#My OC getting absolutely DESTROYED!!! In chess…

[queen-of-elves]

Spilled wine

Summary: These events were all the same, the same names, the same faces, at least that's what Aemond had always thought.

A/N: this is more of a crack fic but not really? Basically everyone is friends and happy haha but not really. Aemond still has the scar but it happened during some summer vacation and it was a complete accident + Aemond getting his walls knocked down by reader and being absolutely whipped for her

Btw this is probably the most ambitious fanfic I ever attempted to write when it comes to the word count, so I am sort of proud of myself

Fanarts for this fanfic: The snap screenshot, some sketches of outfits, kiss

Masterlist

Words: 8,7K

Warnings: english is not my first language, drinking, mention of dr*gs, alcohol consumption, minimum use of Y/N, male oc present at the table, swearing, +18 themes but not smut

Dividers by: @cafekitsune

Red and white

Aemond did not appreciate his mother pushing him into attending these kinds of events. Opulent and full of rich fellow friends of his sickly father. This was nothing more than a powertrip for their egos. Socialize, make connections and exploit them in the foreseeable future.

And this event was a definition of what he hated. Noone was there to actually enjoy themself, it was all an illusion. This was a competition: who can get more information while sipping on their drinks, who could manipulate another investor after doing lines in the dim bathrooms, who could win another connection to centuries old wealth. Aemond felt sick to his stomach over these thoughts even though he was born into this world. However, the worst part of this whole farce was that he needed none of that, except his grandfather did. His scheming got even more out of control since Aegon moved into Aemond's apartment, destroying his plans of him being the heir to their father’s company by being a reckless drunk out in the open.

And now he was standing next to him in a freshly pressed suit, dark green fabric turning black in the evening darkness. He once found suits and formal clothing as a second skin, armor he could hide underneath but they were now constricting him. Aemond’s younger self was always obsessed with this image of the perfect son. Well educated, polite, manners of the perfect gentlemen, perfect son, perfect in everything. PERFECT. The older he grew the more he started to resent the word, the more he started to fear it in some way. No matter how much he tried, it was never enough. While his brother was failing in everything he touched, Aemond was succeeding and it was all for nothing. 

His mother was giddy to introduce him to people, ready to make a match of him and some rich lady, probably at the instigation of his grandfather. Another face, another introduction. Aemond did not remember the new rich people introduced to him by his mother. And why should he, he did not expect to see them again. 

He already knew the proper aces in the field since he was 9 years old, he remembered well Lannisters who did business with his father through their banks or the Royce family, giants in the food industry and of course Hightowers, his grandfather’s and his mother’s name, his uncle Gwayne being one of the best lawyers. Aemond was meant to soon join him, after he finishes his studies.

When I finish college.

There were many more of these names, sewed into his brain since a young age but these names did not change, they were all playing the same game with the same moves with the same chess pieces since he was born. Generational wealth hiding from the new kind, gatekeeping their society from the rest, while they enjoyed parties with the best of the best.

“Oh, Aemond, do you remember Margaret Baeltigar?” Soft touch of his mother’s hand, almost as if burning him, woke him up from his thoughts. He had no recollection of such a lady, maybe she was one of Alicent’s so-called friends or maybe some wife of an investor in the family’s company.

The lady was slightly older than his mother, clad in a light blue gown, her boney hand clutching her glass of champagne. She was the kind of skinny only obtainable by starvation, unhealthy diet. The smile she gave him was forced, too much white pearly teeth showing for his liking and for it to be sincere. Her posture was rigid as if she was posing and maybe she was, to him, to his mother, to everyone.

“Of course.” The polite small smile fell unappreciated since her gaze had already turned away, wide eyes searching for something specific, someone specific in the crowd of empty faces.

“Here she is…” Those words seemed forced, like an unwanted gift you still have anticipated, so you keep smiling to please the donor. “Finally.” Her mouth was once again outstretched in that horrendous toothy smile, lips almost cracking under the strain of holding it all together. Boney arms holding out for a hug.

“Hello.” There was a polite voice behind him but he did not turn. Aemond already knew what this was about, this was not the first time he would get ambushed by his mother’s scheming mind into the web of being introduced to some bratty heiress. He did not even notice when his brother ran off, probably searching for another drink or a white powder to misuse, leaving Aemond to fend for himself. 

The young lady moved in a nonchalant manner, her attention solely on her mother and her outstretched arms. The hug was awkward, he could feel the deja vu pulsing through him. Image of Aemond and his mother enveloped in such a hug. A constant reminder of the chasm between them over unsaid things.

The stark contrast between the mother and her daughter was apparent. Boney corpse parading around the mirage of a living body dressed in light blue dress and young lady in red, bow tying it all around her neck, accompanying her.

“This is my daughter.” 

“It’s so lovely to meet you, dear.” The smile on his mother’s face was sincere, in some manner she was always excited to meet new young ladies, if it was ‘cause of her single sons or lonely daughter he did not know.

“Oh, thank you.” There was untypical shiness to her, voice not trembling but slightly fighting to be heard in the overabundance of loud talking. She seemed confident enough next to her own mother just like he was next to his. Her bright eyes had moved from Alicent to him and Aemond recognized the uneasiness in them. Used to the parties but not used to the contact with people at them.

“I am Y/N-” Her words just like her unstretched hand toward him were interrupted by her mother abruptly moving to the side. Attention of everyone in the conversation then shifted to the new face entering in. Another young woman, this time more similar to the mother in her face, same structure but much younger was now staring at him, grinning widely. The white dress shining in the light.

“Oh, you have to meet my oldest! She is such a delight!” This time Mrs. Baeltigar’s voice was high pitched, excitement radiating from the statement.  This was the second time Aemond felt deja vu struck him on this particular night. Oldest and delight, that’s how his mother used to talk about Aegon in front of everyone. Her most prized son, a son who did not care for his education and ended up on his younger brother’s coach, hiding from the rest of the family. 

The Baeltigar’s oldest daughter was marching right to them the moment she realized her mothers presence. Almost bumping into one of the waitresses' sides, overjoyed by the possible introduction, she clung to her mother’s thin left arm. 

“Margo Baeltigar, pleasure to meet you,” Margo’s voice was similar to her mother’s high pitch and sugary, leaving a sour taste in Aemond. The oldest was almost hyper focused on him and before he could even react to her introduction, she opened her mouth again but no words got to him. Because while this conversation took place the other sister carefully navigated her way around her sister’s body, moving into the background. Her figure slowly and unnoticed disappearing behind the two M named ladies, fighting for his and Alicent's attention.

There was a heavy stone set in his throat, his stomach fluttering at the same time and Aemond did not know what it meant, not yet. 

Aemond was thankful for not being seated at the same table as his mother or anyone from his family and while the company next to him was quite boring he knew it could have always been worse. Five seats out of six already occupied, he was not expecting any miracles from the last person yet to arrive. 

On his right was one of his father’s long term investors with his wife, a quiet old man with an already full belly even before the food had yet to arrive, his wife still yapping in her husband’s ear since they were seated, while on his left were two other men, one of them younger than the other. The younger one seemed like a total newcomer to this kind of event, to this kind of society too, his eyes constantly darted from one table to another, trying to identify everyone present. However, the man next to him was the opposite, comfortably sprawled in his seat, his hand leaning on the young man’s chair, black eyes observing his behavior, finding amusement in it. His smooth hair was graying just like his beard but there was pleasant handsomeness in his face. 

“I was almost afraid you would run off,” The silver fox at their table spoke up, gaze heading to someone behind his shoulder, the last person finally arrived at their table.  Aemond was only slightly interested in the person, another short distraction in a long night, he knew them all and quite frankly, they were all boring. 

The figure moved, he could feel the movement behind him, wind picking up, fabric rustling, heels clicking. A woman. Or a very short man, he had noticed several guys trying to hide their shortage, pun intended, by clapping heels hidden beneath longer suit pants. 

His hand gripped the champagne flute, glass slick with condensation, almost causing shivers down his spine. The liquid was bitter, bubbles fizzing on his tongue, and for a second it was an uncomfortable feeling before the drink slid down. In moments like these Aemond understood why his brother was always drinking, in the end there was nothing else to do. 

The new addiction to the table was finally at her seat, still chatting with the man. And just like the bubbles his boredom fizzled off. The bow was gone and she was no longer wearing the pretty red dress. Her current dress was snow white, like fresh cotton sheets, and on one shoulder. The fabric was dangling off her in an awkward manner, almost as if it was not meant for her. Her shoulders were hidden by black suit jacket, a decent and modest combo, however, it was apparent the outfit was not meant to be this way.

But white suits her.

“Don’t worry, I just went to save my sister.” The almost silver haired man moved the empty chair for her to sit in more comfortably, too eager for a new distraction at the table just like Aemond was. And once again Aemond felt something within him move, how did they know each other, were they close, he might be years older than her but even his mother was significantly younger than his father. 

“Oh, what has she done this time?” Laughter erupted from the man, cheeks blooming red. For a moment, Aemond thought she would take offense to such a statement, he probably would but only in the sense of feeling embarrassment for himself stemming from his brother’s failures. In some sense he loved his brother but on most days he was exploding in anger over Aegon’s public mistakes.

 However, she only sheepishly grinned before motioning to her side. “Spilled some wine on herself.” And truly there it was, ugly red stain on her hip, the jacket covering it just enough to not be prominent in the evening dim lighting, saving her from judging glares.

“Of course you did.” This time the man was the one with a sheepish smile hiding behind his glass, twinkle in his eyes indicating some kind of hidden joke. 

The Targaryen felt like he was the only one witnessing the conversation even though the full table’s attention was turned to two. His eyes were scanning her face, then the dress and then her face again. She acted as if she was so used to it and there was silent understanding on his part for such action. It wasn’t long before the two noticed his unmoving gaze, while the other occupants of the table turned to their own matters.

“I suppose our introduction was cut short. I am Y/-,” He did like her smile, it was soft, not quite reaching her eyes, not in a malicious kind of way. To an untrained eye it would only seem like a sincere reaction, to Aemond’s it was apparent her smile was the result of years of practice. 

“I know.” His voice cut through her sentence like a hot knife, stopping her completely. Aemond knew of his talent to be awfully cold to people but this time he had truly overdone himself. The smile he rewarded her with, trying to improve his reputation, only received by a puzzled look from her and her companion. 

This night can’t get worse.

Rough grimace struck his face, muscles twitching under the pressure of his failing. He was good at this, he was good at these events. So why was he fucking it all up today? Bitter feeling bit his throat and he wished he could swallow all the shame in the world, devour every mistake he ever made so no one could gaze upon them and he would be perfect again. Was it because she felt familiar to him? Because she had the same watchful eyes behind her every step, watching her to complain about her wrong doings? Or maybe he was completely wrong and playing himself entirely.

After the food arrived, most of the over the table conversation had died down, except for a few whispers here and there between some of them. He did not register any kind of taste, all was now in a fog to him, the illusion of a perfect man shattering with each glance turned to her. Only consolation prize to him were the few and far inbetween looks she rewarded him with. The plates with food were gone just as fast as they appeared, all in a flash moving forward. It was time to go out, social torture once again in progress. 

