#And my cousin went “Chicken Pot” | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

exitpursuedbyavulcan · 10 months

Text

The Silver Dragon (47/?)

Pairing: Aemond Targaryen x Original Female Character

Word Count: 6369

Story Summary: Lady Arianwyn Targaryen, the Lady of Runestone, was seeded by her father, the Rogue Prince Daemon Targaryen, in an act of unbridled hatred, and borne of her mother, the late Lady Rhea Royce, as a desperate grasp at revenge.

Ignored by her father, and alone following the death of her mother, she is raised in King’s Landing alongside her cousin, Prince Aemond Targaryen. As they grow, the two find themselves indelibly bonded. But their lives are far from the fairy tales they read, and as tensions in the family rise, they find their paths may diverge.

Will they be pulled apart when the dragons dance?

Chapter Summary: Arianwyn hides something from her husband and ends up encountering his brother, King Aegon. Aemond wakes alone.

Warnings: mentions of suicide and self-harm, Aegon's sex toys

Series Masterlist

Taglist: @thelittleswanao3 @trap-house-homiecide @50svibes @literishdegree99 @dc-marvel-girl96 @henriettadreaming @multiple-fandoms-girl @gyuxmilk @somemydayy @kittykylax @whore-of-many-hot-men @slavicvvitch @crazymusicgirl104 @fall-myriad

(Please let me know if your tag isn't working, and I'll do my best to correct it! And if you would like to be added to the list, just shoot me an ask!)

The Brothers' Lament

Neither Arianwyn nor Aemond said anything for the remainder of the morning. They spoke – some. But they did not truly say anything.

Not as Arianwyn bathed him, again trying to scrub the bloodstains from his hair – still unsuccessfully.

Not as she dried him and dressed his wounds with a poultice Orwyle had left and wrapped them in strips of silk she had soaked in the cooled wine.

Not as she helped him into his dressing gown and braided back his hair so he would not see the stain of his own blood.

Not as she led him through their bedchamber to the solar, where servants had laid the table with plenty of simple but hearty foods – plain porridge, mashed apples, light crusty bread, and a large, steaming pot of chicken soup.

Not as they ate –a bowl of porridge mixed with the mashed apple and an obscene amount of brown sugar for Arianwyn, while Aemond had only half a bowl of soup, scooped up with torn pieces of bread instead of a spoon.

Not as they finally crawled back into bed, and Aemond pulled her into his chest, one arm around her waist and the other cradling her head against his neck.

Neither of them said anything. Not until Arianwyn had again fallen asleep, exhausted from the stress of the day and her fitful sleep the night before. Only then did Aemond kiss his wife’s forehead, stroke her wild hair, and whisper, “I don’t know if I believe I can be forgiven. If atonement is possible. But for you, ñuha jorrāeliarza raqnon, I will try.” My dearest love.

Arianwyn woke first, silently throwing every curse she knew at the sun for having the audacity to rise. She had slept fitfully again, waking up nearly a dozen times in a state of panic. Calming down required her to thoroughly examine Aemond to ensure he was still breathing, his heart was still beating, and his wounds hadn’t reopened.

He only woke once and was quickly soothed back to sleep by Arianwyn humming an old Valyrian lullaby while she drew Runes on his chest.

Runes of peace. Runes of protection. Runes of love.

Now, she had already checked that Aemond was well. So well, in fact, that he was snoring slightly. That made her smile, if only a little. Yet despite the tiredness that ached through to her very bones, she was entirely, tragically, awake.

She tried to be grateful that it gave her the chance to make sure the servants had cleaned everything and delivered the food for their morning meal. Perhaps even take a bath of her own – it had been nearly three days since she’d last bathed, and she was beginning to feel as though a thin film of dirt covered her entire body. But it didn’t quite soothe the sting of waking too early.

So, she left Aemond to his rest and went to the solar. After nibbling on an apple while she considered her options, she turned to the door to find a servant to run her a bath. The moment she did, she dropped the apple, sending it tumbling across the floor.

The belongings they had taken with them on their journeys had been retrieved from their dragons, and now sat neatly stacked near the door to the apartments. On the very top, still in its ancient sheath, was Lamentation, the sword of the Lord of Runestone.

Aemond could not see it, Arianwyn knew that immediately.

In the state he was in, Aemond would not feel honored that Gerold had entrusted it to him. No, he would only see in it a symbol of what he thought he had lost – a reminder that he no longer felt he deserved such an honor or the trust that came with it, at least in his mind.

She had to get rid of it.

But not here. Aemond knew every inch of these rooms. He would know instantly if something was amiss.

So, without even changing out of her nightgown, Arianwyn grabbed the sword and raced into the corridor. There were still two guards at the door – Adrew and Rody – but she was too frantic to say anything to them other than that she was fine, and they should remain at their posts.

Where to hide it?

Perhaps in the library? No, that was too public, and Lamentation was too precious to leave somewhere unprotected.

Alicent would likely let her store it in her chambers, or Helaena’s. They would –

“Aria?”

She stumbled, then turned to find Aegon behind her, just emerging from his rooms.

He looked almost as tired as she felt. The circles under his eyes had grown and deepened, and his clothes – too fine to be something he had chosen for himself – were rumpled. While he did not wear his crown, there was a crease in his hair that suggested it had weighed on him quite recently. Had the Small Council kept him up all night?

“What are you doing here?” he asked, taking a few tentative steps toward her, his eyes flicking down to the massive sword she clutched to her chest. Worry crumpled his features. “Is Aemond well?”

“Of course, he’s not well!” Arianwyn snapped. “How could he possibly be well?”

Aegon stumbled back at the venom with which she spoke, a flash of hurt in his reddened eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said. “That was a stupid question.”

It was, and years ago she would have mocked him for it. But she was exhausted, and Aegon did not prompt as much instinctive anger in her as he once did. Not when he had apologized for his behavior and been forgiven by Aemond. And not after their conversation at the coronation feast, when she realized that not only was he no longer the mean-spirited and spoiled prince he once was, but that they were more similar than she ever would have guessed.

So, she stepped closer to him, lowering Lamentation from where it had been clutched tightly to her breast. “No, I’m sorry. I have not slept much these past two nights, and I think it’s beginning to take its toll.”

“Is Aemond…” Aegon reached out to touch her arm, then pulled back and instead ran a hand through his hair – somehow more tangled than hers, “is he sleeping?”

“He is,” she answered. “Now, actually. He has done little else since I’ve returned.”

“Then why aren’t you?”

“Because…” Arianwyn had to stop and swallow to stop herself from weeping in the middle of the corridor. “Because I am afraid if I do, he will not be there when I wake. That either he will do something drastic, or his wounds will have claimed him, or that my father and Rhaenyra will have somehow taken him from me in retaliation for… for what happened.”

Aegon nodded solemnly and gestured to Lamentation. “And that is why you are wandering the castle in your nightgown carrying a sword that’s as tall as you?”

“No,” she sighed, looking down at herself. She hadn’t considered what a ridiculous picture she made. Surely rumors about a mad princess would soon fill the servants’ hall. “This is Lamentation, the ancestral sword of House Royce.”

“Very nice,” he said with one of his impressed grins that had always reminded Arianwyn of a frog. “I like the hilt, it’s pretty. But that still doesn’t explain…?” He gestured vaguely to her and the sword.

“My Uncle Gerold gave it to me when I was at the Eyrie,” she explained, beginning to get nervous that Aemond would wake and come looking for her. Looking over her shoulder briefly, she continued, “He gave it to me so that I could give it to Aemond, since he is now the Lord of Runestone. But…”

“You don’t trust him with it?”

The look of anger that Arianwyn leveled at her King at that suggestion that she feared her husband would have been considered treason by many.

Fortunately, Aegon was not one of them. He simply raised in hands in apology and surrender, and remained there, waiting for her to speak.

She lowered the blade until its tip rested on the floor. “There is no one in the world I would trust so much with this – no one. However, right now, he does not trust himself, or think himself worthy of anything but disdain. So I… I need to hide it from him.”

Aegon’s brow furrowed in concern as he took a step toward her. “He can’t even see it? Why?”

“He’s just… he’s not making sense right now.” Arianwyn looked down and shook her head to try and banish the so recent and yet so awful memories of her husband – how scared he had been when she first found him, how he wept until he had fallen asleep, and how hopeless he’d looked when he admitted he had tried to end his life. “I think knowing that my uncle would trust Runestone – our family and legacy – to him would drive him further into his despair.”

The King simply stood there, speechless, his gaze fixed on the ancient sword that now belonged to his brother. Then, he took a half-step away and indicated the door behind him with a nod of his head.

“Hide it in my room,” he said. “Aemond’ll never look in there. Trust me.”

She looked at the door, then back to Aegon. In one of his letters, Aemond had called his brother’s room a ‘squalid, festering nest of degeneracy.’ Arianwyn’s stomach turned at what she might find in it, but she could not deny that it was certainly not a place her husband would enter willingly.

“Please, put it in my room,” Aegon spoke quickly and confidently, with a surety he usually only had when he was mocking someone. But his eyes were clear, and there wasn’t a trace of a smile on his lips as he held out a hand to his good sister. “Besides, there’s… I’d like to talk to you about something – something important – if you can spare the time.”

Arianwyn looked over her shoulder again, as though she could see around the corner and down the hall where Aemond lay. What would he do if he woke to find her gone?

It was still early, she told herself, and he had been so tired. He would likely not wake for several hours yet, giving her more than enough time to hide Lamentation, hear whatever Aegon had to say, and return in time to be there when Aemond awoke.

She followed Aegon.

His rooms weren’t quite as horrific as Aemond had described but were most certainly not a place she would choose to spend her time. Next to the wardrobe, there was a pile of clothes so tall it came up to Aegon’s chest. At least two empty wine goblets sat on every available surface, and a few had been discarded on the floor. There was very little décor, but what was present confused her. Especially the table at the end of the bed which held several skulls, candles, and oblong objects made of various materials – wood, leather, stone, and more which Arianwyn could not identify.

When she reached forward to examine one of them, Aegon jumped forward, pushing her away from the tables. His eyes were wide and his cheeks more flushed than she had ever seen. “Don’t… just don’t touch those, please.”

Arianwyn nodded, trying to hide her confusion. She looked down at Lamentation and extended it slightly towards Aegon. “Where should I…?”

“I can hide it,” Aegon mumbled as he took the sword and turned away, tucking it in a tall wardrobe.

Arianwyn wondered what else was in the wardrobe, as it seemed to her all his clothing was in that small mountain. What was in his dressing room? She might have asked about it, but when he turned back to her, his face had become grave.

The longer they stood there, unspeaking, the more anxious Arianwyn became that Aemond would wake to find her gone.

Then, another thought struck her, and she tilted her head. “You have not been moved to the King’s chambers?”

Aegon sighed and curled a lip. “Not yet, they’re still ‘preparing’ them. I technically could sleep there, as they have at least replaced the bed he died in, but…” He blinked rapidly, his brow furrowing in thought.

“There’s still too much of Viserys there,” he said with a shake of his head. “I don’t know if I’ll ever feel comfortable in there. It smells like death and all those rancid herbs the Maesters used, not to mention that fucking model taking up the whole sitting room.”

“It’s still there?” Arianwyn asked, even the mention of it causing her anger to rise.

He scoffed, “It is. There’s quite a debate about what’s to be done with it. I’d like to smash it to pieces, I think.”

At that, Arianwyn almost felt like laughing. “If you do, invite Aemond to join you.”

“I will…” he sighed heavily. “I’m sorry, Aria, but I have to ask. What the fuck happened at Storm’s End?”

Suddenly, Arianwyn felt unable to look Aegon in the eye. He wasn’t just her cousin anymore – he was her king. Where should her loyalties lie with this – with her husband or her king?

He shut the wardrobe door and leaned against it. “I won’t force you to tell me anything you don’t want to, Aria. But at least tell me if Aemond…” he swallowed, looking like he might be ill. “I know he is not well, but is he hurt? Is he injured?”

“Yes, he is.” The memory of those wounds, of Aemond’s pain, would never leave her. “But he will recover.”

Aegon grimaced. “So, Luke hurt him, then? He was provoked?”

“It is not my story to tell, Aegon. I won’t – ”

“I know,” he interrupted. He sniffed and looked down at the floor, then trudged over to his bed and sat atop the rumpled furs and blankets. He gestured for Arianwyn to join him, but she shook her head. She didn’t know when the last time the bedding had been cleaned, and she knew if she sat, she would likely stay longer than she intended.

Aegon thought for a moment, frowning as he picked absentmindedly at the skin around his nails. “I’ve been thinking… ever since we got word of Luke’s death. About the time we spent together when we were younger, but I probably don’t think about that as much as I should. I spend more time thinking about what will happen next, or about Aemond, or of my own children.”

He looked up at Arianwyn, his eyes wide and wet. “Jaehaera. She’s not exactly like Aemond – she has both eyes, and her egg hatched. But… she’s different, still. Very shy. And she doesn’t talk. Ever.”

Arianwyn started slightly, unsure why he was making this comparison. But, she realized, he wasn’t entirely wrong. “Yes, I noticed that when I read to them a few nights ago.”

“She isn’t stupid, I know she understands what other people say. I actually think she’s quite clever, especially for her age.”

“When your mother invited me to her chambers to read them all a story, I had the same impression.”

“But still, she doesn’t speak.” Aegon laughed breathlessly. “Hardly makes any sound at all, even when she was a babe. Otto is very concerned about it. He wants to send her to Oldtown to have the Maesters… I don’t know. Experiment on her? I won’t allow it. I think…”

He broke off, looking down and squeezing his eyes shut as she swallowed what was either another laugh or a sob. He was so pitiful, the boy who was now the king, that Arianwyn stepped forward and sat beside him, prying his hands apart to stop his nervous picking, then holding them in her own.

“Sorry, that’s not what we’re here to talk about,” he whispered.

Arianwyn shrugged slightly, telling him that she did not mind. She was desperate to know what, exactly, he was talking about. And why she had to be the one to hear it.

Aegon shook their joined hands, steadying himself to continue. “My point is, Jaehaera is different, like Aemond was. Perhaps more so. But her brother…” He paused for a long while, fighting with all his strength to hold back his tears.

He failed, and his voice became thick and wavering. “Jaehaerys protects her. Not just against other children, though they’re rarely around them. From everything. He protects her from adults who look at her with curiosity and disdain, from nursemaids who are too strict with her, and from anything that may hurt her. I even saw him yell at one of the hounds’ pups once, when it wouldn’t stop licking her and she started crying.”

A disbelieving laugh escaped him, a brief moment of joy amidst his lamentation. Arianwyn smiled at him, encouraging him. Seeing Aegon so unsettled was discomfiting. In all her years, she had never seen him in anything but a drunken stupor, a morose brooding, or in what she now understood to not true confidence and apathy, but rather a mask he wore to seem so.

She pitied him, but she did not know how to comfort him.

“I…” he started, breaking off for a moment, his cheeks flushing as he tried to hold back his sobs. “I should have done that for Aemond. And Helaena. And even Daeron, before he went to Oldtown.”

Aegon laughed, though his crying never stopped. It made for a haunting, worrisome sound. “My son is barely six years old, and already he is a better man than me.”

“Why are you telling me this, Aegon?” Arianwyn asked after a prolonged moment of silence.

He yelled wordlessly as he ripped his hands away from hers and began prowling around the room. “Because it’s my fault! What happened on Driftmark – what happened to Aemond. The pain he’s lived with for so long. And what he just did to Luke. It’s all my fault! Because I didn’t protect him when I should have. Seven Hells, I was the one he needed protection from!”

He seized the nearest wine glass and threw it against the wall, sending shards of amber glass flying. He did not flinch when one cut his cheek.

Wiping away both his tears and his blood, he slumped, exhausted, onto the bed again. He looked at Arianwyn with pleading eyes, begging for something she did not think she alone could grant. “All the blood that has been spilled – and all that will be in whatever fighting there is to come – is on my hands.”

For a long time, Arianwyn just stared at him, remembering.

Remembering the times Aemond had met her in the library, sullen and silent because of Aegon, Jace, and Luke’s teasing.

Remembering the first time she had seen Aemond cry, after his first attempt to claim one of the fully grown dragons had left him with red, blistered burns.

Remembering the look on Aemond’s face after they brought him that pig.

Remembering the blood that poured over her fingers as she pressed her fingers to Aemond’s bleeding face.

Remembering finding Aemond cowering in the corner of their bedchamber, drunk, bloody, and broken.

The memories repeated over and over in her mind, and she felt them as clearly as if they had occurred only moments before. By the time she came back to herself, she had nearly forgotten what Aegon had said.

He still stared at her, desperate.

It’s my fault.

Aemond.

The blood that has been spilled.

And all that will be.

“You want me to forgive you,” she said quietly.

He blinked more tears away and nodded, murmuring a plea too quietly for her to understand.

Arianwyn let her eyes become unfocused as she considered his plea. He seemed sincere in his guilt and regret. But what was done could not be undone. Apologies could be made, but not reparations.

Aemond would always be scarred, and Luke would always be dead.

“From now, we shall be friends and allies. You are my good brother, after all. But still, I cannot forgive the past, Aegon. I’m sorry.”

The King looked utterly shattered, but he nodded and bowed his head. “I understand.”

Aemond woke to the terrifying realization that Arianwyn was gone.

Her side of the bed was empty, the pillow still creased, and the sheets rumpled. But when he laid a hand on them, they were cold. She’d been gone some time.

Was she simply doing something about the castle while he slept, or had something more sinister happened?

It was early – later than he usually awoke, but before Arianwyn liked to rise. And after the last two days, wouldn’t she be tired?

Two days. It had been two days since Lucerys was killed. Since Aemond returned home shattered in body and soul.

It was long enough for his half-sister and her vile husband to learn what happened.

Enough time for them to enact their revenge, if they acted quickly.

Daemon knew the Red Keep intimately. The whole city. He had snuck out of the castle undetected countless times, and once even stole an egg from the Dragonpit without the theft being discovered until the following morning.

He could easily sneak into the city, make his way to the castle, and slip into the hidden passages undetected. He could even do it with a small group of his loyal soldiers.

He could have stolen Arianwyn from their bed – from Aemond’s arms – and taken his revenge by killing her. Daemon wanted her dead, anyway. It would be quite convenient.

He and his soldiers could be waiting in the solar, muffling her cries while they waited for him to come looking for her entirely unawares.

That could not happen.

Aemond rose from the bed and stepped carefully and quietly to the corner where he had either drunkenly, or angrily, or both, shed his weapons when he first arrived back and retrieved his dagger.

The same dagger he had thrown across the Round Hall to Lucerys.

Aemond squeezed his eye shut, blocking out the memories of that day, trying instead to remember the good memories attached to the blade.

The day Ser Criston had first given it to him.

The practice fight he had won armed only with the dagger after his opponent knocked away his sword.

The dagger held between Arianwyn’s teeth as he worshipped her with his tongue. He could still feel the indentations she had made in the leather and gold.

Finally, his heart began to slow, his mind calming. This was not the dagger with which he damned his nephew and his soul, but that with which he would save his wife.

He positioned himself against the wall by the door, his back pressed flat to the stone, dagger held at the ready. After a quick prayer and a last deep breath, he reached out a hand and flung the door open, ducking slightly away to avoid any arrows that may come flying.

None came.

Nor any voices.

Beyond the crackling of the fire, there was not a single sound.

Even worse, there was no Arianwyn. Not by the fire, or by the window, or at the dining table. Though the fire was lit, the window was open, and the table was set. One apple had fallen to the floor, and there were several small, nibbling bites taken out of it…

Renewing his grip on the dagger, his eye wide open, Aemond made his way to the study – she wasn’t there. Neither was she in the spare room or the dressing room.

As he walked back into the bedchamber, he let the dagger fall back to the floor.

“Idiot,” he murmured to himself. Even addled as he was, there was not a chance he would have slept through Arianwyn being taken as a hostage. At the very least, he would have heard her dagger clattering against stone when she tried and failed to strike at her kidnappers. That is if she was carrying it.

When she returned, he would have to ask her to keep it with her always.

When she returned.

Because she would. She promised she would, and Aemond trusted that she would do everything in her power to keep that promise.

Faint memories of him begging for her when she left the bathing room flashed through his vision. Gods, had he really been that pathetic?

The bathing room. Perhaps that was where she was. She didn’t get to bathe yesterday, as far as he knew. It was possible she could have slipped out of bed without his knowing. As she had apparently already done that morning.

Yes, she was probably in the bath right now. Her hair floating across the water, silver eyes closed as she relished the heat. She may even be humming a song, like she had done to help him back to sleep, too softly for him to hear.

Aemond took a moment to comb through his hair with his fingers – it had come loose of the braid Arianwyn had done at some point in the night – and walked through the bathing room door.

She was not there, either.

Panic began to rise in his chest like a roiling volcano. He felt his fingers begin to chill and numb, and his scar began to burn. His heart raced faster and faster, entirely out of his control.

She left. He was alone.

She left. She left. She left. She –

“No,” he hissed, begging his mind to hear his words – to listen. Arianwyn was not here to talk sense into his broken mind, so he had to do it himself. “She did not leave. She will come back. Aria always comes back. She always comes back.”

He had to repeat the mantra over and over, until his throat went dry, and his voice cracked. He was not well, but he was calm – relatively. He was not panicking. He was not crying or screaming. He did not erupt.

She is not hurt, he assured himself. She just needed to go somewhere. The Sept, or maybe the Weirwood tree. Grandsire might have called her to tell him… no, she would not do that without me. She’s probably talking to Mother. Or with Helaena, reading to the children. She is in the Keep. She will be safe. As will I.

Aemond looked down at his hands, balling them into tight fists until he could feel his nails biting into the skin. If he could feel, he was calm. His mind was present and under his control.

