#and it happens before they even get to bree (!) so it's a huge moment for character development

[oneheadtoanother]

In general I think the people who bitch loudest about Bombadil being cut from every single abridged adaptation of LOTR haven't given any real thought to how they themselves would go about pruning down that unwieldy beast of a novel while preserving that particular side quest.

HOWEVER,

I am now madly obsessed with the idea of Matt Berry playing Tom Bombadil. This casting has put me in a 180° from thinking no production could do the character justice to knowing in my bones that the perfect actor is out there and would probably jump at the part.

[brian-in-finance]

Robert Wilson

Video 📹 clips at https://twitter.com/jradloff/status/1520979184536932353?s=21&t=r6Agn18hEFB8_PHY205lVg

Outlander's Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan Answer Every Question (Well, Almost) About That Season Six Finale

The pair reveals the hardest part of the episode to film, and where the series is most likely to pick up when it returns.

Outlander's season six finale just left us with one hell of a cliffhanger. It's going to make however long this next Droughtlander lasts even harder to get through. At least knowing that production is well underway on the new season is of some comfort. With any luck, we'll be getting answers before spring 2023. (Now is a good time to point out that if you haven't watched the season six finale yet, bookmark this page and come back once you have.)

So let's get to the good stuff, shall we? The episode—titled “I Am Not Alone”—opens with the theme song, and not a cold open as is usually the case. We soon understand why: Claire—or if it's not Claire, it's a woman who looks nearly exactly like her—is seen at a diner in the late '50s or so with a fellow companion (most likely a young Bree) ordering a Coke, burger, and fries. That's really all we get before we shift back to the late 1700s as Claire is about to be arrested for a murder she didn't commit.

Richard Brown, the head of the Committee of Safety, says he will leave the Ridge only when he has Claire in his possession. Jamie is not about to let that happen, and neither is Claire: She shoots one of Brown's men who tries to capture her. All hell breaks out in the form of a shoot-out, and we see that brief moment from the opening credits where Claire purposefully walks out of her house with a rifle and takes aim. Meanwhile, Jamie says Claire being mistakenly arrested for Malva's death is only an excuse for revenge on Marsali for killing Richard Brown's brother Lionel (from the season five finale).

Robert Wilson

Much further away, we take a break from all the chaos and see Roger and Bree as they travel to Edenton. They discuss if and when they'll eventually tell Jemmy about time travel and what they went through to be together.

Back at the Ridge, there's a break amongst the violence as everyone regroups, but Claire and Jamie know they have a huge battle ahead of them. All I can think of (aside from their safety, of course) is their poor house and the mess they'll have to clean up. Of course, they'd be only so lucky to have that problem; at this rate, survival is all that matters.

Hundreds of miles away, with Jemmy asleep, Roger and Bree get busy while talking dirty about cars (you had to be there). But in all seriousness, it's a lovely moment between the couple.

As that's happening, Claire and Jamie start talking about what they'd want for their last meal; Claire votes for a cheeseburger, fries, and a Coke from Carmi's, a diner she used to take Bree to when she was little. “That was our regular order,” she tells her husband, and now that opening scene makes a lot more sense.

Meanwhile, Claire wants to know where their friends are, like Ian, to help them out of this predicament. Jamie says he doubts they're coming because they would have been there by now. Claire starts to spiral and thinks no one wants to help her because maybe they think she really did kill Malva. It's a harrowing thought, but my attention quickly turns to Adso, who is alive and well and walking in front of the fireplace.

Jamie then tells Claire about several of his near-death experiences over the years as they reminisce about days gone by. Jamie says a psychic of sorts once told him he was a cat and he saw the number nine, so Claire thinks that means he must have nine lives. (Appropriate.) We then see Adso (again!) eating his meal, and I really hope the writers are going to write this little guy in more in season seven. What a scene stealer!

OK, back to the real story: It's now the middle of the night, and Jamie must wake Claire up to tell her that the fisherfolk are coming. They've been sent to the Ridge to negotiate on behalf of Richard Brown. Things quickly escalate and talk turns to the possibility that Jamie killed Malva, not Claire. Then Richard Brown appears and says Claire must stand trial because if she's really innocent, what is there to be fearful of?

Eventually Lizzie and several of Jamie and Claire's allies show up, but Jamie says he and Claire have no choice but to leave with Brown and stand trial. Tom Christie then appears and says he will travel with them to make sure no further evil will be done. “Surely justice is mine if it be anyone's,” he declares. Jamie agrees, and I can only hope that Lizzie will take care of Adso, but I'm going to need some sort of confirmation.

Before Jamie and Claire leave, Tom says they should stay one more night at their house, in their own bed. Jamie thanks him. While Tom is far from the typical Outlander villain, there's something to be said for his kindness in the face of such turmoil.

Robert Wilson

On their last night in the house (at least for now), Claire reiterates to Jamie that they have a beautiful home, as if this is the last night they'll ever spend there. Jamie says this won’t be the last time they see it. In bed, Claire says she’s scared. They caress each other’s faces and have one more intimate lovemaking session before they embark on the unknown. It’s so very Mr. and Mrs. Smith with the shards of shattered glass and bullets and broken furniture around them even though they aren't each other's enemies.

The next morning Claire and Jamie are in a wagon as they prepare to say goodbye to the Ridge. On the journey, Tom Christie comes over at a resting point to give Claire some food. They will soon continue on to Wilmington, which is 200 miles away. One of the men wants to go to Cross Creek, but Richard says Jamie’s aunt lives near there and there’d never be a fair trial. Meanwhile, Richard condescendingly says Jamie need not worry, as Salisbury doesn’t have a court, but he let everyone know Claire is guilty. Tom is sitting nearby and seems to take pity on Claire for what she's having to go through.

Back at the Ridge, Lizzie tells Ian that Claire and Jamie have been taken. More on that later.

While in the wagon, Jamie tells Claire that Brown is losing control of his men and this is more trouble than it’s worth. Claire says Tom is very tired and wants to know his purpose in all of this. So do I.

Before we can get answers, people in the nearby town start throwing rocks and stones at the wagon, which hits Claire in the head. Tom yells at the townspeople to stop, that this isn’t justice. He tires to get Richard Brown to get a hold of his men, but that's not quite working so Tom shoots at them. Tom also looks really ill, and I'm truly worried that if something happens to him then Claire's life will really be in danger.

Back to Roger and Bree, who are traveling through the most gorgeous of green landscapes. I need to know where this magical setting is. Jemmy is super cute and tells Bree’s pregnant belly that he loves his future baby brother or sister so much. He also scratches his head, which causes Bree to notice he has lice and they'll have to cut his hair. You know there's something more to this, and there is: Bree notices a mark on her son's head, which Roger identifies as a nevus. It's nothing bad, he says, and doesn't usually develop until kids are two or three. Roger then nonchalantly says he has one as well and they're hereditary. Ding dong! Bree realizes that Jemmy is for sure Roger's son, and Roger immediately has Bree cut his hair, too. What a moment!

Robert Wilson

In less happier news, Claire’s hands are bruised and bloody from the rocks and stones that were thrown at her in the wagon. Jamie says Richard might regret all of this since the act of just getting Claire to a place to put her on trial is more than he bargained for. Later, Jamie goes outside to relieve himself and sees none other than young Ian! And he's not alone: Ian brought help! Jamie is thrilled but cautious and advises Ian not to act on anything yet and just stay close. Jamie says he if he tries to escape, it will look like an admission of guilt. Ian says he'll keep an eye on things and follow along.

Later, one of Richard Brown's men dies, but Richard doesn't care. “We ride on,” he says. But when Jamie is told to get out of the wagon to get water, Richard's other men start beating up on Jamie and take him captive. To his and Claire's horror, Richard orders his men to ride off with her. Richard says he’s not doing this for revenge on his brother Lionel because he knows he wasn’t a good man and what he did to Claire was awful, but this is because she’s a murderer. Then Tom rides up and says, “What the meaning of this? You promised not to hurt them.” Tom, have you not learned anything? Anyway, Tom will go supervise Claire because he promised Jamie he wouldn’t let her out of his sight. But Claire is beside herself. Even so, Claire says—via a voiceover—that Tom is right, because without him, she would be good as dead. Her only small hope is that if news of her arrest reaches Wilmington ahead of her, then maybe it will reach Roger and Bree in Edenton as well.

Much later, Claire is scared that Jamie is dead and Tom won’t admit it if he is. She then looks outside the wagon and sees she's in New Hanover. She’s placed in a prison block and locked up by the town sheriff without any food or water. But Tom, who really is looking out for Claire, comes by with some sustenance. But most important, he says, “Believe me, your husband is alive. Trust in God. He will deliver the righteous out of danger.” She responds by asking if he thinks she's righteous. He says he won't leave town and to trust in that too. You have to wonder just what Tom knows about his daughter's murder. Anyway, Richard Brown walks by Claire's cell and says he'll see her at the gallows. Yikes.

And then, as if this jam-packed hour couldn't be any more intense, we see Jamie tied up near the water. Brown's men are going to put Jamie on a ship to Edinburgh, Scotland. One of those men, Oakes, tells him he'll never see Claire again. Just as Jacoby is about to pummel Jamie with a large log, young Ian kills Jacoby from a hilltop above with his bow and arrow. Jamie is saved!

Robert Wilson

Well, not yet. As young Ian and the fellow members of the First Nation use their weapons to kill the rest of Brown's men, they take aim at Oakes, who still has Jamie tied up. Jamie tells Ian and Chief Bird not to kill Oakes because he knows where Claire is. Then Ian says, “So do we, uncle.” Chief Bird shoots Oakes with his rifle and the bullet goes straight through Oakes's hand into his eye socket. This has to be the most gruesome killing we've seen in some time, right?

Chief Bird walks up to Jamie and says, “I told you I would fight with you, Bear Killer.” Ian releases Jamie, and I'm so elated, I can't stand it. Then, in one of the most gorgeous establishing shots we've seen on the show, Jamie, Ian, Chief Bird, and the other good guys ride off in the sunset to rescue Claire.

What an episode, right?! But will Tom still be alive by the time Jamie gets to Claire? He's also been through the ringer, and while he has vowed to protect Claire, I don't have the same faith that Richard feels the same way about Tom. When Jamie does get to Claire (because obviously he has to), what kind of shape will his wife be in? And will the show follow the books in regards to revealing Malva's killer?

That's where Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan come in. They hopped on Zoom from Scotland to try and answer my questions. Take a deep breath and read on.

Robert Wilson

Glamour: I got Mr. And Mrs. Smith vibes watching Claire and Jamie battle it out against Richard Brown and the Committee for Safety in the first part of the episode.

Sam Heughan: Am I Angelina?

Caitriona Balfe: You're definitely Angelina.

How hard was that to shoot? Because no pun intended, but you're literally shooting at everything, and everybody's shooting at you.

Caitriona: It was fun. It was sometimes hard for me to get off the floor. [Laughs.] I was six months pregnant, and I was a little concerned about what my child was thinking was going on out there. But we had fun, right?

Sam: We did. Interestingly, we shot all the exterior stuff first, so any conversation out of the window [that Jamie has with] the guys we shot maybe weeks before, and then we did all the interior scenes. It was kind of a bit of a jigsaw, but it was fun. I think that scene—the last supper—is beautiful. Caitriona, you spent the whole scene lying on the floor.

Caitriona: Yeah. But then I would have to get up at the end of it. We did multiple takes and they're like, “Can you get up?” I was like, “Oh.” [Laughs.]

Sam: And then we're blowing the house up. I think at one point they did have to redo it, didn't they? They had to reset a room. But anyway, we had to schedule all the interior stuff until the end of the shoot.

Robert Wilson

Jamie and Claire have a bittersweet last night in the house. What stands out for you about doing those scenes?

Sam: One of my favorite shots is Jamie and Claire's intimate scene when they're upstairs. When they're by the fire and the camera pans out and you see the destruction, the bits of the house that's completely broken, I think it's a metaphor for their reputation and for their whole world, right? It is being blown apart.

Let's talk about Tom Christie. He's not necessarily the best guy, but he's clearly looking out for Claire's wellbeing. Is it because she helped save his hand or might it be because he knows she really didn't kill Malva?

Sam: Or is it C, something else?

Caitriona: I think you're going to have to keep watching to find this all out. What has been lovely is that Mark Lewis Jones (Tom Christie) is amazing. Over this whole season, we've been able to see all of these layers under Tom. When we first met him, I think we can all agree that he was a bit of a pain in the ass. As we've gotten to know him more, he's a complex and complicated guy. There is a lot of heart there, I think.

Robert Wilson

When season seven premieres, will the storyline pick right up from where we leave Claire in the season six finale? Or will there be a bit of a time jump?

Caitriona: I don't know what we can say. They didn't actually tell us, so we can potentially just tell you everything.

Sam: Yeah, I don't know.

Caitriona: Very soon after. Should we say that?

Sam: It's either A, directly after, B, fairly soon, or C, something else.

Well played, Sam. That last scene where young Ian comes in with Chief Bird and rescues Jamie had me cheering. What did you appreciate about that moment, for both the character of Jamie and you as an actor?

Sam: Firstly, working with those actors, you have a beautiful arc there, a beautiful story of Jamie not being sure which side they would be on and being reluctant to give them weapons. And then eventually he does and ultimately they're used to protect and to save Jamie. Working with our First Nation, they were such fun. We had a total blast with them. They really brought a lot of their culture and heritage to set. Outside of shooting, as well, there was a lot that we were talking about our different cultures and they were really fun. It's a beautiful ending and it's up an upbeat one as well. There's a chance that Jamie's going to come back and find Claire and rescue her.

Ha! “There's a chance.”

Sam: There's a chance. He might. He might.

We've got to find out who killed Malva. We still don't know.

Sam: We don't know.

Caitriona: We'll never know.

We better know. I have to know.

Sam: A, you'll know. B, you know where I'm going with this.

I already know the title of this piece. It's going to be called multiple choice with Sam Heughan.

Sam: C, something else.

Well, thank you for making the time while you're in the middle of filming. Although since Sam had the day off, maybe he's drunk right now. I don't know…

Sam: If I was, I think…

Caitriona: A, he is. B, he's not. Or C, something else.

Sam: C, something else. I'm high. No. [Laughs.] I'm normally I'm drunk on these. So this is a first. We're learning something here.

And happy birthday too. By the time this piece runs, it'll be the day after your birthday. I hope they're throwing a big surprise party for you.

Sam: Oh, they are? Oh great.

Caitriona: Yeah. The Mariachi band is ordered, balloons are coming.

Sam: Aw, wonderful.

Jessica Radloff is the Glamour West Coast editor and author of the soon-to-be-published book The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series (October 11, 2022). You can follow her on Instagram @jessicaradloff14.

https://www.glamour.com/story/outlander-season-six-finale-recap

Remember… working with our First Nation (actors), they were such fun. We had a total blast with them. They really brought a lot of their culture and heritage to set. — Sam Heughan

[anntoldst0ries]

Coda (Ethan x MC)

Book: Open Heart 3, Chapter 7 Pairing: Dr Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Dr Noelle Valentine) Word Count: 3.1k Rating: 18+ (NSFW) Summary: Things got heated between Dr Ramsey and Dr Valentine during Bloom’s event. Will they finish what they’ve started?

Warning: This fic contains adult content, don’t read if you’re a minor.

A/N: Happy Easter, folks! So, let’s pretend this horror of a dress (which, let’s be honest, even Bloom’s PA wouldn’t wear) never happened. Also, this is my first time ever publishing NSFW fic, so please be understanding 🙈 That being said, I always appreciate feedback and am forever grateful for all of you, because you help me grow 💜

Huge shoutout to Bree @jamespotterthefirst who was so lovely to pre-read it and actually encouraged me to post, girl you are golden and I just cannot thank you enough! We are all so lucky to have you 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼😍

Even though he was trying to be sensible about this, every molecule of sense left him during his left palm’s chance encounter with Noelle Valentine’s bare thigh.

But has anything about their touching bodies ever been truly accidental?

Although, if he was honest, this was just the culmination point.

His rational mind’s death by a thousand cuts.

It all started when she entered the premises of the venue in her provocative dress and he had to blink rapidly a few times, thinking that his eyes were deceiving him, breath trapped in his throat.

Cut.

Her every step gracious and light, as if she’s been the human embodiment of a wood nymph.

As if she’s stolen the world's entire allure.

Cut.

Her silky waves, cascading like a waterfall - he wanted to dive into them, lose himself in them.

Drown in them.

Cut.

She was a prodigy, a goddess descending from mount Olympus, who, for some mysterious reason, decided to grace the mortals with her overwhelming presence.

Some guests were standing agape, the others smiled wide and showered her with rain of compliments; a few people had tiny lightnings of jealousy flickering in their eyes.

But no one was left indifferent by her grand entrance.

Strangely, Ethan didn’t feel jealousy.

In fact, he couldn’t be more proud.

His eyes, like x-rays, have relentlessly been reminding him of the perfect shapes hiding under the layers of the sophisticated, silky material. In this regard, he envied everyone else. Unlike him, imagination was all they had.

He knew. He touched. He teased. He tasted. He caressed.

Sometimes, ignorance was truly a bliss.

Today, ignorance was certainly not going to help him get through this evening.

* * * * * *

He almost lost it on the balcony.

Then, the sudden appearance of musicians interrupted them.

He wasn’t startled.

He was angry.