And at the end of the night, when most of the guests had already left and the rest were getting ready to leave, he saw a glimpse of her saying goodbye to the older man from their table. Aemond realized he never got to know his name but he knew he could turn the tables, he could make this right again. 

There was not much left of the courage in him on this grim night, but what was left had to be sufficient for now. His movement was rigid, he weaved between the people, tables and chairs, mind almost blank except for the command to move forward, to go to her.

“Hi.” Was his voice always so rough? He tried to swallow with no success, the lump in his throat winning.

“Hi.” Her eyes were wide, caught by surprise, she moved to fully face him. The light softly illuminated her face, giving her a certain glow he knew he would never forget. There just was something so familiar about her. Like a picture he has seen before but now had no recollection of. Have they already met? He couldn’t remember even though he really wanted to.

“Sorry about the…” His head moved to their table, indicating what he meant without having to say that. Aemond was sure he would spontaneously combust if he had to talk about his own rudeness caused by the unfamiliar uneasiness in his stomach more than this.

“Oh, don’t worry about it.” Her answer was so casual, as if his rude behavior was long gone from her mind, while he wanted the opposite even if it were her remembering only the worst stuff about him. He needed her to remember him.

He could hear someone call her name, the shadow of her mother frantically waving her hand at them, signaling something to her. There was a drunk mess of a person even further behind her mother, hair everywhere, red dress tripping her on uneasy legs.

It was an image he was so used to by now, but this time, it was not his responsibility. It was someone else’s. And somehow it changed nothing, there was a bile rising up inside him, hands sweaty and heart beating too fast, such a familiar situation he saw her in. It was like looking in the mirror.

She was biting her lip anxiously, some part of her evidently annoyed at her sister and he wanted to tell her to never ever do that again. He wanted to take all her worries away, he wanted to do that for her.

“Sorry…” Her shoulders visibly slumped, one of her shoulders escaping from under the black jacket. “Have to go.” Her manicured thumb pointing behind her, at the mess she was meant to deal with. Her older sister was drunk off her mind, stumbling in the crowd, the man with her unable to hold her straight up, part of him found relief in the fact Aegon was not with her. One of her heels dangled off the man’s hand while the other wrestled to keep her on her feet.

“Have a great night!” Aemond thought these words might haunt him for the rest of his life, the rest of the night squished into few fragments of him saying bye to people and getting back to his apartment, while some part of him was still stuck in the moment with her.

Teal blue

This time she was wearing teal blue gown, satin complementing her skin like nothing he has ever seen. Her smile was wide and even though Aemond saw her only in passing, a warm feeling spread through his insides. Since their first encounter he had chastised himself for his behavior, praying for a chance to redeem himself to her.

However, they were not seated at the same table and for once he found himself disappointed for the lack of his mother's interference. And so after losing Aegon, in the crowd, even though he was meant to babysit him after his last drunk tirade at some club went public, he began mapping the whole place in hope to find the teal gown in the crowd. 

It was after the obnoxious dinner that he found her standing next to the bar, the silverfox by her side once again. Aemond could not hear them but it seemed as an interesting conversation by the way her arms flailed while explaining something. Wide grins spreaded over both of their faces before a round of giggles overcame them. Faced near each other in secretive closeness, they held on the other’s arms strongly while their bodies shook in held down laughter.

He wanted to know what they were to each other, how back they went and why they held each other so familiarly and he wanted to do the same with her. It was like a new emotion, jealousy he had never experienced. 

His pleading stares must have awoken some mercy in her. The young lady bid goodbye to her friend and gracefully walked over to him, still holding his gaze. And even though Aemond’s attention the whole night was fixated on the image of her, now that she was there, he was lost for words. 

“Evening.” The cheeky smile was back and if it was to disarm him it worked perfectly. Lost in his nervous thoughts, he chewed on his cheek, an anxiety filled bad habit he picked up as a kid. It took him a moment to realize she was patiently waiting for his reply. He completely forgot he was meant to give her his greeting too.

“Evening.” He could only mutter his reply. Needles of uneasiness prickling along his spine, giddy feeling spread through him now that he was once again near her. He needed to set it right, courage boiling his throat but no words came out, he was overwhelmed by all of it. His solace was found in a similar scene in front of him. 

She, like himself, was in a frozen state, mouth open, ready to speak and eyes moving all around the room, searching for something to say. Both of them desperately need to say something to the other, not only to fill the silence but for the simple reason to converse with the other one. 

The voices and music completely overwhelmed them and while they hoped it would soothe some of the anxiety over their failed meetings it only fueled their nerves more. Their eyes met again, corners of their mouths simultaneously lifted, smiling like idiots. And there was a silent understanding between them. The ballroom is too loud, let’s move it to the balcony.

The balcony itself was absolutely quiet, there was no one who would disturb them. Night cold breeze was slowly picking up but the heat from the inside was enough to keep them satisfied. He could not see the outside properly, lights blinding his vision of their surroundings and he liked it this way. 

Maybe this time he would not come off as a rude idiot to her, maybe this time it could all end well. Both of them stood with their backs to the lights of the ballroom, only darkness before them and cold railing underneath their hands. The silence between them was comfortable, for now at least.

Aemond was aware of the intense stare she was giving him, precisely his fake eye and the scar dividing the bad eye socket into two. It had been years since he gained the injury, the scar no longer dark reddish color but more of a white pink, it faded slowly, plus his mother begged his father to pay for laser treatment to help it fade out quicker. He also got gifted the new fake eye, his mother was absolutely ecstatic over it, her sweet son’s face finally appeared more normal. 

He knew she did not mean it that way but it still hurt, and the eye itself hurt or maybe it was the injury itself. If only he could wear his eyepatch to these kinds of events but according to his mother it was too eye-catching (pun not intended) compared to the fake eye even though if someone looked at him for too long they would probably notice not only the scar but the fact he could not fully open the eye or the lack of movement in it. And so fake eye it was.

“How did it happen?” Her eyes softly cascaded over his face before settling on his bad eye again.

“It was…,” Aemond felt like he couldn’t breathe, not this conversation again ,” an unfortunate accident.” Over the years he had dozens upon dozens of people asking him the same question and not stopping snooping even with his short answers cutting them off.

“Oh, sorry to hear that.” Her attention turned to the crowd behind them, they might have moved to one of the balconies but the noise of people was still present.

“It’s okay.” He hummed, never knowing what to say to those who pitied him over the injury. “It happened years ago.” Aemond hardly ever thought about it now, it worked as a bitter reminder of his own carelessness in the end. And while some responsibility laid with his cousins and brother he knew it was his decision, he couldn’t blame them for it even if he did at the start.

“It’s more purple.” Her attention was back on him, staring right at  the fake eye once again.

“What?”

“The other eye.” Her delicate hand pointed to his left side of face. “It’s more purple.” Aemond knew the prosthetic he got was not identical in the color to his other eye and while others claimed he was only imagining it, he knew. He knew it was not the exact shade of purple like his other eye.

People always saw the younger son of Alicent Hightower and Viserys Targaryen, second born son, the Targaryen boy, not Aemond. Not the young Baeltigar, she looked at him, not through him, not at his family, not at his very possibly, almost surely, shiny future thanks to his name.

He had never felt so seen in his life and being known by her became a carnal need to him.

This time it was his mother who called for a saving of an older sibling, in the middle of the night Aegon had sneaked away from Cole’s watchful eyes and ended up drunk as the dirty pig he was. They must have found him half asleep on some naked lady’s back in one of the private rooms of the manor the event was at, his hair was a complete mess, his earring already gone and tie let loose. Aemond expected him in a worse state than this, most of the time he was called to him half dead, this was nothing compared to those times. But his mother was red faced, completely embarrassed by his brother’s antics.

Light pink

It was weird, feeling this nauseating feeling within him. Aemond felt like a little boy again, excited for another gala where he could show how perfect of a son he is. When he was still a child he would parade himself around, maybe because his mother and father did not, while Aegon got all the attention. 

However, this time it was different, this time it was only because of one person, one person’s perception of him. He was excited to see her and for her to see him. Their last talk left him hopeful for more.

This time it was her who found him, dressed in light pink fabric that was easily floating around her in the soft breeze, she found him right after dinner. He was just thinking about the appetizer, perfectly composed plate with balanced flavors but he could not figure out what the sauce was made out of. It was a little game he liked to play with himself, so he wouldn’t lose his mind over the boredom. 

“Are our meetings destined to be cut short every single time?” With a champagne flute in hand, another occupied by a whole bottle of it, casually staring him down with a light smile gracing her face, she talked comfortably to him.

“Hope not.” He could feel corners of his mouth twitching and soon a similar smile appeared on his face. It warmed his heart that she was the one to find him, that he was not the only one searching for her and she herself was on a mission to find him. 

Just like the white dress, or any other actually, the light pink shade suited her. The thin fabric of the short sleeves hid her shoulders away from him but he was still fascinated by the soft skin of the inside of her arm.  He could feel the twitch of his fingertips over the thought of touching her there. 

Once again soft silence creeped on them while the both of them observed his older brother, balancing one glass of whiskey in his hand while trying to stay upright, his attention far away from the liquor spilling over the brim but on the young lady in front of him. If it was anyone else Aemond might have felt embarrassment bubbling up to the surface but since he had seen her own older sister in similar state, her presence left him unmoved by it. 

“I think some part of me hates him.” The words left him before he could fully comprehend what he was saying.

She hummed at that, it was a comforting sound he did not deserve, at least in his head. No proper brother could say something like this about his sibling. Regret was a bitter friend to his heart and to his mind. He should not have said that, not to her, she should not know how angry he was inside. 

“He is my brother.” He tried to convince her of his sins against his family, his kin. Part of him did not want to acknowledge fully what he said, he prayed to stay in her good grace, in everyone’s good grace by being the good son, the good Targaryen boy, polite, smart, sophisticated.

.

“I know.” She laughed with ease and Aemond knew the bitter feeling was not going to fade away, as always. He could not escape the regret of speaking out, he did not deserve any pity.

“It’s so hard to explain to anyone.” The words fell off his tongue so freely, Aemond thought someone else was using his mouth to voice out their concern. 

“Right?��� Another comforting sound came out of her and maybe the bitterness could fade away from him, from both of them. He could feel it radiating from her skin, they were so similar and unaware of it until now.  “Everyone always tells me to just let it go-, you don’t own them anything and yadayada-, but I can’t-”

“Because she is your sister.” Before she could finish, he knew what she was going to say, he knew those words too well. Everyone said them to him, let it go, let your brother go, he will fuck up and he will have to solve it. However, he could not because in the end he was the one getting voicemails of his drunk brother’s voice, panicked calls from his mother, there was no escaping it, his blood, his family tree tied him to this whole mess. Just like her.

“Yeah…” she nodded, tired from the whole situation. “Exactly.” He did not like the line between her brows, frown caused by his voice, his words. He wished to never see that expression on her face ever again.

