#and then he went towards the cross like. ludwig is that you

[catboyrightsdefender]

i went to the ludwig ii memorial at his death place and a swan came from far away and swam to me so close i could almost pet it it was absolute bonkers

[spikedsoul]

maid's worst nightmare - ch 17

back already! no update yesterday because i went to a funeral. anyway, last chapter was a bit of a break, but we're jumping right back into the confusing chaos bc i just can't help myself!

previous chapters

@sovereign-of-succ

"Where the fuck have you been?"

You jumped at the sudden accusation the moment you opened the door. It was like he'd been waiting… well, you suppose he had been, if that was the first thing he had to ask you. He was even strategically standing just inside his bedroom proper, facing the door like a disappointed or irritated parent with his arms crossed over his chest.

"It took a while to clean up Ludwig's room, and then he had to talk to me about something," you replied a little stiffly, shutting the door behind you. Luckily, your trip back had been uneventful and only full of rationalizations. "I mean, he didn't have to, but he got so excited about talking about something I couldn't just walk away."

"And you just…" Bowser rubbed his eyes with one hand. "Okay. I can't get mad at that… but you know it took double the time, probably?"

You made your way further into the room. "Yes," you sighed. "Sorry for apparently worrying you…"

"Better be," he muttered, "I'm not stupid enough to think that prick won't try something before they leave."

You stopped in front of him, looking up at him as he stared down his nose at you. Although your comment hadn't been sarcastic in the first place, it was still a little surprising that he'd jumped so readily on it. There hadn't been an ounce of hesitation. He'd been worried and he let you know.

Briefly, your eyes flicked away, but you looked back up at him; as much as you wanted to touch his forearm in reassurance, you had to remind yourself you didn't want to tempt fate. But that didn't mean he didn't deserve your genuine thanks. "I'll be more careful. Thank you for worrying," you said softly.

Bowser harrumphed quietly. After a mercifully brief staredown, he snorted and grasped your shoulder with a heavy hand, turning you toward the bathroom. "Fine," he mumbled, steering you forward. Although a little wary, you let him guide you toward the shell resting against the wall by the door. "They'll be here a few days longer to load the ore they need, so be careful."

"Right… um, what are we doing?"

Your stomach didn't drop until he marched you right past the shell and into the bathroom. Although not afraid, you definitely weren't sure what to think about the full tub.

An amused hum left the king as he shut the door, and you could feel his eyes boring into the back of your head. "Well," he smirked, "I thought I'd punish ya for makin' me worry. Now, this'll go one of two ways: either I get in and you help, or you get in and I'm helpin'. Take your pick." He squeezed your shoulder for a little emphasis.

Your stomach flipped at the prospect of having to bathe in front of Bowser, a thick lump forming in your throat that you struggled to swallow. He was just fucking with you again, had to be… so maybe it wouldn't hurt to see his reaction to your own tease. You glanced back at his smug, expectant face.

"Do I get a massage too if I'm the one that gets in?" you asked as steadily as you could manage. You watched his face carefully; although the smirk didn't leave, his eyes did widen in surprise, and it seemed that he was stunned for a moment. But the chain chomp didn't have his tongue for too long.

"Ya know what, deal," he grunted, reaching for the hem of your shirt.

You squawked in surprise and slapped his hands away. "You fucking brute, I was joking!"

Predictably, Bowser cackled as he yanked his hands back, his tail swaying a bit behind him. He didn't have any further comments as he passed by you to climb into the tub, fangs bared in a triumphant grin at the deep blush on your face. You watched with a pout as he slipped into the water.

"Now, you see those bottles?" he purred, gesturing to a row of glass bottles on a shelf just beside the massive tub. "You're gonna help me lather up. Since you got them dainty little human hands, you're gonna hafta work a little harder to work it into my skin, but it's important that happens, got it? And then once we're done in here, you get to do the same thing with a little oil."

"Why's that?"

He settled with his back and shoulders to you, draping his upper arms over the edge. Since the tub had a rather high edge, all of his spikes were kept at bay, pressed against the side of the tub. You were struck with, and fought against, the urge to touch his silky mane where it tapered off just above his spiked collar.

"My skin don't produce oils like yours," he explained, "so while it means I don't gotta bathe so often, it also means that when I do bathe I gotta use some oil to keep my skin from cracking after. Normally I demand my advisor help, but since I got a pretty little handmaid now…" He hummed suggestively and rolled his shoulders, making you roll your eyes. 

"Flattery will get you nowhere. Don't get used to it," you muttered as you reached for one of the bottles. "And you'll have to sit forward a little when it's time for me to get between your spikes."

"Yeah, yeah. Just focus on my neck and shoulders and I'll let ya know when to move on." He glanced back at you over his shoulder, expression unreadable as he popped his collar off with a soft click, but as he tossed it aside he turned his head forward again. "Well, hop to it, little lady. Sooner you start, sooner you finish."

"Yes, King Meat Head," you said obediently, dipping your hands in the water to at least get them wet before pouring out some of the soap. "Right away, Sir High Horse. I'm but a humble and temporary servant to you, Your Bastardness."

"Yeah, keep talkin'," he gruffed as you started working the back of his neck. You didn't miss the quiet, appreciative rumble when you dug your fingers into his scaly skin. "This is a punishment, after all, sweetheart."

Wait, what did he just unironically and non-condescendingly call you?

Either he hadn't realized, did it on full purpose, or else was trying very hard to pretend nothing had happened, because he didn't react at all after he said it. You kept kneading his neck as you worked the hydrating soap in, but your mind was - once again - racing.

A few moments passed as you worked up the nerve to say something. "Ah, sir…?"

He grunted in response.

"...Never mind," you mumbled, your nerves failing you. He didn't seem too interested anyway; he just grunted again and bowed his neck slightly in a silent command to work it harder.

You didn't dare hesitate to oblige him.

[polina-me]

This damn Halloween and a lovely seamstress

— Pointless and annoying. — Scrooge stated it bluntly.

He was driving to work in his limo, arms crossed over his chest and looking out the window with disdain.

— Sir, please.. — Quackmore sighed with tired exasperation.

— Just another way to make money for me, I don't see any reason to enjoy this day anymore.. night.. bah! — Scrooge threw up his hands and at that moment they arrived at bin.

Quackmore rolled his eyes up at them as they climbed. He didn't understand why he didn't like this holiday?

He hoped that at least Donald could improve his uncle's mood.

— Hi, unca Scrooge! — But his hopes were dashed when he saw Donald hanging a black garland with pumpkins on the walls.

"Well, what else should I have expected?" — Quackmore knew that Donald was a family man and it was foolish to assume that he would miss such a holiday. So he turned around and went to do his business outside the office, where there might be a fight.

_________________________

— Don't you want to celebrate Halloween too, Uncle Scrooge? — there was a woman's scream and a loud crunch on the TV.

— Too? — Scrooge put his hand on the arm of the sofa and propped his head on it and looked at the boys sitting on the floor with an eyebrow raised.

— Yeah, we don't want to celebrate it either. — Dewey lay with his head on his crossed arms.

— Yeah, that's childish. — Huey leaned on the sofa.

— And we are not children — Louie was sitting on a pillow.

Scrooge chuckled to himself.

— What a good reason. — he looked up at the TV again. — Did you find that photo?

— YES!!! — all the triplets jumped up and one of the boys took out 'that photo'.

It was their first Halloween as a real family.

There were the newly hatched boys on it, Donald and himself.

Donald was dressed like a queen bee. The black and yellow dress, like an inverted flower bud, sat perfectly on him and created a truly royal look. And the same black and yellow makeup made him look more like a princess. And as an addition, Donald wore a homemade crown and black shoes.

They held the triplets in their arms in turn.

Donald held Louie, in a comfortable caterpillar suit, in his right hand. Huey, in a bee costume, was holding Scrooge himself in his left hand. And Dewey, in a butterfly costume, was sitting on both of his uncles' arms.

And Scrooge...

(Scrooge frowned in embarrassment when he saw himself)

Scrooge was dressed in a green suit, with a floral headband on his head and his sideburns were tied with the same floral elastic bands.

In principle, this photo would never have existed if Ludwig had not then come with Matilda to see the boys.

Matilda laughed non-stop, even when she calmed down, she continued to giggle. Ludwig's reaction didn't help; he was touched by them and said they were the cutest flower garden he had ever seen.

— Have you even seen this photo, Unca Scrooge? — Dewey turned the photo toward him and glared at it with disgust on his face.

— I hate this. — Louie crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes and stuck out his tongue.

— Who sewed our costumes at all? They're disgusting! — As soon as Huey finished speaking, something broke and all four of them turned their heads in the direction of the sound.

It was a bowl, which now lay in fragments on the floor along with sweets.

But the one who broke it.. There was Donald.

He stood motionless, in the position when he held the bowl. His eyes were wide open and was on the verge of tears.

— Terrible?... — his voice was low because of a whisper and watery because of unshed tears.

Scrooge jumped up from the sofa and walked over to him, stepping over the shards.

— Donny, nephew! You're just in time, we found our old photo by the way! — he pulled Donald by the shoulders and showed him the photo. — Aren't we cute, mm?

— But... But the boys.. — Donald looked at his children again. They only lowered their heads in shame when they noticed their uncle's tears.

— They were joking! Yes, boys? — Scrooge hugged his nephew again.

— Of course! — the children immediately ran up to them, avoiding the shards. — We're just kidding!

— Y.. Yes?.. — they nodded their heads furiously — And you.. Don't you think I'm a bad seamstress?

— Of course not! — Scrooge intervened again. — You're a great seamstress, man! To be honest, this Halloween I wanted you to sew us costumes again!

— Really? — his voice gained hope.

— Yeah!

Donald 's face brightened.

He quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve and looked at his uncle again.

— Well, you're in luck. — Scrooge and the boys looked at him questioningly. — I have something for you in the attic.

— ?

_________________________

— You look good, cousin. — Gladstone in a sorcerer's costume, praised Fethry.

— Hehe, I know! — Fetri was giggling and waving his vampire cloak.

— Have you boys seen Scrooge, Donald and the kids? I thought they were going to collect sweets with us. — Grandma Duck in a stuffed suit, came out with a basket for sweets. She came because she couldn't convince Gus to go with them.

— I think soon. — As soon as Gladstone finished, they heard someone coming. — See?

— Hey, are you all ready for a night of "Trick or treat"? — It was Donald's voice.

— Of course, we are! — grandma turned in his direction, but suddenly her eyes widened in surprise. She covered her beak with her hand to stifle laughter.

The cutest she'd ever seen was their first Halloween.

They were wearing the same theme again!

The boys came forward, embarrassed.

Dewey in a mermaid costume awkwardly washed his hand. His skirt was blue, which was decorated with red and yellow beads, especially a lot of it was on the hem. A T-shirt of a delicate sea-green color with drawings of shells. And cute makeup, with purple shadows and a light blue blush.

Louie stood in the middle of his brothers, his hands just as awkwardly hidden behind his back in his mermaid costume. He also had a floor-length skirt, but already green in color and the beads were pink and purple. T-shirt of soft turquoise color and with a pattern of starfish. And also light makeup with pink shadows and a light green blush.

And Huey, in a pirate costume, looked more confident than his brothers, but still awkward. He was wearing a black and white striped T-shirt with a burgundy sweatshirt on it and brown and red shorts. On one of his legs was a long brown knee-length sock with patterned lines to show that it was a wooden leg and a red and maroon bandana with white patterns. And like a true pirate, Huey held a sword.

Behind, but not too far away, were Donald and Scrooge. The last one, who was also dressed as a pirate!

Scrooge was wearing a white and black T-shirt and a deep red long jacket, brick-colored pants. On his head was a black pirate hat with a white skull and feather, and a black patch over one eye. However, he didn't have a sword or an ordinary cane, he was holding a candy basket.

So he held Donald's hand.

Donald himself was in a chest suit, although, without all the context, his costume looked more like a princess or something like that.

He was wearing a short brown dress, with the same short sleeves, while the rest was golden, or more precisely yellow, in color. The golden part of the skirt was also floor-length, but decorated with white, red, green and blue beads. The golden part of the sleeves was covered with glitter. And makeup with golden shadows and arrows on the eyes.

— You look... great together — Elvira could not hide her smile of emotion.

— Thank you, I tried! — Donald smiled proudly.

— Oh, yeah? — Gladstone decided not to say the joke that came into his head.

— You're all so cute! All the candies will be yours! — Fethry was still waving his cloak.

— Aww, thanks.

_________________________

— Trick or treat! — the children crowded around the door and pulled out their candy bags.

— What wonderful costumes! Keep your treats, darlings! — an elderly woman took sweets from a bowl and poured each child.

— Thanks! Happy Halloween! — the children fled to their parents and to other homes.

— Unca Donald, look! — Donald turned around and slightly bent down to the boys running up to him.

They all showed and showed off their sweets again.

— You'll run up to me after every house, won't you? — After the praise, he asked this question with a smile.

— Yes! — in response, the boys mockingly showed him their tongues.

Although it was awkward for them to walk like this at first, after a couple of houses they immediately got used to their costumes and calmly ran and had fun.

Donald had to hold Scrooge's hand because his cane didn't fit the suit (which was nonsense, the cane fit the suit), but he didn't complain much.

— After all, your suit suits you. — suddenly Scrooge said and Donald took a look away from the children.

— What?

— He suits you. Your suit. — he spoke calmly while eating his candy.

— Why did you say that all of a sudden? — A smile and a slight blush played on Donald's beak.

— Well.. — Scrooge hesitated a little. — You also make us happy. — he looked at his nephew and smiled. — And you're just as handsome.

Donald giggled.

— You want to go get some more candy, don't you? — Scrooge twitched.

— Yes, but! — he indignantly at the words — I'm trying to be nice, damn it! — he was outraged by this accusation, albeit true.

This time Donald laughed.

— Yeah, yeah.. — he wiped away a tear from laughing and leaned over to his uncle — Thank you.. — and kissed him on the cheek.

Scrooge froze for a moment, but still smiled.

— Happy Halloween, nephew.

— Happy Halloween, unckie.

__________________________

Happy Halloween!

[inhibitionfreewriting]

okay hear em out: nick introducing you to the guys for the first time!!!!!!

nick, who is normally very secure and confident on the outside, you can tell he's nervous. like he's reaching for your skin while he drives you back to the house, hand going from laced with yours to stroking over your jeans.

"it's going to be okay." you can tell he says it mostly to himself, but accentuates the end of his sentence with a tiny leg pat. it is going to be okay because he loves you and he's 100% sure that they will love you too. when you finally park and are ushered to the door you are greeted like you've always been family.

"oh my god you're so tiny," anthony, slime you tell yourself, is not much taller than you but teases anyway and wraps his arms around you in a bear hug. "it's nice to meet the girl that nick won't shut up about!"

"i do not talk about her all the time," nick says, kicking off his shoes, and gently pushing slime away as aiden throws his arms in the air. he's the only one you've spoken to before, having picked up nick's phone while he was driving a few days ago.

"aiden!" you yell and throw your arms up before hugging him. "it's so nice to meet you!" anthony grumbles something to himself with a playful eyeroll that nick smacks his shoulder for. aiden hugs you back tightly for a beat before pulling his phone out.

