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0nlythrowharrybeaux · 2 years ago

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Young American - Part 14 ^**

Here it is thanks for you patience, everyone! This one's a little long! I'm also really excited for the next part, it's one i've been waiting to write!

Series Masterlist

Warnings: An inkling of family feud, public/risky smut

WC: 10.4K

Everything had been going swimmingly with Y/N and Harry after Eddie’s slight interference. Now that Harry was back from his short time in England he was seeing more clients interested in his work, which was incredible for him. He was booked with consultations and brainstorming appointments as he was attracting clientele who were interested in bigger pieces. Harry was good at them, at conceptualizing things. It did take time away from him being able to continue working on Y/N’s training, so Auree was now back to heading her training. During his free time he was reviewing the art for Y/N’s tattoo and what she had on her body and trying to find a way to restore it to the original vision she had for it. She was excited because she really liked how Harry tattooed, just the conversations he had with the clients, that cute little furrow in his brow that set in when he was concentrating. She couldn’t wait to experience that with him. It made her smile as she thought about how he trusted her to tattoo him so quickly. Well, she would’ve let him a while ago if she had the money, it was different then.

“What’re you all smiley about?” She heard and glanced up from the picture of his tattoo she had on her phone and saw him leaning against the lounge’s doorframe.

“Oh, hi!” Y/N greeted with a wider smile, “And m’smiling at you.” She said, signaling him to come over with a movement of her head and he came over as she turned the phone to face him, “Just remembering how I got to tattoo you and I’m excited for you to tattoo me.” She explained.

“Oh, I’m really excited for that bit too.” He assured as he dipped down to kiss her lips. Their lips met in a series of quick pecks, rushing through it because they still hadn’t really announced to the world that they were an official couple. Of course, there was teasing and plenty of speculation from everyone but they were both very evasive about confirming anything yet. There were still things they were figuring out and just wanted to keep this bit of information between them and Eddie and Auree for a bit longer. As their day came to a close Y/N cleaned up with some help from those who weren’t busy and as she headed out front to say goodbye to G and Rosa who were chatting about they started to tease her.

“Is Harry busy or something that now you have time to talk to us?” Rosa teased and Y/N rolled her eyes.

“Oh my god, please.”

“She’s right, it’s been a while.” G confirmed.

“It’s been two weeks.” Y/N corrected and they chuckled.

“So…what’s going on there, hmmm?” Rosa asked and she shrugged.

“Just…figuring it out I guess.”

“Have you had sex with him?” She lowered her voice as she asked with a suggestive grin.

“Jesus, Rosa…” Y/N blushed as she looked away.

“That’s a yes!” She said turning to G as they continued laughing at her embarrassment, “He’s good, isn’t he? You don’t even have to say anything…” Rosa said and Y/N shook her head, “I mean, he just looks like he’s really good.” Rosa explained to G and then she looked to Y/N who was frowning.

“Rosa, please just don’t say that…”

“I’m sorry, did I say something wrong or-”

“Kinda it’s just that…he’s…my boyfriend.” Y/N admitted more quietly and Rosa and G both gasped and Rosa started jumping up and down and Y/N smiled at their reactions, “Shhhh, shhh! Look, I know he’s nice to look at but-”

“Completely off limits! Got it.” Rosa interrupted and Y/N smiled at her understanding.

“Thank you.” She responded and Rosa just smiled at her and then at G and then they heard the little beads from the curtain leading to the tattooing floor click around.

“What’re you guys up to?” Harry asked as he came up beside Y/N. He wasn’t all that into PDA in front of everyone at the shop yet, but he stood close, so that they were touching in some way.

“Well, before Y/N interrupted, G was talking about possibly goin go to the club on Saturday night?” Rosa asked as she looked to Y/N and then Harry, “You guys should come.” She extended the invitation as G nodded along. Harry was about to say no, that it wasn’t really his thing but then Y/N had to speak up first.

“That sounds really fun. I think I might be down for that.” She mused and Rosa squealed.

“OK, we’ll make sure we get on a promoter list. I’ve got a few friends who I can hit up to find out.” She assured.

After that they made some small talk before they each headed off in their own directions. Tonight Y/N was heading over to Harry’s place after they had dinner with Julie and then they’d leave to Harry’s.

“Were you serious about that club thing?” Harry asked as they got on the ramp to the highway.

“I was, yeah. I haven’t done something like that in a long while and it’d be fun. I know you’re not much into that kind of thing-”

“Yeah, definitely not.” Harry confirmed as his right hand extended out to land on her thigh as he started to rub his thumb against it gently.

“Well you don’t have to go if you don’t want to go.” She said and he smirked.

“OK…” he chuckled and she turned to him.

“What?”

“Do you not want me to go?” He asked her and she shook her head.

“Of course not! I’d love to have you there, but if you don’t like that scene I’d be fine to just go with G and Rosa.”

“Oh no, I’m going. Someone needs to look out for you all.” Harry said and she giggled, “Well, maybe I just need to make sure no one pulls moves on my girl.” He said and she smiled at him and then frowned.

“Oh, ummmm, speaking of which…Rosa was…asking about if you were good in bed-” she said and he turned to her quickly and she giggled, “I know.” She said, “And then she said something about how you look like you’re really good and I…got jealous about her thinking about you that way and accidentally told her and G that you’re my boyfriend.” She sighed as she rushed out the information and as she looked over to see Harry’s reaction she was pleased to discover that he was grinning smugly.

“Jealous, huh?”

“Yeah baby, I couldn’t think. Specially when she was talking about you that way. Like I get it, you’re hot! But she’s our friend, everyone at the shop is, and I know we want to cling to our secret a bit longer but I don’t like that people think we’re just fucking around when we’re actually committed to each other and quite in love and I think we just need to tell ‘em.” She said and Harry bit his lip as he nodded.

“Yeah, I think you’re right.” He agreed, “I like it just being between us, because I know they will tease, but I also want people to know you’re taken. I see how some clients flirt with you…”

“Those are clients.”

“So? Inappropriate.” He mumbled and she grinned.

“And the girls that leave you their numbers?”

“You can tell them to fuck off too. I assure you.” Harry chuckled and she smiled. They were so wrapped up in chatting and flirting that Y/N didn’t see the Julie had texted her not to come home. So as they pulled up to the house Y/N immediately recognized her mom’s car and her face dropped. “I wonder who’s here.” Harry mumbled as he parked across the street from Julie’s house, since the empty spot on the driveway where he usually parked, was taken.

“That’s my mom’s car.” She said and Harry turned to her and she was looking worried.

“Did she say she was coming?”

“No. I didn’t get a call or anything…maybe something’s wrong.” She said with a heavy feeling coming over her chest. Harry raised his hips and reached down his back pocket to fish out his phone and saw that Julie had texted him too.

“Oh, Julie text me to not bring you home. Did she text you?” He asked with a small frown and she reached into her purse and saw the similar message.

“Yeah.”

“Maybe we should just go? What if this just leads to another fight and-”

“It will, but I need them to know that I’m happy with my choices, Harry. They’re worried I’m ruining my life, but they have no idea how well things are going. I know they won’t approve of it, but I just need them to know that I haven’t changed my mind.” She said firmly and she exhaled before opening the door. Harry wasn’t sure if he should get down with her and meet her mom, or maybe it was both her mom and dad, he had no clue.

“Do you want me to go with you or should I wait here?” He asked and he looked far more nervous than her.

“Of course I want you to come down.” She said and he sighed, “What’s the matter?”

“It’s just…usually parents aren’t too happy when they see their kids with someone like…me. And I would hate to just make them more upset at you or have to hear them talk shit to my face.” Harry explained and she nodded.

“I get it. Well, if you don’t want to that’s fine. I’ll just say what I need to say and we can go. Just give me a few minutes, I can’t imagine this’ll last long.” She sighed and he nodded. She then got out of the car and he watched as she crossed the street and went up to the front door and keyed her way in. Harry sighed nervously and just hoped that whatever went down in there wasn’t as bad as he imagined it might be.

*********

“I’m home!” Y/N called out as she got inside and not even a few seconds later her mother was rushing out from the kitchen with Julie on her heels.

“Marcia, please-”

“Shut up, Julie.” She snapped as she looked Y/N over.

“Hi, mom.” Y/N said quietly as she set her purse down at the little table by the entrance.

“Well, at least you still look like yourself.” She said and Y/N sighed but nodded.

“Why are you here? Is everything OK?” She asked and Marcia, Y/N’s mom shook her head.

“Your father is worrying himself ill over you. If you care about him, if you care about me, you’ll stop fooling around down here and come home.” She said flatly and Y/N frowned.

“What’s wrong with dad?”

“Nothing, he’s depressed because he drove you away-”

“Julie, can you just let us talk alone!?” Marcia snapped and Julie looked to Y/N who nodded and Julie then sighed and raised her hands in surrender before heading back to the kitchen quietly.

“He is quite depressed, Y/N. You don’t talk to us, you bailed on the holidays-”

“Mom, he said he wanted nothing to do with me as long as I continued to pursue the career I wanted-”

“Career? Tattooing is not a career!”

“It is! It truly is and it makes me so fucking happy!” Y/N said and Marcia shook her head, “As my mom, don’t you want me to be happy?” She asked with a frown and confusion on her face. Why was this so hard for them to get?

“Of course I do, but not like this… I envisioned you at a marketing corporation with a fiancé and kids not…whatever you’ve got going on here! It’s time to grow up, honey.” She said and Y/N sighed.

“Look, you both told me that I wasn’t part of the family as long as I continued tattooing. I respected those wishes. I love you guys and I do miss you, but I have come to know that I don’t need you in my life to feel happy.” She said and her mother’s mouth dropped into a frown, “I’m so sorry to say that to you, but it’s what I’ve come to know these last few months. Of course, I would be so much happier knowing that you were proud of me and wanted to be in my life, but you made the choice not to and I’m not going to allow myself to be miserable over something that you both decided, mom. I’m successful and I’m happy. Really, really happy and I’m not going to give up my happiness to conform to whatever dream you and dad have for my life. I’m sorry, I know that’s not what you want to hear and I am sad that dad is having a hard time, but he did it to himself. If he is willing to talk to me, I’ll talk to him again, you let me know and I will assure him that I’m not angry at him or resentful, there’s nothing like that going on, I’m just simply respecting your wishes.” She said and Marcia was now crying a bit as she looked at Y/N.

“When did you become such a grown up?” She asked and Y/N shrugged.

“I kind of had to. Julie’s great at helping me be more responsible and accountable for things. Also great at relationship advice, especially when it comes to you guys.” She said with a small smile and Marcia chuckled as well.

“I don’t have anything against her, you know? There’s just this connection you two have that I just…envy and it makes me angry at her and it’s easy to stay angry at her because your father and grandmother are also angry at her.”

“Yeah.”

“I see how it’s gotten between them and I don’t want that to happen to us.” She said and Y/N sighed.

“Then don’t let it, mom. I don’t know what else I can tell you.” Y/N shrugged and Marcia sighed, “Did dad not want to come?”

“He doesn’t know I came. I ummm, I just missed you and I wanted to hear your voice and see your face.” She said reaching out to Y/N’s face and holding her cheek in her palm, “I told my boss I wasn’t feeling well after lunch and just drove down.” She explained before she pulled away.

“Well, I am glad to see you, mom. I missed you too.” She assured and Marcia sighed before they hugged tight and she cried harder. Y/N’s own eyes started to well up as her mom hugged her tight and kept telling her how much she loved her. After several moment of this they pulled apart and Y/N smiled as she wiped under her mother’s eyes to get the mascara smudged under off.

“I’m glad I caught you. Julie said you had cancelled your dinner plans with her tonight.”

“Yeah, well when she texted me that you were here I had to come by and just make sure everything was alright.” Y/N explained.

“Well, thank you for deciding to drop by. I’m just happy I got to see you.” Marcia said and Y/N nodded, “I ummm, I need to grab dinner and find a hotel for the night. And call your father…” Marcia explained and Y/N bit her lip.

“What’re you gonna tell him?” She asked and Marcia sighed.

“What you told me and that we just need to get over it. It’s your life, honey. We just want you to be happy and successful and taken care of, that’s all.”

“I am and I’m… I’m really good, mom. And getting better and in higher demand. I had one of the best artists in Europe train me.” She said of Harry and Marcia’s eyes went wide.

“Oh wow.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“How’d you manage that?” She asked and Y/N shrugged.

“Well, he’s one of the artists at the shop and well now he’s… he’s kind of my…boyfriend.” She said in a hesitant voice and Marcia still looked completely shocked.

“Oh…a boyfriend?”

“Yeah.” She smiled, “He’s quite literally the best. Julie loves him too and-”

“No doubt littered in tattoos…” Marcia said and Y/N shrugged.

“I mean, yeah, but who cares? He’s beautiful inside and out and-”

“Is he the reason you’ve been more happy?”

“One of them.” Y/N said and Marcia nodded.

“Well, I am happy for you, honey. Believe me, I am. And look, I might not agree with everything that goes on in your life, but I will always be your mother and I will always, always love you.”

“Thank you, mom.” She smiled.

“Please, just call me every now and again, OK? For my sanity.” Marcia said and Y/N smiled and nodded.

“I will, mom-”

“Marcia, i-if you’d like to, you can stay over for dinner and sleep in Y/N’s room. She was gonna stay with her boyfriend today.” Julie suddenly said from behind them and Y/N smiled at her and then at her mom.

“Yeah, mom. Save yourself some money and stay here.”

“I was hoping we could grab dinner to have a bit more time together.” She said to Y/N.

“W-we can stay too.” She said and Marcia looked confused.

“We?” Marcia questioned.

“Ummm, yes. Me and Harry, m-my boyfriend. He drove me here.” She explained and Marcia frowned.

“Wait, have you talked to him about everything that’s happened?”

“Yeah, he knows. About Julie too, but-”

“God, that’s so embarrassing. Maybe you both should just go-”

“Mom, chill. He’s beautiful inside and out, remember?” Y/N said, “And I mean, even if physically he’s not what you might want for me, I mean just meet him and see how he is and ummm, maybe you’ll worry less about who I’m spending my time with.” Y/N suggested and Marcia nodded.

“Yeah, alright.” She agreed and Y/N smiled.

“Amazing!” Y/N beamed as she hugged her mom once more, “I’m gonna go out and see if I can get him to come inside.” Y/N smiled excitedly and slipped back into her shoes before rushing out. Marcia then turned to Julie and sighed.

“Thank you for looking after her. I’ve never said it but I’m happy that she has you.” Marcia said and Julie smiled.

“It’s been wonderful having her around these last few years.” Julie assured and Marcia nodded.

“This ummm…this boy she’s seeing-”

“Well, he’s actually nearly 30, really mature, really great over all.”

“She said he’s a tattoo artist too.”

“Yeah. A famous one back in Europe. Do you want to see?” Julie asked and Marcia nodded timidly, “OK, give me a sec.” She said as she went to her instagram to find Harry’s page, “And maybe Y/N can show you some of her work, she’s not lying when she says she’s really good.” Julie explained, “OK, here. It’s all that stuff.” She said handing over her phone and as Marcia looked at the page her eyes went wide.

“Oh, wow…” she exclaimed in quiet awe, “The way that one with the veil just…it looks like a marble statue on their skin.” She said in awe.

“Oh, wait ‘till you see this one he did a bit before.” Julie said scrolling up on the screen to find it. And Marcia quite literally gasped as she saw an entire back piece depicting the myth of Hercules.

“Oh my god…I can see why he’s one of the best.” She said as she took in the details of the tattoo. Even just seeing this had her thinking that this in it’s own right was an art form. The talent displayed in his work was impeccable and now she was even more curious to meet him.