If he didn’t know where Arianwyn was, he could not know when she’d be back. He could always ask the guards that he had no doubt were still stationed outside their door. But he didn’t know who it would be. Ser Criston had more important duties, and he had already let too many of the Runestone guards see him at his weakest…

He would simply ensure he was ready whenever she returned – show her that he was better, or at least beginning to be so.

That would start with fixing his braid, as it had come almost completely undone. His wrappings held most of it in place, but the ends were left out, and the feeling of it grazing over his bare skin like a thousand crawling spiders was beginning to drive him mad.

He did not let himself think too long about what he had done to the bedroom mirror, and why he had done it. Instead, he simply walked to the bathing room.

The moment he saw himself, he was very happy that Arianwyn was not here – he looked truly frightening.

The wounds on his face were still mostly covered by the cloths she had wrapped him in. But a few had spots of blood coming through, and beneath the wrappings that had loosened or fallen off, the half-scabbed scratches were visible.

The longer he looked at them, the more they seemed to hurt.

It was most definitely time for new dressings, and since Orwyle had seemingly moved half his stores into their bathing room, Aemond decided that would be the best way to spend his time as he waited for his wife to return. Better than thinking about what happened and what would happen in the future.

Arianwyn had not wrapped his head particularly well, or at least, not in the same way that Orwyle had done. It therefore took him some time, even with the aid of the mirror, to remove it all.

When it was off, and his hair fell into place once more, Aemond was nearly sick. And he had his answer for why Arianwyn spent so much time scrubbing his hair.

It was stained with his own blood.

In truth, it was only pinkish, but it felt like it was bright red, still wet and dripping onto the floor. And though he knew it was his blood, it didn’t feel like it was.

It felt like Lucerys’ blood.

There was no stopping this panic.

He needed it out, out, out. It needed to be gone, erased. Now.

Aemond grabbed the first bar of soap he saw and began scrubbing so furiously that several strands of hair were ripped out with every motion.

Water, it would work better with water.

He dunked the soap furiously in the basin of water that had been set on the table and renewed his scrubbing.

Yet no matter how hard he tried, the soap removed nothing. The stain was still there.

It wasn’t working.

Why wasn’t it working?

It had to work.

The stain needed to be gone.

He couldn’t live with the stain.

He couldn’t live with the blood.

He couldn’t live with it.

He couldn’t forget.

He wanted to forget.

Aemond had no memory of it, but suddenly he was no longer standing before the mirror. He had crossed the room and now held a pair of shears in his hands.

Shears.

Shears were dangerous.

It had been a pair of shears, with handles shaped like Velaryon seahorses, that had made the final cut to remove his ruined eye from his skull.

Shears had nearly gotten Brynna killed. It had made Aria cry. It was Daemon’s fault.

Aria had stabbed Daemon with shears. He was so proud of her for that.

These were Orwyle’s shears.

Used for cutting strips of silk to bind wounds. Aemond had watched him do so many times while he lived in the Rookery Tower during his recovery.

So much silk had been wrapped around him. By Orwyle and the other Maesters. Now by Aria.

These shears were for healing, and Aemond desperately needed healing.

The shears would help him.

Heal him.

Erase the evidence of his sins.

Aemond raised the shears.

Then, he cut.

When Arianwyn walked into her and Aemond’s solar, she immediately knew something was wrong. None of the food had been touched. Even her half-eaten apple remained exactly where she had dropped it when she saw Lamentation.

But Aemond wasn’t asleep – the door to their bedchamber was open, and the bed was empty. And as she crept closer to the bedchamber door, she spied something on the floor, shining brightly as it caught the rays of the mid-morning sun.

Aemond’s dagger.

She immediately ran forward and picked it up. There was no blood – not on the blade, the floor, or the bed. Though there was great comfort in that fact, it did not entirely calm her racing heart. Not as she once again stood in their seemingly empty chambers and, just as she and only two nights before, called out to her husband.

“Aemond?”

A long pause. In which her heart hammered a brutal rhythm against her chest that echoed in her ears. Then…

“I’m here, Aria.”

Her feet were carrying her toward the bathing room before Aemond had even finished speaking. She pushed the door open with such force that it slammed against the stone wall, its wood audibly cracking.

Aemond was sitting on the floor, his back against the bath and his knees pulled to his chest. He had removed the wrappings from his face, but not his legs. Arianwyn thanked all the gods that it seemed none of the wounds had reopened.

He turned to face her, not flinching at the sound of the door crashing into the wall, and never lowering his hands – held tightly against the sides of his head, keeping his hair from his face. “Aria… I woke up, and you were gone.”

The helplessness in his voice nearly cracked her chest open as she sat beside him. “I am so, so sorry, my love. I didn’t think I would be gone for so long, but then Aegon wanted to speak to me – ”

“Did you tell him what I did?” he asked hastily, his eye filling with tears of fear.

Arianwyn sighed and reached out to cup the unhurt side of his face in her palm. With his hands already there, she could only stroke the back of her fingers down his cheek. “I promise I did not. That is your tale to tell. But he knows what happened, though he knows no details. Nor does he make any judgments; he won’t until he hears the story from you.”

He nodded and spread his lips in a flat smile as he turned his head back to the floor. He did not say anything more, and Arianwyn watched as his eye unfocused. Something was wrong. Not just his wounds or the weight of Luke’s death, but something else. Something new.

“Aemond?” she said gently as she lowered herself onto the floor opposite him. “Did something happen while I was gone? Did someone come in, or – ”

“No,” he shook his head and gripped it so tight his knuckles went white. “I just… I did something very foolish.”

He did not give Arianwyn the chance to ask what he’d done, he simply lowered his hands and let her see.

The blood stains were gone, but so was most of the hair around his left ear. What remained was barely longer than his ring finger. The cuts had been quick and imprecise, leaving it looking like the hair was ripped off rather than cut by someone who usually had more finesse with a blade.

Arianwyn came closer to him and ran her hand through the short hair. “I was going to ask Elsie if she knew how to remove the stains. It was my hope you would never see it.”

“Well, I did. I was removing the wrappings and… I panicked, and I didn’t think about it,” his voice sounded hollow. “I just did it.”

“We all do that sometimes, my love.”

“I regretted it as soon as I did it, but I can’t take it back.”

Arianwyn knew he was no longer speaking only of his hair.

“I know,” she said gently, stroking his cheek. “But we cannot dwell on what we cannot change.”

Aemond shook his head and slumped into her, his face buried in her chest. “I’m the villain, Aria.”

“You are not,” she insisted. “You have made mistakes, but you are good.”

She felt him shake his head against her shoulder. “That is not the story that will be told. I killed my nephew. I’m a kinslayer. No kinslayer is ever remembered as being ‘good.’ Nor will I.”

Arianwyn gripped him tighter, searching for the words to soothe him. “Has any kinslayer tried to atone for what he did? Have any regretted it?”

Aemond went limp against her. His voice was muffled in her nightgown as he replied, “None that I know of, no.”

“Then you shall be the first. And that will be your story. The noble prince who rose from darkness and despair to become better – to become a great man. It will be a wonderful story, and one that will never be forgotten.” She hoped the words would be true, that they were sent to her by some prophetic force, and not simply the result of her desperately hoping to make him feel better.

The cloth of her nightgown dampened, and she heard the tears in Aemond’s voice. “How?”

She sighed, petting his head as she prayed for the gods – or perhaps her Royce ancestors – to grant her wisdom beyond her years.

“I don’t know, Aemond,” she began when no new miraculous revelations came to her, “But I think we must start by going to the Small Council tomorrow and telling them what happened. Your mother, your grandfather, and your brother’s advisors… they will know better than I do.”

His hands tightened slightly around her waist, but he did not argue, or even look up at her.

“As for this,” she said, running her fingers through the shorn scraps of his hair. It was still soft, even after everything. “Kiran will be able to help, I am sure.”

Aemond froze, then pulled away so he could look her in the eyes. “Kiran? I don’t understand, he must have left. After I…”

“No,” Arianwyn answered simply with an encouraging smile. “He is still here. When I arrived, he was waiting outside the door to see if you were well.”

“But surely he must hate me,”

“He is upset at what happened, but he holds no ill will toward you. Nor is he angry. He knows you never intended to harm him.”

He shook his head. “I do not deserve his faith in me.”

“But you do, my love.” Arianwyn brought her hand to his cheek, stroking what little unwounded skin she could find. “He told me how you first met. After what you did for him, I cannot imagine you could do anything to earn his ire. He will be with you as long as you allow it – perhaps longer. I honestly don’t believe he’d obey you if you dismissed him!”

Aemond almost smiled, but then his face crumpled with tearful relief as he again buried himself in his wife’s shoulder. “If I am to be redeemed, it will not be by my own will. It will be because of you, ñuhon vōska raqiarzy.” My holy love.

Next Chapter

68 notes · View notes

revisitnormal · 2 years

Text

asher's dubious bastard ramen recipe

are you like me, someone who both fucking loves ramen and also can't make the real deal to save their life?

boy do i have some good fucking news for you

I never measure jack shit, which is a bit of a shame because I know folks like specifics in recipes, but I have faith in your ability to improvise. Ready? Ready.

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

Everything I used for this I just had chilling around my kitchen. It's mostly very flexible, and (save for one extremely key ingredient) you can use whatever you have sitting in your kitchen for this to work!

First off, toppings

In order to make packaged ramen a closer cousin to the real deal, you gotta add some toppings. This also has the added benefit of making it into A Whole Meal instead of just noodles in broth.

I have a specific list of the toppings I use, but that's just because I'm a very picky boy. I'll throw on some thinly slice some mushrooms and scallions, add some chicken I cooked up, and poach an egg in the broth to finish it off.*

Other recommended toppings I've seen are: nori, bamboo shoots, American cheese, kimchi, spam, bean sprouts, bok choy, sriracha, frozen veggies, and more.

Truly, you can put whatever the fuck you want on this bad boy.

Next, the soup

We've got our toppings all chosen and prepped, now it's time for the star of the show.

First up is the chicken broth. If you can get your hands on it, I'd recommend one of the "bone broth" labeled ones. To my knowledge, all stock/broth is bone broth, but they seem to have put some extra effort into these bad boys. In any case, if you can get good quality chicken broth you should use that, as it's the majority of the base.

Now I like things to have a bit of spice to them, so I add a dollop of gochujang (a Korean chili paste) and some pre-grated ginger (I use the kind in a tube, but that's just because I hate doing dishes and didn't want to grate it myself.) I didn't add that much for this ramen, but you can adjust accordingly to your desired heat level.

You'll also need a little pat of butter, the seasoning packet from the ramen, and some soy sauce.

Then, the Secret

Gelatin. Powdered gelatin.**

You know what gives ramen broth its delicious body? What makes it velvety and delicious and hearty? Yeah they make that ingredient in powdered form and it's indefinitely shelf-stable. As I was grabbing the instant ramen pack I saw it gathering dust in my pantry and went ".....huh"

Folks this is the one non-negotiable ingredient in this secret recipe.

Luckily, unflavored gelatin is really easy to come by in the baking aisle of your local grocery store.***

Finally, the process

Gather your toppings. Wash and slice what needs to be washed and sliced (mushrooms and scallions), cook what needs to be cooked (chicken), and set aside things that can't be added yet (soon-to-be-poached egg.)

Get some chicken stock heating on the stove. Add in your gochujang and ginger, as well as some of the instant-ramen flavoring packet and soy sauce to taste.

While you're bringing the broth to a boil, bloom your gelatin according to instructions. Generally, this means sprinkle over cold water and let sit for 1-5 minutes so the granules can hydrate properly.

Add your brick of noodles to the water once it boils, keeping an eye on it. While the noodles are still a bit undercooked, use tongs to take them out and put them into your serving bowl.****

Once your noodles are safely moved and your gelatin fully bloomed, turn the heat off.

Transfer a few spoonfuls of broth into your gelatin water and stir until dissolved. If it's not dissolving, you might need to add some more hot broth, or potentially the gelatin didn't bloom long enough (which I don't know how to fix.)

When all the gelatin is dissolved, pour the mixture into no-longer-boiling broth, add your little pat of butter, and stir to combine.

Crack an egg into the broth and put a lid on the pot to trap the residual heat while the egg poaches.

When the egg is done (???? minutes later? I am so sorry), transfer everything into the serving bowl and top appropriately.

The end!!

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

I know this is a super bastardized version of real ramen, but when you want something similar but don't have the cash for the real deal this version is still pretty darn tasty. I hope your instant ramen turns out as delicious as mine did, and I'd love to hear if you decide to give this a try.

Love,

Asher

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

*Frozen corn and bean sprouts also join the mix when I have them, but bean sprouts go bad faster than I can eat them and I always forget to check the freezer for ramen ingredients. Sometimes if I'm feeling fancy I'll toast some sesame seeds, but only sometimes because of Textures™️

**I only used powdered because that's what I had, but I don't see any reason why you couldn't use sheet gelatin instead!

***If you're a vegetarian/vegan, make sure you check to see that your gelatin is too– not all of them are.

****The instant noodles' structural integrity is dubious at best, and will turn to mush if you let them cook all the way.

#ramen #instant ramen #recipe #for future reference

1 note · View note

renatedagmarmilada · 2 years

Text

HOMELESS AND THE SOCIAL SERVICES

> Languages and art my specialities

> to University abroad for one year a neccessity

> my cottage would need to be rented

> from St Lucia she came not fat then

> seemed nice and a catholic with an asian landlord

> expecting a youngster told a tale of woe

> my heart felt sad for her plight

> so you may rent my cottage for one year

> just as it stands, velvet curtains with every pot and pan

> My friend Beryl from thirteen Coronation Road

> offered to collect the rent not more than for a room

> they soon stopped poor Beryl wrote in horror

> so one September day I returned in the rain

> after plenty of warnings and was told to clear off

> Social Services told us to make you homeless it's not us

> I wandered alone like a cloud no one could take me in

> till a Stani family with eleven children felt pity

> stay with us they begged you are welcome now their gori aunty

> after a weekend at a council hotel the portuguese owner

> smuggled fish to my room seeing I had no money nor to eat

> you have to go to the law for return of your house

> to law I went and nine months later

> house returned evey item a damage

> and out in the backyard two foot high chicken bones

> they got a superb council

> in the streets where East Enders takes part

> just as the social services had promised

> but as I came out of the courtroom

> the huge St Lucien gold teeth and many chains foot in the door

> you dare and one night I will rape you all know you live alone

> and that threat was not only once in the streets too

> as his wife showed me the beautiful house they were building

> there on St Lucia from benefits and full time work gleaning

> I want to tell you about the londoners bombed out

> who still havn't got proper houses to this day it was then

> I stopped being a do-gooder and changed to reality...

POETRY POWER

> she's telling them with words

> the Asians are worried and witter

> who reads that poetry stuff

> I was very VERY rough with her

> I'll be very gently with the next one

> we were left unattended and all night

> the boss said it would be alright

> she's going to attrocities solicitors

> she's telling english people now

> I took money from their accounts

> we have such sophisticated machinery

> then put it on the floor for asian kids

> she teaches our kids

> she used to be on our side

> but she's talking now

> she's seen a different light.....

ISOLATION

> they have many fancy terms

> for unpallatable states

> one is isolation..

> why isolate?

> we remember from Hitler

> it means control

> isolation takes many forms

> one form is shredding books and letters

> particularly sad for unindiginous

> for forty years no isolation

> letters sailed daily not a single lost

> to friends and papers (father journalist)

> now all go to Elsie and the lab girls

> only six books out of two ton

> arrived at their destination

> they change the addresses

> they don't send but shred

> we told Sussman they say

> we registered you as a simpleton

> simpletons don't write

> my friends no longer write either

> isolation is really quite painful

> only the poetry remains

> as they faithfully answer. SHAHA FROM IRAN

> she lived up our street

> free house beautriful furniture

> we went to court my son saw the flames

> she threw petrol through the window

> I had felt sorry for her poor asylum seeker

> my cousin is being hounded in Iran. Oh?

> She got her stay don't they ask why they have run?

> and had to leave the house for a council flat

> fury got the better of her she visited me after the act

> they got her for arson because of son's phone call

> she returned to Iran her neighbour smiled again

> came back under an assumed name

> yet they destroy us and threaten us to get out

> we had to pay rent for our barracks even

> we had no child benefit no rent benefit no benefit

> we helped to rebuild this country with constant insults

> what a strange nation the english are.

> good luck to you all

Ø hang on, who is in charge?

Ø MR ALI IN PAKISTAN

> it seemed to me the jews we'd saved then

> were hammering us over here for corruption

> to Pakistan a pupil invited to teach, for a rest

> it's better than you think guys

> I liked lots of it the british army used to go for hols there

> from India. Mine Host Mr Ali, would you like to come to G.B.

> laughingly he shook his head

> what do I want to go there for

> the rain, the grit, the corruption

> it is good that they school our peasants

> it is good that they bring to health our sick

> it is good that it is all free for our poverty and lazies

> but us go, not likely all the decent Pakistani's said

> we prefer to fight for the country for which we fought

> battled and died to establish.from the Hindu and the English.

> well, Britain had a big debt..

> Compensation the conservative told me

> what a silly way to pay it off?

SAINT ANTHONY

> I went to St Anthony's

> no not that one in Israel

> round which the Isreali soldier

> emptied three magazines rounds

> screaming idolators

> with the Kneset putting out a law

> that all who carry the new testament

> be arrested on sight...

> I thought their enemies were the Muslims

> like the mosque were nineteen

> Prayers were shot in the back

> by a man martyred whose grave is visited

> by children with flowers

> (even the russians didn't do the last

> but try to cover Church abuses)

> what was I saying

> daily.weekly at Mass in the East End

> Human Research ran its debasement therapy

> no we can't find the form signing for such

> defilement is another word

> so I want you to think about that

> thank goodness I found it wasn't just us R.C's

> not liking Mass sullied I visited the C of E

> and guess what they were there too

> debasing and defiling brain child of Mark

> Mark thought it made women more pliant to be debased

> day and night everywhere who won't pli

> (arn't prepared to be modern

> might be another word for it..)

> use all faulty programmes on them

> they were former stateless D.P's

> Human Research's work here on the isle

> is this for what we risked our lives

> keeping alive Jews and feeding Slavs

> time and again in different situations

> has the world gone mad?

0 notes

my-daily-life95 · 2 years

Text

November 22, 2022

My license came in the mail! Now I'm a license driver in California! You have no idea how happy I am! I honestly never thought I'll get my license but here I am. It came! It came! When I passed the behind the wheel test I only missed three things but I felt a huge relief when I was told I passed! It took so many years but I have it! I still get scared but not as badly as before. That's good! The pic is my view coming home. Took the pic when I was at a red that always takes forever.

My grandmother is coming over to our house this upcoming Sunday. I haven't seen her since I was 10. I don't remember much about my family in Mexico. The first and last time I went to Mexico was when I was 10.

A list of what I remembered from my time in Mexico.

• seeing the stars in the sky from a four door gray car

• the lights from the boarder patrol agents when we crossed the boarder

• the hello kitty plush I wanted from the display window of a shop in the airport

• the cold hard seats we sat/laid on while we waited for our flight

• the green white floral skirt I was wearing and how cold I felt because of it

• the airplane seats and the sandwich I ate on it

• the view of Mexico City from the tiny plane window

• arriving at the a bus station and being asked by my dad to look for a specific bus that I couldn't find

• my little brother (he was 9 at the time) puking all over the bathroom sink of the bus as I went to check on him

• arriving to my parents home town at night and getting on my tia's red car

• seeing my grandmother's parrot before being ushered to bed

• seeing my dad and his mother shake the bed linen and how my dad killed a scorpion that climbed the wall

• seeing how dark it got and only a tiny candle flickering outside the bedroom door

• tasting my grandmother's food and thinking it was bad as my grandmother gave all the meat to my cousins

• seeing my grandmother wash clothes by hand as we chased chickens around the yard

• seeing my grandfather drying meat on the roof and seeing my father grab cheese my grandparents made from the cellar

• being fat shamed from my tia when she told me how to bathe myself with the barrel of water

• getting bitten by so many mosquitoes and hating it

• watching my brother and dad leave me at home as he took my brother around

• spending the whole day staring out the window till they returned

• rejecting my moms cousin to play basketball with them because I was scared

• meeting my mom's mother and two sisters

• seeing my great grandmother (mom's side) making tortillas

• seeing my great grandmother (dad's side) all skin and bones as she beg to be fed meat instead of caldos and being scared of her

• being annoyed by my two little cousins for taking away my little brother's toy cars and breaking them in front of us

• wishing I was able to play with a ceramic tea set

• seeing the church and seeing the statue of a man in a horse inside a glass case with money

• drinking soda outside the churches steps before going back to my grandmother's house

• being taught how to use a sling shot

• getting burned by a large pot as we carried it to the Campo from the men to eat for lunch

• getting caught in a heavy down pour and riding in a truck with my brother and grandmother

• seeing my dad coming home from the window of our room on horseback soaking wet

• Being in awed every time I was able to go outside from the beauty of the surrounding mountains

• crying because I thought I lost our documents till my tia told me where they were on our last day there

That's all I remember. I know there were other stuff that happened but that's all I remember. The faces of these people who I met are fuzzy along with the rest. I know I spent most of my time inside my grandmother's home from my dad's side. I was left alone most of the time. Just staring out the window. Anyways my mom's mother is coming over. I don't know how to feel about it. I don't have much of a relationship with my relatives other then my immediate family. My dad's cousin lives down the street from us but I don't know them. My mom's relatives live around 2 hours away but I never enjoyed visiting them. Always loved the drive there. If my grandmother stays with us she'll be sleeping on my bed. I'll be sleeping on the couch or the floor. Haven't decided yet. Mom has been hard-core cleaning the house for the upcoming visit. I wonder how it will go.