Freaking Bloom and his jazz band, he thought to himself. How on earth was he constantly able to rain on Ethan’s parade, even when they weren’t physically in the same room?

Noelle’s pearly laugh dissipated all thoughts in an instant, her impossibly beautiful face now turned to him. Entwining their hands, Ethan knew he had no choice but to play along.

Inside, he was laughing out of the other side of his mouth.

They were coming back to the room full of buffoons and right now her presence was as comforting as it was driving him further into insanity.

Before he was even able to sit down, someone has already slipped a drink into his hand and when Ethan was ready to sigh and curse the fate that sent him to Bloom’s 4th circle of hell*, a sudden realisation struck him.

This evening wasn’t lost yet.

In fact, it wasn’t lost at all.

And as he was thinking, a small smile ran past his lips.

The answer was right there in front of him.

* * * * * *

“Dr Ramsey, you’re still here?” Ethan had heard the unwanted and all too loud voice, followed by an even more unwanted pat on the back, accompanied by his nemesis’ reddened face and alcohol breath.

He plastered a fake smile, mustering the remains of politeness.

“You didn’t strike me as a party type, I thought you’d be making excuses a long time ago.” Leland grinned like a Cheshire cat. For a second, an outsider could have almost thought these two hold each other in high regard.

Almost being the key word.

“This is the most pleasant surprise.” Leland continued. “You see, I am rarely wrong, so it’s one of these moments when not only am I wrong, but also being wrong actually makes me happy.” He laughed as if he’s just delivered the best punch line in the world.

“Well, we are representing the hospital after all and I wouldn’t be too much of an example if I left before the rest of my team.” Ethan put on his best charming smile, not without a superhuman effort.

You don’t play the game, you play the opponent, he reminded himself.

“It looks like we are finally agreeing on something, doctor.” A sleazy smile ran past his lips, as he left to mingle with another circle. Inside, Ethan shuddered. There was just something about Bloom that didn’t add up and he was yet to figure what it was… but now his focus shifted to something else entirely.

Just like he predicted (or diagnosed, if you will) with every sip, every passing minute, the guests were falling deeper and deeper into inebriation - the excellent staff made sure that every time someone emptied their glass, a new dose of liquid happiness was ready for them. Dr Ramsey knew this must have been Bloom’s doing.

They may have had money and resources but during these events, they were like wild animals held captive and then suddenly let loose. Their problem was that they thought money could pay for everything, but it certainly couldn’t buy back dignity, redeem bad manners and erase terrible first impressions.

Tonight, he will use this flawed logic to his advantage.

* * * * * *

Noelle was sitting across the table, not even trying to hide anymore that whatever the tech moguls were trying to sell, she wasn’t buying.

Neither their fancy apps nor their bullshit.

Ethan finished yet another glass of scotch and stood up, his height towering over everyone else at the table.

“Well, it’s about time I was moving. Thank you for a very… revelatory evening, gentlemen.” The other table occupiers didn’t even pay too much attention and murmured something, shifting their focus back to the beautiful female doctor. “Dr Valentine, can I offer you a ride home? That is, if you were planning to leave soon…”

“That would be great, thank you, Dr Ramsey.” If her eyes could speak up, they would have definitely thanked him for throwing her a lifebelt.

“Fantastic, meet me outside in 10 minutes then? I have…one more business to attend to beforehand.”

She wasn’t exactly sure what it was — the look, the pause between words, the accentuation - but something told her that whatever business he meant, she was very much a part of it.

Her suspicion has soon turned out to be justified, as his tall figure wandered off and disappeared around the corner.

A corner he had absolutely no reason to disappear around.

The younger doctor waited a minute before making her excuses and assuring her companions that a future partnership with Edenbrook couldn’t look any brighter, Noelle turned around and followed the man in black suit.

Walking as fast as her hurting feet and long gown were allowing her, Noelle entered a long corridor at the back of the fancy restaurant and had to admit that even this place, which must have simply led to different utility rooms, looked spectacular and stylish. Almost like those fairytale corridors, which lead to other dimensions.

But only if a voice summons you and guides you there.

Just as the thought popped into her head, a firm grip tightened around one of her wrists, making her jump.

When she turned around, his index finger was on his lips in a clear message.

Quiet.

They only made a couple of steps before he cautiously opened the door and rushed her into a room. It looked like a sophisticated pantry or a wine cellar and she thought the stock must have been worth more than her annual salary.

The room was dark, bar for the little window, which wasn’t much helpful with providing the light, given that the world outside was hugged by the arms of the night.

“Ethan, what’s goi—“ She never had a chance to finish the sentence, before he took her breath away with his lips, not for the first time this evening. He didn’t stop there, pushing her towards the counter, like a famished animal backing its victim into the corner.

“You said you’ll be looking for an encore, didn’t you?” She was trying to accustom her sight to the darkness, the gleam in the blue of his eyes her only reference point.

“Although, if I’m not mistaken and my opera knowledge is still sharp, I think coda** is actually the word you’re looking for.”

She stilled, a shiver running through her spine, the electric feel both hot and cold. An audible swallow filled the silence that lingered after his words, not for long as he continued his monologue.

“And I’m sorry, Dr Valentine, but I’m not a patient man today…I’ve exhausted all my patience on senseless endeavours this evening.” Almost as if to prove the sincerity of his words, he started moving towards her, his every gesture deliberate; there was no space for randomness.

Every word hit her like a wrecking ball, her remaining senses overkeen. She couldn’t rely on her eyes anymore and her hearing, smell and touch suddenly became heavily heightened, almost supernatural.

She couldn’t reflect on this for too long though, as he backed her further towards the counter, blocking her moves.

“H-how… how do you know no one’s gonna come in?”

Even in the dark, she could see the corners of his lips going up, in a smile which wasn’t affectionate. It was dark, almost sinister.

And hot as hell.

Ethan leaned into her and dropped his voice even lower than she thought was humanly possible, whispering straight into her ear.

“I don’t, but… my diagnostic instincts rarely fail me, Noelle Valentine. Plus… that’s a part of the thrill, isn’t it?” He paused for a second to gloat upon the effect his ministrations had on her. Dr Ramsey enjoyed controlling the situation - more than he’d care to admit.

“Look me in the eye and tell me you haven’t fantasised of this, of losing yourself in me completely… except you couldn’t, because of a tiny detail, a stubborn question in your pretty head… what if someone walks in on us? What if it happens when you are overwhelmed by pure ecstasy, knowing there is no coming back, that the only way is forward…”

Ethan knew immediately that these words hit the jackpot. If she wasn’t before, she was definitely shaking now, her treacherous body betraying her in all ways possible.

That’s how she knew all these months ago. Maybe her mind could, but her body could never lie to Ethan Freaking Ramsey.

Ethan’s hands started roaming her body, discovering his favourite promised land, as if he had not been touching her on that balcony earlier, as if he’d never touched her before.

Because for him, every time with her was first and last. And he hoped things would always feel this way.

“Who are you and what have you done to Ethan Ramsey?”

She couldn’t see the smirk that appeared on his painfully handsome face.

“If I were you, I’d be more worried about what’s to be done to you, Dr Valentine.”

With this, he lifted her up by grabbing her ass and sat her on the counter, pressing her back against the cold wall, which felt strangely warm against her body.

Or not so strangely, given there was a fire inside of her.

Securing her neck with his palm, he pulled her closer for a long, wet and greedy kiss, the obscene sounds of their mouths filling the otherwise silent space.

“Touch me.” A silent plea fell off her lips, her voice a quiet sob. Usually, he’d enjoy teasing her forever, playing little games, checking how far she would go to get what she wanted. But not tonight.

Tonight… he’s gonna give her exactly what she wants.

Because he wants it even more.

His middle and index finger slipped past the silky material of the dress and the band of her underwear. Noelle parted her lips slightly and drew a shallow breath, waiting in anticipation. Her wish was granted a couple of seconds later, when he ran up and down her folds, eliciting a small, guttural moan, which he was sure would forever be his favourite sound in the whole world.

Before she was even able to get used to the feeling, he pushed 2 digits into her without warning, making her eyes wide with amazement. But the movement stilled a second later. Maybe he couldn’t not tease her after all.

“Please.” The sound that came out of her was almost inaudible, yet extremely high pitched. Even if he tried, Ethan simply didn’t know the words that could come close to describing what these reactions were doing to him.

“You know I will give you the world… I will give you anything you want, Noelle. You just need to tell me what it is that you desire.”

She didn’t know what was the biggest turn on - his sultry voice dripping with desire, the feeling of his digits inside her or the well thought out choice of words. But it gave her an answer immediately.

“Fuck me with your fingers, Ethan.”

There was something shy and yet confident about the way she said it, he couldn’t explain it. Whatever it was, it made him even harder, which, at this point he thought wasn’t humanly possible. Although he was painfully aware of his own desire, he couldn’t rid neither her nor himself of the pleasure of watching her come undone on his fingers.

“As you wish, my naughty girl.”

His fingers started moving in come-hither motion, first slowly and teasingly. Just when she opened her mouth to beg him again, his thumb circled her swollen clit and pressed the sensitive bundle of nerves with precision, sending her mind into overdrive. She had to bite her own shoulder to suppress what she was sure would turn into a scream.

“Fuck… yes, right there.” She was an incoherent mess, while his fingers curved and touched places that made her eyes roll. “Faster, Ethan.” She commanded weakly as his fingers picked up the face, going in and out of her furiously.

She was pleading and moaning for god knows what and her hands were desperate to grip something, just anything.

Soon, he knew as well as she did that the peak was close, for her body kept moving and shaking on its own accord.

“I’m…this…you…” She cried, making even less sense than before.

“I know. Let go… let go now, Noelle. I know you needed this so much. Come for me now, baby.”

Sinking her teeth, this time in his shoulder, and tightening her grip on him, Noelle clenched around his fingers, the feeling so arousing that he thought he’s going to explode himself. He had to hold her with all the strength he had in his free arm, as she was all over the place, trembling, cursing, riding out what must have been one of the strongest orgasms she’s ever experienced.

When the feeling settled, Ethan slowly loosened his grip over her and slid his fingers out, bringing them to his lips. The taste of her astounded him every single time.

“In case I haven’t told you before… nothing can compare to the way you taste. Maybe apart from the way you feel, but I need to check to be certain.”

Before he was able to do so himself, she reached for his belt and unbuckled it hastily, letting his pants pool at his feet. Ethan hissed when she was ridding him of the last layer separating them, his throbbing member oversensitive to the slightest touch. He responded in kind, slipping her thongs down.

He stared at her as if he’s forgotten how to blink before saying:

“If I were you, I’d hold on tight.”

She grabbed the edge of the counter and tightened her grip, leaning onto her other arm, palm pressed flat onto the surface. Ethan positioned himself in front of her and the moment his tip met her sex, a wild lust overtook him completely, from top to bottom. He pushed hard, their bodies finally connecting.

He didn’t waste time to make himself or her feel comfortable. Right now, he wasn’t a guest - he was the invader, the intruder, the conqueror.

“Fuck, it’s impossible you’re still so tight.”

In answer, she clenched her muscles around him even more, earning herself a throaty sound.

“You little minx.”

She was going to be the death of him and what an epic death it would be.

“Ethan, fuck me like you mean it.” Noelle bit her lower lip, knowing the effect this tiny gesture always had on him. He didn’t need anything more. The sound of fast thrusts soon filled the air, making it thick and dense. The race started, two lovers chasing their gratification like it was the last thing they were ever going to do.

This wasn’t vanilla.

It was chilli, whiskey neat and flames.

A dance of carnal desires, intense and salient, leading to the grand finale. Nothing finesse, quite the contrary - a satiation of the most primal of human desires.

Ethan kept thrusting into her so deep that she felt blood when she had to bite her lip, trying to stop the animalistic scream trapped in her throat, begging to be released. She felt every vein, every nerve inside of her, every place he was reaching. Her hands and arms hurt, but her mind, currently controlled by Ethan’s cock moving in and out of her in killer pace, has overridden any physical sensations other than pure pleasure.

“So…so close.” She panted weakly, rolling her eyes as waves of pleasure kept crashing on her.

Leaning into her, he caught her earlobe and as he kissed her ear, Ethan groaned. “You’re so,” thrust, “fucking”, thrust, “hot”, thrust, “when”, thrust, “you come.”

And with that, she came.

Her whole body arched and hot white pleasure turned every cell of her body into bliss. It was like jumping into the pool on a sunny day, submerging yourself completely and then just… floating.

Ethan followed her instantly, her climax triggering his own. They were holding onto each other for dear life, compounding the intensity of their sensations and silently praying for this moment to never, ever stop.

When their breathing returned back to normal a few moments later, the older doctor pushed aside strands of her hair that stuck to her face and then cupped her cheeks.

“You ok?” The tenderness in his voice almost made her heart stop.

As if she hasn’t already been dead.

“Ok? No, I’m not ok. I am pretty fucking great.”

“That you are.” He smiled wide. “You are pretty fucking great.”

“Well you are not too bad yourself. How are you feeling?”

“I feel like I died and was reborn, all at the same time.”

They laughed at each other’s choice of words, still in a tight embrace.

“Ready for the next part, Ramsey?”

“Next part?”

“Now we need to sneak out of here for real.”

* * *

* This is a reference to Dante’s poem “Inferno” from “Divine Comedy”

** coda - The final part of a play, film, or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved

Tag 🏷 list: @starrystarrytrouble @genevievemd @sophxwithers @terrm9 @maurine07 @the-pale-goddess @drakewalkerfantasy @iemcpbchoices @oldminniemcg @schnitzelbutterfingers @mercury84choices @lsvdw-blog @archxxronrookie @queencarb @qrkowna @utterlyinevitable @lucy-268 @udishaman @stygianflood @romereadingshop @romewritingshop @caseyvalentineramsey @xxsugarplumfluffsxx @liaromancewriter @mrs-ramsey @wingedhairstylemusicweasel @fayeswiftie @tsrookie @lisha1valecha @alina-yol-ramsey @stateofgracious @lem-20 @fireycookie

[itsinmydunah]

Title: WWE Smackdown

Rated: G

Words: 1290

Fandom: twilight rennaisance fic babayyyyy

———————————-

Summary: Bree may be tiny, but she is mighty.

A warning those who may be effected: mentions of past child abuse.

This one was a request from JaneMalfoy on ao3. So you have them to thank for this one, haha. I’m hoping I’ll be able to churn out more Bree fics with the same gusto. This fic is, as usual, also posted on my ao3.

Please be sure to tell me what you think!

————————————————

The sound of shattering ceramic has Bree cringing. She braces for a blow while stuttering out a hasty apology.

There’s dead (ha) silence throughout the house. No one is even fake-breathing.

“Bree, sweetheart, no one is going to do that here.” Bree peeks from beneath the heavy curtain of her hair. Esme is looking at her with kind and knowing eyes. The woman reaches out a hand slowly and tucks Bree’s hair behind her ear. Her touch is so gentle that Bree doesn’t even startle. “You never have to worry about someone hitting you or harming you. I promise,” Esme vows with an assertive tone.

“I—I didn’t mean to break it, Esme.” Bree believes the matriarch when she says no one will hurt her. From what she’s seen of this family in her short time with them, they don’t cross Esme. And more important than that, they are kind to each other. Even when Emmett ribs or mess around with Jasper and Edward, there is a line. No one hurts each other here. It’s not like the home she was raised in or the foster families she bounced from. Despite being ‘monsters’, they’re gentle. Especially to her.

“Oh, I know, baby. Don’t worry over it. We all broke many things in our early days. No matter what, you can’t be worse than Emmett.” Esme grins widely, nose crinkling as she teases her rowdiest son. Bree cracks a smile that grows even bigger when she hears an exclaimed ”hey!” from the upper floor.

“Yeah, don’t worry Bree. Carlisle makes sure Esme can have everything she wants. That vase wasn’t even an antique. I’m pretty sure it was just from Pottery Barn.” Bree tries not to let the thought of Pottery Barn being just a dispensable brand to anyone. She grew up with plastic chairs in the kitchen and a fold up table and was lucky to have season-appropriate clothes.

The Cullens’ wealth still boggles her mind. She was immediately given a closet-full of clothes by Alice and toiletries from Rosalie and a laptop from Jasper. They didn’t think anything of spending money on her, even in the very beginning. As much as she enjoys those things, she likes being able to regularly shower the most. And the hugs from Esme. And the calm, receptive presence of Carlisle. And the way they’re all so kind.

“If you’re sure,” Bree says doubtfully. She begins to pull herself out of her instinctive cower.

“1000%,” Esme assures. “Anyway, you’re pretty strong now yourself,” the woman winks.

“Sure, she’s strong, but she’s so tiny. Like, tinier than Alice!” Emmett booms. His raucousness has drawn the rest of the family from their rooms.

“Emmett, you know I can kick your ass,” Alice says, eyebrows set in a challenge.

Emmett tuts and waggles his finger. “No, no, no. You can evade me. Probably for days. But you cannot kick my ass. Not even close to the same thing.”

“It’s an important distinction.” Edward shrugs with a crooked grin. “But, actually, Emmett, you're not the strongest in the house right now.”

Bree cocks her head. Emmett certainly looks like the strongest one. Jasper is pretty stocky, too, though. Edward was lithe and fast, but not really one for brute strength. Rosalie was certainly formidable, but Bree didn’t think it could be her, either. Esme and Carlisle were simply too gentle to be the strongest ones.