*********

Y/N rushed out and across the street. Harry immediately got out of the car expecting to see her an emotional wreck, but when she stopped before him she was smiling and he visibly relaxed.

“I take it everything’s alright.” He said and she nodded.

“Yeah, thankfully. It’s just my mom, she missed me and just bailed on work for the afternoon and drove down hoping to see me.” She explained and he smiled.

“Well, that’s good.” He said allowing her to take his hands.

“She started out quite defensively, so I told her about the being happy stuff and what not, and so she assured me that she came in peace though. She kinda came around and well, Julie asked her for dinner so she’s gonna stay over and she was hoping I could spend a little more time with her before she leaves tomorrow.”

“Oh OK, of course, baby! Should I just head home then?” He asked her and Y/N bit her lip for a second.

“Actually, I was wondering i-if you wanted to meet her?” She asked nervously and Harry was now biting his lip as he thought about it, “You can definitely say no and I can just drive to yours when we’re done eating.” She said and he sighed.

“I mean, I want to but I suddenly feel like throwing up.” He admitted and she nodded.

“Yeah, I get it. But really, it’s up to you. I promise she will not take offense.” She assured and he sighed and shrugged.

“Ummm, OK. Yeah, I’l stay.” He said and she lit right up and he chuckled as she tip-toed to kiss his jaw.

“Oh I love you! She’s gonna love you.” Y/N assured and he chuckled nervously.

“We’ll see about that…” he mumbled a bit pessimistically and she rolled her eyes.

“Well, I’ve advocated for you already, told her you were beautiful inside and out.”

“Oh my god…” he mumbled.

“It’s the truth! And she seemed to like the sound of that.” Y/N smiled and Harry grinned.

“Baby, you play me up too much-”

“I do not! Have you met yourself?” She asked and Harry chuckled bashfully, “You are so fucking wonderful it really frazzles me sometimes. And I love you so much and I promise you if at any point you feel judged or offended at anything! Even if she breathes wrong around you!” Y/N exclaimed and he chuckled, “I’m serious, H. You just need to tell me and we’re out of there, OK? You mean so much to me and I wouldn’t allow anyone to disrespect you or make you feel less than everything that you are, not even my mother.” She finished and he just took her face in his hands gently and dipped down to kiss her deeply.

“I love you.” He mumbled in between their kisses, “You have no idea…” he mumbled, “How. Fucking. Much.” He said between kisses. He couldn’t even process everything that she had just said. It was everything he had ever wanted to hear from a partner and here she was, telling him that. Proving to him before anything went down that she was on his side. There was nothing he could do to really express to her how much love he had for her, no gesture was grand enough to quantify everything bit of love that his heart had for her. He bled for her. He breathed for her and he just wished he could make her feel what he felt for her. They were breathing heavily as their kissing stopped and he just leaned his forehead against hers and they kinda looked at each other as best as they could as they smiled.

“I wish I could make you feel what I feel for you.” She said softly and he grinned.

“I was just thinking the exact same thing.” He whispered between them and she grinned now too, “S’good to know it’s mutual.” He said and she nodded, “Tell me something though, does your heart ever feel so full of love that it feels like you can’t breathe?” He asked her and she smiled wide as she giggled.

“Yes! Oh my god yes! Like all the oxygen gets caught in my throat.” She said and he nodded.

“Exactly.” He confirmed, “When I tell you that I love you, that’s what I mean.” He reveled and she smiled.

“Me too, baby.” She assured. They shared one more amorous kiss before they hurried over to the house. She guided him to the door and then they were finally making their way inside. Harry was tense, stiff as a board, and Y/N squeezed his hand and he glanced down at her, she was offering a smile and he exhaled and nodded, allowing her to take them to the kitchen, where Julie and her mom were based on the faint conversation they could hear coming from there.

“Hey everyone look who-”

“Harry!” Julie exclaimed interrupting Y/N and he chuckled happily as she came up and hugged him. He hugged around Julie’s shoulders as well, “Glad you decided to join us.” She said kindly as they pulled apart.

“Wouldn’t miss it.” He assured her.

Julie selfishly hoped Harry would stay because he would be an excellent buffer, his company would ensure that nothing went south and that was all that Julie wanted, to keep this visit pleasant and Harry, being the lovely guy he was, would contribute to that greatly. It was good that Marcia was seeing that Y/N was well established, that she was being well taken care of, and that no one in Julie’s household was harboring resentment towards anyone, as she was probably often told by her husband. They were at peace, she and Y/N, in Julie’s little house. With all of her friends being around regularly, plus now Harry was int he picture for Y/N, they had all made their own little family of sorts and it was great.

When Marcia saw the man kindly and warmly hugging Julie she was quite surprised because the one boyfriend of Y/N’s that she had met was…something else. This man though, he was quite handsome. His bright smile was inviting and as they separated he turned to her and once again, she was quite blown away. He he had big green eyes that were so full of life, there was a spark in them that was reminiscent of her own youth. He was taller than he looked and he was quite lean. She was pleased to see that there were no piercings or tattoos on his handsome face, but she would keep that simple victory to herself.

“Mom, this is Harry, my boyfriend. Harry, this is my mom, Marcia.” She said and Harry smiled and extend his large, ring-clad hand over to her and she smiled as she shook it firmly.

“Hello Harry.” She greeted him, “It’s great to meet you.”

“It’s lovely to meet you as well.” He responded politely, his eye contact was intense and it made her feel a bit vulnerable. But again, there was this kindness in his eyes that reassured her that he wouldn’t do anything to make her feel bad. He released her hand and then turned back to Julie.

“Should I get started on the salad?” He asked and Julie nodded.

“Yeah, please.” She assured and he nodded. Marcia was impressed to say the least, especially as she saw him easily move around the kitchen.

“Harry makes the best salads. Very balanced in flavor.” Y/N explained and Marcia nodded.

“Oh, that’s nice.” She said, “Can I help with anything?”

“Yeah, you and Y/N can set the table.” Julie said and Y/N smiled and started grabbing the plates and handing them to her mom. They were soon setting them over the placemats on the dining table.

“So, what’d you think of Harry? First impressions?” She asked and Marcia smiled.

“Well, I’m glad to see he doesn’t have face tattoos.” She grinned and Y/N laughed.

“Oh my god, that was one time…I knew you were gonna bring that up again!” Y/N giggled.

“It’s hardly easy to forget to a guy with a face tattoo and green hair, honey.”

“You know, I’m not afraid to admit that back then I did date him to spite you and dad.” She said and Marcia cackled.

“Oh honey, we know you did.” She assured, “But ummm, Harry, very handsome, there’s this kindness in his eyes that just shines through.Beautiful inside and out, is what you said right?” Marcia asked and Y/N nodded with a smile, “Well it’s true.” Marcia concurred, “And well Julie was showing me his tattoos, he’s very talented.”

“Yeah, he is.”

“And so are you, from what your aunt tells me.”

“I would like to think so…” she shrugged with a smiled.

“Always one for modesty.” Marcia said and Y/N chuckled.

“You think I’m modest, wait until you talk to Harry about his art.” Y/N said and Marcia smiled.

“So when did you start dating?”

“Officially, about a month ago. But we’ve been into each since this halloween party a coworker had.” She explained, “He asked me to be his girlfriend on Valentines Day.” She said and Marcia grinned.

“What’s the story behind that?”

“Well, we happened to have our first fight and I didn’t talk to him well into the evening and he showed up and surprised me with a serenade and ummm we were standing in the kitchen and talked about why we had waited so long to take that step, like labeling it what it was. We had already told each other that we loved each other so…it seemed redundant I guess. But anyway, we talked it out and he asked and of course I said yes and well, here we are now.” She grinned happily and Marcia nodded. She had a few more questions about Harry and Y/N was answering her questions as quickly as possible. But in the kitchen Harry was asking Julie just as many questions about Marcia. He was more concerned with some argument bursting out and ruining the evening. But as she shared with him the snippets of conversation she had heard from them earlier, she knew that Marcia just wanted to be in her life and that made Harry mentally bring down his defenses.

Y/N had been right. Upon bringing up his work Harry got all blush-y and timid, really playing down his abilities while they all assured him that there was no need for that. They could all see full well how extraordinarily gifted he was. Marcia actually asked him several questions about how he got into it, about his family, about him, and how he was liking America. He was easy to talk to and so sweet and carried the conversation well. He clearly was in love with Y/N, just the way he looked at her made Marcia feel happy for them. He was polite and well-mannered, overall Marcia was impressed and she understood why Julie liked having him around. He brought a liveliness out of Y/N that they hadn’t seen in a while and it was lovely to see that as a parent. Once dinner was over they were playing some card games while having some tea and before they knew, it was time for Y/N and Harry to go. Harry and Y/N had loaded up the dishwasher and were soon saying their goodbyes. Y/N hurried off to grab her overnight bag from her room

“It was so great to meet you, Marcia. I feel like I have to thank you for Y/N because she is far more than I ever thought I deserved.” He said and Marcia smiled up at him.

“You’re a good guy, Harry. Thank you for making my girl, happy.” Marcia said and she smiled.

“I hope we get to see more of you.” He said and she nodded.

“Yeah, I hope so too.” She said and he smiled.

“I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but life’s too short to not speak or to not be on good terms with your family. And yes, she’s happy now, but I think she’d be a lot happier with you guys in her life again. I mean, she’s your child-”

“Yeah, my baby nonetheless.” She said and he nodded, “Do you miss your family?”

“Every single day.” He said, “I needed the change of pace though. And well, I am in constant communication with my family over the phone though, which is nice. But I do wish I had the luxury of seeing them as often as I wanted.” He explained and she smiled.

“I can imagine it gets pricey.” Marcia said and he giggled.

“Yeah, definitely.” He agreed. When Y/N rushed out she hugged her mom and thanked her for dropping in. Their hug was long and there were some tears, but it all ended with smiles before Y/N and Harry left, “Baby, you could stay if you want some more time with her.” He informed her as she she wiped some tears from her eyes as they kept driving.

“No, it’s OK. I don’t know that I’m ready to spend that much time with her yet. Like I appreciate the effort, but they didn’t talk to me for nearly three months! You just don’t do that without there being some fall out. I need to be able to trust her again.” She explained and Harry reached for her hand and she squeezed it.

“Yeah, I get that. You were really brave though and you did a great thing.”

“Thank you, I hope my dad isn’t too upset with her for just taking off. She told me he’s been depressed because he’s constantly worrying about me when he’s the one who basically disowned me…”

“Parents are good at that, at guilt-tripping.” He said and she nodded.

“I just don’t want to be the person responsible for something happening to him, you know?”

“Baby, he’s the one who ended your relationship, that’s all you need to remember. He chose this path for you two.”

“Yeah.” She sighed, “She liked you though, or at least from what she was telling me.” She smiled at Harry and he grinned, “Was really pleased your face wasn’t littered in tattoos and piercings. It’s kind of an inside joke because I brought this guy home once during my undergrad and he was everything my parents feared for me. Well physically.”

“God…are there pictures?”

“He was not allowed in the pictures.” Y/N said and he chuckled, “I obviously don’t feel to great about that now, but at the time I had done it to spite them and well, she probably thought you were that kind of thing at first too. Well at least when I first mentioned having a boyfriend.” She explained and he laughed, “I don’t know what the big fuss is about what people like to do to themselves, like who cares…” she sighed and he grinned.

“Exactly. So should I get a face tattoo? Because I’ve always wanted one.” He said and she rolled her eyes. “I’m serious!”

“OK, yeah fine. Do what you want. What’re you getting?”

“I want…maybe a dollar sign, beside my eye.”Y/N sputtered out a laugh and he laughed along with her.

“You’re such a dork.” She giggled and he scoffed.

“Am I?”

“Yeah.” She grinned, “So…the club. Saturday, are you going?”

“Yeah, baby. I’ll go.” He agreed and she smiled.

“Good.”

**********

Harry had never really experienced Y/N under the influence of anything really. He was the one who got sloshed at halloween and well, they hadn’t really done too much drinking, or at least to that extent, on their own. They were both pretty moderate with her drinking, but it seemed that was out of the question with Rosa around. They hadn’t even left her place and they had already had two shots of tequila each, well Y/N, Rosa, and G. Harry was DD’ing so he was opting not to pre-game with them, but he knew this night would be one for the books.

G’s boyfriend was out at a work conference and Rosa had just ended a situationship she had been in for a while, so she was in the mood to forget.

“If any of you get sick in this car-”

“I brought a bag, don’t worry, Harry.” Rosa reached over from the back seat to tap at his shoulder and he scoffed as Y/N cackled from the front seat. They were in Y/N’s car, Harry’s was a two seater.

“Oh god…” he mumbled and everyone laughed, “I just know this one’s not going to be able to clean it up and I’m gonna have to do it and I have a weak stomach for vomitting too so even if I’m being nice I still lose!” He explained.

“Well, the only one who brought a bag was Rosa, so she just needs to slow down.” G said pointedly and she scoffed.

“Listen, I am heart broken! I can get as trashed as I want!” She defended and they all groaned, “You guys suck.” She said with crossed arms over her chest, like a pouty toddler.

“You can have fun without blacking out. You get sad when you drink so much that you can’t hold back your real feelings.” Y/N said and G hummed in agreement.

“Right. So just stay on a level 3 or 4 so you can actually have fun and don’t end up crying to a stranger at the bar about what happened and get us kicked out.” G reaffirmed and Rosa sighed.

“Yeah, fine.” She mumbled.

Harry hoped Rosa had fun tonight, she deserved it. And as much as he knew he would need to be some sort of emotional support at some point in time he had a feeling that he would be spending most of his time hovering over Y/N because she looked exquisite and there was no way that he was the only seeing just how incredible she looked tonight. He never really saw her in dresses, but he liked how she looked in the one she had on tonight. Maybe he had helped her pick it out while they hung out at Julie’s for the day, but regardless of how she ended up wearing it, the point is she did and it was hard to not look at her.

“You know what, I appreciate you two not shoving your love in my face.” Rosa said and Y/N smirked as she glanced to Harry who also smirked, “Like, I can feel the vibe, it’s very intense between you two, but it’s not in like a flaunting manner, you know what I mean?”

“Just…shut up.” G said to her and she pouted, “Put on some music before she gets sad.” G instructed and Y/N hurried to choose something in her library, "And here, we can have half and half of the BuzzBall, OK?” They heard G say more softly and she thanked him before they heard the little can crack open.

Harry and Y/N weren’t all lovey-dovey because well, they had agreed to play a game. One that they were both really excited for and given the way Harry’s hold on the steering wheel was tight as could be, he was still thinking about it.

“Holy shit.” Harry grinned as Y/N finished putting on the dress he had pointed out in her closet.

“It’s pretty, but it’s not too short?” She asked with some concern over her face and he looked her over with a bitten lip.

“I mean, yeah, but who cares you look fucking fit.” He said and she smiled as she felt her ego boost some at his compliment. She was pleased that he wasn’t trying to dissuade her from wearing something like this just because it was revealing, “If I saw you in the club in that I would be chatting you up in seconds.” He admitted.

“Really?”

“Yeah.” He said and she giggled.

“Well, that’s not the goal.” She said to him and his grin quirked to the side, “What?”

“What if I try pulling you tonight?” He asked and she creased her eyebrows in confusion.

“For what?”

“For fun!” He defended and she giggled.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, baby. We went from friends to more and we got together because of how we got to know each other, I never wooed you like I would a girl I was just trying to fuck.” He explained and she hummed.

“I mean…yeah, that’s true.”

“We don’t have to pretend we’re strangers, maybe just friends who are both really hot for each other.” He said and she smiled.

“OK, I can get into that.” She said coming near the bed and he patted his lap as she settled on him, “So what’s the game?”