“We can’t save them.” The wind pushed the words away from the pair and neither of them knew who uttered them first or who regretted them before the other one.

Another sip of champagne turned into two and then a long gulp, they shared the alcohol so freely, Aemond felt like he could fly in the sky, happy butterflies flapping their wings on the inside of him. She soon downed her flute and instead of filling it back up her hand set the glass down with a clink. 

The light from the ballroom framed her perfectly, creating a vibrant halo around her silhouette. And again Aemond was lost at the vision of her. She was so comfortable in her skin, in her own struggles, in this situation. She felt comfortable even to him and he wanted her to remain comfortable for the rest of her life.

And so he nudged her shoulder with the champagne bottle, creating a moist trace below her armlet. For a moment he was hypnotized by the droplet and its slick path trailing down her arm. He envied it for even a longer moment, to trace her skin to him is to die of the fire inside him. 

Her hand gripped the bottle, tilting it slightly, another sip of the still cold liquor ended in her mouth. And with that he realized she drank alcohol like Aegon did, with no struggle, with no twitch in her face over the bitter taste, like she liked the feeling of it hitting her tongue. He missed the weight of the bottle in his hand and the empty feeling started to itch on his skin, before he realized.

It felt almost intimate, his cheeks aflame and the little boy in him was kicking his feet. An indirect kiss. He drank from the bottle himself before her, their lips touched the same surface.

He did not even notice how the evening turned into a night, only darkness now facing them on the balcony high above ground. Voices behind them have yet to tune down but he could feel the event slowly ending.

And the familiar man was back, simply nodding to her not daring to step even a bit to them, only glancing at them from the inside of the big hall. The smile on his face might have been in a friendly manner but his round glasses hide the glint in his black eyes.

“What are you two?” Throughout their conversations Aemond realized he liked how she enjoyed his forwardness, just like he did with her. There was no shame between them.

“Me and…” there was a slight twitch in her face and she tried to contain it, unsuccessfully in the end “Kim?” 

Kim. 

He did not mind the name, it went over his tongue and he swallowed it slowly. It was not a name he hated, it just felt unfamiliar. However, he was not afraid of it, not with her by his side. The fox be damned.

The laughter was soft, almost scaring him for a moment. Whispered giggles as if she tried to hold it in, turned into a full blown cackling. Her body bending forward with hand set on her stomach, she looked at him, shining once again. 

“He is my friend. Like an uncle… some sort of, I guess.” She giggled at these words. Quick glance and he saw Kim looking their way again, smirking in a conspicuous manner. 

“Oh.” Embarrassment reddened his cheeks, shattering any kind of thoughts left in his stupid thick skull, except for the two voices.

Of course.

They are just friends.

Calm down.

Thank god.

Tucking on his sleeve, he turned his full attention back to her. His body was so close to hers, he could almost distinguish the shape of the lights reflecting in her eyes. And her wide eyes only stared at him. Aemond could get used to this kind of attention, he loved it too much for his liking. It was intoxicating.

Her arms enveloped him, she folded him into her embrace like it was nothing, it was an instinct to her. Even Aemond could feel she needed him close, a secret message embedded into the touch but the meaning was evading him. Both of them knew though, this meant something to both of them and it calmed them.

She was holding him so close and so gently, he never ever experienced something like this. No one ever treated him this way, he almost thought he did not deserve it. It was foreign but not unpleasant but he still felt undeserving of this. To receive kindness was a different kind of punishment for him. Warm touch burning him to the bones, scarring him, it was an awful feeling like nothing else. However, this felt holy, as if gods decided to bless his horrible mind. His horrible mind that only thought of her, how he could keep himself in her presence. She was warm and kind, dark as a shadow and present in everything. No, there might be a holiness in her touch, that kind he might become slave to, but to her, there was nothing saint. She was rotten, broken and mend on the inside like him and still she decided to look at him as if complete, as if she accepted it. And Aemond knew he could never get enough of it.

At that moment it was apparent to him. Hell existed and for them it was their sacrifices for their families, expected of them and without reward. Hell for them was sewed into their blood and they couldn’t do anything about it just obey the law set upon them by the iron chain in their veins. 

Her movement unsettled him, afraid of losing her warmth, calmness now in disarray in his heart. She moved away, just slightly but enough that they could see into each other's eyes and there was uncommon indecision in her stare, and then she moved again.

The first touch of her lips was hesitant, almost shy and maybe it was all the alcohol playing with his brain, Aegon oftentimes blabbered with his drunk mouth about beautiful dreams of even more beautiful ladies before Aemond woke him up to get him home. But if it was a dream, he hoped it would last a lifetime before he himself had to be awoken.

It was soft, almost innocent. Her lips just gently touched his before courage overtook her and something hungry awoke in him. What was once a gentle embrace soon turned into a violent clash, their mouths fighting against each other, devouring more and more of the other person. There was no stopping now, any kind of will of holding themselves back was gone forever. They stepped over the line, now open for crossing.

Her hand gripped his forearm urging him closer, each kiss more hungry, igniting something within him. Soon a soft skin met his neck, gripping the hair at the base and tugging. In that moment his legs almost gave up on him, the overwhelming feeling consuming him completely, his mind, his body and his soul. 

That's how life should be, he thought, being drunk and kissing a pretty girl, kissing her.

Her warmth suddenly left him and the young Targaryen had no desire to open his eyes, too afraid of the dream ending. Maybe if he kept his eyes closed he would never wake up, she would never leave and her touch on his skin would be still present.

Another soft kiss tore him up from that fantasy, this time on his cheek and what he saw was a vision he never wished to forget. Her cheeks were red, hair a complete mess, absolutely breathless, trying to calm down but still the most beautiful person he has ever met. Pupils blown wide moving across his face, her smile reached her eyes and her whole face was bright.

“I have to go.” He did not like those words. No, there was no ending to it now, they were meant to kiss forever until both of them suffocated, unable to leave the presence of the other.

“No.” His voice was hoarse but the implication of his words seemed too stern for his fogged brain. 

“My taxi is here.” Her hand moved, pointing to the yellow car parked and waiting for the next passenger. The smile she gave him was reassuring, lulling him back to the foggy fantasy of kissing her again. 

“Oh.” 

He watched her wave goodbye to a few people, leaving in their own cars or by other taxis, he himself should get moving, find his brother and leave too. However, he could not move, his body rigidly straightened, neck craning to catch a few last more glimpses of the car she left in. 

And even with her once again gone, Aemond’s mind was dizzy and belly full of butterflies.

“Awww, you smooched the girl.” His brother giggled from the coach, his form morphing into the soft cushions, with one of his sweaty hands grasping for the bottle set on the coffee table. While his brother was occupying the coach, his oldest cousin took the armchair next to it, spreaded out just like Aegon. Luke, the younger cousin of his, was meanwhile seated next to his brother but on the ground with his back to the armchair, with one cushion stuffed under him, functioning like a seat.

All of them were in some state of disarray, of course his brother the most. Aegon’s tie was missing, just like his suit jacket and one of his shoes. If he knew one of his feet was bare, not counting the dirty sock still stuck on it, he did not let it be known by anyone. The white shirt he wore was sticking to his skin and some of the buttons were undone throughout the night, Aemond could see the tiny stain on his right wrist. White wine or whiskey, he wasn't sure. Compared to him both of Jace’s shoes were present, his hair a complete mess just like Aemond’s, and while he took off his own suit jacket it was apparent that tomorrow won’t be pleasant for his head. The most kept of them was young Luke presumably because Jace did not let him drink more than a flute of champagne through the dinner and a few sips of the wine served at the event.  

“You didn’t have to call them here.” Aemond waved his hand to their cousins. His older brother decided to end his night with a big sweet treat as a finale, Aemond’s humiliation. It took him one text, snap exactly, to their cousin Jace and they were all here, in Aemond’s apartment. At least Baela and her sister went out for more drinks and were not present, plus Heleana already left because she felt too tired, bless her heart.

“Oh, come on.” Aegon was enjoying it all, the panicked expression of his brother, the utter confusion of their cousins and most of all, the drink he was finishing. “Take this as a…,” his arms motioned into the open living room, searching for the correct words,“family bonding experience, eh?” His brother’s face was once again graced by a cheeky smirk. Once more Aemond felt like a joke, as a tired, drunk joke but he knew if he decided to go to bed, sleep would not overcome him, only panic would.

“So… How did it happen?” Young Luke piped up, his ears turning a light shade of pink. At least Aemond was not the only one embarrassed by the conversation.

“Well-, I-I kissed her?” Shrugging his shoulders, Aemond tried to act as if talking about it was not bothering him at all, as if it was another normal conversation.

“That sounded more like a question, mate.” This time it was Jace who spoke up, not giving Aemond even a glance, occupied by his phone, possibly texting Baela, while still part of the conversation.

“We… kissed…” He was at a loss of words, how does he describe it…. It wasn’t like this was Aemond’s first kiss, far from that. There were some girls in school when he was younger, few relationships, notably with Alys, that one had a nasty end. “And… so- like…,” The whole conversation was not only irritating his nerves and his brain but his eye, the old scar pulsing under the pressure of the talk and even the fake eye.

Fuck. I need to get it out.

Aemond was still uncomfortable with taking his fake eye out in front of… well basically anyone and while he could go search for the eyepatch he wore instead of the artificially created prosthetic, his nerves did not allow him to move.

His silence was not taken lightly by the men in his living room, each of them racking their brains as to why someone like him was unable to describe what happened.

“But it was like…” Jace nodded his head, trying to indicate the words without saying them,” y’know… consensual?” At this Aemond’s pacing stopped, it all happened too fast. Did HE kiss her first? He definitely didn’t have enough courage to kiss her first, did he? Maybe the alcohol, maybe she… 

“I… think so?” Memories in Aemond’s head started to swim, prompted by an anxious feeling setting in his chest, messing up his perception of the events or maybe it was the alcohol…

“Okay…” He did not like this reaction from his brother one bit, nerves one level higher and he might definitely explode. The whole room was slowly but surely getting influenced by his own nerves in the end not helping him ease his mind at all, more like provoking him to descend to madness more and more.

“So that kiss was like… alright, eh?” Aegon’s unsure face was also not helping his nervous mind.

“Eh…” He did not like this sound, he himself did not know where it came from but the tone prompted everyone to silently pounder for a few seconds before they arrived at their separate conclusions.

All eyes turned to his tall frame, mouths slowly opening. “Don’t.” He tried to shut them down promptly, hand raised at them once again, especially if their conclusion was that he was a bad kisser.

“But what if she actually doesn’t like you?” Aegon’s words cause them to think again while Aemond pointed his finger at him, fuming and ready to slap his brother over the head.

“Wait a second…” He tried to gain footing in the conversation but it was a losing battle. “I am just saying that-” This time Aemond was sure to swat his hand toward his brother, meters away, meant to not cause any harm but to at least scare him a bit.

“Hold on,-” Luke was unsuccessfully trying to defuse the situation, getting this conversation might have been going the wrong route.

“He did not mean it like that!” Jace too tried to intercede the whole ordeal but just like his younger brother completely unsuccessful.

