#and rebecca's fantasies are my own my god that hair

[professortennant]

Ok, how about Rebecca consoling Ted after the team loses a big game?

For a moment, just a moment, she--along with the rest of the AFC Richmond crowd--had thought they had pulled off a miracle, a Cinderella story that the press would be talking about for ages. Relegated only to win a Championship League final in the very next year, a team with a vengeance and a coach with a chip on his shoulder.

He hid it well, Rebecca thought. But now that she knew he hated being underestimated, counted out before the match even begun, she had seen a real change in him. She’d asked Beard about the change during a training session she was observing, the sun and blue sky too tempting to not go out for a bit. Ted was running right alongside his players, yelling words of encouragement and correction in equal measure. 

“I think he’s realized he’s not in Kansas anymore.” A beat of silence and then, “And I think he wants to prove himself to y--everyone.”

She hummed in acknowledgment and watched as Ted blew his whistle, jogging to midfield, and animatedly demonstrating the run he wanted for his players. It seemed now that the team was on the same page, it was time to put the real work in.

But Lady Fate had other plans for AFC Richmond this evening, a night that should have been victory. A dirty tackle on Richard left him with a torn ACL, lifted off the field on a stretcher, a drizzle of rain made for less-than-ideal field conditions, and a series of simple turnover errors had left the team in disarray and confusion. It was over before it could start. 

In the locker room, she watched as Ted tried to cheer his team up, noting that third place didn’t mean they were down and out for the Premier League, that they just had to work a little bit harder for a little bit longer. But even Ted’s heart seemed to be a little bit broken, a little disappointed. 

“Ah hell, who am I kiddin’? This flat out stinks. I really wanted this for you boys, I really did. Maybe I let y’all get ahead of yourselves. Let myself get ahead of myself,” he amended, eyes flicking down to his Nikes. “And I’m sorry for that. I should have kept you focused on tonight’s game. We can’t help injuries and field conditions, but we can control energy and the fundamentals. We were sloppy tonight. That team wasn’t better than us. I know it. Y’all know it.” He sighed, looking around the room. “We are going to be promoted this season, fellas. But tonight: Be sad, be disappointed, be angry. Be whatever you gotta be tonight to light a fire under your butts because we are gonna work that much harder starting tomorrow morning.” He nodded his head at each of them before turning on his heels, shoulders hunched inward, leaving his players behind and Coach Beard to wrap up the evening. 

Rebecca frowned, following him into his office, shutting the door with a soft click. It had become custom for her to join the team--win or lose--in the locker room, his words from so many months ago still ringing warmly in her ears. You liven up the place.

But this was not the Ted Lasso she was accustomed to seeing: not angry, not encouraging, not blissfully optimistic. Just wilted. Disappointed. 

He looked up at her from his slumped position in his chair, a small, tired smile on his face. “Hey, boss,” he sighed, rubbing his hands over his eyes and through his hair, ruffling it and making it stand up. “Not our best showing.”

She stood in front of him, hip leaning on his desk, as she considered him. “Oh, I don’t know about that,” she teases. “There were some real lowlights last season. You yelling like a maniac about stopping the clock comes to mind.”

“Yeah, well, I still think it’s a stupid rule. Why keep the clock running when no one’s playing? Don’t make a lick of sense to me."

“You know what doesn’t make a lick of sense to me?,” she prompted, earning a delighted look from him for using his own phrase as a segue. She tilted her head towards the locker room where she could see players milling about, heading for the showers or crowding around Coach Beard and his whiteboard. “That speech out there wasn’t exactly the Ted Lasso motivational speech I’ve come to expect.”

He groaned and quite suddenly lurched forward, forehead smacking the desk with a loud thunk. She acted without thinking, hands immediately going to the back of his head, fingers sliding through the thick hair, rubbing his head. “Ted! What the bloody hell?”

“‘m fine,” he said, voice muffled against a stack of papers, still facedown. She laughed, relieved to know he hadn’t completely lost his marbles, and tugged gently on his hair, encouraging him to sit up.

Instead, he groaned appreciatively in a way that made her heart pound double time in her chest, fingers hesitating in their movement. She went to withdraw her hand but he turned his head to face her, the movement entangling her hands further. 

She looked down at him, eyebrow arched. “Did you turn into a canine while I wasn’t looking?”

He panted at her playfully, a small, half-hearted woof escaping his mouth. “New deal boss: You keep doing what you’re doing and I’ll tell ya the God’s honest truth.”

“You’d tell me the God’s honest truth regardless of my petting, but go on,” she conceded. It was living out a harmless fantasy, she told herself. It wasn’t her fault his hair always looked as it did: perfectly coiffed and styled until it wasn’t, strands falling into his eyes, causing him to develop a new tic of running his hands through his hair, flipping it back into place. It had been maddening to watch and she was self-aware enough to acknowledge the urge to run her own fingers through his hair weren’t platonic in the least (the other images and fantasies accompanying the urge were definitely not to be explored in a packed locker room). 

He grinned lazily up at her as she continued stroking his hair, nails scratching ever so slightly at his scalp, causing him to stutter as he spoke, eyes falling closed. “I let them down,” he confesses softly. “I let them get ahead of themselves, horse before the cart, counted those damn chickens before the eggs hatched. I let them think this one was in the bag--didn’t stop ‘em from goofin’ around at practice--training, whatever. I let them down.”

His eyes flickered open, peering up at her, sorrowful. “I let you down.”

Her hands tightened in his hair reflexively. “Me? Ted, how could you let me down? You’ve done everything I’ve asked of you.” 

“I told you we’d win the whole fucking thing,” he reminded her. “Close but no cigar.”

"I never thought you’d be one to throw pity parties, Ted Lasso,” she reminded him, tugging at his hair once more before sliding her hand down to his shoulder and pulling, encouraging him to sit up. He did so, exaggerating the motion as if every movement cost him something. She bit back a smile.

He swiveled in his chair and it was only then she realized the position they were in: him in the chair, legs splayed while she stood between them, leaning back against the desk. Her cheeks flushed warm and she shook her head slightly, clearing the fantasy from between her ears.

She reached down to take his hand in hers, squeezing slightly. He clung back, fingers wiggling between hers so they were interlocked. She forgot sometimes that he was as desperate to touch as she was to be touched. 

“You did promise me you’d win the whole fucking thing. But I don’t recall a timestamp on that promise,” she reminded him. “And this is not over, Ted, not by a long shot. We have one more chance to make it to the Premier League for next season. The season is not yet over, Coach. And I don’t want your players--our players--thinking it is, either. We have work to do and I need you pushing every single one of those men to believe in themselves and this team the way that I believe in you.”

The words came earnestly but awkwardly, a year of walls and shields and a lifetime of British distaste for sincerity and emotions making the speech stilted. It certainly wasn’t a patented Ted Lasso speech, but she thought it a rather good Rebecca Welton.

Ted was looking at her with something akin to awe, mouth parted and eyes bright and gleaming. 

“Rebecca?” he asked, voice low, standing from his seat, still holding her hand. With him standing and her leaning against his desk, he towered over her ever so slightly, just enough that she had to look up to him. “I would really, really like to kiss you right now, if that’s alright.”

She blinked at him for a moment, mind racing, before giving a single, jerky nod. The moment she indicated her consent, he was there, fingers disentangling from hers so he had both hands free to cup her face on either side, cradling her gently as his lips pressed softly, quickly to hers. The combination of the warmth of his lips, the tickle of his mustache, and the sudden shift in action had her gasping into the kiss, her hands steadying themselves on his hips, clutching at one of his ridiculous jumpers, kissing him back as insistently as he was kissing her.

And then it was over.

But Ted kept his hands on either side of her face, thumbs stroking over the soft curve of her cheek, his forehead pressed to hers. “I’ve wanted to do that for a long time now, but, uh, never seemed like the right time.”

“And now was the right time?,” she asked breathlessly, her own fingers and thumbs making abstract geometric shapes along his hips and sides, tracing the lines of him.

He pulled back, grinning, and she was delighted to see that his eyes were once again gleaming with the positive, radiant, sunshine force she had come to associate with him. 

“What can I say? I’m a sucker for a good pep talk.”

[jaanusbooktalk]

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse - Review

10/10 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

TWs: child abuse, self harm/mention of suicide, blood & violence, mention of child prostitution, death of a mother, discrimination based on origin, ableism

(TWs are ranked in order of severity, please take them seriously!)

I am never getting over this. This book is one I am pushing onto everyone I know and even the people I don’t - I don’t even know where to begin this review because there is so much I loved.

I guess I can start by saying that epic fantasy as a genre was almost always based in Europe when I was younger. The representation I saw was few and far between (I’m looking at you, Parvati Patil). So let me tell you something refreshing:

This is an epic fantasy and there are no white people.

Read that again^

In the world of fantasy books, especially ones as intricate as this, it’s such a beautiful thing to see. Black Sun is set in the pre-Colombian Americas - AKA before the smelly colonizers ever set foot on the continent 🍅🍅🍅

Everyone. Is. Brown. And it’s glorious.

^I’m gonna amend this to say Black & brown because of some of the character descriptions but the point stands. Glorious.

It covers switching perspectives between four main characters: Xiala, the captain of a ship destined to deliver the Crow god, Serapio, the Crow god (ish?), Naranpa, the Sun Priest, and Okoa, the son of the leader of Carrion Crow (one of the four peoples in Tova).

You will fall in love with each and every one of them. 😩😩

(Also there’s crows. Lots and lots of crows)

The summary:

A god will return

When the earth and sky converge

Under the black sun

“In the holy city of Tova three lives are converging during a solar eclipse, proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world.

Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as “harmless”, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being the villain.”

Featuring a morally gray villain I love right here btw:

So on to representation:

Once again, this is not my culture so I am looking from an outside perspective - this is just what I appreciated.

Firstly, Rebecca Roanhorse is half African American, and of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo descent (though not an enrolled tribal member). I would never review a book based so deeply in Native culture if it was written by a white person (this goes for any and all books written about BIPOC culture by yt ppl - including City of Brass).

The diversity of skin tones, ethnicity, language, and dress is so beautifully done. There are many many dark skinned characters of varying shades and hair textures. These are rich empires and each has their own unique culture and traditions. The detail that Roanhorse has used to create this world is truly breathtaking.

She also did a ton of research before writing Serapio’s character - he is blind and she put in a lot of effort to make sure she avoided tropes and stereotypes (talked about in the author’s note).

In addition, the representation of queer characters is very well done - there’s those who identify with a third gender, main characters who use neopronouns (such as xe/xir), and at least one canonically trans character 🏳️‍⚧️ (mtf) in a happy and healthy relationship. Western labels aren’t used (such as pansexual, lesbian, etc) and the author conveys these orientations & more perfectly without them.

The author says in the author’s note (always read those!!) that she mixed together some of the indigenous empires in the pre-Colombian Americas to create the world of Black Sun. There is no racism & slight homophobia and sexism present, but largely it is a fictional world where people simply have more to worry about than whether their leaders are women or men or neither.

Characters coming from regions where they are unaware of a third gender etc. take it in stride and learn as they go, and I appreciated that because it shows the ability to accept others for who they are even if you don’t understand at first.

What I Liked:

I’ll admit - it normally takes me a while to catch on to the language of fantasy worlds and their structure. But Black Sun made it so easy I didn’t even notice because I was too invested in the plot.

Right off the bat I’ll say my favorite characters are Xiala and Naranpa 💫

I liked Naranpa because I related to her, since she left her home and people and culture at a young age to go serve in the tower among the privileged “Sky Made”. She was not welcomed with open arms and struggled because of her origin and because people didn’t like how high she was climbing (sucks for them, she became the Sun Priest, the highest position there😜). Naranpa also has big dreams and is trying her best to save a city (Tova) that doesn’t love her back. I honestly wish I didn’t relate to her as much as I did because my girl is not doing so great… anyways.

Xiala is a straight up baddie 🔥 and she is Teek, meaning she’s from a mysterious island no one can ever reach where only women live, rumored to be children of the Sea herself 🌊 . I adore Xiala because she doesn’t care what people think and is just trying to drink herself into an early grave but somehow ends up getting hauled into villainous plots with high stakes. She also has no preferences when it comes to gender - as long as they’re hot. Xiala has a quick wit and dirty mouth, but she’s also willing to get soft with those she trusts. I enjoyed reading her point of view chapters the most!

To avoid making this too long I’ll leave a bullet list of everything else I liked (no spoilers!):

• Consent is key 🔑 and this is respected

• Representation: gay & trans BIPOC, disability rep., dark skin rep.

• The plot is so intricate and it keeps you guessing - I had no idea how this was going to end

• The romance (only one or two relationships but my standards are infinitely higher now)

• The characters are so flawed and real that you are rooting for them even as they make terrible decisions

• Detailed writing and the prose is BEAUTIFUL

Ex. “Star pollen clung like shattered light to his wet skin in a fine sheen of silver dust.”

• Morally grey characters

^how I imagine Naranpa looks

What brought this book to a ten:

Black Sun does something that I have only found in a few fantasy novels. Not only does it give us a whole world with diverse characters from different backgrounds with gripping struggles, but it’s full of wisdom than can be applied to real life as well. I found myself learning lessons about how to interact with difficult situations in predominantly white spaces from Naranpa, who is surrounded by those who grew up more privileged than her. I learned about loving and letting go from Xiala and all the Teek sayings at the beginnings of chapters.

I came away from this book not only feeling the joy of good representation but also knowing that it has changed the way I see the world if not slightly. That is the most valuable kind of reading experience I can ask for.

Here’s some of my favorite fanart I found of the characters online!

Xiala

Naranpa

Serapio

I sincerely recommend to fans of:

Mirage by Somaiya Daud💕

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia🔑

Cemetery Boys by Aidan Thomas👻

Ana Mendieta’s works (a Cuban American artist who worked with fire and earth)🔥

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland🖤

Note: Black Sun is the first in a trilogy called Between Earth and Sky, but I feel like it can be read as a stand-alone (depending on how invested you are). The second book is called Fevered Star and I will absolutely be buying it ASAP. I can’t wait to see where it goes!

Happy reading ☀️ and remember…

[sleepylixie]

Dagger's Smile

\ 구미호/Gumiho is a Korean folk legend of a nine-tailed fox. It is said to have magical shapeshifting abilities, a knack for mischief and an almost seductive nature in some legends. The Korean gumiho is believed to have similar characteristics to the Chinese huli jing and Japanese kitsune.//

Gumiho-King! Chan X Gumiho! Fem Reader

1.4k words, Fluff/Action, Beware of: inexplicit violence.

Fantasy AU, Supernatural! SKZ, Gumiho! Chan from this fic from the In Umbra Universe! (Can be read individually, of course :D)​

Request? : Yes!!

A/N: Hello my favourite bean! Thank you so much for requesting this fic, it really gave me a lot of perspective and inspiration to expand In Umbra even more!!! I hope you enjoy this lil offering, do let me know what you think!!

Drop me an ask! || Masterlist

People bowed low to Chan wherever he went-too low. He’d tried hard to get them to stop but to no avail. Especially after his decisions that protected them in the Faelight war, Chan had been hailed as a god-king, a hero of heroes, the saviour of Gumiho-kind. But he only did what they had crowned him to do. Why was he being celebrated this way? Except for her. Only her. 

She’d meet his eye, the only person standing upright in a wave of people bowing at the waist. She’d always give him that smirk, the cheeky smirk he’d grown to be amused by, and slightly incline her head. Her hair would always fall into her eyes at the action and the second he blinked, she’d be gone. Despite his visits to the marketplace of Liska, the gumiho capital becoming a rare occurrence, Chan had always kept an eye out amongst his people for a quick sight of her smile. There was something wild about her; warm like a wildfire- only seconds away from sparking mischief and disaster. He wanted to meet her someday, talk to her, find out more behind that intriguing smile. 

//

“You’re a girl, there’s only so much you can do.” A snarl worked its way up to your throat, wild and unrestrained. The twin daggers at your waist were itching to be thrown but you withheld the urge, only levelling a glare at your opponent- an older man, eyes narrowed in disdain. He looked positively fiendish, his skin stretching thinly over his skull, a cheap-looking sword held in a death-grip in one hand. “You’re just scared of getting beaten by a girl.” You sneered, baring your teeth- your elongated canines winked at the man, razor-sharp and lethal. You should rip his guts out of his body for his behaviour. You cocked your head, a provoking smirk dancing across your lips. “I’m right, aren’t I? Coward.”

Predictably, the man responded with a roar of his own, charging towards you. Rolling your eyes infinitesimally, you dodged the first swipe before nimbly getting under his guard, twisting his non-dominant arm behind him. He exclaimed in a blind rage, trying to swipe at you with his blame. Quickly kicking the back of his knee, you clubbed the man’s dominant hand with the handle of one of your daggers, triggering a yell of pain and dropping his sword. Without missing a beat, you kicked him in the back of the head, pushing him onto the dusty ground. “Next time, pick on people your own size,” you growled at him, kicking him once more for good measure. Ignoring the now groaning man, you turned around and marched towards the old woman who was huddled against the tree, gently helping her stand up. “I hope you’re not too hurt, ma’am,” you mumbled softly, smiling politely at the old lady. Her wispy silver hair floated across her face as she stood up straight. She smiled back at you thankfully, unconcerned by your slightly disheveled appearance- despite being dressed in the trappings of a proper young lady, you had an armored belt at your waist and your hair had been reduced to its usual mess. “Thank you, child.” “Why was he bothering you?” You asked, leading her back to the beaten track that led lack to Liska, your home. You’d been out picking wildflowers from amongst the trees on either side of the track so you could make flower crowns for the maids when you’d stumbled into the vile man picking on the poor old lady- your training had instantly kicked in. Growing up as the oldest free-spirited daughter of a well-off gumiho household, you were often faced with the unfortunate sexism that ran rampant in your city. You were a spark of flame, all quicksilver temper and righteous outspoken rage, the crown jewel of your household. Your father, one of the generals in the army, had no qualms in teaching you everything you knew, from basic swordsmanship and archery, even going as far as to gift you your precious obsidian daggers.  Even though all gumiho were born with magic, you loved the thrill of a fight. “He stole my son’s magic.” A spark of rage raced across your system. Stealing a gumiho’s magic could leave the victim dead to the world, their body lost without a soul to anchor. The new king had placed stringent bans on it, pronouncing it a crime below that of lowlife scum. And yet… A choking sound next to you had you reeling back in surprise, a scream ripping from your throat at the sight of the old lady- her hands scrabbling at her neck as she was lifted off the ground, back arching in pain. It took you a split second to turn frantically in the same direction you came and you saw him- the bastardly man from earlier had his arm out, clearly aiming to hurt or kill the poor lady. Your temper swirled inside you, whetted instantly to a deadly edge and your body moved instantly, acting on reflex. Before he could try anything to hurt you, you lunged towards him, your daggers already in your hands-

And his hand was cut clean off his body, an unearthly wail leaving the man as he fell to his knees, clutching his stub of a wrist. An obsidian dagger almost twin to your own was stuck in a nearby tree, still vibrating from the force of the throw. Who’d thrown a dagger with such deadly accuracy that they’d managed to slice through skin and bone? You got your answer when a figure stepped into the soft afternoon light- your eyes widened. You’d recognise that face anywhere- the handsome sharp nose, the clean planes of skin marred by a scar down one eye. The King. // You sat outside the physician’s quarters- the royal physician’s quarters, watching the afternoon light fade into evening. The palace sat on the ledge of one of the hills that overlooked the valley Liska was built on, making for a picturesque sunset. The old lady you (and the King) had saved was not in danger, thankfully; she’d only sustained light bruises to her neck. You let out a sigh, your hands thumbing the daggers at your belt as your thoughts began racing. The King had asked you to accompany him to the palace, so you could stay with the lady until she was treated. Why had he asked for you? Was he unamused by your refusal to bow to him in the marketplace every time he visited? He didn’t seem comfortable with everybody bowing that low around him, it didn’t feel right to bow like that!! Why did you have to send him an impertinent smile every time? What were you thinking?! Your fingers tapped a nervous beat on your dagger’s scabbard. What should you do? Pretend you didn’t know what he was talking about? Maybe you could- “Y/N, yes?” You scrambled to your feet at the sound of the King’s voice, smooth and authoritative but not too loud. Dropping into a curtsy, you tucked a lock of hair behind your ear- curses for forgetting to fix your hair before an meeting the King. “Yes, Your Majesty.” You said quietly, unsure of looking him in the eye. “Why don’t you look me in the eye?” He sounded amused, warm- at odds with his intimidating aura. “You didn’t mind staring me down in the marketplace.” A rare prickling feeling heated up your neck; why wouldn’t the Mother Goddess choose this moment to remove you from this mortal plane? He’d remembered you- what were you to do? Shoring up what was left of the shreds of your bravado, you raised your head, smiling the same smile that you’d tossed at him all those times before. “You sound like you missed my pretty smiles, Your Majesty.” To your utter surprise, the King’s ears turned red instantly, betraying how flustered he was at your response despite the cool mask he had on- oh. The said mask melted into a shy smile, soft lips spreading wide until his dimples showed. “I’d be lying if I disagreed, darling,” Your eyes widened. Did he just- “And please, call me Chan.” // Taglist: @aliceu​ @rebecca-noona​ @decembermoonskz​ @straykidsownmysoul​ @malai-barfi​ @fylithia​ @soya-zz​ @stellarmonsterr​ (DM or drop me an ask to be added to my taglist!)

Network Tags: @inkidz​ @stayracha-net​ @districtninewriters​ @starryktown DO LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!!- Elliana

[awesomerextyphoon]

A Warrior’s Heart | Phase 1: Welcome – 3

A Hero’s Welcome?

Summary: When someone with a connection to Steve’s past dies, he’s reminded of the promise he made to Dr. Erskine and whether or not he’s failed. Can Ife help him see that he hasn’t?