"where's lud?" nicks eyebrows knitted together before touching his forehead. if anyone was going to miss it or be late or just be the problem child, he said it was going to be ludwig.

"that's okay. only losers miss meeting me, so, L for ludwig," you joke, having adopted most of that from hearing nick talk.

"holy shit you sound just like a shitty ai."

"okay - well, i'm going to be honest with you, i have never said a sentence like that before out loud." the three of them nod and are all in agreement with how awful it sounded. if it were any other group of people you would have been embarrassed.

the next hour and a half before ludwig shows up is much akin to hanging out with older brothers. their collective love language is shitty jokes (that are all bark and no bite) and inescapable, obnoxious gestures... it's comfortable chaos, yelling at each other and smacking things out of the others hand.

when ludwig does walk in, he misses you initially complaining about getting stuck in traffic in the rain and wonders why everyone is over? aiden gestures towards where you're sitting on the couch next to nick.

"oh! shit - i'm sorry!" he crosses the distance and reaches for you, almost in a handshake manner as you're standing up.

"are you going to shake her hand?" anthony asked incredulously. "are you interviewing her? just because it's a woman on a couch doesn't mean it's a casting couch video lud, god."

"that's not - " luds hands shake in fake anger "how do you even think of that?"

"you're the one who went to shake her hand you freak!" you sit back down with an amused grin, knocking your leg into nick's.

"i think they like you."

[lovepaperhearts]

Ludwig X Female Reader – Music Healer.

The Cuphead Show fanfic.

Part 1

This is my very first reader-fic I’ve ever done. I hope you’ll like it. So far I’ve gotten to this point and haven’t been hit by writers block along the way.

Edit: since I've gotten great positive reactions from all around, a part 2 will be written! (Also, fixed some typos and a few mistakes)

I do have to admit that I had fun to research stuff that exist in 1930, like Ludwig’s design is a phonograph, one of its first design before the gramophone-record exist. Which makes sense, as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910, and the name gramophone exist at 1940 (record version or turntable).

@juniminabloom I hope you like it, I tried my best to write, and I hope other Ludwig Fans loves this as I love writing it.

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“Uuugh, I can’t believe I’ve lost half of my price money in the hospital for my healing… And now I have to find someone to fix my phonographs-parts!” Ludwig complained, walking on the sidewalk in the city with a cane (He’s limping a bit from his injuries).

Ever since the piano-incident when he won (by stealing someone else’s pianoplay) the piano competition in the Inkwell Theater, his phonograph-head couldn’t play anymore. His horn was completely bend down and a huge crack in it, the wood on his face has some dents, his handle went missing and his button-nose was stuck inside of his face. No doctors from the hospital couldn’t “help” him to get fixed, only help him heal from wounds and broken bones.

Ludwig pulled out a little business card out of his pocket “At least one of the doctors knew a great repairman of phonographs and radios. One of the greatest as he told me. Let’s see…”

Is your music broken? Fear not!

Bring your instruments, phonographs, music boxes and radios over and I will heal it back to life!

Y/N’s Music Healer Shop at Inkwell Edison Street 1877

Ludwig turned around the corner, looked up from the business card and saw across the street the Music Healer Shop “Ah, there it is.” He crossed the street and looked at the sign upon the store. Just then, the door went open and a happy young boy walked outside, playing his trumpet.

“Thank you for fixing my trumpet, Y/N!” the young boy called out and walked away, continue to play.

“Well, here goes nothing…” Ludwig thought and entered the shop, ringing the little bell above the door. Inside the store, there were plenty of phonographs, radios and instruments laying in the shelves, along with several loose parts on sale. He went to see a phonograph, standing there with a little nametag. Apparently, this one went broken but got fixed, waiting for its owner to pick it up.

“Good morning, sir!” A voice called out to him. Ludwig turned around and saw a woman moving towards him “How can I help you?”

“Ah, good morning. I came here to see and speak to the owner of this shop.”

“You’re talking to the owner right here.”

“Oh… Well, may I speak to the repairman of this shop then?”

“You’re speaking to the repairman right here. Or better said repairwoman.” Y/N laughed.

“You? You’re the repairman?”

“Yes.”

…

“Ha, that’s ridiculous!” Ludwig laughed “A woomaan doing this?!”

“E-excuse me?”

“Don’t take it too hard, my dear. I never met a woomaan doing a man’s job like this.”

“Pardon?!”

“I know that woomaans belongs behind a kitchen counter and being a housewife. So I’ll be off to another repairman that’s actually a man and knows how to fix me. I won’t be needing your help.”

Oh that’s it! “Listen here, mister!” Y/n pressed her finger against his chest “How dare you say something like that?! Women can do as much as a man, even a job as this or in the army! Heck, we are able to vote 10 years ago! There will be a time that women get to do even more than you think! You’ll be sorry you ever said that to me!”

“Good luck with that, my dear. And with your business.” Ludwig laughed and walked out of the store.

“UGH! Jerk!”

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

*Skip-time to evening*

“YIAAAUW!” “AAHHH!” “THAT HURTS!” “WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THAT THING?!” “NOOO!” “GET AWAY FROM ME!” Ludwig ran out screaming, away from the fourth music repair shop in Inkwell. After being far away from his terrifying experience of a true brutal music-fixer, he stopped running and leaned over to catch his breath.

“Now what do I do…” Ludwig thought “That was my last chance to get my phonograph fixed… And it’s getting late… There’s only one shop left- No, I can’t do that. Not after what I… Every shop-owner said that she’s indeed the best at her job, and they’re not even bothered by her gender… She helped a being like myself to get fixed with gentle hands…”

He looked at the reflection of himself in one of the shop-windows and saw how terrible he looked. He placed his hand upon his face “I don’t have much choice left…”

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*Skip-time to late-evening, around 9pm*

“At last, it’s Saturday-evening and finally able to relax for tomorrow!” Y/N sat down and placed a mug with tea upon her tea-table while wearing her pink pajamas and robe “Well, let’s see how this story goes on.” Y/N took a book laying upon the tea-table and started to read.

….

BONK BONK BONK BONK!!!!

What in the?!

BAM BAM BAM BAM!!!

“Is that on the front door of my shop?!” Y/N asked out loud and stood up to walk towards the door that separated her home and her shop with work-area.

BAM BONK BAM BONK!!!

Y/N turned on the lights and moved at the front door “Will you stop doing that?! I’m on my way!!!”

BONK BAM BONK BAM!!!

“REALLY?!” Y/N shouted “WHO ON EARTH WOULD BE AT THIS HOUR-” She lifted the roller shutter up and saw Ludwig banging on the door.

“Please, help me.”

…

Y/N looked at him with an angry frown and rolled the roller shutter down.

“Please!”

BAM BAM!!!

Y/N unlocked the door and opened it “Will you cut that out?!” She grabbed his arm, pulled Ludwig inside the shop and locked the front door again “The neighbors will call the Bee Police on us and arrest us for noise disturbance!”

…

“Now, why are you here so late after closing time?” Y/N asked, even though she knew why already.

“I… I need your help.”

…

“Excuse me? My help?”

“Yes, your help.”

…

“Since when do you need help from a woomaan?” Y/N copied Ludwig’s words and crossed her arms “I only belong in the kitchen and be a housewife as you told me.”

…

“Not able to talk big now, huh?” Y/N moved to the front door again, her back turned away from Ludwig “Now, if you don’t mind, I would like you to leave-”

“No, please! I really need your help!”

“What are you going to do? Beg on your knees for forgiveness?” Y/N said with sarcasm.

Thump.

Y/N turned around to look what sound it was and saw Ludwig upon his knees and holding his hands.

“I was being sarcastic. I didn’t think he would actually do it!” Y/N thought and felt shocked by his actions.

“Please, my dear. You’re truly the only one that can help me now. I went to all the repairmen in the Inkwell City and no one had a gentle hand upon me to fix me. They all said you’re the best at your job in fixing, even with people like me. I… I don’t want my music to die. Who am I without my own sound? Please, help me, I beg of you. Please.”

…

“Sigh. Who am I to refuse? I heal music, no matter what. It’s my job, living and passion.” Y/N moved at front of Ludwig “You promise to behave and not insult me again?”

“I promise, my dear.”

“… Alright, I’ll help you. Come on.” Y/N held her hand out. Ludwig took it and got pulled up.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Ludwig held her hand and kept shaking it.

“It’s okay. Follow me.”

Both of them moved to the work-area of the store “Oh, is that a phonograph over there?”

“Yes, it is. It belonged to my father, Thomas. It’s his first one he ever restored and was gifted by one of the royal people in Inkwell Islands.”

“Really?”

“Yes, it even has a signature upon the horn from the owners with a text as well. It’s the only thing I have of him and it means a lot to me. Here, take a seat on the big couch.”

“I do apologize that I arrived so late.” Ludwig sat down.

“I can see how desperate you are, um… I’m sorry, I don’t think I got to know your name.”

“My name is Ludwig.”

“… Wait, as in “Ludwig” that won the piano competition and got crushed under a piano a half year ago?”

“…Yes.” Ludwig said with a painful and shameful face.

“I heard that over the radio.” Y/N went to her stove and started to set some tea “I was beyond shock that has happened to you. Why would there be a piano above the stage anyway? Don’t people know how dangerous that is?”

“It’s still a mystery who has done it or why it was up there, my dear.”

“There’s not many people that survives something like that, you must’ve been very lucky.”

“I was. The doctors said if I had a second piano dropped on me, I would’ve been dead.”

Y/N placed herbs inside the hot water kettle “It’s insane when whoever done it would place a second piano, let alone one.”

…

“Well, at least, you’re alive. That’s the important part.”

“… Thank you, my dear.”

“You don’t need to call me “my dear”. Just call me Y/N.”

“If that’s what you wish, Y/N.”

Y/N moved with a mug and handed to Ludwig “Here, drink this. It will calm you down.”

“Thank you.” Ludwig took a sip.

“Now.” Y/N removed her robe and placed it next to Ludwig on the couch “Let me take a look at your damage.”

Ludwig couldn’t help but blush slightly of seeing Y/N in her pajamas. He began to blush more once she placed her hands upon his cheeks and moved his head from side to side.

“Your wooden face has cracks and scratches, even a small hole here. Your wax cylinder is still intact, that’s good news. Your handle is missing. Your horn is crooked and a really huge crack in it, I’m not sure if I can save it, but I’ll try my best… Am I missing something, Ludwig?”

“Uuuh… Oh, my sincere apologies! Yes, my button-nose is pushed inside and it’s stuck.”

“Ah, I see it. Yes.” Y/N moved away from Ludwig to her workbench.

Ludwig drank a lot of his tea at once. “What was that?” He thought.

“I believe I can manage to fix those damages you have. I got all the parts I need, so I’ll get started right away.”

“Is it going to hurt?”

“Not really, that is when you sleep in while I’m fixing you.”

“I’m not feeling sleepy…” Ludwig started to yawn.

“You sure about that?” Y/N laughed.

“I…” Ludwig’s head started to drop down.

“Go ahead, sleep.”

…

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*The next morning, Sunday at 8am*

…

“Mmm… Yawn…” Ludwig started to wake up “Where… am I… Wait!” He rose up and saw a blanket upon him “Did I truly fell asleep last night?” He looked over and saw Y/N sitting at her workbench asleep “It really is morning.” He scratches his nose-!

“What?!” Ludwig got up and headed to a mirror hanging there in the workshop. His jaw dropped. His face is completely fixed! He got a new handle, his horn has been replaced with a new one that looked close to his original one and even more shiny than before, all of the scratches and cracks were gone. His button-nose stood there instead being inside his face. With hesitation, he pressed it and his music started to play. He never sounded so clear, like brand new.

“I… I can’t believe it…” Ludwig stood there with disbelief and tears in his eyes “How… How did she do it?”

…

“Ah, look who’s awake.” Y/N woke up from the playing music “Are you happy with the result?”

…

“Is everything alright, Ludwig?” Y/N got up and went to him.

…

Suddenly, Ludwig turned around “THANK YOU!” and gave Y/N a hug, holding her tightly “You have no idea how much this means to me!”

Y/N patted his back “It’s my job to do this, Ludwig. But I’m still gonna say: You’re welcome.”

Ludwig let go of the hug, but kept his hands upon Y/N’s shoulders “But how? How did you manage to do this? I don’t even feel pain at all!”

“Well, I can only work on you when you’re asleep. I gave you chamomile tea to help you fall asleep. And for the pain, I added some ginger to the tea, which also really helps for it. Sorry for tricking you like that, I’ve had people before that were so scared that they ran out of the shop. So, my father came up with this little trick.”

“I see.”

“I’m truly glad that everything’s working fine.” Y/N placed her hands upon Ludwig’s cheeks again “Even the horn works perfectly. I couldn’t save your first horn, so I had to use a new one that looked closely to your old one. By the way, I did manage to find something odd in your old horn while I was trying to fix it.”

“What was it?”

Y/N removed her hands again “It stunk pretty badly, but I believe it was a part of a crawdad?”

…

“Oh, I um… I think I can recall how it ended up there, but promptly forgot about it.”

“Don’t worry about it, it wasn’t the weirdest thing I found in certain parts in instruments or people.” Y/N laughed.

“I can imagine it.” Ludwig laughed along.

“Anyway, now that you’re all fixed, take it easy for the rest of the day. I don’t want to see you back with another broken part on the same day that you got fixed. Some people can be so reckless and think they’re invincible. You can do that tomorrow.” Y/N joked on the last part.

“Don’t worry my dear, I’m not reckless.” Ludwig pulled out his wallet “How much is it?”

“In total… Of all the fixing and replacements, it will be 120$ dollars, please.”

“That’s it? I’m surprised that it doesn’t cost much as I thought.” Ludwig pulled out the money and hand it to her. Both of them headed to the entrance of the shop.

“It’s mostly my standard price, depending on the damage.” Y/N took the money “If there’s parts that I needed to get it elsewhere, then it would be a bit more, but I had everything I needed right here.” Y/N unlocked the front door “Yaawn.”

“Tired, my dear?”

“Yeah, I’ll be catching some Z’s soon.”

“Wait, how long have you been working to fix me?”

“From the moment you fell asleep and when I was done… From 9pm to 7am.”

“You’ve worked the entire night through?!” Ludwig said shocked.

“Don’t worry, it wasn’t the first time I’ve done this. I had an emergency before in the middle of the night, so I’m used to it. Besides, it’s Sunday and it’s my rest day. I don’t need to open my shop on Sunday.”

“I… I feel like I haven’t paid you enough for your job.”

“You don’t need to pay me more than you already did!”

“But still-”

“It’s okay, really.”

“… Oh! How about this? I will ask you to join me for dinner tonight.”

“Dinner?”

“Yes, dinner.” Ludwig went down on one knee “As a reward for your hard work and kindness toward me, and an apology for my rudeness from yesterday. I never should’ve said those horrible words to you and it will never happen again.”

“I-uuh… I-” He’s literally asking me out!

Ludwig took your hand “What do you say, my dear? I only ask for one dinner.”

… Maybe one dinner wouldn’t hurt. I do have to admit he’s quite handsome…

“Alright, one dinner. I’m always happy when food gets involved.” Y/N joked with her cheeks blushing.