“Edward means you, Bree.” Jasper offers. Bree blinks. Her? Not a chance! She was barely over five feet! Jasper must sense her confusion because he goes on to explain, “the human blood still in your body from your recent turning makes you stronger than any of us right now. And because you spent your early life drinking human blood you also have that as an advantage.”

Riley hadn’t told her any of this. She was still very unaware of a lot of aspects of being a vampire.

“I mean, I know that’s how its supposed to be, but look at her, Jas!” Emmett gestures towards Bree with exuberant hands. Bree looks down at her slight figure and skinny arms and has to agree with his assessment.

Jasper scoffs and shakes his head. “Newborns half the size of me could take me down before I was trained against them.”

“You’re telling me I could take Emmett down?” Bree inquires disbelievingly. She certainly felt stronger as a vampire than a human, but the very idea of taking down Emmett’s hulking mass is unthinkable. He’s easily 6’5”.

“If you can get a proper grip around him, yeah.” Jasper is grinning now like he knows what’s coming next. Alice is practically vibrating beside him.

“Well I won’t believe it until I see it,” Emmett says stubbornly. “Try me, short stack.” He holds out his arms and gestures for Bree to attack him.

“Emmett Cullen, not in my house you don’t.” Esme isn’t even in the room, but somehow she knows what’s happening. Bree shakes her head in wonder. This family is very in-tune with each other. It makes her undead heart a bit warmer.

“Yes, Esme,” Emmett intones like a begrudging child, “ Outside then, short stack.”

Emmett is already dashing to a cleared area behind the house. Bree looks at the others. They’re all bemused but unsurprised by the turn of events. They don’t seem concerned at all by Emmett’s determination to fight her. She knows that Emmett won’t hurt her, so she shrugs and follows him outside.

He’s already poised to attack when she gets to him. She tenses for a moment before lunging at him. She perches on his back and pushes down with all her might, sending him windmilling forward. A helpless cackle slips from her lips at the sight. She is strong!

“Oh, you’re sneaky!” Emmett booms, turning on his heel to bulldoze towards her.

She isn’t scared of Emmett. His open face is nothing like that of her father before he hit her. Emmett is smiling sunnily and laughing as he dodges her and tries to grab her waist. Bree can’t help the giggle that escapes her when she slips from his grasp. He looks so bewildered as she continues to evade his attacks. There’s the sound of Rosalie’s laughter in the background, but Bree doesn’t let herself be distracted. She hadn’t fought with the other newborns when they attacked the Cullens. It was an odd rush to get to use all the power given to her.

When Emmett finally gets his hands around her hips, she throws herself towards the ground and flips her center of gravity, sending him careening into the rocky bank beneath them.

“OHHHHH!!!!!! Em, she got you!!” Rosalie is full-body laughing now, bent over in mirth. The sight of this tiny girl flinging her huge husband over her body is just hilarious. Alice is grinning widely as Jasper guffaws at Emmett’s grumbling as he climbs up the bank. Edward is smirking. Esme, who came out to witness her son be put in his place by their newest addition, is also laughing.

“I did tell you she’d be able to,” Jasper reminds his brother who is picking leaves off his now-torn shirt.

“Yeah, yeah.” Emmett waves him off, narrowing his eyes at Bree. She grins, putting her hands on her hips and tossing her hair behind her shoulder. The much larger vampire shakes his head and breaks out into a good-natured laugh. “It won’t last forever though, short stack!” He scoops her up in a hug, twirling her. Bree shrieks and giggles, smacking his back but also clinging onto his shoulders.

She never imagined what it would be like to have a brother, but now it seems she will have a few brothers for the rest of eternity.

[devaigh]

The Winner ~Chapter 8

A/N: This chapter is raw and unedited. Sorry for any mistakes. 

Previously || 1. 2. 3. 4.  5. 6. 7. 

Sassenach,

It feels like forever since I held you in my arms, though I know it has only been a month. I don't know how I'm to survive now without you. I find myself awake at night, reaching for you, only to remember myself. It pains me knowing the year is still ahead of us. I confess, since you have shared my bed, I don't sleep well without you. Call me what you will, but it is true. I miss you, mo nighean donn.

Life in the service is no longer what it once was for me. I am ready to finish, so we may truly start our lives together. I pray that day shall come quickly.

As it stands, the days are long. There is a layer of fine dust that has settled over the camp. I taste nothing but the dry air, I feel the grit against my skin, and I find myself shaking out everything I own. It never helps.

The days are hot, and the nights, dangerous. There are small villages my team has encountered, while they are not hostile, they are wary. I don’t blame them. I have picked up some of the language and I try to communicate though it seems like the people pretend to not understand.

I hope your schooling is going well. Know that I'm proud of you. I cant wait to see you realize your dream. I love you, mo chridhe. I'll write you again soon.

Yours,

Jamie.

***** 

Brianna frowned, playing with the corner of the paper as she read over the letter once more. The faded yellow page had been carefully tucked away inside the the worn journal that lay open on the desk before her.

It didn't make any sense. How could two people who seemingly loved each other live half their lives apart? What happened to make her parents not speak for 20 years?

And what of this little brother? What was he like?

Did he know about her?

“Of course not.” she whispered aloud. Clearly, she wasn't thinking straight. Jamie had said that he himself had no idea she existed prior to getting her letter, so why would this mysterious sibling?

It was all so complicated.

She groaned. Not only had she gone and invited her father to her wedding, who had actually shown up no less, but Brianna had now openly welcomed Jamie's son to join the festivities.

A brother.

How was she to explain that to her mother?

After learning about the boy, Brianna had excused herself from the rest of the party. The noise of the crowd lingering around her had made her head throb so she sought refuge upstairs. Once she had procured herself a rather healthy glass of wine, she rummaged around her desk looking for the old book bound in aged leather.

Her mother's journal.

It seemed like ages since she had found it, tucked away in a box in the back of the attic. Her mother had been on call one weekend leaving Brianna alone, tasked with clearing out the musty old room. A storm had come through and damaged part of the roof of their house, and repairs were needed. A whole section of the roof had needed replaced and part of the attic had started to leak. So Brianna had taken it on to try to clear out what she could.

Somewhere, beyond a huge stack of boxes that had once belonged to her Great Uncle Lambert, past even more stacks of boxes and an old crib, sitting next to what looked like a giant bird cage, was a single, small box simply labeled Boston. It was in that box that Brianna had discovered the journal.

Brianna had barely remembered Boston. Even though she had been born there, and lived for the first several years of her life in the city, it wasn’t home. Curious, Brianna opened the box and found the thin, leather bound book. There had been no title. Nothing to show what it was. Only when she had flipped it open to the middle, had she realized what she had found. At first, she felt a twinge of guilt for reading something so private, but she found that she couldn't stop herself. She had discovered an old diary her mother had kept, years before she was born. Most of the entries were simple, others were long winded excerpts that mentioned a man named James Fraser.

It came as no surprise to learn that Fraser, or Jamie, as her mother had called him, was her birth father. Brianna knew that her mother had been married to a man named Frank Randall when Brianna was born, but she had learned the truth about the man years ago. She knew that Frank couldn't have been her biological father thanks to a lab experiment in junior high. When Brianna had compared her blood type to her mother's and the man who she had though was her dad, she had learned there was no possible chance Frank could have fathered her. Brianna had never told her mother about what she knew however. Frank had always been a subject that Claire avoided. That was why the journal was such a surprise to find. With each page, Brianna had found more questions to go along with those that had been burning through her mind. Attic forgotten, she had slid down the wall to sit on the floor, caught up in the need to discover anything about the man who really had fathered her.

There had been so little to go on. Only his name, and the fact that he was Scottish military. Which had suddenly opened a whole world of questions up. Where was her father? Was he still alive? Would she be able to find him? Did he know she existed? Had he wanted her? Or rather, had he even cared? What were his reasons for leaving them? Who was this man who had left her mother alone and pregnant? What had happened between them?

As it turned out, James Fraser was still very much alive. Alongside the journal, Brianna had found a small stack of bound letters, held together with simple string. Delicate, fragile things, the envelopes were sticking together. Bree had picked through them, one by one, her fingers tracing the tight, cramped writing scrawled across the front of them.

She still had them. All 15 letters. They now lived in a box she had stashed away, carefully under lock and key. The box, was a simple wooden thing, she had also picked out of the attic. It was now sitting in the bottom drawer of her desk. Chewing on her bottom lip, she glanced down at the drawer in question. Roger didn't even know she had them.

She looked again at the letter in her hands. Something had happened between her parents, that much was obvious. And Brianna was determined to find out exactly what it was.

But first, she needed to find her mother.

******

He wanted to shake her.

James Fraser had never been the most patient of people. His hot temper was always quick to flair, but he wasn't one to start hitting people, even if they were trying on his nerves.

But ah Dhia, did he want to hit something.

"Claire, please. Just let me explain.."

"Explain! What is there to explain, Jamie? I SAW the announcement! You looked rather happy for a dead man!" Claire huffed, her hands curled into fists. "I grieved for you! Knowing you were dead I tried to honour your memory only to discover you LIED to me!"

"ENOUGH!" He roared, crossing the distance between them as his large hands took hold of her shoulders. "Claire! Listen to me, damn ye! I know ye think the worst of me, and ye have every right too, but it's no true!"

"Let go of me, you damn Bloody...Scot!" She bit off, trying to push him away. It was to no avail, he was still so much stronger than she was.

"No. No until ye agree to listen to what I have to say."

Claire glared at him, her mouth set in a firm line.

"Dammit Claire, there's things I need to tell ye!"

Jamie looked away for a moment before meeting her eyes again. "I'm no the same man ye once knew, but I swear to ye, I never would have hurt ye, had I been able."

"You were dead, Jamie." Claire said, her voice wavered, hiding years of heartbreak. "You were dead, and I was alone, pregnant with your child. Then I discovered you not only alive, but married to another woman. What the hell was I supposed to think?"

Jamie frowned. "It's true I nearly died. I came damn close to it. But I dinna ken how ye believed I was dead."

“I received a letter.” She hissed.

Well, that was news.

"A letter?" Jamie gripped her shoulders tighter. “What letter?”

Claire narrowed her eyes. “The letter that was addressed to your fiance, informing me of your death!’’ She shook her head, chewing on the corner of her lip. “I didn’t know I was your fiance.”

Jamie felt the color drain from his face. “I.. well..”

“You what, just decided that on your own? “

“No. I...”

“You leave for war, leaving me pregnant and alone then what, fake your own death so you can run off and marry someone else?”

“That’s no what happened! Claire, If you would just let me explain!”

“It doesn’t matter Jamie, I don’t want to talk about it.” She turned away “There’s nothing more to say.”

She took a deep breath, in an attempt to steady herself. A soft chime rang out in the distance, the melodic tune of the local village clock.

It was midnight.

“Claire.” Jamie reached out to her, His hand hesitating over her shoulder. “I ken ye’re angry with me. Ye have every right to be. But I beg ye, to just listen to what I have to say.”

She turned then, giving him a cold stare.

“I’m no asking for yer forgiveness lass, I just wanted ye to know the truth.”

Claire regarded him for one long moment. She could see the vulnerability in his face, and his eyes…

How often had she dreamed of his eyes?

She could feel her resolve cracking, the wall she had built around her heart starting to crumble. ‘Damn him’ she thought, as color rose in her cheeks. Jamie had always had this gift of undoing her with just a look. It was infuriating.

“How…” she started, hating the way her voice caught. “How do I know what you tell me isn’t just what you think I would want to hear?”

She met his eyes again as a muscle twitched in his jaw. A flutter of movement caught her attention as she realized he was tapping his fingers against his thigh. It was a gesture she recognized.

“Claire.” Jamie spoke softly, though his voice sounded tight. “I swear to ye, I’ll no lie to ye. I dinna ken if I have all of the facts, but I promise ye, I’ll share everything I know.”

*****

The walk back from the beach was a long one.

The wind had picked up bringing with it the promise of rain, causing both Jamie and Claire to seek shelter in the warmth of the beach house. While there was still much left unspoken between them, the silence between them had changed.

He watched her, her pale face half hidden as she walked just ahead of him. Her arms were folded against her chest, keeping the shawl tucked around her shoulders. Her eyes were distant, her bottom lip caught between her teeth as a wrinkle formed across her brow. It was several long moments before she spoke again.

“I don’t know, Jamie.”

Her voice was soft, barely more than a whisper, yet Jamie remained silent, sensing her need to speak.

“I don’t know if I want to hear what you have to say.”

“Sassenach..” he began, one hand automatically reaching for her arm before seeing the glare aimed over her shoulder at him.

“You were dead, Jamie. I mourned for you.” She stopped again, just shy of the stone courtyard. “I had waited for you to come back. I was so lost. All while I was raising your daughter, alone.”

“Aye, I believe ye, Sassenach. And ye did a fine job of raising the bairn, I’m sure.”

Claire’s mouth set into a firm line. “Jamie, I would really, rather not talk about the past. Can we just get through this wedding? I still don’t know why you’re here, or what Brianna was thinking this would turn out to be, but can we just get this over with, and go back to our own lives?”

The look on her face was enough to crush his spirit.

“I swear to ye, Claire, I didn’t know.”

You didn’t know? Do you really think I can believe that?” She rolled her eyes. “That’s all you can say? That you didn't know?"

“No. Listen to me, Claire! I told ye that I didn’t remember! I didn’t remember my own name, much less anything else. Do ye know what it’s like to live as a shell, not knowing who ye are, or what you’re doing? How it feels like half of your heart, your very soul is missing?

“Do I know? DO I KNOW? Yes! Damn you! I spent TWENTY YEARS mourning you! Angry at you that you left me, alone, pregnant and you have the nerve to...to…

“Now ye listen to me, Claire..”

“NO! How DARE you show up here, to MY daughter’s wedding and..”

“She’s MY daughter, too, Claire.”

“Oh you may have created her, but you certain-”

‘’Brianna INVITED me here, She asked me to come, and you-”

"SHE can hear you!”

Whatever Claire had been about to say caught in her throat. Both Jamie and Claire froze, like they had just been doused with a bucket of water.

Standing in front of the french doors, stood Brianna, looking livid, the color in her cheeks nearly the same shade as her hair. She glanced between both of her parents who stood inches from each other, watching as both seemed to shrink a bit before her.

Jamie’s throat moved, and he cleared his throat, “A neighan, I’m-”

“Yelling loud enough to wake the entire house? I could hear the two of you from my window!”

“Bree..”

“NO. Stop! I don’t know what happened between you two, or why you;re both arguing. But this isn’t the time or the place! There's a storm coming and both of you need to get inside!"

Jamie and Claire looked at each other for a moment before they both moved towards the door.

"It's clear we need to talk. All THREE of us."

"Yes, dear." Claire said as she passed her daughter. "The sooner the better."

Jamie hung back, for just a moment, watching the two women.

"Lead the way, a neighan"

[kibleedibleedoo]

Hero of your own Fate 2/?

Thorin x reader

Warnings - brief mention of mental illness, slow burn

A/n - sorry it's a long one

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

~Thorin's POV~

It had been a long detour via the Blue mountains which unfortunately had not born any fruit. All Thorin could think about was a hot meal and a place of safety to sleep tonight. He was getting far too old to be a solitary nomad. His fantasising of his next meal led thorin down his third wrong turn of the evening. The shire was full of winding roads that seemed to follow no logical order in their constuction. Thorin could see the house up on a hill, by mahal he probably could hear the company from back in Bree, but he just could not find the right path to get there and the fading like was offering him no favours.

Thorin watched confused as the heavens seemed to rip open as Bagend was aurrounded by a vrief thunder storm and depositing a girl on top of the hill. From this distance it was hard to tell but she certainly wasnt one of his kin and the clothes she was wearing made ger look out of place in this world. Maybe you were a one of a secretive kind, some even more secretive than dwarves that few even knew the existance of. He watched as you settled yourself and entered the hobbit hole. Something deep inside him was drawn to this unfamiliar woman so deep that Thorin was taken by surprise when he knew how to get to that blasted house, to get to you.

~Reader's POV~

That evening was a whirlwind so much seemed to happen in so little time. The quest was explained along with the risks and contracts were handed out to you and the other burglar Bilbo. It took many by surprise when he fainted at the thought of incineration, sure it would be a bad way to go but an instant death was far more preferable than a long drawn out one, the only one not surprised was the leader of our company Thorin oakenshield. He seemed to react to the hobbit with pure annoyance even going so far as to question him on battle experience upon entering poor Bilbo's home. You had no battle experience at least none in hand to hand combat. You cast your mind back to one of your childhood school trips where you were taught how to fire an arrow and a bit of fencing neither of which you were any good at, at the time which gave you little hope for your ability to fight on this quest. You needed training or you would be a liability and you were positive the whole company knew it.

You took the time during Bilbo's recovery to pull Gandalf aside.

"what am i doing here?" you asked rather annoyed with the wizard.

"You offered to help in the café did you not?" he quipped knowing the answer.

"Yes but there is no point me joining if i am only going to be a liability Gandalf" you huffed, you wanted to help you really did but there was no point volunteering for this quest if it was going to end in your demise or the demise of some of the dwarves before the quest is complete.

"You posess talents aside from fighting that will come in useful that I am sure something that those of middle earth lack" the wizard mused. He was almost certainly keeping something to himself about what you could contribute. Before you could respond he continued "I took the liberty of packing supplies for you, some hygiene products from your home but mainly supplies from here for the journey. They are with your pony at the stables" Your eyes grew wide as you realised the wizard had gone through your things.