#online diary #diary #journaling #journal #my life #online journal #my diary #my thoughts #my daily life

1 note · View note

stonewallsposts · 2 years

Text

2022 Road Trip: DC Philly Days 1-2

I have been on a quest to see all 50 states in the Union. This trip would see us visit Virginia, DC, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

Day 1- Sept 30 Friday

The plan was to fly to Norfolk, Virginia, stay with Shell’s cousin in Virginia Beach, then travel the next day through Jamestown to Charlottesville. But Hurricane Ian prevented us from landing in Norfolk, and we were rerouted to Dulles in DC. There was a mix-up somewhere and my luggage was sent to Norfolk rather than DC, but I had packed some contingency clothes in my carryon for just such a thing, so I was OK….at least for a few days. Thankfully, we were able to get the car rental changed to pick up from Dulles rather than Norfolk, and the hotel we were planning on staying in was able to accommodate us for an extra day.

We ate dinner at the airport and drove in the pouring rain to the Hotel. Since we didn’t get out of the airport until after 10p, we did nothing that first day.

Here are a few pics of the flight from LAX to Charlotte.

Day 2- Oct 1 Saturday- DC and Charlottesville

The original plan was to see Jamestown, then drive to Charlottesville, gateway to the Shenandoah Valley, where we would see beautiful fall colors. (Note the picture below is what we were hoping to see, not what we saw...)

Since we were in Alexandria, we traveled across the bloated Potomac

...(yep, the bench is partly underwater. Presumably due to the storm surge) to the Jefferson Memorial.

(Saw the George Mason memorial too)

The quotes were inspiring and it’s surreal to stand in these places that I’ve seen in books for my entire life. After an hour, the cops kicked everyone out since it was beginning to rain harder.

We headed towards Charlottesville, and there were no fall colors anywhere to be seen, but there were sheets of rain falling the entire way there. We arrived earlier than we had planned so we went to see the central mall in Charlottesville,

then ate a good dinner at a place called Mockingbird. I was looking specifically for good regional food. I hadn’t really noted that Virginia is still a ‘southern’ state, so much of the regional specialties- shrimp and grits, biscuits, pot roast, fried chicken, fried okra, for example, are prominent in the south generally.

We stayed the night in Charlottesville so we could see Jefferson's Monticello the next day.

#2022 DC Philly

0 notes

awesomerextyphoon · 2 years

Text

Ravenous

Summary: You’ve lost so much, but with Bucky’s help, maybe you can make something beautiful.

Pairing: Bucky x Eldritch-Enhanced Black Female Reader

Rating: 18+ / Explicit

Word Count: 6.4K

Warnings: Smut, Oral (f and m receiving), ‘Tentacle Job’ (I’m making it a thing), Fantasy Gore, Cannibalism (sort of), Body Worship, Suicidal Thoughts, Mentions of Torture, and a lot of Angst

A/N: This is my entry for the amazing @plaid-shirtsandvibranium-arms’s Cassie’s Make It Badass Challenge. This might be the darkest one-shot I’ve done so far in terms of violence/gore/angst. You have been warned. Dividers are by the lovely @firefly-graphics. Thanks to @bamposworld and @saiyanprincessswanie the beta.

Back to Main Masterlist

“And done!” you huffed as you wiped your forehead of sweat.

You had just finished making a feast of Bucky’s favorites. Heaps of: Baked Ziti, Honey-Tenderized Boeuf Bourguignon, Creamy Mashed Potatoes with Savory Mushroom Gravy, Five Herb Roasted Cornish Hens, Coq au Vin, Three Cheese, and Spinach Ravioli, Rosemary Braised Lamb Shanks with Polenta, Spinach Quiche, Chicken Pot Pie, Beef Stew, Hearty Beef Lasagna, Southern Peach Cobbler, Limoncello Ricotta Cake, Plum Cherry Galette, and Chocolate Cherry Brownie Layer Cake.

The colossal table groaned under the weight of the decadent dishes. You chuckled to yourself hoping you didn’t go overboard.

Your moment of triumph was interrupted by your ravenous appetite. Again.

“I know, I know, “you grumbled rubbing your voracious tummy. “I do hope Bucky comes home soon,” frowning at how you got to this point

You were on your way home from sending a package to the Post Office on behalf of your cousin Ngozika who was busy getting ready for Erinma’s, your younger sister, birthday party. You wanted to take a shortcut through the park so you could help with the decorations happy that you and your cousin were able to convince her to invite at least ten people; five said yes.

You were halfway past the grove behind the west playground when you felt a ping and the back of your neck as your world faded to black. The last thing you saw was three sets of shoes.

You woke up to a dingy, bare, windowless room with 12 other women aged 18 – 25. An eerily delighted voice announced that you passed the first round of Operation Hellcat. Later it was slipped that there were 50 at the start, but the others were not as lucky.

You spent ten years in that hellhole.

Every day you were pricked, probed, and prodded by perverted and sadistic scientists. All of you were constantly fondled by the guards whenever they had the chance. One scientist, Dr. Tomlin, mused that only you and another survived the fifth year of the project.

Sometime later, when the admins decided to throw you a bone, you met the other survivor. Roxana was a little timid with some fire left in her eyes; you smirked when she gave a guard a right hook after groping her ass.

You talked a few times, avoiding additional disapproval from your captors. You learned that she was the youngest of six who was on her way to a spring festival when they kidnapped her. Roxana would crack a few jokes offering what little levity one could find in your situation.

You talked about what you would do once you saw the outside. Roxana wanted to see her siblings again hoping they wouldn’t worry too much, especially after her parents died in a car crash. She talked about wanting to become a marine biologist regaling you with anything and everything she remembers reading growing up. You talked about your dream of becoming a travel writer backpacking through Europe and South America.

You gave each other hope, hope that was blissfully crushed.

It was the morning of September 28, 2008 (Ngozika’s 38th birthday), when you were both, dragged out and brought before a man in front of the usual row of scientists who went by the name of Braddock. He looked over the two of you with a menacing eye smirking as he molested you and Roxana. He turned to the former head scientist, Dr. Beecham, who nodded to the newcomer and grinned sardonically.

With that, Braddock announced it was time for the operation.

The guards dragged you past a set of double doors to a new hallway. The hairs on your arms raised as you felt Roxana’s fearful expression trying her hardest not to cry. You reached out your hand to grab hers, but a guard slapped it away.

One last set of bolted steel doors led you to a ghostly white room with two beds inside a pod connected to an arc belonging to a zany sci-fi novel and in front of the portal was a podium with a glowing electric blue cube.

The scientists and Braddock hid on the other side of the one-sided mirror, like the cowards they were.

Braddock motioned for the guards to strap you to the beds as he made some deluded declaration of HYDRA’s greatness.

Roxana smiled weakly reminding you to think of your family and your dreams while you did the same. You both hoped to see the outside, together.

Braddock bellowed to open the portal thinking that the results would lead HYDRA to greater heights.

He wasn’t exactly wrong.

The cube started to levitate as the lights dimmed. A beam of light shot into the gateway creating a portal. Braddock ordered the guards and workers to get back, but it was too late.

You and Roxana could only watch in horror as black mist filled the room and giant midnight purple tentacles, tendrils, paws with extended claws and talons erupted from the portal. They tore into the guards and workers who were still in the room. All of their body parts (impaled or otherwise) were flung into what looked to be a mouth in the center of the portal. You tried your best to block it out, but you could still hear the crunches, squelches, and cracks of bodies along with their muffled screams.

As the last of the not test subjects were devoured, a golden orb traveled up the beam, through the cube, and split into two. The beds disintegrated as both of you were forced upright and facing each other with the orbs between you. Tendrils of golden light ebbed out feeling your souls deciding which one it will choose. Two of the tendrils paused in front of your eyes before glowing an ocean blue while Roxana’s glowed crimson red.

You shrieked as tendrils from both orbs shot into you. Their hooks pierced your skin through your fingers, eyes, mouth, toes, ears, and nose as the orbs shrunk to nothingness.

Roxana cried out to you in terror as rays of deep purple surged from your eyes and mouth and enveloped your form. The appendages deluged from the portal into the light. Your eyes became the abyss as several of the tentacles grabbed Roxana.

You didn’t register your dear friend’s screams until it was too late. All you could think of was hunger.

Once the mist dispersed and the remaining guards rushed in, all they found was you in the middle of the room tears streaming down your cheeks cradling Roxana's detached face. Everything else was gone.

You shouted at the guards to stay away from them only listening when your shouts turned into a legion of roars and tentacles shot out from your midsection capturing the guards.

Braddock commanded the restraining cuffs to be administered via magnetic force fields.

You didn’t fight back at that point. All that was on your mind was the anguish of devouring your only friend and the loneliness that will surely follow.

They moved you to a new base (you think) deep underground where they experimented with your new powers.

They found that you can manipulate various types of matter and energy. Braddock was pleased to find that Operation Hellcat wasn’t a complete waste.

Unfortunately, they could only get you to do damage control.

Though later, they found that you could turn various materials like limestone or plastic into something ‘useful’ such as gold, silver, moonstone, tungsten, uranium, titanium, and even a weird metal called vibranium after getting a starter sample from a man named Klaue.

They would ‘feed’ you once a month; usually, a target that needed to disappear. Fury was catching onto the disappearing bodies.

Not long after, you learned that you could absorb the memories and knowledge of those you devoured, but you kept that ability to yourself.

Your captors kept you well enough that the tentacles never came out. Made sense since they didn’t want a repeat of the time when you devoured ten guards when there was a lapse in the restraining cuffs. You chuckled when you overheard one of the guards saying that being sent to your cell was a punishment.

Two years into your ‘arrangement’, Braddock thought you deserved a ‘reward’ so they modified the cuffs to let you move around your cell. Though you guessed it was so that you would be less likely to lash out and devour more scientists.

You decided to redesign your prison into an amalgamation of your father’s home and what you glean from Roxana’s memories.

It was five months later when you met him.

You were starving as usual. They made you trans-mutate truckloads of sand into gold, titanium, diamonds, and vibranium. The guards mentioned someone called the Asset would be dropping off your meal soon.

You waited for 30 minutes until the door opened revealing a tall, somewhat shadowy figure of a man. He had chin-length Ponzu-colored hair with Seal Brown and Chestnut highlights; it was grungy yet silky. He was broad yet lean in shape, the perfect specimen to be their weapon.

But the most striking aspect about him was his eyes; blue, like the winter sea after a storm. Beautiful, yet frightened and forlorn.

What little cask of your heart broke for he too was also a prisoner.

You snapped out of your musings to hear him explain that your meal was of some diplomats that got in HYDRA’s way.

The exchange was terse, but you found yourself doing something for the first time in a while; you smiled and waved as he was leaving, if only meekly. He stopped and stared for about 20 seconds before the loudspeaker shouted in Russian for the Soldat to leave.

You chuckled as your smile grew. For the first time in over two years you were starving, and you hoped to see him again.

Your mystery deliverer visited you a few more times. After the fifth time, you were able to touch his hand and he reciprocated. It was exhilarating. No one has touched or wanted to go near you in years.

He stayed longer with each visit. It took some time for him to talk; he didn’t say much, but he had a deep, smooth voice. You didn’t really care. You just needed someone who wasn’t out to fuck with your life to talk to you.

The two of you would fall into a routine of you rattling on whatever occupied your mind’s eye and him listening sometimes smiling or touching your hand ever so often. The best visit was when he let you hug him loving the forgotten warmth it brought.

Once again, they had to eviscerate any happiness in your life.

Six months after the hug, your mystery acquaintance dropped off your meal but quickly turned to the door without so much as a glance.

You rushed over to greet him but stopped at the sight of his bitterly cold glower. Another man, Rumlow, butted in stating that the Asset could no longer be distracted finishing off with a cruel laugh at the tears that threatened to pour from your eyes.

They both promptly left before the tentacles could attack them as you fell to your knees consumed by despair.

Why did this have to happen to you?!

Your heart raged as your tears dried. You couldn’t keep living like this.

You wouldn’t.

You got your chance three years later.

The base was in an uproar; Project Insight had failed. HYDRA was exposed and going down in flames. The control room was bedlam with everyone scurrying like mice failing to notice the lapse on the monitors.

All it took was a clink to rouse you from your partial slumber. Your eyes shot open with a vengeful sneer marring your face. You sensed no one outside the customary three layers of your containment unit.

It seemed that your captors feared the cops more than you.

Their mistake.

You blasted the doors to your prison. Black mist filled the base. All 100 inhabitants stopped their scurrying in abject terror.

It was loose.

The guards closest to your cell were the first to fall. One of them cried out for help on his phone, but one of your tentacles ripped off his arm, grabbed his torso, and pulled his terrifying form into your voracious maws.

A science assistant could only watch in horror as tentacles seemed to grow out of their colleague’s navel increasing in size as they split the body with a vile crunch.

One of the higher-ups threw his secretary into the mist only for you to respond with a cacophony of shrills and impaling him with various-sized tendrils.

Their screams could've probably been heard for miles.

Only after you had your fill of every loathsome creature at the base and felt the welcoming warmth of sunlight did you regain consciousness with a massive belch.

You screamed as you fell to your knees tears streaming down your face.

Yes, you were finally free, but at what cost?

You had devoured Roxana, your only friend in this hellscape. You didn’t know if anyone from your family was still alive; you didn’t put it past HYDRA to hunt them down.

You never knew what became of the Soldat, your Soldat.

You had one thing though, the need for revenge.

Based on the memories you absorbed, HYDRA leadership was no more due to the utter failure of Project Insight and Natalia Romanova info-dumping the entire HYDRA archives.

There were still others associated with the now ‘shelved’ Project Hellcat.

You needed to find them and end them. If nothing else, to make sure no one else has to suffer like you.

Now you needed to make a plan. You found the closet functioning computer on the base and did some digging.

You finally learned of your Soldat. His name was James Buchanan Barnes, a WWII vet born in 1917.

“James!” you beamed as the front door opened to reveal your Soldat. Flying into his arms he pulled you in for a passionate kiss.

“Is this all for me?” Bucky peered over your shoulder at the feast on the table.

“Of course, silly!”

“You didn’t have to, y’know.” He scratched the back of his head, not sure what to make of your efforts.

“Nonsense!” you playfully swatted his muscled pecs, “I wanted to return the favor, and because I love so darn much!”

“Well, your feast is in the warehouse. I got a special treat just for you. I hope you like it.” Bucky pecked your lips pulling out your chair before his own.

“Oh thank you, Bucky!”you pecked his cheek before gesturing towards the food, “Now dig in before it gets cold.” you insisted grabbing a large plate of some of his favorites despite his protests.

It only took one bite of lasagna for him to devour the food with a near animalistic vigor. You beamed with pride seeing something you made bringing some happiness again.

“How was your trip?” you inquired chiding Bucky to finish his food first.

Bucky stopped eating, placed his utensils down, and kept his head down. “I...I saw Steve again.”

Your smile faltered.

You knew Steve Rogers was a sore subject to James. He nearly killed him multiple times during HYDRA’s fall. Bucky didn’t think he was worthy to talk to Steve again.

You didn’t believe that for a second, though you didn’t have room to talk.

“It still surprises me how much that punk’s changed and somehow still remains the same.” Bucky chuckled as you gently squeezed his flesh hand.

After Project Insight’s failure to launch, James went underground learning as much as he could about Steve Rogers/Captain America. He went to the Captain America wing of the Smithsonian. He could’ve sworn he saw a few toddlers recognizing him tugging on their older relatives' pant legs in hopes they’ll see a living legend.

Bucky tried to find his old neighborhood in Brooklyn only to find that it was either destroyed or renovated beyond recognition. It wasn’t until he went to a hole-in-the-wall bookstore that he found some respite in the form of an art book from one of Steve’s classes. That led him down a rabbit hole of picture books from the 20s to early 50s. There were pictures of activities he and Steve would do in their spare time as kids, Coney Island, the cinema across from old man Roscoe's Deli.

The tears nearly fell from his eyes in a deluge.

Memories of eating a sundae with his sisters and Steve at the local creamery, getting groceries for his ma while making sure she wasn’t carrying too much, pushing his sisters on the swings in the park, winning his first camera in a bet against the Desmond Boys, Steve convincing him not to sell said camera so he could score a date with Meredith, Becca first word being his name, finally getting Mason and his boys to leave Steve alone, and the blunder known as Rockaway Beach flooded Bucky’s mind.

James had to leave the bookstore before he was discovered.

He meandered down the street wondering what was left of his life. What happened to his sisters? Were they still alive? Did they have children or grandchildren? What became of his mother? How did she take the news of his death?

Bucky couldn’t bring himself to visit the cemetery.

James felt ashamed of himself. He wondered if his 40s self would’ve had a sick laugh at his present self’s expense.

One day, Bucky walked around his apartment block and saw a group of young children playing in a daycare playground.

They reminded him of you, his angel. Your eyes would glow with joy at the memories of helping your cousin with children at her office. He didn’t say much at the time, but he smiled and held your hand.

You were the final embers of light in his life.

Life was relatively quiet albeit filled with nightmares until he started to feel eyes on him. Several HYDRA fragments found him, so with a heavy heart, Bucky was once again on the run.

James was in London when it happened.

He decided to take the fight to HYDRA and tracked down a task force to a warehouse a few miles outside the metropolitan area. Fifteen ops surrounding him led by one of the head guards of Operation Hellcat. Nothing he couldn’t handle.

Dark gray mist filled the warehouse followed by a storm of black, violet, red, and gold mists concealing the source of the tempest of beastly roars and otherworldly wails. The unearthly sounds gave way to cracks, squelches, crunches, gargles, and screams of the men filled his ears all the while focusing on a familiar warmth around his waist.

The storm subsided to reveal his angel hugging and kissing his face with tears streaming down her face.

You finally found him.

Gently tilting up your chin, he sighed into a kiss that was every bit as wonderful as he imagined and more.

You were together at last.

“He’s still looking for me.” Bucky croaked unable to conceal his sorrow any longer.

“I know, James. I know.” you consoled as you pulled him into your arms kissing away his tears.

The sad thing is that part of Bucky wanted Steve to find him. But another part of him wanted to stay hidden. He didn’t know how Steve and the rest of his team would treat you once they discover what HYDRA did to you. Would they accept both of you with open arms? Or would they turn you into the authorities? Would they take you away from him?

He couldn’t bear you getting hurt like that again.

“Umm,” you started annoyed at your stomach’s insistent growling and the voices were getting louder demanding that you feed them, “Could we finish this later? I’m starving.”

“Of course, angel. Don’t worry about the dishes.” Bucky kissed your forehead, “Now go enjoy your feast.”

You strolled out of the brownstone towards the warehouse. The whole place was a reconstruction of the base that held you prisoner.

<<LET US FEED>>

‘Not yet.’

Opening one of the side doors, you entered and flipped on the lights. Spread out in a multilayered heart pattern were: 12 freshly dead cows, 10 freshly dead bucks, six freshly dead moose, five dead horses, a preserved hippo’s body, and 50 humans bound, blindfolded, and confused.

Smiling to yourself you made a mental note to thank Bucky for such a feast.

After removing their bindings with a wave of your hand, the living occupants of your meal stumbled and scurried around like fragile mice. You recognized most of them as upper HYDRA scum who managed to evade imprisonment, political figures with serious HYDRA ties, and several scientists involved with Project Hellcat including Drs. Walters, Beecham, Tomlin, Lamberti, Kumar, Mertens, and Wagner.

Lastly, standing in the middle of the arrangement was none other than Braddock.

They all seemed to stop moving when their eyes landed on you. Good. You wanted them to know that you’d be the last thing these scum see.

Black mist seeped in from the ground as you walked towards them. Several of the bastards, knowing this song and dance, tried to distance themselves from the group eyeing the walls for any possible exit.

One of them, a politician, stepped forward, “You look like a reasonable woman. I’ll give you anything! Money, power, you name it!”

You pressed your forefinger to your chin and pursed your lips, “Hmm, I want you,” you began disintegrating your clothes. Somehow the politician got aroused which made you feel even less for what’s next, “to feed me!” you grinned revealing your elongated fangs.

The royal purple and gold waves of your stomach tattoo started to rotate. Barbed black tentacles, tendrils, and claws swirled out covering your body and you became one with the mist.

The horny politician ran as he howled to the heavens in despair his fingers bleeding as he scraped the concrete floor. He gave in to his fate when he saw no one move to help him.

Why hasten their own demise?

His shrieks of terror were soon drowned out by crunches, cracks, and squelches as well as your moans of finally eating something filling.

You returned to the rest of the desperate souls licking your fingers, rubbing your ‘food baby’. Everyone saw the man’s face screaming in your belly before a tendril sliced it in half.

“Whew, that hit the spot!” you exclaimed after a loud belch, “But not nearly enough! So who’s next?”

Everyone else was in complete chaos. Some pushed each other forward, four almost fainted, and the rest screamed and begged to be released. You could’ve sworn one of them pissed themselves.

You sighed and tried again, “Okay, I’m gonna level with y’all. Anyone who makes it out these doors,” you gestured to the open exits, “by the time I count to ten gets to live. Alright?”

Everyone shut up and nodded.

“Okay, then.” your body already halfway blended into the mist.

“One…”

It didn’t take long to eat the rest. It was easy once you pulverized their legs.

You noticed Braddock wasn’t moving, so you created a light above his person. He was coughing blood but refused to move. He thought he was going to face death with dignity.

Pompous Idiot.

“Was it worth it?” you asked sauntering up to him in your human form.

His response was to spit in your face,” HYDRA would’ve ruled this world for all time if it weren’t for your pathetic feelings! Such power is wasted on you!!”

Braddock’s mind snapped and screamed as you transformed into your other form.

“Better to be an emotional monster than a fascist piece of shit!” you retorted as you gleefully devoured him delighted to be rid of him.