“I have to get in your pants at the end of the night.” He said and she giggled.

“I mean, you will…”

“Well no, if I don’t manage it on my own then no sex.” He said and she hummed pensively for a moment.

“OK, deal.” She agreed.

The sexual tension between Y/N and Harry was certainly heavy and brewing intensely. This wasn’t about feelings, this was about lust and attraction. Harry was excited to be pulling out some old tricks to see how they would’ve worked on his girl. He could feel her lustful gaze burning into him as she watched him for a few seconds before turning away. He already wanted to reach over and kiss her breathless.

Parking was a nightmare, as it usually was in LA, so when they found a decent deal Harry wired the money to the attendant in exchange for a receipt on the dash and they were soon making the short trek to the club. He wasn’t holding her or touching her hand and it was frustrating to say the least. Especially as he saw people they were walking past on the sidewalk ogling her as she and Rosa were linked arm-in-arm a few steps ahead of him and G.

“Dayyyum, mami!” Some man catcalled out the window as the car he was in came to a stop in the line for the traffic light and she got all shy and turned back to Harry with wide eyes and he just grinned at her. He wasn’t really jealous because well, she was his girlfriend, but no one else needed to know that. He wanted to watch any one else’s attempts at reeling her in fail, no matter how good they were.

“I’m sure there’s gonna be a lot of that tonight.” G mumbled and Harry chuckled.

“Yeah, I’m counting on it.” He said and G looked up at him.

“It’s cool that you’re confident about what you guys have going on. I know plenty of guys who would’ve made their girl change.” He said and Harry shrugged.

“Yeah, same.” He said, “I mean…I picked the dress, not gonna lie. She looks good and she likes it, she can wear what she wants and I’ll just make sure no assholes make her feel bad for it.” He said simply.

“It’s so hot when guys are feminists.” G said and Harry laughed.

“It’s not rocket science.” Harry chuckled.

“Yeah, one would think.” G mumbled.

They got in the line and just waited about ten minutes before they were allowed inside. From the moment they stepped past the threshold the music was significantly louder. Y/N and Rosa were still up ahead of G and Harry and as they made their way up the staircase to the dance floor Harry was eternally grateful that he had walked behind her. He could see Y/N’s dress riding up her thighs as she took her steps up. She was wearing a thong, so if anything were too ride up too high her ass would be on display. He wanted to reach out and tug it down just a bit to avoid her an accident like that, but when they reached the top of the stairs she turned and gave him a wink as she adjusted her dress and Rosa said something about getting in line for the bar and then pulled Y/N along with her. G and Harry moved out of the walkway and waited for them to come back, but he kept an eye on them regardless. The amount of people checking them out was substantial. Rosa was also very beautiful, Harry was sure that she’d find someone new to crush over in no time, but for now she just wanted to not feel upset about her love life, which everyone has been there. When they returned Rosa was giggling and saying how they didn’t pay for their drinks, they had gotten drinks for Harry and G as well. Harry had his one drink for the night and once they all finished they bee-lined it for the dance floor. As promised, no lovey-dovey anything was taking place between Harry and Y/N. They were dancing in a group, bopping along, singing loudly to the songs playing that they knew. Eventually Rosa grabbed Y/N and started spinning around with her. A song had passed before some guys approached them. Rosa leaned in to Y/N and she just nodded at her, probably assuring her that it was alright that they danced with other people. But Rosa still shot a look to Harry to make sure it was OK they were dancing with other people and he nodded.

“You’re alright with this?” G asked as he leaned closer to Harry.

“I can step if of anyone get’s out of hand.” He assured and then G smirked.

“Oh my god, you guys are into threesomes, aren’t you?” G asked over the music and Harry looked to him with confusion.

“What?No!” Harry scoffed, “She’s just having fun with Rosa.” Harry assured.

“Is she now?” G asked with a grin and Harry turned to see Y/N and Rosa sandwiched between the two men who had approached them.

“It’s fine.” Harry assured. Y/N was constantly making eye contact with Harry, the tension between then was simmering steadily as he watched her move and dance. She wanted to make sure that nothing went too far with the people she was now dancing with. She was putting on a bit of a show though as she hyped up Rosa and people were certainly looking. Harry was getting more and more excited with every flirtatious glance they’d exchange. She moved beautifully and he wanted to feel the curves of her body beneath his hands as she danced on him. He wanted to kiss her neck and work her up until they got home, if he didn’t know her well he’d be a bit concerned, but he knew that she loved this game as much as he did and was probably as worked up and on edge as he was, just waiting for him to finally come around to her. Harry was fine with everything going on until the other guy dancing with Rosa turned her around towards him and separated her and Y/N. Then he saw the hand of the man dancing with Y/N grab her hip and pull her bum towards his front. She glanced up to say something to him, but Harry was already walking the few feet towards them. Y/N glanced over to him and he smiled at her.

“Hi, I’m Harry!” He said as he swayed in front of Y/N and the guy looked at him with confusion.

“Really, man? She’s already dancing with me!” He said loudly and Harry just continued looking down at her with a smile.

“Hi, Harry! Y/N!” She responded.

“Y/N, you look breathtaking, by the way. If you didn’t come with him tonight can I buy you a drink?” He asked and she giggled which made Harry laugh a bit.

“That’s the best you got?” She asked and he shrugged.

“I never really had to do all that much!” He defended and her head knocked back in laughter.

“Alright buddy, move along! There are plenty of girls to dance with.” The guy said and Harry looked at him.

“Sure, but I want her.” Harry said and the guy rolled his eyes.

“C’mon man, just fuck off.”

“Alright, alright. Just let me say this, I’m a little shy but we’ve been stealing glances at each other all night. Now, you can stay with him and I can find another girl to dance with, but when I wake up tomorrow and am laying in bed, alone or not, I’ll definitely be wondering what came of you and your night. I’ll probably be a bit bummed that I let my timidness get in my way and I didn’t act fast enough, but either way I would hope you had fun-” Y/N smiled.

“Alright, bud-”

“I’m nearly done, alright?!” Harry assured the man clinging to Y/N, his perfect girlfriend, who was waiting for him to convince her. Harry must admit that none of his old tricks would ever work on Y/N, so he was winging it here and he hoped that she’d find him endearing enough to play along, “Y/N, if there’s any chance that when you wake up tomorrow you’d be in the same situation as me and spare me a moment of your thoughts, take a risk with me, lets cut our losses and see what happens!” He proposed with a smile, “Now, I will leave and let you mull it over. I’ll be over there!” He pointed towards the wall by the bathrooms, “Right in the corner waiting. Well, hoping, actually, that you’ll give me a chance.” He finished with a warm smile that she returned, “Sorry, mate.” Harry glanced up to the guy behind her, “You’re a lucky guy.”

“Yeah, yeah asshole. Off you go.” He mumbled and Harry walked off, sparing Y/N a glance back and she smirked at him before he turned and continued walking.

“I’m going to to the bathroom! Watch them!” Harry said against G’s ear as he walked past him and he nodded.

“Is everything alright with you guys?” G asked.

“Yeah! Just need a wee!” Harry assured before heading off to his dark corner.

It was a few moments before Y/N just couldn’t pretend anymore and turned around to Ethan, the guy who had been dancing on her.

“Ethan, I’m gonna have to go!” She said as he leaned down to hear her better.

“What? With that guy?” He asked and she nodded.

“Yeah!”

“What? Why? That was the weakest pass I have ever seen!” He scoffed, not really believing she was leaving him.

“I know!” She giggled, “It’s nothing to do with you, you’ve been lovely and very respectful, but I am in love him and I can’t leave him hanging.” She said and he chuckled and shook his head.

“Seriously?”

“Yep!” She said and patted at his chest, “Have a great night!” She said before slipping out of his hold and heading off towards the spot he mentioned.

“Hey, are you looking for Harry? Is Harry upset at you?” G stopped her and she shook her head.

“No? He just wanted to make sure I was OK! I have to go pee!”

“Oh great, maybe you’ll run into him!”

“For sure!” She shouted and started weaving through the bodies to get to the corner. Harry was waiting patiently up against the wall, squinting in the minimal lighting to catch sigh of her, it seemed that she was taking a minute to make it over to him. He was getting a bit concerned that the guy hadn’t let her go, but then he felt a hand at his arm and her delicious scent overtake his personal space, “Hey, baby.” She said against his ear and he bit his lip before turning to her.

“Hi, thought you got lost for a second there.” He said and she grinned.

“You didn’t do an excellent job at trying to woo me, baby.” She said against his ear again and she felt his body shake with laughter beneath her.

“I know, I just knew that the regular old shit wasn’t going to work on you. I had to try another approach!”

“It was mysterious and sweet though.” She said and he chuckled, “And I mean, it only worked on me because I’m your girlfriend.”

“I am fully aware.” He assured with a grin and pulled her to stand right before him. Her hands landed on his chest and he glanced down as she peered up at him before she tip-toed up to his ear once more.

“This turns me on.” She said and he smiled as he inched closer to her.

“What? This game or having me watch other people hit on you?” He teased and she giggled.

“No, H. Your confidence.” She said and he hummed, “I thought you’d get upset or something when he grabbed my hips.”

“I mean, I didn’t love it, I swept in didn’t I?” He said and she giggled, “But I know what we have. I could see you making sure it wasn’t getting out of hand. We both know that you’re my girl.” He said and she bit her lip and nodded. He kissed the side of her head and she smiled.

“Tell me again.” She said against his ear before lightly kissing at the shell of it and then nipping at his earlobe.

“That you’re my girl?” He asked and she nodded, “You’re all mine. Mine to touch, hold, kiss, and fuck.” He said to her and she shivered as one of her hands started to slither to his abs as his hand reached down to cup her ass. “Mine to get all wet and needy. Mine to mark. Mine to please. Mine to fill up in anyway you want.” He said and she clung to him tighter as she let out a soft moan as he rubbed his palm over her bottom, “I’m all yours too though. You’ve got me wrapped around your pretty little finger, you know that?” He asked and she smiled. His breath tickled her ear slightly as he spoke, “I’m completely at your mercy and I don’t think you even realize it sometimes.” He said and she bit her lip as she pulled back to look into his eyes, “I’d do anything for you.” He said and she exhaled shakily, “So tell me, what do you want, baby? What can I do for you?” He asked and she bit her lip before leaning back in to speak in his ear. She swallowed thickly, feeling a bit hesitant before just saying what she wanted.

“I want you to make me come.” She said and he he swallowed the lump in his throat, “Right here.”

“Baby, are you sure?”

“Please.” She insisted, “I can’t handle this anymore.” She said and he nodded.

Harry glanced from side to side, making sure that no one was particularly paying them any mind. Everyone else around this area though seemed to be sucking face so he moved forward with slotting one of his legs between her own and she immediately pressed herself down against it and raised her leg to wrap around his hip to allow more friction. She moaned breathily as she started to grind against his thigh and he chuckled.

“Baby, baby, wait.” He giggled softly and she huffed. He tickled his fingers up her raised inner thigh, leaving goosebumps in the trail. When he finally reached her groin quickly slid his fingers over the crotch of her thong and brushed his fingers over it. It was damp already and he grinned, “That’s my good girl. Bee getting wet for me a while, huh?” He hummed and she nodded.

“Yes.” She responded, “Oh!” She moaned softly as he started to rub over her clit. He knew exactly where it was by now. Harry was keeping his movements slow but precise, he didn’t want to get them caught or kicked out for being naughty in the club. He’s sure people have done far worse, but he would spare Y/N and himself that embarrassment if he could. But it was undeniably sexy and exciting. With the way she had raised her leg around his own, it was a bit hard for her to grind down for more friction and he could tell she was growing desperate, she wanted more, “Baby, please.” She panted and he hummed, “Please just touch me.” She pleaded and he smirked.

“I am touching you.” He pointed out smugly. She huffed and he chuckled, “Tell me what you want. Tell me exactly what you want, baby.” He said again and she was feeling shy. She was begging him to get her off in public, but when it came down to asking him exactly what she wanted she was feeling shy? She felt insane for it, but she needed to suck it up and ask because she felt like she was on the verge of exploding.

“Touch my pussy. Fuck me with your fingers. Please, I need you to make me cum!” She keened. Her voice was quiet and her breaths were shaky as she waited for him to start, which wasn’t long. Just feeling him slide his fingers into the side of her underwear was a victory. His big, warm fingers dipped into her sticky crease. They swirled around for a moment before he just slid two fingers into her little hole with minimal resistant, “Oh fuck!” She gasped quietly and he groaned. He was so fucking hard now, she was wet and tight and hot around his fingers. He felt her buck her hips into his hand and he smiled as he started to thrust them in and out, slow and hard, making sure to prod up into that spot that would have her knees buckling for him.

“Fuck, wait until we get home, baby.”

“What’re you gonna do? Tell me.”

“You’re getting tied up to the best posts. And you’re gonna let me lick and suck at this delicious little cunt until I’ve had my fill of the taste of your orgasms. You’re gonna come as many times as I want you to in any way that I want to. I’m gonna make you feel so good.” He said and she gasped, “It’s gonna be a long and intense process, baby. We’re getting you back into subspace tonight.” He assured and she moaned, “Fuck, I miss seeing you like that. All strung out on me. I like to know I can make you feel so good. Like to take care of you.” He said and she whimpered, “And just when you come down from it I’ll give you my cock.” He said and he groaned as he felt her getting slicked and slicker. Her arousal was dripping down his knuckles and some collecting in his palm.

“Fuck please, daddy! I’m close!” She whimpered and he moaned.

“I know, pretty girl. You’re making such a big mess for me. If only you’d been patient I could be licking you clean.” She whined as he started fucking into her faster, his fingertips were colliding with her g-spot perfectly. She was a bit buzzed and that made her feel that much better. She felt her legs starting to get shaky and she was worried that she wouldn’t be able to hold herself up, “Good, baby. Squeeze my fingers.” He encouraged her and then moved his thumb over her, “Hump my hand so you can feel it on your clit.” He instructed and his filthy words nearly had her creaming for him. As she ground her hips down his thumb rubbed into her clit, he added a bit of pressure but it was all her fucking herself on his hand.

“Oh my god! Oh my god!” She mumbled, “Harry, I’m right there!” She whimpered.

“That’s not what you call me when I’m in your pussy.” He said deeply and she moaned a little too loudly and he grinned, “Shhh, or I’ll stop. You better come with a straight face, can’t be getting caught like this, can we?”

“No, no, baby.” She rushed out and he tsk-ed.

“What did I just say about what you should call me when I’m in your pussy?” He asked.

“Sorry, daddy.” She whimpered and then gasped as he started to slow down, making her move faster over him

“Ask for permission if you want to come.”

“Please daddy, I need to come. Please let me come!” She pleaded breathlessly.

“That was more of a demand, I think.” He said, “Where’s my good girl and her usually impeccable manners, hmmm?” He teased and she was about to explode.

“M-may I come, daddy?” She rephrased her request and he hummed.

“Go on then, baby. Get what you need.” He said and she started to fall apart. His free hand pulled her flush against his body to steady as she buried her face in his neck and he felt her harsh breaths heating up his already sweaty skin. He could feel her walls fluttering around his fingers over and over until they gradually slowed. They were both panting as he discreetly pulled his hand from beneath her dress and she let her leg down. He was just about to sink his fingers into his mouth when she grabbed his hand and licked up his palm that was dripped with her arousal. He moaned as she then sucked his fingers into her mouth and sucked desperately, as if this were the last thing she would get to taste in her life. When she popped off and looked into his eyes his lip was bitten hard beneath his teeth and he turned his hand around, his knuckles facing her, “Missed some.” He said and she smiled before licking from the back of his hand up to the bottom knuckles of the fingers he had sunk inside of her, “Good girl.” He said lowly before grabbing her face and pulling her in for a slow and deep kiss.