“Yeah and how the FUCK did he mean it then!?” Aemond’s nerves finally gave up, letting out his fury. 

“Calm DOWN!” The armchair under Jace screeched after he pushed it in an attempt to stand up, ending up back in it after losing his balance.

“He WAS JUST SAYIN-” It was Luke’s turn to get up or it was simply prompted by his brother moving his back support. 

“I DON’T CARE!” His throat felt tight, scratched from the volume of his voice. He knew he was losing it but he could not stop.

The words took everyone by surprise. They were used to some mean and angry words from Aemond, he was antisocial on his better days and if pushed far enough he would get cruel in some fucked up way to hide himself from the world. However, to see him bubble over, to let himself scream so unapologetically… this was the first time for any of them to witness, even Aegon got quiet.

“What if she doesn’t like me?” It came out more like a whisper, an involuntary sound escaped him and Aemond was finally ready to collapse, to throw it all out of the window, lose it completely and most embarrassingly ready to cry in front of them.

“I mean, maybe she likes y-” Aegon’s voice piped from his right, still on the coach he was subtly hiding behind his now empty beer bottle.

“YOU said that MAYBE SHE DOESN’T LIKE ME!” 

“I am sure she likes you.”

“HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT?”

“WELL, I WAS NOT THERE!” 

But this time Aegon was down to yelling it out along with his brother, the alcohol or just his rude nature supporting him in the decision. The screaming match went on for quite some time, Luke and Jace slowly joining, the living room becoming louder and louder, Aemond’s downstairs neighbors were sure to call the police any minute now. At the end none of them knew how the screaming match started, who argued with what or what they were arguing about, the alcohol dulling their sense of reason.

“Why are you all yelling?!” Baela’s agitated voice sounded from the front door, she was still in her coat while Rhaena had her shoes already off.

And then inferno began once more, voices shouting over each other in a chaotic symphony.

“RHEANA!”

“BAELA! YOU WON’T BEL-!”

“WHAT IF SHE DOESN’T LIKE M-!”

“YO AEMOND KISSED -!”

For a moment they all quieted down, catching their breath, bodies heaving and faces reddened, fingers still pointed at each other. “What?” Rheana asked, turning her gaze to her sister in a confused manner. Baela instead looked unamused partly because she got used to such banter from the younger two men.

“DRINKS!”

All heads turned to Aegon whose attention was now preoccupied by the plastic bag dangling from Baela’s hand. She lifted her hand, dangling it in front of his face as some sort of bait. And while the girls lured Aegon into the kitchen with the bad set down on the kitchen counter, Aemond felt like crying. Crying like when he was a little kid, unable to escape his doom.

Bottles clicked against each other aggravating Aemond even more. His anxiety was spiking up, dizziness almost overcoming him. This could only result in another screaming match between all of them until he would give up and tell them to fuck out of his apartment, Aegon included, even if he had been sleeping on his coach for the last 2 months.

Speaking of which, his brother was once again attempting to open a new bottle of beer while the girls finally sat on the coach previously occupied solely by him. “Thanks for the keys.” Rheana’s outstretched arm was handing him his keys but Aemond felt drained of all energy. Instead of taking them he motioned for her to throw them, catching them with ease. The iron keys to his apartment comfortably cold from the outside night air, grounding him in his own body. He was fine, in his living room, in his apartment… and he was fine.

“So…,” Rheana could feel his uneasiness prompting her to tune down the volume of her voice to a soft mumble, almost whispering, “what was all of this about?” 

“He kissed the girl,” Aegon shared on the behalf of his brother. Aemond was not sure if it was for his own sakes or if he simply wanted to be the one to break the news once again.

“The girl?” Her eyebrows raised, Baela motioned with a light smirk to Jace to continue, to indulge her curiosity. And he would of course indulge her as always. “Yeah.” 

“Wait… what girl?” Her sister spoke up, this time louder while another cheeky smile played on Baela’s face, giggling like a schoolgirl ready to receive another juicy rumor.

So Aemond recounted the story one more time, this time properly with some actual details. They talked, shared some personal stuff, and when it came to saying goodbye she kissed him before leaving in a taxi. He made sure to leave out the details of his knees buckling every time she had touched him or the fact he could still smell her shampoo and was still thinking about her eyes, lips, everything.

“Well, she is the girl.” Baela whispered mischievously, her elbow assaulting her sister’s side before the mischief in her face turned into another loud laughter. Rheana giggles had continued to sound throughout the room, waking him up again.

“Yeah?” Confused grimace overtook Luke’s face, his whole face scrunched in confusion. “So?” With a nod Aemond tried to urge the girls to continue, almost not breathing over what might come out of their mouths. There was hope for his doing and where was hope was also disappointment.

“I can guarantee you she knows that she is THE girl” Rhaena laughed even more. “I mean SHE kissed him!” Aegon gave Aemond a pointed look which turned into a cheeky grin before a hysterical laughter overcame him, realizing they truly might have been overthinking the whole situation. The bottle of beer he was holding up to his mouth for a not sip shaking violently, spilling some of its content out on his shirt, adding to the mess of him.

 “Honestly, guys… I don’t know what you are all debating over” The sisters bumped their shoulders, giggling like little girls, excited over the information. “She obviously likes him.” And even more loud giggles followed, Aegon gradually joining in with his screeching laugh, not holding back.

“Shit.” Faint murmur left his lips. Realization setting in, he might have kissed her but she was definitely the first one to make a move.

This was one of the worst and best nights in his life.

[vexic929]

details about OCs for whichever OC you'd like to talk about!

🎮🩹💤🚫🐷😊

Answering for Eoland, Berrie, and Vice because I love my disaster children

🎮 VIDEO GAME CONTROLLER — what are three of your oc’s favorite hobbies?

Eoland's hobbies are stalking Barbara Allen, plotting against Barbara Allen, and making Barbara Allen's life hell because she can

Berrie's hobbies are chess, soccer, and drawing

Vice's hobbies are playing guitar, writing songs, and causing problems on purpose

🩹 ADHESIVE BANDAGE — does your oc have any physical and/or mental disabilities?

Eoland has ADHD and autism

Berrie has ADHD, autism, and chronic illness

Vice has ADHD, autism, insomnia, RA, and needs glasses

💤 SLEEPING SIGN — is your oc a light sleeper or a heavy sleeper? how are their sleeping habits?

Eoland is a very light sleeper, any small thing can wake her instantly

Berrie is a heavy sleeper (like many teenagers lol) he takes a while to quiet his brain enough to fall asleep but once she's out, she's OUT

Vice suffers from insomnia and unfortunately wakes up at the slightest noise so they're usually running on coffee and chaos

🚫 PROHIBITED — does your oc drink/smoke? do they do it regularly, or is it more on occasion or for special events?

Eoland smokes solely to be a bitch, it does absolutely nothing for her it's purely an aesthetic choice and an inconvenience to others lol she also drinks but as a social activity and again it doesn't do anything for her

Berrie is not old enough to drink or smoke though she has tried alcohol and learned it doesn't affect her lol

Vice doesn't smoke anything but she enjoys edibles every once in a while and drinks on occasion

🐷 PIG FACE — what is your oc’s favorite animal?

Eoland isn't a fan of animals but if she had to choose she'd go with a cat since they can be left alone

Berrie loves dogs and cats and basically any fluffy critter lol you know that tiktok of the toddler who caught a squirrel? that's Berrie

Vice is a snake person they think they're the prettiest creatures on the planet

😊 SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES — what are your oc’s career/general life desires? what do they want to get the most out of life?

Eoland's only goal is to destroy Barbara Allen's life (or marry her but we all know that won't happen)

Berrie's original goal was to double major in psychology and veterinary medicine when she went to university

Vice just wants to live a happy life with his boyfriend and would like for his band to take off at least a little bit

[punkforkos]

@deityofhearts yippee!!! It makes me really happy that you’re interested in my guys!! (And again, tysm for the compliments ;w;)

I laurvv to blab about my ocs so here we go!!

To explain this piece, I'll have to get into his backstory a little bit!

Daniel Bishop (Cain's real name) was born as the result of a one-night stand between his mother, Laura Bishop, and a man he'd never meet... she was young and on her own, so she turned to one of the churches to help her through the pregnancy.

This ended up being a big mistake because the church itself was basically a cult? The deity they devoted themselves to was a made-up figure called Tesarin, the goddess of humility and kindness. As it turns out, the church was a scam that preyed on the desperate, trying to keep its followers subservient and poor, content with receiving meager things so that they would work for cheap. Staying humble ensured good things would come your way, or so they said.

Cain's mother fully believed in this idea and dedicated herself to the church. They helped her through her child's birth and let her recover, but when the time came, she was assigned to work at a noble household as part of her worship to pay back that kindness.

And from the time when he was old enough to work, Cain served as a child servant to this noble household. He resented it because he saw how hard the work was for his mother (and for himself); she tried her best to stay positive but it was difficult to always keep up the mask. He didn't really want to believe in the god or its promises, but he still prayed for his mother's sake.

However, when he was 18, the noble household ended up being attacked and the whole family was murdered, along with his mother and a few of the other workers. Cain only survived because he had stowed himself away in the basement. This absolutely destroyed Cain, who fully denounced all gods in the world for not intervening in this tragedy. How could they let something like that happen to someone who didn't deserve it? Someone who had so much faith?

He burned down the manor and all of its bad memories with it... but the survivor's guilt never once left him. He honestly feels like a part of him died that day and he mourns that child all the same. He began working under a new name and identity entirely (becoming Cain Rook or C.Rook) and started his life as a criminal... always running from his past.

I'm trying so hard to be relatively brief about this but I could go on and on abt the inner dynamics he had with the members of the noble family, with his mother, with himself, and his perception of how everything went down. And about how he lived his life before he met his party members!! I could go on about his story of growth, but that's not what this piece is abt!!! So I'm putting the muzzle on.

If you wanted to see his backstory in a visual way, here's an old comic I made that depicts it!! <<

Now to explain the themes and the piece itself!!

Fire is an obvious one!! He was the one who set his past ablaze, he's the one who crawled out of its ashes, and he's the one who gets to experience rebirth throughout his story.

Cain's name and the identity change are a huge part of his personal story. The chess theme stems a lot from this, going from a Bishop to a Rook, a pious figure becoming a crook. Lots of wordplay happening with this one. And if you'll indulge my tarot mentions, the Rook piece looks a lot like a tower! (The Tower represents a major, sudden and unexpected change. Destruction, catastrophe, but also can be the start of something fresh.)

Hands end up becoming a big visual motif when I do pieces like this for Cain... because in his nightmares, he's always seeing people reaching out for him, blaming him for being the sole survivor or trying to drag him back down with them.

And because you've made it this far, I'll share some of the old symbolism pieces I've made for Cain! Left one features Cain and the eldest daughter of the noble family, Adelaide. Right one is all about Cain's religious trauma and how he mourns his old self 😭

ouughj... i can yap abt him for eternity.

It's a tradition at this point to draw symbolic backstory pieces for Cain. he's got oh so much religious trauma and survivor's guilt. poor boy...