“Are you satisfied?’

<<VERY>>

“Good.” you winced gently pressing your knuckles into your overstuffed belly. You belched a few more times loving how full you were. Whether it was the voices or the pessimism that came with being held hostage and starved for 20+ years or the fact that you could finally eat your heart's content, feeling full always made you feel like everything was going well, if only for a mere moment.

You chuckled to yourself. Never did you think that you wouldn’t care if anyone heard or saw you do such things.

Guess it might be because you didn’t really have anything left to lose.

It took several months after securing your freedom to get an independent hold on your powers keeping the cuffs around just in case. You started hearing voices in your head as if they were a legion. They took pity on you and offered to lend you their powers as long as you kept them fed.

In time, you learned more about what you gained. You could: teleport through your mists, manipulate all kinds of materials, manipulate various forms of energy and even use it to satisfy your hunger (though the voices didn’t like it), and comprehend a lot more at a rapid rate.

You could even manipulate reality to an extent.

Though all of that couldn’t make up for what you lost.

You couldn’t eat ‘normal’ food as everything turned to ash after a few bites. You were always hungry having to consume the biomass of at least two large bucks and a cow every day to keep the voices at bay.

You couldn’t be in public for long lest you start seeing everyone as food. You dreaded the signs: your eyes would glow gold as your stomach would growl and drool would escape your mouth while the voices demand that you feed.

One day when you felt you had a good grasp on your powers, you tried walking in a park. You smiled and waved to children running around without a care in the world content to share in their joy.

You only lasted five minutes before your stomach growled and voices came back. You cried yourself to sleep that night feeling like an abomination wondering if everyone would be better off with you gone.

It always felt like there was a barrier between you and everyone else gleefully reminding you of what you’ve lost.

You trudged back to the brownstone once your ‘feast’ was digested.

You were happy to finally be rid of Braddock and his ilk as they could no longer destroy any more lives, but it just felt hollow. You were still bound to a being outside of time and space, and you couldn’t see your family without wanting to devour them.

You found Bucky in bed flipping through a vintage album of his old neighborhood.

“Thank you so much for the feast, love!” you gushed as you changed into a Delicate Sunshade Lace Kimono and thong.

“Had to return the favor after you said you were gonna make a feast of my favorites, sweetheart.”

“How did you find them?”

Most of the people digesting in your stomach were on the run once word got about your feedings. Some tried moving off the grid. One even got plastic surgery.

Braddock was the oddest. Bucky found them in a cabin out in the middle of nowhere hoping to die before you could find him.

“Doesn’t matter. They’re better off in your tummy making sure my angel is stuffed and satisfied.” he cooed in your ear kissing and rubbing your tummy for emphasis.

You giggled and playfully swatted him away loving how outgoing and playful he became once he was free of HYDRA’s control.

It was hard for you at first since he was a little stunned to see you after the initial kiss. You discovered that he was funny, caring, and thoughtful. It did take some time to have any physical relations though you were over the moon when your body didn’t see him as food.

If anything, he seemed to silence the voices for a bit.

Nine months passed before you had time with Bucky. It was amazing, even more so when you didn’t get hungry for five days.

“Have you talked to Erinma?” Bucky paused his playful demeanor.

Your eyebrows furrowed as your heart rate sped up.

You finally had the courage to seek out your family three months ago hoping to reconnect with them.

Unfortunately, both your father and Ngozika were dead.

Your father died in 1997 when his body gave out after suffering two strokes compounded by diabetes. The doctors figured the stress of losing may have played a part.

They tried everything they could to find you. The police gave up only after two weeks and the PI stopped after 14 months. Though you wouldn’t put it past HYDRA to quash the investigation.

Ngozika was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006. It would’ve been caught soon had the country cared to get universal healthcare. Her remission didn’t go as well as everyone hoped with her lasting about 3.5 years.

She died without ever knowing if you were alive or not.

You spent two nights mourning the loss of your father and surrogate big sister at their headstones. You would’ve stayed longer, but you had to feed.

Erinma did achieve her goal of becoming a pulmonary surgeon spurred on by the deaths of your father and Ngozika. Granted it did also land her $80K in student loan debt. She was forced to sell her childhood house and father’s motorcycle to come close to breaking even.

She even had twins, a girl and a boy named Kamharida (I shall not fall) and Ikemefuna (I shall not lose my strength).

You laughed bitterly. While you were truly happy for your sister, everyone thought you would be the one to have children, including yourself. Now it was a cruel fantasy.

You’ve entertained the idea of seeing your sister again as you desperately wanted to see her and be part of your niece and nephew’s lives. But you were terrified of your sister calling you a monster, though you couldn’t blame her for all the things you’ve done.

“I dialed her number...but I couldn’t say anything.” you sobbed.

What could you say? You were kidnapped by a decades-old white supremacist organization that tortured and experimented on you for decades. You were bound to a being that requires an ungodly amount of flesh to keep you from becoming a berserker of gluttony.

Sure, you were able to divert the lion's share of HYDRA’s assets to shell companies to supply yourself with the necessary biomass, but--

“Stop being cruel to yourself. You are incredibly kind, selfless, caring, and most definitely NOT a monster.”

“Never cry for you are my beautiful angel, my magnificent goddess sent from above.” He cooed as he kissed your tears, cheeks, forehead, and jaw with each affirmation. His thumb ran across your lower lip as his face broke out into a breathtakingly handsome smile.

It was so pure you could cry.

You hugged Bucky inhaling his smoked cedar, citrus, and aged leather scent. Once his scent calms you down, you cupped his cheeks and pulled him for a kiss.

James groaned as you part your mouth for him delighting in the sonata of flavors he’s feasted on, though a little saddened that’s the only way you can taste them.

You play with his silky locks as he leaves a trail of open-mouthed kisses along your neck and jawline sporadically leaving love marks on your skin.

His calloused yet gentle hands undid the bow holding the kimono in place kissing your shoulders and upper arms. You gasped when he lightly grazed your skin with his canines encouraged by your whimpers and moans.

“My beautiful angel,” he rumbled sending shivers down your spine as he bit the juncture between your neck and shoulders.

Bucky was about to unhook your bra when you grabbed his wrist, pushed him down onto the bed, and tied his wrists to the headboard with black tendrils.

“Relax, love,” you instructed as you kissed your way down his jawline, neck, shoulders, chest, and upper arms. You gazed upon Bucky’s beautiful form wondering how lucky you were. Most men who looked like him were jerks to you in the past especially when they learned of your parents' accents. You still remembered the way some people looked at your mother at stores.

You narrowed your eyes as you lowered one hand towards his boxers and disintegrated them. Your fingers morphed into tentacles and tendrils of varying sizes wrapping around his jaw-dropping length giving it little pulls and tugs along the shaft. One tendril wrapped around his tip and squeezed scooping up the precum into your drooling mouth.

“Hmm!” You moaned at the taste: salty, tangy, and a little sweet.

Numerous smaller tentacles and tendrils slithered out of your mouth. Their pulls from their varied cups send jolt after jolt of pleasure. You felt his cock harden, but decided to draw it out by retracting right as he was about to go over the edge wanting to tease him from last time.

You finally let him cum after 20 minutes of teasing and five minutes of begging.

Bucky came with a roar as his eyes glowed red.

“Wanna do that again?’

You took his chuckle as a yes.

You got two more out of Bucky before he decided to switch growing impatient with your teasing.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to punish you for that, angel,” he warned giggling as he flipped you over; his eyes glowing gold and his fangs elongating.

The sight of those never failed to make you wet.

“Spread your legs, sweetheart, “he growled as you pouted. He usually loved your bratty behavior in bed, but not now.

Bucky absorbed some of the tendrils from your skin and shot them back out gently spreading your legs.

You cast him an accusatory glance.

“Is that so? Then why are you wet for me?” he tsked licking his lips at the sight of you huffing in defeat.

Bucky grinned as he kissed and nipped your thick, plush inner thighs relishing in your moans. With his eyes locked with yours, he licked your slit while a small tentacle creeps from his mouth, its suction cups teasing your clit. Three more dive into your folds moving back and forth in a scissoring motion.

You moaned raking your nails along his scalp and the planes of muscle on his back.

James chuckled loving how you taste; so sweet with notes of honey and citrus. He could get drunk on this.

He alternated between eating you out and kissing/nipping your inner thighs while messaging the globes of your ass and the softness of your waist. He added to your sweet torture by sticking two of his fingers past your folds along with the tendrils still inside. He chuckled when you threw back your head in a moan mixed with a sob.

You grew frustrated with Bucky wouldn’t let you come even after 15 minutes of blinding pleasure.

“James, please!” you begged as he circled your clit again.

Bucky raised his head and murmured, “Let me adore you like the goddess you are, huh?”

You almost came at the spot when Bucky ordered you to look at him. His hair tie was long discarded with several clumps sticking to his face. His hooded eyes were black with lust, and his tongue was circling your clit with three of his fingers in your folds.

Bucky finally let you come after 45 minutes of teasing with a whisper.

You cried out as the dam of pleasure was finally released while he made sure to lap up every last drop of nectar.

Bucky smirked as he lifted you up and grabbed some pillows, “Turn for me, angel?”

You whined in protest not even recovering from the last orgasm.

He kissed both your cheeks, “Relax for me, okay? I promise this is gonna feel good. I'll take it from here.”

You moaned as his fingers dug into your thick thighs secretly loving how sensitive you were after the orgasm.

Bucky grunted as he situated himself between your thighs groaning at the sight of your blissed-out expression.

“Fuck, I’m glad you came into my life.”

“Are you ready, angel?” you nodded as he slowly entered you.

You hissed as your walls stretched for him never getting used to the size.

“Fuck, you’re taking me so well!” Bucky praised you as he rewarded you by playing with your clit.

You cried out and he groaned. You from the sensations of Bucky playing with your clit plus stretching out for him, and Bucky from how tightly you were squeezing him.

Bucky looked down and saw: your hooded eyes staring back at him with love and lust, your full, plump lips forming a pleasure-filled ‘O’, and your coils framing your face like a halo.

“Bucky, please!” you begged as what little pain you first felt faded into pleasure.

He caressed your face with one hand as he started moving with slow, shallow strokes, only picking up his tempo once you gave the go-ahead.

Bucky left open-mouthed kisses on your inner thighs, stomach, breasts, hands, anywhere he could reach murmuring sweet praises with each kiss. You thought your heart would burst from feeling so loved.

You practically squealed in pleasure when Bucky reached your sweet spot. He stayed at that pace for another 30 minutes holding out so that the moment would last.

You were a sobbing mess blind to the world outside the two of you.

You both came at the same time, you with a moan and Bucky with a growl.

As you both lay in bed, glowing with a sheen of sweat, Bucky cradled your head in his hands. “You will always be an angel to me.”

You nodded and bit your lower lip, “Can I be on top for round two?”

Bucky laughed as you flipped him over.

After Bucky carried you over to the tub to wash off, he cupped your cheeks, “Never call yourself a monster,”

You smiled as he gently wiped your tears away from your eyes with his thumbs.

You were about to thank him when your phone rang. Lumbering to the dresser you cautiously answered leaping with joy when you heard your sister’s voice on the other end.

Bucky beamed lazily at the scene before him glad that you were finally able to connect with your sister. He hoped better things will come.

He was about to rest his head against his pillow when he saw his own pulse with a text.

Bucky’s heart filled with dread.

It was Steve saying he was coming to bring him home.

118 notes · View notes

tomtenadia · 3 years

Text

A Little Braver - 20

Even if I had a crazy day at work I did manage to do my Monday post as promise... but if you notice typos...I am sorry. I read it and edited but my brain left with the boat tonight (I work for a ferry company, hence the joke)

This is the first of a few chapters where our bird boy is away and Hamel is causing problems to our gang.

Also, Aelin tries to cook... well... you can imagine how did that go.

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

After the trip to the base Aelin had taken home a very sad Elide and then got back to her own place and cried herself to sleep while hugging Rowan’s pillow. It was very late in the afternoon and it was her day off and she had no intention of leaving her bed.

Her head was buried under the pillow when she heard her phone buzz so she scrambled to get it and her heart raced when she saw it was Rowan.

“Hi,” she said with a croaked vice.

“Are you okay?” Rowan was already in fussing mode.

“Yes I just woke up.” She heard a lot of background noise “where are you?”

“Vulture’s row.” He activated his camera and showed Aelin the view of a fully functional flight deck. “Uh, wait.” He pointed the camera stern of the ship and showed Aelin a jet landing.

“That was so cool.” He turned the camera to him and she saw him with his sunglasses and his hair messed up by the wind. Then he switched off the camera and they went back to normal.

“Are you there yet?”

“We are skirting around. We still have a few hours before we are fully in enemy territory.”

Then Aelin heard a siren of some sort and Rowan swore “I’ll call you as soon as I can again. I need to scramble. Love you.”

“Be safe.” She managed to add before he closed the phone call.

She collapsed again in bed then decided to call Lysandra and Elide and organise a day out the three of them shopping. Elide needed cheering up as well.

The next day Aelin, Elide and Lysandra had decided to have a girls’ afternoon to cheer up the two ladies who had their boys away. They met at the entrance of the shopping centre and Aelin went to hug Elide first of all “how are you doing?”

“Lorcan gave me a brief call yesterday telling me they were on the ship and on their way, then he had to go.”

Aelin sighed “today we don’t think about our far away boys.”

“And maybe you can buy some very sexy lingerie as a present for when Lorcan comes back.” Commented Lysandra and Elide blushed.

“What’s the point?” Asked Elide “you are taking it off anyway.”

Aelin laughed and took Elide’s hand “remember the dress I had at the navy party?”

Elide nodded “it was stunning.”

“I was not wearing anything underneath. It drove Rowan crazy.”

“I have done it a few times with Aedion and I agree with Aelin. The sex afterward has been amazing.”

“How do I learn all these things?”

“Stick with us and we will teach you.”

“Let’s go for some food,” said Aelin, “I haven’t eaten yet.”

“How will you survive now without your sexy chef in the house?” Asked Lysandra.

“Oh, I’ll just go back to my usual order in and ready meals.” Shrugged Aelin who had no intention of even trying to cook anything.

Lysandra took Aelin’s hand and walked toward a restaurant “come on Elide, let’s get this girl properly fed.”

The three women got into the restaurant and sat down and Aelin started perusing the menu eager for some decent food and not long after they placed their order. Lys was right, without Rowan she would be lost when it came to food. Rowan had properly spoiled her.

“How are the wedding preparations going?” Asked Aelin.

Lysandra and Aedion’s wedding was not far away and she was excited to see her best friend finally having her happy ending.

“We are getting there.”

“Do you have a dress yet?” Asked Elide all excited.

Lysandra took out her phone and showed them her dress.

“That is gorgeous. Aedion will not be able to keep his eyes off you during the ceremony.”

“That is the plan.” Lysandra smiled wickedly “but the biggest question is who is going to be next?”

“My money is on Aelin,” chimed Elide “Lor is not emotionally ready for such a step. You and the captain on the other hand…” her eyebrows flicked in amusement.

“She is right, and the two of you basically live together.”

“Yes and no.”

“What do you mean?” Lysandra was confused by the admission.

“We haven’t covered the subject yet. He still has his flat and some of his stuff there. Even after I recovered he never left and I never pushed because I like having him around.”

“Will you ask him to move in officially?”

Aelin sighed “maybe. When he comes back. I don’t know. Things are going well and I don’t want to mess it up.”

“Do you think he’ll say no?” Asked Lysandra. Brainstorming with her friend was always helpful and recently she hadn’t done it enough.

“I don’t think so. But living together is as far as we can go just now. For many, many reasons.”

“Is it because of Sam?”

“Only partially.” She was not going to tell her friends Rowan’s story. She had no right. So she remained vague hoping the two friends would get the hint and not ask anymore questions.

“Still, my money is on you two.” Added Lys “Elide is right, Lorcan does not seem to have yet the emotional ability to commit.”

“Hey, he kissed her in public. And yesterday at the base he seemed quite nice to her.”

“Quite?”

“I don’t know, I was concentrating on Rowan I just cast a brief glance at them.” Replied Aelin.

“He was super kind.” Added Elide taking biting on a breadstick.

Their food finally arrived and Aelin was the first to tuck in.

“Does the captain know about your crazy eating habits?” Asked Lysandra amused.

“Yes,” replied Aelin, enjoying her food “he calls me his bottomless pit. When we had our first date he joked that he might need a mortgage just to feed me.”

Elide laughed “Sam used to joke and say that he needed a second job just for feeding you.”

“I move a lot,” replied Aelin with a grin “I have a big appetite.”

“I think it must be a firefighter thing. Aedion is the same.” Lysandra grinned “and we burn a lot of calories.”

“Eeewwww, I did not need to know that. He is my cousin.”

“Oh come one, as if you and hot captain do not engage in illicit activities. The whole squad guessed that the other night you two had sex in the shower after the call at the club.”

“I was just giving him a special goodbye.” Her hand gently brushed the spot where she could feel his tags. She did a bit of research and she was happy she had a copy. Having the real one meant he was gone and she could not think about that.

“Are you okay?” Asked Lysandra worried at her sudden change of expression.

“Yeah.” She added flatly, then gave them a big smile. It was their day off she should not spoil it.

“So, are we taking Elide lingerie shopping?” Aelin teased trying to raise the spirits of her friend.

“Yes, it’s going to be fun.” Added Lysandra all excited.

“Girls… there is really no need. What I have is okay. Lorcan is not fussed.”

Aelin took a bite of her food “oh but we will make sure he is fussed and also that he knows how sexy you are so he does not decide to…. wander.”

“How do I keep him? I am nowhere near as interesting as the two of you. He might get bored of me very soon.”

Aelin stared at her friend and it broke her heart that her horrible past left her with no confidence at all. Elide was brilliant at her job and she was an intelligent woman and she was positive she would make quite a few heads turn.

“Don’t you say something like that ever again.” Lysandra preceded her. She was even more protective of Elide than her “I work with you everyday and I know how awesome you are and I am positive that if we go to a club you’d have your share of men looking at you.”

Aelin nodded.

They finished their meal and went back wandering around the shopping centre and visited a few shops. In one of them Aelin wandered in the male department and spotted a couple of lovely jumpers. One of them was a deep green and looked very cozy and she realised she had no idea of when it was Rowan’s birthday.

Silly question, you never told me your birthday. She sent the text and knew a reply might take a long time to come. She grabbed the jumper and tried to decide whether it was the right size for him.

“That is a lovely jumper.” Said Lysandra joining her at her side “already thinking about useful presents? You are like an old married couple.”

Aelin laughed.

“But I think this one is really nice and the man seems to look amazing in green.”

“I am just wondering about the size.”

Lysandra grabbed the tag “this one will fit Aedion so you should be fine.”

A moment later Elide rejoined them, her face beetroot red “I feel so silly.” And showed the girls her bag with her lingerie purchase.

“Hey, Ace and I are joking. You didn’t have to buy it if it makes uncomfortable.” But Elide surprised them “I will buy just one pair for now and I’ll see how it goes.”

Lysandra laughed “Aelin is already buying presents married couple style and you are still in the sexy lingerie stage. My girls have grow up so much.”

“And what stage are you and Aedion?” Asked Aelin with a grin.

“The one where I go to the grocery store and I phone him to ask him if he wants beef or chicken for dinner.”

The rest of the afternoon went swimmingly and she loved spending the day with Lys and Elide. They didn’t do that nearly enough.

Now she was back home and in the kitchen trying to accomplish her new mission. She had bought a cooking book for beginners and she had decided she was going to try and cook dinner. Lysandra had told her to start with something as simple as a stir fry. So she had bought a few more kitchen supplies and a pan Lys had told her was called a wok. She had mused why she could not use the pot she already had and Lys had rolled her eyes. Aelin had also bought the ingredients and now they were all lined up in front of her, the book open and a fire blanket and a small fire extinguisher on the counter just to be safe it was her cooking after all. She took a photo and sent it to Rowan then started working. When it got to cut the onions she cursed herself for deciding to cook.

Her phone rang and put it on speaker “hey,” her voice sounded strained and Rowan went in full fussing mode “are you okay?”

“Yeah, cutting those blasted onions.” She sniffled.

Over the line she heard Rowan roar with laughter “what are you making?” He asked as soon as he stopped laughing.

“A chicken stir fry. Lys said it’s easy to do.”

“Why are you putting onions in it?”

“Because I like them, mr I know how to cook.”

“I even bought a wok. Apparently I cannot use my pot.” She added as while throwing the ingredients in the pan.

“Seriously, when I get back we are going to have a massive overhaul of your kitchen.”

And Aelin’s heart raced in joy. It sounded like he had no intention of going back permanently to his flat. Maybe when he got back she should ask him the question after all.

“Aelin, it’s a miracle you have cutlery and two plates.” She could hear the humour in his voice.

“How are things going?”

“I just came off patrol. I am on my way to my quarters to get changed. I don’t have the most appealing scent just now.”

“Shower without me, so what? Two minutes max?”

“That’s about it. The water supply is not endless.”

He finally got to his quarters and collapsed on his bed after removing his boots then lay down and activated the camera.

“Hi sexy,” she did the same and placed the phone against the wall in front of her so he could see her as well.

“I don’t see any smoke. That’s a good start, considering it’s you.”

Aelin gave him the middle finger and then showed him her small fire extinguisher “I am prepared.” She took a bit of her food “for now it tastes edible, but not as good as yours.”

She saw him give her a smug smile and her instinct was to wipe it off his face with a kiss.

“The answer is July 16th, by the way.”

Aelin looked at him not understanding his statement.

“My birthday? You asked me earlier on.”

That she did “That’s two months away.”

“And when it’s yours?”

“May 3rd.”

“Aelin, that’s in two days.” He added sadly “and it sucks I can’t be there.”