“Can’t wait to get home.” She mumbled against his lips.

“Then maybe we should do something about that.” He grinned smugly.

---- Tag List ----

@sunshinemoonsposts @cherrysulewski @matildasatellite @gurugirl @daphnesutton @jessitpwk @justlemmeadoreyou @reveriehs @angelbabyyy99 @permanentllyharry @here4thefanfics

#harry styles fan fiction #harry styles fan fic #harry styles fic series #harry styles smut #harry styles enemies to lovers #tattoo harry fic #tattoo artist harry fic #tattoo artist harry styles #harry styles tattoos #tattoorry #tattoorry fanfiction #harry styles one shot #young american series #young american #harry styles x y/n #harry styles x reader #harry styles reader insert fanfic #harry styles reader insert #0nlythrowharrybeaux

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frankenstein-ate-my-left-shoe · 2 years ago

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destiel!steddie brainrot pt. 2

Here's the second part to this destiel/spn themed au (first part here, which has updated and made a bit longer!!)~!

i'm brainstorming titles for this, may keep going with little snippets from this universe as they come to me and post them to ao3 too :)

tw/cw: mentions of suicide and suicidal ideations below; nothing described/graphic, but mentions of characters wanting to/who have died by completing suicide (has to do with this part's monster of the week and Real Steve's story from the first part!). and said monster of the week originally died by overdose; again, not said directly, just alluded to. please read with caution!

Do two different cases of vengeful spirits make him lucky? Or unlucky?

First it was the damn ‘witnesses’ that Steve told him were part of the demons’ (yes, those demons, but from what he gathered from Steve, were different on the whole from crossroads demons) plan to release Lucifer.

“Ah, Lucifer. Of course.”

“Why do you sound unbelieving?”

“Oh I believe you, I’m just surprised that I’m not surprised by it. Because of course, angels, demons, hell, Lucifer is a given. He’s like THE angel, right?”

“He was the first of my father’s children and the first to fall from heaven if that is what you mean.”

“Yes, that’s what I’m getting at.” Eddie goes to pull his hand through his hair, which gets stuck on his rings and on his hand in general because somehow he forgot that he’d put it up about five minutes earlier.

Now, after dealing with those motherfucking ghosts, helping Wayne put together a pyre for one of his good hunter friends who was killed by her own ‘witness’, they got word of a long string of suicides at a high school in a small Indiana town that had the kids’ parents convinced it was some sort of pact.

“Y’know, I grew up here.” Wayne says as they pass the ‘Now Entering Hawkins’ sign.

“Really?”

“Yep. Good ol’ Hawkins, Indiana. Surprised we haven’t been through here yet, there was always weird shit happening here when I was a kid.”

It’s late morning when Eddie’s van rumbles to a stop outside the motel.

“Boy, we really need to get you a new set of wheels if you’re gonna keep pretending to be a professional at anything.”

“What’s wrong with my baby??”

“Ed, you’re about to put on a suit and pretend to be a professional that works with children, and you’re gonna pull up in an late 70s panel van. What do you think is wrong with your baby?”

“...okay, you’ve got a point. You gotta new set of wheels for me at that junkyard of yours then, old man? I’m not exactly flush with cash.”

Wayne thinks for a moment. “I think I might, got it from a hunting buddy of mine after his brother died.”

Eddie just nods, “Whatever you say, Wayne, now c’mon lets get changed and get to the school.”

This time, they’re pretending to be mental health counselors sent to work with the families of the students who’ve passed. The two of them get through a few interviews each, but it’s one of the students’ little sister that has the first inkling of what they are really dealing with. ‘Best thing about young minds,’ Eddie will tell Wayne later, ‘they are sensitive to, and open to, way more than adults are.’

He and Wayne are in this one together, last one of the siblings at the school, and the snarky redhead calls out her mom’s practiced answer of ‘I never saw anything wrong’, calling her out for never being around and putting the pressure of being the parent to her.

Eddie looks at the young girl, then back to her mother. “Ms. Mayfield, may I have a word with Max here, alone?”

She looks unsure, so he continues “We’ll be right here, you can be on just the other side of the door and watch us the whole time, I promise.”

Ms. Mayfield nods her head shakily, and stands, Wayne accompanies her out, to give her some semblance of security.

“So, Max, Max right?” She just eyeballs him incredulously. “I’m going to just start talking, and you stop me if I’m way off base, ‘kay?” She looks away, but doesn’t say anything to the contrary.

“I think you know the pattern already, that you know this isn’t just some stupid pact, huh? I think you know who may be a target next; that if this thing, this whatever it is, can wheedle its way under your brother’s skin, that it may get to your…” He looks her over “...friends next. Right? Obviously no one in particular, just your friends, huh?” Her head whips back to him and he leans back in the seat he was given, knowing he’s got her pegged. She’s worried about a crush or a boyfriend, or something. He can tell.

The look she has tells him she’s already putting seemingly impossible pieces together on what he and Wayne are doing here.

“Whatever it is, it’s a bully. It’s going after whoever it thinks it can sink its claws in. Like it’s finding those with the biggest insecurities and driving them to their deaths.”

“You’re very astute, you know that, don't you.”

“Duh.”

“What do you think it is then, Red?”

“My friends have been calling it Vecna.”

Eddie’s brain stalls. “H-how do you know that name?”

“Ah, so you’re a nerd too, huh?”

“Your friends play D&D.” Eddie breathes; Max just smirks at him, but her face falls just as quickly and that just won’t do. “Hey, don’t worry Red, my uncle and I got this covered. We’ll get this bastard taken care of.” And he means every word. Not one shred of this motherfucker is going to lay a finger on this girl’s friends as long as he has anything to do with it.

She looks down at her feet, “Please hurry,” she mumbles “I can’t lose them too.”

He opens his mouth to speak, but she’s up off the little couch lightning fast and heading to the door. He shoots up to follow, “Thank you Ms. Mayfield,” He says when he exits. “She will be just fine. She’s just worried about her friends too.”

“Thank you.” She says, still a bit out of it as her eyes follow Max down the hall.

“Just make sure she knows you’re there for her, and get some more permanent help for the two of you, real help, not just us temp guys.” Wayne smiles at her.

All she does is nod, then moves to follow her daughter.

“What’dja find out, Ed?”

“Super-powered, cartoonishly evil, bully of a ghost named after a D&D villain?”

—-

He and Wayne split up after that, Wayne goes back to the motel to whip up some extra salt rounds for them, and Eddie heads to the Hawkins Library to do some research on deaths in the area.

After some searching, he comes across Jason Carver. Seemingly the small town’s golden boy tragically killed by an overdose. He seems to match the fleeting glimpses that all the witnesses to the students’ deaths were able to give. Cropped blond hair, 6’2” or so, a flash of green that seemed like it could be a Hawkins High varsity jacket.

The dealer that gave him the drugs was found guilty of manslaughter and he got 10 years and a permanent shun from the town. He, Fred, still lived in Hawkins though, in the Forest Hills trailer park.

Eddie calls Wayne at the hotel, “Whatcha find out, Ed?”

“Looks like a good contender for a high school bully ghost, does the name Jason Carver mean anything to you?”

Wayne scoffs, “Sure does, that kid was horrible to me and my buddies back in the day.”

“Not a golden boy?”

“Didn’t say all that. I think I know who we can talk to.” Eddie can hear him shuffling around and the jingle of keys.

“Is it a man named Fred Jameson, lives out at F–”

“Forest Hills, yeah. Be there soon for ya.”

“How’d you– aand he’s gone.” he says into his receiver to only silence.

—

“Of course I knew where you were talking about Eddie, I grew up in this park, Fred was one of my best buds back in the day.”

Wayne pulls into Fred’s drive, behind a well-loved red pickup. The rattle of Eddie’s van must’ve alerted Fred to their arrival, because he met them outside before they could even get all the way out of their seats.

“I thought I recognized that rattle, still haven’t hocked that hunk of junk yet, eh Munson?” Fred folds Wayne into a hug, giving him a couple of pats on the back for good measure.

“Hey, that’s my baby you’re talking about.” Eddie grumbles.

“Damn, that you, Teddy?”

“Teddy? Who in the hell–”

“Yeah, he really looks like Margie, huh?” Wayne crinkles a smile at Eddie’s disgust at Fred's nickname.

“You knew my mom?”

“Of course boy, I knew you both back when you were just a little bean. There were a good few months there, after you were born, that Margie and you were living with Wayne.”

Eddie doesn’t really know what to say to that, but luckily Wayne gets right to it.

“Fred, I hate to do this to ya, but we’re here on business.”

The other man’s face falls sickly and pale in an instant.

“I shoulda known you’d be comin’ ‘round. What do you need to know?”

“It’s about Jason Carver.” Eddie winces at how much worse the man’s expression twists.

“C’mon D, you can’t’ve believed that suicide pact shit.”

“I never believed it. He’s been…” Fred pauses, seeming to look for the right words “He’s been haunting my dreams. Nightmares really, telling me all the things he did to those poor kids. Says it was my fault.”

Wayne and Eddie share a look. “D, it wasn’t yo-”

“Sure it was, Wayne. I should’a just stood up to him and said I ain't had shit.”

“You know what he would’a done to ya if you had.”

“Well now there’s six lives lost, not just one!” Fred snaps. “If I had just stuck with it, told him I couldn’t get it until Reefer Rick was back, I wouldn’t’ve gotten that bad shit, he would still be around, and so would those five other kids!”

“Fred–”

“I gotta get going, Wayne, y’all should too.” He cuts him off “Good t’see ya Teddy.” and with that, he turns and heads back inside his trailer.

The two Munsons are frozen in Fred’s driveway for a moment longer, before they turn back to their van. They drive in silence on their way back to the motel. It’s only when they’re parked in front of their room again that Eddie says something.

“Fred’s next.”

Wayne’s face sets itself further into its frown. “I think you’re right.”

—-

They go out to the graveyard as soon as night falls, finding Carver’s grave easy enough. They run a salt line around the site, and start digging together, but Wayne’s back has him dropping off only about two feet deep.

It’s just after Wayne settles himself onto the handle of his shovel to rest for a bit when they hear something crunching through the dark towards them.

Eddie hops up immediately, Wayne tossing him one of their shotguns. He skirts off between the taller granite and marble stones around him, getting closer to the intruder’s unskilled footsteps.

He peeks around the base of a way-too-large angel statue and whips up his gun. He’s face to face, shotgun to pistol, with a petite woman in a high ponytail.

This woman looks human enough, definitely not ghost-y, probably just wondering why she just caught a couple guys grave-robbing. Better safe than sorry, though, so Eddie tests her.

“Christo.” There’s no extreme reaction to the word, only confusion. “Who are you and what are you doing here?? It’s not safe!”

“I should ask you the same thing! Are you the one causing all these deaths?” her grip on her handgun does not waver.

“Jesus H. Christ, I don’t have time for this.” Eddie says under his breath, dropping his shotgun and walking back to the grave. “Hawkins High has a ghost in it. We’re trying to kill it before it can convince someone else to do it to themselves.” He hops back down into Jason’s grave and tosses his shotgun to the girl who’d followed behind him, gun still raised. Smart. Eddie thinks, then also notices she was able to cross their salt line easily. Human, then.

She catches it easily, blinks once, and says, “Fine, say I believe you. Now how in the hell do you kill a ghost, also how is a ghost causing these deaths?” she un-cocks her revolver and tucks it back in her waistband.

Eddie’s about to answer when the loose hairs around his face are blown into his mouth with an invisible flap of wings “Eddie, I need to speak with you.”

The girl goes pale at the sight of Steve.

“Steve?”

“Yes. Do I know you?” the angel cocks his head at the absolutely bewildered woman.

Eddie has to look between Steve’s confused face and the woman’s heartbroken one a couple times before it clicks.

“Are you kidding me!? You’ve just been using your vessel’s real name? That’s fucked up.” Eddie says around the last few hairs stuck in his mouth.

“It was as good a name as any.”

“Uhm hello? What is happening right now? You’ve been missing for months.”

“We don’t have time for this.” Eddie interrupts, “Eddie, Wayne, you apparently know Steve,” He gestures to the three of them. “Shoot anything that is not us, while I salt and burn this sucker.”

To Eddie's surprise, she steels herself with a roll of her tiny shoulders and cocks the shotgun in her hand, immediately turning her back to him and watching for that damn Jason.

“So, how does a shotgun protect against a ghost?”

“Our own creation, the buckshot is replaced with rocksalt.” Wayne explains, not turning from his vigil.

“Salt repels ghosts?”

“Amongst other things.” Eddie shovels up another pile of dirt. “Steve, my man, I know you needed to talk to me about something, but can you maybe help with this?” Eddie looks at the beautiful man through his bangs, sweaty despite the November chill.

“How would you like me to help, Eddie?”

Eddie continues shoveling, “Well, there’s another shovel up there, otherwise do you maybe have some special grave-digging angel powers I don’t know about?”

“Angel powers, what are you–” the girl starts as Steve lifts his hand and snaps his fingers.

Eddie’s suddenly standing above a completely cleared out grave, un-sweaty, hair pulled back neatly again from the shambles his bun had been in when he’d started digging, shirt straightened, and his jacket back on. Both shovels are sticking out of the pile of soil nearby.

“Wow..” Eddie breathes.

“Damn, why didn’t you show up sooner? Could’ve saved myself the stress of watching Ed do all that work..” Wayne deadpans to the angel.

“Can it, old man, now help me lift the lid off this thing.” Eddie bites back at his uncle, and jumps back down into the grave. “Stevie, watch her back, make sure Jason doesn’t come barreling in.”

“Her back is fine, Eddie.”

“That’s not what I–you know what, thanks Steve, now watch the opposite side of the grave that she is and make sure Jason doesn’t sneak up on us. Stop him if he does.”

“Oh..” Steve’s voice is quiet at that; he’ll learn eventually.

Eddie helps Wayne climb down and they get to work prying up the coffin lid.

It’s simple enough work after that, salt, fuel, torch, burn.

Except it never is when you want it to be.

As soon as the first grain of salt hits Jason’s crumbling body, there’s a wail from above them.

“Every time..” Wayne grumbles.

“Everything okay up there?” Eddie calls.

“Yes, we can see him, but he can’t cross the lin–oh shit.” the girl says.

Fuck, he should’ve known this’d happen. Jason has been torturing the poor sensitive souls at his old high school and has thrown things and people. He should’ve known he’d be strong enough to blow a crack through the salt ring.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Damn, why’d he think it’d be okay to leave a random girl that just happened to walk up and what is basically a baby in a yellow sweater to defend against something this strong??

Eddie scrabbles up the inside of the grave out of sheer will, and Wayne tosses one of their pry bars up to him.

“Keep shooting him to keep him back, we just need to stall him while Wayne makes sure he burns!”

Steve and the woman–damn, he really should’ve asked her name–nod at him, and Steve suddenly has some long silver stake looking thing in his hand.

“Steve! Silver wont work on him, it has to be iron or salt!” Eddie tosses his crowbar to the angel, who catches it easily, turning back to take a swipe at Jason who’d come up from behind him.

Eddie snatches up Wayne’s salt rifle and takes the third section of the circle, willing the fire to burn faster.

Their new party member seems to be holding her own. She’s found their spare cartridges and makes sure they’re in reach while she keeps aim at the poltergeist’s head.

He only comes at her once, and she fires. That keeps him away long enough for the body in the coffin below to burn enough, banishing him from the mortal plane for good.

Finally, Eddie can relax. They watch as Jason burns down to nothing. “Are you a hunter?” Eddie asks the woman.

“I’m assuming you’re not talking ‘hunter’ in the traditional sense?”