>> my carrd | ko-fi | inprnt <<

[concealeddarkness13]

OC Kiss Week: Prompt 2 Food

Content warning for kissing and suggestive themes. Here’s the next prompt! This one is also from All’s Fair, and it’s Chess and Naivi this time, with Chess being the POV! This is technically from canon, even though I haven’t written this scene yet, but it’s while Chess and Naivi are technically still enemies, but Naivi helps Chess with her magic! Tagging: @ratracechronicler, @maple-writes, @pen-of-roses, and @drabbleitout!

What the fuck was I doing? I was being such a fool, just walking over to Naivi’s house like she wasn’t my enemy who wanted to cause destruction and take back everything me and my friends had worked toward. But…shit. Everyone else was working on important things, and I had nothing to do. And I had reason to believe that Naivi was being manipulated, and maybe I could convince her she was wrong.

Yes. That was totally why I was wandering up to her door after having had one drink (not drunk, I assure you). Not because she was the first person who showed me kindness for nothing in return. Totally not because she had told me that making friends was very important, that sometimes it was okay to be vulnerable to people and to trust them. And absolutely not because she had actually shown me that physical affection could actually feel good, and it wasn’t terrible for me to want it to feel good.

I just…I wanted to talk to her. Maybe convince her to abandon her plan before Maisa destroyed her. Everyone else in my group had already given up on her and believed that killing her would be the only way to obtain peace, but I couldn’t. I had heard what had happened to her in the past, and she had been the first person to be kind to me. There had to be a way to convince her.

I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. It only took a few moments before she opened the door, and shit. She had her sleeves rolled up, so I could see her muscles, and damn, she was beautiful. She blinked and stared for a bit before she smiled. “Chess. What…what are you doing here?”

My cheeks burned, and I fiddled with my hands. “Um, truce for the night? I have nothing to do, and I…I wanted to talk.”

She smiled more, and her eyes glittered with excitement. “Of course! I just finished dinner, but there’s plenty for you as well! Also, I had something I wanted to ask you as well, but I didn’t know when would be a good time.” She stepped back and let me in, and it was so warm inside that I took off my jacket and hung it up. The house smelled amazing, the smell of seasoned fish and bread wafting from the kitchen.

Naivi brushed a hand over my shoulder, gently guiding me to the kitchen. “Let’s eat first, and then I’ll ask you, if that’s okay. What did you want to talk about?”

I swallowed hard and nodded, walking into the kitchen and grabbing a plate to get some fish and bread. “You know what I wanted to talk about.”

Naivi stayed quiet for a bit before she nodded. “Of course. You probably won’t be able to change my mind though. I can’t forgive the species for what they did—what they’ve done to every human. They need to pay.” She got a plate and walked to the table, and I finally sat down across from her.

“By killing all of them? What if they had done that to us when the prosthetics experiments started so long ago? We wouldn’t be here discussing this! And you’ll just condone hurting or even killing humans in those experiments just for your revenge!”

She took a deep breath and nodded. “I understand. But they won’t change. They destroyed my family! They’ve destroyed more families than the prosthetics experiments have ever destroyed!”

“They will change. They are changing.” I leaned forward, trying to get her to see, begging for her to see. I didn’t want to kill her to stop her plan. I couldn’t. “We’re talking to the leaders right now, proving to them that humans are equal to the other species. I’ve found individuals who want to respect humans and treat them well. They can change. Please. I…I don’t want to fight you.”

Her breath hitched, and she looked away. I deflated. I was so terrible at convincing anyone. “I’m sorry. I can’t. Not after everything I’ve done. But…” She hesitated. “Maybe. I…I’d need good proof before I would be willing to change my mind. I’m sorry. I don’t want to fight you either. But I do have something I want to ask.” She looked at me, waiting until I nodded before she continued. “I don’t like how Aeflin is running the prosthetics experiments. I tried to tell her my ideas to make the prosthetics safer and let the magic be more potent and less likely to harm the user. She hasn’t listened to me, but if you would be willing to try, I would love to try my idea on your prosthetics. If it works, you’ll be able to use your magic a lot easier.”

I stared at her. She could really do that? And I filed the name Aeflin away for later. I would need to research her to see who she was. But I found myself nodding. I actually trusted her, even if we were on different sides. “Yes, please. If it’ll help me not have to cough up smoke anymore, I’d very much like to try it.”

Naivi smiled. “Then I’ll try it after dinner.”

*

After dinner, Naivi had me sit on the couch, and she rolled up my pants so she could get to my leg prosthetic. I had on a tank top, so my arm prosthetic was uncovered. She grabbed some tools and came back, sitting down on the floor in front of me. She looked up in my eyes. “If anything hurts too much, please let me know.” I nodded, and she started working.

I didn’t watch, didn’t want to start remembering the fleeting dreams where I was strapped down on a table while faceless scientists worked on my prosthetics. “Where did you learn this?”

She smiled a little. “I’ve liked working on machines since I was young. My mother helped me learn to begin with, but I found tinkering with machines was just some fun busywork. I learned to study machines and understand them so I could hopefully fix anything.” She glanced up at me. “That’s what I want to do more than anything. Fix things. It hasn’t worked out that way yet.” She sighed and kept working. “I’ll help the victims soon.”

I bit my tongue, not wanting to argue, just wanting to hug her tightly and show her that violence didn’t have to be the answer, but I just stayed quiet. I just watched her, feeling a warmth in my chest. She was so focused on her task, and her touch was so gentle and kind, and I couldn’t help but relax at the soft touch. She finished, and something felt different, but she just said she was going to work on my arm now, and I just stayed still. She moved to sit next to me, and as she worked, I brought my hand to her knee, and I smiled a little at the faint blush of her cheeks.

She stuttered as she kept working. “Have-have you found something about outside the enclosure that you like?”

I smiled, not even having to think about it. “The animals. I never saw an azure snake before this or a fallo. They’re the best!” (For anyone who doesn’t know, azure snakes are snakes with scales that reflect the sky, and they eat negative emotions. And fallos are fuzzy creatures that are waist-height for most people (who are taller than me), and they love getting pets, and they can take away magic temporarily when you pet them.)

Naivi nodded, smiling at me. “I could show you some other animals later if you’d like. Well…” She bit her lip. “After all this is over either way, I guess. If we survive it.”

I looked away from her. “I can’t kill you.”

She laughed a little. “And I can’t either. Which is ironic. The person who is standing the most against me, I can’t even find a reason to lift a finger against. I’m helping you get better magic, even!” She laughed more, shaking her head before looking up at me with serious eyes. “But really, I hope you can prove me wrong. Even if it means I die for it.” She sighed, and before I could respond, she patted my arm. “I finished. Could you check to see if it worked?”

I hadn’t even noticed. I finally tore my eyes from her and held up my prosthetic arm. When I felt for the magic, it had moved to my prosthetic, and I frowned and called on it, and it came to my fist so easily. I blinked and stared and held it, and there was nothing from my lungs. Nothing making me cough. It was…gone.

I laughed and willed the fire to cover my skin and get hotter, and it immediately did so, so that blue fire was covering my entire body. I smiled over at her, actually starting to cry. I could actually use my magic again! “Thank you. I…I know we’re not allies, but thank you so much. I’ve felt cursed by this magic for so long.”

She clapped and squealed. “This is amazing! It can be done! I…I never wanted to hurt the people who were part of the experiments. I wanted to find volunteers and have the magic not hurt them, but Aeflin insisted and didn’t let me do anything. I’m so glad I could help you.”

She reached toward me, and I quickly dismissed my magic as she took my hands. She squeezed them. “Aeflin hurt you more than anyone else. I’ve…I’ve wanted to fix your prosthetics for so long to at least give you something happy after all the pain she caused. Thank you. I’m sorry it took so long.”

I nodded, and I didn’t even think as I hugged her tightly. “You’ve…you’ve helped me so much. You were the first person who showed me kindness without expecting anything in return. I…I can’t hurt you.”

She hugged me back, soothing a hand over my back. “Then prove me wrong. Please. I want to be wrong. But until I see proof that they’re actually changing, I can’t…I can’t trust them to not take away everyone I love again.”

I nodded and leaned back, staring into her eyes. I felt so damn safe around her. I glanced at her lips. “Can I kiss you, Naivi?”

She smiled. “Of course.”

And I kissed her passionately, moaning a little as she kissed me back and pushed against me, actually pushing me down into the cushions. We kissed until we both had to breathe, panting and staring at each other. My cheeks were burning, and she looked flushed too. I smiled. “Maybe…maybe I could stay the night?”

She tilted her head. “I don’t think that would be safe,” she whispered. She leaned down and kissed my neck before scraping teeth over my skin, and I couldn’t help but moan again. Shit. “But I’ll see you soon, and I hope you can prove me wrong, darling.” She sat back up, as if we hadn’t just been so close. “But you can still stay a little while.”

And that was all I needed. I scooted closer and curled up against her, just happy to be able to cuddle. We’d figure it all out. Everything would be fine. I would make sure of it.

[yanderecandystore]

Rip Tumblr D-do you have any dragon ocs that might kidnap their s/o? Also I know that this is a stupid question but can I call myself Cold anon? ;-;

Hello 🍨 Cold ❄️!! I'm really glad you sent me this request!

 The current app that I use for writing is bugging out a lot, so I'm sorry if there are many grammar errors and mistakes here and there.

 And uh... Cold? I think I fucked up your ask? I think I got a little too excited and went in a different direction?? If you don't like it I understand, I could always do another one 😳😋

 TW/Tags: Guess who is being an emotional ball once again?? Me! Yey! Send help! // look, I'm sorry but, low-key? This is edginess overload lol (medieval bitch times, which by that I mean: dark times with terrible people in it) // deaths // abuse of power // Reader said: eat the rich // non-binary reader just because // cursing // slight plot twist? But, like, bad plot twist // soft dragon boi 

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

You curious little thing - [Yandere!Dragon x Reader - Short Fanfiction]:

" Deep in the forest, up in the mountains, legend says that a dragon sleeps deep within the caves. And as the old story goes, gold awaits inside his domain, but only those courageous enough to enter the deep cave and defeat the dragon, would be able to take the creature's treasure.

Many have persuaded the quest of defeating said dragon, yet no one ever came back to tell the story.

And while you sit at the comfort of your small cottage reading about the old tales of the dragon's cave, you can't help but consider the story to be just that, a story. A piece of fiction made to scare the local children away from the mountains, or to enchant those that were easily invested into these types of stories.

It seems like you're one of those that were fascinated by the old tales. Regardless of if you find it true or not. The old tales still hold a mysterious charm that manages to keep you intrigued no matter what age you re-read them.

Tales of the forest spirits protecting their land with mischievous wit, tales of monsters that crawled out of your bed to cause nightmares on the simple minded, tales of mighty dragons who could easily rule the world if they so pleased to.

Yet they didn't. Either because they didn't want to, or maybe they really didn't exist. Who knows, right [Y/N]? Not that you, a simple commoner, would know any better.

Although, from the tales you read, isn't always the common folk the ones to first encounter these things?