“Splendid!” Ludwig rose up, still holding your hand “I’ll pick you up at 7pm here. Get plenty of rest for tonight. I’ll be seeing you soon, my dear.” Ludwig kissed your hand “Until then.” And stepped out of the shop.

…

Am I really going out?! With him?! I’m not sure I can sleep right now. Y/N placed her hands upon her burning cheeks.

 To be continued.

[fantomette22]

One shot: Return from the hunting lesson 

Alright ! I have written a lil something ! It's actually based on one of the first little funny Bloodborne sketches I've drawn.

I decided to draw it properly as well (A little comic in 4 cases). But it will come a bit later I need to draw it properly x)

It's also supposed to be a part of a bigger story. If I ever managed to really write it down. So I guess it's some kind of preview/beta for you and training for me (I'm sorry I dunno how to write dialogue efficiently or smoothly help). It's a draft so things might change of course (so don't be afraid of the 3 smileys I put XD they will disappear in due time). Apologies for the lack of context as well but it's supposed to be in the middle of a bigger chapter. In the middle of the first fic. But it can work independently too and I've wanted to put it on paper since a while. I still hope you will enjoyed.

Return from the hunting lesson :

Campus of Byrgenwerth, years before the official founding of the Healing Church.

Laurence was pensive. If he couldn’t find them himself, he will just go ask everyone he could came cross. Someone had to know something about it!

After spending sometimes running and asking around the few persons he could find, with no succeed, he noticed two young men walking towards him. Micolash seems to be in the middle of an explanation and Ludwig was listening attentively.

He interpellated them, “Micolash, Ludwig! Would you have a minute?”

 “Oh Hello Laurence :D !” said an overjoyed Ludwig. 

Then Micolash replied more calmly, “Of course, what do you need Laurence?”

“I wanted to ask if any of you have seen Maria or Gehrman recently?”

Micolash thought a few seconds before answering: “Not since a few days, I think, why?”

Laurence sighed “I fear you would say that…”

Ludwig questioned him : “What do you mean? Is everything alright?”

“Well, the Cainhurst nobles have arrived, so their presence is required. But most importantly, I’m a bit worried because no one seem to have seen any of them since a few days…”

“But aren’t they training in the woods the entire week?” replied a confused Ludwig.

“Yes, they are. They usually go at the first hours of the morning and come back before night. But they didn’t come back yesterday evening and they were supposed to come back today at least. You could think they might have went camping and spend the night in the forest. I wouldn’t be surprised but no one saw them before yesterday as well. Nothing since two days ! A student even claimed to have seen a creature in the forest as well…”

Micolash was left puzzled “Hm… this is concerning. Something would have happened to them? Or to one of them?"

“Oh, I hope they’re ok!” exclaimed a very worried Ludwig.

While they were talking, a figure passed through the bushes with difficulty. They fell silents, looked in its direction and were left completely astonished.

It was Maria. 

She seems a bit lost, carrying a big sac and a smaller messenger bag over her shoulder, but it was her appearance that was rather unusual. With leaves in her hair, her clothes were covered in dirt and…could that be blood as well?

“MARIA ?!”

She turned her head toward them a bit confused before answering : “Oh hello! How are you all doing?”

The three came right in front of her, Laurence was the first to questioned her “Maria are you alright? What happened?” 

“Yes, I’m alright and what do you mean? We were hunting like you’re aware of”

“We had no news of you both for days! We grew worried… Where’s Gehrman ?!”

“Well… we spend last night in the woods and before yesterday at the village...But we did get back at night to get a few things, and Gehrman-” She looked around. “Didn’t arrived yet…” She then turned toward the forest to shout “Over here!” 

A moments later he emerged between the dense leaves and branches. He was too carrying an imposing sac and was covered in a bloody dirt as well. He had a rifle on his back. “Hello everyone.” 

Laurence chuckle in relief.

“So…  did this hunting lesson worked out?” asked Ludwig.

A big grin appeared on Gehrman’s face. “It did!” He put the sac on the ground and began to open it. At the same time Maria handed a small sac she gets from her bag. “Here Micolash. If I recalled, you and Rom wanted to examine a venomous maggot? Well, we found this dead one”

He took it “Oh thank you very much Maria! That is correct you remember well! I’m sure our dear friend will be very happy.”

From his own, Gehrman pulled out the head of an imposing boar. “Tada!”

The trio was taken aback once again. 

“That’s huge! Hold on… there’s things like that in the woods ?!” Ludwig said like he was scared.

“Oh just a few.”

“So, you two hunts down a boar?” questioned Laurence. 

“Mostly yes. But it’s not the only thing…” Maria answered. The teacher’s eyes look down at the close sac beside her. 

Gehrman cough to get their attention “Well she killed a boar.” 

“Yeah i…I killed a boar...”

“That’s quite impressive! All by yourself?”

“Well Gehrman helped me-“

“Oh, I just help to distracted it. You deserve the entire praise on this one.” A big smile appears on the face of the younger hunter.

“Where is the rest of it too?” asked Micolash.

“We couldn’t take all of it with us, so we left the rest to the villagers and the snakes I guess” answered the other hunter.

The student continued : “You two are covered in so much mud! Better jump right now into the sea to wash up x) !

“Thanks, but I think we’re fine. We got time to clean up after all.”

“Well… actually Cainhurst had already arrived.” Laurence informed them.

“What. Oh”  Oh no no no ! I’m so screwed I can’t show up like this !

Gehrman noticed her distressed. “Don’t worry- Hm… just go! I got it!”

“Really? Oh, thank you!” She then starts running extremely fast across the campus in direction of her dorm.

“Well, I think we should all get going as well” proposed Laurence. 

They began to walk, after saying goodbye, Micolash and Ludwig went in their own direction.

“So, what’s in this one?” Laurence asked, pointing at the smaller sac Maria was caring earlier.

“Something I need to show master Willem…and you.” Laurence looks at him with an interrogating look. “Do you remember the dog lost by the prospectors in the labyrinth a few weeks ago?”

“Hm yes? Oh ! Let me guess… you find his remains at the surface didn’t you?”

“It’s more him who find us...” 

“What?” 

“Laurence. That thing… whatever it was, it wasn’t the dog we knew. The way he attacked us… We just put an end to his suffering.” He sighed “I will explain more later. Not here...”

“Alright I understand… Do you plan to do that right now?” 

“I was thinking of showing the boar head to our noble visitors before. I believe they will appreciate it. As well as to be made aware of the progress of their future knight.’’

“Certainly, let’s get going then.”

[popitdontdropitwrites]

"Stockholm" Medic/Sniper - Chapter 5

Chapter: 1, 2, 3, 4,

CW: Medical torture, brain surgery, blood, gore

The unfittingly cheery jingle of keys announced the Medic’s return. The lock clicked open, and Mundy merely stood there, like a deer in headlights. Ludwig stepped inside with the faintest hint of an amused smile on his lips. He casually shrugged off his coat and hung it on a nearby chair, as if to shed his formal skin. But he quickly regrew it by straightening his tie and meeting his gaze, silently greeting him. His eyes, utterly devoid of compassion and emotion examined every inch of him thoroughly, assessing his competence with something as simple as a shower.

“I thought that you might look less like a rodent after a decent scrubbing,” Ludwig commented, circling around him, his index tapping against his lip as he thought it over. “I suppose not.” He said with humour in his voice, as if he liked the fact.

“You don’t sound too pissed off about that.” Mundy remarked, crossing his arms to hide the sudden bout of self-consciousness blossoming within him.

“I merely think it is fitting.” He said, his fingers toying with his overgrown hair in a frighteningly affectionate manner – why was he in such a good mood?  “You are my little lab rat after all.”

A deeply repulsed shudder panicked and thrashing like unearthed worms snaked down his spine. He quickly changed the subject – the scent of ash on Ludwig’s skin, thick and clogging, like that of the scorched heart of the bush. “…How come ya smell like smoke?” He asked, giving a sniff to emphasise his point.

He leant against the back of the chair in a conversational manner, looking at him with indifference. “My acquaintance is guilty of the occasional cigarette.”

His immediate thought leapt to the Spy. The bloke was never seen without some sort of expensive stick in his mouth. “You’re workin’ with the Spy of all fuckin’ people?”

“I never said that.” Ludwig said calmly, surprisingly relaxed despite his accusation.

“Right then, whatever ya say. So, what’s this supposed partner of yours want with this?”

“He has his reasons.”

He insisted, hoping to squeeze a little more information out of him. “…And you just let this partner of yours smoke around you?” His brows lowered, judging this supposed doctor. This wasn’t adding up. He couldn’t imagine Ludwig ever allowing it, considering what a tightarse he was.

“I pitied him.” He confessed, averting his eyes, deep in thought for a moment. “He was terribly nervous, and even that may be putting it lightly. I allowed him to relax.”

The Spy was well and truly off the list now, for the word nervous and the very concept of the man failed to connect. In fact, they went in opposite directions, never to meet. But if not him, who else? “That doesn’t sound like you at all.” He scoffed.

His ears reddened, giving away his irritation through his deceptively calm demeanour. “It was necessary. If you had been there, you would have recognised that.”

“Nah, I think you’ve got a soft spot for this bloke.”

His gaze sharpened with offense and the redness spread to his cheeks, unwittingly displaying his anger. “I have had enough of your incessant questioning.” He snapped, abruptly severing the arteries of this line of conversation.

Though Mundy still had so many questions, he gave a nod, allowing this topic to slowly bleed out and die. As it drowned in its own blood, gargling and blubbering, they held eyes in a moment so bizarrely intimate that he lost himself in the icy blue abyss of his irises. The colour, hypnotic like the azure shallows of the sea, seemed to coil around his mind, its embrace viscous and thick, clouding his every thought with conflicting feelings.

Thankfully, Ludwig interrupted it, freeing him. “Come here for a moment.” He beckoned him with his index, the look in his eyes softening and his voice suddenly calm.

The sinking feeling within him insisted that he refuse, but his traitorous body seemed to move on its own. He stepped towards Ludwig until he was in arms reach of him. “…Yeah?”

The Medic rummaged through his pockets, drawing a marker out from the depths, and popping the cap off, releasing the pungent, burning smell of alcohol. A large, gangly hand swept the hair from his forehead, making him flinch with surprise. Ludwig leant in, the red tip of the marker appearing enormous in Mundy’s blurred view. Its velvety, wet surface pressed against his temple, flicking almost perfectly even dotted lines across his skin, all the way to the other side. Ludwig cupped his chin, tilting his head side to side to test the straightness of his linework.

He put the cap back on, satisfied enough with it. “Not to worry, it won’t stain. It is only a surgical marker.” He said, smiling as if that would ease his concerns.

Surgical. That word, tasting of copper and soap, weighted heavily on his chest, its touch as cold as it was horrifying. “Why—” His lungs had been locked in a cage and he could hardly force the words out. “What the hell do I need surgery for?”

Ludwig delighted in his panic and hesitated to respond, just to watch him writhe. “The first procedure appears to have failed.” He crooned, not sounding at all devastated by the fact. “At least, your behaviour strongly suggests that.”

“N-Nah, mate, it worked!” He exclaimed; his voice far too loud in his need to avoid this supposed procedure. “Look at me, why would I be here if it had failed? There’s somethin’ in my head, I know there is, ‘cause I have thoughts that aren’t bloody mine. It’s doin’ what it’s meant to, I promise ya.”

No matter how much he talked, the German’s expression did not change. His head remained on that slight but perceptible angle of superiority, his smile lined with sadism and his posture attentive yet mocking. “I’m so sorry to disappoint you, but I believe you are experiencing the very minute effects of a defective device.” He said, really grinning now. “These thoughts of yours are a mere taste of what it should be inducing.” He laughed lowly, thrilled at the prospect of an invasive procedure. “It must be fixed, don’t you think?”

He wanted to agree to avoid getting a smack to the gob, but the idea of brain surgery tightened around his neck like a noose, strangling his words. He shook his head quickly, unable to think clearly through the racing flood of terrified thought. Reason drowned beneath the current, only able to rise long enough to tell him that he had just made a terrible mistake.

“No?” Ludwig replied with faux surprise, his lashes fluttering. “You don’t think so?”

Before he could even say a word to correct his mistake, Ludwig had put a finger to his lips, forcing him to bask in the gloomy shadow of his error. The silence only drew his attention to the hand creeping to his mouth and the fingers sliding between his lips, pulling the flesh into a crude, unnatural smile. The German’s skin wore the acidic flavours of artificial scents, the powder of his gloves and the coppery tang of bodily fluids, all of which were enough to make Mundy’s eyes water.

He snickered, the sound somehow even more unsettling than the slosh of saliva from his violated mouth. “Oh, Mundy...” He said condescendingly, his nails scraping against his gums. “You never learn, do you?” He said lowly, teasing him in a near playful manner.

He nodded, a forced hum of agreement escaping him.  

Ludwig leant in close, his fingers rubbing against his teeth, as if to polish the yellowness out from them. He whispered in his ears, a manic quality blooming in his voice, enriching every syllable. “It doesn’t matter how obedient you act now, Mundy.” He uttered sweetly. “Even if you were to cry, scream and beg for me not to cut you open, it wouldn’t change a single thing.” He purred, the excitement in his tone intensifying. “Go on, smile and nod for me.”

He did just that, with compulsory enthusiasm.

“There’s a good boy.” Ludwig mocked. “Now, what I want you to do is to undress and get comfortable on my operating table. Can you do that for me?”

Mundy was released from his grasp, and he was left stunned for a moment. Those words failed to sound real, like something out of the depths of a nightmare. “I’ll do it.” He mumbled, scrambling away from Ludwig to escape the intensity of his voice in his ears and the forcefulness of his touches.

He lifted his shirt and dumped it on a nearby chair alongside his pants and shoes, leaving him bare. Mundy held himself, attempting to cover his body though it was an impossibility. He did not dare look at Ludwig, he didn’t want to see that smile of his, simply because he wouldn’t be able to forget it. His skin turned cold with embarrassment. Like this, there was nothing to give him dignity, not that dirty clothes did much for him in the first place, but they had been something. He perched himself on the cold, firm operating table, completely exposed to his captor. A new, deeper level of shame revealed itself to him; the overwhelming humiliation that came with submission. He had made himself nothing more than Ludwig’s dog.

Not even that. This was lower, even, deep underground where all was wet, dark and miserable.

He was a mouse to the Medic. A rodent with mattered fur, destined to be cut open again and again, simply for his own amusement. He was in his own special cage, where his owner could watch him do the most mundane of tasks and marvel at just how fearful he was. He could point and giggle dotingly as he ate plain foods, towel him off after his forced baths and tuck him in at night so that he could play with him all over again. It would never end, not until he was dead. But somehow, he doubted that death would ever come. Ludwig would not allow that small mercy.

The snapping of gloves made him flinch. His eyes darted to Ludwig instead of the floor, and he was greeted with what he feared the most: a smile. The metallic, sharpened fangs of the saw-like device didn’t terrify him like the bleached, filed teeth of the doctor did. Even the scraping whirr of the saw as it came to life was nothing compared to the bellowing roar of Ludwig’s laughter.