Characters: Steve Rogers, Ifekerenma ‘Ife’, Abraham Erskine (mentioned), Marlene Erskine (mentioned), Nick Fury, Eliza Maza, Azeneth Ramirez

Main Pairing: Stucky x Black!OFC (Ifekerenma ‘Ife’)

Rating: 18+/Explicit

Word Count: 5,801

Warnings: Depression, Talk of Death, Slightly Cynical Steve, Politics, Smutty Thoughts

A/N: I’m sorry that this so long. I really wanted to try something different with Erskine and the time around CA:TFA. Also, I wanted to explore how Steve would be feeling right after AoU (little bit of a downer, but it will get better). Furthermore, this story will diverge a bit from MCU in terms of Steve’s and Bucky’s abilities. Feedback is welcomed and greatly appreciated. Dividers were by the lovely @firefly-graphics​. Thanks to @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog​ for the beta!

Series Masterlist

Main Masterlist

<<Previous

Early June 2015

“What do you have to report, Ifekerenma?”

Ife pursed her lips together,”Wanda is doing well with her training. Djamila and Nazaret had some sung her praises during their first session.”

It took a few days to convince the team and Fury to let her friends train Wanda. Luckily Nat had her back and Wanda was able to show the compound how much she improved from what Ife was able to teach her. Unfortunately, Azeneth was unable to make it due to being tied up with a BNA mission and relocating to the NYC division.

“That’s good to hear. Have you made made any progress with the others?”

Ife’s eyes casted down in thought. Vision was a no-go for now. Pietro was warming up to her, but he thought she was still suspicious (wasn’t wrong). She didn’t want to try Rhodey yet (too close to Tony). Nat was..difficult; she’ll try again later.

“I’m going to try Steve next. He seems like a safe bet, even with the serum. Hopefully, he won’t catch before it’s time. I will need Erskine’s folder though.”

Eliza’s lips turned upward in a small smile, “Agreed. I’ll have it sent to you within the hour. Best of luck, Ife.”

And with that, Ife got dressed and headed towards the common room.

  Steve leaned back and clasped his hands together behind his head in thought and vexation.

The 21st century must be fucking with him.

Right after Operation ‘Captain Briar Rose’, Steve went to Brooklyn. He could barely find any trace of his old neighborhood. The apartment complex where he and his mother lived was now a ritzy condominium with a Starbucks on the ground level.

All of the places he’d go with Bucky were now soulless veneers filled with empty promises of ‘happiness’ or ‘self-esteem’.

He remembered the time Bucky bailed him out of yet another beating by Arnie and his gang back in 1928. His mother berated him for getting in yet another fight while Bucky’s mom laughed and treated them to ice cream from the local sweets parlor. Bucky’s sisters – Rebecca, Rose, and Annabelle – were making a fuss and bursted out in giggles when Annabelle got ice cream in Bucky’s hair. It was one of the best days that year.

A T-Mobile now stands in its place.

All of his friends and comrades save Bucky and Peggy are dead; he nearly bawled in the middle of briefing when found out that Timothy ‘Dum Dum’ Dugan died and had a cry alone in his quarters afterwards.

Felt shitty about the current state of the country. It seemed as though everything has gotten worse. He found out about the Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq Wars. How income and wealth inequality has somehow gotten as bad as, if not worse, than the Gilded Age. Corruption has turned DC and NYC into dog and pony show.

He was furious at all of the politicians and corporations that wanted him to endorse them or their actions. They wanted Captain America’s helmet and shield to mask their heinous acts. They were the same if not worse than Senator Brandt.

Some days Steve wished SHIELD let him stay in the ice. Even worse, there were days he felt that Captain America was for an America that never was.

Nowadays, he felt even more like an anomaly.

It started when he got out of the ice. He felt a lot stronger and faster; only Thor knew the extent of it and he has to hold back a lot when fighting for fear of government asking for more of his blood. Though he suspected Ife and Natasha might be onto him.

He was a lot hungrier than before he went on ice as well. Often time, he would have late night ‘dinners’ (now it's every night), To be honest, he was a bit embarrassed at how much he ate, though the thought of pinning the blame on Ife did cross his mind. It wouldn’t work due to Ife almost never eating with the team and Sam said that he would know if Ife was the culprit. Steve suspected that Ife has been using her connections to restock the food between when he retired to his quarters and before the rest of the team came for breakfast. Also, she kept leaving him fun pop culture facts and media recommendations for the night.

Steve didn’t feel he could go to Dr. Cho since he doubted she had anything to go on in his case.

He did wonder if Ife could help him. She seemed to like helping the team and she was knowledgable about Non-Humans. Wanda’s rapid improvement in her powers and control bolstered his decision.

Sighing, Steve sat up straight in his chair and picked up the letter he received that morning. Marlene Philomena Erskine had passed away and he was invited to her funeral.

It was sad to have yet another link to his past slip from his grasp.

  Steve was finishing up another book to fight off his jitters. It was the night before the operation and he needed to have a few moments of respite from the war.

He was so engrossed in what he was reading that he failed to notice Dr. Erskine entering.

Erskine, for his part, was eyeing several books in Rogers’ makeshift bookshelf: They Odyssey, Of Mice and Men, Murder on the Orient Express, Tender is the Night, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Homage to Catalonia, and To Have and have Not.

“What do you think of the book?” Erskine asked as he sat across the startled recruit.

“Just finished. Y’think it wise to get buzzed before a major operation, sir?” Steve noted when he saw the bottle and two shot glasses on the bed.

Erskine chucked, “Calms my nerves a bit. What did you think of the book?”

Steve pressed his lips together for a moment, “It was a good read. The book had a lot of good points for something written eleven years ago.”

“What truths?”

“Well, for one thing, how technology is used to make the populace happy, but not better. The World Government found a way to get people to willingly trade self-expression, self-awareness, and their happiness for cheap happiness and comfort. Makes you wonder if the US was next, you know?”

Erskine was taken aback by his answer. It was much deeper than most of commanding officers gave if they even read the book.

Though that last sentence was interesting.

“What do you mean next?”

“Isn’t that what happened in Germany?”

Erskine sighed, “Yes and no. Most people here think Hitler came out of nowhere, but he didn’t. Not everyone in Germany was for WWI. There was a 100,000 person march in Berlin, but it didn’t matter since the Social Democratic Party failed to rise to the occasion and went along with war effort. Many were scapegoated for Germany failure, Matthias Erzberger for instance.”

“What about the Weimar Republic?”

Once again, Erskine was taken aback by Steve’s knowledge, “Weimar Germany was a great place to be creative, curious, and make new discoveries. I met my wife, Greta, in Berlin during that time. I made a lot of friends, friends I had to leave behind.”

Erskine frowned as his face darkened,”The terrible thing, my friend, was not that Hitler was dangerous, it was that either people didn’t take him as the threat he was or they wanted to use him for their own ends. The cops and judges sympathized with the Nazi Party to get one over the Socialists and Communists. Industrialists wanted to make money off of the Nazis getting into power. Even the German and International newspapers didn’t cover him with the urgency required.”

“That’s terrible.”

“Ja, and it almost happened here, didn’t it?”

Steve nodded in reference to the America First movement and the German American Bund. He still remembers getting the crap beaten out of him by the Silver Shirts when he spoke out against them a few years ago.

“So why did you choose me?”

“I suppose that is the best question.” Erskine admitted while glancing at Steve’s bookshelf, “What do you think of the Odyssey?”

Steve shrugged, “The adventures were fun, but they were just fantasy.”

“They may not be, Mein Freund. How old do you think I am?”

“Uh, mid sixties?”

Erskine laughed, “You’re too kind. I will be 94 this September,” he smiled noting Steve’s shock, “Things are not always as they seem. I come from a long line of ‘healers’ dating back to before Rome. One of them was able to ‘make a man more’. They inspired me to go into this profession.”

“Making super soldiers?”

“Medicine and bio-chemical engineering.”

“Oh”

“Did you know that you will not be first to undergo this?”

“Who was?”

“His name was Konrad Jager. He was a lot like you: small, frail, but had a great deal of courage and compassion. He was willing to fight Nazis in the streets knowing he’d lose. One day in 1930, his parents begged me to save him as the doctors had given up all hope.

I was woking on a serum that would make the body impervious to all diseases rather than wait for the next outbreak to occur. I thought it would propel the medical field.

The trial worked and he was healed. He became much taller and broader in size as a result.”

Erskine pulled out a picture of himself next to a tall, well-built young man.

“That’s Konrad isn’t it?”

“Yes. I was able to help eight more people through the earlier version of the serum. All but one turned out well.”

“What happened to the one?”

“Ah yes, Eren Kant. He was a shy young man before the serum, but then became more like Hodge: a philander, arrogant, and bit of a bully with a temper. He ‘grew too big for his britches’ as one would say and was arrested by the Munich police. He let his arrogance blind him and he escaped in a way that intrigued Der Fuhrer and was taken to Berlin soon after. By this time, rumors had spread of my work and the Nazis were anxious to be the ‘best of the Aryans’. They were able to get my whereabouts from Eren and sent Schmitt to fetch me, but I was already on my way to Switzerland when he reached my home.”

“How did he get you?”

Erskine slightly jerked his head to the side and back, “A year prior to my attempted escape, I met a man in Geneva who warned of the dangers that lied in Berlin. He gave me his card if I needed to escape. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have waited so long before I made the phone call. I was tipped off by an old colleague of Eren entering Nazi custody.

Everything was set. My family and I were to enter Switzerland by crossing Lake Constance. We made it to Meerburg and the lake was in sight when Schmitt and his agents cut us off.

Schmitt believed that there was a power left behind by the gods. He believed himself to be a leader of a new race of men. He wanted me to ‘perfect the serum’, make him stronger than Eren. He had my children, Klaus and Marlene, taken to the outskirts of town as insurance implying that they would be sent to Dachau if I should fail.

I stalled for as long as I could hoping Schmitt would forget about me, but it was not meant to be. A few years after I was taken hostage, Schmitt stormed into my lab and pointed a gun to Greta demanding I give him the serum.”

“Did it make him stronger than Eren?”

“It did, but it had...side effects. The serum was not ready. Schmitt’s skin turned red and his face became so disfigured that Hitler called him the Red Skull. He killed Greta with his bare hands,” Erskine wiped away a few tears, “and ordered Marlene and Klaus to be sent to Dachau while I was banished to the dungeons.

Fortunately, Agent Carter and the SOE were able to save Marlene and myself. Though Klaus sacrificed himself when the agents could only save one of them.”

“Your son is a hero.”

“I only wish I could’ve told him that myself. But, back to your original question. I chose you because, like Konrad, you are a weak man. You see, the serum amplifies everything; good becomes great and awe-inspiring, bad becomes worse and a nightmare. Men who are strong their entire lives often do not value strength and abuses it. However, a weak man who is compassionate and brave will use it to help others. You were chosen because you had the aforementioned virtues and because you use your mind.

The world does not need perfect soldiers, look where that has gotten us. No, what we need right now are good men.”

Erskine poured out two shots and gave a glass to Steve.

Steve raised his glass, “To the little guys.”

The liquor was just about to touch his lips when Erskine snatched the glass from him, “What are you doing? You have an operation tomorrow. No fluids.”

Steve chuckled as Erskine bid him farewell and good luck tomorrow.

  Ife found Steve in the Common Room hunched over a chair with a letter in his hands. Emotional echoes of gloom came off in waves as she approached him.

“Whatcha looking at, Steve?”

When Steve didn’t respond, she gently placed a hand on his shoulder, “What’s wrong?”

Steve finally turned to Ife, “I received an invite to a funeral. It’s for Marlene Philomena Erskine, Dr. Abraham Erskine’s daughter.”

Ife nodded in understanding; he feels that he failed Marlene by not protecting Dr. Abraham Erskine.

But in fact, he didn’t fail her.

She lived quite the life for a human.

Not long after her father’s assassination, Marlene became a badass mechanical engineer and physicist. Her designs and schematics for transportation vehicles and energy storage/distribution gave the colonizer nations a fighting chance during the Wars Against Colonialism.

Though part of it was because the UA was a little cocky at that point. Marlene sure lit a fire under their ass! Ife can still hear her Aunt Eziamaka pouting at the news of one of UA bases nearly falling into their control.

Marlene’s assistance with the war effort didn’t last long as her gratitude towards the people who saved both her and her father wasn’t enough to overlook the Military’s treatment of some her colleagues.

Her life from there was pretty standard. She became a professor at MIT, got married and had a few kids.

BNA took her off the ‘humans of special interest’ list in 1971.

Thinking back on it, Marlene may have had a better life by her father not making it past WWII.

Though Ife thought it would be wise not to mention this to Steve.

“When is the funeral?”

Steve didn’t raise his head, “It’s in a week.”

“In that case, might I accompany you?”

“Yes...and thank you.”

“No Problem! See you later.” Ife wrapped her arms around him in a quick hug and went on her way leaving Steve slightly bewildered.

  Steve didn’t know what to make of Ifekerenma.

She was always asked the team how they were feeling at what seemed to be the right moment. Shoot, she even talked to custodial staff that few of ever acknowledge. Compassionate to nearly everyone, especially the child hostages during the last mission.

She’s nerdy to the point of Sam jokingly calling her a weeb (anime lover?) when she walked around in an oversized Cowboy Bebop t-shirt once. Wanda mentioned a ‘digital friend’ in her room and caught her mentioning how slow Stark’s tech was much to the amusement of team at Tony’s expense.

Steve’s certain Nat sent Clint a video of the whole thing.

Also, she was what Sam called a ‘Supreme Chef’. He contently patted his midsection remembering the feast she prepared for the team last night. Her cooking would’ve put some of Stark’s gourmet chefs to shame. She asked the team what they liked and she ended up having to create a dinner rotation. Steve was especially touched when she went to an antique bookstore for a recipe that was close to what his mother would’ve made for him.

Furthermore, she would leave out little homemade treats/ snacks at night. Pietro and Sam would sneak some when they thought no one was looking. She even giggled when he accidentally let out a huge belch after an amazing dinner a couple nights ago saying it’s a sign of thanks on her home planet, Avlenia.

Ife always called him Steve; not ‘Captain’ or ‘Cap’ or even ‘Good ol’Century Virgin’ (damn it, Tony!). She never made light of him ‘taking an ice nap’ or asking him about the 1940s in a demeaning way like some reporters and ‘little upstarts on social media’. Somehow, Ife found out about his love of drawing and got him art supplies with a list of recommended artists

She made him feel more like a person and not a symbol or a far off figure who’s emotionless.

Steve felt warm whenever he was around her in a way not unlike Bucky or Peggy though much more like Bucky. She seemed to sense that he was desperate to truly be seen in way that only Sam and sometimes Nat has.

It also didn’t hurt that she was a total knockout. He had the, ahem, pleasure of seeing her out of her uniform and training outfits a few times. She usually wore clothes that were more on the modest side...except for that one time when she wore a Sailor Moon crop top and high-waisted shorts as a dare from Nat. Half of the compound was staring and Steve spent most of the day in his quarters nursing a hard on he was so aroused.

And yet, Ife was one of the toughest women he knew; even Nat was a little scared of her (at least, he thinks). She might be the strongest person physically and she doesn’t take shit from people who badmouth her or the team; Agent Roussel learned that the hard way.

All in all, Ife was...something else, someone he wanted to get close to.

  The day of Marlene’s funeral started out well enough.

Ife spent the early morning making Sam’s request of cinnamon rolls, sausage, omelettes, waffles, and hash browns since he won the raffle of Vision’s turn as he doesn’t eat.

She was handing out everyone’s first servings (didn’t care what happened afterwards) when she felt Steve’s emotional echoes of depression, melancholy, and despair noting how his eyebrows furrowed and how tense his body language was.

She just hoped she could get to him.

  Steve was walking to garage hoping his outfit wasn’t too much.

Nat somehow convinced him into wearing a Highbridge Black Custom Suit with an Eastley Dobbey Blue Shirt, a Black Solid Tie, a Navy Blue Pocket Square, and Ink Black Dress Shoes.

He ‘upped the swoon dial’ as Nat put it. Could’ve sworn he heard Sam snickering.

Steve reached the entrance hoping not to keep Ife waiting when he heard clicking of heels behind him.

He turned around to find Ife looking almost unearthly.

She was wearing a black Ankara (?) dress with a cape that was black on the outside and golden on the inside with various blue, silver, and khaki rectangle clusters. Her hair was mostly contained in a wrap with a few strands framing her lovely face. Her full, plump lips were coated in a Light Plum (?) Matte Lipstick and she wore minimal gold eye shadow.

Her outfit did a splendid job of hinting at her voluptuous curves without needlessly flaunting them like the women who throw themselves at him at press tours.

Ife smiled at him and asked which car were they taking.

Steve motioned to one of the Black SUVs and the two of them strapped in for the three hour car ride.

  Ife sighed and gazed out the window at the scenery. Neither one of them had said anything in the past twenty minutes. Steve wasn’t a fan of most of the music that’s on the radio despite Sam’s best efforts. Ife had to break out her puppy dog eyes to get him to let them listen to some instrumental music from her favorite movies.

It seemed that they weren’t going to say anything until Steve cleared his throat.

Ife, not wanting to suffer in silence, decided break it, “How did you know Marlene?”

Steve raided his eyebrows for a split second, “I didn’t. I just feel like I should pay my respects, you know? I mean, I should attend the daughter of the man I failed’s funeral.”

The last sentence struck a chord with Ife. Emotional echoes of despair hit her like a tsunami.

Tentatively, Ife continued, “How did you fail Erskine?”

“I-I don’t think I’ve fulfilled my promise to him. The country has changed so much since I was on ice. It’s funny; I thought that Brave New World would only have a one of two aspects come to life, but I didn’t see nearly the whole book being right.”

Ife didn’t argue with the last two points. The US was nothing but a never-ending commercial sometimes. People were too busy being ‘happy’ or trying to get the newest thrill to realize that they were living in a sham of a republic.

Though she was concerned about the first sentence.

“What was the promise you made to Erskine? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Steve turned slightly, “To be true to who I am; a good man, not a perfect soldier. To be more like Konrad.”

Ife nodded musing on his answer. Erskine would want everyone he helped to be a good person considering the dangers of such power.

Though she wondered if she knew Dr Abraham’s full history.

Abraham Erskine came from a long line of Homo Magis who specialized in Alchemy . He turned to science when it was clear that his magical powers would never manifest (being only 1/16 Homo Magi). Erskine started working on what would become the Super Soldier Serum in 1920 after the witnessing the horrors of WWI firsthand as a medic.

He made a breakthrough in 1927 when he found what looked to be an old power cell in the attic of his childhood home. Turns out it was a modified Atlantean battery dating back to the 1600s, but whatever.

Konrad Jager was the first of nine volunteers; most of whom went on to fight in the Spanish Civil War with the International Brigades and be part of the German Resistance’s Special Forces during WWII.

Needless to say, they were recruited into BNA’s European Division.

Only Eren Kant was deemed a failure in the end.

Ife shook her head at the info in Erskine’s folder.

Eren was pompous dumbass who broke himself out jail by bending/breaking the bars of his cell after getting arrested for being a player and bully by the Munich Police in August of 1935. His show of superhuman strength got Erskine’s work onto the Hitler’s radar. BNA had to send a cleaner to ‘handle’ Eren before he could get everyone in even more trouble.

She wondered if Konrad and the others would make an appearance.

“What do mean by not staying true to yourself?”

Steve sighed, “It seemed a lot easier to do so in my time.”

Ife wanted to go further, but she couldn’t. Steve was punishing himself up for something he couldn't control and it was tragic.

She hoped that she could actually help him, not for the mission, but for himself.

  They arrived at the venue twenty minutes early. Steve was trying (failing) to fix his tie while Ife was looking as glamorous and poised as can be.

Sensing Steve’s unease, she gave his hand a comforting squeeze, “You’ll do fine,” she whispered as she fixed his tie while not trying inhale his delicious natural scent like a creep (again).

“Let’s go inside.”

  Everyone seemed to stop what they were doing when they entered the venue. Though Ife had to hand it to the guests; no one asked Steve for an autograph or a selfie. She noted several BNA officials and a couple of Earth-based Non-Human big wigs in attendance.

Guess Marlene was popular.

“Ife!” Azeneth shouted as she strode over to from a corner and enveloped her in a hug.

“Azeneth, how are you? I didn’t think you would be back from Mexico City so soon.”

“Well, the mission was short and they wanted me in New York to accompany Eliza here. Now, who is this fine gentleman, Ife?” Azeneth queried while Steve started shifting uncomfortably.

“This is Steve Rogers, one of my new teammates and Ca-”

“Captain America. I know, Ife. I was jesting.”

Ife sighed dramatically while rolling her eyes, “Steve, this is Azeneth. She’s one of my best Earth-based friends.”

“Kickass friend.” Azeneth corrected, “How are you liking Ife? She’s not too much trouble.”

“Stop it, ‘Aze!” Ife playfully hit Azeneth’s shoulder, “Feel free to ignore her, Steve.”

“Hmm, no. I don’t think I will, especially after the stunt you pulled on the first day at the compound.”

Azeneth burst out laughing at Ife’s shocked expression and Steve’s sly grin. She probably would’ve kept goin if not for Eliza cutting into their conversation.

“Excuse us, Mr. Rogers. I’ll have to speak with Ife for a moment. My name’s Eliza Maza, by the way.”

  Once they were out of Steve’s line of sight (Azeneth was keeping him busy), Eliza activated a noise canceller.

“So did anyone die in the attack on the Magic Council?” Ife asked as she made sure Steve wasn’t looking at them.

“No one was harmed, but several books are missing from the library.”

“Shit! Okay. Well, would Dr. Strange be available to assist Wanda with her training? Wong and Nazaret are at the Sanctum and he said that he knew of some spells that could help.”

“I’ll look into it. I should have an answer in a week”

“Okay.”

“Ife, please give me a call when you get back to the compound.”

Ife eyed Konrad Jager, Gregor Eisenberg, Sonje Decker, and Lukas Denhart making their way to Steve. She hoped they weren’t going to drop an info bomb on him today.

“I will.”

  The service was short and sweet as Marlene didn’t want everyone to be bored to tears on her behalf. The crowd got a laugh out that joke.