It always ends bad, but still.

A commoner would be the first one to be affected by the wrath of such supernatural creatures.

However, as stated before, there is no way of knowing if such a thing is real or not, right? It's been eons since the last time someone even mentioned a dragon's presence in your kingdom, and it's been centuries that the concepts of dragons had fallen into the mythological category.

There hasn't been a single person to mention the beast's names in years. There was no visible way of them being remotely real, right? That sounded absurd.

But of course, like all tales are written, your's seem to have reached the beginning of your own personal adventure when the king mentioned the need of soldiers willing to face the beast inside the cave, who was presumably hibernating throughout this whole time.

And of course, the public had only laughed at this sort of news. You see, your king's authority over the entire land has been dangling by a thin thread. The taxes, the frauds, the imminent wars threatening to occur at any second now, has helped a small portion of people to start questioning if not downright rebelling against him and his reign of terror.

The revolution was rising slowly, yet something needed to push it forward, the straw that broke the camel's back.

"What could it be?" You might be wondering.

How about kidnapping and force recruitment with the help of blackmailing? Specifically targeting the poorest people in the kingdom and taking their family members hostage if they don't comply?

Sounds so evil that you may think it's bullshit right? So inhumane, that the villain of this story might as well be your crazy king, right?

Oh, [Y/N]. You're absolutely right, yet a little bit wrong considering that even if such an evil act sounds absurd, it's absolutely real. It's part of your reality now.

And even if your king is a vile creature of pure hatred and deserves to be fed to the rats, by being a terrible ruler, husband, and father- You were soon about to learn that there are worse, more powerful forces that can easily overpower the insanity of that sad, pathetic evil man.

To your dismay, your family was one of the chosen ones to suffer from this. Because of poverty, you and your father lived in the outskirts of the kingdom. It was perfect for the king and his soldiers, as you and your father lived distant from the main town, if any of you two ever die on the process of going into the beast's cave, or disobey the king's orders, no one would notice if you two were suddenly wiped from the face of the Earth.

And of course, holding hostage just one person was easier than multiple family members. Although your king was absolutely insane if not completely psychotic, you could at least understand how he moved his pieces in this massive game of chess.

I mean, yes, you understand his reasoning. Still doesn't mean he is right.

Soldiers didn't wait too long to show up and try to force your father to go with them. But you didn't take none of that, you wouldn't let your dying father be taken by them.

You screamed, you shout, you let venom spill out of your mouth by each profanity you threw at the soldiers and the king they claimed to serve. It didn't take long before the general noticed that you were one of the rascals forming a rebellion. Well, you didn't really need to be officially part of the revolution, just disagreeing was enough to make the general decide to take you instead of your old father.

You can still remember how he was trying to scream his lungs out, to stop the soldiers somehow.

This was it, right? The day, for you and possibly all these other commoners to die in the name of an asshole. How honoring.

Among you and other miserably unlucky individuals, there were all kinds of different people. From innocent, to criminals. From young to old, from poor to… Well, mildly not as poor. Nobles would never be subjected to this, you know that. All of these individuals were carried away by a carriage. All crammed into one little vehicle, away from the public sight.

After being far enough from the town and now deep within the forest, the soldiers commanded all of you to get out of the carriage as now you'll begin to walk straight to the mountain while carrying… Gold?

"- It's a gift from the king. Survive long enough, and you'll be able to take it with you." The general said, his tone being condescending as ever.

You could…. Technically run away, right now. They haven't really put any restrains in any of you-

"- Over there!" A soldier alerted the general, who looked little surprised by seeing two of your group running away with the gold in hands.

Without hesitation, or even a slight hint of empathy, the general shot both with his crossbow. Their bodies fall flat in the forest ground, with all that gold and jewelry accompanying them. All that gold being wasted and left behind, just like the bodies of the people carrying them.

You felt sick, the need to vomit was surfacing through your stomach. This- This is terrible!? This is so cruel! How can they continue to walk like nothing happened??

God, how did a once prospering kingdom has now fallen in such a low pit?

As you can imagine, the walk was torturous and it felt like it was going forever. Of course, a lot of questions were emerging about the strange situation.

One: how did the king know and was certain that the myth of the dragon was real and that the dragon was awake?

Two: why didn't he call his own army to attend to such issues instead of the common folk being forced to go with his wishes?

Actually, now that you think about it, why are there so few skilled, trained soldiers taking a bunch of people to a cave unprepared?

Carrying a bunch of gold for fucks sake, this stuff is heavy!

If it was truly a gift from the king to your group, then why were you obligated to carry it all the way to the cave? Sounds unreasonable and if anything, absolutely ridiculous. It would only slow your group down, and for what?!

Sounds like a trap to be…. Honest. Wait a minute-

"- Shit!" You whisper to yourself at the sudden realization that you're fucked, which unfortunately, caused a soldier that was near you to hear it.

"- Nothing sir, I just stabbed my foot in a rock." You weren't lying though. This whole walk bullshit your doing has destroyed your low quality sandals, and now you could basically feel the ground stabbing you every time you stept.

The soldier just grunted at you, and as much as you wished to take his sword and shove it up his bum, you couldn't help but go back to your original train of thought before you got interrupted.

You were going straight to death right? You're not supposed to fight a dragon, but rather serve as an offering?? What?!

You can't even speak or alert your fellow companions in any way. The last three people that have spoken without being directed to, were shot in the head.

The realization has sadly come in too late for you to make any plans now, as you forward as your group walk upwards, following the mountain's trail, you find yourself facing not only the entrance to a presumably dangerous cave infested with predators, but also the gates to your inevitable death.

You would now have to think of how to escape the soldiers and their arrows, or how to possibly make your death less painful. Being eaten by a dragon doesn't sound really fun.

When entering the cave you're met with more-

"- Are you fucking kidding me?!" Someone screamed, while easily accepting their death.

You couldn't help but agree with the person. While entering the cave, you're met with a great ravine, going in a spiral fashion deeper into the cave.

In other words, you have not only walked all the way up to a fucking mountain, but you would now need to get down into a creepy cave.

You almost considered asking for some eternal peace before remembering that your father's life was still in line. You just… Don't want to go away like this, you don't want your father to go like this.

And once again your group, that was now a lot shorter due to the amount of deaths along the way, was now following the general once again. Only this time, the soldiers were behind all of you, probably to guarantee no one ran away. Too late for that now anyway, so why even bother?

You didn't realize how you were on the very front of everyone, side by side with the man that was leading you to your doom.

You felt his eyes fall into your form a couple of times, but he never really turned his face to look at you. After a long silence of just a bunch of miserable people stepping closer to a terrible plan that was not well thought-out, he said:

"- You know it already. Right?" His voice was rough and still held the nonchalant tone that was written all over his face. You doubt this man could have ever smiled once in his life.

You almost choked with your own breathing, the nerve of this man! You couldn't help but let out the only thing you have wanted to say this whole time:

"- I hate you." You say as your eyes start to become a little watery. The feeling of desperation was eating you up ever since you entered the carriage, but only now you felt how bad the teeth of despair hurt.

"- I know kid. Me too." He responded, his tone never changed, even while saying that.

You guess he didn't really appreciate his job as much as you thought he did. Yet, you couldn't find in your heart to pity the man, as he was complicit in all of this mess. But I guess, you do hope for this man to find some sort of redemption, either presently or in his after life.

You still think he did a lot of bad things of course, his crimes are probably never gonna be forgiven. But just because of that, it didn't mean he couldn't start to do some good actions now, not for the sake of finding inner forgiveness, but for the sake of others. For the sake of the innocent people being not only met with unfair treatment, but also being ruled by a psychotic tyrant who is a complete imbecile. No wonder the queen and his son were missing for so long, you would probably have run away if you were them too.

When finally coming down, with your feet now hurting like a bitch, you can find some time for yourself to appreciate the beauty of this place.

You know, before you lose your head? To a freaking dragon??

Honestly, you at least hope that the stories you read were true, because holy fuck- Imagine how exhausted your body is from walking for what it feels like an eternity, holding jewelry made with gold, only to find an empty cave?

Then you would be able to go feral kill one or two soldiers before getting your ass beaten. As you don't have enough reason to just do that right now, right?

You expected to be met with disappointment, but what you truly saw while finally getting into the dragon's territory, you were able to not only feel enchanted by the magnitude of these treasure places, but also forget the danger of the situation, as you look around and remember the tales you read.

This is so much better than what you have imagined it to be like. It's… Mesmerising! It 's beautiful! The underground pond, the glowing crystals, the pile of gold, the stolen statues of the great warriors of your kingdom, golden weapons all scattered across the floor, the white feathered looking dragon staring down at you from his nest, that little tea set that is really cute and fragile yet it probably cost way more than your house, your clothes, and all of your furniture all together.

Oh no wait-

"- We came with what you asked for, Artemio." Said the general fast walking his way to be in between you and the beast.

To say you were freaking out would be an understatement. You knew dragons were huge, but you didn't expect it to be so… Huge! You know??

Oh my God, you're dead-

You looked around to see only you, your group of commoners ready to be probably eaten, and the general. And while looking for the soldiers, you noticed them trying to close the opening with a man built gate, created to keep the beast.

But obviously, that gate looks absolutely ridiculous, there is no way this guy couldn't destroy it by simply slapping it. It's quite laughable, yet…

You feel this is not just a coincidence or a bad made joke. You have a feeling they know the gate is essentially useless. It was really old, so, clearly this has been going on from quite some time.

Has… Has your kingdom been doing this for centuries?? Bringing offerings to please the dragon and beg it to sleep for more centuries to come?

"- This is absolute bullshit!" You screamed, not noticing how your heart was racing and your breathing had started to become frantic. You were panicking while coming to terms with the fact that your whole world was collapsing in front of your eyes. Your scream clearly surprised your fellow companions, yet it didn't surprise the dragon or the general.

The dragon had, well, a dragon face, so you have no idea what it was thinking, and the general was still with the same non-expressive face since the beginning of this stupid trip!

"- What?! You have nothing to say?? You brought us here to die, at least say something, you coward!" You were fuming with rage. How can a person like this be so annoying even when he is not saying anything.

He looks at you with an understanding expression, yet you don't think about what it could mean as you reach to one of the many golden weapons spread around across the floor. They were heavy and quite frankly completely useless, yet you still hold into that golden sword like your life depended on it.

And it did, actually.

Have you gone insane or just completely blind with rage and the instinct of survival? You're not sure just yet, but you'll lose your last bit of sanity to stand your ground.

You aren't going down without a fight.

"- Come at me, you big bird!" You yelled, looking kinda epic and kinda goofy at the same time. You probably shouldn't insult a dragon who hasn't decided who he'll first, it may change his appetite.

Before the general could interfere with your foolish behavior, the one and only had spoken:

"- Where exactly is what we had agreed on?" Like in true entitled brat fashion, Artemio asked the general while putting his head in his pawn.