Eddie smirks at her, shakes his head, “You’d be correct.”

“Then no. I have been trying to figure out what’s been happening here for a little while now; I heard there were a couple guys running around asking weird questions so I followed you out here. And NOW I want to know what’s going on with not-Steve.” she directs to Eddie, then turns to said Steve. “Robin is going to be so pissed at you.”

Steve opens his mouth to respond but Eddie cuts in before he even thinks about it “His girlfriend?”

She scoffs, “As if; she’s his best friend.” She looks at Steve with sad eyes, “And Dustin too.”

“Dustin?” Steve cocks his head to the side again. This time it seems like there’s sadness behind his confused look.

“Okay, dinguses, sounds like thi’should be a conversation held over a good meal, not over a fried corpse.” Wayne cuts in. “Name’s Wayne Munson.” He holds out one dirty, time-gnarled hand to the girl.

She smiles and takes it readily, “Nancy Wheeler, sir.”

“None’a that now, Wayne is jus’ fine.”

“Stevie, would you be a dear and fill that back in for us?” Eddie sighs, feeling the adrenaline dropping out of his body, fast.

Steve nods once and snaps his fingers. The hole is refilled and the salt line is gone. The three of them are also cleaned up and straightened out.

“Thanks, Angel, now let's go get some burgers, gotta get our energy back.”

“I do not need to consume anything to replenish my energy.” Steve’s cocks his head.

“I know you don’t, big boy,” Eddie pats him on the shoulder, taking the spare shotgun from Nancy and heading back down to his van.

“I am not much bigger than you in this form, Eddie.” Steve deadpans, as usual, then actual curiosity colors his tone “Have you seen my true form?”

“Can’t say I have, are you much bigger than Steve?” Eddie can feel the double meanings closing in.

“My true form is approximately the size of your Chrysler Building.”

Eddie trips over a divot in the soil. Definitely not over his own feet at that implication.

“Oh, definitely a big boy.” He manages to say, turning to smolder at Steve (What? It’s not like the angel knows the nuance of human facial expressions..) but catches Wayne’s disgusted face and Nancy’s fully amused one (hand over mouth to keep from laughing), over Steve’s adorable confused expression.

“Yes, that is what I am inferring. Eddie, are you alright? Your face is flushing.”

Nancy, the jerk that she is, bursts out laughing.

“Shut it, Jerk!”

“Don’t you call me a jerk, Bitch!” she calls back easily.

He grins. Damn, having her around is going to be fun.

—--

“Okay, lemme get this straight.” Eddie says around a mouthful of fries. “You used to date Steve, this Robin chick is his best friend–”

“Platonic soulmate, correct.”

“Right, that, and Dustin is his brother.”

“That’s the best description, yes.”

“So what did you think happened to Steve?”

Eddie sees Steve’s mouth open and claps his hand, that’s not full of burger, over the angel’s mouth, who looks at him with as much anger as he’s learned to express in these couple months on earth. It’s not much.

Nancy gives them a weird look, but starts speaking. “Robin just told me that he drove off one night, one of his bad nights. I don’t know the full extent of what makes a good or bad night, but Robin insists he had been getting better….

“There’s not much more after that, Robin knew where to start looking when he goes off on his own like that, and she found his BMW out at the quarry. Of course, she thought the worst, but they searched every inch of the bottom and no Steve. It was like he disappeared into thin air.”

Eddie nods sadly to himself, thinking as comforting of thoughts he could muster upwards to where Steve had said Real Steve had been brought. Damn, this religious shit being real is really throwing him for a loop. “Nancy, I—EW WHAT THE FUCK??!”

He whips his hand back from Steve’s mouth, now slick with spit. He looks at him incredulously, wiping his palm on his thigh, but his face falters at the absolute dopey look on the angel’s face. Stone-cold blank still, as usual, but his tongue is hanging out between his lips.

Fuck, he’s cute. Damn it! No! Bad Eddie! He’s dead! The real him!

“Where in the hell’d you learn that?”

“The angels have watched humans for a long time, one would pick up a couple things.” He shrugs. Like actually shrugs. “I thought this might get you to remove your hand.”

Eddie doesn’t have a response for that.

“Nancy, Steve was–”

“Wait! Hold on, Stevie, you don’t know this is something she wants to hear.” Eddie murmurs.

“She does; She said as much back at the graveyard. Do you not remember?” Steve retorts in a normal volume.

“Steve. These things are difficult for humans. They’re called emotions. At least ask her first.”

He nods once, still seeming to be confused. “Nancy, you want to know what happened to Steve, correct?” Eddie elbows him, and he feels like concrete against his arm. Steve looks at him confused again, but seems to get what he’s trying to get at. “It may be difficult to hear..?”

Eddie nods, and Steve turns back to Nancy.

She just looks between the two, confused as all hell. “Uhm, yes?”

“Your Steve did not wish to be of this world any longer.”

Eddie throws his hands up in exasperation. Well, there goes being sensitive about it.

Nancy’s eyes are wide. “...Ah.”

“He offered his body as a vessel, and I brought him to my father’s kingdom of heaven.”

“Oh…Steve..”

“He is being well looked after, I promise. If he would like to return when my mission is complete here, he has the option, I swear it.”

Eddie thinks Nancy is going to be more upset at that, but she just smiles sadly, and nods. “I should call Robin.”

Eddie splutters, “No! No, bad idea Nance!” She’s out of the booth and at the door before he can even say her name. “Damnit, remind me to not sit against the wall next time.”

“Okay, Eddie.” Steve nods.

“Dude! Move! I gotta stop her! Or do you want to explain to this person too why you aren’t her best friend.” Eddie shoves against the shoulder closest to him.

Steve blinks at him once and is suddenly outside the booth, leaving Eddie to fall onto the bench where the angel had just been.

He scrambles up (finally) and heads to the door, only to meet Nancy there, already coming back in from calling this Robin character.

“She’ll be here in about three minutes. Tops.” She grins.

��Jerk.” Eddie grumbles and follows her back to their booth.

“Bitch.” she retorts happily.

He slumps back down into his spot in the booth, wracking his brain about what to tell her.

“Eddie, would you like me to go?”

He snaps his head up to the angel “Hell no! She’s coming here to see you, you gotta be here for that!”

Steve blinks once, then his eyes dart to the door.

“Don’t you even think about i–”

“I will return momentarily.” And with another soft brush of wind and feathers, he was gone.

“That absolute mother fu–”

“So, tell me about this hunting thing.” Nancy says, and tosses a fry into her mouth.

Notes:

Edancy sibling vibes?? Jerk?? Bitch??

Jason having Vecna powers = vengeful spirit in spn land

Wayne calls his friend "D" 'cause, y'know, Fred > Freddy > D

In my head, this is modern AU too so maybe Wayne and his friends dealt with upside-down stuff back in the day and maybe possibly Nancy and current day party have seen some shit too (that's why Nancy's basically unbothered about there being a ghost problem in Hawkins now, too)?

Bobin and Dustin (maybe more?) in the next part!

lastly, i haven't watched spn in what must be a decade now, so continuing on may not follow the show, but just the spn vibes.

Part 3 here! | NOW ON AO3

#destiel #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #wayne munson #dean winchester #castiel #bobby singer #spn #st #stranger things #supernatural #destiel!steddie #spn au

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findroleplay · 1 year ago

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🕊 hey all! i'm currently looking for an adv.lit–novella, oc x oc rp. i love developed and complex characters and slow-burn relationships. my specific interests include dark romance, obsession/possessiveness, and more twisted, character-focused plots. the kind that can be brainstormed, developed, and worked on together– encompassing both our preferences, hcs, and ideas. psychological (horror), philosophical themes, and darker dynamics are a favourite of mine. so, if dark, twisted, complex romance rps are your preference, then you're in the right place!!

a little about me » 20F writer, gmt tmz. adv.lit-novella (multiple discord messages/6-10k+ characters), loves literature. prefers playing F roles and writing with other F writers. replies slowly (once or twice per week), but is quick with OOC. engages in lots of headcanoning and planning for rps. wants to feel love&worry for your ocs bc that's how you'll feel about my crazy darlings (i love imperfect, twisted, flawed OCs). fine with dead-dove & darker themes, specifics like limits/triggers can be discussed in dms.

what i'm looking for 》 an enthusiastic collab partner!! my rp copium is communication, so let's fangirl together!! gimme headcanons, pinboards, properly detailing the rp, character dissection, sharing tiktoks, analysis, character&dynamic building - i love all that, so let's do it all!... ideally, i'd love a fellow novella rper, mxf pairing, preferably another f writer.

this is unashamedly a plot call for my beloved rambly writers. i can plan & write for pages, partners who give the same energy back and CONTRIBUTE have my heart. my policy is that i will give as good as i get, so if i'm providing pages of ideas and getting nothing but one-word replies in return, then my interest will die. please try to have a similar energy to me, and we'll get on so well!!

my current tastes lean heavily into 》 dark romance, halloween-inspired rps, supernatural inklings, dark academia, gothic vibes, and various other macabre themes. including, but not limited to: graveyards, murder mystery, torment, mind games/mindbreaking, ghosts, insanity, entrapment, psychedelic darkness, insanity & reverence. enemies-to-lovers trope. childhood friends trope. sinfulness, warped ideations, distorted self-image, and god-complexes, hallucinations, manipulating & rewriting one's reality, gaslighting, and just all those darker themes. preference for including characters like arsonists, former cultists, serial killers, delusional individuals, and twisted characters. settings that are decaying buildings/small towns, drowning in epithets of graveyards, churches, and mystery.

if interested, like this ad & i'll get back to you asap <3.

#rp #roleplay #oc rp #original rp #fandomless rp

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darkdoverpseeker · 1 year ago

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if interested, like this ad & i'll get back to you asap <3.

like if interested!

#oc x oc #m x f #1x1 rp #fandomless rp #dead dove #dead dove do not eat #obsession tw #gaslighting tw #mindbreak tw #manipulation tw #literate rp #discord rp #rp #roleplay

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valkblue · 1 year ago

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Hi Angie!! I hope you’re having a great week so far!! 🥰🥰🥰

7, 8, 18 & one of your choice for the writer asks please!!

Hi, Alyssa! My week has been good so far, thank you! I hope yours is too 💖

7- How do you choose which POV to write from?

Most times, it depends on which part of the story is more interesting; if a character A has nothing else to do than wait, and this wait would bring nothing to the tension or pacing of the story, then I switch to character B or C or any other more interesting part of said story. It's a bit like being game master for a bunch of players and having to manage them in a not-too-boring turn by turn.

8- Do you prefer the beginning, middle, or end of a story?

It depends. Usually, my favourite part is the middle. I tend to find the beggining of a story kind of frustrating because there are settings and lore to explain and I can't wait to be in the thick of it!! Endings are less frustrating, they are more satisfying, but the feeling is still kinda close to the one I have at the beginning.

18- Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

There are stories (fics or originales) for which I have titles at the very beginning, and others for which I still have none… even though they have a complete plot + ending, set of characters, visual resources for plenty of locations, faceclaims and detailed scenes written in script mode. And still no title. Not even the inkling of an idea, nothing! So theses stories go on for a while with kind of a 'codename', until I find one.

For example, Lost and Found and Improvisation Only didn't get a title right away, but Journey Into Night had one before a single word was written down.

To find a title when I have none, I usually brainstorm with a friend about it, and we go crazy from there until we found something catchy, or meaningful. Or both, ideally. Sometimes, I know what kind of title I'd like or, on the contrary, wish to avoid at all cost, and it's also a good way to start trimming.

Funfact, the hardest stories to title are my Elbaran stories about Ulrik and Leo… because they are written in a very specific and non-linear way so I have to keep them under a strange "part 1.5a/b/c" kind of way even I get confused with sometimes 🙃

40- If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

First of all, if someone were to make a fanart of any of my work, I'd cry with joy. I don't know for sure what scene I'd love most because what I'd love is to see the way the person imagined/pictured it in their mind, whether it's accurate to mine and how I intended it or not!

In Lost and Found, there are many scenes in urban settings (Nuth, Goshir, Corellia…) I'd love to see painted just because I love architecture (and I think it shows in my wordcount for describing buildings in and out 😅) but I also love landscapes and battle/fight scenes, so you see how difficult it is for me to choose?!?! And in my Full Diagnostic series, it's the same! But I mention it second because these paintings of @cherloak exist on here:

Vivian and Lawrence | Nighttime Campfire | After the Shoot Out (with Buddy and Pighead in the background)

😭💖✨

#asks #writing asks #ask game #the-blind-assassin-12 #thank you for asking!

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edienotsedgwick · 8 months ago

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Hello everyone!

I haven’t posted many music updates here recently because I have just been forgetting to use tumblr as one of my platforms (even though tumblr is probably the one I’ve had the most growth on out of any of them cause of how long I’ve been here). However, although it’s two years too late I wanted to have a talk in depth about my latest E.P because one thing I love about this place is how I can talk in depth about what I’ve made more than I can anywhere else. I did it for the last E.P, now it’s time to talk about this one.

Last week, I got word from one of my friends that my music was no longer on Spotify so they could listen to it and it made me realise I’d forgotten to pay my Distrokid bill. So when I sorted it out and fixed all issues with accessibility I decided to take a trip down memory lane and have a listen for the first time in a while.

Unlike Made With Blingee which was one impulsive idea I came up with in 2018 that I rushed to finish within that year, leaving it a perfect time capsule of my scene days - Thing Is Me is not a snapshot of one year, but a snapshot of evolution from 2019-2022. While I was making it I changed a lot as a person, but also with the help of my collaborators the songs changed too until they settled to where they are now.

The oldest song on this E.P was Lola Bunny, the first inklings of it were born in late 2018 but it came to life in the way you know it in 2019. Lola Bunny was supposed to be just my voice and an acoustic guitar when I first began brainstorming it. It was fresh in my mind after I found out a boy in school who I thought I liked was taken. (It was one year before I learned I was a lesbian). In hindsight I wasn’t really in love with him, I just liked the idea that he could’ve been my only shot at love. My dating pool at school was small, the few people I pursued had found someone else, were straight, or were repulsed by me. I couldn’t go on dating apps or look for people outside of school at clubs or concerts. It was either school or the fandom circles on the internet, and I was sick of E-Dating people from completely different countries. When I found out that boy was taken, it’s a miracle that I didn’t lose hope that I’d ever be loved at all. Instead I thought I’d just never have a high school romance like the movies promised. (spoiler alert: I was wrong). In 2019 when I revisited Lola Bunny I got into shoegaze and realised the song would sound even better as a crushing wall of sound akin to Cocteau Twins, Ride or MBV. Me and my cousin recorded it together in 2020, the rest is history.

The second oldest song is The Hotel Song. In late 2018 I went to a friend’s birthday party and another traumatic incident involving two of my bullies happened. They taunted me and in a fit of pent up rage I confronted them about everything they did to me. They denied it all, called me delusional, and laughed in my face as I broke down on the side of the road outside my friend’s house. I was already traumatised but that sent me to a low point I believed I’d never recover from. The only place I remotely felt safe in afterwards was my bedroom and I coped with the intense depression and anxiety by drawing, eating two minute noodles for every meal of the day, and listening to the same queue of songs on repeat. One night I fell into a deep sleep and had a dream about going to a hotel with my friends and meeting one of the bullies from the incident there by accident. My friends invited her to go to the spa pool with us. Despite my initial hesitation, the time we all had together was pleasant, almost innocent, and I didn’t get hurt again. Later as we dried off, I got an apology from her for everything she did to me. Just as I forgave her I woke up thinking about how everyone has the capability to change for the better at the drop of a hat. As the next year rolled around the dream was still something I thought about a lot, so I decided to make it a song. I was getting into The Moldy Peaches, Neutral Milk Hotel and other weird folky stuff. I felt like the more oddball lyrics due to them coming from a dream suited that sound so I had that in mind as I put it together. I arranged to make it with a wonderful family friend. It was the only song he fully contributed to before I switched to working with my cousin, but he was really important and taught me a lot of great things. I’m very proud of what came out.