Afterwards, Marlene granddaughter, Zahara, requested if Steve could stay for a bit. She gave him a beautifully wrapped package.

“My grandmother wanted you to have this. She saw you fighting in the Battle of New York and knew you would know what to do with it.”

“It would be an honor, Miss.”

  Ife thought about her earlier conversation with Steve on the say back. She realized what’s happened to Steve was heartbreaking.

Here was a man who gave up everything for a country that only wants him as a cudgel for their heinous deeds. Someone who, if he hadn’t fallen into the ice, would’ve probably been ruined by the same country he swore to protect. They would’ve labeled him as a communist and destroyed his good name for not immediately getting on board with the next war.

To be honest, Ife didn’t think much of Steve before joining the team. She thought he was just the banner boy for colonizers to feel good; he was the reminder of that brief moment when the US was totally the bad guys (totally being the operative word).

But now?

She saw the toll the helmet and shield had on him. Ife doubted he knew that he was going to be alive for awhile judging how neither Konrad or the others aged a day since they received Serum 1.0 and Steve supposedly got one that was at least 3x as powerful.

She wanted to comfort him somehow, but she was lost on what to do.

When she got back to the compound, she gave Steve a hug and went straight to her quarters to call Eliza.

“Eliza. I can’t do this by myself, and if we’re going to pull this off, I’m going to need some serious backup because the Avengers need some serious help.”

  Fury was going through some mission reports when he heard a knock on his door.

“Come in.”

Oddly enough, Ife was the one to enter the room and not Maria Hill.

“Good Evening, Fury. I have someone who would like speak with you.”

“Well, give me a name and contact info and I’ll see what I can do.”

“Actually,” Ife reached in her pocket for a disc, “I can do you one better.”

Ife tossed the disc into the air and a moon-door portal formed from it. Out came Eliza, Azeneth, and Angela in her gargoyle form.

Eliza gave Ife a quick nod and turned to Fury, “Good Evening, Nicolas Fury. My name is Eliza Maza and we’re from the Bureau of Non-Human Affairs or BNA. I would advice that you lower your weapon. It won’t do you a lick of good,” Fury lowered his gun,” Good. Put Maria Rambeau on speaker, we need to talk.”

  -Somewhere in France-

 Maeve was enjoying her brunch while watching the footage of Eliza officially making contact with new SHIELD and SWORD.

“Well, it looks like it’s time to ‘get the band back together’ as the kids would say.” She chirped to the woman across the table.

“That expression pretty much died in the 90s. No ‘kid’ uses that phrase anymore.” Koronis deadpanned.

Maeve scoffed, “Anyone born after 1800 is a ‘child’ to me. This is what I get for trying not to sound like ‘an old hag’ as you put it.”

“Well, is everything on track?”

Koronis, or Carol, closed her eyes for few seconds, “I see nothing standing in our organization’s way. However, we should have the meeting sooner rather than later.”

“Duly noted. Anything else?”

“The new variable, Ifekerenma, will be more useful to our plans than I originally anticipated.”

“Oh, I do love surprises! I mean, I know how it will end, but I still like to be at least a little surprised. I knew it was a good idea to let Klaue be discovered by Ultron in Istanbul!”

Another woman walked up to the pair,”You wanted to see me, Mistress?”

“Yes. Svetlana, call the others. It’s time to put our plan into high gear. Hell’s Moon is upon us.”

  Steve was having a shitty birthday.

The press was pestering him about the presidential election. Several outlets have called him a sellout and a coward for not endorsing anyone.

He was figuring out the best way to take a shower and hit the hay in less than 30 minutes when he found a beautifully written note taped to his door.

It said to come to Ife room wearing his best dancing clothes.

Ten minutes later, Steve knocked on her door and it instantly opened to reveal a modest dancing hall not unlike the ones he went to with Bucky before the war.

He was so lost in thoughts admiring the place that he failed to notice Ife hovering a few feet from him.

“Happy Birthday, Steve! How do you like it?”

Steve turned to see Ife in a knee-length golden yellow African Wax Print Ankara dress with cold shoulders, ruffled sleeves, and a v-neckline. He didn’t miss the modest view of her cleavage or how her legs looked oh, so smooth in the dress.

Ife, for her part, was super nervous about this. Nat said that people went to dance halls all the time in the late 1930s and 1940s and it took her five days to get the architecture, the music, and the lighting just right.

She hoped that Steve wouldn’t be angry with her.

Steve looked incredibly handsome in his simple dress shirt and slacks. His powerful shoulders, thick biceps, trim waist, and beefy thighs were accentuated by the lighting which made him look like he was glowing.

Ife would’ve drooled if she knew that he didn’t like it when most women would throw themselves at him.

“It’s amazing. Thank you.”

“I’m sorry about the dress. I couldn-”

Steve raised a hand to stop her from going off on a tangent,”You look beautiful.”

Ife felt a flurry of warmth in her core at the compliment.

“So, what would like to do?”

Before Steve could answer, Duke Ellington’s Don’t Mean a Thing starting playing.

Steve stretched out his hand, “Would you like to dance?”

Ife took his had and they glided onto the dance floor.

“Where did you learn to dance?”

“Bucky’s mom made us learn when Bucky started getting attention from the girls at school. She thought it best that we knew how to treat them to a good time.”

“I see,” Ife giggled, “Then she was wise to make take the lessons. Though I’m more familiar with the jitterbug.”

Steve chuckled as they resumed swinging. He hummed a bit as they danced to Ella Fitzgerald, Caro Emerald, Jo Stafford, Billie Holiday, and Gene Krupa.

Ife was impressed with Steve’s dancing skills. What were those women thinking passing him up like that?!

After a couple more rounds of dancing, the music shifted to something more modern but not (it was Howl’s Moving Castle’s Main Theme) , the colors on the walls and ceiling brightened, and several chandeliers formed on the ceiling.

Steve gave Ife a slightly confused look and asked her if she would like to try a waltz this time.

The song lasted a little more than five minutes. Steve was somehow able to lead their movements in sync with the song.

Ife felt her body was aflame with gentle yet commanding touches Steve was giving her. He even lifted her a few times making her feel as though she was flying with how gently he held her.

They were absorbed in their own world they either failed to notice or ignored Nat and Wanda entering Ife room to see if they could have another spa day. Nat even got a few pictures of the two dancing.

Steve gave Ife one last life during the climax and pulled her in when the music came to a close. They were about to come in for a kiss when Ife pressed her lips together and back away.

“We should probably retire for evening. Goodnight, Steve.”

Steve’s shoulders slumped in defeat, but left Ife’s room with a simple goodnight with Nat and Wanda in tow.

Ife frowned. She knew Steve wasn’t in the best place for a relationship and her conscience wouldn’t let her take advantage of that.

[alirhi]

random snippet again

as promised, @feralgoblintea here's the (temporary) scene where the two sisters meet for the first time since one went missing as a child

note about the nickname: Rachel's middle name is Miranda; everyone has called her 'Andy' from that since she was a little kid. it's explained in her story, but not in this scene, so I just wanted to explain it here lol

"Your parents are very eager to know where you've been and what you've been going through all these years," the doctor told her, deep voice oddly gentle and soothing. Rachel smiled sadly; his voice reminded her of Amadeus. "Most of all, they want to know that you're alright."

She knew he thought she was crazy. Her parents definitely shared that opinion, which was why she was here to begin with. Still, she couldn't help asking, "And, in your professional opinion, am I?"

He caught her lightly mocking tone and snorted, leaning back in his chair to mirror her pose. "In my professional opinion," he shot back, though the sarcasm left his tone before he even finished his sentence, "you've been through Hell, Rachel. The trauma you've suffered is very, very real. If you're asking, do I believe in demons and portals and time travel, I'd have to say no. But that pain and fear came from somewhere... I'd like you to come back in for regular sessions, if you're up for it; see if we can cut through the fantasy, see past the demons and find the real monsters who hurt you."

"That's why I'm not coming back." She stood, shaking her head a little. "I'm not surprised you don't believe me - I probably wouldn't believe it, myself, if I hadn't lived it - but it's a bit frustrating. What I told you isn't metaphors or delusion. It all happened, and I'm not interested in having someone rip it all apart and try to make me doubt my own memory."

"They call that 'gaslighting' these days."

Startled, the blonde whirled around to face the source of the new voice; a woman she sort of vaguely recognized was standing in the doorway, hand on the knob, smiling at her. After a long moment, her brain helpfully edited the image before her to make it make sense; wild red hair to dirty blonde, violet eyes to mismatched green and blue, face younger and body smaller and more plump. "...Beck?!"

Rebecca's smile widened and she stepped forward with a nod. "Hey, Andy."

"Oh my god!" With a laugh and a delighted screech, she launched herself across the room and threw her arms around her little sister. "What are you doing here?"

Nearly squeezing the breath out of her, the younger woman murmured, "I heard you were back and had to see you. Stand your ground, Andy. Don't let them make you forget or doubt that it was all real. We know the truth." She released her, only to bring her hands up to grip the sides of her sister's head. "Magic is real."

Rachel froze, staring at Rebecca's mouth long after it closed and the two long, wicked fangs that had drawn her attention were hidden from view. "...What happened to you?"

"Not here. I'll tell you everything, but not here."

"Okay." Without so much as a backward glance at the shrink, she followed the redhead out of the office, past their fretting parents, and out into the bright sunny day that made Rebecca hiss.

She cringed and immediately donned a beat-to-hell baseball cap and a pair of dark sunglasses. "Fuck, I hate sunny days."

"You always did." Rachel couldn't help smiling faintly; so many years had passed, more than anyone in the world around them could ever understand, and yet so little about her baby sister had changed.

"Yeah, well... I've only gotten more sensitive to it."

Once they'd made it deep enough into the woods behind the Industrial Park that there was no risk of anyone overhearing, they stopped, and Rachel asked her point blank: "You're a vampire, aren't you?"

Rebecca laughed, gratefully leaning back into the shade of the nearest tree. "Only in our lives is that a casual conversation starter. And yes. Thankfully I'm old enough that daylight won't kill me. It's just unpleasant."

With her own accidental time travel in mind, the blonde asked, "How old are you?" Thirty-seven, she knew, in the eyes of the people around them; to them, Rachel herself had only just turned thirty-nine, and yet both sisters looked at each other with exhausted, haunted eyes millennia older than they could ever hope to make anyone else understand.

"As a vampire, or in general?" She smirked, shrugging off her own question before her sister could answer. "In general is harder to pin down, but I've been a vampire for about six thousand years, give or take a few."

Leaning against a tree roughly opposite Rebecca's, Rachel mirrored her smirk and crossed her arms over her chest. "I was Queen of an entire planet, and then POW and slave on a second, then a fugitive... I managed to send my older daughter home, before I got stuck on a third planet with my boys and little girl. It's been about ten thousand years."

"You have kids?" Rebecca grinned, once again showing those distractingly long fangs. "Me, too! I have two daughters, Madeline and Alice."

"Senna, Kieran, Caspian, and...Cassie," Rachel told her in answer to her unspoken question. She couldn't help blushing as she listed her children's names; she'd since learned what senna was, and hadn't actually given her younger two children names beginning with the same sound on purpose. It had just sort of worked out that way.

"Twins?"

She shook her head. "Caspian's my stepson, kinda, and Cassie was named after-"

Rebecca flinched, remembering. "After Cassie Wade, right? I was so focused on figuring out what happened to you, and then fighting to survive, I'd forgotten she went missing with you."

"She..." Clearing her throat, the blonde squared her shoulders and pulled her strong front around herself like a familiar safety blanket. "She saved our lives; she didn't make it. And, yeah. I named my youngest after her. Anyway, they're all grown, and Kieran..." Jaw clenching, she forcibly dismissed thoughts of her rapist and merely said, "He's my perfect warrior prince. Well, King now. I love them all, and desperately miss Senna, but Kieran, despite his more questionable choices, has a special place in my heart."

Rebecca took her sunglasses off and studied her for a moment before venturing, "Y'know... I literally eat rapists for breakfast."

That got a startled bark of laughter from her big sister, who shook her head. "Even if my boy hadn't already killed him, I doubt his gross, rancid blood would sit well with you. He wasn't human."

The redhead shrugged, smirking again. "Doesn't have to be. I've eaten Fae, elves, one vampire that pissed me off royally..."

"Not such a picky eater anymore, huh?" she teased, grinning. "Was it some badass revenge on your sire or something?"

Laughing, Rebecca shook her head. "Nope, no sire. I'm the OG vampire, babe. The first of the species. My younger daughter, Alice, is the first of the natural born vamps."

"So, wait... You could still get pregnant after you were turned? What?" Rachel frowned, beyond confused. "And how the fuck...?"

"I'm not dead," her little sister explained with another laugh. "Everything's slowed way the hell down, but hasn't stopped. I can't have kids with a human, or probably most Fae, but a certain trickster God..."

"...God?"

She grinned and nodded, though her haunting violet eyes looked sad. "Loki. He's Alice's dad."

"Huh. So the Gods are real." Rachel snorted. "Go figure. And my sister banged one."

"I loved him," the other woman whispered, staring at the ground. She opened her mouth as if to speak further, then seemed to reconsider and closed it again, clearing her throat.

To spare her from some clearly painful memories, whatever they were, Rachel asked, "What's a Fae?"

"Fairy," was the simple enough answer. "Fairies are real, too. Maddie - my oldest - is Fae."

Is she Loki's, too? She didn't dare ask - Loki was clearly a touchy subject - but she was dying to know.

As if she could read her mind, Rebecca, still avoiding her gaze, explained, "I was still mortal when I had her. Her father was Fae."

As the light breeze shifted the leaves above them, making the light dance across Rebecca's ghostly white skin, Rachel finally noticed the scars. At first, they'd looked like tribal tattoos, done puzzlingly in a silvery-white. When she realized they were actually a complex web of ancient scars, she also noticed they covered every inch of her sister's flesh that she could see around her shorts and tank top. Her face was the only place free of the oddly beautiful swirling lines, though she did spot a faint scar on her forehead, running from hairline to cheekbone and through the outer edge of her eyebrow.

"Is Madeline's father why you hunt rapists?" Is he the one who tore you apart?

"He didn't rape me... Technically. But yes, he's the one who scarred me." At her startled look, Rebecca smirked; it utterly failed to reach her eyes, but it was a start. "I can read your mind. I'm trying not to - I find it unspeakably rude and invasive - but when you're actively thinking about me, it tends to cut through my shields. The scars are from a spell he worked on me; blood magic. It's what made Maddie's conception possible, and chained me to him for years."

"Kieran's father was my greatest enemy; Crown Prince of the people who'd been attacking and slaughtering mine. King by the time I escaped." She didn't know what made her suddenly share this, but it felt like the thing to do. Her sister had told her something deeply personal and troubling; it seemed only right to meet candor with candor. Besides, Rachel and Rebecca had been two peas in a pod as children, as close as two sisters could possibly be. There was no amount of time that could strain their relationship. "I was captured in battle and kept as a slave for around a year and a half."

"How did the other three come about?" She smirked again, shoving her wild red hair back off her face impatiently. "Even when we were kids, I'd have bet just about anything that you're gayer than a rainbow, so how do you have so many kids?"

Rachel laughed, rolling her eyes. "Political marriage gave me Senna - born in a dungeon, thanks to me being pregnant during the battle and not knowing it yet. She was smuggled home to her father after she was born. I made a friend in that Hellhole, Emil, and he'd been raising Caspian; he's not his biological father, but that never mattered, just like it didn't matter to me that I didn't give birth to him. That boy's just as much my son as Kieran. We were supposed to go back to my home when we escaped, but something went screwy and we ended up on Achlys, instead, where I met my girlfriend and we all decided to just settle and raise the boys."

"So you cheated on your husband?" Rebecca's grin was teasing - and, thank god, reached her eyes at last! - but Rachel still threw an acorn at her when she said, "You whore!"

"I never saw him again! And he wouldn't have given a shit," she explained with a laugh. "I was, like, his third or fourth wife. And like I said, it was purely political; I was Queen, he was my advisor, he wanted power and I wanted an heir. Enter Senna, who boosted Raziel from random noble to father of the next Queen, and assured that there would be someone to take the reins if I died."

"So..." Her sister began ticking points off on her fingers as she spoke. "Shrewd political moves gave you Senna, you're co-parenting Caspian with a friend, we won't speak of Kieran's origins... How and why was Cassie a thing?"

Rachel shook her head, gaping at her. "A thing? That's nice, Beck. Real nice."

"Gods, you've missed so many cultural shifts, dude." Rebecca shook her head right back, trying not to laugh at her. "Just answer the question, old lady."

"Emil and I, and my girlfriend Trinity, all talked and decided to hell with conventionality; we all love each other, so we'll all be together. Em's my exception, I guess; the only man I've ever been attracted to even after seeing him naked. Our boys were grown, Senna was long gone, we'd made a whole new life for ourselves, so we decided to have another baby. Enter Cassie." Rachel sighed, staring off into space. "And now she's grown, Kieran's back in that awful place trying to turn it around, married to a great girl, Caspian's there with them to help..."

Though she had a feeling she knew the answer, the vampire asked softly, "And your lovers?"

"...Dead. Cassie - Cassie Wade, I mean - died in prison, Trin and Em were killed in the second war." A bitter smirk tugged at the corners of her lips. "Kieran and Cas are running a third."

"There's always another fucking war," Rebecca grumbled. "I've watched so many of them come and go, fought in two, myself... It never really ends."

[a-lockman5]

Things were different now Pt. 2 - 2AM Toast {Devi x Paxton}

A/N: Ayyyy so I just felt the creative juices flowing and wanted to whip this out before they went away again. I had a blast writing this. I kept trying to proofread it but got caught up in the story again (Whoops!), so if I missed some typos, apologies. Also, I don’t own these characters (obviously), but I do love them. 

Warnings: more fluff/angst, blood/injury - NO SELF HARM, scared Paxton is cute

Here is part 1 if you haven’t read it yet!

Take a look at my MASTERLIST for more to read or inspo for requests :)

“Paxton?”

Holy shit. Paxton jumped six feet in the air at the sound of her voice. It was two o’clock in the morning. Why was anyone up? Why was Devi Vishwakumar in his house?

“Devi, what the hell?” he panted, still catching his breath from the scare she’d given him. “What are you doing?”

“I was getting a soda from the garage,” she replied, eyes wide. “I thought you were on a college visit this weekend.”

“Tomorrow. Dad and I are driving up tomorrow. What are you doing in my house?”

“Becca invited me over.” He could tell she was still tense, her eyes staring directly into his. “I didn’t think you were here.”

They’d hardly spoken since she and Gross started dating. She tried to apologize a few weeks ago when Rebecca invited her over for dinner. Paxton acted like it was fine. Why wouldn’t it be? They were just friends. Sure, they’d kissed after the party that one night, but it wasn’t like she owed him anything. Besides, he was the one that blew her off at school two days later. She didn’t owe him anything, and he knew that. And besides that, she and Gross made sense. They were both way smart and in the same class and could challenge each other intellectually and her friends seemed to like him and… he was rambling internally. The point was, he and Devi agreed they were friends and things wouldn’t be weird. And now, almost a month later, they were talking in his hallway at 2AM, and it was definitely weird.

“Cool,” he crossed his arms over his bare chest. “Becca told me you were helping her with more stuff for her portfolio. I guess that photographer didn’t know what he was talking about.”

“What?”

He shook his head slightly as his cheeks heated up. “Sorry, I just meant that he kept wanting you to stop posing, but here you are booking another gig. You’re like a real model, and I just… I don’t know.”

She laughed then. He was so embarrassed, but still couldn’t help smiling into his chest. It was her laugh that helped him be brave. “Look, Devi, we agreed things wouldn’t be awkward between us, but things feel pretty weird right now. Can we just let it go and be cool?”

Her eyes widened again and she gave him a tight lipped smile. “Yeah, definitely. I just didn’t expect” –

“To see me in the middle of the night in my own house?” he smirked.

She nodded and continued, “in your underwear with a…” she gestured wildly below his waist with her eyes closed tightly.

Paxton felt the color drain from his face. He’d been half asleep when he got up to go to the bathroom. Had he really not noticed? His hands instinctively covered his privates, though they weren’t feeling so private right now, and sure enough, there was some definite tenting going on. His eyes screwed shut, and he felt himself stumbling backward a few paces before turning his back on Devi entirely.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered. “I didn’t… Shit. I need to go.”

He made a beeline for the bathroom and didn’t look back at her again. He slammed the door in a rush to escape the mortification he was experiencing and found himself crying out in pain. He’d shut his GD finger in the door. Jerking it out as fast as he could, he pressed the door closed with his back leant against it.

His head dropped, and a sigh escaped him. As he reached a hand up to push his hair out of his face, he almost missed the flash of red. “Goddammit!” he whispered furiously. His nail must have ripped off when he closed it in the door. Shit, did it hurt now that he was looking at it. Paxton turned to the sink and ran his finger under lukewarm water before forcing himself to put soap on it. He winced a little as it burned, but it was no where close to the painfully embarrassing encounter he’d just had with Devi. He looked down at his boxers at the reminder. Nothing like mutilating his ego and his hand to regulate his hormones – his erection had disappeared.  He sighed again.

Why did he have to run into her? Why like that? Why did he just have to lose every shred of dignity he had left? Things were not like this for Paxton. He was Paxton Hall-Yoshida for goodness sake! Paxton H.Y. did not get nervous around girls. They got nervous around him! But Devi… he never got nervous around her before Gross’s party. Not like he had tonight. He was too cool to be nervous. He was good at being cool. What the hell happened?

“It doesn’t matter,” he told himself. He just needed to dress his finger so that he didn’t get blood everywhere. After rummaging through the cupboards one-handed for a few minutes, he remembered the first aid kit was in the garage from his biking accident a few months ago.

The coast was obviously clear, he knew that. He’d been in the bathroom far longer than intended, so there was no way he would cross paths with Devi again. Still, Paxton took a deep breath before nervously poking his head out the door. Sure enough, the hall was empty. Another deep breath, this time in relief, and he padded down the hallway to the garage. When he flipped the light on, his nightmare continued.