The gentle touch of a gloved hand on his chest commanded him to lean against the rising backrest, to give the false appearance of comfort. With a showy flick, the Medigun was turned on but only a thin, sickly beam emerged – the bare minimum to keep him alive.

But it would do nothing to numb the pain.

“You were mostly unconscious the last time I performed this surgery.” Ludwig commented, his eyes gazing deep into the spinning blade in his hand, as if to admire it. “But admittedly, I much prefer this.” He snickered, the sound swallowed by the squeal of his tool.

Mundy had no words. Fear had frozen him solid, and he could only stare, his eyes glazed and his lips quivering.

Ludwig thumbed his lip, leaning in and bringing the blade closer, the sound agonisingly loud. He could feel the warmth radiating from the metal, just inches from slicing his skin. It joined with the doctor’s breaths, as if he would bite Mundy too. “Wunderbar,” He seemed to revel in his terror, his eyes alight with utter fascination. “You will be screaming for me, I can tell.”

And that was the last warning he got.

The rapidly spinning fangs of the saw tore into Mundy’s skull, cracking it open by force, splattering blood, and thick juices into the air. All that was white became red in an instant and the world became simple colours, for the rest was beyond his comprehension. Garish red on white, shiny pinkness on pale skin, the heavenlike glow of the ceiling, the clearness of his spittle as he screamed and the dewiness of his tears. He didn’t want to cry, but no matter how much he fought to hold it in, the pain was too much, like the cataclysmic colliding of stars. He tasted salt on his tongue as he shrieked, fighting the urge to throw up.

Pain itself, with fingers made of brambles coiled around him tightly, slicing his body and mind alike open, bringing him into a realm of pure, insufferable overstimulation. It held him still as he squirmed, manically cackling at his newfound suffering. Between the lights and the red-hot bolts of burning sensation, he was only vaguely aware of the fingers prodding in his opened skull, decimating delicate tissue as the Medic roughly searched for his prize.

It was quickly found, buried within the infinitely complex structures of his brain. With a single incision that shattered his mind itself, the device came loose, and bloodied fingers plucked it free.

Ludwig showed Mundy the small chip, which had been stained a permanent shade of red. “See? That was not so bad.” He remarked to the unresponsive Sniper. “We are almost done.” He wiped the bodily fluids from his defective machine with a rag and set it aside.

He tried to speak, to do anything at all, but he could only form an incoherent string of malformed sounds.

“Oh dear…” The Medic said with a poorly hidden smile. “Let me clean that up for you…” He leant down, blocking the light from Mundy’s vision, his features terrifying in this new reality he had carved into his brain, one of inactivity, of thoughtlessness. Ludwig swept up the drool spilling from the side of his mouth with his gloved fingers, leaving blood in its place. “There, much better.”

He physically could not react to his touch. That connection had been severed. He was empty.

“You did well today.” His voice sounded like something out of a dream – silky and tender, unable to be forgotten even when he inevitably woke up. “But there’s just one last thing I need from you… I will be gentle, I promise.”

He retrieved a small torch and in a moment’s notice, blinding whiteness consumed the Sniper’s vision. Blinking did nothing to shield himself from its destructive glare. His eyes became wet, threatening to overflow yet again and he willed himself to stop, he wouldn’t cry for this psychopath’s sick tastes, he wouldn’t give him what he wanted, he wouldn’t allow him to humiliate him like this but deep inside, he knew that what he wanted didn’t matter. Not one bit.

Tears rolled down his cheeks, warming his skin and leaving a glistening trail behind in their wake. Flashes of light followed, memorialising this moment forever.

Next Chapter

[twstgabrielle]

Ludwig or better known to many as Germany, believed that he was somewhat good at regaining control of out of control situations. If the way he managed to get the world meetings back on track said anything then he was a master of being in control of these situations. And because of that he had full faith in himself.

That was until he'd started dating his boyfriends.

Ludwig's boyfriends were to put bluntly a chaotic mess of human beings. Though one of them was in more control of his chaotic energy when combined with the other one it was as if what control he usually had went out the window. Which was how the German had found himself in the current situation he was in. Ludwig had gone out to do some errands leaving his boyfriends home alone to keep an eye on things till he'd gotten back. At the time he didn't really think anything about it leaving them alone together. After all they were good at keeping each other in check when it really counted so surely they would be fine for an hour or two by themselves right?

Wrong.

When the stern nation had returned home with arms full of groceries he'd instantly noted how deathly silent the house was. Now that in itself wasn't strange but having dated his partners for so long he'd gotten used to at least some kind of noise in the house. So to come back to absolute silence had instantly made him alert. Setting the groceries down Ludwig began to search the house for his boyfriends in hopes of finding them okay. After a bit of searching he finally heard soft voices coming from upstairs. Curious and cautious he made his way up the stairs and began to make out the voices coming from the bathroom.

"This is all your fault bloody hell-"

An irritated English accent came from the bathroom.

"Ve Mi dispiace I didn't mean to-! Please forgive me...!"

An Italian accent answered back sounding extremely distressed. At that point it was killing Ludwig not to know what was going on so with little to no hesitance the German knocked on the bathroom door and opened it up.

"Is everything all right in there-"

Ludwig began only to stop dead at the sight before him. There sitting by the bathtub was his two boyfriends, Arthur and Feliciano covered in suds and what looked like dried paint. In the bathtub was Ludwig's dog, covered in the same thing as his boyfriends only much worse. The large black dog looked like he'd had a rainbow barf all over him, his tongue lolling out to pant slightly. His boyfriends had stiffened at his entry, bright green and warm amber hues zoning in on him in slight nervousness. Feli began to shimmy in his place biting his lip while Arthur looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him up. Ludwig just stared at them in dumbfounded shock before finally speaking.

"What ze hell happened.....?"

He asked his tone straining slightly to try to remain calm. The last thing he needed to do was explode on the two men. Pale blue hues bore into the duo making them break out into a sweat.

"Well....uh what happened was...."

Arthur began to say surprisingly at a loss of words. Ludwig crossed his arms over his chest looking like a stern parent before Feliciano finally broke.

"Waahhh-! I'm sorry Ludwig!! I was painting and I didn't realize that Blackie was in the room with me and he ended up knocking over my paints and easel! And I tried to get him he ran out of the room and straight into Arthuro and Mi dispiace ti prego, perdonami-!!!"

The Italian said bursting into tears. Arthur had swung his head around towards his companion his thick eyebrows furrowed.

"Oi you bloody idiot you weren't the only one at fault! I should have been quicker to grab the little bugger instead of zoning out-! If anyone should be sorry it should be me!"

Arthur began to argue obviously not happy with Feli trying to take all the blame. Ludwig watched the two of them processing what was told to him. While he wanted to be angry he knew that his large dog had a tendency to get into trouble and hearing how panicked Feli was made his once building anger die down. It was obvious that both the Englishman and Italian were sorry and as long as they were sorry then he could let it go. Taking a deep breath he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You two really are a handful sometimes. Enough with trying to take the blame for one another. I forgive you two for making a mess, just help me clean it up and we can forget all of this ja?"

Ludwig asked wanting it to just be over. Feliciano quickly stopped crying and seemed to brighten up quite a bit while Arthur relaxed his once tense frame.

"Ahhhh thank you Ludwig-! I'm so happy that you're not angry!!"

The Italian cheered happily quickly getting up to tackle the larger man. Arthur's eyes went wide and he quickly began to reach out.

"Feli watch out-!"

Arthur began to warn but it was too late. Feliciano tripped over his untied shoelaces and fell forward slamming right into Ludwig. Arthur who had gotten up to try and grab the Italian was quickly dragged down with him making the three of them land in a pile of awkward limbs, suds and dried paint. The three men stared at one another baffled by the events that just occurred. It was silent for a moment when it was suddenly broken by the sound of laughing. Feliciano had began to laugh, his body shaking from how hard he was loosing it. Before long Arthur had joined in his low chuckles sounding out and Ludwig felt his own mouth quirk up into a smile of amusement. Blackie who had been sitting in the tub had decided at that moment it'd be a fantastic time to join the lumpy pile as he leaped out soaking wet and tackled the three of them earning shouts and laughter from them.

After managing to get everything back in order Ludwig, Arthur and Feliciano began to get the dog cleaned and then clean up the mess from earlier before getting themselves cleaned up. Once done they went downstairs to put the groceries away and get started on dinner. As the trio made their way into the kitchen Ludwig couldn't help but pause at the doorway and watch the two other men before him. He saw Feliciano's bright smile and Arthur's somewhat shy one back as he listened to the Italian chipper on happily. The German felt his heart swell with affection at the sight of them. Sure Feli and Arthur could be quite the handful and could sometimes get on his last nerve but in the end seeing the two of them in his kitchen with smiles upon their faces it was worth all the insanity that he put up with.

After all it's what you did when you loved someone.

*Brain is mush and it goes brrrrr. I love this OT3 so much you don't understand like bro the possibilities for this ship are endless and it is amazing how this dynamic actually works. Also two more pairings other than EngIta wooooooo I'm broadening out my horizons bby!!!! Anyways if any y'all read this I hope you enjoyed it!!!!*

[koolkat9]

HWS Germany Ship Week 2021: Day 6

Prompt: Fantasy

Paring: GerFruk

Word Count: 1945

A Vampire, A Werewolf and a Merman Walk into a Bar

t was one of the strangest sights Ludwig had seen in a long while. Perhaps that was why he kept coming up each night, pure curiosity. 

It had all started when Ludwig had come to a surface on a whim to admire the night sky. He had chosen a good night as the moon shone full among the stars. It was quite peaceful and very quiet, that was until a large creature came barreling past him, causing him to almost fall off the rock he was sitting on. 

“Oh my God, Arthur,” a man’s accented voice called, “You feral little thing, get back here before someone sees you.” 

A blond man with curly strains tied up in a ribbon and deep blue eyes that seemed to glow in the dark came running towards him. He stopped beside Ludwig’s rock, hunching over, trying to catch his breath, grumbling something along the lines of “So much for vampiric speed.” When he straightened back up, he finally noticed Ludwig. “Oh...sorry for disturbing you. B-But…” The man trailed off as his gaze fell onto Ludwig’s tail, eyes widening before quickly catching himself and continuing, ``Have you seen a wolf-like being come this way?”

Ludwig himself was having his own little moment of realization. Fangs, pale porcelain-like skin, glowing eyes, a vampire. Beautiful, but also a being that struck fear into the hearts of many. Once he overcame his initial shock, wordlessly, he pointed towards the direction that the creature went, and with a short ‘thank you’ the vampire was off once more, chasing after what Ludwig was starting to figure was a werewolf. He returned to looking up at the sky shortly after, forgetting about the vampire and suspected werewolf for the time being.

A few nights later, Ludwig returned to the surface, curious if he had witnessed a positive relationship between a vampire and werewolf. He had always been interested in learning about other creatures, especially those coming from the land. He knew that werewolves and vampires had been natural enemies for a long while so to see a vampire, chasing after (what was assumed to be) a werewolf as if he was worried about them, Ludwig couldn’t help but investigate. So he seated himself on the rock once more, keeping an eye out for the man he met the other night. 

Luck was on his side as he heard two men approach, one with the voice of the vampire. Ludwig turned to see those blue eyes looking back at him, a smile growing on the blue-eyed man's face. Beside him stood another man, about the same height as the vampire with untamed blond locks, striking green eyes, and handsome in a strange sort of way. Taking the green-eyed man’s arm, the vampire began dragging said man towards Ludwig. 

“Oh bonjour mon ami,” the vampire greeted, “what luck seeing you here! I didn’t get to thank you for the other night. Sorry again for the trouble. I’m Francis by the way.”

The other man stood farther back, arms crossed and a scowl on his face. Francis turned his head towards him, his friendly smile dropping, “Arthur, you really are a beast. At least introduce yourself.”

“I didn’t even want to come over here,” the man, Arthur, growled. 

“Ignore my rude lover. He’s just embarrassed that anyone saw him running around like a maniac." So that wolf-creature was a werewolf.

“Francis!”

Francis only continued conversing with Ludwig, ignoring Arthur’s protests. He leaned on the rock, close proximity to Ludwig, making the merman's heart flutter. “So what’s your name mon cher?”

“Ludwig. And it was really no trouble, I’m happy I could help.” 

Francis gave him a warm smile. “But still, I feel bad. Let us treat you to dinner or something.” 

And so, Ludwig agreed, finding himself unable to say no to the vampire’s charms. Once dressed and transformed, Ludwig and the duo headed into town. Despite Arthur’s stand-offish behaviour at first, at dinner, and after a few drinks, he began to crack, talking more to Ludwig, asking him about his interests, and so on. Francis on the other hand became quiet (much to Arthur’s confusion), admiring the other two and listening in on and occasionally adding to the conversation. Ludwig found himself actually having a good time, which was something he rarely found in social situations, especially with people who were practically strangers to him. When they walked him back to the beach that night and said their goodbyes, he couldn’t help but feel somewhat empty as they walked away. 

So he returned to the surface every night and every night, Francis and Arthur stopped by to chat. Ludwig tried to tell himself he was only intrigued by their relationship and perhaps even wanted to be their friend, but deep down, he knew he was also slowly falling for both of them. Why wouldn’t he? They were beautiful in their own ways, both on a surface level and an internal one. Francis was so kind and charismatic. He made Ludwig feel welcomed and never failed to make him smile (or blush). Arthur on the other hand had more edges, but once you got to know him, he was sweet and Ludwig found that he and Arthur had a lot in common.

But they loved each other. Even if they bickered and argued, they clearly cared for each other. The way Francis chased after Arthur under the full moon so he didn’t hurt himself or get caught or when Arthur would help Francis hunt woodland animals for his meals. He couldn’t break up that loving relationship and so Ludwig denied his feelings and pushed them down. That was until one fateful night.

Francis had invited Ludwig out for drinks with himself and Arthur and Ludwig had accepted. Such outings had become quite normal so Ludwig thought nothing of it. Things were going well, as usual, that was until Arthur got a little more than tipsy. He became louder and more handsy, kissing Francis openly and even placing a hand on Ludwig’s knee. When the Brit picked up on the merman’s blush, he gave him a smirk as his hand began to creep up to his thigh. Ludwig’s mind went completely blank as his body froze up unsure how to react. Before he completely lost it, Francis cut in, “Okay amour, I think it's time we head out.”

“But, I was just starting to have some fun,” Arthur slurred, leaning into his boyfriend, though his hand didn’t leave its position on Ludwig. Francis only smiled and strangely enough, it was a genuine one. No discomfort or jealousy to be seen.

“I know, I know, but this is not how a gentleman should act in public.” Francis hoisted Arthur up, wrapping the Brit’s arm around his shoulder. “Ludwig, would you be a dear and help me get him home?”

“O-Okay.”

The trio set out into the night (after Francis paid the bill), Ludwig and Francis practically carrying an inebriated Arthur. Luckily the two lovers didn’t live far from the pub they had gone to so Arthur was home and in bed in no time. “Give me a good-night kiss,” he whined after Francis tucked him in. With a laugh, the Frenchman leaned down, placing a light kiss on his forehead. When Francis pulled away, Arthur turned his attention to Ludwig. “You too?” He asked, innocently looking up at the German. Ludwig found himself at a loss for words and his face heated up once more. He turned to Francis hoping for some help or some hint as to how to deal with the situation.