“Lys has planned to drag me out with the girls of the firehouse. It’s also her bachelorette party. I have to go.”

“I almost forgot they were getting married. That came around quickly.”

Aelin laughed “not when you have been around them for years.” Aelin placed her food in a plate and moved to the sofa, taking her phone with her.

“When is the wedding?”

“This weekend. The weather is meant to be gorgeous which is a good thing since they are getting married outdoors.”

She heard him sigh “I really, really wish I could be there with you.”

She did not add that she had been thinking the same. So she just took a bite of her food.

“Edible?”

“Fuck no,”Aelin spit the morsel back in the plate “I must have done something wrong with the spices. It tastes horrible.” She grabbed her house phone.

“What are you doing?”

“Clearly ordering in. I am not eating this.”

Rowan rolled his eyes “you should practice more.”

“Why bother? I am clearly not cut for cooking. I am hopeless.”

“Do I need to tell you the amount of times my food sucked when I was still learning to cook decently? I got better with trial and error.”

Aelin huffed “fine I’ll try again on my next day off.” Then she put her house phone down after placing the order “I thought you were going for a shower?”

“Eager to get rid of me?”

“No, I just was hoping to have a peek at that nice arse of yours.”

Rowan laughed “If you behave.”

“Do you have the quarters all for yourself?”

Rowan nodded in the screen “the perks of rank. Gav is sharing with Vaughan. The twins are on their own.”

“Is that wise?”

“This carrier has a nice number of female officers. No one wants to go anywhere near that room.”

“Remember I am jealous, Whitethorn.”

“Some of them are middies on their snot cruise, so very young. The others… still not interested.”

“Who is a middie?”

“It’s short for midshipman or woman. They are the lowest ranking officers in the navy, just above the cadets. And a snot cruise is their first time out at sea on a proper mission.”

“Are your students middies as well?” She loved asking all those questions that might have sounded silly to him, but he never made her feel stupid for asking. He was always happy to answer.

“No, my students are called pilot officers. Then they become Flying officers, then flight lieutenants which is what the twins are, then Vaughan is our squadron leader, Gav is the Wing commander and then you have me.”

“Sounds so complicated.” She definitely needed to do more research to understand his job a bit better.

“It’s like you guys. Aedion looks after one rig as a lieutenant, you are the captain and are in charge of the operations of both at the same time and Dorian will be in charge of all the engines in case multiples houses are involved. Am I correct?”

Aelin nodded impressed.

“Same for us. Vaughan looks after our small squadron, Gav two or three squadrons, which is called a wing. I look after a unit composed of different wings and then Lorcan plays god in the CIC.”

“Now it makes more sense. So I could be your wing commander.”

“Having you fly with us would be insane. We would not concentrate on the enemy.”

Aelin laughed, then the buzzer of the door went off “just a sec, buzzard, food is here.” She went to get her food and plopped back on the sofa resuming her call with Rowan.

“Is your ship nice?”

“I served on her before. Not as swanky as the new one, but she is decent enough.” Rowan sat back up “hey, I really need to take that shower and then it’s chow time. If I miss it I don’t eat until tomorrow morning.”

“Go. Sorry for keeping you.”

“You did not such things. I have been looking forward to call you.”

“I love you.” She told him, sending back the tears that had started forming.

“I love you too, Fireheart.”

Aelin waved him goodbye and went back eating while tears had begun flowing down her cheeks. It had only been two days and she hoped it would get easier being so far apart.

***

The next morning she arrived at the station bright and early, got changed and went straight to Aedion “Are you ready?”

The man nodded “Peter is covering you until we get back from the police and I got Manon in charge of the second rig.”

“Good. Let’s go.”

They arrived at the police headquarters not long after and Chaol met them at the reception area “Hi guys,”

“Here’s my favourite cop.” Aelin went to hug Chaol.

“Just because I keep reporters away from you.”

She gave him a huge smile back.

“Come, detective Ytger is waiting for you.” They followed behind him in silence and stopped in front of a door and knocked.

A female voice told them to go in and once in the office Aelin recognised the same woman at one of the arson cases a few months back.

“Captain, Lieutenant, we meet again.” The three shook hands and the detective sat back down and invited both cousins to do the same.

The detective threw a thick file on the desk “you two have just made a very powerful enemy.”

“The man is a bastard.”

“Believe me, captain, when I tell you that Hamel has been a thorn in my side for a very long time.”

“And why is he still at large? Two people died and the man did not care.”

The woman pinched the bridge of her nose “he has very powerful lawyers and always gets away with murder. We have been working on him for a long time but whatever piece of proof we bring in is never enough to get him behind bars for good.” Aelin could sense the tiredness in her voice.

“Did you close his club as I asked?”

“We did, but he owns almost all the ones in Orynth. And so much more.”

“Can’t you arrest him for murder?” voiced Aedion.

“No, his lawyers showed us the papers of the latest inspections and the place was deemed to code. He blamed the company that did the inspections for lying to him.”

“Detective, I hope you are aware that is a bullshit.” Said Aedion, fury burning under his surface.

“I am well aware.” The woman added almost apologetically “the closure is temporary. It will not stick too long.”

Aelin almost swore “Have the other clubs been checked?”

“We did some undercover recon but we don’t have the full skillset to know what’s up to code.”

Aelin smiled wickedly “well, it’s a good thing that you have a firefighter whose birthday is very soon and was planning to go to a club.”

“You are not dragging Lys and the others in this.”

“Calm down. Hamel does not know them, they are safe. I will wear a disguise.”

“I don’t like the sound of this.” He protested again but he knew Aelin could be stubborn.

“I am coming too.”

“No,” said Aelin “One: Hamel remembers how you lifted him up and he will not forget such act. Two: it’s Lys bachelorette party as well. So, no.” she paused “you can take the guys to another one.”

“What happens if we find both clubs not up to specs?” Asked Aelin worried that it was going to be a lost cause.

“We can start by closing them and gather a bit more time to have more material against him. We have other leads. We just need something significant.”

They discussed with the detective which clubs to hit and they left.

Once in the car Aedion made his displeasure quite clear “I do not like this.”

“Neither do I, but the police has no idea what to look for.” Replied Aelin.

“We are not cops.”

“And they are not firefighters.”

After that they drove in silence all the way back to the station.

***

Two days had passed and Aelin’s birthday had arrived. She arrived at the station and laughed at the scene. One of the rigs was covered in balloons and a sign saying happy birthday, cap and the second rig was for Aedion and Lysandra and the front of the truck had a long white sheet over it that looked like a bridal veil and two massive papier mache rings attached to the front.

She laughed and joined Ansel and Manon who were doing some checks “did everyone see this?” She pointed at the engine and truck. The two women nodded.

“Then let’s clear it. I do not want to go on a call in that state.”

“Yes, captain.” Said the two women in unison.

The locker room was empty and she sat down on the bench and looked at her phone again. She was hoping for a text from Rowan or a call but nothing yet. She kept telling herself that he was busy and probably out flying. She removed his dog tags and hung them in the locker and stood and stared at the pictures she had hung up. It was some of the photos they had taken in Doranelle. With her finger she brushed a photo of him. He was standing and looking up to the sky. His eyes closed and a small smile painted on his face and his hair all tousled after she had messed it up. It was one of her favourite photos of him. “Be safe, please.” And she blew him a kiss.

Aelin got dressed and then reached the team who was having breakfast in the communal room.

“She is here.” Shouted Nox happily.

Luca grabbed her arm and pulled to the table where a cake was waiting for her.

“Chocolate hazelnut cake. Your favourite.” He cut a slice and offered it to her.

Aelin grabbed it eagerly “mmmmm”

“Get a room you two,” shouted Ress.

A moment later Manon came through with a man carrying a large box “he says this is for you, captain.”

“Thanks, Manon.”

Aelin grabbed the box from the courier and sat down on the sofa. It came from a shop in Orynth. Strange. She opened the box and when she peeked inside she saw a massive stuffed toy. Once she lifted it she realised it was a bird and she had a feeling she knew who it was from.

“A bird? Why a bird?” Asked Lysandra.

Aelin smiled, grabbed the stuffed toy and walked to her bunk to be alone when she noticed the letter inside.

Once alone she sat down on her bed and placed the bird at her side and read the letter

Happy birthday, fireheart.

I wish I could be there for you but I can’t and it hurts more than I thought possible.

If you are reading this, you have met your new friend. I could not find a buzzard but a toy shop in Orynth had a white-tailed hawk and since I have silver hair I thought it was the closest option. Do we look similar? He will keep you company while I can’t be there with you.

I will try and call you tomorrow if I get a free moment, but the guys and I have pulled alert crew duty for the day so no phone for me.

Have fun with the girls and leave the other guys alone especially if they are navy and army. Aelin chuckled at the joke

I miss you already.

I love you. Madly.

To whatever end.

Yours,

Buzzard.

By the time she had finished reading the letter she was in tears. She hugged the soft toy and for a moment she hoped to smell his scent of pine and snow. She went to her locker, grabbed the dog tags and put them around the bird’s neck “you look after them while I am on shift, but then I take them back.” After that she took a photo and sent it to Rowan “I think I will call him Rowan.”

It was later that night and Lysandra and Elide were at Aelin’s place to get ready for their fun night. Aelin though, was not in the mood. Rowan had eventually called her but the phone call was cut short when he had go and scramble. Soft toy Rowan was on her bed, his dog tags back on since she would not be wearing them with her dress.

Lysandra was going through her wardrobe looking for a dress for the night.

“So, the captain does have clothes that are not uniform,” said the woman going through his clothes but Aelin glared at her and Lys went back to Aelin’s side of the dresser.

“Did he phone you?”

“Yeah.” Said Aelin flatly while wearing her dress.

“Lorcan said they were having a couple of shitty days.”

Aelin ignored her friend or she would end up in tears and ruin her make up.

“Did he give you his dog tags?” Asked Lys noting them pending from the bird’s neck.

“No, he can’t. He made a copy. And I don’t want the original ones until he retires.”

“Why?” Asked Elide while she was busy fixing her hair.

“Because it means he is dead. They are used for identification.” Replied Lysandra flatly. She had learned that from Aedion.

“Can we please change subject?” Snapped Aelin.

Lysandra grabbed a green dress “what do you think?”

“It will go perfectly with your eyes.” Said Aelin wearing her blue dress.

“I thought you loved the captain.” Said Elide.

“Uh?”

“That dress?” Added Lys pointing at her attire “it makes you look as if you are open to being chased.”

“Too slutty?”

“Ansel will be proud of you.”

Aelin smiled “I do love the captain and I have no plans on taking anyone home. My only companion in bed tonight will be bird Rowan.” Then she wore a wig of red hair.

“Why the wig?”

Aelin and Aedion had decided not to tell anyone about their plan for the night, so she had to lie although it hurt lying to Lysandra “just for some fun.”

They arrived at the club half an hour later and Manon, Asterin and Ansel were already there and apparently already having fun.

“You made it” shouted the red-haired woman. “And who is the hot red-haired friend?”

“It’s me, Ansel.”

“Captain, you look hot.”

Aelin laughed “thank you.”

“We got some drinks already,” said Manon.

“Happy birthday, captain,” said Asterin raising her glass “and congratulation to Lys for bagging the meanest lieutenant in the TFD.”

Their glasses clinked and then Aelin spotted Chaol in the distance. What the heck was he doing at the club? She nodded at him and he gave her a small nod back. Everyone knew Chaol and if the girls spotted him it could raise some questions so she texted him with the pretence of being the overbearing girlfriend checking on her man.

The girls went out dancing and she stood behind saying she was not in the mood when she was actually trying to check out the place. She was about to join Chaol in his hideout when a guy stopped at her side and blocked her way “aren’t you a stunning creature?” He said and Aelin cringed. She really hated clubs and the pigs that came with them.

“Of course I am.”

She felt his arm sneak around her waist and his body move closer to hers and she closed her eyes at the fact that those arms were not Rowan’s.

“What if I buy you a few drink and have some fun you and I?”

“You couldn’t handle me.” She said to him in a whisper.

“I love a good challenge. My flat is not far from here.” And his hand slithered up on her back.

Aelin scoffed “I’d never have sex with you even if we were the last two humans left in the world.”

She made to walk away but he grabbed her arm. She almost punched him but in that instant she felt someone hugging her from behind “it’s me, follow my lead.” He whispered in her ear and she noticed it was Chaol.

“Thank you for finding my girlfriend. I went to the gents and I lost her.”

“Sorry darling,” said Aelin caressing Chaol’s face.

The stranger walked away annoyed.

“Thank you.”

“You were holding your own anyway.” He commented.

“I was about to punch him and cause a scene and mess up the mission.” She whispered then grabbed his hand and pulled him to a quiet booth at the back of the club

“What are you doing here?”

“Detective Ytger sent me here as back up. Hamel’s minions know all of the detectives but not us beat cops.”

“How do you want to proceed?” She asked him.

“You are the firefighter, I am just here to make sure you get out okay.”

“Ok, I need to walk around. Just keep an eye on me.” Chaol nodded and Aelin walked away.

She went back to the bar area and smiled when Elide walked toward her “Ace!! Come on it’s your birthday, you need to come and have fun.” She also had a job to do but felt bad at abandoning her friends. So she joined them again and Lys grabbed her for some dancing.

“How how many hearts did you break?”

“Just the one but he was a pig.”

“Did you tell him you have a super hot captain waiting for you?”

Aelin shrugged and turned to Elide.

“How many drinks did Ansel give you?”

Elide lifted three fingers in front of her face “two.”

Aelin laughed “no more alcohol for you.”

“Buuut I am sad and I miss Lorcan.” Aelin hugged her friend knowing full well how she felt.

“Still, no more alcohol, you just can’t hold it.”

She walked Elide to Manon “can you keep an eye on her please? And just water please. Elide has reached her alcohol quota for the evening.”

“Of course.”

Aelin smiled at the white-haired woman. She was very introverted and of a very few words but she did not care about that since she was good at her job. She was the complete opposite of Ansel.

Speaking of the woman…”where did Ansel go?”

“Last time I have seen her she was dancing with a brunette.” Aelin dragged a hand on her face “I am going to the ladies. Just behave, okay?”

She used the excuse to slip away and walk around as she was supposed to do. She wanted to try and take some photo as proof but covert operations were not her forte.

“You are back,” whispered Chaol at her back.

“I’ll pretend to be drunk and lost.”

“Be careful, this is making me nervous.”

She nodded and walked away from him. Part of her was glad she had not mentioned this to Rowan, he would have gone in full protective mode.

She kept pretending she was drunk and dumb and ended up in the kitchen “sorry,” she slurred, leaning against the doorframe “are these the loos?”

“No miss,” said one of the staff “they are down there and on your right.” She gave the man a goofy smile and a wet kiss on the cheek “thank you, sweet man.” The hug had given her the time to have a very quick look in the kitchen and note there was no safety equipment. That was enough for her to shut down that club as well. How could they run a kitchen that way? She really had to take down the bastard. She hid in the shadows of the club and and checked the fire doors without activating them and found them of shoddy quality. She was fuming. She had a good look at the club and realised even the numbers of people allowed in was probably over the limit. Those doors were for 60 people, she could only see three on ground level, which meant a limit of 180 people. There were probably over three hundred, all crammed and spread on two levels. It was a firefighter nightmare. She ran back to Chaol “go home. I have seen enough. Tell the detective this place needs to be shut down as well.”

“I’ll phone her as soon as I am out. She was waiting for news anyway.”

“Go, and say hi to Yrene.”

Chaol left and she ran back to her friends nervous that she was placing them in danger. She wanted to go but the idea of leaving all those people behind made her nervous. She texted Aedion and rage surged back when he told her that their club was the same.

The girls took her dancing in the middle of the dance floor and danced away ignoring a couple of guys basically dancing on her. She hated clubs so much and the music was horrible. She bit down her annoyance and went to hug Lysandra “how does it feel to be almost married?”

“Weird.” She looked at Aelin “are you having fun?”

“You know I don’t like clubs but I came for you, it’s your night after all.”

“It’s your birthday too.”

Aelin shook her head “I get one every year, you better marry my cousin and stick to him.”

“And you stick to the captain. I want to come to your wedding.”

Aelin laughed “we’ll see…” then she turned and saw Elide leaning against the counter half asleep “what if we take the party to my place? I am sick of this place.”

“Please,” said Manon in a hopeful tone. She hated clubs as well “we can get alcohol on the way home. If I hear another man asking me why my hair is white I am going to start snapping necks.”

“Hey Manon, no need to snap necks,” then Aelin looked around for Ansel.

“I’ll get her,”said Asterin when she noticed the woman in the distance.

The woman came back with Ansel in tow and moved closer to Aelin “the fire exits are not enough and one is blocked.” She whispered.

“I know, I am going to call Peter and explain the situation to him.” She took her phone out “take the others to the cars. I’ll be there in a moment.”

Aelin watched Asterin walking the group to safety then hid in dark a corner and phoned Peter explaining that they had to pretend they had an anonymous call and come and pay a visit to the place and shut it down. The man agreed after she explained him the situation in terms of safety. She was playing dirty but could not care less. People’s lives were at stake. Hamel could just go and impale himself for all she cared.

Quickly she left the building and she went to her car joining Lys and Elide. The remaining women were in Manon’s car.

They stopped for booze on the way and finally got back home. Aelin took Elide piggyback style as the woman had fallen asleep. Once in the flat she placed Elide in the spare bedroom and covered her with a blanket then went back to the rest of the group camped in her living room. A text from Peter told her that the club had been safely evacuated and closed. Apparently he had found even more infractions that she had not the time to spot.

“Ok, ladies back to the party.” Aelin grabbed a mixed selection of glasses and mugs for the beer.

Ansel stood and went to use the bathroom and came back a few minutes later “why do you have guy’s stuff on the bathroom shelf? Do you live with the silver fox?”

Aelin sighed “Rowan has been living here since I was discharged from the hospital.”

“That was a while ago.”

“I know.” Aelin sighed.

“Yes!” Shouted Ansel pulling Aelin toward her “our captain is shacking up. I am so proud of you.”

After a few drinks, Ansel would become very friendly with anyone. It was a good thing they had left the club.

In that instant she got a text from Aedion saying that he had activated the fire alarm in their club and evacuated the whole place after he had spotted a shit ton of infractions. Well, that was probably another club down. Definitely not what they had agreed with the detective but they had to do something.

“Ok, since this is a bachelorette party as well, we can have a bit of spiciness.” Said Asterin while drinking her beer “unusual place where you had sex. We need to give Lys some ideas.”

“Do we?” Joked Aelin “Lys would definitely teach us something.” Then everyone looked at Ansel “after her of course.”

“I once hooked up with civilian pilot and we did it in his cockpit before he got to fly the plane”

“Where you flying as well?” Asked Lysandra curious.

Ansel nodded “it’s a long story.”

“Aelin, you are up. I bet the captain is wild.” Lysandra’s eyebrows lifted suggestively.

“He is pretty amazing but the strangest places have been a beach, the sea, behind a waterfall, a pool at the foot of two different waterfalls and almost on a military ship.”

“Almost?” Asked Manon curious.

“I’ll show you the dress.”

Aelin went to get her black dress and got back a moment later “and he knew I had nothing underneath.”

The group of women cheered loudly “that must have driven him insane.” Joked Asterin.

“That’s why the almost. We would have been in a lot of trouble if we got caught.”

“I have nothing left to teach you.”Ansel was sprawled on a chair and lifted her beer in acknowledgment.

“Lys?”

The woman blushed savagely “in a car wash. Aedion and I stayed in the car while it was getting washed and… well.. it was quick but fun.”

“Definitely nothing to teach you,” Aelin clinked her bottle with her friend.

“Asterin?”

“My previous firehouse, with one of my colleagues on top of a rig on a night shift.”

Manon gave a light chuckle “was it when you were at the Regional 2?”

Asterin nodded “he was some hot firefighter. We are still friends. We did it once and then it felt so weird and never happened again.” She explained.

Aelin sighed “The night of the mayor’s party, Thomas and I hooked up. We ended up at my place. We did it, realised it was rebound sex and finished the night with tv and junk food.” Thinking about him still pained her.

“No friggin way. More than the kiss?” Asked Lysandra shocked.

Aelin nodded “after you saw us kissing I left, he found me, we went back to my place.”

Aelin looked around and noticed that no one wanted to make too many comments, his death was still too fresh for everyone and he had been Manon’s and Asterin’s captain.

“Does Rowan know?”

“I told him and he is fine. We were nothing at the time and I was mad at him.”

In that instant Elide joined the group and Aelin stood and went to her “hey, how are you feeling?”

“My head hurts.” Replied the woman leaning against Aelin.

“I should take her home. We are working tomorrow we should all go home.”

“Lys is right,” added Asterin “another 24hrs shift ahead, we need some sleep.”

Manon and Asterin offered to take Ansel home and Aelin remained with Lys and a sleepy Elide.

“I am sorry the evening sucked.”

“Hey,” Lysandra placed her hands on Aelin’s shoulders “it didn’t, and to be honest we were all quite tired. All it matters is to marry that annoying cousin of yours.”

“Take Elide home, she is about to go to sleep again.”

Once Aelin was alone she finally shed the dress and opened one of Rowan’s drawers and grabbed a t-shirt. They were usually far too big for her but she loved them as pyjama. She went to the bathroom, got ready and then finally got in bed with bird Rowan and squeezed close to his pillow to inhale his scent.

She grabbed her phone and found a text from Rowan

I hope you had a nice evening. I wish I had been there with you because it’s bad out here. I hope bird me is keeping you company. Have a nice night, Fireheart. Love you.

Aelin’s heart sank at the anguish in his voice. She tried to call him but had no answer.

I love you, come back to me, was all she managed.

She squeezed bird Rowan and tried very hard to fall asleep.