There was she was sitting on the couch –  the couch they had sat on when they first met and she wanted him to… do something with her that she definitely didn’t want anymore. Her head whipped around to look at him, and her mouth fell open. Paxton pressed his head against the doorframe in defeat.

“Devi, why are you still out here?”

“I was just trying to…” she trailed off, but Paxton could tell by the look on her face that their encounter had affected her as much as it had him. He didn’t need to hear her say it.

“Alright, just let me put some shorts on.” At least the laundry room was right off the garage. He started to climb into a pair of basketball shorts while keeping his right hand aloft with toilet paper wrapped around his middle finger.

“Holy shit, what happened to your hand? Did you do it on purpose? Did you bite the nail down until it bled? Is it some side effect of the ‘roids you’re taking for swimming?”

Paxton jumped in surprise at being scared by Devi’s presence in the middle of the night... in his house... for the third time. This time, as he was off-balance, he immediately got tangled in his shorts and ended up on his side against the cold tile floor. He wanted to cry, he thought as he laid there. Why had this night turned into such a terror? Was he actually dreaming? Was he going to wake up and Devi would be asleep at her own house, in her own bed, and he the same? He would pray to a million gods to make that happen.

“Devi, why are you doing this to me?”

“I wasn’t trying to” – she broke off. “Here, come on, I got you.”

She steadied him at the elbow as he leaned on her to stand. She continued to let him lean on her as he finished donning his shorts with his affected arm out of harms way. “Thanks,” he murmured.

“Sorry, I asked about steroids. I know you don’t.”

“I wouldn’t.”

“I know that,” she nodded. “Sorry for scaring you too… What did you do to your hand though?”

Paxton exhaled in a huff. “I shut it in the bathroom door.”

“Oh good! When you yelled, I thought you racked yourself or something.” Devi sighed in relief. Paxton’s eyes narrowed in a glare at her. “Sorry. Do you have a first aid kit?”

“It’s in the garage,” he laughed despite himself.

“Ah. Yeah, that makes sense. Well, come on.”

She led him back into the garage and over to the couch. He sat down at her instruction. “Devi, you don’t have to” –

“Shut up. You can’t dress it with one hand. Besides, I’ve watched so many medical YouTube channels, it’ll be fun,” she said, plopping down next to him. “Come on, give it here.”

He knew there was no use arguing with her and let her pull his hand out of his lap. He took his time looking over her as she worked on him. He’d always thought she was objectively pretty from the moment they’d met, but he didn’t know he’d end up here, thinking about how cute she was. She was careful and focused as she peeled the toilet paper away, knowing it had started to dry and stick to his wound. She whispered a quiet apology when he hissed in pain, but never took her eyes off her work. She cleaned it, applied antibiotic ointment, wrapped it up in gauge, and secured it with tape. At some point, he found himself staring at her lips, thinking about how desperately he wanted to kiss her again – how desperately he wished she wanted to kiss him.

“There, finished!” She beamed at him. It was almost enough to jerk him free of his fantasy. Almost.

“Thanks,” he smiled lazily at her.

“For sure, I owe you for all the times you rescued me.”

“Yeah, ignoring that it’s your fault I got hurt,” he smirked at her.

“What? How do you figure?”

“If you weren’t wandering the house in the middle of the night” –

“I wouldn’t have seen your pork sword through your boxers.”

“Devi, what the hell?” he looked wildly at her. “Where do you even come up with this stuff?”

“People say that,” she shrugged.

“No, Devi, they really don’t,” he shook his head and started laughing. After a moment, she laughed too, and for that moment, things were good. “God, how did you do this to me?”

That sobered her immediately. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I used to be the coolest guy in school. I’ve been going to prom since middle school. My friend’s mom hits on me. How did you make me the guy that injures himself trying to escape an embarrassing situation? That used to be your thing!”

“Paxton…”

“It’s kind of funny, ya know? The first time we were ever in here, you ran away after I took my shirt off,” he continued, unable to stop himself. “I may not be an honor student, but I do realize now that your mom does not have polio.” He saw a hint of a smile on her face and felt himself smile back. “And now, look at us: sitting on the couch together, legs touching,” he accentuated his point by bumping his knee against hers, “I’m shirtless and you’re not scared of me anymore, but…”

“But what?” she asked after a moment.

I’m so scared of you. He blinked, pushing the thought away before he could stick his foot in his mouth. “But we don’t get to act on it. We’ve come so far since we first met, but we don’t get to talk to each other like we used to… I miss talking to you.”

“I miss talking to you too.” He thought she sounded genuine. She was the only person, outside of his family, he’d ever felt comfortable opening up to. Now that she was dating Ben Gross, he didn’t get to have that anymore? Why?

“Look, I think we can agree tonight has been super weird, but you don’t need to only come over when you think I’m not here.”

“I know.”

“No, I mean, I know we said that before, but I mean it. I want to be your friend, Devi. I like you, I like hanging out with you. Can we make that work?”

It felt like hours passed while she looked at him silently. He could practically hear her thoughts pinging around in her head at a million miles a minute, but he had no idea what to expect. She was quiet for so long, he began to think she would say no. No, they couldn’t be friends. It wasn’t what she wanted anymore. Things were going to be weird between them, and there was no way around it. Paxton would have to just go on shutting his hands in doors and tripping over his gym shorts until he could move on from her – that was the only acceptable way to handle their situation. Then he saw it; he wasn’t sure if it was compassion, pity, or something else that made her eyes warm to his, but he knew he liked the way she looked at him in that moment.

“Of course, we can. I like hanging out with you too. Here,” she scrambled up off the couch and went to the refrigerator they had in the garage. She pulled out a diet mountain dew and a cherry coke zero, handing the latter to him.

“How did you…?” he stared at the soda can. His parents bought a variety of sodas, they and Becca both enjoyed having choices. The cherry coke zero was his and his only. He didn’t drink soda often, but when he did, he needed something with more flavor than a diet soda, but that wasn’t as sweet as a regular cola.

“Becca told me I could drink whatever I wanted except that. If it was hers, she’d let me have it or would have at least had some herself. Your dad was drinking a mountain dew when I got here, and your mom had a sprite when I was over for dinner a few weeks ago. It only made sense that it was left for you.”

“Anyone ever tell you, you’re smart, Vishwakumar?”

“Actually, no,” she pondered the question before flipping her hair over her shoulder and winking at him, “everyone else says I’m a genius.”

For the first time that night, he smiled a real, big smile. She mirrored his actions, and he felt warm everywhere. When she reached across the space between them, his breath caught in his throat.  She popped the tab on his soda, and he felt a shaky breath escape him. “What are you doing?”

“Paxton Hall-Yoshida, we are toasting,” she replied, popping the tab on her own can.

“Why?”

“This is a new chapter in our lives, in our friendship, and we need to make it official.”

You are something special, Devi, he thought with a grin. “Okay, I’m in. What should we toast to?”

“Umm… how about no more injuries?”

“No more avoiding each other in the hallways?”

“Or each other’s gaze during history.”

“To not keeping it a secret when you’re hanging out with my sister”

– “and not scaring each other in the middle of the night with your pocket rocket at full salute.”

He snorted. “To literally never bringing that up ever again, especially not with any of those phrases.”

“Cheers!” she laughed, clinking her can against his. They both took drinks of their soda, and fell quiet again for a moment. For the first time since they’d kissed, it felt comfortable again though. There had been a very real shift in the energy between them. They could make friends work. They could spend time together. Was it going to help him move on? Certainly not. Was it going to help him cope? It was worth a try.

“There is something I’ve been wanting to ask you,” she said quietly. After their entire experience tonight, somehow she found a way to be nervous again.

“Shoot your shot, Lil D.”

“I want to go swimming. Will you help me?”

<< Part 1, Part 3>>

[softlass27]

So... I had a couple of comments on my Robron foster parenting fic from last week, asking for more of this universe. I don’t know if I’ll ever properly write it as a full story, but what I do have are some little character profiles for each of the kids mentioned, as well as their ages when the Home Farm move takes place :)

Seb (11)

So Aaron and Robert had many (so many) discussions about – and with – Seb before they started fostering. They were initially very worried about the risk of Seb feeling neglected or sidelined by them bringing more children – some of whom may require extra care and attention – into the home. Robert was especially concerned about this, considering his own bad experiences when his parents took in Andy.

But Seb, being the good (fantastic) kid that he is, takes it all in his stride. For the most part, he loves having a big family, even if its not the most conventional. He was already pretty mature for his age, so he understands why sometimes the other kids might need some extra support with things. Before he came to live in Emmerdale permanently, his home life with Ross and Rebecca wasn’t exactly stable (thank god his dads got him out of there – he has a feeling that’s what gave them the fostering idea in the first place), so he knows a little of what it’s like to come from a difficult environment.

As much as he’s cool with his living situation, he does occasionally ask for a bit of one-on-one time with his dads, which they will go above and beyond to give him no matter what’s going on with the family.

Rather enjoys being the eldest – and therefore the leader – of the bunch. Aaron says he gets that from Robert.

Very witty for his age, and never without a good comeback. Robert says he gets that from Aaron.

Really likes cooking with Robert, and has been ever since he was just a wee boy.

Once showed his parents a 10-slide powerpoint presentation on why he and Eddie should get a super-cool race car bunkbed from Ikea.

Eddie (10)

Eddie is, well… loud. A chaotic boy. But a very sweet one.

He has ADHD, so he struggles a little at school and gets into trouble every now and then (mainly for talking), but for the most part his teachers can’t help taking a liking to him. 

Eddie loves attention, but he’s harmless in the way he seeks it. Telling jokes, presenting pictures he’s drawn (he loves comic books and often likes to create his own), showing off a new trick on his bike or skateboard. It’s rare for his foster family to go longer than a day without someone hearing him shout, “Hey, watch this!” Aaron and Robert often have to gently remind him to use his inside voice, and not to railroad the others when they’re trying to say something or pick an activity.

More than anything, Eddie just wants to be noticed. He never got much of that with his mum, who fails to turn up for their supervised visits more often than not. It’s agonising for Aaron and Robert to watch him be let down by her over and over again, trying so hard to cover up his hurt by shrugging and saying it doesn’t matter, then acting like there’s nothing wrong by throwing himself into playing video games with Seb as soon as they get home. But one of them will normally find him curled up crying a few hours later, and it takes lots of cuddles, ice cream and a super hero movie to make him feel better.

Eddie’s only six months younger than Seb, which Robert was initially worried about (again, his memories of Andy coming into play there), but the two of them are thick as thieves. They’re kind of chalk and cheese personality-wise, but they actually balance each other out pretty well.

Will do literally any dare he’s given. This has led to more than one trip to A&E and more than one grey hair for Robert.

Theme parks are his favourite places in the world.

Would live on pizza if he could.

Clumsy as hell. Never put anything breakable in Eddie’s reach.

Lottie (7)

Lottie is by far the shyest, quietest of the kids. She didn’t bring any toys or games with her, but she did bring a small backpack of books that she clung onto like a lifeline. This gave Robert (as we all know, an avid reader) something to bond over with her, and he soon discovered that a way to get Lottie talking was to ask her which books she likes.

The answer, as it happens, is anything fantasy-based. The Narnia series, The Hobbit, Peter Pan, most fairy tales… anything with some magic and maybe a princess and she’s sold. They have a feeling her books have been a bit of an escape from reality for her in the past, so they make sure her bedroom has a nice little bookcase so she can keep them close.

Her favourite thing after reading is playing in the garden or around the village. Sometimes with the others but again, she’s quite happy in her own little world. Before coming to live in Emmerdale, she’d been brought up in a cramped flat in a city centre, surrounded by traffic and concrete. So living in somewhere like the Yorkshire Dales (and all the space that comes with it) is a total novelty to her. She takes to it like a duck in water though, loves the green fields and the streams and the animals. She’ll spend hours running around in the dirt (usually spreading it all over the house when she gets home, too) and becomes a proper country girl. Robert gets her the complete Beatrix Potter collection, combining her two loves.

Because she’s so content with her nose in a book, Aaron and Robert do have to prompt her to join in with the others sometimes. But once she’s been given a nudge, she’ll usually put down whatever she’s reading and interact with her foster family. She does like having fun with the others, she just likes to have her space, too.

Aaron and Robert have lost her in Waterstones more than once.

The biggest cuddler, and the most likely to crawl into Aaron and Robert’s bed on a weekend morning.

A huge fan of beans on toast, and therefore prefers Aaron’s cooking to Robert’s.

Cannot do maths. Will never be able to get the hang of maths. Thinks maths is the stupidest thing ever invented.

Has just one or two friends at school and likes it that way.

Takes it upon herself to be the one to read Tasha’s bedtime story most nights.

Mike (6)

Mike was initially the most… difficult in terms of behaviour. He was too small to do much damage, but his first few weeks with them involved a fair bit of biting and scratching, and he got very easily wound up. Lots of tears and mood swings.

Aaron was so good with him. Robert was too, but from the beginning Aaron had a real knack for calming Mike down when he was distressed. It took several months to really get him settled (he tried to run away more than once – not that he got very far in their tiny village), but with a lot of patience and the right support, they figured it out in the end.

Now Mike is much calmer, and much happier. He still has his moments, but he never lashes out like violently like he used to. He gets some additional help from the school, and Aaron and Robert both have a lot of meetings with his teachers to check in on everything.

As mentioned in the original fic, he’s really not great with the dark. But they’ve managed to work their way from him needing the big light on at night, to his bedside lamp, down to a single nightlight, so he’s getting there.

Absolutely idolises Eddie, and tries to copy everything he does. Aaron and Robert are both praying this hero worship will transition from Eddie to Seb, just so they can have a slightly easier life.

Also adores their ginger tabby cat, Pumpkin (named by Seb when they got her one October). All the kids love her, but she and Mike have a Special Connection, and when he gets home from school, he will not rest until he’s tracked Pumpkin down, snuggled up with with her and told her all about his day. He finds her purrs very calming.

Loves a good LEGO model. Him and Robert will spend hours on them.

Karate-obsessed. He’s been into it every since his first lesson, but has to be told more than once that he is not to try out any moves on his foster siblings.

Will inevitably lose most things. Toys, gloves, crayons, homework, shoes (one time while he was wearing them – Aaron and Robert still can’t work that one out)… he simply cannot keep track of where anything is.

Hates reading and never picks up a book unless he has to for English homework. Lottie is scandalised by this. Scandalised. 

Natasha (Tasha) (4)

The baby of the group, and the youngest Aaron and Robert have ever fostered, which they were initially a little hesitant about. When they first brought her home just after she’d turned 3, she had very limited speech for a child her age. Even her crying was near-silent.

But with time, effort, and some speech therapy, she comes along leaps and bounds. Once she starts picking words up from her foster parents (as well as the nonstop chatter from the other kids), she doesn’t stop, it’s amazing how fast she gets the hang of it. Now it’s a miracle if they can get her to stop talking.

A very big fan of Postman Pat.

Will do almost anything for a chocolate biscuit.

Steals Aaron’s hoodies and uses them as blankets.

Has the biggest eyes anyone has ever seen, and her foster parents are dreading the day she works out that this helps her get away with stuff.

Can usually be seen wearing fairy wings.

Likes to sit on the floor and watch the washing machine when it’s on.

[ofstarsandvibranium]

My Best Friend’s Dad

Fandom: Marvel (CEO AU)

Pairing: Chubby!Bucky x Reader

As requested by anonymous:  chubby!bucky but as your friends (divorced) dad ;)  

Warning: age gap (reader is over 18), smut

You always got excited when you were able to go to your best friend, Stephanie’s, house. She had been by your side when you moved to a new school in Freshman year of high school. Now you two were seniors in college and you couldn’t believe how time has passed. 

But anyway...

You were excited to go to Steph’s place for many reasons. 1) her place was pretty swanky, 2) her pool was amazing, 3) her dad was a total dilf. 

Stephanie Rebecca Barnes was the daughter of James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes, the CEO of Winter Corp, a company that designs high tech prosthetics. When you first met Mr. Barnes, or Bucky as he allowed you to call him, you always thought he was easy on the eyes. His face was gorgeous, his eyes were enchanting, his lips were oh so kissable, and, even with the little bit of chub he got goin’ on he was just down right attractive. 

As time passed and you got older, your small attraction towards Bucky grew into a big attraction. You couldn’t stop it no matter how hard you tried. This was your best friend’s dad for cryin’ out loud! And yet you just wanted to jump his bones!

And you think the time would be comin’ up to do just that.

There was a graduation pool party being held at the Barnes household for Steph. So, wearing your best swimsuit, a sheer kimono hanging off your body, you waltzed out to the pool area where you knew Bucky was, manning the grill before all of Steph’s friends and family come by.

“Need any help, Bucky?” you stood to his side.

“Nah, I got it, Y/N, thanks tho-” he turns his head towards you and immediately drops the plate of cooked hot dogs.

You giggled, “Clumsy, are we?” you turned around, practically pressing your backside up against him as you bent down, picking each hot dog up and setting them onto the plate. 

You stood up with a smirk, turning to face Bucky again, “I’ll put these in Alpine’s bowl. That husky will sure love these treats.”

Bucky visibly gulped as he struggled to keep his eyes on you instead of your chest or body, “Y-Yeah. You-You go do that.”

You nodded, “Just let me know if you need help with anything, Bucky,” you set a hand on his shoulder and leaned in, “And I mean anything.” you then walked, no, more like sauntered away, mentally high fiving yourself for that seduction show. 

Once you were out of ear shot, Bucky grumbled, “Ah fuck me,” and adjusted himself in his jeans.

______________________

You were really torturing Bucky and he hated it...but he also loved it. Every time he caught your eye, you’d bite your lip and give him a wink. And immediate groan building up in the depths of his throat, wanting to come out. God, did he just want to grab you and bend you over the nearest surface. But he couldn’t! You were his daughter’s best friend for fuck’s sake! But you were tempting him and a man could only take so much...

The party came and went. It was a blast and Bucky felt so proud of his not so little girl. She’s come so far in life and he has no doubt she’ll go even farther. 

“Thanks so much for this, dad,” Steph hugged her father tight while they cleaned up from the party.

Bucky chuckled and squeezed his girl tight, “You’re welcome, Steph. I’m so proud of you, you know that right?”

She pulled away with a snort, “Yeah. You keep reminding me that like every ten minutes!”

He simply shrugged, “’Cause it’s true!”

“Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, Y/N’s gonna sleep over tonight. That’s okay, right?”

Bucky glanced over Steph’s shoulders to see you looking at him. You waved at him and shot him a wink. He looked back at his daughter, “Y-Yeah. She’s always welcome.”

“Cool! I’m gonna go clean up the kitchen. Y/N said she can help you out here.” with that said, Steph walked back inside the house and went to work on getting rid of all the red cups and empty paper plates.

Bucky watched as you checked if the coast was clear and you sauntered over to Bucky like you did earlier. Your hair was still damp from the pool droplets cascading down your low v-neck t-shirt.

“So...thought about anything I could help you with?” your fingers grazed his rounded stomach, causing him to shiver.

“Y-You shouldn’t be behaving this way, Y/N. I’m Steph’s father and-”

“And I know how you’ve been looking at me these past couple of years. You want me, Bucky. I know you do. And I want you too. Shit, do you know how often I touch myself thinking about you fuckin’ me?” Bucky moaned and you smirked, continuing, “Do you know how often, I finger myself, imagining it was your cock? Filling me up? Making me want to scream your name, but for you to only tell me to be quiet? ‘Cause we don’t want Steph to hear?”

Bucky could feel himself getting hard all over again, “Dammit, Y/N-”

You wrapped your arms around Bucky’s neck, “Why keep fighting it? Why don’t we just give in already, huh? It’ll be so good,” you lean in, lips hovering over Bucky’s. You feel his hands rest on your hips, digging his fingers into your skin.

He licks his lips and his eyes dart towards the house. Steph is still nowhere in sight, “Alright, babygirl. Once Steph’s fast asleep. You bring your pretty lil’ ass to my room. I’ll give you the fuckin’ you want.”

You can’t help but grin wide as you say, “Can’t wait,” and pull yourself away from Bucky, going to finish cleaning up the backyard.

_______________________________

As soon as you heard the soft snores coming from Stephanie, you immediately slid out from her bed and quietly made your way out of her room and down the hall to Bucky’s. You didn’t even knock. You simply pushed the door open and slid inside. 

You instantly felt a wetness grow within you when you saw Bucky sitting up against his headboard wearing nothing but his boxers. 

“She’s asleep?”

You nodded, “Snoring and everything.”

“Good. Come here.” he moves his finger in a ‘come hither’ motion and you find yourself slowly walking towards his bed. You stop at the foot of it, hesitantly crawling onto the mattress and sitting on your heels staring at him, “Closer, baby girl.”

You crawl closer to him, sitting back on your heels once more when you’re just centimeters apart from him. He takes your wrist and growls, “Closer,” and he pulls you onto his lap, “You were so forward earlier, doll face,” his hand gently strokes your cheek, “Do you still wanna do this?”

You nodded, “Fuck, yes. Just..nervous.”

“You had sex before?”

“A few times. Wasn’t great.”

“‘Cause all of them were boys. You haven’t had a real man pound ya, huh? Haven’t had a real man get you begging and crying for his cum? Ain’t that right, princess? Is that what you want, a real man to fuck ya nice and hard?”

You whimpered, “Please, Bucky, I want you so bad,” you rock yourself onto his clothed crotch, moaning and whimpering for him.

“I’ll show you how a real man fucks, sweetheart,” he grunts as he rolls you over onto your back. He pulls your panties down your legs and tosses them onto the floor. You then pull your sleep shirt over your head, allowing the garment to fall off the bed, “God, I knew you were beautiful, but, shit, baby, you’re a fucking goddess.” Bucky’s hands reach for your breasts, kneading them, and tweaking at your hardened nipples. 

“No teasing, Bucky, please.”