"- We had to eliminate a couple of the troublemakers. In the end some of the gold was left behind in the progress-"

"- No, I mean, where truly is what I asked for? The jewelry is quite frankly ugly, the gold coins don't matter as I already have plenty, and none of these humans look really edible. Or well… Appetising." You could swear a pouty face was appearing in Artemio's face, yet only one thing had taken your attention. That's the reason why they needed so many disposable people? Oh… Wait a minute, did the dragon just call everyone here too ugly to eat?

"- If you can't compromise with your promises, then I think we'll have to change the deal-" Artemio started getting up from his nest, stretching out like a cat.

"- Oh, please no, can't you just-" The general panicked, thinking that the dragon would destroy the village.

"- I want that one." Artemio said. Pointing at you.

"- What?" You looked behind you just in case you were in the way of someone else. No, you weren't.

"- Uhn… What?" Oh look, even the general was confused as you, and well, the entire cast of people that were thrown in this hell hole.

"- Yes, that one holding the spear."

"- Just… That one, or-"

"- Just that one. And I won't get out of the cave for at least a century, I promise!" He sounds and acts like both a child and a cat, preparing himself to pounce on its prey any moment now.

"- ….. Okay then, fair enough. It's your problem now kid." He said, making a motion for all the other captives to follow him. Which they gladly did, because, you know, they aren't the protagonist of the story.

"- What?! You can't leave me here, you bastard!!" You screamed, although subconsciously you already knew his answer.

"- I think I'm just doing that!" He screamed from the other side of the cave, fuckz they really didn't waste no time at all, did they?

Sigh, who are you kidding? If you were one of them, you would have ran away as fast as you could. At least some gave you sympathetic looks before going back to their "freedom".

You heard the heavy gate closing. Well, shit. It's you and him now.

You tried going back into your original threatening stance, but before you could, you saw a glimpse of Artemio coming in at full speed, taking no time to jump at you. This is it [Y/N], send your last prayers to your father and your old life before-

Before he starts licking you... like a dog? What?

He pauses and you tense up, looking up and seeing a dragon powerful enough to destroy villages, looking at you like a precious little gift.

Artemio picks you up and hugs you in an almost bone breaking hug. Confused and frustrated with how the situation was going, you asked:

"- A-Aren't you going to kill me?" Yes, it was a pathetic question, if a dragon isn't killing you, then why ask it to do it??

"- I have been so lonely since the last human that I chose! I usually prefer to have many friends around but all of the other options seemed so boring, you know?" His voice is oddly cheerful and sweet to someone that sees humans as pets, or "friends". So… What is really going on here?

"- I thought you ate people." You said, still frustrated that you were betrayed and lied to through this entire day.

"- Well, I guess I can eat humans-" Says the giant bird-lizard acting like a child trying to lie about doing something wrong- "- But I really don't like doing it, I promise!"

"- I just wanted someone to play with, you know? All the dragons that I know are just so boring and take everything seriously." He huffed in annoyance.

"- Well… Do you-" You started questioning if you really want to to know the answer, but curiosity sure is killing this cat!- "- What happened to the other humans that were here?"

"- Oh, they… Uhn, they died, because of your shirt lifespan and all ya know." He responded.

"- Oh… Then why did the soldiers bring us here saying you were going to eat us?" Why not go full balls in and ask everything, right?

"- It's- Sigh, it's really embarrassing, but I didn't know any other way of how to ask for company down here." He said shyly, which only confirmed your suspicion of this being complete bullshit.

"- And you threaten to burn a whole kingdom just because of that?" You asked.

"- Yes!" He answered with no shame whatsoever. This guy was a dog wearing a dragon costume, you couldn't believe what you were hearing.

"- Sigh, oh my God…"

"- Hey, uhn, what's your name?" Artemio spoke, he thought that he should also ask questions as he wants to be able to enjoy every second with his new pet.

"- It is [Y/N]. And you're Artemio, right?" You can't believe any of this, really. You went from an absolutely terrible life or death situation, to a… Well, you can't even tell what the hell is going on anymore!

"- [Y/N].... [Y/N]! [Y/N], that's such a good name!" The excited dragon repeated your name multiple times before interrupting your peace once again. You can't be mad at him, but-

Come on, you needed some time to accept everything that just went down. You didn't even notice you were on the floor until Artemio was in front of your view again.

"- [Y/N]!" He was so easy to please, that just saying your name was fun to him.

"- Sigh… Hey Artemio." You sighed as there was no way in hell this dragon would leave you to deal with this weird feeling of emptiness arising in your chest.

"- What do you want to do now?" He asked cheerfully, but not completely oblivious to your feelings of being abandoned underground with him by force.

You stayed silent for a second, again, trying to come with terms with this new lifestyle that you were subjected to. You technically could ask Artemio to open the gate, he doesn't seem to have any intention of hurting you. But who knows? He has a different point of view in this whole thing than you do.

Silence was taking over the cave, but not exactly an awkward silence, just… A comforting one.

The water dripped from the ceiling. You felt the ground underneath you shake a little as Artemio followed your "guidance". He decided to lay on his back near you.

He wasn't really doing any self reflection at all, he just wanted to join in with you, yet all he could think is how happy he is to have someone else to spend time with.

You may only see him slightly from the corner of your eyes, yet you still feel a little, strange, by seeing a dragon mimic your ways.

You don't feel nessecerally homesick, but you do miss your father. You absolutely hate the idea of coming back to the kingdom, but… If you could see your father one last time, and probably help him with the gold that is in this place….

Maybe you could even-!.....

"- Artemio."

"- Yes, [Y/N]!*

"- AAH!" He turned himself to meet your face so fast that you whimpered because of his sudden motion.

He was going to check if you were okay, but you stopped him showing that you were fine, just a little spooked.

"- Hey, Artemio-" You said again, as you were still reformulating your question in your head-

"- Do you know how to burn an entire castle?"

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

[ivarthebadbitch]

Strange things can happen

Chapter 5 summary: Ivar and Aldreda’s new agreement is put to the test.

Canon divergent, everybody lives, arranged marriage AU after 4x14. Read this chapter on Ao3.

Previous chapters: [1] [2] [3] [4]

On Ao3: [1] [2] [3] [4]

Pairings: Ivar x OC, Ivar vs. basically everyone

Warnings: None

Word count: 1860

Tagged: @youbloodymadgenius @heavenly1927 @nukyster-blog @bae-roman @adhdnightmare (let me know if you’d like to be tagged)

CHAPTER 5: Your stupid bread god

Some weeks had passed since the wedding and Ragnar’s departure, and Aethelwulf had to admit that although the situation with his daughter was far from ideal, things had not gone disastrously so far. They had settled into something of a routine, with Ivar training daily with Aethelred, playing chess with Alfred, taking meals with the family, and occasionally getting hauled into Ecbert’s library to explain some obscure point about heathen ways. The question of religion was still an issue and there had been no further lessons as Father Wilfred had somewhat suspiciously pleaded illness, but Ivar’s English was quickly improving and he and Aldreda seemed to at least be polite to each other in public, if not exactly friendly. 

Though Aethelwulf still didn’t much like the boy and the feeling was obviously mutual, a kind of equilibrium had been reached between them. It was therefore only a matter of time before Ecbert destroyed it.

“The Mercian border has been unsettled of late,” Ecbert noted idly over dinner one evening. “Some light trouble stirred up by an errant cousin of the late Princess Kwenthrith, nothing to be overly concerned about, but best to handle it before it becomes a problem for us. Aethelwulf, you will lead on this.”

He nodded. “Of course, Father.”

Ecbert set down his cup and motioned for the servant to refill it. “I have a mind you should take the boys with you. They should have the opportunity to see the border and learn from your example.”

Judith frowned even as Aethelred and Alfred’s eyes lit up. “They are rather young, aren’t they? It could be dangerous.”

To everyone’s surprise, Ivar spoke up. “My father took my brothers to Paris at their age,” he said. “Now they are strong warriors.”

Ecbert beamed at him. “You see?” he said to Judith. “It will be good training for them. Oh, yes—Ivar should accompany you as well.”

“What? You can’t be serious, Father.” Aethelwulf stared at him in horror. “Aethelred and Alfred, I certainly understand, but…”

“I want to go too,” Aldreda cut in.

He gaped at his daughter. “Absolutely not. As your father, I forbid it.”

“She can come,” Ivar said forcefully. “As her husband, I allow it.”

“You—you—” Aethelwulf sputtered, leaning across the table as Ivar glared back. He knew he needed to control himself, but after weeks of being forced to accept and accommodate this boy, he had finally reached his boiling point. “You don’t get to allow anything. If it were up to me, you would be back among your own kind, far away from civilized people, and far away from my daughter!”

“Enough!” Ecbert snapped, pushing back his chair and standing up. “I want everyone out except my son.”

Ivar looked ready to lunge across the table at Aethelwulf, but then he sat back and actually grinned at him. You little shit, Aethelwulf thought to himself as a pair of guards helped his son-in-law out of the room, trailing behind the others. Once the door was closed, he turned back to his father, who was running his finger around the edge of the cup and gearing up for a lecture that would no doubt begin with I am very disappointed in you, Aethelwulf.

“I am very disappointed in you, Aethelwulf,” Ecbert began. “I suppose I must make myself plain, since you still fail to understand my reasoning. A daughter-in-law is a blessing, for she brings land and wealth when she joins your household, but a son-in-law can become a rival and challenge your own sons. You believe my choice for Aldreda was made out of disrespect, but nothing could be further from the truth. I chose a son-in-law who poses no danger to you, whose family connections strengthen us beyond our own shores. My aim—as it has always been—is to protect all your children and their inheritances.”

“A daughter-in-law is a blessing,” Aethelwulf repeated flatly. “That has certainly been true for you.”

A man with any sense of shame would wince or look away, but Ecbert was not that kind of man. Instead he took another sip of wine and then set the cup down on the table with a thunk. “I tire of this, Aethelwulf,” he said abruptly. “Ivar is your son-in-law, whether you like him or not. If Aldreda can understand this then so can you.”

“Oh, I understand well enough what you have done.” He was practically shouting by now, gripping the edges of the table so tightly that his knuckles turned white. “I have suffered this insult, just as I have suffered every insult of yours because you are my father and my king, and you expect me to thank you for it? You force Aldreda into this marriage without my permission, and now you want me to tow this boy and my daughter all over the countryside for the people to laugh at, and I am supposed to be...what? Grateful?”

Ecbert gazed at him coolly, entirely unmoved by the tirade. “I do not expect your gratitude, Aethelwulf. I do expect your obedience, always, just as you would expect obedience from your own children. So, yes, you will go to inspect the Mercian border, and you will take Alfred and Aethelred, and you will take Ivar too, not so that people will laugh but because he is your son-in-law and he should be with you to see it.”

“I will not play nursemaid to this boy.”

“Do you think that is what I am asking you to do?” Ecbert shook his head in amusement. “Bring a carriage. Bring extra servants. Figure it out. You are making this more difficult than it has to be.”

“And my daughter?” he said desperately. “Surely you will not permit this. It is far too dangerous for her.”

“Ah, well.” His father gave him a sympathetic look. “It is not an idea that would have occurred to me, but...the boy is her husband, after all, and if he allows it, then that is his prerogative. I am sorry to say that your authority as a father only extends so far.”