“This is a little more forward than we had planned Arthur,” Francis teased, “you’re scaring him.” Now Ludwig was only more confused than before. What did he mean by ‘than we had planned?’ Francis wrapped an arm around Ludwig’s shoulder and began guiding him out of the room. “We need to have a talk, Ludwig.”

He was led to the living room. It was as grand as Ludwig had expected elegantly styled after the Victorian Era (how stereotypical). Francis must have caught him looking around. “It was Arthur’s choice. Surprisingly he has good taste when it comes to decor.”  He gestured to the sofa and Ludwig took a seat and Francis joined him. “So...To start off, I’m sorry for Arthur’s behaviour. We didn’t want to be that forward...at least not yet.”

“Francis, just get to the point.”

“Okay, Okay….Here’s the thing. Arthur and I like you. Like really like you. The whole point of this outing was to test the waters a bit and build up to a confession. Then Arthur got drunk and any subtly we talked about before was thrown out the window.” 

“But you guys do like me?” Ludwig blurted out without even thinking. Suddenly looking at Francis was hard, so he dropped his gaze to his lap. 

Francis’ cheeks went pink, but he nodded. “Oui. Putting it bluntly.”

Silence fell over them as Ludwig tried to wrap his head around it all. Arthur and Francis liked him. They wanted to be with him, to date him, to love him. How many nights had he dreamed of holding them in his arms, kissing them, telling them how much he loved them and Arthur and Francis reciprocating just as enthusiastically. It was everything Ludwig had ever wanted, but why was it so hard to come up with a reply? Francis must have picked up on his dilemma, grabbing hold of Ludwig’s hand and taking his chin to guide the merman’s gaze back to him. “I don’t wish to overwhelm you mon cher,” France said gently, “but we do like you. I would love to be doing this with Arthur, but this is too delicate for him to be involved in the state he’s in. So Ludwig? Will you go on a date with us?”

“Y-Yes.”

“You sound unsure. Please, don’t feel pressured. We’re happy to remain friends if that’s what you wi-”

Ludwig cut Francis off, awkwardly crashing his lips into his. When he realized what he was doing, he immediately pulled away, bringing his hand to his mouth out of insecurity. Francis in turn moved Ludwig’s hand away and went in for a sweeter, longer kiss. 

“You’re kissing without me?” A tired voice came, interrupting the moment. Arthur stood in the doorway, hair even messier than before, eyes partially closed and pillow hugged to his chest. The other two looked at each other, cheeks a matching shade of pink, before looking back at Arthur. Ludwig had always found Arthur cute, but in this instance, he was absolutely adorable. Best of all, the British werewolf was now his. 

Francis shifted away from Ludwig, giving Arthur a spot right in between them. With no protest, he took his place. Francis wrapped an arm around the slender shoulders and gave Ludwig a look, encouraging him to do the same. He was still hesitant, but when Arthur leaned against him, he took that as the last invitation he needed and wrapped his arm around the Englishman. “Can I have my goodnight kiss now?” Arthur asked again. Ludwig found himself smiling at that and agreed to Arthur’s request, placing a light kiss on his temple. 

The three sat in silence once more, other than Francis occasionally humming some tune Ludwig and even Arthur didn’t recognize. Ludwig had started running a hand through Arthur’s hair absentmindedly at first, but when the Englishman let out a pleased hum, bringing the action to Ludwig’s attention, he couldn’t stop himself. Soon enough, Arthur was fast asleep and after admiring their sleeping lover, Francis and Ludwig joined him shortly afterward. 

[camthesolemnone]

Hi, I have like, 4 more ideas that came to me while I was at work, so #1: horror movie. Medic and Heacy are in their cottage, and have just watched a horror movie of some kind before they go to bed, right? Yeah. BUT! As they get ready, something odd happens that sets them both on edge (turns out it's just one of the birds or something) but they end up scarred and not wanting to go to sleep

I changed this one a bit but the main idea remains in-tact. I’m sorry that this took so long to get out and that the ending is kinda shitty. I’m working on the other prompts you sent me alongside this one! Also, I don’t know if you saw the pinned message or not but requests are now closed, so please hold off on sending any more.

"Is leetle Scout asleep as well?" Heavy asked, sitting comfortably on the rec room couch.

Medic nodded and reached for the VHS tape sitting on the glass table in the middle of the room. A tiny smile graced the Russian's features.

"Is good, we have television all to our selves!"

"Ja, and don't expect to sleep tonight, Mikhail! Herr Engineer told me that this is one of the scariest movies he’s ever seen," Ludwig replied, holding up the tape for his partner to see.

Written across the label in black sharpie was the simple word, 'Halloween.' The label should have been difficult to read in the dark, but the Russian noticed how it almost seemed to radiate a burgundy light...must have been some crazy glow-in-the-dark marker Engineer had invented, he concluded. Heavy crossed his arms triumphantly and laughed.

"Do not count on it, Doktor! Heavy is not phased by baby horror films!”

“Oh, we’ll see about that!”

A moment of time was spent struggling to find out which remote went to which device, but eventually, the pair got the movie inside the VHS player and smiled excitedly as color flooded the screen. Ludwig left the room briefly to make popcorn and plopped down on the couch next to his lover to click “Play” on the title screen upon his return.

“If Doktor gets scared, you can hold onto me~” Mikhail teased, and Ludwig shoved his shoulder.

“Are you sure you’re 45 years old, liebe? Because right now, you sound like a lovestruck teenager!” The doctor shot, handing him the popcorn bowl.

“Well...” Heavy began, settling a massive arm around Medic’s shoulders, “One part of that statement is correct.”

.

Unsurprisingly, Heavy was correct about being immune to the movie’s horrors. Then again, Medic was also not affected by the film, so they took more pleasure in the plot and the acting then the actual scary moments. 

Of course, Ludwig grew giddy when gore was involved.

“Hohoho! Look at all of that blood! If I was the killer in this scenario, I would collect it for future use,” he commented.

Heavy raised a questioning eyebrow and attempted to distract himself with the popcorn, but he soon came to the realization that there was nothing left but kernels. His German companion took to removing the bucket from his grasp and standing up.

“I need to use the bathroom, so I’ll take this back on the way,” the doctor stated, and the heavy weapons specialist nodded in response.

Mikhail was left all alone with the intensifying film in the dimly lit room. He would never admit it, but now that Ludwig was gone, he felt smaller. It wasn’t a feeling of fear but of slight unease; things would likely be alright for Heavy, but there was always a shred of uncertainty.

As time passed and the movie reached its climax, Heavy became more and more enthralled with the action, to the point where he forgot about Medic’s absence. His eyes were fixated on the glowing screen, his hands gripped tightly at the wool blanket surrounding him. Mikhail fell deep into the world of gruesome fantasy, and as a consequence, he nearly shot out of his seat at the sound of rapid footsteps and whisper-shouting coming from down the hall.

“Heavy! Oi, big guy!” Demoman said, urgency in his tone.

The Russian let his blanket drop to the floor and stared at the demolitions expert with confusion and anxiousness. The Scot all but captured his arm with both of his own and began dragging him down the hall as best as he could.

“Slow down, Tavish. What is this about?” Mikhail asked.

Demo turned his gaze back to his teammate.

“The Doc ‘s dead in the cludgie!”

Heavy’s eyes widened with shock, emotional pain, and fury towards whoever had committed such an act. Sure, Medic would respawn, but whoever had laid a finger on his beloved doctor was in for a beatdown. Unless it was an accident, in which case Mikhail would scold the German about being reckless.

The pair burst through the door to the community showers and the Russian nearly gasped at the sight. Ludwig laid unmoving in the center of the room with blood staining the front of his lab coat and the ground surrounding him. There was no weapon to be found, but in the corner of the room, with his back towards the door, sat a curled up, trembling, mumbling Scout.

Mikhail’s first thought was that Jeremy had committed this grisly murder, but Tavish put a hand out in front of his chest before he could progress. The Russian opted for whispering Medic’s name as a substitute.

“Scout! What the hell happened here!” Demo cried.

The young runner didn’t reply. He continued to rock back and forth, murmuring and wrapping his arms around himself. The Scot approached him cautiously, taking a calm, more concerned approach. Heavy followed.

“Aye, are you alright, mate?”

Demo reached out to put a hand on Scout’s shoulder, and a series of rapid events unfolded.

Scout’s entire body whipped around and stood up, and the Bostonian let out a high pitched, almost demonic screech. In his left hand was a knife stained in blood, Medic’s blood, and Heavy and Demo exhibited two very different reactions.

Demoman yelped and jumped back, going into flight mode. The massive Russian on the other hand, fearful for the lives of himself and his friend, took a strong step forward and lashed out at Jeremy’s face. One square punch to the jaw was enough to send the man flying across the communal bathroom and into the wall. He slumped over after the hit, out cold.

“What in the-! It was almost like that boy was possessed!” Demo shouted.

When Mikhail and Tavish’s hurried breathing finally began to slow, a new sound rang throughout the room: laughter.

Medic was rolling on the floor alive and well, laughing his ass off and further soiling his labcoat. Heavy gasped out a “Doktor!” at the man’s sudden revival while Demoman stood frozen.

“Hahaha! I can’t believe it! I just thought I’d have a bit of fun scaring you, liebe, but watching you knock out Scout was far more amusing!” The doctor exclaimed, rolling on his stomach and propping himself up on his elbows like a teenage girl lying on her bed while talking to a friend over the phone.

Demoman was the first to flare up.

“What?! So you’re saying this was all a prank?! You’re sick in the head, Medic!”

The Scot was tempted to slap him silly, but with Heavy in the room, that clearly wasn’t an option. With another frustrated grunt, he stomped off and back to bed.

Now it was Heavy’s turn.

“That was not funny, Ludwig! Heavy thought you were dead!” He scowled.

The doctor hauled himself off the ground and stood up straight, wiping some of the fake(?) blood on his hands off onto his lab coat.

“What’s there to worry about? Even if I had been stabbed, I would have just respawned, Mikhail.”

“I know, but...”

Medic’s expression dropped. His love had one massive paw gripping his opposite forearm and his face was distraught. He looked smaller, scared almost, and a tiny crack situated itself in the German’s heart. If he had known such an act would hurt Heavy so deeply, he wouldn’t have even thought about going through with it. There was also the issue of Scout. Ludwig relished the sight of the cocky, annoying Boston boy being beat up, but for once, he regretted roping him into his plans. The runner had been all too willing to help him with the scare, and Medic repaid him with his bear’s violence.

He sighed and shook his head at himself internally. Yes, his prank hadn’t been very rational, he concluded.

With slow, apologetic steps, Medic approached his partner and wrapped his arms around him gently, rubbing his broad back with one hand.

“Es tut mir leid, Heavy. This was all very foolish of me,” he admitted.

Heavy returned the embrace and buried his nose into his doctor’s hair, which smelled of blood and autumn leaves.

“You know it is because I do not like seeing you hurt, moya lyubov. Every time evil Spy kills you on battlefield, my blood boils. Would sacrifice myself a million times to keep you safe,” he murmured, and Ludwig’s heart cracked a little more.

His arms tightened around the giant with increased guilt. It pained him profoundly to see Mikhail die too.

 “I love you, Heavy. From the bottom of my soul, I am truly sorry.”

The Russian moved one hand from the smaller man’s waist to cup his cheek protectively.

“I love you too, Doktor, but please, do not play with death. Someday, we will not get another life.”

.

The credits of the movie had long concluded by the time the two of them returned to the rec room. Medic was rather disappointed that he had missed the latter half of the film, but what made up for it was a soft kiss to his forehead and a set of teasing words given to him by his lover before being sent off to sleep.

“Next time, we watch psychological thriller, da? Less gore will give you less dangerous ideas,” Mikhail suggested, patting a hand on Ludwig’s shoulder.

The doctor laughed and gave him a sly smile that warded off his fears, allowed him to breathe normally again. He was still alive.

“I like the sound of that, but you’re making the popcorn!”

[nordleuchten]

La Fayette in Les Misérables

Les Misérables is one of my absolute favourite books. I never get tired of it – funny coincidence, La Fayette is also in there. I have read the book in three different languages now and noticed that the amount of La Fayette varies in the different versions. The French original sets the precedent of course. The English translation (or, as there are of course several different translations, the English translation I read) featured La Fayette ten times (just as often as the French original). My two German translations feature La Fayette less often than the French and my English one. With that being said, I present to you the La Fayette-szenes in Les Misérables (Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, translated by Lee Fahnestock and Norman MacAfee, based on the translation by C. E. Wilbour, published by Signet Classics, 1987)

Courfeyrac had a father whose name was M. de Courfeyrac. One of the false ideas of the Restoration in point of aristocracy and nobility was its faith in the particle. The particle, we know, has no significance. But the bourgeois of the time of La Minerve considered this poor de so highly that men thought themselves obliged to renounce it. M. de Chauvelin became M. Chauvelin,.M. de Caumartin was M. Caumartin, M. de Constant de Rebecque simply Benjamin Constant, M. de Lafayette just M. Lafayette. Courfeyrac did not wish to be backward, and called himself simply Courfeyrac. (Marius, book four, The Friends of the ABC, p. 653)

So the bourgeoisie, as well as the statesmen, felt the need for a man who would say "Halt!" An Although-Because. A composite individuality signifying both revolution and stability; in other words, assuring the present through the evident compatibility of the past with the future. -This man was found ready-made. His name was Louis-Philippe d'Orleans. The 221 made Louis-Philippe king. Lafayette undertook the coronation. He called it "the best of republics." (Saint-Denis, book one, A few Pages of History, p. 829)

I can not give you a direct written example where La Fayette said “the best of republics” but the statement mirrors his early impressions on Louis-Phillipe’s reign perfectly.