“Payback for earlier, sweet cheeks.” Bucky then discards his own underpants, kneeling naked in-between your legs. He takes hold of his cock, teasing your clit with his tip, “You know how bad I wanted to take ya in front of everyone? Just bend you over and make you mine?”

“Bucky, please!” you whined again.

He then reached over to his bedside table, grabbing a condom from the drawer, “Safety first,” he chuckled as he rolled the rubber onto his cock, “Now, you ready for me, sweetheart?”

Your legs hooked around him, pulling him closer, “Fuck me, James.”

Bucky growled as he thrust into you with ease, “Gah fuck! You feel better than I imagined!” he didn’t start off slow at all, he’s been wanting this for so long. Fuck taking your time! He wants to pound your pussy into the mattress until you’re screaming his name!

“Shit! You feel so good!” you cry out, which then resulted with a hand slapping onto your mouth.

“Quiet, princess. Don’t want Steph walking in to see me fucking her best friend. You gonna be quiet like a good girl?” you nod and he removes his hand, “Good. Now play with yourself while I fuck you.”

One hand cupped your breast while the other rubbed circles along your clit. You kept your moans to a quiet whimper, occasionally gasping out a curse or Bucky’s name. And Bucky? He was having the time of his life. 

Bucky Barnes, successful CEO, fucking his daughter’s best friend. Goddamn, press would have a field day if they knew about this. 

The pristine and expensive mattress underneath you squeaked with every hard thrust from Bucky, the wooden headboard groaned as Bucky’s grip tightened 

“You’re so fucking perfect, Y/N. Damn, princess, been wanting you for years now.”

“Been wanting you to fuck me for so long, Bucky. Always touched myself thinking of you.”

He chuckled, “Naughty girl. Huh? Does this match your fantasies?”

“So much better,” you groaned as you felt the coil in your stomach tighten, “Fuck, I’m close.”

“Hold it for me, princess. I’m almost there. Almost there, baby. Shit.” he grunted, feeling his balls tighten as he as he grew closer to his climax. A hand grabbed your free breast, gripping it tight, “You like an older man fucking you, sweetheart, huh? You like me showing you how it’s done?” he leaned down, pressing his lips in a hard kiss, “’M gonna ruin you for anyone else, baby girl. You’ll never find anyone who can fuck you as good as I do.”

God, the mouth on this man was just so down right sinful, “Please, Bucky, ruin me for anyone else! Make me yours!”

Bucky pulls your bottom lip with his teeth, then swiping it with his tongue, “You’re mine now, Y/N. No one else’s. You’re fucking mine!” his thrusts grew harder, faster, and deeper now. The loud sound of skin slapping against skin filled the room, couple with Bucky’s grunts and your whimper. 

“Fuck, fuck! Cum for me, princess! Gonna cum, ah fuck!” he cries out as your walls squeeze him tight. 

You grab onto his arms, bracing yourself as a huge wave of pleasure washes over you, making you see stars. You honestly didn’t even know what was happening. You vaguely hear the muffled cries of Bucky and then something splashing onto your stomach. Moments later, you bounce on the bed.

You slowly turn your head to see Bucky laying beside you, chest rising and falling in a fast pace as he tries to catch his breath. Beads of sweat decorates his face, to which he wipes off with the back of his hand. He then turns to you, a smirk on his lips, “You good, Y/N?”

You blink at him for a moment, collecting your thoughts as to what just happened...you just got thoroughly fucked by Bucky, your best friend’s dad just fucked you into oblivion.

“Holy shit,” was all you could say, which made Bucky laugh.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he pulled you closer to him, wrapping an arm around you, and making you rest your head on his chest, “You were amazing, kid.”

You snorted as your fingers began to graze shapes along his rounded stomach, “Yeah?”

“Yeah, been wanting to do that since for a while now.”

You anxiously look up at him, “Was this...a one time thing?”

He shrugged, “It don’t gotta be, but if it continues, we gotta be careful. Steph would have both our heads if she found out.”

A smile begins to form on your lips, “So...we’re really doing this?”

He smirks back at you, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, “Oh, we’re doing this, baby girl,” before pulling you onto him, making you straddle his lap, “Now, how about I taste that pretty pussy of yours, hm?”

[tabby-shieldmaiden]

Another one for Friday Night Fights! The challenge hosted by @promptsforthestrugglingauthor . This one is a little weird, and admittedly was both inspired by me binging Girl Defined response videos, as well as my experiences at Church. It’s also written in second person, with the viewpoint character being a ‘nice church girl’. So, just a heads up.

Be a nice church girl. 

You wake up Sunday morning, early enough to watch the beautiful sunrise that God had painted across the sky. Cheerfully, you get out of bed. You didn’t even have to set an alarm clock, because getting up at dawn on Sunday is just a habit to you. Of course it doesn’t bother you at all. You plan out your entire week around the couple of hours you spend in Church. Obviously you’d have slept early the previous evening. It is for your Father in Heaven after all.

You brush your pearly white teeth, carefully scrubbing over each one. They were white and shiny teeth. Of course they had to be. In Church, you could only be seen smiling. And no other expression could really be sufficient there. Before God, you simply had to present your best self, and what better way is there to exist in? Happy, cheerful, a delight. You simply were overjoyed to be there.

Your hair and makeup done. Perfected. Just feminine enough to be perceived as a perfectly charming woman. But not too flamboyant to the point where you would stick out. You pick out your outfit next. A simple dress. Floral patterned. A matching baby pink cardigan. White ballet flats of a fairly modest design. Nothing too sparkly, nothing too flashy. Just something simple but feminine. After all, it’s not like you go to Church to draw attention to yourself. All of this is to simply honour God. This was what everyone in Church wore, because it was modest, but presentable. And most importantly, no one would stick out. No one would individuate.

From your dresser, you reach for a simple gold chain. Then a simple set of earrings. They were fake pearls, which did make you a little upset. Because you knew a number of the other girls in Church had real pearl earrings and you knew you couldn’t exactly afford them. You prayed that God would help you with your sin of envy. After all, at the very least you did have those fake pearl earrings. Cheap-looking and uncomfortable as they are. You sometimes wished that you didn’t need to wear them. But alas, the look simply wouldn’t be complete without it.

You subconsciously catch yourself chewing your nail, but once you caught yourself you stopped. It was a bad habit. You knew. And after all that work you put into painting your nails, taking care of them, you really wanted to keep them in good condition. Just like how every other woman in Church had nice nails. They all sported evenly painted, unchipped nails. Your hands still shook every time you painted them.

People commented on your nail biting. How it was unhygienic, unsanitary, gross. You knew they just wanted what was best for you. It wasn’t like they were unconcerned. And anyways, they did have a point, didn’t they? Nail polish smelled horrible, but you soldiered through it to apply it on anyways. Maybe someday, you’ll get good enough at nail polish, so that when you see your nails, you would not feel the need to chew them.

You eat breakfast, and when you do you don’t drink coffee. Who really needs sustenance like that? All you really needed in life was the energy which God provides you with. Every day, you can just sleep your planned eight hours, no problem. God provides you with the discipline to stick to your daily schedule. This was no problem. Nothing was impossible for God.

Hail a cab to Church. Quickly, you made it. Everyone there is smiling, dressed in their Sunday best. 

The men looked handsome and dashing in their suits and ties. The women looked beautiful and charming in their modest skirts and dresses. Everyone grins at you when you arrive. You talk about current events. Your families and your jobs; their children, nephews, nieces; sports; the weather; any gossip about other members of the congregation. All very engaging topics which you never used to be particularly interested in, but have found to be absolutely fascinating to talk about. The gossip especially, was a bad habit. But well, we all do fall short of the glory of God. He would surely forgive you.

You found it difficult to differentiate the people around you. You walked up to someone in an orange dress with shoulder length wavy hair, expecting it to be your friend Clara. Instead, it was Elizabeth. You walked up to a tall man with neatly gelled hair and a red tie, and you thought that he was Michael. But it was actually Joseph. It was a little embarrassing. But they were all good sports about it. That was something difficult you frequently had to deal with. Especially in Church. Navigating everyone, because for some odd reason you often had trouble differentiating the people around you. 

Well, some people were easier to differentiate than others. Case in point...

In the corner, reading a book with a smiling dragon on the cover, sat a young girl in a baggy hoodie and a pair of ragged jeans. Her earphones were firmly plugged into her ears. She was listening to music. No one was talking to her, and she didn’t seem particularly bothered by that.

You could only sigh when you saw her. She had been like that for a long time. There had probably been a time when she was a cheerful, sociable child. But now all she did was hang back and keep to herself, which would not do at all. God had commanded us all to be a friend. So you figured you really ought to go over and talk to her. You think you remember her name - Rebecca, if you’re not wrong - so you head over to her, a wide, pearly white grin on your face.

“Hi, Rebecca,” you say. Your voice chipper and loud enough so that she may hear you over her music. It worked to get her attention. She looked up from her book, and pulled out her headphones. You smile. That’s at least some progress. She’s paying attention to the world around her now. 

“Hi,” she said. She closes her book, but places a finger on the page where she left off. She shot you a fairly neutral expression. Neither a smile nor a frown could be seen on her face. Her lips were instead a perfectly straight line. Behind her glasses, her eyes just looked puzzled at why you were there.

You continued smiling. She smiled back, but only by slightly turning the corners of her mouth up. That was another step in the right direction! Smiling was good! Especially smiling in the house of God! Surely, no one had any real reason as to why that was supposed to be a bad thing. You slide beside her, sit next to her at the pew, and continue talking. “So, how have you been lately?”

“Okay,” she said. And then nothing else. Not a ‘how about you?’ or any other elaboration beyond that. That was upsetting. You remember a time back in your past when you were like that. But you soon learned the proper way to talk, hold a conversation. Thanks to all the people who taught you how to talk correctly. Soon, maybe Rebecca would catch on too.

You figured that, at least for now, maybe it would be a good idea to talk to Rebecca about something she was interested in. “What book are you reading?” You ask. It had a dragon on it, so it was probably a fantasy novel of some sort. Most likely a book she has owned for quite a while, since the spine was cracked and the pages were all dog-eared. 

You were never all that into fantasy. When you were younger, you very much preferred science fiction. And though you frequently found yourself yearning at the new science fiction books on display at the bookstore, you knew you shouldn't get too caught up in reading them. Years ago, you used to stay up late reading all those books. Way past midnight. You wouldn’t even crack open your Bible. But now, you’ve made a commitment towards going to bed on time and reading your Bible every day. And though admittedly, some parts of your personal Bible study made you bored, or made you conjure up some terrible questions (no doubt just Satan attempting to make you question your faith), you keep pushing on. Those science fiction novels may be alluring, but they surely aren’t nearly as great as the treasures which would await you in Heaven. 

Rebecca glanced at you, then showed you the back of the book. “It’s called ‘The Thief and The Knight’,” she said. Without any other comment.

You looked at the blurb at the back of the book, which read:

“What, no thank you? I went out of my way to help, you know, I didn’t have to.”

“You almost got me arrested!”

“But you didn’t, so there shouldn’t be a problem. Ungrateful!”

Tenia is a knight in training. Serious, clever, and an overall teacher’s pet, all the people in her life certainly had high hopes for her and her future. 

Kavlin is a mischievous young thief. With nothing but the clothes on his back and his trusty dragon, Gason, he lives every day barely getting by, stealing whatever he needs to live.

The two of them couldn’t have lived lives more different. But one day, when their paths met in a market, they soon found their fates entangled permanently. Now Tenia needs to make a choice. Follow her head and continue her knight training, or follow her heart and walk a new path with Kavlin? 

You sigh. This doesn’t sound like a particularly godly story. You recalled reading several similar stories like that when you were young, and it would always end with the obedient young woman leaving her neatly laid out life for some reckless, hedonistic man. That was definitely not how God intended for young women to live their lives. 

But maybe there’s a twist in this story. “Hm, that sounds interesting. Does she go back to studying hard to become a knight?” You ask. Smiling in as kind a way as you could. 

Rebecca shook her head, which was slightly disappointing for you. “She falls in love with him. They continue working together, she quits being a knight, and together they’re now thieves working to make the kingdom a much better, safer place for the poor.”

“But surely she could have done that while still being a knight? Without becoming a thief?” You ask. “The Bible says that we must use our gifts to help others in need. She could have done good for the poor using the gifts which made her such a promising knight, instead of going on to become a thief. There’s ways of helping others without disobeying the law.”

Rebecca looked at you, biting her lip. You hope that that’s a sign that she’s reconsidering reading something like that. God did say that we should be careful about what we read, and what we think about. If your words would convince her to stop reading something so immoral, that would only be a good thing. 

She took her book back, and held it close to her chest. You shot yet another smile at her, hoping that she understood that you were only concerned about her and the state of her spirit. Hopefully, she will get there soon. You remember how hard it had been to forgo your sci-fi novels. Even to this day, you still kind of miss them. But you could live without them. You could live only on the word of God alone, without any other book. That was something you had to remind yourself almost every day. But it was worth it. It had to be worth it, to be God’s faithful servant.

“At least consider it,” you say. “I’m only concerned for your spiritual well-being, and I wouldn’t want you to get the wrong ideas from the wrong places.” Rebecca still stared at you, her face still seemed fairly expressionless. But maybe, with some prayers, she’ll have her heart and mind changed.

You thought that you heard someone call you, and so you turned back around. “I’m sorry Rebecca,” you say. “I think I’m needed elsewhere now. So I’m going to have to go.” Such a shame. You were hoping to chat with her for a bit longer. Now what she’ll do is slip her headphones back on and bury her nose back into that book of hers. You should know. That was what you used to do back when you were her age.

You tried to recall. Why did you used to do that? Socialising with others in Church was such a pleasant thing. You loved to go every week, and listen to them talk about all the minor life updates that they have. Their new houses and cars. Their children winning participation trophies. Surely, those things were always far more interesting that any book one could bury their nose in. You try and think back, why did you like to read and hide away so much from the world. But you could not dwell on that question any further, because soon you ended up swept away by the crowd. Your train of thought halted. And you got sucked, like a whirlpool, into a sea of identical pearly white smiles and modest dresses.

[ofcloudsandstars]

Oh my god I am back from Glastonbury that place is the most unreal place on earth?? I can't believe a place like that is real. My week was so ridiculously magical with prophetic dreams, constant synchronicities, ghosts, nature and scenery out of a ghibli film or lord of the rings or literally little witch academia which seems to be based off of Glastonbury town. 

The whole town is unapologetically run by witches. Like, it’s just run by witches. Like the main street is nothing but crystal shops, local food markets, magic shops with the green man statues, pagan goddesses and cats sleeping in the windows with huge crystals and cauldrons. A witch I met there said it used to be wiccan decades ago then became very 'goddessy' but now the main vibe is very 'shamanic' and from that week there I felt what she meant cause I met a few crones that are like deep about that earth magic and were working with something ancient from deep in the roots of the earth. I went to a talk with Rebecca Shaman who is peruvian who worked with a shaman in Peru and felt tasked to share their story with the western world but they said something (well A LOT of things that are interesting) about how we are being called to work with the earth since our existence here is in crisis since people are destroying our living environment, so it makes sense that people sensitive to energy and magic are starting to work with the earth’s energy.

I feel like Glastonbury is the witch town that every witch I know that talks about living in a fantasy-like witch town in the country side and having their own cottage with chickens and cats or whatever is EXACTLY the town we wanted. Its a loving and open space, the center town is so magical with colorful store fronts selling the most amazing magical local items you could find, the nature and landmarks are FULL OF MAGIC energy, they have houses for rent that are super cottage-core that's like 400-900 pounds a month and they are usually 3 bedroom minimum. You could definitely have chickens on it and if you don't want to get your own cat it’s ok cause there is a cat in every corner and they were ALL SO LOVING AND FRIENDLY I got HEAD BUTTED FOR DAYS and CUDDLED and LOVED!! I have never been in a place where EVERY CAT was so loving and friendly. One literally jumped into my arms so I could hug it, my soul left my body.

I think the only downside is that in the warmer months Glastonbury gets flooded with the type of hippie people that walk barefoot everywhere in the town and have like dirty dreadlocks they find cool cause you know, Afro hair styles are 'exotic' and 'tribal' and ok to be represented as dirty since our afro locks are naturally dirty I guess, and they tend to lack self awareness on every level. There were some there but its nearly winter and too cold for their shenanigans so they had to be modest. The few there were were entertaining cause like their numbers were contained and they still were up to some shenanigans in the cold (when we were visiting the stones in Avebury, one had a didgeridoo and was like.. fucking didgeridoo-ing the stones.. alone.. in the cold..) the issue I find with this culture is just lack of accountability. Glastonbury in general feels like a very ungrounded place that’s separate from reality and I could definitely see people flocking to this fairy land to do shrooms and be nonstop high in the summer and not care about their impact on other people in their presence.  I think that was the most annoying feature of the town and a reason why I wouldn't move there unless I moved with my community here cause I wouldn't be content living in a community where people take advantage of the spiritual mentality that we need to be open and accepting of everyone no matter what cause BOY OH BOY do you see people taking advantage of that.

Anyway I am going to post my daily adventures and some pictures of me in Glastonbury! There was just A LOT so I am going to do it post by post.

[sleepylixie]

The Prince of Pearls 

Seawalker/Merman! Yang Jeongin

Word Count: 1.6k, Fantasy, Beware of suicide, mentions of depression I’m sorry you guys

A/N: THIS FIC DOES NOT REFLECT THE CHARACTER OR LIKENESS OF THE REAL YANG JEONGIN IN ANY FORM OR MANNER. ONTO THE FIC!! I love this for so particular reason, I really don’t know why, 

 ( @aliceu​ and @rebecca-noona​ welcome to the cult yet again. Today we’re serving Sex on the beach with a side of Fantasy Fries)

Requests are open for SKZ and BTS! || Masterlist

Every heard about a time when the lines between natural and supernatural were so blurred, they lived as one? Ever heard about a mortal loving the sea so much, he became one with it? Come, let me tell you the story of the Prince of Pearls.

The sea was an entity of dread to mortals, bringing fear in its unpredictability and terror of the unknown that lay within it. 

But for this village off the coast of what would become Busan, South Korea, the sea was nothing more than a god- given blessing for it brought them a bond other inlanders couldn’t even fathom-  

Merpeople. 

Not more than 80 years ago, the first Mermaid queen had reached out to the Busan chief, hoping to find themselves an agreement of mutual benefit. 

Despite strong disagreement, the chief agreed to the Queen’s behest, 

And it was evident, soon enough, that his decision had been for the best.

Her people were curious and benevolent, she claimed, if not slightly impish in nature- They were curious of their land counterparts and wished to observe them from as close of quarters as they’d allow-

They brought with them deep-sea treasures like the pearl and opal for the village to trade in return for their acceptance of her kind.

Busan thrived with their newly acquired trade of rare gems and medicinal weeds from the sea floor, and quickly warmed up to their newest neighbours. 

Soon enough, it was no oddity to see a band of children splashing and laughing at each other in the shallow waves with a trio of mer-children

It was commonplace to see the mothers sitting at the rocks at the edge of the beach, talking marketplace gossip with their underwater counterparts responding with their own equivalents. 

Busan grew well with the merpeople’s companionship, the village blossoming into a robust little trading town. 

\\

Yang Jeongin was the name of the current chief’s son, a young boy with a polite, if not a little shy disposition which was often mistaken for coldness. 

He wasn’t of the chief’s blood, for his wife was too weak to bear a child. He was picked up by his wife at an orphanage, being swept away by the baby with hair like ebony and a smile like nectar.

He wasn’t a child of many words, often choosing silence and smiles as much as he could.

That is, until he saw the ocean. 

The second the waves touched his toes, Jeongin seemed to evolve- no more was he the timid, reserved child his school friends knew him as.

He was a bright, vivacious little thing, unashamed in his loud laughter and witty in his responses, attracting every mer-child’s attention without a smidgen of hesitance. 

It was like he bloomed into his true self when he was in the ocean only to retreat into himself again on land, much to his parents’ exasperation.

“Your life is here, on land, Jeongin,” his mother would reprimand him every time he came back past midnight, tracking sand off his feet and pockets full of coral. “You give too much of yourself to the ocean.”

He would smile his shy smile again, complete with the shiny puppy eyes, and his mother would melt, yet again. 

And so grew Yang Jeongin, from a reserved child with an affinity for the ocean, to a young man with a love for it. 

He was never curious of his true parentage, for his adoptive parents had never made him feel less than their own son by blood- What was the need to look into history, when the present was as beautiful as this?

His hair was black as midnight, cut short so they hung slightly over his coral-brown eyes, brushing at high cheekbones. He stood tall and proud, like a chief’s son should, with swimmer’s shoulders and work-roughed palms. Despite his nature, he was loved by the village, an unconscious charmer who had eyes for nothing but the sea.

Jeongin had begun to spend as much time as he could in the underwater world, loving it all way too much to be able to stay away. 

He could stay underwater for long minutes, swim unnaturally fast with his human limbs, even understand the merpeople’s underwater tongue like it was his own.

There was no doubt, of course, that the merpeople loved the chief’s son. He was forthcoming with his questions, nimble with his trickery and brilliant with his words, all qualities that they treasured very greatly amongst their own people.

“Join the sea,” they’d mock him, laughing their bubbly laughs when Jeongin would frown for he knew he had responsibilities on land that he had no choice but to shoulder. “I wish, my friends.” He’d respond in their tongue, a wistful look in his eyes. 

But at least his underwater friends would always be there for him, no matter what-

but one day, they disappeared. 

One winter morning, Busan woke up to find the merpeople had retreated into the deep sea, far beyond measure.

Busan was lucky that their trading season was over and that they could tide away a few months without the precious cargo the merpeople used to bring for them

But what were they to do if they never returned?

The pressure of the decisions fell onto the chief’s family- who were facing an entirely different kind of dilemma altogether. 

Their son had fallen into a spiral of darkness after the merpeople left, retreating so deeply into himself that he was barely a shadow of his old self. 

It felt like something was missing inside Jeongin, even when he stood at the sea. It was a sickly, poisonous sensation that left him unable to even stand the sight of the ocean- a place he couldn’t stay away from not too long ago.