"You broke into my house!" you exclaimed in a hushed tone trying to stop any of the dwarves from prying, unfortunately you could not seem to shake the handsome one's peircing gaze. "What if my roommate saw you? omg wait what did you see in my stuff!" at this point you were starting to panic, your roommate had always suffered from anxiety and happening upon a strange man riffling through your stuff wasnt exactly something they would take in their stride.

"I was not seen, and magic comes in useful in your realm too" he chucked "the essentials come to me, they seemed nicely organised so I packed the entire bag for you" mentally you were piecing together what you would be carrying. That bag contained your toothbrush, toothpaste, a few wash cloths, deoderant, conditioner, a spare pair of panties, and some everyday makeup items. Okay so no shampoo, you werent exactly sure when you would get the opportunity to wash your hair while trekking across this world but you had heard others try a no-poo style of washing their hair so that must be what you would have to do from now on. "Along with what is already packed here are a new set of clothes to help you fit in better and if you will let me I can exchange and money you have for coin you can use here." You werent sure exactly where he had stored the fresh clothes but he seemed sincere so you handed your bag over to him.

"Dont touch anything else in there, you only have permission to exchange currency" you said in a stern voice "they might not all work here but they are important to me" you finished softly. You took the clothes to a seperate room and closed the door behind you. It was dark but you still had your phone in your pocket so could use the torch for a while. You silently thanked whatever deity was up there that your parents had got you a solar powered power bank for christmas and it was in your bag, where you always kept it, your phone might run out of battery soon but you knew that you would be able to look through your photos whenever you got homesick on this quest. You turned your attention to the clothes, inspecting each item you noticed the outfit looked like something that would have been worn during the 18th century back home. Luckily your roomate was studing fashion history at the local university so you knew where all the fabric was supposed to go. Gandalf had also been nice and provided you with a corset which did up on the front, looking at them you could almost hear your roommate telling you this style was called a 'pair of bodies' and you chuckled knowing that while this outfit might be more practical than what you were wearing it was still going to be a nuisance to put on and wear all the time. You got undressed and threw the shift over your underwear, not ready to give up your modern bra and pants just yet, next you decided you still wanted to wear your leggings. If you were supposed to learn how to ride a horse tomorrow you sure as hell were going to have some fabric between your skin and the saddle plus it would preserve some of your dignity if you fell off and your skirt flew over your head. Time for the corset, the stomacher was rock hard which you thought might provide some protection, against what you werent quite sure of yet, and the corset was surprisingly easy to lace up at the front. The next item you loved, it was a shame modern women's fashion hated them so much but these bags you tied at your waist formed huge pockets which could fit most of the contents of your bag in without anyone being any the wise. The petticoat and skirt followed and a jacket tied the look together. You decided your doc martens would be far better to wear than whatever flimy shoe gandalf had provided so with your outfit complete you returned to the company.

Gandalf sat there smiling with a bag of coins in his hand. You felt you looked slightly ridiculous, especially since your bosom was more pronounced than in your oversized tee.

"Now you look like you belong here" he took a sip of wine and nodded.

"I might look like it but I have still kept some of my modern luxuries" you responded smugly waving your t-shirt a bit. He smirked handing you over the coins and your backpack back. You stuffed the tshirt in with the rest of your stuff and made a mental note to wear it as a pyjama top.

~Thorin's POV~

Y/N had disappeared off into one of the rooms shortly after her argument with gandalf. It seemed like the company had lost both of their burglars within the space of five minutes. Thorin huffed and sat back next to Balin who was always a source of comfort to him even before Erebor fell.

"We do not have time to delay Balin, if we must leave without them then that is what we must do" Thorin sighed, fewer and fewer folk were supporting this mission a band of 13 dwarves and a wizard was hardly a match for a dragon if Smaug still lived.

"I know lad, have faith this is a worthy quest and mahal would not have forsaken us" Balin smiled reassuringly at Thorin. Balin trusted Thorin like he trusted no other, he knew Thorin would give anything for his people and would do everything in his power to provide them with a place of sanctuary. The pair sat in silence for a few moments when Y/N came out of one of the rooms in a different outfit. The dress made her look like one of them, it fitted her so much better than what she had on before and Thorin found himself staring in awe at her.

"it seems she hadnt given up on us afterall" Balin nudged Thorin grabbing his attention

"aye but does a woman belong on this quest" Thorin sighed "she looks weaker than Dis and we wouldnt allow her to join us"

"she will be fine" Balin was puzzled by Thorin's sudden change in attutude until he realised Thorin was still watching the lass like a hawk. "she will have us to protect her and Im sure you wouldnt mind training her" Balin joked.

"I will not let her presence effect this quest, we will make sure she is trained" Thorin barked back. Both dwarves knew it was already too late just her sheer presence made Thorin reconsider his priorities.

[livlepretre]

God I wanna pick at your brain so much. Its made me cry so many times that I don't even mind anymore. Okay, so, which is the strongest character you've come across in books/movies/shows? And what was the moment that you fell in love with Elena as a character? Also, which incident made you disappointed in her within the first 4 seasons, if any? Please humor me. You've made me discover my hidden interviewer... ❤

Pick away! And 💙💙💙your tears are watering the fic, thank you, it needs them to grow 

Hmmmm I think I’d have to go with Rand al’Thor from the Wheel of Time book series for the first question (soon to be a tv show if covid ever allows them to finish filming season 1!). Rand’s role in the book series is very much so the “chosen one” storyline, which is terribly fun to read but completely horrific and soul-scouring for him to experience, but what really gets me about his character is the emotional depths that the writer plumbs with him. I tend to gravitate toward stories about depression-- not surprising, I’ve had some serious bouts with it myself over the past 15 years-- and there’s just something about the intimacy of Rand’s emotional portrait as he spirals and burns-- his depression, his trauma and ptsd, the friendships that wither and the ones that turn out to be so profound and deep that they will not abandon him, even at the bitter end, the terrible anxiety and stress and anger and all of those things Rand feels that boil along... really truly awful things happen to Rand, and Rand does really truly awful things himself, but I suppose that what I love the very most, and the reason I’m so often misty-eyed whenever I read about Rand in the later books in the series is that there’s this thread of hope-- sometimes so thin it can be totally overlooked-- that runs through the whole thing. Hope that he will prevail, that he will make it over the finish line. Hope that he can figure out how to be a good man (again?). Hope that he will forgive himself. Rand really embodies the mantra that I told myself so often in my darkest times: when you can’t hold on, hold on-- and I can’t recommend going on that journey with him enough. (also in other news he’s a hero that hits all of my villain kinks so I am    L I V I N G for that)

Had to think about this for a bit with Elena-- because the thing is, there were definitely moments where I liked her a lot in season 1-- honestly I usually can’t be compelled to watch a show or read a book unless the main character is my favorite/I at least like them a lot, since, you know, we have to spend most of our time with them-- I really liked her when she slapped Damon during the Halloween party, I really liked her when she drank at the bar with Bree, I really liked her during the whole “steal the grimoire!” and 50′s dance arc. Like I mentioned above, I tend to be really sympathetic to characters who are depressed, and characters who are grieving, so it’s possible I was really predisposed to empathize with her. I think the moment I LOVED her though was in Let The Right One In, when Damon told her to wait in the car and then Elena completely disobeyed him and snuck into the house and saved Stefan herself. That was the first hint that Elena was willing to take HUGE risks, and that she had this uncanny bravery that bordered on suicidal and also it was a stunning display of her loyalty and her love. So, that entire thing just S E N T me. 

The disappointed question is really hard, because so long as the writing is good, I tend to really enjoy it when characters do bad or uncomfortable things-- things which in real life of course would have me on the war path, but which I tend to revel in when I’m watching. For example, if I were to try to judge Elena not as a tv show character but as a person, then definitely the whole thing with Damon would be a disappointment-- she should have wanted nothing to do with him after the way he used Caroline in season 1, and of course, the fact that he’s unstable to the nth degree-- but it’s a vampire tv show and so I have always understood the Damon/Elena thing as embodying the storyline of being seduced into darkness/metaphorical death, and yes, it’s terrible terrible terrible, but Elena is pretty much defenseless against it as a young orphan girl with no parents to guide her or offer her support, and no friends truly capable of it because they are also still kids (and because honestly a 26 year old aunt unused to laying down the law is not a sufficient substitute no matter how hard she tries). There’s a narrative reason why Elena is an orphan and it’s to make her vulnerable to Damon (and to Stefan, whom I think is pretty much as bad, he just pretends he isn’t for his own piece of mind). So, even when she falls in love with Damon, I’m not disappointed-- it’s the storyline I was watching and expecting because it’s a vampire tv show and that is what I signed up for. (I would say I was disappointed in the tv show for failing to make it as disturbing as it should have been though) 

So I think my only real source of disappointment in Elena is in season 4 onwards when basically she drops Stefan off of her romantic radar as soon as she decides they’re breaking up. This was my biggest problem with TVD in general, and where whatever was holding the increasingly fragile storytelling together really started to fall apart. For years I had chomped at the bit for Delena, but I didn’t want just “Damon and Elena get together and that’s that!” I wanted a reversal of the Stefan/Elena/Damon love triangle wherein Damon and Elena would be together but that tension and longing and understanding with Stefan would still exist and make Delena maybe untenable the way that Stelena had been. The show was really built on the complication of not just having a love triangle with both brothers in love with the unfortunately polyamorous girl, but with the brothers having their own relationship to deal with. The problem with knocking the Stefan/Elena leg off of the triangle is that it just made the Damon/Stefan leg shakier and it made the Damon/Elena leg much more boring than it needed to be. 

I guess I do have disappointment in the writing for Elena from the time she is turned into a vampire onward. When she was human, the writers made a huge effort to think of ways to make her a power broker in the group-- she was always negotiating, tricking, daggering, pulling dangerous stunts like slitting her own throat or stabbing herself or falling backwards off of those bleachers in order to trick her adversaries and win. The best thing about Elena was that she had this cunning mind and a ruthless streak that was shockingly cruel and balanced so well against her loving and kind nature. When she became a vampire, they just started having her use super speed and super strength to solve all of her problems instead of having her outwit her opponents and that was dull as dishwater. 

Also I’ve mentioned this before but I am dreadfully disappointed in her grasp of history (but that could be the school system’s fault, they jump all over the place in history class without any rhyme or reason as far as I can tell). I die a little bit inside whenever I have to hear her describe 1492!Katerina as “the sweet peasant girl.” Like, I’m sorry, Elena, how does a sweet peasant girl in 1492 find the resources and connections to travel all the way to England to cover up her scandalous pregnancy? It seems more likely that Katherine’s father was a land owner of some wealth or connection, and it frankly just embarrasses me so much to think of Elijah hearing her say this. (like, this isn’t having a problem with the idea of Katherine as a peasant, it’s just that she so obviously wasn’t that it just comes across as so painfully absurd and ignorant and also weirdly belittling of the peasants, like, oh, this sweet peasant girl, so innocent! so naive to the ways of the world! give! me! a! break!) 

[minniemixe]

Beauty And The Beast

Gangster AU

Stray Kids Fanfic

Chan x Reader

Other Appearances: GOT7 BTS

Genre: Smut, Fluff, Angst

Warnings: Violence, Mentions of stabbing, Mention of kinks, making out

Beauty and the Beast Masterlist

Chapter 4

“Where are you taking me?” Moon asked again, trying to get out of his grip.

“The infirmary?” he answered letting go of her wrist

“Why”

“You are going to fix my wound”

“Did you forget that I failed my medic training with Liv”

“No I have not, but you said you wanted to be out on the field, so you have to learn”

“It’s not like I’ll be alone?”

“You never know, what if it isn’t just you, what if someone else is injured and it’s just you two. Would you let them die? You need to know the basics, so you can at least keep them alive until help arrives” Chan explained

“Oh”

“The faster you learn, the closer you are to the field.” Chan smiled at her

“Thanks I guess” she looked at him questioningly

“What?” he raised a brow

“I don’t know. I mean you’re a gang leader but you don’t seem like one”

“Elaborate please” he asked confused

“Like you’re not all cold and stone hearted, killing anything that disobeys you. Back there, there is no way I could’ve won, you purposely went easy on me. Sure I want to be on the field, but who am I, you could easily refuse. Trusting me to treat your wound when I almost killed one of your members during training over a small injury and here you have a huge gash across your front. And it’s not just me you’re like this with, I’ve seen you with the other members. Honestly sometimes I forget I am in a gang, that is why a few days ago I told you I’m more peaceful here” Moon explained as they entered the infirmary.

“Everyone has a story” he smirked, repeating her sentence from earlier

“What’s yours?” she smiled knowingly

“You’ll know when the time comes. Right now you have a wound to patch” he spoke taking his shirt off. Moon blushed heavily looking at his bare back. His shoulders were broad, his pale back, littered with light freckles looking like small stars, she couldn’t help but think how smooth his skin would feel if she ran her hand on his back. Grazing it with her nails, leaving scratch marks, she shook her head snapping out of the dirty cycle of thoughts. However the moment he turned around she wished she wasn’t in the room. She internally cursed herself as all the nasty and sadistic thoughts came back to her, the thoughts she had spent years on suppressing. He was completely ripped, practically making her drool over his well built form. Shamelessly checking him out, for once she let her thoughts run wild. He had an awfully large cut with blood dripping from it but why did she find it attractive. She wanted to collect that blood on her hands and smear it over themselves as he’d take her right there on the infirmary wall. His valcular hands, she wanted nothing more than him choking her with those very hands until her vision blurred. Those lips she could kiss until they were bleeding. His large biceps she’d squeeze and claw at as he’d mercilessly pound into her. Hi- “Like what you see” he smirked

“No, I mean, Yes, I mean, Sorry. Do I really have to do this, I could just watch someone else do it and maybe next time I’ll try it. I don’t want to cause anymore damage.”  she sighed

“You won’t, I’ll guide you through it” he smiled at her encouragingly

“Alright sit down” after much consideration Moon decided to go along with it.

Chan sat on the edge of the  bed while Moon dragged a chair in front of him. “What’s first?” she asked, “First, you have to clean the wound, then disinfect, you might have to stitch it up as well but we’ll get to that later. Right now, get that little tub and fill it with water, there are clean towels in that drawer take one out. And get that first aid kit over there.” Chan said pointing towards the things. Doing as told, Moon grabbed everything and came and sat in front of him. She wet the towel and started working on his wound trying her best to not stare. Chan leaned back putting his weight on his arms giving her easier access. The lower she got, she couldn't help but notice the deep v line that disappeared under his black shorts. Moon swallowed thickly shaking her head snapping out of her dirty thoughts.

"Do you think this will need stitches?" She asked putting the dirty towel away.

Chan got up and went to the mirror located at the corner to examine his wound "No, it's not that deep, a simple bandage will do" he spoke rummaging through different cupboards to collect cotton and gauzes. Once he found them he walked back to his place sitting down as he handed the materials to her.

"Do I have to wrap you with this like a mummy?" She joked

"No. You have to use this and that medical tape to cover the wound" he answered

"Okay so first I have to put the cotton on" she said picking up the said material.

"Woah woah woah, you have to disinfect the wound first" he said grabbing her hands

"Oh. How do I do that"

"God, you're hopeless" he shook his head.

"That's why I said you should get someone else to do this" she whined

"No, this is how you'll learn" he simply shrugged

"Fine, tell me what I have to do" she sighed

"This is the disinfectant, use a cotton ball to rub it on my wound" he told, handing her the bottle. With Chan's guidance Moon was able to bandage up his wound without much problem.

"Alright all done, you can put on your shirt now" she spoke standing up and putting everything back in its place

"I thought you liked it like this" he smirked making her blush

"Oookay, I'm just gonna go" Moon said running out the infirmary.

Closing the door to her room she leaned against it breathing heavily. As she looked down at her hands that were covered in blood all the memories came back rushing. Shaking her head she made her way to the toilet to wash her hands. Looking at her reflection, she couldn't believe how red her face was. Never in her life had she been in a situation like this. She couldn't help but think back to Chan's chiseled upper half. Having enough of her thoughts lingering in that brain of hers she opted to take a cold shower. Stripping out of her clothes she turned on the shower and stepped under the cold water.

As soon as the water made contact with her body she let out a scream, "Fuck cold shower, my body isn't made for this" she mumbled to herself before turning on the hot water.

As she was lathering her body with soap the shower curtains opened. Letting out a scream she scrambled to cover herself

"Even a kindergartner knows the difference between a nose and lips" Bree spoke

Moon released a breath of relief and went back to washing herself. This wasn't the first time Bree had done something like this, so Moon was quite used to it, however she'd always get caught by surprise whenever it happened.

"What?" Moon asked confused

"During training, I told you that if you find yourself in such a position, you bite the nose. Not kiss the lips"

"I did hit the nose, it didn't really have an effect, he has high pain tolerance. Besides it's not like I could bite the whole nose off" Moon explained

"Smart. Analysing your opponent before attacking. I've taught you well. Well, a little advice, don't try this move on Woo, El will chew you alive" Bree laughed

"Ha ha very funny. I won't because for one, I don't want to become predictable and second it was a momentary kind of decision, just wanted to catch him off guard" Moon answered, stepping out of the shower.