These memories associated with a king fired the bourgeoisie's enthusiasm. With his own hands he had demolished the last iron cage of Mont-Saint-Michel, built by Louis XI and used by Louis XV. He was the companion of Dumouriez, he was the friend of Lafayette; he had belonged to the Jacobin Club; Mirabeau had slapped him on the shoulder; Danton had said to him, "Young man!" (Saint-Denis, book one, A few Pages of History, p. 834)

These doctrines, these theories, these resistances, the unforeseen necessity for the statesman to consult with the philosopher, confused evidences half seen, a new politics to create, in accord with the old world, and yet not too discordant with the ideal of the revolution; a state of affairs in which Lafayette had to be used to oppose Polignac, the intuition of progress glimpsed through the riots, the chambers, and the street, rivalries to balance around him, his faith in the Revolution, perhaps some uncertain eventual resignation arising from the vague acceptance of a definitive superior right, his desire to remain in his lineage, his family pride, his sincere respect for the people, his own honesty-all of this preoccupied Louis-Philippe almost painfully, and at times strong and as courageous as he was, overwhelmed him under the difficulties of being king. (Saint-Denis, book one, A few Pages of History, p. 841)

The distress of the people; laborers without bread; the last Prince de Conde lost in the darkness; Brussels driving away the Nassaus as Paris had driven away the Bourbons; Belgium offering herself to a French prince, and given to an English prince; the Russian hatred of Nicholas; at our back two demons of the south, Ferdinand in Spain, Miguel in Portugal; the earth quaking in Italy; Mettemich extending his hand over Bologna; France bluntly opposing Austria at Ancona; in the north some ill-omened sound of a hammer once more nailing Poland into its coffin; throughout Europe angry looks peering at France; England a suspicious ally, ready to push over anyone leaning and throw herself on anyone fallen; the peerage sheltering itself behind Beccaria to deny four heads to the law; the fteur-de-lis erased from the king's carriage; the cross tom down from Notre-Dame; Lafayette weakened; Lafitte ruined; Benjamin Constant dead in poverty; Casimir Perier dead from loss of power; the political disease and the social disease breaking out in the two capitals of the realm, one the city of thought, the other the city of labor; in Paris civil war, in Lyons servile war; in the two cities the same furnace glare; the flush of the crater on the forehead of the people; the South fanaticized, the West uneasy; the Duchesse de Berry in La Vendee; plots, conspiracies, uprising, cholera, added to the · dismal mutter of ideas, the dismal uproar of events. (Saint-Denis, book one, A few Pages of History, p. 843)

In an instant the little fellow was lifted, pushed, dragged, pulled, stuffed, crammed into the hole with no time to realize what was going on. And Gavroche, coming in after him, pushing back the ladder with a kick so it fell onto the grass, began to clap his hands, and cried, "Here we are! Hurrah for General Lafayette! Brats, my home!” Gavroche was in fact home. (Saint-Denis, book six, Little Gavroche, p. 956-957)

Hence, if insurrection in given cases may be, as Lafayette said, the most sacred of duties, émeute may be the most deadly of crimes. (Saint-Denis, book ten, June 5, 1832, p. 1052)

A circle was drawn up around the hearse. The vast assemblage fell silent. Lafayette spoke and bade farewell to Lamarque. It was a touching and noble moment, all heads uncovered, all hearts throbbed. Suddenly a man on horseback, dressed in black, appeared in the midst of the throng with a red flag, others say with a pike surmounted by a red cap. Lafayette looked away. Exelmans left the cortege. This red flag raised a storm and disappeared in it. From the Boulevard Bourdon to the Pont d'Austerlitz a roar like a surging billow stirred the multitude. Two prodigious shouts arose: "Lamarque to the Pantheon! Lafayette to the Hotel de Ville!" Some young men, amid the cheers of the throng, took up the harness and began to pull Lamarque in the hearse over the Pont d'Austerlitz, and Lafayette in a fiacre along the Quai Morland. In the cheering crowd that surrounded Lafayette, a German was noticed and pointed out, named Ludwig Snyder, who later died a centenarian, who had also been in the war of 1776, and who had fought at Trenton under Washington and under Lafayette at Brandywine. Meanwhile, on the left bank, the municipal cavalry was in motion and had just barred the bridge; on the right bank the dragoons left the Celestins and deployed along the Quai Morland. The men who were pulling Lafayette suddenly saw them at the bend of the Quai, and cried, "The dragoons!" The dragoons were advancing at a walk, in silence, their pistols in their holsters, their sabers in their sheaths, their muskets at rest, with an air of gloomy expectation. At two hundred paces from the little bridge, they halted. The fiacre bearing Lafayette made its way up to them, they opened their ranks, let it pass, and closed again behind it. At that moment the dragoons and the multitude came together. The women fled in terror. (Saint-Denis, book ten, June 5, 1832, p. 1059-1060)

Ludwig Snyder was a historical person who indeed existed and not a person that Hugo made up.

Alarming stories went the rounds, ominous rumors were spread. "That they had taken the Bank" ; "that, merely at thencloisters of Saint-Merry, there were six hundred, entrenched and fortified in the church"; "that the line was doubtful"; "that Armand Carrel had been to see Marshal Clausel and that the marshal had said, 'Have one regiment in place first,' " ; "that Lafayette was sick, but that he had said to them, 'I am with you. I will follow you anywhere that there is room for a chair' "; "that it was necessary to keep on their guard; that at night people would pillage the isolated houses in the deserted neighborhoods of Paris (the imagination of the police was recognized here, that Anne Radcliffe element in government)" ; "that a battery had been set up in the Rue Aubry-le-Boucher" ; "that Lobau and Bugeaud were conferring; and that at midnight, or daybreak at the latest, four columns would march at once on the center of the emeute, the first coming from the Bastille, the second from the Porte Saint-Martin, the third from La Greve, the fourth from Les Hailes"; "that perhaps the troops would evacuate Paris and fall back on the Champ de Mars"; "that nobody knew what might happen, but that certainly, this time, it was serious." (Saint-Denis, book ten, June 5, 1832, p. 1067-1068)

I could not find any historical reference about the chair-quote and I am pretty sure that Hugo made that up - however, it sounds very much like something that La Fayette would say - and Hugo and La Fayette probably knew each other, although superficially. Toward the end of La Fayette’s life, when Hugo was still a young men, there were different salons in Paris that both attended and it is quite likely that they both ran into each other during one of these meetings.

At this moment the bantam rooster voice of little Gavroche resounded through the barricade. The child had climbed up on a table to load his musket and was gaily singing the song then so popular:

En voyant Lafayette

Le gendarme repete

Sauvons-nous! Sauvons-nous! Sauvons-nous ! (Saint-Denis, book fourteen, The Grandeur of Despair, p. 1143)

This scene is not featured in my German version. It is mentioned that Gavroche sang a song but the text is not given in that translation.

They take you, they hold on to you, they never let go of you. The truth is, there was never any amour like that child. Now, what do you say of your Lafayette, your Benjamin Constant, and of your Tirecuir de Corcelles, who kill him for me ! It can't go on like this." (Jean Valjean, book three, Mire, but Soul, p. 1317)

La Fayette did not made it into the musical version of Les Misérables (neither in the French Original nor in the more popular English version) although he would have fit perfectly in there. I also have never seen him featured in any of the countless movie or TV adaptations - officially at least. Some adaptations that feature the funeral of General Lamarque have some extras running around that I sometimes turn into La Fayette - that was not the intended casting but it worked out for me nonetheless :-)

[kangaroo-sniper-imagine]

Matching sweaters made with love!!!

-this was freaking adorable-

Demo

Tavish doesn’t know that you’ve taken up knitting. The two of you spend time together and apart and each have your own hobbies, and lets be real this man isn’t the most observant person in the world and it ain’t just because he’s missing an eye

Thinks it’s so sweet of you to make him a sweater! It shows you went through a lot of effort to make him something to keep him warm. Then you open up your coat to show a matching sweater and he loses his SHIT! Thinks its so fucking cute! Immediately puts on his own sweater and parades the two of you around to the other mercs to show off

Sweater looks like: Heather Gray with stitches that look like circles, later Tavish realizes it’s meant to look like little bombs. It’s a turtleneck and it’s super loose and comfy

Engineer

Dell knows you like knitting, sewing, and other crafting things and thinks it’s cute. You work on so many projects, he’s learned to wait until you come to him to show the end product than to ask about the project while you’re in the middle of it.

When you gift him the sweater, he's so touched he tears up a little. Sweet babey Dell pulls you into a big old bear hug in thanks. When you tell him you made a second one for yourself, he’s almost giddy asking to see it. The two of you wear them when there’s like a holiday party or for pajama shirts. He only wears his when you wear yours cuz its more special to him that way

Sweater looks like: beige with that braid look in the front and a crew neck. The sleeves are a little short to accommodate Dell’s prosthetic hand, and keeps both of your hands free to do more crafting/building

Spy

You’ll often knit next to him in his smoke room as you two spend long evenings together avoiding the rambunctious team. He never asks what you’re making but you usually ask if it looks good and he gets a good look at the project. It terribly domestic and Jacque fucking loves it

One evening, you ask him to stand up and to reach out one of his arms. He obliges and you hold up whatever garment you’re working on up to his torso. You nod decisively and sit back down; several minutes later, you chirp, “All done” and toss the spy the garment. When he gets a good look at the sweater, he smiles fondly, complimenting the craftsmanship and thanking you for a lovely present. Then you pull up your own sweater from your knitting basket and he chuckles at your sentimentality and dramatics

Sweater looks like: (regardless of team) deep wine red, no extra designs or such, with a faux turtleneck collar. Jacque like wearing it out with a black blazer (makes it classy)

Heavy

Mikhail loves that you love knitting, as his mother was also very fond of the craft. You’re often shy about whatever you’re working in and work on it in private, and he respects that. You don’t really showcase to him what you made but every so often there’s a new blanket on the bed or an extra pair of mittens in his coat pocket.

One day you shyly hand him a wrapped parcel with his name scrawled on it, and unwraps it to see an extra large, handmade sweater. Homeboy cries; it was so sweet of you to think of him and go out of your way to make him such a wonderful gift. When you tell him you made a replica for yourself, he starts crying harder. Wants to take a picture of the two of you wearing them so he can send it to his family in Russia to show off your superior craftsmanship

Sweater looks like: dark grey with a decorative design in white and red across the chest

Scout

Jeremy doesn’t really know that you knit, seeing as you do it while he does his morning and night runs. He knows, vaguely, that you do something to occupy yourself when he’s either away or when you’re alone, but he figures your business is your business and he leaves you to it. If you wanted to tell him you would’ve

One day he comes back into his room to see something akin to a birthday present on his bed. When he unwrapped it, he saw the sweater and a cute little note saying you have a matching one just like it! Jeremy grabs the sweater and tries putting it on as he runs to your room to give you a huge hug and a thank you. He wears it whenever he can and brags incessantly about how you made it

Sweater looks like: Dark green, very baggy with pinched sleeves, almost like a pullover sweatshirt and a crewneck collar

Medic

Thinks knitting is a very stimulating acidity and fully endorses the hobby. Sometimes when Ludwig holes himself up in the med bay, you’ll come in with some lunch to eat together and your knitting bag so you can parallel play with him. He’ll ask what you're making and compliments the product even if it's only halfway done

When for a few days you refused to tell him what you were working on because it was a “secret,” Ludwig left you to your devices and made his own speculations on what the creation of yarn was supposed to be. Finally, one day you burst into the lab with a proud smile on your face and what appears to be a bundle of fabric. When Ludwig finally understood that you made him a sweater, he’s suddenly overfilled with affection for you and drags you into a hug. He cries a little when you tell him you made a little sweater for Archimedes.

Sweater looks like: Its a chunky knit cream colored sweater with a red medical cross on the chest, yours has a red heart, and Archimedes’ has an “A”

Sniper

There’s nothing Mick loves more than relaxing at the end of the day with you and the soft clicking of your knitting needles as his radio plays old songs in the background. You took up knitting to have a quiet activity to do next to him as he cleans his guns and practices shooting. He thinks it’s extremely cute to look over and see you hacking away at whatever blanket or scarf you planned on making that week.

One day, you hummed excitedly and called his name to get his attention. When he looked up from sharpening his machete and sees you happily holding up a sweater. You tell him you were worried, with his habit of sleeping in only a tank top and boxers, of the upcoming cold nights and made him a sweater to sleep in. You also made one for yourself that matched his, “So it’s like we’re together!” Mick’s a little frozen because its seldom that anyone goes so far to think of his comfort, let alone make something for him. Its his favorite thing ever, and even if it’s blitzing hot out, he’ll sleep with it on his bed. Sometime a laundry mix up happens and he accidentally grabs yours and you grab his, and keeps it for a bit before giving it back because it smells like you (You do the same thing lbr)

Sweater looks like: its a thinner sweater, considering that Mick gravitates towards hot areas. Tan with a crewneck and longer sleeves.

Pyro

You two knit together! Pyro loves spending time with you and when they saw you knitting, they wanted to try it themselves. Between the two of you, Tuefort is in no short supply of mittens, scarves, and hats

One day, you announce you’re going to start a special project, and no matter how badly Pyro might want to see it, they’re not allowed to peak. Pyro agrees excitedly; they love surprises! And frankly they couldn’t wait to see what you’d do. After weeks of hard work, you finally showed off the fruits of your labor; two sweaters, one much larger than the other. You tell Pyro the special surprise was that you made matching sweaters for you and them; theirs being much larger to fit over their suit and equipment (as he never takes them off). Pyro is gleefully pulling the sweater over his head and drags you along t Oslo them off to the others

Sweater look like: bright pink with yellow stars and circles hand stitched all over. It’s super chunky and comfy and Pyro has worn it into battle on more than one occasion

Soldier

Jane knows you knit because one day his raccoon infantry got a “care package” filled with tiny customized sweaters with their names on them. Although he though I’d was adorable and kind of you, he had to act like you were spoiling them; the little smile you gave told him you knew he wasn’t too serious

One day, Jane too received a “care package” from a mysterious source; and was thoroughly impressed at the handmade sweater inside. After grabbing it, he went on to the base, hunting you down to hug and love on you in public as thanks. When he did find you, you were also wearing a sweater. In fact, you were wearing HIS sweater, just your own. A moment of confusion later, Solly connects the dots and gives you a big old kiss on the cheek

Sweater looks like: red and white diagonal stripes with a blue star over the heart.

[somerandomdutchfangirl]

Hetalia Family Week: Day 4 - Vacation

Day 4 for @hetafamilyweek. Also cross-posted to my ao3!

I'm sorry it took so long to post this, school started again and I did not have the spoons to focus on this after school. So it might take a bit longer than expected to finish this. Now, onto the chapter!

I blame @tiredmay

Names:

Willem = Netherlands

Femke = Belgium

Laurent = Luxembourg

Matthew = Canada

Antonio = Spain

Ludwig = Germany

Tw: fire (a building burning down), cursing, an all caps sentence

''Well, I'd say that went well,'' Laurent said. Willem and Femke turned to stare at him.

''What part of this went well?! The hotel is going up in flames, and we're still lost!''

''Eh, small details.''

Willem and Femke looked at each other.

''Lau, did you get possessed or something? Do you even hear yourself?'' Femke asked, incredulously.

''No, wait, I think I missed something. Since when is this a hotel?''

''It's a hotel for parentless children, of course.''

''… I am this close to strangling both of you.'' Willem facepalmed. How on earth did they end up at a burning orphanage on their way to their family vacation? No wait, he knew the answer to that. The three of them were too busy bickering to really notice the map, getting lost as a result. Well. Maybe he should text Mattie to see how they feel about adopting a kid?

''… Maybe we should help?'' Femke said after a moment of silence.

''Fem... As much as I hate to say it, I don't think that's a good idea,'' Willem replied. Seeing his sister's defiant look, he added on, ''We're not trained firefighters, and if we go in without any kind of fire-resistant clothes and walk out alive, without any lasting injuries, how're we going to explain that?''

His sister sighed frustratedly, rubbing at her eyes. ''You're right,'' she said, sounding tired.

''I don’t like it any more than you do, Fem, but- Laurent, what the fuck do you think you're doing?''

Laurent was currently running towards the orphanage, despite the clearly panicked protests from the people around them.

''Laurent, get back here!'' Femke shouted, running after him. For fucks sake, did both of his siblings have a death wish? If Ludwig got wind of this, they'd never hear the end of it.