No amount of talking from his father or pleading from his mother could get him to leave his room- the windows closed, the bed turned away so he would not catch whiff or sight of the sea and it’s breeze.

The healer came up with nothing that could allude to his strange behavior; his body was entirely fine, she said. His mind, on the other hand....

If only they knew. 

If only they knew how he cried at the edge of the beach every night, where nobody would hear him, screaming and begging for the underwater race to come back, bring their ocean magic back with them

The water felt like a trap without their presence, a dark shroud falling over his senses that used to be open and clear even under water. 

Maybe that was why Jeongin gave up, one night. 

He couldn’t take the emptiness inside him anymore, he couldn’t take having to watch the very thing he loved so much tighten a noose around his head every time he so much as smelt it’s air 

So he gave himself to the sea, walking right into the water that felt so poisonous, allowing it to rise from his knees, to waist, chest, shoulders, nose, eyes....

and let go. 

It was a full moon that watched the boy with the midnight hair walk into the very water that gave him life, only to never come out again. 

//

When he felt water rush into his nose, Jeongin’s immediate reaction when he came around to consciousness was to panic and try to push his way to the surface until-

The water wasn’t constricting his lungs at all. The water didn’t feel suffocating, like it did for all those months before.

Right in front of him floated the same people who he’d cried for, all those nights when he felt hopeless and lost in the land. 

“I am sorry you had to live that way, young one.”

The oldest spoke, his merman tongue unfamiliar with his language. 

“Where am I,” he breathed out, finally allowing his eyes to rove over his surroundings- his extremely clear, unblurred vision. 

That was when he looked down at himself- and nearly blacked out in shock when he saw not two legs, but one tail. A strong streamlined tail with shimmering bronze dorsal fins, obsidian scales rippling throughout the length of it. 

“Welcome to Atlantis.”

//

He took to life underwater better than he could have ever imagined. 

Word went out about the newly arrived merman, formerly of human nature but unforgiving in his love for the sea, much like the rest of them. They accepted him graciously, offering him room and tutelage with his true-blooded peers.

He learnt about how merpeople were formed- first by divine intervention, then procreation and rarely, like in his case, when a mortal with a great love for the sea gave his life away to it. 

What Jeongin never understood, however, was why the merpeople that had resided in the waters next to his town decided to leave so suddenly.

When asked, he was told that the merpeople royal court had decided against further interaction with the humans with no explanation at all.

It was sad, he was told.The mer people loved the companionship of their land counterparts, and it pained them to leave the little town that had quenched their curiosities and accepted them without question.

He thought long and hard, over his tutelage, about what the relationship between the merpeople and his human ancestry could bring to the both of them- and then it struck him.

As a human child turned merperson, he could be the perfect conduit between both the worlds- a seawalker who could broker a peace with the landwalkers.

He threw himself into his studies with new vigour, for it felt like he had found a new purpose in life. 

Jeongin rose through the ranks with just the lure of his voice-

For it was easy to accept his words, especially when they were paired with his easy charm, simple smiles and fox-like cunning now veiled behind new sapphire-blue locks.

His new home wondered about him, 

“Is it true that he’s part siren??”

“His land family wasn’t his blood family, what’s to say he truly has our blood in him after all?

Atlantis took to calling him the Prince of Pearls, a fond nickname for the newest addition to their large family who had ideas bigger than them all, a heart filled with compassion and beliefs clad in iron and adamant.

Everybody knows about the seawalker from Atlantis, all midnight hair and trickster allure, the tale of a mortal from the wrong side of the sea now a voice of reason for everything he had learned to believe.

[i-write-fanfics-to-procrastinate]

How about Weicca + “I’ve got you.”? Adore your stories!

Thank you! *sob* I had a lot of fun writing this one. I went back and forth on whether or not to do angsty or fluffy and my heart landed on fluff because I had such a good idea!

Anyways! I hope you like it! :)

“I’ve got you.” Weicca

          “Can you believe this?!” Rebecca laughed, throwing her arms up and spinning around once. The alpine meadow they were standing in was gorgeous. She could hardly believe she had picked just the right place and time to drop down. “We have this whole little planet to ourselves.” She caught Weisz watching her, leaning against one of the old trees, shaking his head with a smile.

          “I can’t believe you dragged me out of bed to come look at flowers.”

          “Not just the flowers, Weisz!” Rebecca gasped, gesturing to the scene before them. “The mountains! The hills! The trees! The lake!” She glanced down at the lake below them. The water looked cool and refreshing in the summer heat. “This planet is uninhabited. Everyone else on Edens Zero is fast asleep. We can do whatever we want.”

          He didn’t look convinced. But Rebecca reached down and grabbed his hand, entwining her fingers with his. “Come on!” And without looking back she dragged him down the hill, through fields of wildflowers, “Let's go check out this lake!”

          “I should be fast asleep right now, Princess,” Weisz huffed, stumbling after her.

          “No, you should be excited about this adventure!” She turned to smile at him over her shoulder. His hair was still a mess from sleeping. He had pulled off his hoodie earlier and was holding it in his free arm, his t-shirt clinging to his broad shoulders as they ran down the hill. Just as they reached the beautiful body of water Weisz slowed, and then came to a halt, pulling Rebecca to a stop. Before them the lake looked so refreshing in the heat—it started out shallow for only a foot and then seemed to drop off into deep blue depth. Rebecca frowned, turning to glance over at Weisz. “What’s wrong?” Her heart was pounding in her chest, either from the short bursting run, or the way his hand felt perfect in her own. Weisz had a serious expression on his face, his brows furrowed.

          “Why did you choose to bring me?”

          “What do you mean?” Rebecca whispered. She felt her face flush. It was obvious neither of them had any intention of dropping the other’s hand. And he was standing so close…

          “I mean, you could have woken everyone, or someone else. You could have waited till morning and we could have all gone together. So… why did you want to come now? With me?”

          Now her face was really hot. She had no reasonable explanation. Except that she had wanted to spend time with him—wanted to be alone with him. Because every time they were together she felt breathless. She bit her lip, and then stammered out an explanation that was true, just maybe not the whole truth: “I… I wanted to spend time with you.”

          Weisz’s cheeks flushed. “Why not Shiki?”

          Why does he have to be questioning this? Does he know that I feel something for him…? “I… I don’t know.” She whispered. What was it about Weisz? The way he made her heart pound, her whole body feel hot all over… The way he excited her. Shiki hadn’t been able to do that, as much as he was a close friend. Rebecca bent down, plucked a wildflower from the field and slipped it behind his ear. “Does it matter?” His cheeks were hot, and for one moment she glanced at his lips, letting herself live in a fantasy before she let go of his hand. She took a step back, shaking her head, Maybe this was never meant to be. But as she took a second step back she rolled her ankle over a rock, stumbling backward, flailing her arms. Before she could fall back into the lake, Weisz caught her by her waist, both of them leaning over the water precariously.

          “It’s okay,” he huffed, offering her a smirk. “I’ve got you.” And she couldn’t handle it anymore. Maybe it was the way his hair was a mess—with that little wildflower still tucked behind his ear—or maybe it was the way his smile always drove her crazy. But it was the last straw. She grabbed him by his collar and yanked him into a kiss—causing both of them to lose their balance and stumble backward into the lake. The water was freezing and dark, engulfing both of them. When Rebecca surfaced, she gasped for air. Cold! In the Summer heat, she hadn’t expected that. Weisz surfaced beside her, spluttering.

          “G-god! Rebecca, are you okay?!” She turned to face him, a grin on her lips, but it quickly vanished when she saw the concern in his eyes.

          “I’m fine, soft-man,” she said, taking a step towards him in the deep water. Her hair was plastered to her neck, she was already starting to shiver. And they both seemed to remember at the same time. I kissed him.

          “Is that why you got me up in the middle of the night?” Weisz whispered, clutching his soaking wet hoodie with both hands.          

          “It’s not like I planned that!” She said, crossing his arms. “It was an accident!”

          “You kissed me on accident?” Weisz smirked.

          I kissed him. She felt her cheeks flush, despite her shivers. “The truth is…” her teeth were chattering. “The truth is… Every time I’m with you it’s like I can’t breathe… It’s like… my heart won’t stop pounding, and… The truth is you drive me crazy, Weisz!” She gasped. Weisz stared at her, and then reached out one hand to brush wet strands of hair away from her face. His t-shirt was soaked through, clinging to his skin, his eyes softened, and his smile grew warmer—more genuine.  

          “The truth is…” he murmured, leaning close, brushing his fingertips across her jaw. “You drive me crazy too, Princess.” Then he kissed her, softer… deeper… Rebecca swung an arm around his shoulder, pulling him closer until their bodies were tight against each other. The cold disappeared under his touch, even the beautiful scenery around them seemed trivial compared to all the emotion welling up within her. Every thought, every feeling she had about him—he felt the same way? It seemed unimaginable. And yet, here he was, gripping her waist—tongue tracing across her bottom lip… here was in her arms, just as she had always daydreamed.

          She shivered under his touch, and he pulled away, breathing hard. “We should get back into the sun,” he whispered, “Warm up. You’ll get sick if we don’t.”

          Rebecca nodded, “Good idea.” And then she reached down to pluck the wildflower from where it was floating in the lake and slipped it back behind his ear.

Thanks for reading!

Buy me a coffee? :)

[ittybittywordsmith]

all truths that are kept silent become poisonous

A brief history of the romance between Rebecca Webber and Gilbert Prewett, 1982-1988

November 12th, 1982

The first time Gilbert Prewett knew himself to be a coward was on the day that he decided not to tell his fiancée that he was a wizard.

He'd had every intention of doing so, in all fairness. The past two years had been tricky, dating Rebecca Webber and deciding he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Becca was a no-maj – but she had hair the very same color as burning coals and her eyes were the same hazel as tree moss and her smile was brighter than the sun. Gil loved her with all his heart, and when he asked her to marry him, Becca had only teased about how long it had taken him to ask. Gil had been thrilled – but he hadn't yet told her all of his secrets. He would, though. He didn't want anything to come between himself and his future wife, so he made plans to take Becca out to a picnic, and not only tell her about magic, but show her what it could do.

Gil laid out a picnic blanket on a grassy hill beneath the bare skeleton of an old oak tree that had long since lost its leaves to the winter chill. It didn't look like much, but he rather hoped the tree would be the catalyst for a nifty bit of magic he would perform later. He wanted to coax the tree into new growth, to shade them under a canopy of green leaves. Of course, the leaves would wither and die as soon as he ceased the spell, without magic to sustain them – but in the moment, at least, it would be a beautiful demonstration of what magic was capable of.

“Well, this seems like an odd place for a picnic.” 

Gil heard the smile in her voice before he saw it, and turned around to answer it with one of his own. “It serves its purpose, trust me,” he said with a laugh. Becca approached with a playfully skeptical look in her eye as she took in their surroundings. For a moment, Gil feared she would call off the whole thing and he'd have to come up with some kind of alternative plan, but eventually she shrugged. “Then, in that case, I look forward to being impressed,” she replied, greeting him with a warm kiss. Gil returned it enthusiastically, and thought reassuringly to himself, as she took a seat and began to divvy the food in the basket he had brought, that she would be impressed, one way or another.

They had spent almost an hour eating and chatting about other things before Gil found the courage to get to the reason they had come here. “Becca, sweetheart,” he started, as nonchalant as he could be while he nervously fingered the wand hidden in his coat pocket. “I was wondering . . . what do you think about magic?”

Becca blinked, and looked at him with a mixture of surprise and confusion. “Magic?” she echoed, like she didn't understand the word. “Like . . . pull a rabbit out of a hat, pick a card magician kind of magic, or like . . . sacrificing bunnies in a graveyard under a full moon, cackling over a bubbling cauldron witchy sort of magic?”

Gil frowned. He was sure she had meant it as a joke, but he didn't really like the dichotomy she had laid out. “Uh . . . well, neither, but closer to the second, I guess.”

Becca looked at him strangely, like she hadn’t expected a serious answer. “I . . . I don't know. I mean, I guess I never really thought about it,” she said as she laid back on the blanket, propping herself up on her elbows. She looked out at the view the hill provided. “It seems kind of silly, I suppose. Like those warty witches on Halloween decorations. Or from the Wizard of Oz.” She gave a laugh at the thought. “God, could you imagine? ‘I'll get you my pretty, eh he he he!’” Becca gave her best wicked witch cackle impression and wiggled her fingers towards her fiancé in an imitation of claws.

They both laughed, and Gil felt a bubble of confidence within him as he wrapped his fingers around his wand. “What, you don't think it might be cool if magic was real?” he asked teasingly, feeling like he already knew the answer.

He didn't already know the answer.

“Oh god no, that would be terrible,” Becca replied lightly, still laughing. 

The bubble of confidence inside Gil popped, and suddenly things didn't seem so funny anymore. “W-what?”

Becca didn't seem to notice the way he deflated. “It would be awful if magic were real, don't you think?” she said, like she was talking about a topping she didn't want on her pizza. “Like . . . make-believe is all well and good, but there's a reason the witches are always evil, you know? It's just – it's just unnatural. People are already terrible enough without magical powers – imagine how much worse it would be with them. And when something went wrong, I'd always wonder whether it was a hex or a curse or something. It'd drive me mad.” She shook her head as she thought about it. “No, I'll take my fantasy and my reality separately, thank you.”

Gil could feel a spot in his chest freezing over. He let go of the wand in his pocket and withdrew his hand, feeling suddenly ill. Becca looked at him with concern. “Are you alright, sweetheart?” Gil nodded. “Just – just a stomach ache, that's all.”

“Oh. We can leave, if you'd like? It's getting a little chilly anyways. Unless you still had something you wanted to show me.” She said the last bit with a teasing sort of expectation, like she was still waiting to be impressed, but Gil just shook his head and made up an excuse. He said weakly, “No, dear, I just . . . like the view from up here, that was all.” 

He should have told her, Gilbert knew. He felt the burden of his own cowardice even as they packed up the picnic and left for home. She might have understood, if he had told her then. At the very least, Becca deserved to know what kind of person she was marrying – but deep in his gut, Gil knew he wouldn't say anything. He loved Becca, and the idea of scaring her away – well, he just couldn't do it. So he didn't. And didn't, and didn't, for a very long time.

December 21st, 1985

The second time Gilbert Prewett knew himself to be a coward was on the day that his daughter first showed signs of having magic. 

He and Becca hadn't really been planning on children, at least not so soon after their marriage, but still they had been delighted when they found out Becca was pregnant. They wound up with a little girl – she had hair the very same color as phoenix fire and her eyes were the same blue as forget me not flowers and her smile rivaled even her mother’s. They named her Sawyer, after Gil’s favorite (no-maj) novel, and because Becca swore up and down that she could tell from the womb that their daughter was going to be a little troublemaker.

Gil wasn't sure he believed that – even early on, Sawyer had been an extremely easy baby, hardly prone to crying at all and quick to laugh. For a while, they were all very happy, father and mother and baby, all well-loved under the same roof, and entirely ignorant to the delicate foundation of their lives.

That foundation cracked a little after Sawyer’s first birthday.

Gil had always known there had been a chance that his daughter would inherit his magic – but he hadn't used magic at all since he'd gotten married, and wasn’t there also the chance that Sawyer would take after her mother? Gil choose to believe that the latter had come true, as if wanting it bad enough would make it a reality. Because if magic never manifested itself in his daughter, he would never have to tell Becca about the entire world he was hiding from her. They could have the simple, happy future he wanted for his family.

But of course, it didn't work like that. The Prewett line had been producing exceptional witches and wizards for generations, and Sawyer had magic flowing through her blood.

The first time her magic showed itself was just before Sawyer’s second Christmas. Gil and Becca sat on the floor that evening, their excited baby waddling back and forth between them as they called to her, and they laughed and caught her in their arms when she approached. The Prewett house was bedecked in holiday decorations, and the lights of the Christmas tree glowed merrily behind them. Gil had just stuck a large gift bow on his nose, and Sawyer squealed with delighted laughter as he blew raspberries onto her stomach. His fingers found her sides, and he tickled her mercilessly as her squeals grew louder, and – and then the lights flickered.

No, not flickered, not quite. The lights grew brighter, the louder the little girl laughed – all of the lights, from the lamps plugged into the wall to the colorful bulbs on the tree to the overhead lights in the ceiling. Everything grew painfully bright – and when Gil noticed, he ceased his tickling at once. The lights went out altogether as Sawyer’s laughter abated.

Becca looked around in the dark, confused. She didn't recognize the show of magic for what it was, not like her husband did. “Maybe it's just an outage from the weather,” she said uncertainly – and indeed, it was raining outside, although nowhere near hard enough to knock out the power. “Perhaps we should check the breaker or something?”

Gil didn't get the chance to answer one way or another. Sawyer gave a sudden, sharp sneeze, and all of the lights flickered back on.

His heart sank into his stomach. The first anomaly might have been some freak happenstance. Unlikely, but a man could hope. This, though . . . this couldn't be dismissed as easily.

Becca was still frowning, looking around as if something might explain their sudden electrical issues. “That was . . . weird,” she said, and Gil tried not to let his nerves show on his face. Becca shook her head uneasily and reached for her baby, calling for her to come to momma. Sawyer pushed herself clumsily to her feet and went to toddle towards her, but only made it a step or two before she fell, smacking her chin smartly on the floor. Gil knew what was going to happen seconds before it came to pass, and snatched Sawyer back into his arms.

Too late. The baby scrunched up her face and wailed, and the lights on the Christmas tree all exploded at once.

Gil shielded Sawyer from the shards with his body. The shards weren't exceedingly dangerous, really, but they certainly were sharp enough to cut. And indeed, when Gil looked up, he saw that one had managed to catch Becca on the side of the cheek before she covered her face, drawing a line of blood. But Becca paid it no mind. She only stared at her husband, and her baby in his arms. “W-what –”

Sawyer had calmed down quickly, with Gil bouncing her absentmindedly on his knee, but for all that she was calm, Gil felt panicked. Hastily, he blurted out the first excuse he could think of. “Faulty bulbs,” he said, trying not to sound as frantic as he felt. “Manufacturer’s error, must be. Those bastards, selling their products without notifying us of a risk like this. Don't worry, dear, I'll call first thing on Monday and give them a piece of my mind, and then I'll get some better lights. It'll all be okay.”

He had gotten up as he rambled, and put Sawyer down in her playpen, before going to help his wife to her feet. He wet his thumb and brushed away the blood beading on her cheek – it really was only a tiny cut – and then pressed a sweet kiss to her lips. “Why don't you go to bed, love? It's been a long day. I'll clean up here and bring you a cup of tea.”

Becca still looked dazed and confused, but she nodded after a moment. What else could she do? What other explanation could there be, besides that she was overly tired and imagining things? She pulled her robe tighter around her and walked toward the bedroom, only hesitating for a moment in the doorway to look back at her husband. Gil only gave his best encouraging smile and shooed her on, and when she was finally gone, he sighed and lifted Sawyer out of her playpen. She didn't seem to notice anything was wrong – she only beamed at him and reached for his glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. Her father pressed a kiss to her cheek and carried her with him as he went to go make a cup of tea, trying hard to ignore his own sense of foreboding.

He could have told her then, Gilbert knew. Becca would have been angry, but she might have tried to understand, at least for the sake of their daughter. But at this point he was too far into the lie to backtrack now, weighed down by his own shame and cowardice as he was. As a general rule, Gil had never been good at facing conflict – and the thought of Becca’s fury and sense of betrayal was too grand a conflict for him to even dare to approach. So he didn't. And didn't, and didn't, for a very long time.

July 8th, 1988

The third time Gilbert knew himself to be a coward was on the day that Becca finally found out.

Nearly three years, he made excuses. Nearly three years, he explained away the odd things that his daughter could do. Nearly three years, he dismissed the things that Becca insisted she saw as imagination, or exhaustion, or a trick of the light. Gil managed to put it off so long, he almost convinced himself that it was a sustainable way of life. That all he had to do was keep deflecting until Sawyer was at an age where she begin to control herself and understand – no magic around momma. He almost believed it could work. Almost.

And then he came home one night to Becca at the table in tears, and dozens of brochures for hospitals and laboratories spread out before her.

Gilbert froze in the doorway, staring at the scene in front of him, and for the first time he had a trickle of fear that wasn't for himself. He nearly dashed up the stairs to check Sawyer’s room, to assure himself that his daughter, sweet and innocent and full of laughter, was still safe and sound in her room, but he forced himself to stay rooted where he was. Becca would never hurt Sawyer, never, and would never take her away from her home – but then again, that she could just sit here and browse through lists of doctors and scientists like they were takeout menus made Gilbert question everything he thought he knew. “Becca, sweetheart,” he said cautiously, taking a few steps forward. “What are you doing?”

Becca looked up at him with eyes that had gone red from crying, and shook her head helplessly. “Something’s wrong, Gil,” she whispered, her voice sounding hoarse. “She can do things. Impossible things. I know – I know you think I'm crazy, and – and it sounds crazy, but I swear I'm not.” She shook her head frantically and glanced up the stairs to where Sawyer’s bedroom was, and Gil realized with a sickening jolt – there was some part of her that was afraid of their daughter. The fear crept into her voice as she went on. “I went into her room today and she was floating her toys. Floating them above her head. That's not – I don't know how she's doing it, but it's not right.”

Not right. Gil could only stare. He couldn't understand the fear Becca had of their daughter. Sawyer was pure sweetness, and her magic had never manifested itself violently. But magic – the realization of the supposed impossible – had always wrought fear when viewed without context, and Becca didn't have context. Gil had never given it to her. And now, they were here. Gil felt a renewed sense of shame, and took another step forward. “Becca . . .” he said gently.

But she wasn't listening to him. She had gone back to shifting through pamphlets. “But maybe it's not too late,” she whispered, sounding vaguely hysteric. “Maybe we can fix it. There are people – doctors – who say they work on – on things like this -”

“Becca . . .” Gil tried again, pleading this time, but again she ignored him.