The third oldest song is from way into 2019. I was getting better. I had a great network of friends now who gave me the safety net I needed to recover, I’d gone on a long road-trip that made me see beauty in the world, I was getting into new music and other new interests and those new things kept me calm. I still had outbursts of anxiety from time to time though. One of the bullies from the party still scared me to death. I was growing stronger in all other areas of my life, but the looming fear that he could hurt me again was the only thing holding me back from completely recovering. At that time all I wanted was a resolution, ideally an apology but I was just coming to terms with accepting that he wouldn’t ever do that based on how he acted the last time I saw him. I wrote Post Mental about finding that acceptance. Learning to recover in spite of him. In this song I go through all the history we shared, then at the end I let him go. Like The Hotel Song, Post Mental has a lot of the same influences I discussed earlier but with an added flavour of Sufjan Stevens in there. My favourite part of recording this with my cousin was towards the end when we decided to become a two person choir. We did all kinds of things with our voices to make that part special and it was incredibly cathartic for me.

Post Mental Reprise came a few years later in mid 2021. A lot had changed since then, the most shocking thing of them all though was that the bully in question I wrote part 1 about finally did apologise to me! He’d grown up a lot since the incident, realised the friends who made him act the way he did weren’t good people, found better friends, and then apologised to everyone. Including me! We’re not friends now but we are civil. My cousin suggested the E.P should get rounded out with a part 2 to Post Mental, so that’s what we did! I acknowledged the positive change in the lyrics, and we decided to give this ending a 60s pop inspired sound with a Lo-fi twist.

Finally, the E.P’s youngest song is A New Sunshine. This is a breakup song, but probably the sweetest breakup song you’ll ever hear. I’d been in a relationship that was not perfect, but definitely meaningful for about a year and a half. In early 2021 I realised things were coming to an end as the two of us started University. The flaws in our relationship that we could handle in high school were more difficult to deal with as new young adults, so we calmly broke it off and remained friends. They are one of my best friends to this day and they even came to the listening party for this E.P while cracking a few jokes when this song came on about how they knew it was about them. I wrote this song the exact day we broke up. It definitely got a few tweaks as I started making it come to life though. In this song I talk about my excitement in moving on, not just from that relationship, but in my life in general now that I was fresh out of school. Kissing off the last of my teenage blues this E.P was tying up the loose ends of. For this songs influences I blended the shoegaze/dream pop influences from Lola Bunny and the alt-folk of the other songs and came up with something akin to Angel Olsen’s first album or Linger by The Cranberries. This song along with the first part of Post Mental took probably the longest to perfect, but it was a true labour of love that I’m glad finally came together eventually. Especially thanks to me and my cousin’s good friend Carson who gave us the twangy guitar solo towards the song’s end that I had envisioned in my mind but definitely couldn’t play.

I hope you enjoy the deeper insights into each Thing Is Me song and you enjoy the music if you haven’t already listened yet. Keep giving it love, and lemme know what you think :3 thank you ily

#edie TxT #my music #indie music #indie artist #indie musician #nz music #indie pop #indie rock #alternative rock #indie folk #jangle pop #dream pop #shoegaze #folk rock #independent music #independent artist #Spotify

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findyourrp · 1 year ago

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if interested, like this ad & i'll get back to you asap <3.

#rp finder #18+ rp #rp #fandomless rp #oc x oc rp #oc rp

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inklings-sprint · 1 year ago

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Time to Brainstorm!

Let's think about Team Chesterton. Adventure or intrusive fantasy.

Let's start with adventure first and we'll switch to intrusive fantasy halfway through.

What type of adventure are your characters going to go on?

How is this adventure going to incorporate one of the works of mercy?

Is the adventure directly related to your choice of mercy? Or is it going to be less obvious?

🪻🌸💮🏵️💐🌷🌻🌺🌹🪷🌼

Your adventure happens by being dragged into visiting the sick/imprisoned. This was not how you expected your day to go, but it's definitely been interesting.

You're caught in a storm, it's pretty terrifying as you're not just caught in any storm, but one that you're pretty sure includes a funnel cloud right above you. This is not the kind of adventure you signed up for when traveling. Nobody around you did either though. Dealing with the aftermath of the storm will be as much of an adventure as surviving the storm.

Panic! A young child is lost on a beach and is tired, hungry and thirsty. What can be done to help this lost child get back to their family.

#inklings sprint #inklings sprints #inklings challenge #inklings-challenge #inklingschallenge #Inklings Brainstorming Week #Inklings Brainstorming session #I have to admit that the story ideas are actually very loosely based on experiences of my own...#I did get lost on a beach when I was a young child (it wasn't for long but it was terrifying and definitely a bit of an adventure)#and I have been in a storm where there was essentially a tornado above us while in a hybrid trailer #where there's a hard cabin but beds are tent ends AND my youngest brother was sick at the time #anyways I'm not sure that any of this will help anyone but it's at least out there #maybe it will end up sparking something for someone

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darkmermaidao3 · 1 year ago

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Chapter 10 of The Haitani Princess is up on AO3! Link below ⬇️

Excerpt from Chapter 10

The commander didn’t bother commenting, his onyx eyes finding her sleeping face. He’d known something was weighing heavy on Reina’s mind again, but she hadn’t spoken about it thus far, he didn’t have to guess that it most definitely had something to do with her brothers, she’d come to him about it whenever she had everything organized in her head the way that she wanted. Although he knew that was how it would be, waiting around for her to talk to him only made his concern grow and whatever was going on in her head couldn’t have been anything good, he could see in her eyes that something was greatly bothering her. However, he wouldn’t push her to talk until she was ready, it would only push her away from him and he didn’t want that, she always came to him with her worries so she would eventually. As of right now, all he could do was silently support her and once they had a conversation about things, they could figure out a course of action or how to deal with it; if needed, they could bring the rest of the group in on it to have a brainstorming session. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that she’d had words with her brothers about something and he already had an inkling as to what it could be about.

“Lots of shit going around right now about them.” Draken added, his tone serious; all heads turned to him at the sound of his ‘vice commander’ voice. “They’ haven’t even been out three weeks; heard they’ve already got Roppongi under their control again.”

“Damn, that was quick.” Baji commented, not sounding the least bit surprised.

“That’s not even the tip of the iceberg.” He sighed, sounding reluctant to continue; Mikey leaned back against the booth leisurely, gears turning away in his head. “In the four days they were looking for Rei, over a hundred guys got the shit kicked out of them.”

“They were determined to find her.” Mitsuya agreed, the raven-haired teenager nodded; they’d been right there to hear it.

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e-louise-bates · 3 years ago

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On Wingéd Feet

My story for the @inklings-challenge is complete!

I really wasn't sure about coming up with a secondary world fantasy in only three weeks--I figured it would take me that long just to figure out the secondary world, much less the story. But thanks to brainstorming with my husband and kids, I was able to come up with what I thought (and still think) is a really interesting conceit for a fantasy world, and the story flowed out of it.

It seems to me that a secondary world fantasy is the perfect place for a story with a theme of stewardship. Imagine my surprise, then, when the main theme of this story turned out to be sacrifice, with stewardship being a secondary theme, more like faintly heard background music than an actual melody. There's definitely also some humility in there.

So here it is, On Wingéd Feet, by E.L. Bates, on #Team Tolkien for the #Inklings Challenge

On Wingéd Feet

My name is Kenna Goldenleaf. I am fourteen ground-years old, and I have been a fully fledged messenger for two years.

This is the story of my failure.

My friend Taskill and I were tree-skimming—the guardians don’t like it when we do that, but the trainers agree it’s useful for practicing agility, speed, and reflexes, and really, hardly anybody falls, and those who do aren’t usually too damaged—when the bells rang to summon us back to the aerie to receive our assignments.

“Ha!” Taskill said, skidding to a stop on the branch above my head and swiping the sweat off his face. “Rescued just in time, Kenna! I would have beaten you in another moment.”

I snorted as we started back at a more sensible pace. “Not with that path, you wouldn’t have. Or didn’t you notice that three branches ahead of you there was an empty gap, too large for even your wings to carry you across? The limb that used to be there broke off in that big storm last month.”

Dismay wrote itself across Taskill’s open face. He glanced over his shoulder to confirm my words. “How did you notice that when I didn’t? It wasn’t even your path!”

“Because I pay attention, that’s how.” I ducked underneath a leafy twig and leaped down to a branch several feet below, the wings on my feet giving me enough extra lift to land lightly. Taskill and I had really gone a long way on our race. At this rate, all the good assignments would be taken by the time we returned. “Where are you hoping to be sent?” I asked.

Taskill landed right behind me, then grabbed a branch above our heads to swing himself up and around, landing squarely a few feet in front of my position. I stuck my tongue out in response to the teasing smirk he sent me over his shoulder.

“Show-off.”

“You may pay attention, but you don’t take enough risks,” he said. “A good messenger isn’t afraid to accept a little danger, even bend the rules when necessary.”

I motioned to the leafy wilderness surrounding us. “I go tree-skimming, don’t I?”

Taskill shrugged. “Sure, but we all do. If you thought it was actually dangerous, you wouldn’t do it.”

I wanted to protest, but held my tongue. In a way, Taskill was right: I did tend toward caution, only I preferred to think of it as being sensible. Some of the “risks” he and the others took were simply foolhardy. What if their wings broke and were damaged permanently? What if they couldn’t be messengers anymore, where would they find a place then?

In my secret heart, though, I was convinced Taskill was wrong. I was sure that when I was in a situation that really called for it, I would know exactly what to do—and what’s more, I would do it. Someday, the others would see how much I was really capable of.

Taskill finally remembered I had asked him a question. “I’d like to get sent to the mountain region in the southern hemisphere. The cloudling cities there are said to be the finest in the world, and the grounder towns are pretty spectacular, too.”

“They have their own messengers down there,” I pointed out.

I could hear the grin in his voice as he answered. “I know, but you asked where I’d like to be sent, not where I think it’s plausible. What about you?”

“Someplace exciting,” I said. “I’ve done the Oak Ridge run so often now I could do it in my sleep.”

“It’s like I said, if you want more exciting assignments, you’ve got to show that you’re not afraid to take chances.”

“Shouldn’t it be more important to prove I’m responsible and reliable?” I protested.

“Sure—if you want the boring runs for the rest of your life.”

There was no chance for a stinging retort, even if I’d had one, as we had reached the aerie by then.

The messenger aeries are nothing in comparison to the floating cities of the sky people, but I still loved ours. High above the ground in the tops of the strongest and tallest trees in a dense beech grove, several buildings and platforms were connected by swinging rope-and-plank bridges and ladders. The central building was the largest of all, our communal space for meals, lessons, and gatherings. Dormitories and the nurseries sprawled out from the gathering hall, and in the outermost ring were storehouses and workshops. Obstacle courses laid out in a seemingly haphazard pattern wound around and extended beyond the buildings, marked by ropes that dangled from sturdy branches, tunnels woven of living wood, and gentle ramps from which one could leap. The youngsters training on the course nearest to us paused to watch Taskill and me sprint to the gathering hall.

“You’re late!” one cheeky brat called out.

“I’d push you off that limb if I had time, fledgling,” Taskil shouted back.

The boy laughed, and then we were at the entrance to the gathering hall. I tugged my overshirt straight, and Taskill raked his fingers through his mop of hair, dislodging leaves, twigs, and bugs as he did.

“Ugh,” I said, wrinkling my nose. “This is why braids are better.”

“Like I said, boring,” he rejoined.

We stepped side-by-side into the great hall, where Aunt Sebire awaited us.

“You’re in luck,” she said, ushering us to one of the lecture rooms. “"Uncle Yanis has not yet finished with the assignments. The best ones will have already been taken, but you won’t be left with the dregs. This time.”

I trailed my fingers along the boards of the walls as I walked. Made of beechwood planks cut from trees that had had to be felled for the good of the grove, they were worn by time and use to a smooth silver. I liked thinking about the generations of messengers before me, walking these same halls, running their hands along these same boards. Someday, far into the future, there would be another messenger doing the same, and thinking about me without knowing who I was.

Uncle Yanis raised his thick, bushy eyebrows as Taskill and I slipped into the back along with a couple of other latecomers. “Glad you could join us,” he said in his dry way.

“Apologies, Uncle,” I said.

“We came as soon as we heard the bell,” Taskill added.

The others murmured similar excuses and apologies. Uncle Yanis inclined his head, then continued.

“Next we have the Oak Ridge run,” he said, holding up a filled bag. “Carry messages from the landbound people in this area to those in the Oak Ridge region, and from the sky dwellers here to the cloud cities there. You will stay there for the rest of your assignment running their messages, then return here at the end of your time.” He looked at me as though expecting me to volunteer.

I pressed my lips together a little more firmly and clasped my hands behind my back. If they sent me I would comply, but I was not going to volunteer. Oak Ridge was a baby run. Even if it hadn’t been for my conversation with Taskill, I wouldn’t have wanted it. I was bored to death with its safety and ease.

Uncle Yanis opened his mouth, likely to give me the assignment since I wasn’t cooperating by volunteering. Beside me, Taskill cleared his throat and spoke.

“I’ll take that, if no one else wants it, Uncle.”

Uncle Yanis’s eyebrows shot upward on his forehead. “You, Taskill?”

Everyone knew that Taskill was the most daring of us all. He was always looking for more adventure, not less.

Taskill glanced at me and winked. “You wanted a chance to do something more,” he whispered. “Here you go.”

He took a step forward. Uncle Yanis scratched his head.

“Well, if there are no objections ...” he said, staring at me.

Did he think I enjoyed the baby route? Or was it that he thought that was all I could handle, that I wasn’t up for anything more challenging?

Whichever it was, I would prove him wrong.

Taskill accepted the messenger bag, grinned at me again, and left the room.

Uncle Yanis sighed. “Next up is the town of Seaside Goldenrod and its surrounding areas, with one change from the way we usually run it. It’s too close to the sea for there to be many cloud cities there, but there is one small colony out there, an experiment of sorts, to see if a city can stay aloft that close to the ocean. It is vitally important that the messages from the cities here make it to the colony, and that the colony’s messages make it back.”

The sea! The one thing that scared me. I couldn’t swim—none of the messengers for sky and land could, our wings would get waterlogged and drag us down. It wasn’t as bad for us as for true cloudlings. Cloudlings’ wings sprouted from their shoulder blades and covered their entire backs; when they got waterlogged, the cloudling sank and drowned. Without exception. A messenger might have a chance, if someone pulled them out in time, but a cloudling had none. I couldn’t imagine why any of them would want to even attempt a floating city anywhere near the ocean. It wasn’t as if there wasn’t plenty of air above land for a new city, if the old ones were getting crowded.

Regardless, this was the perfect opportunity to prove my ability to take risks. Only—was I brave enough? Could I dare going so close to the sea? What if something went wrong?

I reminded myself that if it was truly dangerous, they’d send an older messenger, or even a team of two. I stuffed my fears and concerns down somewhere near the bottom of my stomach and raised my hand.

“I’d like that one, Uncle.”

Uncle Yanis stared at me. “Are you certain, Kenna?”

The others in the room stared at me as well, and a slight susurration of whispering went around the walls. I didn’t know any of them well, but apparently they knew me well enough to be equally shocked.

Did everyone think I was incapable, just because I was cautious?

I lifted my chin and met Uncle Yanis’s eyes steadily. “I’m certain.”