Groaning, he started to walk forward to where his siblings had run off into the building. He quickly got stopped by one of the firefighters though, who asked him where the hell he thought he was going. He quickly explained the situation to the best of his abilities (just because he was currently somewhere in Spain, even though they were supposed to be in France, and the fact that he could speak both languages just fine, didn't mean he had to like it, or even pretend to be good at it. Fuck you, Antonio. And before you ask, yes he knows how petty he's being. Let him have his fun).

Suffice to say, he didn't get past the firefighter. Not that he needed to, because to the shock of everyone else, his siblings came out of the orphanage, a couple of kids huddled around them. All of them were miraculously unharmed. And naturally, Femke and Laurent were bickering. He could already feel a headache forming. Ludwig was not going to be amused.

---

Ludwig was not, in fact, amused. Willem got that much as he was woken up at six in the goddamn morning during his vacation by angry German yelling coming through his phone.

''Willem, was zum fick habt ihr euch gedacht, dass ihr in ein brennendes kinderheim reingerannt seid?!''

''Ook een goedemorgen, Ludwig, ja het gaat goed met ons en de kinderen, niemand raakte gewond. En vraag dat maar aan Femke en Laurent, zij zijn namelijk degenen die het brandende weeshuis in renden.''

Yeah, waking up to angry German yelling really was not his ideal wake-up call, but what're you going do about it. Oh right. Pressing the red button, Willem effectively ended the call. Then, he sent a text to his cousin.

'Call me back at a more reasonable time, you heathen.'

Ignoring all other incoming calls, he put his phone down and went back to bed, hoping to catch some sleep before his gremlin siblings decided to wake him up for breakfast.

---

A stressful day later, they arrived at their intended location. After Ludwig had called him back and chewed out all three of them, they decided to leave as soon as possible, before any of the people that were there at the orphanage came looking for them.

Currently, they were enjoying the sunset while lounging on the beach, nursing a drink. Suddenly, Femke sighed.

''You know... I have a feeling our vacation isn't going to get any more exciting than it’s been so far.''

''Sure, if you can call running into a burning orphanage exiting,'' Willem said. ''Besides, I do not feel like being yelled at by Ludwig again anytime soon.''

Femke only hummed in response.

''I do agree with Willy on this, big sis,'' Laurent said. He was laying on the sand, one hand over his head, the other tracing shapes in the sand. ''I just want to have a relaxing vacation, with no burning orphanages or yelling Germans.'' Willem snorted at that.

''Don’t worry, broertje, no more yelling Ludwigs will be encountered during this trip.''

''Merci Gott.''

''Hey, Lau,'' Femke said conversationally.

''Yeah?''

''Are you just going to lay there for the rest of the evening?''

''Probably, why do you- AAAAAH WAT DE FUCK, DAT ASS KALT!'' Laurens screamed as he jumped up to get away from the cold water. Femke was wheezing, as was Willem.

''You guys are so mean!''

''Thanks, we try.'' Willem was smirking now.

''Aaschlach.''

''Klootzak.''

''Stop it, you two,'' Femke said, rolling her eyes. ''We should head back to the house.''

''Do we have to?''

Femke gave Laurent a deadpan stare at his question. After a few seconds, he sighed. ''Fine. But can we come back tomorrow?''

''Sure.'' She leaned closer to Laurent and said in a stage whisper: ''Perhaps we can even throw Willy in the ocean.'' Her brother gave her a mischievous grin.

''Hey, I heard that!''

Laughing, they took off running towards their house, Willem chasing after them, also grinning. And if Willem caught them and threw them into the ocean? Well, there would be several occasions for revenge.

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

Translations:

Willem, was zum fick habt ihr euch gedacht, dass ihr in ein brennendes kinderheim reingerannt seid?! (German) = ''Willem, what the fuck were you guys thinking, running into a burning orphanage like that?!''

Ook een goedemorgen, Ludwig, ja het gaat goed met ons en de kinderen, niemand raakte gewond. En vraag dat maar aan Femke en Laurent, zij zijn namelijk degenen die het brandende weeshuis in renden. (Dutch) = A good morning to you too, Ludwig, yes us and the children are doing fine, no one got hurt. And you can ask Femke and Laurent that, they're the ones that ran into a burning orphanage.

Broertje (Dutch) = little brother

Merci Gott (Luxembourgish) = Thank god

AAAAH WAT DE FUCK, DAT ASS KALT! (Luxembourgish) = AAAAAAH WHAT THE FUCK, THAT’S SO COLD

''Aaschlach'' and ''Klootzak'' = asshole

[mrslittletall]

Title: Warmth, Comfort and a Break Fandom: Bloodborne Characters: Laurence the first Vicar/Ludwig the Holy Blade Word Count: 6.323 AO3-Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32155129

Summary: When Laurence gets sick with a cold, Ludwig talks him into letting the sickness cure on its own instead of using the holy blood. Laurence isn't too happy about it... but agrees once he notices how long he didn't take a break anymore.

(Author's note: I am gifting this to RedFox because they asked me for a LauLu sickfic AGES ago and also gifted fics to me completely unprompted, which is so cute and I really wanted to give something back.)

When Laurence woke up this morning, he felt awful. A headache, a stuffed nose, a sore throat... and he was pretty sure he had a fever as well. All the classic symptoms of a common cold.

He had always gotten one without fail in his youth, not a single year had spared him, sometimes he even got them more than once a year, and because of his already poor health, it meant that he was suffering a lot under them, having to spend at least a week in bed waiting for his fever to go down.

Luckily, now that he had the Healing Blood, that wouldn't be a problem anymore. He could just get himself his morning blood ministration and would be as good as new, ready to start work for the day.

So Laurence got up, upsetting two or three cats that had slept on his bed, with the motion, and teetered over to his armchair, where he kept his personal blood ministration equipment for his room. It would be a bit difficult to set it up with his body feeling so weak, but he would manage. Just as he put the blood vial into the structure and was about to insert the needle into his arm, his door suddenly barged open.

“Laurence, what do you want for breakfast to- Wait, what are you doing?!”, Ludwig's voice boomed through Laurence' room and Laurence, having been startled by his boyfriend, just stood there with the needle still in hand, not moving until Ludwig had crossed the distance to him.

“Getting a blood ministration right in the morning? Laurence, we talked about this, you really need to tone down on the blood...” The disappointment in Ludwig's voice was unmistakable.

“I need it.”, Laurence said, his voice a mere croak. “I am sick, Ludwig. I got a fever.”

“Oh?”, Ludwig said and felt Laurence' forehead. “Indeed, you are burning up.”

“So will you let me have-”, Laurence started but got interrupted by Ludwig picking him up.

“Then let's get you to bed right away to take care of this sickness and make you feel better!”

Before Laurence could complain, he was stuffed back in bed, Mary curling herself up on his lap.

“Ludwig, what is the meaning of this?”, Laurence whisper-croaked, apparently his voice decided to fail him completely by now.

“You take too much of the blood.”, Ludwig said. “And you seem to simply have a cold. It won't do your body any good when you heal everything with the blood, it will stop knowing how to heal itself. Besides, when was the last time you took a break?”

“It hasn't been that long.”, Laurence said before breaking in a cough, noticing that Ludwig rubbed his back when it happened. “Ugh, I shouldn't talk too much.”, he croaked, though with a bit more voice. “Anyway, I only took a break...”

Laurence stopped when he had to think about when had been the last time he took a break. It wasn't that long ago, right? However, he was sure he had been able to swim during the last break and the weather in Yharnam very much was winter, with the city coated in a fine powder that looked like someone had poured sugar on the building's roofs.

“Alright, it has been a while.”, Laurence let himself fall back into the pillows and kneaded Mary's fur absentmindedly. While he certainly felt like he should take a break, he would like for it to be a break where he wasn't feeling like shit.

“See? Just stay in bed and let me take care of you.”, Ludwig said.

“What about the church hunters?”, Laurence murmured, trying to not overstrain his voice too much.

“They can live without me for a day or two.”, Ludwig said. Laurence frowned, for his sickness normally never went away before a week was over. However, the latest hunt had just been and they wouldn't need to call out another so soon. “Let's rather focus on what you need... you should drink enough.”, Ludwig eyed the jar of water on Laurence' night stand, “Yes, water is good, but tea would be better. I will send Florence in with some tea soon. You can drink it while I prepare your breakfast. Because you have a cold, a nice chicken broth should help you out.”

Ludwig got up and smiled at Laurence. “And I will make sure to make it extra salty for you.”

“Thank you...”, Laurence said, though he was pretty sure he wouldn't taste anything anyway. He watched as Ludwig left the room and then focussed again on kneading Mary's fur, the cat purring at the continued care. She was warm and soft and made him feel a tiny little bit better.

When he had been allowed to have a cat back on Byrgenwerth, he surely would have managed to get over all his sickness days with much more ease.

With nothing to do, not feeling super tired and having to wait for breakfast anyway, Laurence continued to run his hands through Mary's fur, until there was a knock on the door.

“Come in.”, he said, figuring that it probably would be Florence, for Ludwig had told him he would send her with tea. Not much later, the door opened and Florence entered with a tablet filled with a tea can and a tea cup. “

“Vicar, Luwig told me you are feeling unwell?”, she asked as she walked over to his bed. “Oh dear, you look like you sport quite a fever.”, she added after taking one look at him.

“Unfortunately yes.”, Laurence replied, accepting the tea cup he gave him. The tea was still steaming which felt like a blessing on his stuffy nose.

“I brought you some sage tea.”, Florence put the tablet down on Laurence' night stand, putting the jar of water on top of it as well. “Though I wonder why you haven't cured your illness with the holy blood.”

“Ludwig told me that I shouldn't take it for just a little cold.”, Laurence said, taking a sip from the tea. For most people it would be far too hot, but he always liked to drink his tea as hot as possible.

“Understandable. Besides, you got into a habit to take far too much of the blood.”, Florence said. “Not that I can't understand it. There is quite a rush whenever I have it... it's so hard to control yourself sometimes. I am glad to see that you try to be better with it.”

Well... if Ludwig wouldn't have come in, Laurence very much would have taken the blood ministration. And even though he had promised Ludwig to not take one daily anymore, he still had done it in secret... he just... often didn't feel well when he didn't take the blood. There was this sense of longing which only vanished when he got a blood ministration.

Alright, maybe he really had a blood problem, but regardless, as long as Ludwig would mother him, he wouldn't be able to get one in anyway.

“Thank you for the tea, Florence.”, he instead said. “I assume you already cancelled all my appointments?”

“Not yet.”, Florence shot up. “Let me take care of it right away.”

“Cancel them for the whole week.”, Laurence said as she left, being sure that he would be stuck in bed for a while. Once Florence was gone, he sighed and continued to drink the tea. At least it was warm and made his throat feel a little bit better.

Laurence drank three cups of the tea and then planned to nap, only for his body to tell him he had failed to go to the bathroom after waking up and he didn't make it any better by drinking so much tea. While he very much didn't feel like walking all the way there, he was fighting a losing battle, so he pulled himself up, gave Mary a stroke with his hand and then walked towards the door, feeling a bit like one of the infected with how much his body was wobbling. Just as he had reached the door, it opened and Ludwig stood in front of him.

“Laurence, I brought your- What are you doing out of bed?”

“I need to use the bathroom.”, Laurence whispered, a total contrast to Ludwig's booming voice.

“Are you sure you are able to make it there on your own? You look like you could faint any given minute...” Ludwig entered the room and put the tablet he was carrying on the table while Laurence supported himself at the door frame, catching his breath. Before he could reply to Ludwig that he didn't have a choice, he felt himself being picked up.

“I will carry you there.”, Ludwig said, gently cradling Laurence in his arms, who turned a bit red in the face and it wasn't because of the fever.

“Ludwig... what if someone sees us like this...”, he murmured.

“Then I just tell them that I'll help our sick Vicar out.”, Ludwig beamed at him. “Now let's get you to the bathroom before we need to change your clothes.”

“It isn't that bad...”, Laurence murmured as Ludwig carried him to the nearest bathroom. Laurence half expected that he wanted to come in with him, but Ludwig waited outside until Laurence was finished and left the bathroom after having washed his hands.

“Now let's get you back to bed and feed you your soup.”, Ludwig said and picked Laurence back up again.

“Why are you talking to me like I am a small child?”, Laurence asked on their way back. Last time he checked, he had been an adult for almost fifteen years now.

“Old habits die hard.”, Ludwig replied. “I used to take care of my younger siblings and whenever they got sick, I talked to them like this because it made them feel better. They were more calm when they knew what would happen next.”

“Well, I am not five years old anymore.”, Laurence said, letting himself hang limp in Ludwig's arms. “Besides... I used to be sick a lot as a child, so I can't be surprised anyway...”

“I am not trying to talk down to you or anything.”, Ludwig said, opening the door to Laurence' room. “But if you feel uncomfortable with it, I'll stop.”

As Laurence got put back into his bed, he considered Ludwig's words... Actually, it was kind of comforting. “...You don't need to stop.”, he said and leaned against the backrest of his bed, fluffing up a few pillows while Ludwig prepares his breakfast. Even though he couldn't smell much, he could smell the soup, for Ludwig must have used some strong smelling herbs in it. Even the smell made him feel better... surely after the soup was inside of him, he would feel better as well.

After Ludwig poured the soup from the pot into a bowl, putting the lid on the pot again, he dunked a spoon in it and carried it over to Laurence' bed. There, he sat down and took the spoon himself, filling it and offering it to Laurence complete with the words: “Laurence, say aaaah.”

“That's getting too ridiculous, Ludwig.”, Laurence crossed his arms and cocked his head a tiny little bit. “I can eat on my own. How about you prevent the cats from annoying me while eating? They are already interested...”

It was true, Mick, Mary and Amy had come already to sniff at the bowl. Ludwig gave Laurence a sheepish smile. “I am sorry, Laurence.”, he said and handed him the bowl, then got up and scooped the three cats in his arms. “But tell me if you need help.”

“It's just a cold.”, Laurence said, adjusting the bowl on his lap and grabbing for the spoon with his left hand. “Like you said earlier. I won't need help eating. I just am too weak to take care of myself for a while...”

Thanks to his trip to the bathroom earlier, the soup had already cooled a bit, but Laurence didn't mind if it would have been hot. It was cold outside anyway and even though his body felt hot, he felt so cold from the inside, did he have the chills already? The warm soup was a blessing for his freezing body and his sore throat. Ludwig had kept his promise and put more salt into the soup, so that Laurence could taste quite a bit of it. It probably would be too salty for anyone else, even himself when he didn't have a cold, but for this exact moment, it was the right amount of salt. It helped to make the herbs stand out also.

While Laurence chewed on a piece of chicken meat, he looked at Ludwig, who had decided to entertain the cats with a game to distract them from the food. All three of them were hunting a long string, one that looked like it came directly from Ludwig's boot. On closer inspection, it really came from it.

“I have toys for them.”, Laurence said, his voice feeling much smoother thanks to the warm meal.

“I don't mind.”, Ludwig simply answered. “My shoelaces are sturdy. They can chew on it for a bit.”

Laurence shrugged and continued his meal. After he had emptied the bowl, Ludwig came over to take it and was in the process of filling it up again, but Laurence stopped him. “I can't eat that much when sick.”, he said. “I am already full.”

“Well, you ate more than usual.”, Ludwig gave Laurence a smile. “I will keep the rest warm for later then.”

