her hair made him a little disoriented, almost dizzy.

God, the flush of wine in her cheeks made her look so –

“I think I’ve had too much,” he muttered.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she stood, coming around the table to take him by the arm, and it didn’t make much sense, but he let her lead him to her sofa and sat down, feeling strangely comfortable as she sat next to him and turned on the television.

“Penguins,” she announced, indicating with the remote, the documentary on screen. 

They were such ridiculous animals, absolutely not made for movement on land, and he might have said so, because she laughed, and the sound went straight to his head, down into his chest where it beat like bird trying to escape.

“Hey,” she said softly, as the commercials came on, “I’m sorry if I brought up some bad memories.”

Jakob sighed. “Don’t apologise. You apologise too much.”

“Sorry,” she repeated, and giggled to herself. “But thanks for telling me. I can’t believe you were a Lieutenant. I guess that’s why you have such good posture.”

“You notice strange things.”

She nodded slowly. “I’m good at that.”

The low drone of the television was soothing, and Jakob felt his head slowly clearing the longer he sat there. It would be a while before he could comfortably take his bike, but it was getting late, and the time at which it should have been appropriate for him to leave had come and gone. With a yawn, he made to stand, and froze.

Corrin had fallen asleep, her legs tucked beneath her and her head tilted sideways against the back of the sofa, as if she had drifted off while watching him. Her cheeks were still pink, her lips parted slightly as her chest rose and fell with deep breaths and her eyelids fluttered as she felt Jakob move beside her. 

“No,” she murmured, reaching for him, her arm falling about his waist, and with a heady rush he knew was not the wine, Jakob realised with sudden, startling clarity that he was trapped.

Caught beneath her unknowing embrace, tangled in the thought of her kind eyes and gentle laugh. 

And to his absolute horror, he didn’t want to ever be set free.

[eternally6pm]

Omg thank u for supplying the second chapter of Irresistible Force!! I’m crying it’s lovely 😭

I will also definitely try to think up some fun Takumi and Camilla prompts! I’m excited to see more of your writing

You're honestly so sweet, thank you for being so incredibly patient, and for always being so supportive!

I actually really wish I could send you a hug - you have no idea how heartening it is to read a message like this, it not only makes me super happy, but it motivates me to keep going.

Don't worry too much about prompts if it's a struggle - honestly, it's a struggle for me too, and ultimately, I'm still a lover of Jokamu, so the more I write, the more likely I'm going to circle back to it.

Much love, always thrilled to hear from you!

[eternally6pm]

可愛い子

[eternally6pm]

Shogi and chess

[eternally6pm]

 Birthright ending

[eternally6pm]

Night-night~

[eternally6pm]

Ponytail

[eternally6pm]

He also writes very intense love letters.

Probably the least controversial hc of all time, but Takumi has a praise kink.