“Very well,” he said heavily, and lifted the messenger bag as I stepped forward to take it.

Taskill was waiting for me outside. “Well?”

“Seaside Goldenrod,” I told him.

His eyes widened and his lips pursed in a soundless whistle, but unlike the others, he had no disbelief in his face. “Should be fun,” he said. “Wish I was coming with you.”

Part of me wished that too. Taskill always made everything more fun. Another part of me, though, was glad for the chance to do this myself. It was too easy to let Taskill take charge. I’d had enough of being the assistant.

“Taskill!” Aunt Sebire came out the front entrance and folded her arms across her chest. “Haven’t you left yet?”

“On my way, Auntie,” Taskill said immediately. “See you in a ground-month, Kenna. Can’t wait to exchange stories.”

Before I could respond, or even thank him for giving me this chance, he was gone, flashing through the branches, leaping so lightly he almost—almost—could have been flying.

“Off you go as well, Kenna,” Aunt Sebire said. “No changing your mind after you’ve accepted the bag.”

“I haven’t changed my mind,” I retorted, stung. “Goodbye,” I added out of politeness.

I didn’t take off in as spectacular a fashion as Taskill, but I did go faster than was my wont, barely touching each branch before jumping to the next, occasionally grabbing one of the hanging ropes to swing myself further than I could have jumped on my own, even with my wings to assist.

I almost came to grief more than once, the worst time being when my fingers slipped off the rope and I fell, crashing through a couple smaller branches before landing hard on a wider limb, jarring all my bones as I did.

Once I caught my breath and made sure I hadn’t broken my tailbone, though, I took off again, not giving myself a chance to feel scared over how close I’d come to seriously injuring myself. I reached the bottom mostly unscathed, and was surprised at how exhilarated I felt—like winning at tree-skimming, only better.

Maybe Taskill was right, and I did need to take more risks. I didn’t want to turn into an old woman before I even reached fifteen!

I took a moment, there at the base of the giant beech, to glance at the map Uncle Yanis had put in the top of my bag, next to an apple.

Cloudlings had an innate sense of direction along with their wings and hollow bones. My bones were lighter than a grounder’s, but not hollow, and the tiny wings behind my ankles would never allow me to truly fly, only skim along the surface of things. But my sense of direction was as impeccable as a full cloudling’s; I never needed a compass. One look at the map—made, as all our maps were, of vellum specially treated to be water- and fireproof—told me I needed to head northeast and that it would take me two days and nights of travel to reach the grounder town of Seaside Goldenrod.

I put the map back, took the apple out, and set off at an easy jog, my wings causing me to bound lightly with each footfall. This was the standard pace for messengers, unless we needed to run for emergencies or had to slow to keep pace with a grounder. Later, I decided, I would run and skim a little for the sheer fun of it, but for now I might as well practice decorum.

After all, taking risks didn’t have to mean ignoring all common sense, at least not all the time.

My travels passed uneventfully. No one interferes with messengers—it’s one of the few laws that is the same on land, in air, and in the sea. Everyone knows the story of the thieves who decided to kidnap messengers and hold them and their messages hostage for ransom. In a rare collaboration between air, land, and sea—and the respective messengers—the thieves were hounded into the wilderness, and no civilized place was safe for them.

Nobody tried that again.

So I was greeted with kindness and respect by all the inhabitants of the lands I passed through, both towns and settlers out on their own. I was even able to spend one night in a cloud city only a tiny way outside my path.

It was a bit of a jump to get from the top of a nearby pine to the lowest rung of the rope ladder the cloudlings kept slung over the edge of the floating city—they were obviously used to messengers who were taller than I—but once I made it onto the wooden platform where the ladder was anchored the inhabitants were as friendly as could be. They even designated one of their youth, a girl around my own age, to give me a tour of the city before I retired to the hammock always kept ready in the tiny wooden house set aside for messengers’ use.

My guide’s name was Elodie. She was tall, slender, and graceful, like all the cloudlings, with enormous eyes the color of the sky after a rainstorm, pearlescent hair cropped short and tight to her neck and ears, and giant wings with iridescent feathers that gleamed like a rainbow in the rich light of the setting sun.

“I’ve never met a messenger my age before,” she said, floating along a couple feet above the translucent pathway that wound between buildings and gardens. “Do you like it?”

No one had ever asked me that before. I’d never really considered it. Messengers were messengers—neither one thing nor the other, not belonging to sky, land, or sea, but to neither and to all. Our role was to connect what would otherwise be wholly separate. Liking or disliking didn’t really matter.

Oh, there were the stories, of course. Messengers who fell in love with a grounder or a cloudling and left to live with them. Messengers who fell in love with the sky or the land, who rejected their role to try to fit somewhere they didn’t truly belong. But those stories were just that—stories. Nobody took them seriously.

It was our name, after all. We weren’t cloudlings or grounders, or sea people. We were messengers. It was as much who we were as it was our role to play.

“I suppose so,” I finally answered Elodie, not knowing what else to say.

“I had a year where I was mad to be a messenger,” she said, surprising me again. “No matter how many times my parents told me it was impossible, I vowed I would become one. The next year I decided to become a teacher, the year after that a musician. Now I think I would like to be an explorer ... my sister is off at the new floating city, the one near the ocean. How exciting it is! I would love to join her, but my parents say I’m too young.” She made a face, then laughed, a soft chime of silver bells. “Didn’t you ever want to be something different?”

“It never really occurred to me,” I managed to say, still trying to understand such a foreign way of viewing the world.

I love sky cities and always look forward to visiting them, but I barely noticed any details about this one, I was so busy pondering Elodie’s words. Could a messenger do something else and still be a messenger? What would happen if one of us decided we wanted to do something different? Who would we be then?

Grounders and cloudlings followed different rules of living than we did, I knew that. That was how messengers first came to be, after all. A grounder and a cloudling fell in love and had a child who bore characteristics of both, but was neither wholly one nor the other. The grounder could not live in a floating city, nor could the cloudling live on land, so they built the first aerie in the trees. Neither of them was ever fully at home again, but their child thrived in the in-between place.

I supposed it was the same for the other messengers, who went between the land and the sea, though as I’d never met one I couldn’t say for sure.

Some messengers even now were born from a union between a cloudling and a grounder, but most came from bondings between messengers. No messenger would ever dream of entering a bonding with a grounder, or with a cloudling. It wasn’t forbidden, it was simply ... unthinkable.

I was not so distracted that I couldn’t enjoy my favorite cloudling treats of windnut scones with a frosted tumbler of dewberry cordial. I slept well in the rocking hammock, but for the first time ever I was glad to leave a floating city when morning came.

I resumed my travels in a pensive mood, which continued throughout my day of travel until I lost patience with myself and broke into a skimming run just to shake the odd mood that had me in its grip.

The run, as well as the mood, had to have been why I didn’t notice the weather changing at first. My weather-sense, a grounder trait, wasn’t as finely attuned as my compass-sense anyway (one reason why Taskill and I made a good team was that his weather-sense was stronger than his compass-sense, and so we balanced each other out), and I had sunk into a state of not thinking or feeling much of anything beyond the act of running when I was brought back to reality by a rolling clap of thunder.

I skidded to a stop and bent over, resting my hands on my legs, while I took a few deep breaths. Yes, the air smelled heavy and damp, and clung to my body like a clammy blanket. There was another odd tang to the air, though, something wild and energizing that I’d never smelled before.

The birds had stopped singing, and even the insects were quieting. Oh yes, we were in for a good storm, and it was coming in fast. I needed to get out of the woods before the wind picked up and the lightning got close. Otherwise I would be reduced to finding a burrow or hollow log to cram myself into, and that was a miserable option. I pulled out the map and double-checked my location. As I had thought, I was getting close to Seaside Goldenrod. The town was built on the edge of farmable land before the ground turned to rocks and sand by the ocean’s edge. Surely I could make it there in time, or at least to the house of someone living outside the village proper. Or even an abandoned barn, at a pinch.

I stuffed the map back in my bag and stretched my arms above my head, wishing now I hadn’t already expended so much energy running earlier. This was going to be a race between me and the storm—another roll of thunder echoed across the sky, as if in response and challenge—and I needed all my strength and agility.

I eyed the woods before me, mentally mapping out my path as far as I could see. There, from the old stump ... to the low-hanging branch ... along the fallen log ... up again and into the branches ... yes, that was the quickest way.

Drawing in a deep, full breath, I ran full pace at the stump, leaping onto it and using it to spring myself up, catching the low branch with my hands and swinging forward, letting go to lightly drop onto the log fallen across a muddy patch of ground, leaping up off it at the end to pull myself into the branches of the cluster of trees, skimming along each one before leaping to another.

It was glorious. It was the best tree-skimming I’d ever done—better, because it involved ground as well as trees. I was going faster than I ever had before, my leaps and landings more sure-footed, and I realized Taskill was right: there was an extra thrill in not playing safe.

But not, I thought, the ideas flickering in and out of my head nearly as fast as my feet flew, not in taking risks just for the sake of it. It had been fun, careening my way out of the old beech tree at the start of my journey, and it had exhilarated me. This was better. This was real.

The first few drops of rain splotched onto my face and hands, and the wind picked up strength. Ahead of me, the trees began to thin, leading to open space and hopefully the grounder town of Seaside Goldenrod. It would be tight, but I thought I would make it.

A particularly strong gust of wind nearly knocked me off my balance, causing me to be thankful for the first time for the strength and sturdiness of my bones, from my grounder side.

There was a loud crash from a nearby oak, and—impossibly—a shriek, followed by the words,

“Help! Can someone please help me! Help!”

The voice was high-pitched, breathy, full of fear and pain. It was not my imagination. But how could someone be in the oak, unless …

Dread coiling in my belly, I began climbing the oak tree. The wind was gusting more now, and the rain fell harder. This was not going to be easy. I clenched my teeth and continued to pull my way up through the branches as the cries for help grew increasingly frantic.

As last my head broke through the crown, and I saw what I had feared I would see—a cloudling with a broken wing, stuck fast between two branches.

What I had not expected was that the cloudling was Elodie, my guide from the previous evening. I had thought it would be someone from the colony out here, caught as he or she tried to find shelter from the oncoming storm.

She was crying, tears mingling with raindrops on her face, but she stopped when she saw my head rising through the leaves.

“Kenna,” she said hoarsely. “I thought I’d lost you.”

A thousand questions flashed through my mind, but I put them aside to focus on the matter at hand. “Sorry I didn’t answer you when you called,” I said, hoisting myself the rest of the way up so I could work on untangling her. I had been so driven to get to the person trapped up here it hadn’t even occurred to me to let them know I was coming.

She bit down hard on her lower lip as I clumsily attempted to free her wing. It was difficult work, and I was in a hurry. “Sorry,” I said again.

She released her lip long enough to say, “That’s all right,” before squeaking in pain and quickly biting down again.

The rain was lashing down by the time I had the wing free, and the tree, despite its sturdiness, was beginning to sway in the wind. Lightning flickered nearby, followed almost immediately by a crack of thunder. My heart sank when I thought of trying to shelter from a storm of this magnitude with an injured cloudling accompanying me.

First I had to get us both safely to the ground. I shifted around on the branches, presenting my back to Elodie.

“Put your arms around my neck,” I said. “I’ll carry you down.”

I don’t remember much of the trip down. My heart was in my throat the entire time and I was convinced I was going to either drop Elodie or slip and send both of us crashing to the ground, or else that the wind gusts would wrench her from my back. She held on grimly and I climbed down, and down, and down until at last my feet were on the ground and my head rested against the trunk of the tree.

“Here,” said a strange voice. “I’ve got her.”

Firm hands peeled Elodie from my back. I lifted my forehead from the tree bark to peer into the darkening surroundings. I vaguely made out the figure of a short, stocky boy holding Elodie upright. A groundling, I thought, and hoped he lived nearby and we could shelter with his family.

“We’ve got to get out of the elements,” he continued, half-shouting against the howling wind. “It’s only going to get worse. Follow me!”

I managed to pry my fingers off the tree trunk and stumbled after him as he guided us to the edge of the woods, still supporting Elodie as she staggered along with her damaged wing drooping down her back.

“We’d have to cross too much open space to make it to the town,” the boy shouted. “I know a closer place. Are you ready?”

I nodded, and we stepped out of the trees.

I had thought the storm bad within the woods. Out here in the open it was a thousand times worse. Rain whipped across my face, nearly blinding me, driving into my open mouth as I involuntarily gasped in shock. The wind nearly lifted me off my feet, knocking me back several paces before I could catch and brace myself.

Above the shriek of the wind and endless crash of thunder came a scream from Elodie as the wind slammed her broken wing into the whole one. Gulping for air, I forced my way forward to her right side. Between us, the boy and I managed to block most of the wind, but we couldn’t stay here for long without succumbing to its strength.

There was no point in trying to speak. Our words would have been snatched away from our mouths even as we spoke them.

The boy walked, and I matched his pace and direction as best I could, dividing my attention between watching him and watching where I put my feet. I didn’t even try to look at where we were going. Even if I could have spared the attention, I couldn’t see more than a few inches in front of my nose anyway. My internal compass told me we were heading east; that was all I knew.

I was still expecting a house or a barn, so at first my wearied mind could make no sense of the black hole that suddenly loomed before us. My feet almost balked, but the boy kept moving forward and so I automatically followed.

The absence of weather hit me like a branch to the face. I stood blinking, trying to comprehend the lack of rain, wind, lightning, or the icy balls of hail that had pelted us the last few yards. As my eyes adjusted, I saw that we had entered not a building, but a cave.

My first feeling was disappointment, if I’m being completely truthful. I had been imagining that friendly grounder family—and their warm fireplace and hot food—so vividly that this cave seemed extra bleak in comparison.

My common sense kicked back in a heartbeat later. Compared to the outdoors, this cave was a palace! I would have been happy to shelter in a hollow log to escape the storm; this was immensely better than that. The sand beneath my feet was fine-grained, if cold and damp, and the rock walls were wide enough and the space opened back far enough that I didn’t feel trapped. A loud roaring filled my ears, and mixed with the scent of the rain was that same sharp smell I’d noticed earlier, only much stronger now, but I wasn’t prepared to complain about either of those small details.

“Here,” said the boy. “Let’s get her settled.”

I realized he was talking to me. Between the two of us we got the half-conscious Elodie lowered to the ground in a sitting position, from which she promptly slumped forward, resting her head on her folded arms.

“It’s all right,” I assured the boy when he tried to lift her again. “Cloudlings usually sleep on their stomachs. Besides, this gives us a chance to look at her wing.”

“Do you know how to mend a broken wing?” he asked with a hopeful glance at my feet.

I pulled off my messenger bag, thankful like never before for its waterproofing, and rummaged through it until I found the salve, splints, and bindings we all carried in case of accidents. I looked ruefully from my small splints to Elodie’s large wing.

“I’m not sure how useful these will be.”

“I’ll get something larger,” the boy said, and before I could stop him he ducked back outside, into the teeth of the storm.

I realized my mouth was hanging open and closed it abruptly.

Elodie stirred. “K’nna?” she slurred.

I put the boy out of my mind and dropped to my knees beside her. “I’m here.”

Her breath sighed out of her mouth. “So sorry ... so foolish,” she murmured. “Was going to ask if I could come with you ... wanted to see my sister in the colony ... wanted to feel like an explorer.” The hint of a smile ghosted across her face. “You left too early ... my parents said no ... so I snuck away and followed you.”

How absorbed had I been in myself and my own thoughts, to not even notice her? She may have behaved foolishly, but my fault was as great, or greater. Careless messengers cost lives.

I patted her shoulder awkwardly. This was, at least in part, my responsibility. “Don’t worry,” I said. “I’ll get you back home.” Somehow.