“Fine,” Aethelwulf snapped. “But rest assured, should any of my children be harmed because of this ill-advised adventure, it will be on your conscience, not mine.”

“I have every confidence in your ability to keep them safe,” Ecbert said blandly. With the lecture finished, he leaned back and gave Aethelwulf a satisfied smile that was oddly reminiscent of someone else. “You may go.”

“I think you’re enjoying this, Father.”

Ecbert chuckled. “Oh, I haven’t had this much entertainment in years.”

                                                                ***

The carriage ride to Mercia was bumpy and uncomfortable, but Ivar had to admit that it was a much faster method of travel than crawling or getting carried by his father. He glanced over at Aldreda, seated across from him. She had pulled back the curtain and was watching the scenery go by, but dropped it when she noticed him looking at her.

“Thank you,” she said quietly.

He shrugged. “This is what we agreed to. So I am holding up my end of the deal, that’s all. I don’t know why you wanted to go to Mercia, though.”

“Don’t worry about it.” She raised the curtain again, toying a little with her necklace. She didn’t bother trying to make further conversation, which was fine with him.

For a little while, at least. Then he started getting bored. They had already been traveling for several hours with nothing to do, and there was something he had been meaning to ask about anyway. “So...your god is made of bread?”

She dropped the curtain and frowned. “What?”

“You eat him, right? Is that so you can take some of his power?”

“You mean...the Eucharist?”

“Sure. Whatever.”

She gave him a bemused smile. “During the Last Supper, Christ broke bread and shared wine with His disciples, saying: ‘This is my body, which is given for you’ and ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you’,” she explained. “Therefore, when the priest consecrates the bread and wine, it becomes the flesh and blood of Christ.”

“So your god is made of bread and you eat him,” Ivar concluded. “Ridiculous.”

Aldreda looked irritated. “Well, you don’t have to believe it,” she shot back. “Just like I don’t have to believe your silly tales of how your dead warriors go feast with Odin and then go out and kill each other again every night. That sounds so dull. Why would anybody want to go there after they die?”

He stared at her in outrage. “At least Valhalla is real, unlike your stupid bread god.”

“Oh, so now my god is stupid?” She flopped back in her seat and groaned. “I can’t believe my grandfather married me to a heathen. What did I do to deserve this?”

Ivar snapped, “Well, at least your grandfather didn’t take you to a strange country while promising some grand adventure, marry you off, and then leave!” 

Aldreda looked taken aback by his outburst and fell silent. He suddenly had the urge to throw something, but there was nothing at hand, because he was in a stupid carriage headed to Mercia with his wife and her stupid family. 

He had a wild thought for a moment of himself slipping away from the group after dark and somehow talking his way onto a ship bound for Kattegat. He would just have to crawl through the forests without getting lost or starving to death, scrape together enough gold to pay a captain who didn’t mind risking treason, and avoid either getting killed or caught and sent back to the palace in humiliation. If he made it home—and that was a big if—gods, his father would be furious. Abandoning the marriage would doom the trade agreement and risk war. He would have to come up with a good lie. He certainly wasn’t about to tell them the truth. But at least his mother would ensure that he would not be sent back to Wessex.

It was too far in the future to think about what he would tell people when he got to Kattegat, though. And as impatient as he was to get away from these people, he knew his odds of surviving the woods of Mercia on his own were very, very low. He would have to wait until after they returned to Ecbert’s palace in Wessex and prepare a better plan. He needed to play along with Aldreda and try not to make fun of her bread god.

“Sorry,” he mumbled somewhat grudgingly. “I shouldn’t make fun of your bread god.”

She gave him a suspicious look, but then she gave him a tiny nod of acknowledgment. “I’m sorry I said Valhalla was boring. But at least I didn’t eat a page from a prayer book.”

He wanted to offer up some devastating retort, but he couldn’t think of anything. After all, he had eaten that page. Evidently word had gotten around. So he said nothing and Aldreda went back to looking out the window. They didn’t speak again for the rest of the day.

[agentkatie]

💧 💙📙 please for Mollie ❤

Thank you Briar lovely!

💧 What is the earliest memory your OC can recall? Do they know what their first words were or remember where they took their first steps? Do they have any mementos of their childhood they’ve kept such as a stuffed toy or tiny baby clothes?

Her earliest memories are of her running after her brothers and trying to keep up with them. Her first words were “Dad” and she would have taken her first steps in front of her house on Mindoir.

She has nothing from her childhood. She was left for dead after Batarians attacked her colony on Mindoir, then rescued by the Alliance, so she didn’t have a chance to take anything that was important to her. Not long after she tried to go back but when confronted by her house half-destroyed she couldn’t face going inside, and she sometimes still regrets not having gone in just to pick up something.

💙 What did your OC want to be when they grew up and why? Did they have any lifelong dreams or ambitions they never got to work on or are they currently working to achieve this dream? Has their life taken a very unexpected turn and put all these plans on hold for a while or have they given up on any dreams?

She never put that much thought into what she was going to be. She did decently at school but was lax on schoolwork and she just figured she’d pick up jobs to support herself whilst travelling which was what she really wanted to do. Obviously she got to travel, just not in the way she was anticipating -- and of course she had no way of knowing she’d be grounded like she is.

That being said, I think she’s kind of completed that dream rather than given up on it? There are other things more important to her now, but if she gets to go on a trip every once in a while she’ll be happy.

📙 What kind of subjects (of conversation, of discussion, in school or whatever) does your OC find interesting or engaging or that they can talk for hours about? What kind of stuff do they just find fun? What things bore your OC to tears and they couldn’t care less about? Why?

She could talk for hours about her old missions and the places she’s been, and also about interesting things she’s learnt about different places or cultures. For fun she really just likes spending time with other people, either hanging out in the Herald’s Rest or sparring with people. She also plays chess although she wouldn’t necessarily say she enjoys it.

She absolutely does not care less about understanding the metaphysics of the Fade because it doesn’t make any sense to her. Cullen has also tried to explain to her proper chess strategy before and she’s just completely zoned out because it’s too boring let me just move my pieces and live my life already

(OC asks!)

[treenahasthaal]

7, 17, 24 for the fanfic writer's asks!

Thanks for the Ask! 

I have other “asks,” to answer - I’m so behind, but this is a quick one. :) 

7) When is your preferred time to write?

In the morning. It didn’t used to be I could write at any time in the past, then later had to fit in in around a young kids, home, and work. I made myself write for at least an hour a day - sometimes that went onto several hours into the night, mu to my late husbands chagrin. 

Now, on days when I am not working, or I am working in the afternoon into night (2pm until 10pm) I write in the morning. When is why I’m awake and up right now. I feel less stressed, I feel brighter and alert. Whereas at night now all I want to do is sleep! 

17) Post a line from a WIP that you’re working on.

“You are my protégé, you are my pupil and my protector. If Lord Vader is successful in destroying me, then he will have already destroyed you.” He gestured to the chess board. “You must be wary of the Absolute Pin.”

Okay, it’s a couple of lines. 

24) How do you feel about writing smutty scenes?

I admit to being uncomfortable writing smutty scenes. The only one I have ever written was in “Downfall,” and I only posted the scene on AO3. I cut it from th story for ff.n. It was a very straight forward girl and boy gets jiggy with it - although tbh I don’t think the situation Luke was in called for anything other than vanilla sex.

I have written another scene - I was dared by my closest friend (also a fanfic writer). She wrote a scene with Rhovan (my OC from Dark Times) and a character she created based on me, and dared me to write another scene taking place after it in her AU universe. So I did. It, too, was pretty vanilla.

I am not very good at writing smut and tbh I’ve never seen the need in any of my stories (except Downfall - where “Jem,” needed Luke to sleep).

Hope that answers your questions! Thanks for asking! 

[elvensemi]

Laelia: A, F

*burning elmo gif* (For the unintiated, Laelia is my character in our Monster of the Week game, she’s a cannibal monster and I love her) 

A: Aptitude1. what are your oc’s natural abilities, things they’ve been doing since young? Origami. It’s a weird little thing that she does to keep her hands idle when she’s watching tv or bored in class. Back in middle school she would just sort of accumulate a ring of little origami swans and stars during the course of the day, and she keeps jars of tiny origami pieces sorted by type and color in her trailer. 2. what activities have they participated in? Laelia was never big into clubs or social groups even after she started high school. She wasn’t good at sports--although several tried to scout her when she had considerable physical improvement during her sophomore and junior years--and wasn’t smart enough for chess or social enough for debate. She does sometimes run drugs and she dabbles idly in prostitution, but those don’t... really count as... activities, really. One time she did absolutely destroy a hot dog eating contest though, and won the cash prize. 3. what abilities do they have that they’ve worked for? Laelia isn’t big on self-improvement. The skills she monetizes were mostly handed to her, like her strength. She isn’t really familiar with the hard work -> skill system. 4. what things are they bad at? Schoolwork. Laelia isn’t objectively the smartest person, to begin with, and she also probably needed glasses when she was younger and never got them. Add in some dyslexia and you have the perfect combination for someone who struggled in school up to the point where they stopped caring. 5. what is their most impressive talent? Well I mean she can unhinge her jaw, that’s pretty cool! She’s also double-jointed, and if you shoot her, she gets better. 

F: Fun1. what do they do for fun? *sweats* UH. Well. Ahem. Other than the obvious. She drinks a lot and does a lot of drugs and wanders around the woods. She’s normally fairly confident she’s the most dangerous thing around, so she can take risks that other people ordinarily would not. She also really likes going to the movies but only goes when Julie invites her. 2. what is their ideal party? Lots of friends, lots of drugs, maybe a pool. Loud, obnoxious, ideally someone would end up passed out on the roof and the cops would be called. 3. who would they have the most fun with? Julie, probably. She doesn’t approve of drugs so Laelia just does them ahead of time, but she’s consistently a good time. She also likes her horror movie nights in with Russet. 4. can they have fun while conforming to rules? Nnnnnnno. 5. do they go out a lot? Yeah! She’s out most days. It’s a warning sign if she goes back to locking herself in her trailer for days or weeks at a time. 

[xanaduwu]

oc?

Yayyy thank you!! Let’s use, hmmm… Vice St. Whitney from my Through Quiet Woods series!- if you hurt anyone she cares about, she will destroy you, although she’ll probably destroy you anyways.-she’ll do anything, and I mean anything, for her sister Versa- she’s an expert at riding horses- she and her sister were both trained in combat to use rapiers but she was given a chain since she’s more flexible and versatile- when she gets sick, she gets sick- she’s like, the best chess player in the world- her #1 nemesis is Doremi Foster (other oc) because she thinks it’s her fault that Versa died- even though she and Versa look exactly alike (rose gold hair, pale skin, freckles) they have very different styles. Versa wears all pink and Vice wears all blue.- she. hates. holidays. The Nowere (original fantasy world) equivalent of like Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy? She is absolutely terrified of all of them.- she completely believes in ghosts and often went looking for them in the castle she grew up in.