"I wonder how many people you've caught off guard with that move" Bree wiggled her eyebrows. The gesture warmed Moon's heart. Letting out a humorous laugh she replied "That was my first kiss"

"Shit!! Girl you can't be serious" Bree followed Moon out into the room

"Apparently I am. The guy I used to like was 7 years older than me, so I didn't stand a chance and he always called me his little sister so yeah, don't really have that kind of experience"

"Oh Lord! Where did you even find this guy? Was he your professor in highschool?"

"What no. He's my dad's best friends son" Moon laughed

"Oh makes sense. But still 7 years, did you not meet any other guys or were they all the same age?" Bree questioned

"I wasn't much social in highschool, had two close friends, both girls. Well Mark had friends, a few younger than him but they were my seniors. I hung out with them alot but I was closest to -oh wow I was closer to the older ones"

"You are an interesting person." Bree said, patting her head. As she was about to leave Moon called after her.

"Yeah" she asked

"What's your tattoo?" Moon asked pointing to the snake skin on Bree's neck

"You wanna see?"

Moon nodded her head curious to see the whole thing. Bree took off her shirt and turned around revealing the entire tattoo. It was a snake, the end wrapped around her torso in three coils,the tail disappearing under the waistband of her shorts, the rest going up her back, over her shoulders from around the neck to her front. The head on her right breast, with its mouth open showing its sharp fangs and tongue sticking out. Moon reached forward and ran her fingers over it. Quickly realizing she was touching her breasts she pulled her hand back

"Sorry" Moon mumbled

"It's all good" Bree shrugged putting her shirt back on

"This is really cool, did you design it yourself?" Moon asked

"Yeah, Ch-SpearB and I designed matching tattoos and drew them on each other."

"Oh yeah, I remember a similar one on his arm from training"

"It's not similar, it's the same, except his is wrapped on his bicep with the head in the mid of his neck, and mine, well you've just seen it" Bree said

"Can you draw one on me as well? Like not a snake but something else" Moon asked

"Right now?"

"Yeah, I mean if you're not busy. I haven't got anything to do so why not"

"Sure. What do you want me to draw?"

“I’m not sure, uuhh, do you have any suggestions” Moon questioned

“Where do you want it? Big or small?” Bree asked

“Leg, and a big one, like on the whole leg” Moon answered

“You sure, it’s gonna be painful”

“Ha pain. We’ve been best buddies since forever” Moon laughed

“Change into shorts and come with me. You’re talking, what the hell is supposed to mean” Bree said. Doing as told Moon changed and followed Bree out of her room

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

“Do you have something specific in mind?” Bree asked, taking out her sketch pad.

“Something unique and sexy, I guess it doesn’t necessarily have to be big. Maybe on the thigh” Moon answered

“I have something you might like. Here, check this out” Bree skipped through pages on her sketch pad and showed her the drawing. It was a mix of roses and a crescent moon. The moon was facing upwards, it wasn’t fully drawn, the roses were a part of it, it was one whole piece of a drawing. One large rose surrounded by leaves and few other small roses, two corners of the moon emerged from within the rose, with twinkling stars drawn between the moon giving it a complete look.

“Wow it’s so beautiful, I love it.” Moon said running her fingers over the drawing.

"So this one?"

"Yep"

"Where do you want it, left thigh or the right one?" Bree asked

"Uumm I think this one would suit on the shoulder better. What do you think?" Moon asked

"You're not wrong, I did design this one for the shoulder. But it could be drawn on the side of the thigh as well. The choice is yours" Bree explained

"I think shoulder would be good, I'll think about something else for the legs" Moon decided

"Alright then, take off your shirt and turn around " Bree told

"I'm going to draw on the left shoulder, it'll look better there" Bree told Moon who was now sitting with her back facing towards Bree

"Okay. Do you want me to remove the bra strap?"

"You might have to take off the bra, sliding the strap on the shoulder will still get in the way"

"Oh no, not like that, the strap is detachable. I can take it off"

"Yeah okay, detach the strap"

Getting started on the tattoo the booth filles with a comfortable silence.

"You know, that was very brave of you" Bree broke the silence

"What was?" Moon questioned

"Taking your father's place" She answered

There was an awkward pause before Moon spoke

"It wasn't brave, I'd say it was more out of cowardice and selfishness. A part of me hoped I'd get killed when I walked in. But when you all started questioning me I knew I wasn't going to die and I was afraid Chris would let us both go. So when I was given the opportunity to stay, I took it"

"Did you not have a good relationship with him?" Bree asked

"I don't even know how I'd put it."

"What do you mean? If it was that complicated to begin with, why did you look for him"

"I didn't want to, honestly I thought he had run away. But my mom wanted me to look"

"Aright girly, you're going to have to explain everything, you're just confusing me. One wants to look for him, the other doesn't" Bree chuckled

"Haha yeah I figured." Moon laughed

"Tell me everything. It's not like we have anything else to do" Bree said

"Well, I guess for as long as I can remember I've been abused, physically, emotionally and mentally. When I was young I remember how he'd hit me on every little thing, maybe at that time I thought that I was in the wrong and that I deserved it. When my mom tried to defend me he'd always tell her he'd kill me if she didn't back off. I really wished he did kill me. Until I turned 17 the abuse went on. I'd go to bed covered in bruises, at first it was hard, but then I got used to it. I don't think there was anything that he left to hit me with, he'd even use hot kitchen utensils. I wanted to run away but I always stayed, for the sake of my mom. My younger sister, she too was so fed up with it, she went away the first chance she got. I wanted to get away but I stayed with my mom. After 17, physical abuse got less and less, but the mental abuse got too much. He'd constantly tell me I was a burden. I was too into computers and gaming, and he didn't like that, he'd tell me I was wasting my time and that no one would want me. Every time I'd tell him I wasn't wasting time he'd dismiss me and say the same old shit. Mom however was more supportive. Obviously she didn't know I was earning by illegal means. She only found out about hacking when I hacked into my dad's phone when I thought he was cheating on mom. I guess I was so desperate to make mom hate him I was willing to do anything. I guess the  worst part for me was that my parents' relation was perfect. When I was younger I used to think that maybe he was abusive to her as well, but he wasn't. For some reason he was like that to us sisters. Mom often tried to protect us but it never really worked out. For my sister it was easy I guess, she rebelled and got out. Applied for college away from home, started a little business, and now she's earning millions. She visits from time to time but yeah. As for me I stayed, for my mom. I started by freelancing, showing my parents that I'm not completely useless. Well that's how it went. Cut to chase, dad disappeared, mom didn't want to go to the police because she knew something was up. I guess for me it was a golden opportunity, I could've easily convinced her that he ran away. I knew I was capable. But the heartbroken expression on her face every time she asked me where he was, was too much for me. So I looked for him and well you know the rest" Moon told her story

"You've had it pretty rough huh?" Bree commented

"Yeah well, I got by"

"Do you miss home?" Bree questioned

"My mom yes, dad well it's complicated, I'm definitely glad I left, but a part of me does miss him, he is my father after all. Whatever the case, he did raise me and my sister, yeah he completely ruined us but at least he stuck around" Moon sighed

"What about your mom? When your dad went back what did you tell her? And what does she think you're doing right now?" Bree questioned

"I don't know, I told Dad to figure that out himself. For me, I told Mom I got offered a job by a client I was meeting. Mom never knew I came to find dad, she thought I was meeting a client. I didn't want mom to know that he was involved with a gang, so yeah" she answered

"Do you ever think about going back?"

"Not really, maybe visit them, tell them I'm doing alright, but going back there, I don't think so"

"You must've hated it there alot for you to so easily get settled in a gang" Bree stated

"When I took up the opportunity, I really thought I wouldn't survive. But surprisingly enough it was nothing like I imagined. I think you and I both know what that is supposed to mean" Moon told

"Yeah well. In a way this is by choice but at the same time there wasn't much we could've done."

"So you're saying that you wanted to be in the gang but only because you didn't have any other choice. Doesn't really make sense."

"Let's put it like this. Chris is the leader, he never had a choice. He took it up because he needed to protect his family, his sister Anna didn't want to be separated from him so she too came. But that's a whole other story and isn't mine to tell. The boys had been friends for a long while. Even before the gang was formed. That's all I can tell. As for me, I went abroad for further studies in my major. When I came back I found out that my younger brother SpearB is in a gang. To me that was totally unacceptable. We fought a lot over it. But after a horrible incident I came to realize how important it was for him. Slowly I started seeing how it made him happy, I could never take that away from him, so I let him be. Chris gave me a choice of joining, to be close to my brother. At first I declined, saying I didn't want to do anything with something illegal. He respected my decision and let me go. I kept in contact but that proved dangerous and after some times I couldn't see him or even talk to him and I hated that, so I joined. Ironic isn't it, I spent so many years majoring in law and ended up joining a gang. I kept telling myself that I couldn't fit in, but I was proved wrong. Just like you, it was nothing like I imagined. That's why after some time I came to love it and understood why SpearB didn't want to leave." Bree explained

"To me it seems more of a family than a gang" Moon stated

"It is and soon you'll be a part of it too"

"What if I'm not cut out for it?" Moon asked

"You are, I can see it"

"How come. After I just told you I ran away from my father selfishly, you still think I'd be loyal?" Moon questioned

"I haven't seen it like that. You just told me you grew up in an abusive household. When your father disappeared you had a choice of convincing your mom that he wasn't coming back. But you still looked for him, for the sake of your mother. Which just shows you're not selfish. Yes you may have joined stray kids to get away from your father but that's only normal, anyone would've done that. Don't put yourself down so much. If we had thought you're not cut out for it we'd have taken care of you a long time ago. You've been here almost a year now and it's no coincidence." Bree reassured the younger girl

"Thanks, this was nice, I haven't had a normal conversation in a long time"

"It's all good kiddo" Bree patted Moon's head making her laugh

"Well you're done, and it's dinner time so let's go" Bree said checking her phone

Quickly putting on her shirt, the two exited the booth to join the others.

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"Let's start from this, get a proper hang of this and we'll move to bigger guns" El said handing Moon a gun

"This is the safety, you have to turn it off before you shoot, make sure you don't point the gun at a living being unless under attack, accidentally pulling a trigger on someone is not funny. Stand straight, shoulders pulled back, now put your left hand under the megazine, here. Grip the gun here and put your index finger on the trigger. Now stand rigid and straight, when you pull the trigger there will be a lot of pressure. This is called the front sight, this where you take the aim from. Now that’s your target, point the gun towards it and try to get a good hit” el instructed, guiding Moon’s hands.

Taking aim, Moon fired the gun multiple times. Missing the targets the first two times, Moon realigned herself and tried again. This time she hit all the targets perfectly.

“What the hell. Have you ever fired a gun before” El questioned

“No but if it’s of any use, I was top of my archery class” Moon said

“Oh, that explains it”

“Explain what?” Moon questioned

“How you were able to hit the targets perfectly so quickly. Getting a hang of the gun isn’t that hard, but getting your aim right is difficult, but since you already have practice in that area, you got the grasp of it quickly”

“I guess that’s a good thing then, I’m learning quickly” Moon smiled

“Don’t get ahead of yourself missy, that was just the hand gun”

“Oh”

“Yeah. Shoot two more rounds and we’ll move on to the rifle” El told the younger

“Here put this on your shoulder” El said handing Moon shooting gear

“What’s this? How do I strap it on” Moon asked

“It’s to protect your shoulder, until you learn how to properly handle the rifle, you’ll need to wear this” El said helping Moon with putting on the shoulder pad

“This is a rifle, this is harder to use. Brace this against your shoulder, hold it from here with your left hand and put your right index finger on the trigger. Take the aim from here and shoot.”  El instructed once again.

Following the given instructions Moon pulled the trigger, however the force was more than she could handle, losing her balance she fell on her back. El moved towards her and helped her up

“Learning fast are we?” El spoke sarcastically

“God, I need to build strength for this”

“That you do. C'mon let's go again, let me help you this time"

El stood behind Moon and guided her hand on the weapon, "Okay, shoot again" this time Moon only stumbled a little since El was hugging her body from behind, steadying her.

"I missed it again" Moon groaned

"It's okay, this is going to take time" El assured her

This went on for weeks, Moon practicing on the rifle. She still wasn't able to hit her target but was able to fire the gun without falling back.

"What's the progress" Woo asked coming in with two mugs, handing one to El

"She's getting better, she can shoot without me now, so that's progress enough" El answered

"When can I take over?"

"I don't think she's good enough to shoot moving targets yet"

"What about a pistol?" he asked

"She only practiced that on day one, she got that pretty quickly."

"Then we'll just practice on moving targets with that one"

"Shouldn't she at least know how to use a rifle" El questioned

"Babe, look at her size, she can barely hold the rifle right, how do you expect her to shoot perfectly with it. She wants to be on the task force anyway, she's good with a handgun." He answered

"Well you're not wrong, I guess she's done for the day, she can start tomorrow with you then"

"You go tell her, I'll go tell Chan her progress" Woo said

"Today you'll be shooting moving targets, with your handgun. Once you learn how to perfectly do that you'll pass phase two" Woo explained to Moon

"What about the rifle?" She asked

"It's a waste of time. You're not strong enough to handle one of those"

"I can learn" Moon tried to defend herself

"The rifle is twice is your size"

"IT IS NOT"

"My point is, if you're not a snipper, it's not that important, just learn how to perfectly shoot with a handgun and you'll be fine on the task force. Now that we're done arguing let's begin."

Moon shot round after round and only managed to hit one target, that too in the arm only.

“Keep practicing, I’ll be back in a few minutes”

After a month of practicing, Moon was finally able to hit every target smoothly. Another day of practice, she casually walked inside the shooting range. She was greeted by a not so appropriate scene. Woo and El were making out against the wall, with his hands under her shirt. They didn’t seem to notice her so she quickly turned around to leave, only to bump into something, she looked up to see Chan looking down at her

“What’s wrong with you? You look like you just saw- why’s your face so red” He asked

“Oh nothing”

“Anyways come with me” he said grabbing her wrist and dragging her inside

“I don’t think that’s a good-” Chan stopped in his track taking in the sight in front of him “-idea” Moon completed her sentence

“You two just can’t get enough of each other huh?” Chan spoke, making the two jump apart.

“Get a girlfriend and you’ll know” Woo retorted

“Working on that one”

“Really, what’s the progress on that” El wiggled her brows

“One kiss” Chan smirked, Woo immediately understanding who he was talking about.

Moon just stood there awkwardly, El came and slung her arm around Moon’s shoulder “So what brings you here boss?” El asked

“Oh My Gosh, you’re so annoying” Chan exclaimed

“You didn’t answer the question”El said

“Well we have a problem”

“What kind of problem" the atmosphere getting serious

"Nothing major. Looks like you'll get your field test after all princess" Chan said looking at Moon

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

"Two weeks ago a drug trade took place in a nightclub. Things however did not go as expected and a lot of shit went down. It was a set up. The problem for us however is that whoever was behind this setup is someone we've had dealings with in the past. Unfortunately for us we don't know which dealer. Whoever they are, they're trying to get us in trouble with the law. Some sort of weapon trade is taking place in an abandoned building at the outskirts of the city. This is between our rival, and another gang. What we have to do is stop it. It's again a set up and if we don't intervene, we might all end up in jail. However it is essential we do this anonymously" Chan explained as everyone was gathered in the meeting hall

“What’s our strategy?” SpearB asked

“Woo, Bree, El and J.One will be stationed at the 4 corners of the building. Lee Know, Freckles and SpearB, you’ll have to go inside the building while the transaction is taking place, you guys are the eyes and ears. Dandy and I.N, you two take the van, circle the area with drones, keep an eye out and track everyone. HH, you take Moon and hide at the front entrance, no one goes in or comes out undetected. Liv and Anna are with me.” Chan told

“What’s the main plan?” Woo questioned

“Once we know who’s setting us up, we kill them. Our main goal is to turn them against each other, no one gets out alive. We shoot the first bullet on my command and then let them fight.” Chan finalized.

“What if we get exposed?” Bree stated

“Like I said, no one gets out alive, no witnesses” Chan answered. Something about the way he said those words sent shivers down Moon’s spine. Not in a chilling way, rather a very unholy way. That’s how she knew, she was getting closer to losing it.

“You all know the plan?” Chan asked as they all stood in an empty field. Everyone replied with a short yes as they all dispersed. “Good luck kiddo” Lee Know said, patting Moon’s head.

“So we’re supposed to just sit and keep an eye on who comes out and goes in?” Moon asked Hyunjin as the two sat behind a rock in front of the building

“It may not seem important, but that’s because you don’t really know the faces. With time you’ll understand” Hyunjin said

“So who exactly are we looking for”

“Anyone who shouldn’t be here”

“And who might tha-Mark?” Moon said looking at the man in the entrance

“How do you know him?” Hyunjin questioned

“I have to be mistaken” she whispered squinting her eyes trying to get a better look

“Ow” she exclaimed holding her foot

“What happened?”

“I twisted my foot”

“How the hell did you do that?”

“I accidently sat on it”

“Idiot. Let me see”

Moon tried to move slowly but since she was sitting on a slope she slipped away from the rock

“Shit” she cursed under her breath

“Who’s there?” someone shouted

She quickly took out her earpiece, crushed it between her teeth and threw it away. Hyunjin’s eyes went wide and he sneakily slid away before he could be seen by the man coming their way and expose the mission.