Next moment I jumped as the boy appeared out of the howling darkness, carrying a few smooth sticks of oddly gray wood—I couldn’t identify it, which surprised me. I thought I knew all the trees.

“Not much driftwood out there,” he said, shaking himself and sending water droplets scattering. “Hope this will do.” He seemed perfectly dry now, though surely that was impossible.

His hand brushed mine as he passed me the sticks, and it was indeed dry, though cold. Still, it wasn’t until I saw the webbing between his fingers that I realized the truth.

“You’re a sea person!”

He grinned cheerfully. “Not quite. I’m a messenger, just like I’m guessing you are one. Winged feet, webbed fingers and toes—grounder and sky people for you, yes? And grounder and deepling for me.”

My mouth had dropped open again. I’d always known about the other messengers, but I’d never thought much about them, much less expected to meet one.

“My name’s Bastien,” he continued.

I blinked and reminded myself of my manners. “Oh! Right. Um, I’m Kenna. This is Elodie.”

“Honored to know you both,” Bastien returned promptly. He knelt on the other side of Elodie. “I could mend an injured flipper, but I’m no good with wings. I can see in the dark and I take direction well, though, so just tell me what to do.”

I looked at Elodie, looked at the—driftwood—in my hands, and shivered. I’d never done something this important. What if I did it wrong? What if I hurt her worse? What if she was never able to fly again? It would be all my fault …

The light was dim enough from the storm and from being in a cave, and it was growing dimmer as we drew nearer to night. Bastien’s ability notwithstanding, dithering wasn’t going to make this any easier. If I acted, I might make it worse, or I might make it better. If I did nothing, Elodie would certainly get worse.

I drew in a deep breath of the oddly invigorating air. This was my responsibility, I told myself again.

“Right,” I said. “Here we go. Elodie, I’m sorry. This is going to hurt.”

The next half hour was something I hope I never have to repeat. Thankfully Elodie fainted a few moments in, and was thereby spared a great deal of pain. Even so, I wouldn’t have gotten through the ordeal without Bastien’s quiet but steady presence by my side. He didn’t question anything I said or did, and was quick to respond when I needed his hands or his eyes. Between the two of us, we got her wing patched up not too badly.

“All done,” I said at last, sitting back with a sigh. I rested my hand on Elodie’s cheek in a mute apology for the pain I’d caused her, and recoiled. “Oh no.”

“What is it?” Bastien asked out of the darkness that now blanketed the cave.

“She’s burning up.”

“What does that mean?”

I opened my mouth and closed it again. Of course, fevers would take sea people and their kin differently than they would us. “It’s a phrase we use when a person has a fever. Her temperature is rising dangerously.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” he agreed. “What can we do?”

By feel, I was able to pull my blanket and my water bottle from my bag. I dribbled a bit of water in Elodie’s mouth and wrapped the blanket around her, but I knew it wouldn’t be enough. It was too damp in this cave.

“I don’t suppose you have a blanket?” I asked half-heartedly.

“I’m afraid not,” Bastien replied. “I don’t need one. That’s what she needs, then? Warmth?”

“Warmth and water,” I replied. “Thanks to the rain we have plenty of the latter, but ...”

“Can you build a fire? I’ve seen the grounders do that plenty of times for warmth, but I’ve never needed one, so I don’t know how to go about doing so.”

Of course! A fire. I had flint and steel in my bag ... but no firewood or kindling. So much of our travels took us into and through the forests that material for a fire was never hard for us to find.

“Are there more of those driftwood trees around?” I asked hopefully. “Could you bring me some branches and twigs from them for a fire?”

Bastien’s voice was apologetic. “Driftwood isn’t a type of tree. It’s wood that washes up on the shore from the sea. I can go scrounge for some, but it will be wet. And no leaves.”

I blushed over my own mistake. At least Bastien hadn’t mocked me for not knowing. “Even wet wood is better than no wood,” I said, then was seized with sudden compunction. “But is it too dangerous for you to go out?”

From the sound, it seemed he stood and walked to the entrance. “I think the eye is approaching. I’ll be all right if I’m quick.”

“The eye?”

“The center of the storm,” he explained. “When it calms down for a bit before picking back up again.”

“I see.” I didn’t, but I trusted him. Obviously he knew as much about storms out here as I did about storms inland.

“I’ll go now,” he said, and was gone.

While I waited for him to return, I gave Elodie some more water and pondered what to use to start the fire and keep it going even with wet wood. My overshirt? No, it was wet as well. The rain had soaked through even to my underclothes; nothing I wore would be dry enough. Perhaps Bastien’s clothes would be in better condition, remembering the way he shook off the water, but there was a good chance that whatever made them waterproof also made them fireproof, as with my bag.

Was there anything in my bag? Elodie was already using the blanket. I had brought no spare clothes, as my travel time was short enough I wouldn’t need them. My extra underwear? I blushed again, thinking of it, but I would burn them if I had to. Unfortunately I had taken advantage of my unexpected stop at Elodie’s city to wash them the previous night, and I had put them away still damp this morning, thinking to finish drying them tonight.

The only burnable contents of my bag were the messages I carried, and they were out of the question.

I rose to my feet and started pacing while I thought. Elodie had to have a fire. Bastien’s body temperature was too low to help warm her, and I was too wet. A fire was the only way to get her dry and warm enough. Yet I had no way to start a fire or keep it going. What was I going to do?

Taskill would have come up with a brilliant plan by now. Something like ... like …

My efforts to stretch my imagination were interrupted by Bastien’s return.

“Sorry it took me so long,” he said, accompanied by a clatter as he set the wood down. “There wasn’t much left out there, the waves are so strong. It took me a while to gather what I did. I hope it’s enough.”

As though his words had sparked it, an idea blossomed in my mind. Of course! That’s what Taskill would do!

“Listen, Bastien, I need you to stay here with Elodie while I run back to the forest and get some kindling for the fire.”

“It’s too dangerous,” Bastien protested.

“You said the storm is at a lull, didn’t you?” I could hear that for myself now that I was paying attention. “I can be fast—faster than you know—and I can’t get lost, even in the dark. We don’t have anything here that would work. I can do this.”

“We were at a lull, but the eye is passing. It’s going to get worse any moment. I’m sure you are fast, Kenna—as fast as I’d be in the water, maybe even faster—but not even you can outrun a hurricane.”

“A what?”

“A really bad storm off the sea,” he clarified.

I was tempted to ignore him and go anyway. Take the risk, I could almost hear Taskill saying in my ear. This was no time for prudence!

But if I took the risk and was wrong, what then? Elodie would die—Bastien would no doubt feel compelled to come after me and would be hurt or killed as well. Three lives lost because I thought I was invincible.

I was willing to risk my own life to save Elodie’s. I wasn’t willing to risk Bastien’s as well and lose Elodie all the same.

Taskill would have done it. He might even have succeeded. He was the stuff heroes were made out of.

But I wasn’t Taskill. There were risks I was willing to take, and there were times I couldn’t help but count the cost. This was the latter.

“All right,” I said, and heard Bastien’s sigh of relief. “But we have to do something. Her fever is getting worse. I don’t suppose you have anything that will burn?”

“I don’t think so,” he said. “Even the messages I carry are written on—well, you would call it seaweed, and it would have to be dried for a long time before it could be burned.”

The messages! Could I ...?

No. It was unthinkable. The messages were a messenger’s sacred charge. She protected them above all else. Even above her own life.

Above the life of another, though?

Elodie was now my responsibility, too. My carelessness had allowed her to follow me today, which had led to her getting caught by the wind and injured. Not my fault, perhaps, but my responsibility.

Uncle Yanis had said it was vitally important for the messages to make it to the sky colony.

Other lives might depend on it. What we carried ... people trusted us to ensure their words went where they should go.

I couldn’t betray that trust.

I couldn’t let Elodie die.

What was I going to do?

“My messages will burn,” I whispered.

Bastien said nothing. I was grateful for his silence.

I had wanted more adventure, more responsibility, but not like this! I wasn’t trained for this!

I had appreciated Bastien’s silence, but now I was desperate for him to speak. “What would you do, if you were me?”

“I don’t know,” he answered slowly. “I think—I know what I hope I would do, but I don’t know if I would have the courage to do it. But I don’t think I can tell you what to do. I think you’ve got to figure it out for yourself.”

I groaned, but I knew he was right.

As if to reinforce our impossible position, the storm returned then with renewed fury, seeming louder and wilder than before. Bastien had been right. I could not, even at my fastest, have made it to the forest and back before the hurricane returned.

I went and stood at the open mouth of the cave, letting the cold air and rain blow in my face. No, Bastien couldn’t tell me what to do. Taskill, if he were here, might try to tell me what to do, but he couldn’t either, not really. Uncle Yanis or Aunt Sebire couldn’t tell me what to do here. I had to make this decision myself.

I exhaled in a puff of white breath and returned to the center of the cave. Kneeling down beside my bag, I reached inside and pulled out a handful of precious paper.

“If I tell you how to do it, can you set the sticks up?” I asked him.

He ignored the crack in my voice. “Absolutely,” he said.

Once he had the sticks arranged, I handed him message after message to tuck in and around them. I thought about having him read the names on the outsides, see if we could save the most important, but in the end I let chance dictate which ones I used.

Everyone’s words were important, whether to and from the lowliest of workers or the leaders of the towns and cities. Though I was making the choice to destroy them, I wouldn’t set myself up as judge of whose words mattered more.

When the fire was laid, by feel I located my flint and steel. I struck: once, twice.

On the third strike the spark caught. The first message went up in a blaze. I blinked against the sudden light, my tear-blurred vision just making out the black ink words before the flame devoured them.

In the end, I had to use every single scrap of paper in my bag. The wood was stubborn and took a lot of coaxing to catch. Even once it was burning steadily, we had as much smoke as we did flame.

But eventually the wet parts burned away and finally, we had a good fire. We moved Elodie, still in her fevered slumber, as close as was bearable, gave her some more water, and then sat down ourselves. Something in the wood—perhaps it was a gift from the sea—made the flames dance blue and purple rather than the usual orange and yellow I was accustomed to.

Bastien was the first to break the silence between us. “For what it is worth, I think you made the right choice,” he said.

I stared into the magical flames. “I don’t know if it was the right choice or not, but it was the only one I could make. I couldn’t let her die.”

There was a pause while Bastien woke Elodie up enough to give her more water; as he let her go back to sleep, he asked,

“What will you do?”

I knew what he was asking. “After I get help for Elodie, I will confess my act to the people of Seaside Goldenrod and the floating city colony. I’ll collect whatever messages they have, if they trust me with them, and then I’ll go back and confess to Uncle Yanis and Aunt Sebire. They’ll have to call a council of grounders and cloudlings. I’ll tell the whole story to them as well, and they will decide what will become of me.”

A faithless messenger ... I didn’t want to think about my punishment. Would they banish me? If so, where would I go? At the very least, they would probably refuse to let me be a messenger anymore.

Elodie’s question returned to me. If I weren’t a messenger, who was I? What was I, even?

“I’ll testify on your behalf,” Bastien said, surprising me. “I’m sure the elders will let me travel that far if they know what it’s for.” He grinned at me suddenly. “I’ve never been inland before. I wouldn’t have gone into the edges of that forest if I hadn’t heard Elodie’s cries for help.”

“Lucky for us you did,” I said.

All through that long night, we talked, Bastien and I. We had to stay awake to tend the fire and keep making Elodie drink, and so we talked. Bastien told me about his home in something called an estuary, and I told him about the aerie in the beech grove. He told me about the sea cities, and I told him about the cloud cities. I found out that the endless booming I could hear was the ocean waves crashing on the rocky shore, and the odd tang in the air was from the salt in the water.

“Also probably partially from dead fish,” Bastien said, which made me laugh.

“If you come to my home and I’m allowed, I’ll take you up on a mountain,” I promised him. “The air up there ... it’s so pure and clean. Even messengers can’t stay long in the cloud cities, because the air is too thin even for our lungs to endure for long. But mountains ... ah, there’s nothing like them. You can see all the land spread out before you like a patchwork quilt, and the floating cities flittering above you like multi-faceted jewels.”

“It sounds marvelous,” Bastien said. “And a little terrifying.”

“I’ve always been afraid of the sea,” I admitted. My fear seemed a long way off and formless now, though, in comparison to the disaster that had actually befallen.

It was Bastien’s turn to grow animated as he described the deep cities under the ocean, the bubbles that surrounded them, allowing people to breathe inside the great golden domes, the way they glowed like lanterns in the cold darkness of the depths.

“There are dangers there, too,” he said fairly. “But oh, such wonders. It’s worth the danger.”

We were so engrossed in our conversation that at first we didn’t notice when the storm blew itself out. Not until Bastien got up to give Elodie some more water did he suddenly pause, his head tilted.

“The wind’s stopped.”

I got up as well and went to the cave entrance again. The sky was scoured clean of clouds and rain. Far to the east, the sun was beginning to lighten the dark, sending streaks of rose and gold across the sky, catching the flat gray surface beneath and making it sparkle.

Bastien joined me. “The sea,” he said, motioning to the grayness.”

I caught my breath. No matter what happened, I had seen the sea.

The stars began to fade as the sun continued its climb, but I could still see Alienor, the morning star, glimmering pink far, far above even the highest cloud city.

My heart expanded within me. For a moment, I felt more of a messenger than I ever had before. I loved everyplace and everyone in our world, even the terrifying sea and its mysterious denizens. I wanted to explore it all, to know people in every corner of it and make friends with them all. I wanted to rejoice with them over good news and weep with them over sad. I wanted to carry their hopes and dreams across the mountains and into the skies. I wanted to be one of the threads that bound our world together. Not for the adventure, but out of sheer love for its beauty.

In that moment, I recognized that whether the council took away my role or not, I would always be a messenger.

The moment passed. Behind us, Elodie said in a weak, scratchy voice,

“Where am I?”

Bastien and I rushed to her side. I saw the sweat dewing her forehead and the clarity in her wide eyes, and I laughed in sheer relief and joy.

“She’s going to be all right! The fever broke!”

Bastien grabbed me in an exuberant hug, and I didn’t care at all that his skin was cold and faintly scaly. I hugged him back just as I would have hugged Taskill.

***

There’s not much more to tell. We got Elodie returned to her people, I made my confession to the people of Seaside Goldenrod and the sky colony—which had gotten blown so far inland by the hurricane they weren’t even sure it was worth maintaining after all—and I returned here, to my beech grove aerie. Uncle Yanis did not say, “I told you so,” but I can see the disappointment in the way he won’t meet my eye.

Taskill isn’t back yet, of course. I don’t know whether to be glad I don’t have to admit my failure to him or long for his support. I have to endure a great deal of shame and criticism from the other messengers, all of whom are eager to tell me what I did wrong and what I should have done instead. Taskill might agree with them, but he’d stand by me all the same if he were here.

The council meets today. Bastien isn’t here, but I brought a message from him, written on red seaweed, telling his side of the tale. His elders didn’t want him coming this far inland alone, so this was their compromise. Even more than Taskill, I wish he were here, but I feel encouraged all the same, just knowing I have his support and friendship, even if we never see each other again.

Aunt Sebire has had me write all this out. She says it’s easier to tell a story when it’s been written than to try to remember what happened while all eyes in a room are on you.

I wish I had time to edit it—there’s a lot of personal stuff that crept in here that I’d rather not admit to the council—but it’s too late now.

Whatever comes, comes. I’m nervous, of course, but I’m not afraid. Somehow that long night helped me to know myself better.

Whatever happens, I’m still a messenger. I always will be.

The End

#inklingschallenge #team tolkien #genre: secondary world #theme: sacrifice #theme: stewardship #theme: humility #story: complete

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