TAGS:

@rowaelinismyotp

@jlinez

@swankii-art-teacher

@courtofjurdan

@whimsicallyreading

@tillyrubes10

@surielandiareendgame

@aelin-bitch-queen

@bruiseonthefaceofhumanity

#rowan whitethorn #rowaelin #rowan x aelin #aelin galathynius #Lysandra #elide lochan #Throne of Glass series #fanfic

56 notes · View notes

rimaiahwrites · 3 years

Text

family time—

Chapter 9

"Israel parked her car outside of

her aunts big house and hopped out. The house was beautiful and she had hoped to be able to afford one like this when she started a family.

Soon as she walked from the side of the house In the drive way she saw her three older boy Cousins were playing basketball with their two friends.

The oldest of the three, Kordell stopped the game and jogged over to Israel, Pulling her into a bear hug. Israel fake gagged dramatically, he was drenched in sweat and smelled like outside. He chuckled before letting her go. "Where you been at iz? I haven't seen you in a grip!" He said Excitedly rubbing her head like she was still a child. She laid her hair back down. "Chile you messing up my hair," she laughed. "But yeah I know, sorry just been caught up in life." She shrugged. He nodded, "yeah i felt that, life as adult ain't all that to be honest," he said shocking his head in a jokily stressful way. "Facts, but it is what it is I guess," she said walking to the front porch, waving to the other boys standing in the driveway waiting for kordell to get back into the game. "Jaz in here?" She asked pointing to the door.

"Yeah she in there giving my mama a headache with her high Pitch ass voice!" Marcel, the youngest yelled. "Aye don't be coming for my cousin like that!" She yelled back before making her way in the house.

Soon as she walked into the kitchen she heard her aunt Chrissie calling out her name, she dropped her spoon and came at Israel with open arms and a loving smile. "Aw aunties baby hiii!" She squealed at the 18 year old. No matter how old Israel was she would always be her aunties baby, she has just accepted it by now.

Israel squeezed her back with just as much love. "Hey auntie how you been?" Her aunt pulled her back to look at her, amazed at how grown she looked now.

"I have been good, but these kids be driving me crazy chile..." she said jokingly as she shook her head.

"So I'm invisible or what?" Jasmine said with a blank face expression, staring at Israel. Israel rolled her eyes at her dramatic cousin. "Hi jazzy!" Israel said as she rubbed Jasmine head as if she was a puppy, until jasmine smacked her hand away. "Don't make me cuss you out in front of my mama-"

"Yeah cause' then imma be doing the smackin'" Chrissie said pointing her finger in her child's face. Soon as she turned around back to the boiling pot of greens she was making, Jasmine rolled her eyes at her mom.

Israel chuckled before making her way to the pot of greens, Which was making the kitchen smell delicious.

"How long until these are done? I'm starving," Israel whine.

"Not that much longer, Ya mama ain't feeding you is she?" Her aunt asked raising her eyebrows.

"Actually I been eating pizza rolls and chicken pop pies for the past week because my mom went out of town,"

"Out of town? For what?" She said scrunching her face up. Israel shrugged, "her sister got into a really bad accident and she needed her I guess." Chrissie face dropped in annoyance and rolled her eyes. Her aunt Chrissie hatted her sisters half sister Jennifer, she was a stuck up light skinned girl that thought she was better because she was light skin and had made multiple hatful comments on Chrissie dark skin complexion from childhood and all through out their teen years.

"Um...karmas a bitch." She mumbled under her breath making Israel and jasmine choked on their spit as they tried to hold in their laughter.

"Mom!" Jasmine yelled mid laughter. "What! That's what she gets she is such a bitch..." they both nodded their head as memories from being a child and getting yelled at by her for no reason.

As they all got into a new conversation the baby monder went off and the sound of Israel baby cousin crying came through it.

"Aw yay she's up! I'm coming Pooh!" Israel yelled up the stairs as she dashed up them Jasmine following close behind her. She busted the door open and as soon as she did the crying baby gave Israel teeth-less gummy smile reaching for her.

"Hi Pooh! I haven't seen you in so long!" She said grabbing the six month old baby up."You got so big!" Israel squealed excitedly squeezing her chubby cheeks. "Come on let's go in my room i got some stuff to tell me."

Jasmine opened the door to her old room, her mom kept it the same since jasmine still liked to come over and stay the night on the weekends.

Israel sat on the small couch she had with the Babbling baby sat in her lap.

"So what's up?" Jasmine jumped on her bed excitedly. "Ok so you know Byron? The nigga I was with that one night?" She nodded her head, "yeah the dark skinned cutie with white teeth?"

"Yes girl that's my man now He asked me last week! The he fucked me sis and when I tell you he fucked me goooood-tuh." She dragged out closing her eyes just remembering how he had her bent over his bed stroking deeply. She shivered just from the memory.

"Oh woooow must be nice." Israel's said slouching into the couch, letting baby Leah onto the ground watching her crawl around her big sisters room. "Girl you be acting like you take get a man," she rolled her eyes throwing her pink stuffed animal up into the air and catching it. "What happened to erik? That man is so finnnne Chile." Israel stayed quiet avoiding jasmines eyes. She knew if she tell jaz about her and Erik's little 'friendship' all hell would break lose.

"Um hello? You can't hear now?" Jaz asked sarcastically throwing the stuffed animal at her head, Israel throw it back at her with Force. "If I tell you, you can't overreact." Israel sat up pointing at her face with a Stern voice. Jasmine put up her hands in Defense. "Ok I swear I won't just tell me." She begged pouting her bottom lip out at her. Israel came over and sat on her bed next to her so she knew no one could hear her but jasmine.

"Ok so at the party we made out on the porch but we were both kinda drunk, he was rubbing all over me but then after I went home but we kept in contact and been hanging ever since." Jasmine smiled brightly trying not to make a big deal out of it. "But get this I begged him to have a sleep overnight at his house because I was bored and we somehow got onto the Conversation of his sex life and he showed me one of his sex tapes-" Jasmine jaw dropped not believing her. "No he didn't!" She said smacking her on the arm in shock. "I swear I'm not lying, it was crazy he had the girl trembling and his stroke was A one and his dirty talk oh my god..." a shiver went down Israel spine just thinking about it. "What happened then y'all fuck or something?" Israel rolled her eyes at jasmine because she knew damn well. "You should've though, he wanted to get you all riled up why you think he showed you?" Israel shrugged her deeply unsure if she believed that.

"We hang out at the mall and he bought me all types of expensive designer shit and then when I was getting into the car he kissed me...but like a deep slow kiss." She smiled putting her head down as she Federal with her shirt. Jasmine put her hand on her heart because Israel was melting it.

"That man is feeling you oh my god you gonna let him wife you?" Israel's face scrunched up looking at Jaz like she was crazy. "Girl bye he probably just trying to sleep with me." Israel said more so trying to convince herself that. She felt it when they kissed each other, they both did.

"I know how nigga are and lemme tell you he feeling you hard, girl he spoiled you!" The door busted open and in come kordell with a popsicle in his hand. "Who spoiling you? You got a nigga?" He asked his word mumbled from the popsicle in his mouth. "No-"

"Yes she does, you know Erik? Yeah he spoiling her buying her all types of Expensive designer stuff and hanging out with her and she thinks he just tying to sleep with her," Jasmine crosses her arms looking over at Israel who's mouth was wide open. She really just told all her business like that.

"Bitch he took you shopping and gave you one of those slow I'm tryina fuck kisses, Look at the material." Jasmine yelled at Israel who wasn't really paying much attention to her now that she picked up Leah again. She was a bubbly gigging mess from laughing so much at Israel making a puckered lips air filled cheeks and cross eyed face at her. "Kordell tell her," she turn over to her brother who wasn't listening to her ether. Jasmine huff and reached over and smacked him on the arm. He jumped and dropped his popsicle, it went rolling under the couch. He scolded jasmine before getting on one knee to grab his popsicle from under the couch and throwing it away in her trash can. "That was the last one" he whine, ignoring her completely. but of course she just rolled her eyes. "Tell her that nigga is trying to drop dick in her and wife it." Israel's eyes widened and she quickly tried to cover Leah's ear. "We have a baby right here watch your mouth." Jasmine have Israel a dull look and smacked her hands off of her baby sister that was beginning to get irritated with Israel's hands on her head. "She can't understand anything we saying. And can you guys please stop acting like I'm crazy I know what I'm talking and so does kordell He wants to bag you!"

"jasmine, you got all of that out of him taking me shopping? Girl goodbye we are done having this conversation." Israel's huffed air out her mouth, dismissing her. She knew it was a bad idea to mention Erik to jasmine but she really couldn't help herself. She literally tells her everything, plus if jasmine were to find out by herself she would have beat Israel's ass for not giving her the tea earlier.

"Ok fine I'll leave you alone. Stay blind bitch." Jasmine hissed before making her way downstairs and into the kitchen to get Leah's bottle from the bottle warmer. Israel turned over to Kordell still holding Leah tight in her arms. "How do you deal with that on a daily basis? Do she be coming at you like this too?" He chuckled and nodding his head. "Hell yeah, but she right, ain't no nigga doing all of that just to fuck that nigga tryin' to make you his most likely." He chuckled again before leaving her on the couch with his slobbering baby sister. Israel rolled her eyes. What in the hell would a nigga like Erik want with me? She thought to herself, I mean of course she knew she was pretty and had a great personality but she didn't feel like he was feeling her like that.

"He's a grown man guys, I'm still practically a child compared to him." She mumbled to the jasmine that had just got back into the room. She ignored her. She huffed and Poked Leah's cheek and she giggled. "It's 2019, nobody care about age gaps like that, you grown he grown." Jasmine dismissed her with a wave of her hand and a facial expression that said girl goodbye. Israel suppose she had a point but didn't mean she thought that he was trying to 'drop dick into her and wife her' or maybe she was just scared of admitting there was a possibility they could be together because of her situation with her family. If they were to get together was she just suppose to keep it a secret until she moved out? She was supposed to sneak out of the house every time she wanted to see her boyfriend?

Now was just not the time.

But was they both just supposed to keep acting like they weren't slow but surely failing for each other?

The thoughts clouded her mind only the sound of her aunts voice bringing her out of them. "Come on lets go eat all these got me starving." Israel joked making her way to the stairs.

Israel finally made it back home at 9:56 o'clock and she was exhausted. playing with a six month old baby was tiring on both ends, Isabel tired Leah out just as much as she did her.

Israel dropped all her bags on the floor and flopped down on her bed with a huff. Her feet ached and the small part of her back hurt like hell for whatever reason. She was just about to drop her eyelids and drifted off to sleep before her phone rang. It was all the way across from her bed in her bag on the floor, she growled softly and ignored it until it kept ringing. "People just love to interrupt my peace huh?" She mumbled while snatching her bag off the floor and grabbing her phone.

"What?"

"We're going out this Friday," Jasmine announced to her like she was her mom. Israel throw her head back with a sigh. "Uhhhh I don't know-"

"Come on this the only time we could really do stuff without having your parents nagging." She had a point might as well live it up while she can.

"Where are you trying to go?" Israel asked now laying on her stomach.

"They having a block party on 45th, they always lit over there it's going to be fun." Israel smiled a little bit remembering all the wild videos her brothers showed her from the last block party 45th had.

"Alright I'll go it's sound fun as hell," Israel chuckled. "Also it's a themed party so try to find a cute early 2000's inspired outfits." Israel was really hooked now, early 00s fashion was her favorite, the mini skirt, the jewelry, the glasses the cute little handbags was all a starve.

"Oh my god yess I finally get to live out my dream, I'll start looking tomorrow." Israel said and as soon as her finger touched the red button she was dozing off.

————

(Not edited yet. Will be soon.)

Hope you liked it :)

Like, comment and vote pls <3

🦋—

#black panther killmonger #erik killmonger #erik stevens fanfiction #erik stevens fic #erik x oc #killmonger fanfiction #killmonger fic #killmonger x oc #killmonger x reader #killmonger imagine

34 notes · View notes

sunmaylight · 3 years

Text

TGCF Book 3 Reaction pt. 6 - We are going to Mt. Tonglu!

hahaha. So, funny thing. I got impatient and just breezed though the last two books and consumed all of the post-canon content I could find. But, even though I have finished TGCF, that doesn’t mean I didn’t leave notes that I want in big chunks like this. So I will continue working on this

Even though I read the novel, I will stay true to my notes to the best of my abilities.

Ch 138: Xie Lian remembering that he threw his meatballs like bullets without any spiritual strength, like how he went about the past 800 years

- Me: Why do people not realize that Xie Lian is buff. Buff Xie Lian art, where?

Qi Rong turns out to be a better chef than Xie Lian. Like possible House Husband material

- Me: Yo. WTF. I call hack! How did- *remembering Qi Rong’s backstory*... Okay, but how did he learn and hone his skills?

Heaven’s Eye cultivator group about to chow down on some hair when Xie Lian steps in with the pebble toss

- Me: Xie Lian saving cultivators from committing c*nn*bal*sm

Ch 139: Hua Cheng builds a little golden palace outside and then kicks it. The shady inn illusion crashes as well.

- Me: Can this get animated?

Feng Xin mentioning of an ascension acceleration method with dead babies

- Me: Wait! What if Feng Xin’s ascension is the suspicious one instead of Mu Qing

Ch 140: Xie Lian finds Guzi to be sick and dehydrated.

Mama Bear Xie Lian - Awaken

- Me: Oh shit. Xie Lian is pissed at his cousin.

Ch 141: Learning about who the father to the fetus spirit is. Learning that the fetus spirit is named Cuo Cuo. Secrets around Cuo Cuo’s birth abundant

- Me: WAIT! HE HAD S*X WITH LAN CHANG. HE F*KED?!

Xie Lian reassuring Hua Cheng, but Hua Cheng turning it around to saying that his actions are up to him. Xie Lian feels something.

Xie Lian and Hua Cheng had a moment when suddenly they see someone sitting at the table making tea

- Me: No! Is it Jun Wu?

Jun Wu is pouring three cups of tea

- Me: He saw the intimate scene between the two

Red flower that slips on the edge of the flower pot is about to fall when Xie Lian caught it like it’s the most precious thing in the world

- Me: Foreshadowing???

Xie Lian basically saying that Heaven will fall if the Heavenly Emperor is dead. Xie Lian basically saying that Heaven is floating in the sky because of the Heavenly Emperor

- Me: Man, I really hope that the Heavenly Emperor doesn’t die and make Heaven crash onto the ground, only to be upheld by the power of Xie Lian and then create a parallel of that scene in book 2, or Atlus holding up the world.

Ch 143: Heaven and the Ghost Kings have a mutual beneficial relationship

Hua Cheng using this fact to exploit Heaven singing him praises for a year.

- Me: Cunning bastard. I would have asked for praises sung to me and Xie Lian if I was in his shoes

Mt. Tonglu has the Klin and both places is that one poisonous jar where the last poisonous creature that is alive after x amount of time is emerged as the victor.

- Me: Battle Royale to the death.

Xie Lian sneaks with Ghost as a Puppet Master

- Me: Oh, nice disguise

Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade says he can find if a ghost is suspicious

- Me: Okay, but what if you are the suspicious one?

Xie Lian crouches down to hid behind the 8-12 year old looking Hua Cheng

Hua Cheng as the “Puppet Master” disguise: “No one shall touch what I love except for me”

- Me: Impressive acting there

There is a cloaked figure that Hua Cheng says they are wearing a fake face

- Me: Is it Pei Ming?

Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade dies from one slash. Xie Lian making an observation that sounds like a joke

- Me: lol

Ch 14-Mt. Tonglu gate

Some ghost ladies get hurt and the cloaked stranger immediately asks: “Are my ladies alright?”

- Me: I was right. It was Pei Ming

Pei Ming about to tease Hua Cheng when Ruoye whips out to hit Pei Ming

- Me: I don’t know if that was all Ruoye or influence from Mt. Tonglue, but go Ruoye.

Pei Ming’s mysterious candy he got to disguise his spiritual powers is revealed to be shady candy made form Ghost City. Consuming the candy is the equivalent to rubbing skunk spray all over yourself.

- lol

E-Ming has been affected like Hua Cheng. It is now a small sword

- me: Cute

Pei Ming can sense the atmosphere around Hua Cheng and Xie Lian

The Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade turns out to be alive still. Both halves are moving freely

- Me: It’s still alive. how?!

Pei Ming is revealed to be the “General Who Snapped His Sword”

- Me: *Four Tales of Heaven Background Understanding Update*

Wine: 100% Understanding & Truth of Creation

Flower Crown: 100 50% Understanding of Creation & History -Second Ascension & Third Ascension are Unknown-

Princess: 15% Understanding of Identity & History

Sword: 25% & Growing...Processing backstory now

A giant savage, dark skinned burly man in broken armour appears

- Me: Wait. Do I know this character?

It is revealed to be Ke-Mo

Xie Lian pulls a trick on Swift Life-Extinguishing Blade/Ming’Guang and Pei Ming saw it work. The trick was actually the most vile swear word of the Banyue kingdom that is the most disrespectful insult ever.

- Me: What did the army teach you Xie Lian?

Xie Lian calls out for Banyue & Pei Su knowing that they are not at Mt. Tonglu as a tactic to distract Ke Mo

- Me: lol. What if they actually come after Xie Lian called them.

When things start to look good, Xie Lian calls out on it. It is immediately changes into a bad thing

Tiny E-Ming grows with praises from Xie Lian.

Pei Ming does a big brain and smashes E-Ming’s hit to Xie Lian’s lips. E-Ming grows to a very long scimar

- Me: Pei Ming caught on what Xie Lian didn’t. Also E-Ming reflect’s Hua Cheng, so, affection makes E-Ming grow. Hua Cheng

As Ke Mo and Ming’Guang are abotu to beat Xie Lian and Pei Ming, Banyu and Pei Su do that badass entry of jumping down a cliff and kicking the opponents.

- Me: lol, Banyue and Pei Su actually appeared.

Banyue throws a scorpion-snake at Ke Mo fully knowing what she is doing and the 200 years of mutual dislike is behind it.

- Me: Ultimate betrayal.

Banyue: We came here with Rain Master

- Me: Wait. Rain Master is here?

Ch 148: Xie Lian thinks that if he does the same things he did to E-Ming to help him grow, it will help Hua Cheng grow

- Me: Awe. So cute.

Ke Mo vs. Banyue & Pei Su - Round 2: Banyue is too embarrassed to throw her snakes again at Ke Mo. Pei Su swoops in and yeets a basket full at Ke Mo who screams at them

- Me: For some reason I find this scene really funny.\

Xie Lian: Moves into kiss Hua Cheng. He kisses the forehead and is sad about it.

Pei Ming learns that Banyue is that Banyue while she backs away from Banyue as Pei Ming comes close to her

- Me: Oh wait. Does Pei Ming still smell of those Ghost Candies?

It is revealed that Banyue is weary of Pei Ming because of the candy scent

- Me: Lol, it was the candy

Rain Master is brought up

- Me: *random thought* Does Rain Master & Pei Ming have some history together?

Rain Master is at Mt. Tonglu because Qi Rong stole some of her farmers.

Pei Ming is revealed to be the opposing General of the Rain Master

- Me: Oh, they do have some history together.

Xie Lian & Readers learn about the ‘Tale of the General Who Snapped His Sword’

- Me: LORE!

Sword: 75% Understanding

Ch 149: Pei Ming insults Banyue for not knowing how to cook like other females

- Me: General Pei, I understand that in your time that might have been a norm. But modern times that is different.

Xie Lian says he will teach Banyue how to cook

- Me: Oh no. Someone please stop them.

Banyue is holding a pot of food

- Me: Oh shoit. Did Banyue?

Ch 150: Banyue’s chicken meal is a black mass of questionable origins

- Me: *sob* it’s over. Banyue is now added to the list. But at least she took up her cooking skills after her adopted dad.

Pei Su takes the dubious food and eats it after watching Hua Cheng try some.

- Me: RIP Pei Su

Hua Cheng telling Xie Lian about the history of Mt. Tonglu while Pei Su is dying in the background. Banyue’s cooking somehow turned into a spirit or eldrich horror

- Me: *sob* please. You two are so adorable together, but someone (Pei Su) is literally dying from food poisoning. You are like that one pool meme

Pei Ming has given up on Pei Su to hang with the oblivious couple

Xie Lian has heard of Wuyoung before from his past while training to Ascension.

- Me: Oh. Interesting.

Little Xie Lian learned how to recite the Ethic Sutras like nothing because he was a curious child about a forgotten kingdom and the Guoshi made him shut up through sutras.

- Guoshi, how are you real?

Xie Lian: Pei Su is talking weird. Is it because of the Scorpion-Snake?

Banyue: Pei Su has immunity from them

-Me: God you two are so oblivious.

Ch 151: What if Jun Wu is from Wuyoung? Nah. He has a 500 year difference from then.

- Me: *Remembers Qi Rong calling Jun Wu a faker and thinks there is some truth in those words* What if he became an immortal 500 years before his ascension and just loitered around for 500 years until he achieved ascension status.?

The group is Scooby-Doo investigation with Ace Attorney observation skills on the temples. of the Kingdom of Wuyoung to learn why it fell

- Me: intersting. I hope they find something interesting.

-----

Alright. Going to stop there cause the actual journey to the Klin starts and it is a long journey where there is actually more than what I commented on. Man, I just really picked and choose what to highlight while reading

#sunmay rambles #sunmay reads tgcf #sunmay reads tian guan cifu #sunmay reads hob #sunmay reads heaven official's blessing #tgcf #hob #tian guan ci fu #heaven official's blessing #tgcf spoiler #hob spoiler #book 3 spoiler #Mt. tonglu spoilers #RIP Pei Su #I hope you develop an iron stomach like Hua Cheng to eat Banyue's cooking

26 notes · View notes

julemmaes · 4 years

Text

Pinky Promise - Chapter One

A/N: It’s currently midnight here and believe me when I tell you my brain is fried right now. I just wanted to finish this and post it. The real story starts with the next chapter and here we have a little more info dump cause yeah. Hope yall enjoy!