“Who’s the-Bitty?” the man spoke surprised to see her

“Mark?”

“Yeah, what are you doing here?” he asked helping her stand up

“Ow” she hissed holding on to his arm

“What happened?”

“I think I twisted my foot”

“What were you doing here in the middle of the night

“I wa-”

“What’s going on here?” another voice asked. They both looked towards the source.

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

“Hyunjin what’s the update?” Chan asked

“I don’t know I fled” he answered

“What do you mean you fled? Where’s Moon?” Bree exclaimed

“I don’t know. We saw Mark at the entrance and she knew him, she hurt herself and slipped out of the rock an-

“YOU LEFT HER UNARMED AND INJURED?!?!?!?!” Chan shouted

“I didn’t know what to do, the moment she slipped out , she took out her earpiece and destroyed it”

“Felix, Minho, Changbin, what’s the status? Any visuals on Moon?” Chan asked the three

“Negative, we can’t find a way in” Changbin answered

“Chan something doesn’t seem right. The moment she saw Mark, she somehow twisted her foot and when I asked to look she slipped out of the hideout. Then when Mark is coming towards her, she destroys the earpiece” Hyunjin spoke

“I planted a bug in her hair earlier, Seungmin, connect us” Minho spoke

The moment it connected a high pitched scream was heard, “Let me go!!!” Moon shouted

“HEL-MMHHMMMH” and the line went silent

[marvelhead17]

You are the Only One (Bofur/Reader)

Summary: You've always heard from others that love is blind or in the eye of the beholder... But little did you know that in your case, it was just oblivious. 

Word count: 2061

 A/N: I wrote reader as female because it was easier for me, but it's not strictly for female readers. This was originally part of a huge fanfiction that I'm working on with an OC and Bofur (hoping to publish soon), but as I was scrapping this small idea I decided to put it to use and add a Bofur one-shot to the small amount that's here on Ao3. My favourite dwarf deserves more love!

You walked down the stairs leading to the main hall of Erebor, where a grand ball now took place for the evening, the chandeliers casting gold light down on the people gathered below.

A lot of folk had arrived from across Middle Earth for the celebration, from Bree, a handful of curious Hobbits from the Shire, Men of Dale, and even the Elves attended, much to the surprise of everyone.

Tonight you wore a formal dress, which was unusual for you as you preferred the comforts of a tunic and tights to the dismay of your mother, it wasn’t particularly comfortable but you hoped it would draw the attention of a certain dwarf.

                              It had been a long year and a half since the Battle of the Five Armies, as it was now known in the history books; and Thorin had spent a great deal of that time in healing, his defeat of Azog came with great risk and he had nearly died in the process. In the meanwhile the rest of the company with the assistance of others set about repairing the newly reclaimed Erebor.

You had fought in the battle yourself, having followed your best friend Bofur at the time when he had left to join the company, but surprisingly came out relatively unscathed as you were inexperienced in fighting. In the little time you had spent with them, you had taken a liking to King Thorin’s nephew, Kili; and in the few weeks he had spent healing you had kept to his side, holding long conversations into the night and bringing him his meals.

After debating to yourself for some time you had decided to confess to him your newfound feelings, unfortunately for you he had not felt the same, as he loved Tauriel and planned to court her. Naturally you had been hurt, heartbroken even, so as a precaution you maintained your distance from the prince to avoid any unwanted emotions that bubbled out, in case your temper or sadness would dare overcome you in his presence.

You spent the time either alone, doing activities to keep you busy or reading books from the dusty library, or in the company of Bofur, who always made sure you left with a smile on your face. And after several weeks you came to realise that you had developed strong feelings for Bofur, and felt the days without him to be especially empty and cold.

  You set foot on the floor, gazing over the crowds to see if you could locate him, your heart thumping wildly in your chest.

Is he even wearing his hat tonight? You wondered to yourself, a frown falling on your face. You’d never seen him without the poor worn out thing, except the time he and the others raided the fountain in Rivendell in the nude, you smiled and shook your head at the thought.

Focus.

You walked through the crowds, almost being stood on several times by men or elves as they did not notice you, you muttered and cursed about being a dwarrow before moving on. Time felt like it was pressing down on you for some reason, as if any moment could be the moment that someone else would draw his attention and steal him away from you.

You stood on your toes and looked around the room once more, breathing a sigh of relief when you found him, you pushed through a little impatiently this time around, partially to get your own back for the rudeness of the others before, but mostly to get closer to him quicker.

 You were about to greet him but froze on the spot, he was surrounded by three elf maids, all laughing at something he said. You looked down at yourself in doubt and back at the elf maids, and frowned, they were tall, ridiculously beautiful, and slender in their colourful dresses, with long neat hair; by comparison you felt as if you were but a troll forced into a curtain your mother had crafted in the dark.

You shook your head, swallowing hard and took the long route around the crowds to avoid attracting attention to yourself, feeling tears begin to well up in your eyes as you headed out of the main entrance.

You shivered as the cold air hit your skin, you hugged yourself and brushed your hands to warm up as best as you could, and you walked on, staring at the moon and stars. A few stray tears rolled down your burning cheeks, and you shook slightly.

Star-crossed lovers... You questioned whether you could even begin to consider your relationship with Bofur to be that way; you grew up together in the Blue Mountains, always managing to find your way to each other after many months apart at a time as you became older.

The idea seemed silly to you now, Bofur was kind to everyone it was who he was, you were nothing more than another friend to him and you assured yourself that time would heal you again.

You stopped walking as something had snagged the bottom of your dress; you grumbled and tugged at the material that clung to the thorn bush, regretting not paying attention to wear you were going. With a final pull the dress tore, almost up to your knee and you huffed, throwing your hands down.

Could tonight be any worse? You sat down on a large boulder, haphazardly undoing the braiding you had done in your hair, letting the messy locks rest on your shoulders; and rested your elbows on your knees with a sigh, staring in at the dark fields ahead.

 You stirred from your thoughts when a deep voice spoke your name just behind you, and you acknowledged him as he took a seat next to you.

“Did you not expect someone to see you leaving?” Thorin asked, tilting his head to look at you, his eyes were soft with concern.

“Not really, no,” you admitted, fidgeting slightly, “I suppose you’d want to know why I’m here?”

“For a start, yes,” he glanced down, noticing your exposed leg where the dress had torn.

“Well, I clearly don’t belong in there, not like this anyway,” you gestured to your messy state.

“Perhaps, if you were to wear what you find comforting?” Thorin chuckled lightly as he plucked at the ruined seems of the dress. “Or were you going out of your way to catch the eye of someone else?”

“For someone else,” you muttered, playing with your fingers nervously.

“Not Kili though, I suspect as much from what happened the last time,”

“So he told you then,” you closed your eyes for a moment and tilted your head to the sky, lips tightening.

“Of course, I’m like their second father.” He gave a small smile, “It takes courage to confront your feelings for someone, especially if you’re not certain of them being returned,” he placed a hand on your shoulder to comfort you.

“Yes,” you shuffled uncomfortably and staring into the fields again, uncertain where Thorin was taking the conversation, and not noticing him turn his head as someone else approached in the distance.

“You should not give up so easily, Bofur is a very patient dwarf,” you looked up at him in surprise and he smirked, “You should know the pair of you have a lot in common, aside from being oblivious of each other’s feelings, and the company has been waiting to cash in their bets any day now,” he stood up with a big grin on his face.

                                              “Am I interrupting something?” Bofur asked, your eyes widened and your tongue caught in your mouth.

“Not at all Bofur, I was just leaving,” Thorin walked passed him and gave him a pat on the shoulder, making Bofur frown in confusion, you caught him muttering under his breath, “Young love,” he shook his head.

“Did ye catch that?” Bofur asked, taking Thorin’s place next to you, you shook your head. “Where’ve ye been lass?”

“Well, I was inside, and then I decided I needed fresh air,” you shrugged, avoiding his gaze.

“Are ye sure ye’re alright?” he asked, “Ye seem a bit… off,”

“I’m fine,” you suddenly felt your throat go thick, “You should be worried about your friends inside,”

“And who would that be?” he frowned.

“The other-worldly elf maidens that you were giving a good laugh to,”

“They were only laughing because I was trying to say a joke I learned to say in Sindarin, which was quite mean to be honest, it’s not as if I learned it from birth,”

“You mean to say that they were laughing at you, not because of you?”

“Technically it was because I had made them laugh, but it still hurt nonetheless, and then I caught sight of my best friend wondering towards the exit in a hurry, and that hurt me even more,”

 You swallowed hard, before looking Bofur in the eyes, “And that’s all I’ll ever be to you isn’t it, a friend?”

“Firstly, I’d like to address that I said ye are my best friend,” he corrected, “Secondly, no,” he took your hand carefully in his, “It took me a long time to realise that ye were always meant to be more than a friend to me,”

“What?” you whispered.

“When we were young and unknowing, being told tales about having a One someday, I always thought that that feeling would be entirely overwhelming…” he paused, searching your eyes and you nodded for him to continue, “What I didn’t know is that, my best friend, who carried me when I’d fallen both metaphorically, and literally,” he chuckled a bit, “Through all my hardships in life so far, had been my One all this time.”

“I, I don’t understand…”

“Lass, ye were the constant light in my life through everything, and I feel daft for not knowing in all this time we’ve been around each other,” he took your other hand and squeezed gently. “I wish to court ye, if ye’ll have me that is, and I know ye probably want someone like Kili who can provide for ye though, so I understand if-”

You wrapped your arms around his neck giving him a tight hug, before pressing a soft kiss to his lips, holding his face gently in your hands as you parted. Bofur’s eyes fluttered open slowly in a daze; he stared at you for a moment in shock and then gave you a mischievous grin.

“I take that as a yes?” he asked and you smiled, pulling his hat over his eyes playfully.

“Of course, my One,” you beamed at him as he peaked from underneath his hat, you took his hands in yours and rubbed your thumbs on the backs of them, “And I want to assure you that whatever feelings I thought I had for Kili, they are long forgotten,”

“Well I’m glad to hear that,” he squeezed your hands gently and you returned the gesture, before moving one hand to caress his cheek carefully.

 “And I’m sorry for any heartache I might’ve caused you,” you whispered, examining the crinkles that cornered his eyes, “You were the reason I could keep a smile on my face when it felt like nothing could Bofur, and made me laugh my tears away,”

“Of course, I’d do anything to see that smile of yers, amrâlimê,”

“Menu tessu,”

He wrapped his arms around you and rubbed your back, “Yer freezing love, let’s get ye inside,” he made to let go of you but you held onto him, he chuckled. “Ye can’t get enough of me can ye?”

“I’m making up for lost time,” you mumbled into his neck, squeezing him tighter, he pulled you closer and pressed a kiss to your shoulder.

“That I don’t mind,” he sighed in content, before frowning when he caught sight of your bare leg just below. “Lass, what’s happened to yer dress?” you laughed for a moment.

“I’ll explain later,” you nuzzled into his neck, “Let’s just enjoy this moment,” you hummed; his warmth was radiating from his fur coat and body spreading to you, comforting you greatly against the chills of the night breeze.

“Tis my duty to make my lady happy,”

 You smiled, knowing in your heart that Bofur was yours, and only yours for the rest of your lives.

________________________________________________________________

I really enjoyed writing this, so thanks for reading and be sure to check out any other works on my profile!

Credit to https://islenthatur.wordpress.com/welcome/ for the translations of Khuzdul all summarised neatly together!

amrâlimê - my love Menu tessu – you mean everything to me

[asarahworld-writes]

all i want

Prompt: Be careful what you wish for @badthingshappenbingo

Fandom: Z-O-M-B-I-E-S

If she hadn’t had white hair, if monsters didn’t exist, if the moonstone had never fallen to Earth, if she wasn’t a freak dating a zombie…

 “-then maybe you would have the picture perfect lives you want. I wish you could just be happy!” Addison yelled, turning away from her parents and swiping angrily at her watery eyes.  What she needed right now was to get away, to be with Zed, but she knew that leaving at this hour would only make things worse.  She looked at her watch, sighing with exhaustion. She’d see him in about five hours anyway.

 Five hours spent restlessly trying to sleep, scrolling mindlessly on her phone, pacing her room, staring out her window at the full moon as the sky lightened – purples turned pink then orange as the sun rose, bathing the world in daylight.  Six am. Addison got up, shivering as the covers fell away.  She looked down in surprise… she didn’t remember changing into pajamas last night. She looked to see where her clothes from the previous day were...nowhere.  The laundry hamper was filled with monochromatic pastels she hadn’t worn in a month.

 She shook her head and rubbed her eyes.  Shower first, figure this out after.

 Addison let the water flow over her entire body, soaking in the warmth.  She massaged the shampoo into her scalp, rinsed.  She applied conditioner to the ends of her hair, easily combing through its mid-length strands.  She frowned, looking at the hair twined through her fingers.  Blonde.  The exact same shade as her wig.  The same length.  Even the same texture.  Odd…

 She watched the water run clean into the drain and shut it off. Even if she didn’t wear it in public any more, her parents would still be seriously pissed if they found out that she’d ruined her wig by wearing it in the shower.  Maybe it was salvageable.  She reached up to take it off and frowned when she felt herself grab her own hair.  She reached again and again, somehow, managed to miss the wig.  Addison stepped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around her body as to not drip all over the floor, and walked over to the mirror.  It had fogged during her shower and she rubbed at it with the hand towel.  Blonde. The wig still wouldn’t come off. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, so familiar and yet so strange.  She pulled sharply at the blonde hair and winced in pain.

 Addison reached out as if to touch her reflection, watching as it mimicked her perfectly.  She looked into her own blue eyes, her brown brows, every feature she knew so well and then back to the foreign yet familiar blonde hair.

 There was a soft tap at the door.

 “Addison, dear, you don’t want to be late for school.”

 Dear?  Her parents might use informal pet names for each other, but never with her.

 “Yes, Mom.”  She pulled the blonde hair into a bow at the back of her head, picked up her bag and headed for the kitchen where a bowl of fruit was waiting for her.  She ate without really tasting the food, grabbed her lunch money, and started walking.

 Real blonde hair.  Her clothes gone.  Her parents were suddenly much more affectionate.  Addison was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t notice arriving at school or even opening her locker.  Focus, Addy.  She grabbed her books for first period and looked at her watch.  She’d must have walked faster than usual, class wouldn’t start for fifteen minutes.  However, Zed was usually at the school early, hanging out with the guys or studying/chilling in the safe room.

 She opened the safe room door and called his name.  “Are you here yet?”  Her voice echoed in the empty room and she turned to leave.  The door sealed and she walked down the hall, alone, not noticing that the room wasn’t what she remembered.

 Students filled the hallway and Addison’s heart skipped as her eyes landed on the tall, lanky football star that was her boyfriend. She easily made her way through the crowd, using her short stature to her advantage to get around the other students.

 “Zed,” her voice cracked slightly, betraying her stress, and she froze, looking him over.

 “Um, can I help you?  I really don’t have time for autographs right now, but if you come back during free period I can hook you up.”  With that, he started to push past her.

 Without thinking, Addison grabbed his hand.

 He whipped around, easily breaking her hold.

 “Zed,” Addison looked him over, taking in the pink skin, dark hair, pastels.  “What did you do?”  Her brow furrowed in concern, her hand reaching out to touch his rosy face.

 “Okay, why are you trying to touch me?  Football stars are people too.  Personal space much?”  With that, Zed finally looked down at her, meeting her eyes.  The dark circles perpetually under his eyes were gone, his face was full of colour, his skin even felt warmer.  “Addison.  I thought I told you not to do that in front of people.  You know the deal.  Date the football star, get a bit of the spotlight.”

 “Zed, what are you talking about?  I thought we didn’t care what people thought, remember?  And I thought you were never going to mess with your Z-band again.  What did you do?”  She looked at him, black hair without the slightest tinge of green, skin that didn’t look like he was half-dead, and wearing perfect Seabrook colours.

 “I haven’t done anything I’ve never done before.  But if you’re looking for something different, find yourself a new boyfriend.  I won’t have any trouble replacing you.”

 Addison looked down, not wanting to let this… this person see her cry.  “Where’s your Z-band?”  Addison looked back up to Zed’s face, back to his empty wrist.  She reached for him again, looking for any hint that he was about to lose control.  There was none.  In fact, he still looked far too human.

 “What’s a Z-band?”  He scoffed.

 Addison felt her eyes well with tears and turned to leave, planning on finding Bree, when he caught her arm.

 “If I let you leave like that, it’ll give people the wrong impression.  Let’s go chill in the supply closet for a few minutes.”  Not-Zed, still holding her arm, led her to the Safe Room.  Or at least, what should have been the Safe Room. Instead of bunk beds and rations, the room was filled with cleaning supplies and a small first aid station.

 Addison took a shaky breath, trying to calm herself. “This isn’t right,” she whispered.

 “Really?  No shit it’s not right.  I should be out there with the guys, not stuck in a closet with a mopey girlfriend. I thought you were supposed to be a cheerleader.”

 “Zed,” Addison’s voice cracked, unable to look at the humanized person in front of her.  “This isn’t right.  This isn’t who we are.  This isn’t who you’re supposed to be, something’s happened, something horribly wrong.  But nobody seems to notice…” she couldn’t finish her thought.

 “Notice what?”  He was leaning against the doorframe, tall and dark, and…slightly intimidating.  Who would have thought that Zed would have made a scarier human than monster.