“They could run tests,” she said, brushing tears from her eyes as she studied a particular brochure. “And then – and then when they figure out what's wrong with her, maybe they can fix it, and she can grow up like a normal –”

“Becca, there is nothing wrong with her,” Gil said loudly, his tone harsher than he meant. He winced at it, and Becca turned to stare at him. He hesitated a moment longer before he managed to force the words out. “This – this is normal . . . for people like us.” Blankness. There was no sign of comprehension in his wife’s face. Reluctantly, Gil reached for the wand he always kept in his work bag. Becca only looked more confused when she saw it, but he gave it a flick and all of the papers and brochures on the table gathered themselves into a neat pile. Becca was out of her seat so fast, she knocked the chair over, and backed away from him until she hit a wall.

“It's okay,” he said, trying to sound soothing but mostly coming off as desperate. “I’m a wizard, Becca, and Sawyer is a witch. She can't help it, she inherited it from me. There are lots of witches and wizards in the world. It's normal for the young ones to come into their magic like this.” Becca stared at him for a long time. Gil kept very still, like one does for around skittish animals, and waited for her reaction. Eventually, she took a few steps towards him, an unknowable look in her eye. Gil watched her hopefully, and when she raised her hand, he thought it might have been to lovingly caress his face.

She slapped him.

“You knew,” she accused venomously. “You knew and you just let me think I was losing my mind. You lying, vile son of a bitch–” Gil cringed at her words, and tried to take her in his arms, but she only pummeled her fists against his chest until she broke down into sobs and sagged against him. Even then, she still hurled accusations at him through her tears. “How could you? My baby – what is she because of you?”

Gil choked back tears of his own and tried to stroke his wife’s hair. “Shhh. It’s not the end of the world, you’ll see,” he tried to assure her, although he wasn’t even sure Becca could hear him over the sound of her own crying. “She’ll grow up with other kids like her, and make friends and go to school. It’ll still be normal. Everything will be fine, I promise.” He wanted so badly for that to be true. Becca’s sobbing had tapered off at his point, and he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Come to bed, love, it’s late. Everything will be better in the morning, and I’ll answer all of your questions then, okay?”

With what sounded like an indignant sniffle, Becca pushed away from him and stalked into the bedroom. Gil followed – but only after he had taken the pile of pamphlets and thrown them into the garbage.

As it turned out, everything was not better in the morning. Gilbert Prewett woke a little past the break of dawn when he reached out an arm and realized his wife’s warmth was missing. He sat up immediately and found the note left on Becca’s pillow. He stared at it a long time after he read it, trying to register the meaning. Then a flash of panic surged through him, and Gil launched himself out of bed, running down the hall. He stopped short in a bedroom door, and reassured himself with the sight of phoenix red hair splayed out over a pillow, and a thumb curled gently into a sucking mouth.

Gil leaned against the doorframe and slid slowly to the floor, feeling overwhelmed with his conflicting relief and dismay at finding his daughter, safe asleep. Relief, because at least he still Sawyer, despite it all. Dismay, because – Becca was gone. She had abandoned her daughter.

How was he ever going to explain that?

Simple. He wouldn’t. Gilbert Prewett was still, despite it all, a coward at heart, and the idea of having to tell Sawyer that her mother had left because of what – who – they were – he couldn’t face it. So when Sawyer found him still sitting there in the morning, he made up a silly reason about watching for monsters under her bed. And when she asked where her momma had gone, he only said that she had gone away. And when she asked – and asked and asked and asked, for weeks before she finally gave up – when she would be back, he only said “Not today.” and didn’t tell her why. And didn’t, and didn’t, for a very long time.

[imreszekeres]

for the anon that wanted all 100

1. Name- Ash! 2. Age- 18 3. City that you live in- fear, usually 4. What do most people not know about you?- nothing really, i compulsively release useless information about myself 5. What do most people know you for?- being fat and annoying 6. Hobbies- makeup, youtubers, sleeping, writing, drawing 7. What are your passions?- writing 8. What do you search for in a significant other?- i really Really need to be understood, and someone who is patient is nice too 7. What are you most proud of?- I hav gone to State and gotten within the top 10% in my Journalism competitions, which puts me in the top .08% of all high school students in my state. :-) im good for some things 8. When was the last time you had a significant conversation with someone you love?- every day when I talk to @pizzasteveofficial <3 all our conversations are significant 2 me 9. Have you ever collected anything? What was it?- I collect my tears in a jar and store them, then shower in them every night 10. List 10 things off of your bucket list.- I want to get married in the snow, have a daughter, get a Heartagram tattoo (at least one lol), write a successful book, and.. idk what else :0 11. What was the last thing you learned?- jesus I dont know, you learn sth new every day! hard to remember 12. How many relationships have you been in?- um.. 7 I think i feel like im forgetting one tho. I wont name them obvi but i think im forgetting one? i feel like ive been in 8 oh well 13. Turn ons- validation 14. Turn offs- being alive 15. Favorite food- frozen yogurt! I like the vanilla or white chocolate flavor with looots of toppings 16. Favorite drink- Coke 17. What is the best birthday gift you have ever received?- i dont really know! I dont remember a lot of my birthdays for trauma reasons so  18. Are you optimistic or pessimistic?- pessimistic by far lol 19. Do you sleep during class?- its happened a handful of times, I try not to bc I HATE missing work its annoying 20. What is the most expensive thing you own?- myself?? jk its my laptop 21. What is the cheapest yet most useful thing you own?- a 1 dollar ELF blending brush. yall those things are bomb please go buy some! 22. How many times a day on average do you check your phone?- that number does not exist holy shit  23. Text or call?- TEXT BLEASE I HAVE SUCH BAD HEARING 24. Opinion on long distance?- it can work! ive done it a lot of times. distance has never been whats broken a relationship for me, not directly anyway 25. What is your definition of success?- success is when you’re happy. you do not have many worries, not the kind that keep you awake at night or make your tummy sick anyway. You have people that love you and, if you died, you’d be remembered as a good bean 26. Favorite song?- right now im really diggin “Hate (I Really Dont Like You)” by the plain white Ts 27. Favorite artist?- HIM!!!!!!!!!!!! <3 28. Celebrity crush/crushes?- Ville Valo ALWAYS lmao hes my god 29. When was the last time you read for fun?- like last month 30. Favorite flower?- roses 31. What is the best gift you could receive right now?- a plane ticket to Connecticut and like 1000 dollars 32. Any guilty pleasures?- pop... music... BUT LIKE THE GOOD KIND U FEEL? I DONT LIKE STUFF FROM THE LAST 2 OR 3 YEARs...  33. What is one thing you would like to change about yourself?- my weight, and that sounds so shallow but it. is taking a toll on me. 34. What do you search for in a friend?- someone who is like me! 35. How many times have you said "I love you" in the past month?- not enough 36. Where did you last go other than your room/home?- school.. 37. Why do bad things happen to good people?- because life isnt fair 38. In your opinion, what hurts more? Being left out or being stabbed in the eye?- what the fuck being stabbed in the eye have you ever been stabbed in the fucking eye? because i havent and i can already tell you that if my friends were talking without me and then someone stabbed me in the fuCKING EYE I WOULD BE JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE PREOCCUPIED WITH BEING STABBED IN THE E Y E  39. How many green shirts do you own?- none lol 40. Do you like anime?- sure! I dont watch it rn but i dont watch anything rn, haha 41. What do you invest the most time in?- sleeping,, 42. What was the name of the last book you read?- Rebecca :3 very gud book 43. What's the difference between loving and liking someone?- when ur main squeeze gets a hair cut and u still wanna suck their dingus u love em, thats it sorry i dont make the rules 44. Where are you most productive?- i dont.. know what this is asking lol I’m most protective over my romantic partners. As much as I’d love to say im most protective over Sarah, nothing compares to how “troll guarding his treasure” i am w/my loves.......... *eyes @my crush* 45. List 3 things you enjoy doing with friends.- talking shit abt rude ppl, playing vidya gaem, and talking abt life 46. List 3 things you enjoy doing alone.- watching makeup tutorials, watching lets plays, and thinking about everything and anything 47. Do you believe world peace will ever exist?- absolutely not. theres too many people on the earth to achieve that 48. Do you have any allergies?- Not to anything specific but i get them really often seasonally. i get them pretty much every time the weather changes :( 49. When was the last time you cussed at someone?- i mean.. every day of my life so like 50. What was the last promise you made?- idek dude 51. What was your last dream about?- IT WAS SO WEIRD IT WAS ABOUT MY CRUSH’S MOM? I DREAMT THAT SHE WAS A DEMON WHO STORED HER EGGS IN LITTLE PORCELAIN JARS AND THAT MY CRUSH HAD AN EAR INFECTION AND WE WERE IN A SNOWY VILLAGE IDK DONT ASK ME its weird bc my crushs mom is so sweet... 52. If you won a trip to Hawaii and you could take 5 people with you, who would those 5 people be?- i would literally only take Sarah bc i hate everyone 53. How many countries have you visited?- ive never been outside the US 54. What is your favorite medium of art? (Music, dance, painting, etc.)- writing :-) 56. When was the last time somebody complimented you?- those nice anons i got yesterday/the other day! 56. If you switched bodies with someone, how would you recognize yourself?- what do u even mean? youd know bc youd be like THIS ISNT MY BODY 57. Do you consider yourself mature?- kind of, yes 58. How many days in your life do you think you have wasted on tumblr?- too fuckin many 59. What is your favorite quote?- “Worship Satan!” -Ville Valo (no but rly any HIM lyric is my favorite quote, theyre so beautiful,,,) 60. If you started a new religion and you had to create 3 rules or commandments for your new followers to live by, what would those 3 rules be?- dont hurt ppl unless they hurt u, dont touch ppl unless they want u to, and respect gender/sexuality 61. What is your greatest accomplishment?- going 2 state! 62. Do you believe in the death penalty?- yeah i actually think it should b used more lol, kill all rapists and p*dophiles :-) 63. What are your goals for life?- i just wanna b happy, man 64. What do you think your soulmate is doing right now?- being a fucking idiot, probably 65. If you could live anywhere, where would you live? The place can be in an imaginary, fantasy, or the real world.- CALIFORNIA LMAO IM SUCH A SUCKER FOR CALIFORNIA AND I NEVER EVEN BEEN THERE 66. What were you like in 2013?- awful but also really sweet... then again i wasnt TECHNICALLY the host so lol  67. Do you have a job?- no :( i cant drive 68. Tell us a story about your childhood best friend.- she was an abusive bitch who took out her parents hating her on me the end 69. If you could change one thing about society, what would it be?- i would make discrimination a way more serious crime than it is taken for rn. ppl who discriminate should b put in jail 70. How many all-nighters have you pulled before?- just one when i had to install the sims and it took 6 years 71. Is tumblr your favorite website? If not, then what is your favorite website?- my fave website is youtube 72. What is the craziest thing you would do for a million dollars?- suck a dick, i guess 73. Does money equal happiness?- not all the time but it sure can 74. How many times have you experienced true happiness in your lifetime?- never, i dont think 75. How many times have you experienced true sadness in your lifetime?- too many times 76. What is the funniest joke you have ever been told?- you know that joke abt the blind man at the beginning of Crazy Rap? yeah thats fucking HILARIOUS  77. When was the last time you looked at the news?- this morn :0 78. If you could say one thing to the world, what would you say?- im gay 79. What is your favorite animal?- RACCOONS!!!!!!!!!!!! 80. If you could earn a million dollars by pretending to be dead for 3 years, would you do it?- i mean sure lmao nobody would b upset about it so 81. What is one thing that everyone is bad at?- being a human. 82. What time do you normally sleep? How many hours of sleep do you usually get?- i usually go to bed at 10 and get like 6 or 7 hours 83. Does age necessarily equal maturity?- not at all! 84. What is your favorite clothing store?- hot topic lol 85. In the winter- beanies or gloves?- gloves b 86. Would you rather have wings or a fish tail?- wings?? why would i want a fish tail 87. If you had the power to erase one person from the world so that nobody remembered him or her except you, would you do it?- absofuckinglutely.  88. What do you fear the most?- being like my rapist. thats a little too deep than i like to go but im being honest, thats literally my biggest fear Ever 89. How many digits of pi can you recite?- 3.14 lmfao i hate math 90. If you could travel back to one year and relive it again, which year would it be?- 2004. I would stop it before it happened. :-( 91. Describe yourself in one word.- stupid 92. Describe your last victory.- i woke up today w/o killin meself 93. What is the weirdest thing you have ever seen?- bendytoots cucumberpitch’s face 94. What is something you will never forget?- prom.. something rly nice happened 95. Would you rather forget all of the past or remember everything in vivid detail?- forget everything. please 96. Have you ever broken a bone before?- nope! 97. Is it harder to love or to hate somebody?- probably harder to love them lol 98. Coffee or tea?- coffer 99. What are some little things that you do that have changed your life in a positive way?- I dont overdose on a constant basis in a BPD-fueled rage any more so thats good 100. How many hours have you spend on tumblr today?- probably 1 or 2?

[queensoybean0724]

Corrupting the Princess

Okay, so a week or so ago, I was chatting with @sharknadoslut and I told her about an inside joke/fantasy that my bestie and I had.  Long story short, Loki was king of Asgard and I was his queen.  My friend was the princess even though she wasn’t my daughter.  Then I added Eric from Divergent into the mix saying he was my protector which was trying because I wanted to remain faithful to Loki yet I had these rising feelings for Eric (LOL it sounds so ridiculous to write this out) and Holly said, ooh I wanna be a princess!  So I said, okay and I will assign Digger to be your protector.  I started to brainstorm and this oneshot is what I concocted.  I hope you all enjoy!

Title: Corrupting the Princess

Characters: Digger Harkness/Holly

Rating: NC-17 for language and sex

Word Count: 2876

*********

A loud noise jolted Holly from a restful sleep.  Her eyes flew open as she sat up straight in her bed.  The bedchamber was dark and it took a few seconds for her sight to adjust.  The silk drapes were drawn but they were sheer enough to allow the moonlight to spill in from the open window, which was where the loud noise was coming.

 Holly tossed aside her bed sheets and placed her feet on the floor.  She adjusted her merlot colored nightgown.  The front dipped low, showcasing her cleavage and the hem hung to mid thigh.  She reached for her silk robe, shoving her arms in as another boisterous yell and a litany of cackles came from outside her window.

Marching to the window, Holly opened the drapes and looked down.  Her eyes narrowed in annoyance as she took in the scene from her second story window. The soldiers of the castle were seated around a bonfire, drinking beer and laughing loudly.  From where Holly stood and listened, she could barely make out one the men telling a story of a whore from another realm and how she did the dirtiest things for next to no payment.

 Holly’s eyes fell on her protector who was laughing the loudest of all of the men.  Digger Harkness, known as Captain Boomerang on Midgard, was a jewel thief and common criminal.  He was also stealthy, incredibly strong, and agile with an array of weapons.  His own signature weapons were boomerangs fitted with sharp knives along the edges, thus giving him his moniker.  He was able to whip them through the air, hit his target every time, and they flew back around into his grasp effortlessly.

 How Digger had been assigned as her protector, she’ll never know, but deep down she couldn’t lie and say that he wasn’t easy on the eyes. He was 6’2 and incredibly muscular. His brown hair sat matted and curly atop his head, mostly hidden by his beanie.  A large overcoat and a tracksuit jacket with the word “Captain” across the chest made him look slightly bigger than what he really was.  Holly had found herself staring out of her window at him almost every day as he trained with the rest of the soldiers.  During these times he had worked up such a sweat that both jackets were cast aside and she was able to admire him in his blue jeans and gray wife beater.  He can be crude at times, but fuck me, he is so hot, Holly would think to herself.

 All of the royalty in the castle were assigned protectors to watch over their person.  Anytime they would leave the castle, their protector had to be with them at all times. Holly was the newest princess in the castle and by that time, Digger had moved up in the ranks and was given the position of protector of Holly.

 Holly would keep her head held high as he walked behind her on her daily walks through the gardens.  She could feel his eyes checking her out constantly.  She whirled around once and caught him and all he did was smile and wink.  “I know you’re looking at me,” Holly had accused, turning to face him, “are you going to admit it?  What if I tattle on you to the king…you could lose your job!”

 Digger had chuckled, taking a step closer to Holly. “You could snitch on me, lovely,” Digger growled, his height looming over her, “but somethin’ tells me ya like me lookin’ at ya…”  Holly had rolled her eyes and turned around to continue walking.  “Don’t flatter yourself,” she grumbled but upon hearing his soft, teasing laugh, Holly felt the slightest flutter in her lower abdomen. She did like the idea of Digger looking at her and wondering what he thought.

 As a princess, she was always adorned in the most beautiful of gowns.  Her queen, Rebecca, had the maidservants stitch and make dresses from the most beautiful of silks and fabrics in the realm.  There were close to ten other “princesses” in the castle, quotations being used appropriately seeing as Rebecca did not birth the women herself. In this castle, things were unorthodox and titles did not have the historical relevance here.  If you were Rebecca’s friend and wished to be a princess, you were a princess.

 Princesses were held in high regard and expected to be on their best behavior.  They were intelligent, beautiful, and must be poised.  Holly always hated having to be on her toes, especially since Rebecca didn’t always follow suit.  Holly couldn’t count how many times she had walked in on Loki and Rebecca fooling around in the library or could hear them fucking late at night from down the hall. It was time for Holly to let her hair down and get into some mischief.

 But mischief was far from her mind in this moment.  These brutes had woken her up and she wanted sleep.

 “Hey!” she yelled at the men below, “shut the hell up! You assholes woke me up!”

 All of the soldiers, including Digger, raised their gazes up to Holly’s bedroom window.  Upon seeing the beautiful woman with her hair blowing in the wind and robe open, they instantly began to whistle and holler up at her.  “Hey sweetheart,” one of them sputtered drunkenly, “come down here and let us see those sweet tits up close!”

 Holly looked down to see that the robe was hanging open and her low cut nightie was leaving very little to the imagination.  She swiftly covered herself as Digger stood to his feet.  “Dahlin’,” he bellowed, “what is it that me princess needs?  Anything in the world, just name it!”

 “I want you all to shut the hell up and let me sleep!” Holly hissed at the men.  Her eyes were on Digger as he chugged the can of beer in his hand.  His gaze never left hers as he finished his beverage.  He crushed the can and threw it to the side as he made his way to the castle.

 “Oh, me poor princess is tired,” Digger chuckled in his Australian accent, “allow me to come up and read ya a bedtime story, yeah?”

 Holly’s mouth fell open in astonishment as Digger began to climb the wall up to her bedroom window.  “Are you crazy?!” Holly spat at him, “you’re gonna fall!”

 The other men around the fire were in hysterics, falling over each other and laughing tremendously.  Digger was agile, scaling the wall like he was rock climbing.  As angry as Holly was, she said a silent prayer that he would not fall and break his neck.

 “Here I am, me sweet girl!” Digger announced, pulling himself up to Holly’s windowsill.

 “Oh my God, you are fucking insane!” she squealed, grabbing his arm to keep him from swaying.  Digger turned to look down at his fellow soldiers, letting out a triumphant yell before falling into the window.  The silk drapes tangled between his body and Holly’s body as he fell on top of her.  The loud tearing sound overhead echoed in the room as the drapes billowed around Digger and Holly.

 Holly kicked and scrambled from under the drapes as Digger lay on his back, laughing loudly.  “You are unbelievable!!” she whispered, standing to her feet to look down upon Digger.

 He grunted as he stood up and looked around at the mess he made. “It could’ve been worse,” he reasoned, smiling down at Holly, “ya can take it out of me paycheck!”  Holly exhaled loudly and shook her head.  A glint of light changed in Digger’s eyes as he looked down at her.  His gaze moved to her breasts.  The struggle made the robe come undone again.  The breeze from the window gave Holly’s hair a wild and unkempt look. The alcohol in Digger’s system altered his usual swagger as he lunged forward and pulled Holly’s body against him.

 “Digger!  What the hell are you doing?” Holly asked, her hands at his chest, trying to push him away.  His tracksuit jacket was hanging open and the gold chain around his neck lightly swayed against her cheek as he pulled her closer.  Digger wrapped his other arm around her body, using his legs to pry her knees apart.  Holly gasped loudly as he succeeded in flattening the front of her body against his. The unmistakable feel of his hard cock through his jeans pushed against her stomach.

 “Feel that, luv?  Yeah?  Feel how hard I’m gettin’?” Digger growled against Holly’s hair.  She whimpered, wishing for the mental strength to push him away, but feeling the arousal begin to churn inside of her.  She had fantasized about his strong arms around her, of how his cock would feel, and just how roughly he would take her.

 “Digger…please…” Holly whimpered, turning her face away. Her face felt hot as she blushed. His fingers dug into her back, keeping her tight against him.

 “I see it when ya look at me, princess,” Digger murmured into her ear, “ya supposed to be saintly and proper…but the way ya look at me…ya want me to fuck ya…I know it and ya know it…just say yes, sweetie…”

 Holly couldn’t hold back her whimper and Digger chuckled. His hands went to the backs of her thighs and swiftly picked her up.  “Hold on tight…” he said as Holly’s legs wrapped around his waist.  Her arms went around his neck as he walked the both of them to her bed.  She was unable to contain herself as she began to grind her hips against him as he laid her down.

 “Mmmmmm….just like that, dahlin’,” Digger growled as he sat up and unzipped his jacket.  He swiftly discarded the jacket as Holly sat up long enough to remove her robe.  She moved backwards to her pillow and lay back as Digger crawled between her legs.

 “Show Daddy what a dirty little princess you are…”

 Holly couldn’t believe how willing she was to obey him and do what he said.  She opened her mouth and moaned loudly as she spread her legs for him.  Digger moved to her left leg, kissing along her inner thigh. He took his time, getting closer and closer to her panties.

 “Such a sweet little princess…” Digger moaned, running his hands along the underside of her thighs, “everyone thinks you are so innocent and posh…but you’ll get filthy for Daddy, won’t ya?”