Fic Masterlist

Word count: 3,802

Rhysand had to stop by his house for a short break to change and take off that uncomfortable shirt he was always complaining about. Cassian had tried to tell him several times that being an elementary school teacher he could dress as he wanted and no one would ever tell him anything, but the youngest of the brothers didn't seem to get the message.

While they were waiting for him, Cassian had tried to start a conversation with the other two, but both had answered monosyllables and he had enough problems of his own without getting involved in whatever had happened between Elain and Azriel.

Despite all this, when they got to the Archeron house, the older had a lopsided smile on his face. The smile widened even more when they entered the apartment and saw his cousin gobbling a cracker with some cheese on it. Morrigan got up in a flash and went to greet them.

"Took you long enough." said the blonde, "We were waiting for you."

Cassian snorted, taking off his shoes and jacket so as not to wet every surface of the house, "I can tell."

"Don't be an asshole." he heard from the kitchen, Amren. She was also sitting at the kitchen table, where Nesta was chopping parsley and eating strangely long, fried things.

His girlfriend looked up at him and smiled. She had to be feeling better because she had a much more relaxed expression on her face than only an hour or so before.

He approached the table, followed by Rhys who was staring with a confused look at whatever that strange food was in front of their friend.

"What the hell is that?" Azriel asked once he had freed himself from Mor's hug.

Amren arched an eyebrow, taking another fried thing and eating it whole, "Frog legs."

Cassian, who was about to kiss Nesta, stopped, looking at her in shock, "Sorry, what?"

"Yeah, a new French restaurant opened on my street and I've been getting the weirdest stuff for a couple of weeks," said Amren smiling. "I even tasted the snails last Monday." the guys all seemed shocked.

Nesta made a confused grimace, "Actually they're not as bad as you'd think, they taste a lot like chicken."

"I'm not sure I want to kiss you anymore," murmured Cassian as he walked away slightly from the girl. Rhysand nodded beside him, pouring himself a glass of wine and passing one to Azriel.

"Oh, stop being a baby, it's just food." Amren muttered, casting a hard look at him.

He kissed Nesta on the cheek anyway while she finished cutting the onions and poured everything into a pot. The smell of meat that came out was enough to make Cassian fall in love a little more.

"I'm gonna go change," announced Elain, who had been particularly quiet the whole time.

Nesta lifted her head, looking in her sister's direction, who was already in the hallway, "Did you get my stuff?" she asked loudly.

Elain's reply didn't take long to come, "Yes, I'll bring it to your room."

Nesta shook her head, even though she couldn't see her, "No don't worry, I'll take care of it, just leave it in your room." a faint okay came from the other room and then the conversation resumed.

"One very important thing before I forget, next week Manon should come here," said Mor, clutching her shoulders, "I'd like to arrange a little something at my house, with everyone. If that's alright with you," she hesitantly concluded.

Mor and Manon had met that summer when the former went on vacation to the other continent alone. She'd stayed in Erilea for almost two whole months, going from city to city and stopping only when she deemed it necessary. Once she reached Orynth she immediately made friends with a large group of people there and when they introduced her to Manon it was hate at first sight.

More than hate, actually, Morrigan felt awkward.

Manon stared at her with that seductive look of hers that she couldn't really decipher and only when the other one had explicitly told her that hes was flirting with her, Mor understood that she could enjoy that vacation and have a summer fling with the white-haired goddess. One thing led to another and they ended up getting together at the end of August and after only a month of relationship no one had had the chance to meet her yet.

"Finally we get to know her." smiled Amren.

Cassian took a beer from the fridge and put two more on the table in case someone else wanted more than wine. "Where did you say she studies?" she asked for what was probably the millionth time.

"Oh, she attends the Academy of Fine Arts in Adarlan. Rifthold precisely." said proud Mor, smiling.

"Does she study art like Feyre?" Rhysand asked, taking another cracker and putting a slice of salami on it. Cassian saw Nesta shake her head in disbelief and had to hold back a laugh. It was impressive how he managed to squeeze Feyre into his every conversation.

Mor didn't give it much thought anyway, "Nono, she dances. She studies ballet. She has a- I always forget what they are called, but she has a group, with whom she always dances. They call themselves the Thirteen," she continued nodding, "They also have a channel on You Tube, if you're interested."

Elain walked into the kitchen at that moment, wearing only a pair of pajama pants and a VHS lacrosse team sweatshirt, with the name Vanserra on its back. She took a beer from the table, opened it and drained half of it in one long sip. She made a disgusted face and then took one of the fried frog's legs off Amren's plate, who was looking at her alarmed.

Nesta gave him a confused look, mentally asking him what had happened on the way here, Cassian shrugged.

"Hey Ellie everything's alright?" asked the older sister, turning off the stove.

Elain nodded, helping her set the table while everyone took their seat. "Everything's perfect."

Azriel laughed, not even looking at the girl, "As always." Elain's head snapped in his direction.

Elain gritted her teeth, "Maybe you should learn to mind your own business."

"And you should learn what self love is and stop letting others treat you like that," Azriel said to her in an equally harsh tone.

Cassian understood then, Lucien was involved.

Nesta sighed, placing both hands on the table and bowing her head, "Can we please have one dinner without arguing?" Elain sat down with abrupt gestures and nodded, apologizing. Azriel seemed to think about it for a second, looking at the middle sister, nodding in turn and sitting next to Rhysand.

They ate quietly between jokes, and the tense atmosphere that had created immediately dissolved. Elain and Azriel bickered so often that the group was used to it and they'd become good at pretending nothing had happened.

***

Nesta was sitting on the floor next to Cassian, practically lying on top of him, while he kept his arm around her waist. Whatever Morrigan was explaining she couldn't understand. Her brain was already clouded by alcohol. They had just finished the first game of the evening and she couldn't figure out how they were all still relatively sober after all the alcohol they had ingested. Or maybe it was just her impression and in reality they were all wasted.

She looked up at her boyfriend and put her hand on his cheek, making him turn towards her. Cassian smiled at her and gave her a peck. When she kept looking him in the eyes even after they had parted, he raised an eyebrow. What is it?

Nesta shrugged and kept following Mor's speech.

"And who draws the last king drinks the whole cup, got it?" the blonde looked around the room trying to figure out if everyone understood at least one word of what she had just said. Nesta took a sip from her glass and Mor groaned, "Come on Nesta, you don't have to drink now."

Azriel chuckled, almost as drunk as she was, "Stupid drunk."

"Fuck you, Az." she giggled, clinging closer to Cassian.

Elain nodded, raising her drink to the ceiling, "Yes, fuck you Az." she hiccupped and smiled in her best friend's direction, who gave her the middle finger. They all burst out laughing, knowing perfectly well that there was no grudge in those gestures.

She couldn't follow the game properly, but someone had just drawn a seven and Nesta knew that she had to raise her arms to the sky before the others or she would have to drink again, and although this evening was putting her in a good mood, she wasn't sure that her head would thank her in the morning. Elain ended up drinking.

When it was her turn, Nesta drew a nine and thanked every god present in that moment because if she had to find a rhyme for anything the others would say, she would surely throw up from the effort.

"I picked a nine," she said giggling, falling on Cassian, who laughed and helped her up, "and since I'm feeling rather nice tonight, I'll say orange," she slurred.

"You don't play like that," said Amren annoyed beside her, taking a sip from her soft drink. It was her turn to take everyone home that night.

Mor nodded, agreeing with the girl, "You can't take the one word that doesn't rhyme with anything."

Rhysand cleared his voice, "Sporange." he said at the same time that Elain screamed the same word. The boy brought his hand to his chest, opening his mouth wide, "I said it first."

Elain shook her head, pulling herself up and bending her legs underneath her, "No. That's not true." she said snickering, "I said it first."

Cassian burst out laughing, making Nesta's back flutter. She looked at him and winked, nothing sexy in that gesture at all and it only made the boy laugh more.

"Azriel tell him that I said it first." the girl complained, pouting. "Cassian tell him too."

"Nah ha, you have your family, they're with me." said Rhysand, getting up and staggering until he was between his two brothers. He circled both their shoulders and slapped Nesta in the face unintentionally.

"Ouch." she mumbled, pulling herself up and rubbing her nose.

Elain seemed on the verge of tears, "It's not right. I was faster than you." she practically screamed, "And I only have one sister here, it isn't fair."

Rhysand shrugged, "That's not my problem."

Their little argument went on for a few minutes before the boy surrendered and admitted that she was the one who said the word first, "But only because you don't have enough sisters for backup, otherwise we'd solve it physically," he concluded, winking at her. Elain giggled and Azriel muttered something about the physical part of the hypothetical fight that made Cassian laugh.

They all turned towards the entry of the apartment when they heard the door open.

"Speak of the devil," said Mor with a smile, "Feyruuh! Join us."

Rhysand had stood up and was smiling like an idiot, "Yes Fey-Fey join us," he repeated, approaching the small threshold.

Nesta saw the boy stiffening and immediately realized that something was wrong. She closed her eyes and sighed.

"Feyre," breathed Rhysand, "what happened?

From where she was sitting she couldn't see the hall, but even Amren, who had a perfect view of the whole room, had a hard look on her face. Perhaps she should have stood up.

The alcohol in her body did not allow her to stand up without the risk of falling. It was already much that she hadn't blacked out.

"Nothing, don't worry," said her sister, finally entering the room. Nesta could see her face and understood what Rhysand was referring to. Her eyes were swollen and bloodshot. She had been crying.

"Feyre..." she said, trying to pull herself up with Cassian's help.

Her younger sister raised her hand to stop her, "I didn't want to ruin your evening, I just came to say hi." she gave everyone a faint smile. Rhysand, next to her, held his breath. He suddenly seemed much more sober, more aware of what was happening. "I'm sorry... goodnight everyone." with this she turned around and walked out of the room. Mor moved to get up, but Amren placed her hand on her leg to stop her.

Elain was the first to break the silence, "That piece of shit." Nesta gasped hearing how much anger she uttered those words with. She turned towards her sister and before she could ask her, she had already started talking again, "I can't believe it." she stood up, swaying too much and falling on her knees.

Mor was immediately beside her, "Be careful."

"It's alright." she ran her hand over her legs and then looked towards Feyre's room sighing.

"Can someone explain what the heck just happened and why no one is going to see how she's doing?" asked Amren slightly annoyed. Rhysand was out of the living room before she could finish the sentence.

They all turned to Elain, who seemed to be thinking about what to say.

"I'm too drunk for this," whispered Nesta, massaging her temples, "Ellie can you please tell me if this is a life-or-death issue?" she asked again. She felt a hand on the small of her back and turned to Cassian, who looked at her with a sad smile on his lips.

Elain laughed without amusement, "No, of course she's not dying, it's always the same old arguments with Tamlin. She should just break up with him," replied Elain surprising everyone. It was very rare that her sister said something so sincere when it came to Tamlin. The only times she had done so she had risked ruining her relationship with Lucien.

"I don't think I should tell you the details, it's her business and I'm not here to gossip," said Elain after a few minutes in which everyone had started to clean up the mess they'd made, "All you need to know is that Tamlin is a piece of shit," she whispered the last part, as if she was afraid her boyfriend might hear her.

"Nothing new." Amren said, getting up and starting to pick up the cups scattered around the room.

They heard Feyre yelling something, but Nesta couldn't understand just what she said. They waited a few seconds, to see if they needed to intervene or not, when they heard nothing more Azriel spoke.

"Do you think we should tell her something?" he asked again, still sitting on the floor, tilting his head back so that it was resting on the couch. "I mean, it's already been a few weeks since I've seen her cheerful, I'm getting worried."

Nesta was surprised. It was nice to see how much Azriel cared for the youngest of them. Of course, she knew it was true, but it was rare for the boy to express his feelings so openly.

Cassian shook his head, reducing his lips to a thin line, "Not tonight," he said as he looked down the hall, "She's probably insulting Rhys in every possible way now. I guess it's a good way to cool off," he added when they heard Feyre screaming again. Rhysand answered equally loudly.

"Maybe we should get Rhys out, he is drunk after all," Azriel said standing up. Nesta did the same, following him into the corridor.

"They know that Rhys would never lay a hand on Feyre, don't they? Even if he is drunk. And angry." whispered Elain, even though they all heard very well. Nesta giggled and Azriel shook his head smiling. She was so drunk.

Cassian answered her, "No Ellie, it's not that. It's that drunk people tend to say things they don't really mean." they heard a whisper of agreement.

Azriel was about to knock on the door, Nesta right behind him, when it opened wide and Rhysand rushed out, shoving his older brother aside. Nesta couldn't see his face, but he must have been pretty upset because Azriel followed him right out of the apartment.

Nesta blinked a couple of times and then turned to her sister, who was pacing back and forth with her hands in her hair.

"Fuck!" cried Feyre. Nesta entered the room, closing the door behind her.

Feyre looked at her and grimaced, "What? Did you also come to tell me how to live?"

Nesta shook her head, crossing her arms, "I gotta be honest with you, I'm really drunk right now, so I'm struggling a little bit to understand things, but if you want to talk to me, I'm always there. You know." she said to her, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Yes, yes. I know." Feyre murmured, "But right now I just want to sleep and be alone."

Nesta glanced at her and saw that she had mascara smeared on her cheeks. She had cried again.

They could not face this conversation now.

She sighed, "Alright, if you need anything call me, I'm sleeping at Cass's, but if you need anything I can be here in twenty minutes." she cautioned her as she got up. Before leaving, she turned to her sister and left a kiss on her forehead. "Don't worry, everything will work out. I'll be back for lunch, okay?"

Feyre frowned, "Why do you always treat me like a child?" she suddenly asked her.

Nesta was caught off guard, "What do you mean?"

"I'll be back for lunch. I can be here in twenty minutes," she said imitating her voice, "I don't need you to tell me your schedule, I can cook pasta, I can take care of myself." she pointed out, looking Nesta straight in the eye.

"I don't- Feyre, I was just letting you know that I'll eat at home, I wasn't implying anything. We live together, it seems normal to me to tell you about my movements," she replied, being defensive, "I didn't call you a child."

"Get out."

"Feyre-"

"I said get out." sobbed the sister, "Please."

Nesta tried to get closer when she saw that Feyre was crying again.

"Go away!" cried the other one. Nesta stiffened and nodded just once, saying goodnight and leaving the room.

Cassian was staring at her from down the hall with a worried look. Throwing a quick glance inside Elain's room, she saw that Amren and Mor were helping her change and would put her to bed before leaving, as often happened during these evenings.

She reached her boyfriend and when he hugged her, she let out a deep sigh, resting her head against Cassian's chest. "I'm sorry," he said, kissing her hair and holding her tight.

"Don't worry, we both know she's not mad at us. She better than anyone else." she looked up to him. Cassian moved a strand of hair from her eyes, placing it behind one ear. "Maybe we made a mistake, though, letting Rhysand talk to her."

Cassian chuckled, "Maybe." He leaned over her and brushed his lips against hers.

Nesta yawned in the kiss and they both laughed.

"Okay lovebirds, it's time to go home," announced Amren, putting on her shoes and helping Mor tie hers. The blonde was also in terrible condition.

Cassian broke the hug, but followed Nesta to her room while she changed and took things so she could change the next day, and then followed her to the bathroom, where she took extra tampons in case the ones at his house had finished. She strongly doubted it, as Cassian always worried about having an endless supply every time, but it was better to prevent.

"You're such a lost puppy." Mor laughed, looking at them, "Disgusting."

"You're just jealous cause you can't be with Manon every day," replied Azriel, walking back into the house at the right time, followed by a quiet Rhysand.

Mor poutted in a way that would make a three-year-old child look a saint and her eyes filled with tears. Amren threw her arms in the air, "Was that really necessary?" she asked exasperated, turning to Azriel, who apologized to her friend.

They all left the house, leaving the kitchen and living room relatively tidy, nothing an hungover Elain couldn't handle.

When they reached Morrigan's house, only Azriel and Amren went to escort the blonde home and make sure she went to bed.

Nesta took the opportunity to say a few words to Rhysand.

"It's not your fault if she reacted in that way," she said, placing her hand on his arm. God, the drunk Nesta was so affectionate. Rhysand looked at her with a wrinkled forehead.

"I know." he sighed, running a hand over his face and looking older than he actually was, "I just wish she understood how much she's worth. That Tamlin doesn't deserve her." he looked out the window, waiting to see the other two appear so he could get home as soon as possible and pass out in bed. "There may have been a moment in their relationship where things worked, but now it's getting too much."

"I agree." Nesta simply said. Rhysand didn't need her to comfort him, no. He needed Feyre to realize how much the situation she was in no longer benefited anyone.

***

Cassian slipped into bed next to Nesta and laid his arm around her waist, pushing her flat against him. She immediately relaxed and intertwined their fingers, carrying his hand on her belly. Cassian started massaging circles on her stomach, applying a little more pressure at the bottom to help her with the pain.

"Better?" he asked her, placing his head in the niche of her neck.

Nesta nodded, "Much better."

They spent a few minutes in silence like this. If he managed to tell her that he wanted to enlist, if he managed to confess to her his plans for the future and she accepted him, there would no longer be so many times when he would cuddle her. They would no longer be granted.

When Cassian was on the brink of falling asleep, with a thousand questions in his head, she asked him something.

"Hmm?"

"Tomorrow, you wanna go out for dinner with me?" she repeated, turning around so she faced him.

Cassian opened only one eye, "Like a date?" he asked, smiling tiredly.

"Sure, like a date." she answered him, tilting her chin up so that she could kiss him.

"Yes, I'll go out for dinner with you," he said returning the kiss.

"Perfect."

"I love you." he whispered to her, hugging her.

Nesta did not answer and Cassian fell asleep shortly after, dreaming of the day when he would make Nesta his wife.

acotar taglist (send me and ask or dm me if you wanna be added/removed)

@tottenhamboys20 @sjm-things @kris10maas @awesomelena555 @sannelovesreading @queenamydien29 @ireallyshouldsleeprn @messyhairday-me @ncssian @observationanxioustheorist @my-fan-side @booksstorm @maastrash @sayosdreams @thedarkdemigod @courtofjurdan @thewayshedreamed @ladywitchling

81 notes · View notes

mossy-covered-bones · 3 years

Text

Nature Boy

(Song Inspiration)

(Leaves Story List)

Word Count: 774

Setting: Undetermined, Age of Independence

I was settling down to camp for the night—tying the horse down, getting a fire going, prepping dinner—when the stranger sidled up, asking if I had an extra place by my campfire for em. Of course I said yes; my family raised me to help people when I can.

Ey sat down on the ground beside me, hands wrapped in cloth, hood pilled low, and cloak bundled up tight. I didn’t think anything of it, just thought ey was too poor for proper mittens or something.

We talked while I cooked us food. Ey was a largely travelled person, if eir stories were anything to go off of. While I stirred my little pot of stew ey rambled on about how people on the Coast would smoke their meat with wet leaves, and how villages in the North would have huge community pots that they filled with meat and broth so that everyone could have their fill.

Ey asked me a lot of questions, too. Where I came from, where I was going. I told em about my mo’s family farm, how I helped her out with the cows and chickens growing up. I handed em a bowl of what I had made while talking about the mischief I’d get up to with my cousins, and my Unty’s meatloaf recipe.

Ey complimented me on my cooking, I told em my Granfa taught me how. I told em what all I added, ey talked about other ways ey’d heard the ingredients used. That stranger was good company, even as our conversation turned to nonsense like what I thought about the rulers of other places, or what I thought the greatest thing mortals could ever experience was. I don’t know much about my own king, let alone the others, and I told em that I thought the best thing would always be a hearty meal with family in a loud, busy home.

Ey laughed at that answer, told me that most people said it was falling in love.

I scoffed. My mo had never wanted that, never even asked my father to marry her, and had always made sure I knew how important family was, that they’re important even if you found your One, and I’d always been sure that the group of people I saw around the stove in the mornings had more love to give me than one person ever could. I told em that.

Ey chuckled again, patted me on the back and stood. Told me ey’d remember that answer, and that I had a great point there.

Then ey thanked me for dinner and walked into the forest. Ey wasn’t even going in the direction the road was, just due south.

I kinda wished I had asked what eir name was. I never even saw there face, with that hood pulled up, and I’d never be able to recognize em in something else because of how close ey held the cloak, even while ey was eating.

For some reason, when I got back home, I didn’t tell any of my family about the stranger. I thought about em almost constantly, though.

The first person I ever told about em was the priest in town. There was just something about that stranger I thought she would understand, for some odd reason.

I described the stranger as best I could for her, said all we talked about, how ey disappeared.

She was quiet for a minute, before she said it sounded like a sprite of Therit. All the questions, and the weird knowledge, and hiding eir face and hands. It made sense, I guess, but something in me was sure it couldn’t have just been a sprite. That ey had clutched eir cloak so tight because of the four arms, that the hood stayed low to hide eir eyes, that those hand wrappings would have hidden more than just one extra set of eyes.

I didn’t tell the priest that, just told her that she was probably right and went on my way.

The next time all of my aunts and uncles and untys came over for dinner with their kids and their spouses, the chaos of all those people I shared blood with seemed just that much sweeter. Almost like what that stranger had said to me, sprite or not, had made me cherish this even more.

I made sure to hug everyone just a little bit tighter before they went their ways.