 “Everything’s changed,” she whispered brokenly. Not-Zed said nothing.  “When I woke up this morning, my hair looked like this,” she held it up limply, “all blonde like my old wig.  My parents…it was like something out of a movie.  I come to school early and you’re this…this isn’t you, Zed, not at all.”  She wiped the tears from her eyes before they could fall and continued.  “No matter how much it hurts, my parents are ashamed of me. My hair is an unnatural white color and until now I’ve always worn a wig to keep it hidden.  You’re still the star of the football team, but you’re not human, you’re a zombie.  You… gar-garziga, Zed.  The real Zed.”

 The real Zed, the real Seabrook, her real parents, she just wanted everything to return to normal.  This version of Zed, who apparently was tired of Addison being a clingy and vapid bitch, listened as everything poured out.  The accident at Seabrook Power, the creation of zombies, their first meeting, football, the cheer championships.

 “And all that just ‘changed’ this morning?”  Not-Zed scoffed.  “Things don’t just change overnight because you say ‘I wish’, Addison.  Not even for a cheerleader.”

 “But they did,” Addison whispered, broken.  “This isn’t right, any of it.  This isn’t who we are.”

 “So how did it happen?  I told these floozies I wish you’d just leave me alone, several times a day, and yet that never happens.”

 Whether not-Zed actually cared to know or not was irrelevant. “It was about one a.m.  I had a huge fight with my parents.  I said a bunch of things I knew they hated about me and said that maybe if none of them existed, that they could be happy.  If I had normal hair.  If monsters didn’t exist in this town.  Stuff I said in the heat of the moment.  And somehow, it all came true the next morning.”

 “In your version of the world, monsters exist?”  Not-Zed said incredulously.  “And I’m one of them.”

 “Yeah.”

 They were both quiet for a moment.

 “In your world…Zoey was at the cheer championships last year.” Not-Zed finally looked at her, his eyes hard.  Addison nodded, swallowing hard.

 “She started how monsters finally became accepted in Seabrook. There was only half a squad left and they were falling apart.  Zoey went on stage and started cheering herself.”  Addison smiled at the memory.  “Most of the zombies in attendance joined us onstage and we might not have won the championship for the first time in fifty years, but we were united.”

 Not-Zed didn’t say anything for a long time.  He lifted his head and said hoarsely: “My sister died when she was born, with my mother.  I’ve never told anybody about her before…her name was Zoey.”

 “Zoey is the little sister I never had.  She wants to be a cheerleader more than anything and she loves dogs.  She had a stuffed dog called Zander and at the end of last year, I got her a real dog. A small dog with long white fur she named Puppy.”

 “I don’t know how you found out about Zoey, but this is the dumbest prank anybody’s ever pulled.  Who set you up?”

 “No,” Addison said brokenly.  “Zed, I’m not making any of this up, I swear.  I know Zoey, I love her like she was my own sister.  Monsters are real in Seabrook.  They’re zombies, you’re a zombie.  And we’re… gar-garziga, Zedka.”

 Addison’s heart shattered when he spoke again.

 “Is that gibberish supposed to mean something to me?  We’re through, Addison.”  The finality of his statement hit her in a wave of emotions as he left the closet.

 Addison left school early, telling the nurse she’d gotten her period and felt nauseous.  The nurse agreed to send her home, noting that the walk might do her some good in relieving the symptoms.  Unfortunately, the walk back passed quickly and she was home.

 She let herself in and practically collapsed against the door.

[arabellaaaas]

Favourite Worst Nightmare

Part 5: Only ones who know

|An Alex Turner x Arabella Davis fanfiction series|

Description: When two broken hearted meet, they try and hide their past. This is a story about two young adults whose pasts won't let them find happiness again in each other's arms right away.

Word count: 3.1k

A/N: CREDITS TO THE GIF OWNER. So I have been missing for a bit, but I am back again!! I am still stuck on writing chapters ahead, but at least I have content to post. Tell me if you want to be tagged!!! Have a nice day ❤

Taggs: @imagine-that-100 @bettyschwallocksyee

With her legs up on the steel railing and the breeze going through her black hair, she was listening to her friend's ceaseless comments and remarks as she was taking the smoke from her small roll of organic tobacco into her mouth. She knew that Bree won't stop too soon, so she decided on looking at people passing by, analyzing them, giving each one a life prompt. The lassie did not even get the chance to end the whole story that she was telling. Her companion cut her right off before she could explain to her everything she was now mad about. But, of course, Bree's stubbornness had to make a comeback. The city meant a lot to Arabella for some reason. She believes that the city loves her in ways no person ever has. It listens to her fierce footsteps, the clicking of her shoes against its dirty pavements early on a Monday morning. It sees her smile ear to ear when she sees the windows on its huge buildings reflect the orange glow of the afternoon sun. It hears her satisfied sigh in winter as the first sip of the coffee she is taking out with her to smoke warms her thought. It celebrates with her when she is on top of the world and cries for her when life gets hard. The city sees and hears and feels every moment of every day of her life. The city understands.

"Are you even hearing what I am telling you here?" that was the sign that she was finally done expressing her angriness, or at least she took a small break. She heard everything. She did not even know how to make her understand that the man she was talking about was not on the edge of falling in love with her. "I am hearing it loud and clear. But are you hearing me when I say that it has been a week since we met and he only called me when he was high, or drunk, or something?" And with that, Arabella stopped Bree from almost losing her breath and voice as she was madly explaining non-sense to her friend. Bree did not want to admit that the woman next to her was right for once. Actually, there have been multiple occasions when Arabella was right, just that she could not understand why.

"I do hear that. But think about it, A", she stopped for a second so she can also light up her cigarette and take a cloud of smoke out of it and then went off again with her explanations: "Maybe he is going through something and he just wants you by his side. Because he wants you by his side" she accentuated the word "want" as if it was the last time she could say it. Arabella was already done with this, but she kept her calm since she loved her so much. Why was Bree so furious talking about Alexander? She did not even know him. Arabella was already used to this because she was expecting something like this, it looked like something he would do. This was the reason she was so impassive about this. She knew he is not the type of man to stay close to one woman only, at least he cannot do it this fast as he met her maybe three weeks ago. So why bother about the fact that he was kind of ghosting her and only remembering her when he was not sober? It was fine with her, but not by her friend. "He already told me he is not the one to find love in a flash, neither he is looking for that. Which I understand, 'cause I am not either." Arabella explained herself, pressing the cigar end on the bottom of the ashtray. She grabbed her glass filled with whiskey and took a sip, letting out a sight afterwords. Arabella swirled the whiskey in his glass, listening to the chinking of the ice cubes and breathing in the not so fresh air. Ever since she worked as a bartender years ago, she had a thing for whiskey. She also liked other strong drinks and a lot of other soft ones, but whiskey was her favorite choice. Maybe it was because of the mellow amber color of it or the uncomparable taste of it. Anywho, she loved it. It brought back a lot of memories of all kinds, good or bad.

"But what if this time is different? Have you thought about that?" Bree asks, looking to her right where Arabella was sitting. Bree was the kind of girl that women loved to hate. She was an adult as of her age, but so young that she still had the exuberance of youth. She had that movie star look, not overly tall and willowy, but more like an action star. Her muscle definition was perfect and she walked with the confidence of someone a decade older. She wasn't just flawless in her bone structure, her skin was like silk over a glass and she radiated an intelligent beauty. At least that is how Arabella saw her.

"Could you be kind and tell me why the fuck are you so obsessed about him liking me? I don't want to be with him anyway. If you want him, go on, I will give you his number."

"I am just trying to justify why he is someone who could potentially be your boyfriend. And a good one." she knew Bree was trying to make her get over her ex which was pretty hard to acquire. He was a big part of her life and helped her go through a lot. He was there when she moved and when she got a new job. Basically, he wined his way into her affections so he can use her as much as he wants. She was naive, she could not leave him when she first found out about what he was doing. She felt like the world was breaking right under her feet and she was going to fall deep into a deep hole with no end. Everything felt cold, nothing made sense anymore back then. Her head was full of thoughts and emotions that she could not show. She acted tough, but she was breaking inside. Everything came unexpectedly, the devastation was absolute, her emotional home leveled, torn apart. She cried for weeks every night as she was drinking the same drink she now has in her glass. Her body felt numb, she had bruises everywhere on her body, she was dehydrated from all the crying and screaming. She did not eat for days as she always made excuses in front of everyone for her lack of taste.  She was always thinking of him and she could not believe he would leave her after everything she's done for him. She just wanted to disappear in the night and never see the light again. It was rough.

"Why would I want him?" Bree demanded and Arabella could tell by her tone that she was offended by her question.

"Because you keep asking me about him when you don't even know him. And why are you offended? He is a really pretty guy, it's not like I told you about someone you wouldn't like" Arabella quickly grabbed her glass and took it to her mouth to hide the grin she had on her face as she said the last few words.

"I have a boyfriend, unlike you" she snapped back, angrily putting the cigar in her mouth and breathing in the smoke while throwing her friend a deadly look. Only if eyes could kill...

"Yeah, for how long?"

___________

"Come on, Henders! It's fun, right?" the man with sunglasses said as he was moving his body on the music, not seeing a thing happening around him. Once again, Alex was not sober. For the past week or so he kept on getting drunk or high and regretting it the next day. Miles and Matthew were looking at each other, then at him, and then back to each other. They did not know what to do to help him get back to normal. It was not the first time they would see him drunk, it's just that they did not ever see him drink so much just "because he felt like it" in a whole week. Something was happening to him but he denied the accusations and told his friends to "fuck off" as he was singing along in gibberish. Matt and Miles knew about Arabella and they thought something might happen with her. He was always talking about how he should call her and talk to her and listen to her but hardly did it as Miles confiscated his phone.

Alex continued to swing around and pretend that he knows what is going on in the room. He was dizzy and could barely see anything. His vision was blurred and the sunglasses did not help at all. He could not feel his body anymore and everything he was hearing was funny for him. Under the influence of alcohol, everything seems like fun. Conversations which under usual circumstances would be dull, become either fun to hear either way too depressing for him. In the past week, he felt how his life was getting out of control. He was always thinking about his past and people that left him or searching for reasons why everyone left him behind, especially her. He was there for her always. He tried to help her with absolutely everything. He tried to make her feel like a princess and have everything she wanted. He always thought of her good instead of his own good. He never said no to any stupid idea she ever had or any trip she wanted. Nothing made sense in his head. Where there was the love, the light, the laughter was an aching hollowness. When he found out about his girl cheating on him, he drove to her apartment, not even knowing what will happen. Thankfully, the man she cheating with was not there. He opened her front door without knocking or anything and she ran over to the door with a huge smile on her face. When her happy eyes met his tired ones, her smile instantly faded. She was not happy to see him, her boyfriend, she was expecting someone else to show up. He looked down at her, staring at his own reflection he could see in her dark eyes. At that particular moment, Alexander realized the fool he was. In his head, he could hear Jamie's voice that warned him about his supposedly "girlfriend". Warnings that he ignored for almost six months, before finding out that he was actually right.

He did not think of everything that happened two years back in a long time and he was not sure why he was thinking about it now. But it was taking over him completely. He forgot his worth and he felt like jumping off a cliff sometimes. That's why he chose to drown his thoughts and sadness in alcohol for a little while. He is good with self-control, but he just did not want to use that ability of his then.

"No, it's mot fun, Alex. Why are you forcing yourself to drink this much? Did something happen with that chick you've been talking about?" Matthew asks him, watching him with worried eyes. Matthew has been Alex's friend since elementary school and usually, he was the first one to find out what was happening in his head. Probably the only one too.  But this time he did not want to communicate, nor answer questions. "Don't call her that! She is not just a chick" Alex's drunk voice spoke with a wave of slight anger in his tone. Miles's head immediately turned over to meet Matt's wide eyes. "Did he just say that she is not just a chick?" Miles whispered so that the dizzy man could not hear. Matt just nodded with his head and they both turned over again to Alex. He was trying his best to light his cigarette, which after multiple failures he succeeded. He was acting like a child, he probably forgot the remark he just made. Matthew was in shock. Alexander Turner, the man that swore he won't find someone else after the whole Thea episode that lasted a long time, was admitting that Arabella was not "just a chick".

"What do you mean she is not just a chick?" Miles popped the question, following every more that the man was doing.

"All I am saying is that she is not just a chick" Turner repeated himself, quickly grabbing his phone from Miles. He turned around and as fast as he could, he searched for Arabella's name in his contacts and tried to write her a message. It was hard to understand what he was saying there, leaving the girl confused as she and her friend tried to guess the gibberish he just typed.

A small grin appeared on Matthew's face. "Is she your girlfriend?" he asks, and Alex's denies with a head shake with a huge idiot smile on his face. He was just like a child.

"Are you two just shagging?" Miles also asked and he got the same answer. They kept on asking him questions about what is between the two and Turner responded with the same gesture, still dancing and drinking. He was always checking his phone and smiling when he saw notifications coming his way. He felt like jumping around and singing, but he knew he couldn't jump because he will definitely fall and break something, a bone, or something around his apartment. He looked down at his phone and hardly read the message Arabella sent him. In a second, his mood switched from happiness to the polar opposite, sadness.

"Why is she asking me if I am drunk again?" he raised his head, looking at his friends with puppy eyes as if his feeling were hurt by her message. "Maybe because you are and because you can only type gibberish?" Matt asked him rhetorically but he didn't seem to deduce that.

As he typed back a whiny response, he violently sat down on the floor. He let out a sigh, running his hands through his messy hair that he didn't even bother to style earlier that morning. He was sick of the feeling of alcohol by now, but it was too late to go back. All he could feel was the smoke of the wrinkled toxic stick had a slow creeping stench. Could there be any more lame symbol of the era of addiction over true moral choice than the cigarette? He still thinks that smoking is his worst habit, but he still doesn't want to quit.

"So what are you two then?" Matthew asks again, noticing the sudden change of character. He did not even know how to respond. He was, for now, feeling miserable. His friends were looking at him with pity in their eyes and the only woman he actually got close to in the last two years is asking him if he is fine, when he was feeling all this because of some mad lady he was madly in love with years ago. He did not know why he felt this way after all this time when he moved on, but he was repeating himself that it was not fair.

"I don't know, man."  he lied with a fake smirk exposed on his tired face, looking at both his mates with a fake pride he just built on the spot to help him get out of the situation he was in. "I've been feeling kind of foolish since she came around and replaced the peace and quiet for acrobatic blood. She does what the night does to the  day".

Both Miles and Matt looked at him as if he was insane, whenge was just drunk over his head. His ears were making an uncomfortable sound which was the only thing he could hear. It was awful for him. He wasn't even aware of what he was saying.

"I mean-" he stoped mid-sentence to catch a breath and take one more sip from one bottle he just found next to him. "She's like a thunderstorm, you know?" he then continued, started to feel his tongue swirling in his mouth, making it hard for him to speak properly. Not that he has been doing it. "She's thunderstorms" he laughed, looking down, over to his phone. His sight was confusing, it was getting more blurred than before. His head was heavy, his nose was hurting for some unknown reason, and not to talk about how harsh the sound he was hearing was.

"What happened, Alex? Do you want to talk?" 

Was the last message he could see before blacking out.

His head felt heavy, everything in front of his eyes was pitch black and he could only hear voices that felt like they were kilometers away from him. Matthew and Miles jumped from the couch and lifted up Turner and placed him on the couch. Matthew tried to wake him up by softly slapping his face and it was looking like it was not working. Miles brought a glass of cold water to sprinkle over his face, but still no reaction. After a few more tries and half an hour of panic as Alex was not waking up, he finally did. He was looking around him, trying to realize what happened. When he finally comprehended, he felt like slapping himself. He got up and thanked his mates for taking care of him and then begged them to leave him. At first, they disagreed, of course. The man just blacked out and now he wanted to be alone. Alex was losing his patience and they could tell that by looking at his face. It got all darken and cold, when an hour ago he was dancing and laughing.

When they finally left, he took the coldest shower he'd ever taken. His only wish at the moment was for his skin to freeze and break in million pieces as he would be looking at them. He got dressed up and went back to his living room. It was a mess, and the fault was no one's but his. Everything was out of place and the only thing he could smell was the smoke from the cigarettes he was smoking. He opened a window and on his way back to start cleaning a tiny bit, he found his phone and remembered the message he received right before passing out.

"I am now. Please excuse me for tonight. I would fancy if you would forget every strange message I've sent"

He wanted to apologize even more, but then his image would be ruined. "Not that it wasn't already. " he thought. He sat down on his settee and started contemplating what he had done.

"You're the same miserable guy, Turner" he sighed. 

[dreamwritesimagines]

Crown Of Hearts 6 - Enemy Inside [Ivar x Reader]

A.N.: Hello my darlings! Here is the next chapter, I hope you’ll like it! Kisses! <3

Summary: Trust no one.

Characters: Ivar x Reader, Ubbe x Torvi, Hvitserk, Bjorn

Warnings: Explicit language, mentions of violence and blood, mentions of sex and arranged marriage, please read with care. Also, friendly reminder that  I don’t condone any of the messed up stuff happening on the show or in here.

Word Count: 2170

Due to the linking issue, you can reach the other chapters on my masterlist!

Gif’s not mine!

You were way too exhausted by the time you got to your bedchambers, but you had made sure Ragnar was fed and beside you in the bed. Ivar had called Hvitserk and Bjorn to the map room, but you had told him you wouldn’t be attending.