 “Y-yes…” Holly whimpered, reaching her right hand to his head. Her fingers ran through his curls as Digger stopped between her legs.  He sat up on his elbows, hooking his fingers from both hands into her panties. Digger looked up at Holly’s face as he took the silken fabric and began to work it back and forth between her pussy lips.

 “FUCK!!!!” Holly screamed out, arching her back.  Her head fell back into the pillow and her legs opened wider.  Digger laughed as he continued teasing her clit with her panties.  “Good girl…” he encouraged, “…that’s Daddy’s good little princess…it feels good, doesn’t it?  To feel such softness against your hardened clit?”

 Holly’s hands gripped the bed sheets as her chest rapidly rose and fell.  Not even her own fingers could make her feel this good.  All of the nights she had spent in bed, fantasizing about Digger and touching herself…nothing prepared her for him.

 Digger pulled aside her panties and leaned forward, pushing his flat tongue between her pussy lips.  He pushed into her cunt and tongue fucked her relentlessly.  His growls and moans were muffled between her legs and Holly felt as if she would go insane.  Her hands flew up to the headboard as she gripped the railings, holding on for dear life.  “Digger…oh God…please don’t stop…oh fuck me…fuck me…”

 Digger chuckled as his tongue pulled out of her pussy and moved up to her clit.  It twisted and turned around her, tickling softly before he sucked it between his lips. Holly felt her vision go hazy and her orgasm rise quickly.

 “I’m gonna cum…Digger…I’m gonna cum…”

 Digger pulled away immediately, looking down at Holly with a mischievous smile.  “FUCK!” Holly whimpered, looking up at him with pleading eyes, “don’t stop…”

 Digger pulled his wife beater up over his head and tossed it to the floor, going for his jeans next.  “I want ya to show me how bad ya can be for Daddy…”  He pushed his jeans down his legs, kicking his boots off before throwing his jeans aside.  His hands went to Holly’s panties, pulling them down her legs.

 “What do you want me to do?” Holly asked hesitantly as she sat up on her elbows.  Digger pulled her up by her arms and sealed his lips over hers.  She could taste the beer on his tongue and it further ignited the arousal in her body.  Digger crushed her body in his embrace and rolled over onto his back, pulling her on top of him.  His hands took her nightgown and pulled it up over her head.

 “Ride me, princess,” Digger commanded, both hands grabbing her bare ass, “show Daddy how much ya want his cock…”  

 Holly’s head was spinning as she quickly got her bearings straddling Digger.  Looking down between him, her eyes widened at the size of his prick.  It lay thick and hard against his stomach, pre cum already leaking at the tip.  She was unsure of whether or not she could accommodate him inside of her but she was sure as shit gonna try.

 Her soft hand slowly wrapped around his length as she inched forward to sink down on him.  Digger uttered a string of curses as Holly lowered herself over the head.

 “Ohhhhhh fuck yes…” Digger moaned, watching intensely. Holly’s eyes squeezed shut as she felt her tight walls take in his cock.  She was soaking wet.  Her walls were stretching out as she sunk slowly downward.

 “That’s it…keep going…you are so tight, princess…my tight little princess…ya makin’ Daddy feel good…”

 Holly’s head fell back, her hair sliding down her back. Digger’s words of encouragement gave her the added push to keep sinking deeper over him.  Finally, after almost a full minute, she had every inch of him inside of her.

 Holly instinctively clenched around his prick to which Digger let out a throaty FUCK!!! Her tight cunt hugged him so perfectly and he had to keep his wits about him lest he grip her hips and split her in two. “Ride me…” Digger growled through clenched teeth.  Holly’s thighs trembled as she placed her hands on his stomach and slowly started to move.

 The foreign feeling of him stuffed inside of her, filling her up and stretching her out, was a bit uncomfortable at first.  She slowly gyrated on top of him, watching him as his eyes drank in every ounce of her naked body.  His hands moved up to her breasts, kneading and squeezing, stopping momentarily to pinch her nipples.

 “Uhhh!” Holly whimpered, biting her lower lip.  The mixture of pain felt amazing.  She didn’t think of herself as someone who could be into anything too painful, despite the intriguing reading she found in the library, but in this moment with Digger it made her wet and desperate for more.

 “Ya wanna ride Daddy faster, dahlin’?  Yeah?  Come on, princess…”

 Digger’s hands moved all over her body, caressing her soft skin.  Holly felt her body relaxing more and more as her hips started to move faster.  The moans slipping past her lips were getting louder.  Her clit was rubbing against Digger’s skin.  He braced his feet on the bed and used it as leverage to slowly start pumping up inside of Holly.  The visual of her on top of him, her breasts bouncing, and her moans echoing in the room was enough to drive Digger crazy.

 “Fuck!!!  Take it, princess!  Take Daddy’s cock in ya tight lil’ cunt!” Digger shouted.  He sat up and wrapped his arms around Holly, pulling her face to his. He kissed her hard as their hips slapped against each other.  Holly pulled away, looking into Digger’s eyes.

 “Fuck me, Daddy…please…harder, Daddy, harder…”

 Digger’s mouth formed a sinister grin, his fingers tangling into her hair.  He hammered up into Holly, him grunting with each thrust.  Holly’s fingernails dug into his upper back as she bucked and swiveled her hips faster.  The both of them were getting closer to their release.

 “Cum for me, my dirty little princess…cum for Daddy…cum for Daddy…”  Digger’s eyes widened as a cacophony of expletives flew out of his mouth.  Holly screamed as her body grew taut and her pussy walls spasmed around his cock.  His cum spurted inside of her.  His strong arms circled around Holly, holding her tight.  Holly held tight to his back, her body shuddering.

 Aftershocks traveled from one to the other as they caught their breaths.  Digger lay back on the bed, pulling Holly with him.  She rested her head against his chest, nuzzling his chest hair with her nose.  She smiled as she purposely clenched around him again, making him grunt audibly.

 “Bad girl…” Digger chastised playfully, reaching down to spank her ass.

 “Only for Daddy…” Holly murmured with a sly smile on her face.

[mauvaisxander]

Fanmix Masterpost

All my fanmixes sorted by fandom under the cut. I’m working on putting all my old fanmixes on it now, and will be updating it as I make new mixes. 

Agents Of Shield

     Daisy

          Fault Line

          Lies Made Visible 

     Daisy/Fitz

          Walk The Line

     Daisy/Simmons

          The Great Unknown

     Daisy/Trip

          Change The Weather

     Fitz/Simmons

          All My Broken Heartbeats

          A New Equation

          I Follow You (Deep Sea Baby)

     Trip

          These Small Hours

Anna Karenina

     Anna/Vronsky

          Constellations And Dreams

Arrested Development

     GOB/Tony

          This Could Be Magic, After All

A Song Of Ice And Fire

     Ashara

         With Grace In Your Heart And Flowers In Your Hair

     Brienne

          I Am Not A Maiden Fair

     Brienne/Jaime

          Only Love Can Save Us Now

     Daenerys

          My Voluntary Blindness

     General

          Put On Your War Paint

     Robb/Theon

          A Shock Of Death

     Sansa

          High On Lullabies 

     Theon

          Blossom Every Broken Part

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn

     Johnny

          Kick Drum Heart

     Sissy

          Aching To Pupate

Buffyverse

     Andrew

          Let The World Spin Madly On

          TV Taught Me How To Feel

     Andrew/Xander

          Big Crush On You

     Angel

          The Fragile Substance Of This Soul

     Angel/Buffy

          This Is Not The End

     Angel/Cordelia

          I Loved A Girl (Who Said That I Could Change The World)

          Miles From Where You Are

     Angel/Darla

          Darkest Hearts

          The Undone And The Divine

     Angel/Faith

          All My Love

     Angel Investigations

          What I Stand For

     Angel/Spike

          Nothing More Sadistic 

     Anya

          Cinder And Smoke

     Anya/Xander

          A Tightrope Tragedy

     Buffy

          I’m Only Human

          Looking For Heaven (Found The Devil In Me)

     Buffy/Faith

          Love Hunt Me Down

     Buffy/Spike

          Damage Control

          Dark Little Heaven

          Fire In The Water

          Love Me Mercilessly

          Take My Hand

          You Are Second Hand Smoke

     Connor

          Monster

     Cordelia

          Shed My Skin

     Cordelia/Doyle

          Going Going Gone

     Dawn

          Boundless And Beauty

          Keep On Dreamin’

     Dawn/Xander

          Speechless

     Drusilla/Spike

          A Dark Waltz

     Ethan/Giles

         Oxford Comma

     Faith

          Clouded With Dirt

     Faith/Giles

          Perfect (In That Fucked Up Way)

     Faith/Willow

          Walking Into Fire

     Faith/Xander

          A Dime A Dozen Kind Of Love

     Fred

          Don’t Lose Yourself

     Fred/Gunn

          I Love You (I Always Have)

          You Light Up My World

     Fred/Wesley

          I Ache For You

     General

          At The Bronze

          Darkest Before Dawn

     Giles

          A Sinners Heart

     Giles/Lilah

          Without An Honest Heart

     Illyria

          Phoenix Throne

     Illyria/Wesley

          A New Empire

     Lilah/Wesley

          Complementary Colors 

     Oz/Willow

          A Perfect Fit

          You Picked Me

     Scoobies

          A Life Worth Fighting For

     Spike

          Battle Born

     Tara/Willow

          Dreams Of Starry Nights

          Every Moment Was So Precious 

     Wesley

          My Lying Technique 

     Willow

          Darkness I Became

          Twilight Galaxy

     Women

          Bright As The Sun And As Bold As The Moon

          My Own Hero

Bully

     Cliques

          Just A Stupid Kid

     Gary/Jimmy

          Shades Of Wrong

          Strange Type Of Chemistry

     Gary/Pete

          All That You Are (Is All That I Need)

Cabin In The Woods

     General

          Doomsday

Choices Stories You Play

     Kenna

          I Won’t Run

     Kenna/Raydan

          I’d Follow

Chronicles Of Narnia

     Caspian/Edmund

          Until The Stars Fall

Community

     Abed/Troy

          Holding A Heart

Cougar Town

     Laurie/Travis

          Hearts Given Freely

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

     Greg

          Never Wanted To Stay

     Nathaniel/Rebecca

          The Chase Is All You Know

     Rebecca/Valencia

          Not Fade Away

Dead Poets Society

     Neil/Todd

          Nothing Like You And I 

Dollhouse

     Adelle

         Last Call For Sin

     Adelle/Dominic

         Falling From Your Grace

     Alpha

         Our Vintage Misery

     Alpha/Echo

          A Taste Of Poison Paradise

          Dirty Little Damsel

     Bennett/Topher

         Two Atoms In A Molecule

     Echo

          I Don’t Exist

          Memories Fade

     Echo/Paul

          Gravity Sings

     Epitaphs

         This House Is Falling Apart

     General

          Go Back To Sleep

          We Do What We Must Because We Can

     Mellie/Paul

          My Sweetest Downfall

     Sierra

          Pins In Your Fingers

     Sierra/Victor

          You’re My Everything

     Topher

          Afterglow Of Rapture

          Dead Hearts Are Everywhere

          What Fine Design

     Whiskey

          Weary Of This Melody

Don’t Trust The B In Apartment 23

     Chloe/June

          All The Violent, Sweet, Perfect Words That You Said

Downton Abbey

     Branson/Sybil

          (You’re) The Home My Heart Searched For

     Edith

          I’ve Been Waiting (For My Planets To Align)

     Thomas

          Love Is Just A Lyric In A Children’s Rhyme

Durarara!!

     Anri/Masaomi/Mikado

          By Mistake Or By Design

     Izaya/Shizuo

          Violent For You

Fallout

     Charon/Lone Wanderer 

          You’re My River

Firefly

     General

          We Stood Up

     Inara/Mal

          The Dizzy Dance

     Kaylee/Simon

          Memory Of Home

          The Bed Of Stars

     Zoe

          I Fought The War

Friday Night Lights

     General

          God Love Your Soul And Your Aching Bones

     Jason

          Strength In Pain

     Jason/Lyla

          Too Much Is How I Love You

     Jason/Lyla/Tim

          Carousel 

     Julie/Matt

          She Is The Sunlight

          Wonderstruck

     Landry/Tyra

          I Will Love Until

     Lyla

          Heart Full Of Mess And Lore

     Lyla/Tim

          Burn Me Up

          Never Gets Dull

          Our Love’s The Only Truth

     Matt

          Looking For Wisdom

     Vince

          Everybody Loves Me

Friends

     Chandler/Monica

          I Could Live On Your Love

Geek Charming

     Dylan/Josh

          Movie Loves A Screen

Hannibal

     Will

          Blood On My Name

Harry Potter

     Dean/Seamus

          Makes My Heart Scream Colors

     Harry/Hermione/Ron

          Our Hearts Are Joined

     Hermione/Ron

          The Key To Your Heart

          Will You Be The Queen? And I’ll Be Your Clown

          You’re My Favorite Book

     James/Lily

          Head Over Feet

     Luna/Neville

          Love Planted Deeply

     Percy

          The Higher I’ll Climb

     Remus/Sirius

          Born A Lion

          Lines Of Lightning 

     Ron

          The Call

     Sirius

          Ghosts That We Knew

How I Met Your Mother

     Barney

          That Boy Is All About Fun

     Barney/Robin

          A More Uncertain Future

          Change My Orbit

          Your Perfect Disaster

     Lily/Marshall

          Growing Old With You

     MacLaren’s Gang

          High 5 (Friends Til The End)

     Ted/Tracy

          I’ve Missed You But I Haven’t Met You

          Under My Umbrella

In Your Eyes

     Dylan/Rebecca

          Echo

iZombie

     Liv/Major

          You Mean The World To Me

     Liv/Major/Ravi

          More Than Life

Kill La Kill

     Elite Four

          Dire Dreams

     Ryuko

          Meaning Of Resistance

King Falls AM

     Ben/Emily/Sammy

          My Heart In Your Hands

Les Miserables

     Bossuet/Joly

          A Drop In The Ocean

     Combeferre/Jehan

          Our Own Constellations 

     Cosette/Eponine

          Spoken Words Like Moonlight

     Cosette/Marius

          Sunlight In A Jar

          Sweet Love

     Courfeyrac/Marius

          Finding Something To Do

     Enjolras/Grantaire

          Our Hands Clasped So Tight

          You’re The One (I Had To Meet)

     Jehan

          Marvelous Things

     Les Amis

          A Dream Inside Our Heads

     Marius

          The Way It Ends

Leverage

     Eliot/Hardison/Parker

          I Fall Into You

Lizzie Bennet Diaries

     Lydia

          Sweet About Me

Marvel

     Avengers

          All Is Lost, Hope Remains

     Bucky/Natasha

          Darkness In My Heart

     Bucky/Steve

          Calling Me Home

     Clint/Natasha

          Runnin’ Wild

     Elektra/Matt

          Your Devil Side

     Frank

          Cross The Line

     Jessica

          I Am Steel

     Natasha

          Fishnets And Malice

     Peggy

          Something Good Can Work

     Pepper

          Woman King

     Pepper/Tony

          Love Will Be Our Wings

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries

     Dot/Hugh

          Me Following You

     Jack/Phryne

          Anything Could Happen

          I Can’t Waste A Falling Star

Mortal Instruments/Shadowhunters

     Alec/Magnus

          I Saw Heaven’s Skies In Your Eyes

Neon Genesis Evangelion 

     Asuka

          Raise Hell

     Asuka/Shinji

          Hand In Unlovable Hand 

     General 

          People Are Just People

     Kaworu/Shinji

          A Prayer Left Unprayed 

          C’est La Vie C’est La Mort

          Nothing More Than Stardust

     Misato/Ritsuko

          One More Night

     Shinji

          I Am (Not) Running Away

          Searching For A Paradise

          You Were Just A Wish

Non Fandom

     Bumpy Relationships

          Get Me Right

     Cats

          Nine Lives

     Cheer Up

          Comedy Tonight

     Christmas Filk

          It’s A Fanboy Christmas

     Finnish Music

          Finland Finland Finland (That’s The County For Me)

     Love

          Perfect Love

     Music I Like

          #Back8Tracks

Orange Is The New Black

     Alex/Piper

          Can’t Fight Gravity

     Piper

          I’m A Guilty One

     Rosa

          Gonna Go Out In Style

Parks And Recreation

     Andy/April

          Wrap The World In Ribbons

     Ben/Leslie

          This Whole Beautiful Thing

Percy Jackson

     Calypso/Leo

          A Funny Little Thing

Person Of Interest

     Finch/Reese

         Save My Life

     Reese

          Flesh And Bone

     Root

          Remember Her Name

     Root/Shaw

          I Come With Knives (To Love You)

          Steal This Moment

Pretty Little Liars

     Alison

          I Was Born In A Summer Storm

          One Of Those Ghosts

     Alison/Emily

          A Fantasy Affair

          Law Of Gravity

     Alison/Mona

          Ruthless Game

     Aria

          Hearts From Iron

     Aria/Ezra

          How Fierce It Would Be

          Young Love

     A Team

          Is It Any Wonder That I Feel Betrayed?

     Caleb/Hanna

          A Drug For Angels

     Emily/Paige

          She Keeps Me Warm

     Emily/Spencer

          Shinin’ Just For You

     Hanna/Mona

          We’ll Be A Sweet Disaster

     Jenna

          (You Never Met A) Bitch Like Me

     Liars

          We Are Fire Born

     Melissa

          Secrets That Are Never To Be Told

     Mona

          Boom Goes The Dynamite

     Spencer

          I Am Titanium 

          Last Piece Of The Jigsaw

     Spencer/Toby

          I See Your Face In Every Star

          Lost Without You

          This Love Is Ours

Princess Tutu

     Ahiru

          Dance With Me Tonight

     Ahiru/Fakir

          Everlasting Light

     Mytho/Rue

          I Was Made For You

     Rue

          Blackbird

Psycho-Pass

     General

          Sins Original

     Kougami/Makishima

          Living With Your Ghost

     Kougami/Tsunemori

          Words In My Memory

Puella Magi Madoka Magica 

     Kyoko/Sayaka

          All Of My Stupid Love

Pushing Daisies

     Chuck/Ned

          Star-Crossed Souls Slow Dancing

Revenge

     Emily/Nolan

          For You, I Would Happily Drown

Revolutionary Girl Utena

     Anthy

          All This Sin And Strife

          Hope That Something Pure Can Last

     Anthy/Utena

          Moondance

          Pull Me Home

     General

          Stand And Fight

     Juri/Shiori

          All My Fragile Strength Is Gone

     Saionji/Touga

          Burn The Ashes

Safety Not Guaranteed

     General

          Gimme Sympathy 

Shakespeare

     Beatrice/Benedict

          Crazy Love

     Ophelia

          Rose Red

Shameless

     Fiona

          Shining Stars

     Fiona/Jimmy

          Burn To Shine

     Ian/Mickey

          Every Truth That You Denied

          Hope Is Our Four Letter Word

     Karen

          Baby You’re A Star

     Karen/Lip

          For Just One Yesterday

          The Wonderful Mess That We Made

     Kevin/Veronica

          Here Comes The Sun

     Lip

          Devil In My Mouth

Star Trek

     Cardassians

          All In Gray

     Filk

          Star Trekkin’

General

          The Future’s Not That Far Away

     Sarina/Seven

          Poetry In Motion

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

     Alexander/Nog

          A Sky Full Of Stars 

     Bashir

          Real Human Being

     Bashir/Garak

          Doctor Doctor (Give Me The News)

          Inside The Lies

          Love&Pizza

          Mosaic Broken Hearts

          No Sweeter Innocence

          The War Is Over (We Are Beginning)

          This Could Be Trouble

          Truth In Your Lies

          You Were A Kindness

     Bashir&O’Brien

          As Brothers We Will Stand

     Dax/Kahn

          Your Kiss Is Like A Lost Ghost

     Dax/Kira

          I And Love And You

          Our Private Galaxy

          You’re The Only One I See

     Garak

          Tell You A Secret

     Jake/Nog

          This Perfect Spot

          Underneath The Stars

     Keiko/Kira/Miles

          Love Was Bigger

     Kira/Odo

          (Your Love Is) Steady And Sure

     Odo/Quark

          Say That We’ll Be Nemeses

     Sisko

          Faith Is All

Star Trek: The Next Generation

     Picard/Q

          That Makes Us Human

     Riker/Troi

          A Moment Of Truth

Star Trek: The Original Series

     McCoy/Spock

          Our Calculation 

     Uhura

          A Star On The Dark Horizon

Star Trek: Voyager

     EMH I/EMH II

         Wings Of Thought

     Janeway

          Find A Home

     Janeway/Seven

          Coming To You

     Kim/Paris

          You Make Me Feel Like I Am Home Again

     Kim/Paris/Torres

          Fall In Love With A B Film

     Kim/Tuvok

          The Color Of The Universe

     Paris/Torres

          Falling Is Like This

          One More Chance (To Be Young And Wild And Free)

          Passion Bites

          You Make My Motor Run

     Seven

          Machine

     Suder/Tuvok

          You Are My Temptation

Stranger Things

     Jonathan/Nancy/Steve

          The Sky, The Earth, And Us

That 70′s Show

     Hyde/Jackie

          Don’t Let Me Fall

     Jackie

          Bubblegum Bitch

The Book Thief

     Liesel

          Magnolia

The Newsroom

     Don/Sloan

          Only Love

     Mackenzie/Will

          I Gave You All

          We Are Love And Misery

The Office

     Angela/Dwight

          Working Hard For You

     Jim/Pam

          The Earth Is Warmer When You Laugh

     Kelly/Ryan

          Reckless With My Heart

The West Wing

     Ainsley/Sam

          You Will Become

     C.J./Danny

          As Lovers Go

          Sweet Nothing

Welcome To Night Vale

     Carlos/Cecil

          I Hear Your Voice (And Suddenly I’m Falling)

     General

          A World Of White Blindness

Wicked

     Elphaba/Glinda

          Swan Song

Wolf 359

     Eiffel/Hera

          A Universe Inside Of You