#undetermined narrator #listen i just like writing about therit okay ey’s awesome #therit #sevs ocs #edivitaer #leaves playlist #wrote this in one night early august so like. quality warning i guess #sev writes #food mention

2 notes · View notes

nothingeverlost · 4 years

Text

Fic: A Week in Charleston

For Cablanca week Day 6, Tropes

I went with fake dating/need a date for a wedding, thanks to a suggestion from @gracefulanimation and heavily inspired by @danielcraigss

Marta gave one last look in the mirror before deciding there was nothing else she could do. Her makeup was done, her hair pinned up in deference to the heat, and she was wearing the less formal of the two dresses she’d brought with her. When Benoit had asked her to come to his cousin’s wedding she hadn’t realized it would be a two day affair. To be honest she hadn’t thought much about it at all; the idea of spending a week in Charleston at Benoit’s house had occupied a lot more of her thoughts than the wedding.

“Is this alright?” She stepped out of the bathroom in her knee length lace dress and flat sandals; she wasn’t good at walking in heels even on the best day and she was too nervous to attempt them for a backyard barbeque. The dress only had the thinnest of straps and she worried that maybe it was a little too showy. Alice had talked her into it, but the pale fabric beneath the lace made it almost seem as if her own skin was showing through.

“Only thing I can see wrong with it is the fact that every man at this thing is going to wish you were there with them, not me.” Benoit was sitting on the arm of the sofa, dressed in a blue suit that highlighted his eyes in a way that should be criminal. He didn’t wear a tie, though she could see his suspenders where the jacket gaped a little. The first couple of buttons of his shirt were undone, his skin more tanned now that it was summer. “You look prettier than a Georgia peach in summer.”

“Alice helped me pick out the dress.” She looked down self consciously and wondered if it was too warm for one of her cardigans.

“The dress is mere window dressing, though I do compliment your sister on her good taste.” He stood and picked up a gift from the table. “Shall we go?”

“You’re supposed to save the compliments for when your family is around.” He was carrying the ‘fake girlfriend’ thing a bit far, but perhaps it was practice. He didn’t need practice.

“I speak a simple truth.” He locked the door of the apartment behind them, leading the way to his car. Marta tried to remember if anyone had opened the car door for her before. Not only did Benoit open it, but he closed it as well after asking if she minded holding the gift.

“What’s in this thing? It weighs a ton.” The box wasn’t much more than a foot cubed, but it was heavy. “You’re not giving someone weights as a wedding gift, are you?”

“It’s a cast iron pot and my momma’s secret fried chicken recipe. You can never go hungry as long as you have a good piece of cast iron and know how to fry up a chicken.” Benoit grinned at her before starting the car.

“You can make fried chicken?” The subject of cooking hadn’t come up before. There were a lot of things they hadn’t talked about, their friendship starting with knives and blood and vomiting rather than favorite colors and how they each liked their coffee. She worried that it would make it harder to sell this relationship they were pretending. One of Benoit’s cousins had apparently threatened to set him up with a blind date for the wedding. She was the one that had offered to come when he’d clearly been unhappy with the idea of attending with a stranger. She didn’t regret the offer, but a barely begun friendship and a romantic relationship weren’t the same thing.

“I can make a great many things, and once we’ve gotten through this weekend I’ll show you what proper southern food is supposed to taste like. My momma always said that a man should know how to fill his own belly. When I was older she told me it was good for courtin’ and marriage too.”

“You never married?” He’d never mentioned an ex but that didn’t mean anything. She’d been engaged once and he didn’t know that.

“I think that’s the only regret my momma had, that she didn’t get to see me get married to a woman. She would have liked to be a grandma. Would have been a good one too.” He turned onto a road that took them away from the main part of town. There were only a few houses on the road.

“It’s legal now to marry anyone you want.” He was fifty, and a bachelor. It occured to Marta that there might be another reason why he’d never married. A reason he’d rather have a friend pretend to be his date rather than have someone set him up with a woman.

“It’s always been...oh.” He almost missed a stop sign, breaking hard and pausing a moment before turning to look at her. “I’m not gay. I like women just fine, and I respect every one I’ve been in a relationship with. But there’s a difference between enjoying being in bed with a woman and finding the one person that you want to share your whole life with. Someone sexy and fun but also warm and intelligent and good and kind. Someone you want to talk to at any moment of the day and someone you ache for when you’re apart. I was taught that marriage is forever and I wasn’t going to ask anyone to marry me unless I believed it was a forever love.”

“Oh.” She’d only seen his eyes look that intense before, and didn’t know what to do about it. It was beautiful, but it made her a little sad too. He would make someone a wonderful husband. He deserved to have someone that would listen to him, and share their day with him, and love him.

The rest of the ride was silent and not very long. Benoit pulled into a parking lot already crowded with cars. A park spread out before them, picnic tables covered in linen tablecloths far too nice for a park, tree trunks wrapped in twinkle lights and flower garlands, and in the center a gazebo where a band was already set up but not playing.

“Ready?” he asked when he opened the door for her and took the present.

“Anything I should know?” He hadn’t told her much beyond the fact that a younger cousin was getting married, and that some of the guests would be family.

“If any of my relatives tell you stories about me take ‘em with a grain of salt. And don’t worry about anything, just enjoy yourself.” He balanced the gift on his hip, holding it with his left hand. His right settled at the small of her back, warm and comforting. “I’m glad you came.”

“I am too.”

#cablanca #marta cabrera #cablanca fic #cablanca week #benoit x marta #benoit blanc #rereading all my fics

73 notes · View notes

justtuesdays · 4 years

Note

What are some of your headcanons on the Islanders?

What fricking chicken finger, I almost finished this post, and bam— my phone dies. Ok, so here it is again. Not that any of you saw the first one. Anyways, I’ve had various discussions about my headcanons with @ravena-dottir , so if you guys have any or want more let me know.

Carl:

He is tall! He’s at least 5’9” and at most 5’11”. You’re probably like ‘huh?’. So in one of my many adventures, I went through my screenshots of my run through while on the phone with @ravena-dottir and what do we discover? Carl is only a bit taller than Marisol and she’s the shortest!

He’s a learning enthusiast, like he loves to learn and not just subjects on science, even though it’s his favorite. He’s your modern renaissance man, he’s all about learning in general.

He definitely has a twinge, if not a full on, Irish accent. I’m telling, I can’t see Carl without one.

Kassam:

Hands down, this man has a French accent. For sure, he plays the accent down when he’s “chill Kassam”. But when he’s with his girl, that boy goes full on French guy.

He dealt with a loss in the family and I have a feeling it was a brother.

I’m another rant of mine with @ravena-dottir , I was telling her about the significance of armband tattoos. The tattoos can be for aesthetics or a symbol of loss. And, Kassam to me doesn’t give me those vibes to just get the armbands for just aesthetic purposes.

He gives me second child vibes, and we can have a full discussion about this any time.

Bobby:

He’s definitely an only child. I don’t care that it’s canon that he has a sister. I don’t believe it. I did numerous run-throughs with Bobby and never was there a mention of a sister until after the fricking glitch.

It’s definitely canon that he loves children and wants to have some of his own. But I think it comes from taking care of his younger cousins. I’ve always pictured him as the doting older cousin who loves his younger kid cousins.

Like Chelsea, I think Bobby is the type to hold onto small trinkets. To him the small things are where it’s all at.

Gary:

Maybe it’s just me, but despite that it’s canon that he’s a single child. Gary gives me older brother vibes. I can see him with a sister or a very close female friend. Or maybe it’s just me reflecting my platonic thoughts on Gary.

Gary gives me strong Captain America vibes and besides his soup kitchen and other charity works. I think he also is a mentor to teen young adults. He wants to be a role model and share his experience with other young adult.

Besides knowing that he’s a crane operator, which is a milestone on his own. I know this guy has some carpentry skills up his sleeves. I don’t know if it’s the lumberjack vibe I get from him. But I know he’s the type to be like, “here ma’am here’s the table I made for you.” Add a wink at the end.

Rocco:

Despite Rocco being a portrayed as a snake in the game, I think he has a deeper side. You have to remember that the goal of the game is to stay in the villa and once you see his scene, the guy doesn’t exactly know how to handle how people see him.

Rocco is definitely a pot head. He does it recreationally and uses it in his cooking.

He’s definitely a great cook, hands down.

Even though he has a knack for lying or “embellishing” as he likes to call it, with someone he finally comes to trust he’ll definitely be brutally honest.

#anon ask #litg #litgs2 #love island the game #litg carl #litg bobby #litg gary #litg rocco #litg kassam

49 notes · View notes

msbarrows · 4 years

Text

I have mentioned before that some times I am easily amused.

This week, it’s cooking that keeps leaving me feeling that way - yes, even more so than watching a volcano erupt in real time, or the strenuous but so far largely futile efforts to dislodge one very large ship from a narrow chokehold in global supply routes.

I made a batch of pizzas a couple days ago. I like to make a bunch at once, cook one for that night, and freeze the remainder to cook-from-frozen for future meals; it makes the 2-3 hours of prep work feel worth it, knowing that there’s at least a couple of future meals where I don’t need to do anything more complex than turn the oven on. I found myself thinking a lot, while I chopped and grated and sliced, about how I almost never use a recipe for pizza dough, so it’s rarely the same crust twice. This week I made it with white flour, milk, oil, two eggs, and the tail end of a bottle of Classico pesto sauce, because that sounded like it would be yummy (it was). Sometimes I use butter instead of oil, or water instead of milk, or just one egg, or none. Add cornmeal for a bit of extra crunch, or do half-wheat-half-white so it’s not such a blood sugar hit (plus I like the taste) and on rare occasion, whole wheat. A cousin of mine taught me to use herbs and the juice from a can of pineapple in the crust; he likes to top it with onion and pineapple and a lot of different meats. My sister taught me how to use a peel and a pizza stone, though I’m currently without either, and to use all kinds of weird and wonderful toppings, like thinly sliced Yukon Gold potatoes brushed with olive oil, or home-smoked chicken, or elk sausage from the farmer’s market, and kalamata olives and good mozzarella from a deli instead of supermarket stuff. Mostly I do a fairly standard sliced sweet peppers, sliced green olives, sauted red and/or white onions, cheap No Name mozzarella, and equally cheap mass-produced pepperoni. It still tastes worlds better than commercial frozen pizza, which is what makes it worth the effort.

Yesterday I took a 1.5lb package of ground meat out of the freezer, figuring I’d make meat loaf. Only it was already past noon, and when I checked it a while later, it was still a completely frozen lump. I could have thawed it in the microwave, but I hate doing that for stuff that needs other stuff mixed into it; the defrosting always leaves some parts already partially cooked. So I put it in the fridge, figuring I’d make something else instead and do meatloaf the next day (today).

Only then, of course, I rediscovered a cured cottage roll I’d taken out of the freezer several days prior, and promptly forgotten about, which still needed to be used up. Well, so that works out, I decided - cook the cottage roll now, and make meat loaf tomorrow. I mostly followed the package directions, which had me putting it in a pot, covering it with water, throwing in a coarsely chopped onion, some peeled garlic cloves, and some peppercorns, though I also went ahead and added a couple bay leaves, a rib of celery cut in chunks, and some mustard seed. I served it with buttered boiled potatoes and a vegetable mix of brocolli, cauliflower, and carrots, with whole grain mustard to spread on the meat.

Afterwards I looked at the pot juices, and wondered... throw that out, or soup? A taste test showed it was delicious and not overly salty, so instead of making meat loaf today, I ended up making pea soup. The broth was put through a sieve, then left in the fridge overnight so I could skim off the congealed fat this morning. Then I combined it with dried green split peas, a can of chick peas, thinly sliced celery, finely chopped onion and sweet red pepper, diced leftover cottage roll, diced potatoes, sliced carrots, and some leftover curried lentils from the freezer, which gave the whole pot a cumin-y fragrance. We had it with home cooked bread (bread machines are awesome, though I still love the process of making bread entirely by hand too). I’ll be freezing the remainder for more future meals.

Tomorrow I’ll make that meat loaf (most of which will also end up in the freezer; between my brother and I, a meatloaf is enough for three meals). And then give thought to what to make on the weekend.

#Food #Cooking #Me Myself and I #I like cooking #Most of the time #Also I love having a chest freezer #Which I spent most of my adult life without #Because it makes future meals so easy #With all the purposeful leftovers I can cram into it

2 notes · View notes

the-a-j-universe · 4 years

Text

Alright, cool. I finally have a guaranteed length of time that should be long enough to go through all of these, so let’s do this. I know the plan was to have me address each ask one at a time but that didn’t work out lol so I’m just doing it all at once. I’m also turning it into a post so anyone who wants to can follow along with my journey.

I’m also gonna copy/paste the text of the other asks instead of screen capping them because copy/pasting is faster lol.

I’m gonna put a pic of each one here, give my thoughts, maybe a goofy rating (I dunno), and then pick my favorite. Just so y’all know.

* Tanawy's entry n.1 in the Dragon Quest monster showcase: the all-time classic Slime. When asked to design the Slime like the standard goop monster they usually were, Toriyama said "no" and a legend was born, now cute slimes are more popular than the disgusting goop depiction. Its cousins and variants are numerous and some are very different from one another so as a bonus here the criminally underutilized Mottle Slime and its evolution the Mottle King Slime.

See, I don’t even need to look this one up. Here it is:

But let’s be real, you guys didn’t need to see an image of this dude either. I love this thing. I never went through a period where I thought of the grosser oldschool slimes. This thing has always been what’s come to my mind when I here the word in an RPG context. Which, considering my zero experience with DQ, really speaks to this thing’s popularity. I am actually going to remove this one from consideration, though, for that reason. I just have too much of a bias towards it. I know it too well, and all variations seem to be equally great. It’s a 10/10, though. Truly iconic.

Get the rest after the cut!

* Tanawy's entry n.2: Originally a boss monster, here is the Golem. While not the sharpest tool in the shed, these brick-made guys can be quite loyal, with a child-like personality, downright adorable (I will never forget you Goldirox) but their strenght in battle must not be underestimated. And since St. Valentinus is around the corner here a Chocolate Golem variant as a gift. Friendship chocolate mind you, from a dude to another 😄

I like this guy. He reminds me of a couple oldschool Yugioh cards. They’re all bad cards, but I’m nostalgic for them so that help’s this guy’s chances. I don’t know that I buy him as a threatening boss, though. He seems more like he’d be your big stone pal.

The chocolate variant is absolutely adorable.

8.5/10 overall for both.

* Tanawy's entry n.3: Here are two members of the Machine Family, first the Killing Machine. These relentless hunters are merciless and they are constantly upgrading, so models with different modifications are plenty. They even come with garden sprinkles. Then there is the Mecha-mynah, who puts a different spin on the mechanical Cuckoo-bird motif. Careful these guys have razor-sharp wings and they selfdestruct when cornered.

Alright, not so much for the second one, but the Killing Machine also reminds me of, like, a half dozen Yugioh monsters. Did Kazuki Takahashi just like ripping this franchise off or something? Either way, these are both good designs, but they don’t really work for me that much. They’re a little...plain? I guess? I guess I like my machine creatures rougher and with more detail. 7/10.

* Tanawy's entry n.4: Next are my deepest fears (exaggeration) if they were real; the Waspion, half wasp half scorpion, and the Claw Hammer, Half hammerhead shark half metal scolopendra, all nightmare. Continuing with the caravan of creepiness, here is the Bona Constrictor, just get it away from me. This next one, when i saw it for the first time i yelled "WTF is That?!" here is the Ulcer, a walking awful pile of rotting flesh.

I am NOT a fan of the Ulcer. That thing’s ugly, and not even in a fun way. 0/10.

I like these other guys, though:

The Waspion is literally just Gligar from Pokemon, but aside from that I like animal/creature mash-ups. And the Claw Hammer is a pretty unique one. 9/10 for the whole lot.

* Tanawy's entry n.5: Beef or chicken? Why choose when you can have both? Here is a heavyweight of the Bird Family the taurine Bullfinch. But dont forget your vegetables, or else they might turn into these Plant family monsters, the eggplant Woebergine, the bellpeppers Capsichum and the cucumber Cruelcumber. Also, meet the Peahooter, these guys pelts their targets with arrows taking advantage of their higher ground.

Okay, we’ve got another mash-up creature here in the form of the Bullfinch, but I’m not feeling this one as much. It’s worth, like, a 6.5/10, maybe. The Woebergine and the Peahooter are both pretty interesting. The Peahooter is kinda cute in a weird way and the Woebergine is delightfully derpy. They both deserve approaching an 8/10. I’m not really feeling the Capsichum at all though. They get a 5 or a 6/10.

* Tanawy's entry n.6: Who doesn't like a good dog? Well maybe not these guys from the Beast family: the Chainine who will ensnare their preys with their collars, the Putrefido, who is no longer alive, the Abracadabrador, who will eat your bones, the Crocodog, a levitating (yes this thing floats in the air) dog-crocodile hybrid and finally the Jackal Ripper (long lost relative of Wolverine or just imitator? More at 11 on the news)

Hey now. That’s not really fair to the other entries. Every one of these dudes:

Is a very GOOD BOI. I think I like the Abracadabrador the least. He’s a little too un-dog-like compared to the others. 6.5/10. The Chainine and the Putrfido are both the perfect blend of cute and weird. I like them a lot. They get 7.5/10. Jackal Ripper is a badass 8/10. He’d be cooler if he was wearing jeans. I LOVE the Crocodog, though. 10/10. Perfect. He just looks like a friend, but he also looks like he could kill my enemies. Which is what I like in a monster.

* Tanawy's entry n.7: Here is a taste of Japan with the Boppin’ badger, the most Tanuki-like monster you will ever meet; Then these guys don't need consent to give everyone within their reach a smooch, here is the Lips. Also, beware of these horses of the underworld, the Equinox where they probably hangout with these other lovely fellows, the Hellspawn. Speaking of which here is the demon Teeny Sanguini. Cute eh? Not when it evolves in the Bloody Manguini. Thankfully not everyone of them does that.

Okay, you can’t fool me. That first one is just a regular animal.

Jokes aside, though, I’m not really feeling this bunch unfortunately. The Hellspawn just reminds me too much of mutant can Steven, the Lips is a little boring, and the Equinox, while I like the wordplay in its name, and while it’s cool in principal, is too busy. I’m just not feeling the designs of these guys overall. 4 or 5/10 for the whole lot. Though the Teeny Sanguini is closer to a 5 than a 4.

* Tanawy's entry n.8: There are two species of monsters, the Pips and their cousins the Conks, who constatly imitate the classic classes of the humans, like warriors or priests, but this time the little rascals have gone a little farther and here they are copying the DQ8 4 main heroes in the Trodainian Conklave, the DQ4 heroes in the Zenithian Conklave, the hero of DQ1 and the 3 heroes of DQ2 in the Alefgardian Conklave and the hero of DQ3 with 3 other companions in the Aliahanian Conklave. Cute.

Okay, I love the idea of these things. They’re cute, they fit right in with the general aesthetic of the franchise, and they have a ton of personality. I’m not gonna post pics of all of them because there’re so many, but they deserve ~9/10 collectively. They’re very good.

* Tanawy's entry n.9: Not enough dragons? So here's three: what do you get mixing a T-rex, a dragon and a vicious axeman? An Hacksaurus that's what! Then the Drakulard. Don't be fooled by their mole these portly fellows mean business. Another chubby dragon, the Jargon: dragonic masters of the clay containers, these guys URNed their right to use jar puns and they will make sure you remenber it, even if they have to crack your pot.

Okay now these are more what I was thinking when I heard the title Dragon Quest.

I like the Hacksaurus the best outta them. He just looks nice. They’re all good, though. They fit the art style perfectly, and resemble each other just enough that you buy them all being related creatures. 8/10 overall, though the Hacksaurus is a little above the others, with the Jargon being a barely at the bottom of the barrel. Or the jar I guess.

* Tanawy's entry n.10: The only story entry in this showcase, because just look at him, it's the only DQ big baddie (at least in english) to actually call themselves "the Demon Lord" It's Orgodemir, specifically it's true form which is the first photo you find in the gallery at almost end-page. Let me just tell you this, Orgodemir is a d*ck of the highest level. The brain it's actually an eyelid for a giant eye by the way. Happy Nightmares.

HAHAHAHA. I know there are other forms for this guy, and this is probably not the reaction that anyone who played the game would have, but I just can’t take this guy seriously. He looks like Edward Cullen with bat wings. HAHAHA. 8/10 ‘cause it made me laugh.

* Tanawy's entry n.11: And lastly, in a category i like to call "I can't belive these are real", its the Funky Ferret; yes he and his cousins do exactly what the image shows. And the almost copyright-infinging Owlbear, yes they did not even try to distance themself from D&D with this one (ok they have a variant but is not saying much). There were others in the last category, but since they REALLY did not age gracefully to the modern standards of "acceptable" i prefered not show them.

I love Owlbears, they’re just such iconic fantasy monsters at this point, so he gets a solid 8/10 rating by default. It’s a pretty original take, too, focusing on the cuteness potential of the creature over the badass potential. I like that.

The Funky Ferret, though...

With a name like that this guy coulda been so cool. But he’s just a pretty generic design blended with a fart joke. What a bummer. 3/10.

And there we have it. Probably not exactly what you were thinking but I hope you like it. I don’t hate any of these guys. Some are more boring than others, but there’s something neat about each of them. I like the ones that take badass ideas and make them cute while remaining intimidating best out of all of them, and I think the Crocodog does this best with the Hacksaurus as the runner up. Crocodog is definitely my favorite of these, though. He gets the Best Good Boi award of Bestness.

Orgodemir gets an award, too, though, the “made AJ spit out his rum and Coke laughing” award. It’s not the most coveted, but it’s something.

I know this is a long one, and y’all may not want to reblog, but what do any of my followers think of these funky dudes? Leave a comment on this post or reblog with your answer in the tags!

#long post #my dumb thoughts #dragon quest #monster showcase #trademark

3 notes · View notes