You had to come up with your own plans, after all.

The man was still not talking and Ivar had commanded his men to bring him to the court, so that they could question him better than you, because even you could tell that you had almost lost control back there. Hours later, Ivar and his brothers were still there, and you had insisted to Bree that both of you were alright, and desperately needed rest.

You shook your head slightly, then ran your fingers through Ragnar’s soft hair, silently trying to convince yourself he was there, and he was safe, and there was no danger anymore, but you knew deep down it was a lie. Somebody had tried to take him away from you, and until every threat was eliminated, he would not be safe. He turned his head to you, giving you a smile and you found yourself mirroring it. He babbled under his breath, moving his legs and you caressed his soft, chubby cheek, poking at his dimples and making him giggle. Even you could tell you were as sleepy as he was, so it didn’t take long for you to fall asleep around the same time that he did.

You were pulled out of your sleep when the bed shook slightly, making you open your eyes to the room illuminated by the sunlight and the first thing you saw was Ragnar sleeping peacefully beside you, as Ivar grabbed his crutch, fully clothed.

“Ivar?” you murmured and he looked over his shoulder before he stood up,

“You should go back to sleep.”

“Wait, I-“ you tried to get rid of your sleepy haze, “Why did you not wake me up when you came back?”

“You were tired, so was Ragnar.”

“That’s- that’s all?” you asked, even half asleep, you could see how different he was from before, almost….cold.

Oh.

Of course.

“He says he was only told to keep him in his house, then he’d get paid when they took him away.” Ivar said, “Bjorn thinks he’s telling the truth, but we will see. He’s not dead yet, so…”

“Wait, Ivar,” you said as soon as he took a step, “We should talk.”

“What’s there to talk?”

“What I said,” you licked your lips and cleared your throat, “About your father, it was not fair.”

He raised his brows, “It was not fair that you thought I would give up on my son and just have another heir?” he asked, “I guess not, but at least now we know your opinion on me.”

“Ivar, I wouldn’t-“

“I should go, I expect you to join us later on, when you have time.” He said as he left the room and Ragnar scrunched up his face, then opened his eyes. You pursed your lips, then forced yourself to smile.

“Hello my sweet.” You said, as you lifted him up into your arms, making him giggle. “Did you sleep well? Are you hungry?”

“My queen?” Gala stepped inside, as Ragnar buried his face into your hair, holding onto you, “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” you said, “He’s hungry I think.”

“Of course. Should I take him to his wet nurse?”

“Yes, and take two guards with you, they will wait by the door.”

Gala blinked a couple of times, “Guards, my queen?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t understand-?”

“And bring him straight to me after he’s fed. In fact, take Hvitserk with you, is he around?”

“Um- the Prince is kind enough to wait for me by the door my queen.”

“Great. Hvitserk!” you called out as you put on your dressing gown, and heard the footsteps.

“Good morning,” he peeked inside the room, “Are you alright?”

“Yes. Can you please accompany Gala until she brings Ragnar back to me? I will be in the Great Hall.”

“Is the threat still in Kattegat, my queen?” Gala asked naively, and you almost smiled at her tone, Hvitserk was right.

She was free of any intrigues that came with living in the court.

“I don’t know,” you admitted, “But I am not taking chances anymore. The only people who can be around him alone are me, Ivar, his brothers, you and Bree. Anyone else who tries to…hold him, even approach him, will be questioned.”

Ragnar babbled at Gala, smiling at her wide, letting her see his two shiny teeth and Gala smiled back, rocking him. Hvitserk crossed his arms, leaning sideways to doorframe.

“Just us?”

“Just the people I trust.”

“People love him though.”

“They can still see him, can’t they?” you asked  “I was also thinking it’s perhaps better if he didn’t leave these walls for a while. It’s cold outside anyway.”

“You want him to stay inside?”

“Where I can make sure he’s protected, yes.”

Hvitserk tilted his head, “Y/N, he’s a Viking.”

“He’s a baby, Hvitserk.”

He nodded slowly, then turned to Gala, “Would you mind giving us a minute, my heart? The guards are outside.”

You would’ve awwed if you weren’t so defensive all of a sudden, but Gala blushed, then left the room as Ragnar waved at you and Hvitserk, then the door closed.

“What?” you asked, “What is it?”

“Don’t do that.” Hvitserk shook his head, “You can’t isolate him like that, Y/N.”

“I’m making sure he’s safe.”

“What does Ivar think about that?”

“Ivar has more important matters at hand.” You said, crossing your arms, “You know it as much as I do that whoever is responsible is still out there. I am not giving anyone another opportunity to take him away.”

“So your solution is to keep him inside?”

“Yes.” You tried to hold your ground, “That is my solution. His safety is more important than him playing outside, or other people. ”

Hvitserk pulled his brows together, then took a deep breath.

“Didn’t your mother do the same with your brother?” he asked you, “And we all know how Edgard turned out.”

That made you stare at him in shock, and he shrugged slightly,

“We will find you in the Great Hall, Y/N.” he said, and walked out of the room. Eitr flapped her wings, making you look over your shoulder and you heaved a sigh, then rubbed at your eyes.

“I know,” you croaked out, “Trust me, I know.”

                                            ***

“Bree?” you said when you walked into the Great Hall, and she looked over her shoulder,

“Yes your majesty?”

“Don’t do that.” You shook your head, “I know you don’t…approve of my actions lately, but I need you.”

Her eyes searched yours, then her look softened,

“What’s wrong?” she asked gently, and you took a deep breath, then handed her the piece of paper that you had found in your bedchambers that told you where Ragnar was. Bree frowned, and looked down at the note, then looked up at you.

You could almost see the wheels turning behind her eyes.

“Where did you find this?”

“Last night, in my bedchambers.” You said, “Apparently, Wilone told Ivar that no one but him and Bjorn could learn about her vision, but…” you nodded at the paper, “Somebody knew where Ragnar was, without her telling anyone.”

“Who else was in the room when she told Ivar and Bjorn?”

“I don’t know.” You shook your head, “Do you think a guard heard it?”

“Or Lord Raydon. Or Osmond.”

“Or someone still in the court.” You bit  inside your cheek, “Someone with more resources.”

“A Viking?” Bree frowned, “Bjorn says it’s very likely that man was working for Kjaran. You know, in order to have leverage. If he attacked Kattegat and still had Ragnar…”

“But it’s not exactly the Viking way, is it?” you whispered, “I’ve never heard it. They- we believe glory on battlefield, death or victory. Stealing heirs?”

“What does Ivar think?”

“We-“ you heaved a sigh, “We are going through a rough time. I implied that he did not care about Ragnar and… wanted another heir with someone else.”

Bree gawked at you, “You’re not serious.”

“I was angry, and scared!” you said, “I- it doesn’t matter. We still-“

“Yes it does.” Bree pursed her lips together, “So someone else knew about the vision but Wilone told Ivar no one but him and Bjorn could know?”

“Yes?”

“Didn’t she say that before as well? Edgard’s shadow on you?”

“She did.”

Bree clicked her tongue, crossing her arms, “Great. Your mother does know how to play this.”

“What?”

“Y/N, Wilone is sent here to push you out of the picture.” Bree said, “Listen to yourself. Since she came here, she keeps having these….secrets with Ivar, secrets that you cannot know, but apparently, someone else knew. Wilone wouldn’t help you, but she could have talked about the vision with other people, just not…”

“Me.”

“Exactly.”

You took a deep breath, “I doubt Lord Raydon would help me.” You said, “I already threatened him.”

“Osmond.” Bree said, “It has to be. He would want to help you, he said it before.”

You nodded slowly, “Let’s go and talk to him, then.” You said and both you and Bree approached Lord Raydon and Osmond who looked to be in a deep conversation, but stopped talking the minute they saw you.

“Your majesty.”

“Lord Osmond. Lord Raydon.”

“Lady Bree.”

“Lord Raydon,” Bree smiled at him, a smile that you knew way too well, “Have you had a chance to see Kattegat’s new flags?”

“Yes I have, they are very beautiful my lady.”

“I would like to tell you the story behind them, if you’ll follow me.”

Thank you Bree..

Lord Raydon hesitated for a moment, then bowed.

“How could I possibly turn down such a beautiful lady’s offer?” he asked, “Your majesty.”

“Lord Raydon.” You nodded and watched them walk to a corner so that they could see the flags better. Osmond took a huge gulp of his drink as you smiled.

“I do hope that Lady Bree’s lover will not take offense.”

“Why?”

“He’s really….” Osmond motioned with his hand, “A big man.”

You tried not to laugh, “Lord Osmond,” you said, “Thank you for your note. I would not be able to find my son without it.”

Osmond choked on his drink, then cleared his throat,

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean, your majesty.”

“Lord Osmond.”

He averted his eyes, “Yes?”

“Surely you did not think anyone does anything in here without my knowledge?” you asked him, “We have been watching you the moment you left your ships.”

He looked like he didn’t know how to react and you shrugged,

“I just wanted you to know that you have my gratitude.” You said, “It is….hard to come across someone who keeps his word of being an ally.”

Osmond’s eyes searched yours but then Gala and Hvitserk walked into the Great Hall, with Ragnar flailing his arms the moment he saw you.

“Hi my love!” you smiled and took him from Gala, “Did you have your breakfast?”

Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Hvitserk mutter something to Gala’s ear before he walked to the map room. Osmond looked around, then leaned in slightly so that no one else could hear him,

“Your majesty,” he said, “Not everyone back home is your ally.”

With that, he bowed and excused himself, making you frown but before you could say anything, Ivar, Bjorn and Hvitserk walked out of the map room. Ivar’s eyes followed Osmond, then made his way to you.

“What did he want?”

“I wished to talk to him about my home country.” You said as Ragnar squealed in your arms, trying to go to Ivar. He smiled slightly, and kissed Ragnar’s chubby hand before running a hand through his soft hair.

“Hello vicious prince.”

“Da da!”

“Ivar, listen…” you licked your lips, “I know what I said was unfair.”

“It was humiliating, Y/N.”

“I didn’t mean to do that,” you said, “I do accept my fault, but I-“

“Your majesty!” a guard rushed to Ivar, “There is something you need to see, about the prisoner.”

Ivar frowned, then looked at you and you nodded, giving Ragnar to Gala before you followed Ivar to the dungeons.

“What’s happening?” Bree whispered and you shook your head.

“I don’t know.” You said as you entered the dungeon, then gasped and covered your mouth. The man from last night was lying on the ground, unmoving, but the scary part was that his face was covered in blood that was still trickling down his nose and out of his lips. You took a step towards him, then turned to Bree, who was possibly the only one who knew what it meant the moment she saw him.

It was your family’s recipe after all, and she had been around long enough to recognize it.

Poison.

    Special thanks to: @nympha-door-a @theskytraveler @iblogabout-stuff @mamaraptor @vikrone @blackcoffeeandgreenteaforme @asongofmarvelanddc @not–even-a-real–fan @alicedopey @thorohdamnson @captstefanbrandt @flowers-in-your-hayr @marauderskeeper @badbitsh13 @superwolfchild-fan @mblaqgi @m00nlightdelights @marvelsvalhalla @natalielbeauty @pandalandalopalis @alyssiamarierenee @bloodyivar  , @eleanorsparkz    @illumminated @itsjoshebelbitch @hangirl93 @mersers-moonypadfoot-prongs @skadithegoddess   @geekandbooknerd @supercarricat @athroatfullofglass @blushingskywalker @little-froggy @girlwhoisfearless @aikeji@part-time-patronus @actuallyazriel @rhabakoli @lizblinder@finnickfoxes   @krazykatkay456 @aworldwideapart  @xinyourdreamsx and lovely anons! You are amazing! <3

[elliemarchetti]

can you do a dating bree Barrow would include? Or any of the Barrow brothers

I'm on the third attempt to post, the first time I lost everything because the light went out and I hadn't saved a word, the second my very old laptop started to act crazily and deleted everything (would you believe it if I told you it's eleven years old? Well, believe it), let's see if I finally manage to publish the only thing that has sparked something in the very low will to live that I have at the moment. If you want to know what it would be like to date other characters (and not only from the RQ universe) just ask and know that you’ll be a blessing in my boring days.

Bree Barrow

in the Stilts he was renowned for not being properly boyfriend material and more a one-night-stand type of guy, but when he saw you for the first time he understood that you were different, to the point of having talked about you also with his siblings

the first time you actually spoke was at one of Davidson's parties, but he decided to approach you only after his siblings unceasingly made fun of him for not being able to take his eyes off you and generally behave like a shy teenager

when he actually shoot his shots it was late in the night and most of the people have already left. He was pretty straight-forward with his intensions and after the party ended he offered to accompany you home, but you suggested to go star gazing, where he kissed you for the first time

at first he was kind of clumsy, but let’s just say he made up for his mistake later in the night and in the morning too, leaving you exhausted and covered with little love marks

you quickly discovered that dating him is like adopting a bear: he’s 6’3 feet of muscles, has a huge beard and he’s super protective, but at the same time all he wants to do is explore the woods, eat and cuddle

he often makes great fun of you for being so small compared to him but he takes such advantage of it, carrying you around everywhere and during sex too

you don’t argue much, but when it happens it always ends in heavy make-out sessions where he cups your face and says sorry even if it’s not his fault because he’s so afraid of losing you

when you officially meet his family for the first time they all adore you since it’s clear you make him so happy and he deserve it, but his siblings are a little jealous because you’re going to steal him from them sooner or later

turns out is sooner than they thought because Bree asks you to marry him just a year after you started dating in the cutest way ever and when you say yes he’s so happy he lifts you off the ground and starts spinning around

even at the wedding, reading his vows, he manages to make you laugh so hard you start to cry and when it’s finally the moment to kiss him, you have to stand on your tip toe to reach for his mouth

Tramy Barrow

you’re like a daughter to Carmadon, and when Mare introduced her brother who loved gardening to him, he thought he found the perfect match, and he was right but your first date was a flop because he was too worried he could in no way impress you since you already have and saw everything Montfort have to offer

you were the one who insisted in going out a second time since you were sure he had much more to offer than superficial conversations and general compliments and he proved it by setting up a simple picnic with everything you said you liked to eat and drink in a beautiful meadow he discovered while hiking with his brother Bree

being a tender and spontaneous guy, you ended up spending the afternoon sitting between his legs making flower crowns and watching small wild animals, all while listening to his incessant stories about his family’s shenanigans

when it started to get dark he accompanied you home and since he was afraid Carmadon was watching you, and he’s a very private person, instead of kissing you properly he kissed your forehead and it became kind of your thing

to ask you out again he sent the biggest bouquet of wildflowers you ever saw with a note where he called you his dear, which started the nickname war. He genuinely loves when you call him “my love”

his approach is very different his brothers’ as he likes to take his time with everything he does, so even if your make-out sessions are pretty passionate, you waited a little before having actual sex and focused more on foreplay. He has a particular fondness for oral sex, both given and received, and engages in long conversations after you’re both satisfied

you met his family one member at a time, starting from Gisa, that became basically your best friend, and leaving his parents as the last. They were nice most of the time but Ruth was a little weird at first since Tramy’s her favourite son

you moved together pretty fast for his standards, let’s say after a year and a half of dating, because he felt like you both needed more privacy and to start to have your own domestic life and Carmadon was more than happy to provide you the perfect place, a small cottage with a big  bathtub and a flourishing garden right out of the city

you had just one big fight and when you started to cry he crumbled completely and begged you to forgive him and not going back to Carmadon’s house because you mean the world to him

he asked to marry you after three years and a half of living together and he planned to do it in the most cheesy and romantic way ever but he somehow spoiled the surprise. You said yes nonetheless

Shade Barrow

you were stationed in the same place, but you properly met only through one of his famous jokes, which ended up backfiring at him since you’re the one and only prank master and nobody can steal the throne from you

quickly you ended up orbiting toward each other, flirting a lot and inventing all sorts of excuses to spend time together, until the inevitable and pleasant clash happened

in the beginning yours wasn’t a real relationship but rather occasional sex since it’s already difficult to be soldiers but it becomes practically impossible when you have someone else you care for in the trenches

you had sex nearly everywhere, even in places where you would’ve been shot on the spot if someone found you, but you just couldn’t get enough of each other

what was between you made a step forward when Shade told you about the Scarlet Guard and you decided to join the group that met Farley, showing not only that you had total trust in each other but that you weren’t able to conceive the possibility of being separated too, which was a constant through all your love story

even if the situation made things pretty serious faster than you expected, Shade waited to declare his love for you but his playful façade broke after the Sun Shooting, when he though you’ve been captured too. He was having a breakdown with Rasha, saying the cruel things he would’ve done to the Silvers if they hurt the only person he thought he could ever love, when you arrived behind him. Once he was done talking, you asked him if you really were the only person he thought he could love and without saying a word he held you in the longest and tightest hug ever

from that moment on, he didn't stop introducing you to everyone as his partner, and he only stopped when he proposed and you said yes, but only because he started to call you his fiancée

although many got married before the end of the war, he decided to wait to give you the wedding you've always dreamed of, decision supported practically by all his family

you saved him from Ptolemus, shooting, but not killing, him, and even if he tries to make it look like it’s not a big deal, he’s very grateful and shows you in every possible way

when the war ended you did all those things that the conscription had prevented you from doing like going on romantic dates, getting drunk, going skinny dipping and traveling