“Yes, that would be the best...”, Laurence murmured. “I think I want to nap for a bit...” He already felt his eyes getting heavy.

“Then I will look after you later.”, Ludwig promised and Laurence heard how the door shut when his eyes ultimately fell shut and his body tried to sleep through the sickness.

Ludwig returned later to check up on Laurence... with a couple of Laurence' favourite books. While he would have liked to just sit down in his armchair and read them himself, his headache had returned and it didn't get better when a sneezing fit overtook him after waking, which turned into a coughing fit, leaving Laurence gasping for air while Ludwig rubbed his back.

After Laurence' body had calmed down, it still told him that he better move as little as possible and so he cuddled himself in the blankets of his bed while Ludwig read to him.

Ludwig wasn't a good reader at all. He was slow, stumbled over words and sometimes had to read the same sentence several times to deliver it right. In truth, Ludwig was terrible at reading, especially aloud and normally Laurence would have pulled his hair at this style of reading. Ludwig had once said to Laurence that it always looked to him that the words are missing letters or mixed up and that he really tried to not riddle his reports with too many mistakes. Laurence had to admit to himself one day that reading and writing just wasn't Ludwig's forte. Some of the spelling mistakes even were pretty hilarious.

While Laurence truly had trouble with Ludwig reading so slow and snatchy, he very much admired that his boyfriend took the trouble upon him to read to Laurence, even though Ludwig knew he wasn't good at it. It made Laurence' heart feel quite a bit warmer, even though he didn't even manage to get through one chapter in an hour.

“Maybe I should try a different book.”, Ludwig said after he finally got through chapter one of an adventure novel. He put the book aside and grabbed for another one. Laurence grabbed for the cup of tea on his night stand, for Florence must have brought new tea while he slept and it was nice and hot again, and waited for Ludwig to pick a book.

“How to pick up Fair Maidens.”, Ludwig read. “What a pretentious title... Let's see.. Chapter one... Oh dear, are you alright, Laurence?”

Laurence had spit his tea all over his blankets when Ludwig had picked up the book, because not only was this a book that Laurence absolutely hated, it had been Gehrman's favourite book. He had put it into his bookcase in his office one day... so that he would never forget... Ludwig must have grabbed it as well when he picked out Laurence' favourites.

“Sorry, Ludwig, I didn't want to scare you.”, Laurence said and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his pyjama. “That book... was Gehrman's favourite...”

Ludwig looked down at the book on his lap and realization flashed over his eyes. “Of... of course, I remember... he was always reading this book. His copy was in a much worse shape, that is why I didn't recognize it... I normally recognize books by their cover and not their title...”

That only further cemented Laurence' theory that Ludwig and letters had decided to be common enemies, but that wasn't the point here. The presence of the book was such a grim reminder of the fact that his friend had vanished... before Laurence could properly apologize to him.

“I am sorry, Laurence, I know he is a touchy subject for you. I will pick a different book to read, but first we should change your pyjamas and blankets. They are full of tea. Wait here, I get a wash cloth.”

“Of course...”, Laurence said, putting the cup of tea back on his night stand, staring at the book that Ludwig had so innocently picked out. Gehrman had been Laurence' usual care taker when he was sick, so many weeks spend on the couch in the little cottage he inhabited with his dad, so many days where he had held Laurence' hair out of the way when the latter puked out his guts (again), so many instances where Gehrman had picked him up and laid on a more comfortable surface when Laurence had passed out again, treating any wound that got inflicted during the fainting.

If he would still be there, would he step in his old caretaker role and make sure that Laurence felt better soon? Or would he just tell Laurence to get a blood ministration and call it a day? Laurence would never know, for he never had managed to locate Gehrman (not that he didn't try to find him once and again...)

Ludwig entered the room again with a wash cloth as well as a new cover for his blankets. Glad for the distraction, Laurence stumbled out of bed and let Ludwig take care of him, let himself undress and clean up where the tea had hit his skin and once he was in a new pyjama, he sat himself in his armchair with a woolen blanket that Florence had knitted for his birthday once and waited until Ludwig was done with changing the tea sodden cover.

It was a good thing that no cats had been present during this small slip-up or Laurence would have had a few scratches as well as result.

He looked down at his arms at this thought. For a cat owner having scratches was normal, it happened while they played or when they tried to climb on him or when he was a casualty when they fought. His arms were completely clean from any scratches or scars from them. Because of his daily usage of the blood... Laurence hadn't even noticed how dependent he had become on it...

“Alright, Laurence, you can get back into bed.”, Ludwig said. Laurence got up, shivering on the short way over to his bed and was more than glad when he could cuddle himself in the comfort of his feather blanket again. “Let me read another book to you...”

Much later that day, when the sun had long set and snow swirled outside the window, Laurence' cold had taken a turn for the worse and he just wanted to go to sleep and hope that it would be better the next day... if his cough would even let him sleep!

Ludwig had brought some more tea to soothe his throat. He also had asked if he should bring some cough medicine, but Laurence declined... he knew what was in these things and that would completely knock him out. Besides, because of the holy blood, Yharnam barely sold common medicine anymore, pretty much every clinic had switched over to blood ministrations (of course they were under church control) and the ones that didn't only saw very few patients.

An earlier version of Laurence may have felt guilty about this, but the Laurence that lived in the here and now was long over feeling pity for them.

Laurence tried to drink at least one cup of tea before he would settle down to sleep, which was difficult when his body got racked by coughs again and again. Finally, after what felt like hours, probably only had been ten minutes though, his throat stopped tickling for the moment and he felt ready to just lay himself down and pass out.

...Maybe he should have sent Ludwig to get the cough syrup...

Ludwig insisted on staying with Laurence for the night, so that he could take care of him immediately should something happen or should he need help. Laurence knew that Ludwig wouldn't change his mind, but he didn't allow Ludwig in his bed, for he didn't want for him to catch Laurence' cold. Ludwig probably would try to take care of Laurence despite being sick (and of course he wouldn't take the blood for such a minor illness), so Laurence didn't feel comfortable with getting his boyfriend sick as well.

Ludwig decided to sleep in Laurence' arm chair instead, putting the woollen blanket over himself, settling in, his black hair not in a ponytail but falling upon his shoulders, looking like black silk. Ludwig had such beautiful hair, that was what Laurence thought when he looked at him and then decided to close his own eyes to get his much needed rest.

When Laurence awoke it was still dark, still the middle of the night. He felt so hot... had his fever taken a turn for the worse? He certainly didn't feel well... laying in his bed, breathing heavily, interrupted by a few coughs occasionally. Laurence rolled from his back on his side and hoped that the awful feeling in his throat would go away and that his fever would calm down soon, when he had another feeling deep inside of him...

The blood. He felt like he needed the blood. He hadn't been able to take it during the day, for Ludwig wanted for him to stay clear of it for a while... but he couldn't do this, he felt himself shivering and it wasn't from the chills, he felt like his body would dissipate if he didn't put the blood inside of it right now, his breath was going quicker and he just needed to get up and get a blood vial... just a tiny one... just a little drop, that was all...

“Laurence, where are you going?”, Ludwig asked, making Laurence aware that he wasn't in his bed anymore but had started to walk towards his cupboard. Ludwig came over to Laurence and laid his hand on his forehead. “By the blood, you are burning up. You shouldn't walk away in the middle of the night with such a fever. If you need to go to the bathroom, I can help you out.”

Laurence shook his head, that had not been the issue. He wanted... he tried to get the blood, despite him promising to Ludwig to not take it... he really had a problem apparently...

“Felt hot. Wanted to get some cold water.”, he rasped out, his throat feeling like gravel.

“You get into bed right away and I get you a cool wash cloth.”, Ludwig said and led Laurence back to bed.

Laurence laid himself back down and pulled the blankets over him when Ludwig left. Now., his mind said to him. Now you can get a drop of blood. Ludwig will never know it.

Laurence didn't move. Instead, he focused his thoughts on the cat that slept with him and pet its fur. He didn't even notice which one it was, he just needed something, anything to distract him from this need.

When had Laurence gotten so dependent on the blood? He used to have a blood ministrant monthly, for he had to cure his chronic anemia. It turned into a bimonthly one, then a weekly and soon... soon he had done one daily, for it wasn't only the healing properties of the blood, but also the rush of it... it made him feel good, made him forget his troubles, put him on some high...

No wonder Ludwig was concerned about him. That surely wasn't healthy. Though, how should Laurence get rid of this awful feeling, the feeling that something was missing from his body, something that he desperately wanted to replace?

Just as the cat he had petted screamed in protest for he had struck his nails in it, Ludwig entered again and looked a bit confused at the offended ball of fur that left the room.

“Laurence, I brought a cool wash cloth.”, he said and laid it on Laurence' forehead. “That should help you cool down, so that you can go to sleep again.”

Ludwig wanted to leave and sit back down in the armchair, but he stopped when Laurence tugged at his sleeve.

“Ludwig? Could you read another book to me?”, he requested.

Ludwig gave Laurence a big smile. “Of course.”

Even though it took ages for Ludwig to get through the one chapter he wanted to read, even though he fell over every second sentence and had to double-check on every other word, it distracted Laurence from his need. He would just focus on Ludwig and his non existent reading skills and nothing else. Ludwig would help to keep him grounded.

He soon fell asleep again.

Of course Laurence wasn't healthy the next day. He never had managed to cure a cold in a day without the help of the old blood. The same could be said for the day after the next day. Ludwig continued to take care of him, by giving him food (still mostly warm soup or stew), reading to him, delivering the cats to him so that they could warm him and getting tea into his system, hoping that he could sweat and flush the sickness out.

On the fourth day, Laurence felt finally better, though now he had a different problem... now his nose wouldn't stop running and he pretty much had blown his nose with four different handkerchiefs now.

“How are you feeling, Laurence?”, Ludwig came in with his bright smile and put Laurence' tea on the nightstand. “Here is your new dose of tea. Drink plenty.”

“In a minute.”, Laurence replied, sniffling. “My stupid nose won't stop running... I think I need another handkerchief soon...” Just as Laurence had finished speaking, a sneeze happened. He held the handkerchief in front of him to catch the brunt of it, but the warmth on his face and the red on the handkerchief made it clear that his nose hadn't liked the constant blowing this morning at all. “Fuck.”, he growled.

“Woah, you got a nosebleed!”, Ludwig looked rather shocked while Laurence just sighed.

“And? That happens to me all the fucking time even unprompted. Rather give me a new handkerchief, it's all over my hands already...”

Indeed Laurence' battered nose had already bled through the already sodden handkerchief he had held and now the blood dripped all over his fingers and down on his pyjama. Ludwig handed him a new handkerchief which Laurence pressed against his nose where blood and snot intermingled. A fairly unpleasant sensation.

“At least all the snot gets out.”, Ludwig said as he steadied Laurence, making him hold his head slightly downwards, so that the nosebleed wouldn't clog his respiratory system and would hopefully stop soon.

“Could have done without the blood...”, Laurence said. “Wait, don't I have to pay into the swear jar?” He remembered the two swears that had slipped earlier.

“I wanted to give you a pass because you aren't feeling well.”, Ludwig said. “But for the next one when you are healthy you have to pay double.”

“What even is the point then?”, Laurence murmured, folding the handkerchief so that the bloody side would point away from him and catch the rest of the blood with the clean side.

“Once your nosebleed has stopped... I wanted to ask you away, would you like to take a bath?”, Ludwig asked as his hand went through Laurence' hair which made the latter extremely relaxed, forgetting to catch the nose bleed and bleed all over the blankets. “Ah sorry, I forgot that happened to you...”

“A bath sounds fine.”, Laurence replied. “I need to get one anyway, I have blood all over my face and hands...”

Not only that, Laurence hadn't got a proper bath for a few days now and he felt all sweaty and gross because of the fever. At least it had gone down today, even though it wasn't completely gone. Why were his colds always so persistent?

Ludwig helped him out of bed, but didn't carry him this time, for Laurence made it clear that he would like to walk on his own, now that he was better. Ludwig still laid a hand around his shoulder and walked with him towards the bathroom, the small little personal one, which housed a sink, a toilet and a bathtub, which was big enough for two people. Laurence unlocked it with his key and stepped in, Ludwig closely behind him.

“I already let the water heat up.”, Ludwig said. “It should be nice and hot, like you enjoy it.”

“Thank you.”, Laurence sat down on the closed toilet and waited while Ludwig filled the tub with water. While he waited, his nose started to run again, so he pressed his sleeve against it and wiped it. He would need to put on a new pyjama anyway.

While Laurence and Ludwig waited for the tub to fill, Ludwig organized a new pyjama for Laurence, locked the door behind him when he returned and got towels from the shelf in the bathroom ready. Once the tub was completely filled, Laurence got up and fumbled with the buttons on his pyjama. Ludwig was over in an instance and helped him undress. Once Laurence was completely naked, he entered the bathtub and sighed when the warmth, heat even, engulfed his body and soothed his aching nose and chest.

Laurence didn't expect for Ludwig to get into the tub with him, so a surprised noise escaped him when his boyfriend entered as well.

“How can you sit in this heat without batting an eye?”, Ludwig asked, fanning himself with his hand. It seemed to be a little too hot for him.

“Because I love the heat.”, he replied and leaned himself against Ludwig's large frame, closing his eyes when he felt his boyfriend's embrace. He could stay in the hot water like this forever...

However, Ludwig didn't let him enjoy the moment for eternity, for Laurence had to get cleaned up, especially the blood that was still smeared over his hands and chest. The water hadn't managed to get rid of everything, for it already had crusted and was now caked over his body.

Though, it was very nice to get washed by Ludwig as well. Ludwig didn't talk much, just sometimes prompted Laurence to give him a certain limb or move in a certain way. He was gentle and with each stroke of the wash cloth, Laurence felt cleaner and a lot better, watching as the red streaks of his blood appeared in the water before fading and settling at the ground. While it felt a bit weird basically sitting in his own blood, there was so much water in the tub, it was diluted enough.

After Ludwig was done with cleaning up Laurence, he got his earlier wish fulfilled and was allowed to just sit in the bathtub, leaning his head against Ludwig's chest and get his hair stroked by the man he loved. Only shortly before they had to leave the tub did Ludwig intervene again, by washing Laurence' hair.

It had been so relaxing that Laurence even forgot about his cold while in the warm water, but once he was out, heavily shivering because of the cold air, he got reminded about it. Ludwig wrapped him in a towel immediately and helped to dry Laurence' body and hair, then helped him into the fresh pyjama he had brought.

“Stupid cold.”, Laurence murmured. “When will it finally leave me in peace?”

“Soon probably.”, Ludwig said as he let Laurence back to his room. “You look a lot better already. And this was all your own body and not the blood. Besides, you finally took a break again, so I am not exactly mad at your illness...”

“It is nice to spend so much time with you...”, Laurence had to admit. He was really working too much. He should make sure to take at least one day off each week to spend with Ludwig entirely.

After Laurence was tucked in bed again, Ludwig left to prepare his meal. Expecting some more stew or soup, Laurence poured himself another cup of tea and entertained the cats that gathered around his bed with a string that was knotted to a wooden stick. They surely had fun with this game, even though two of them had a little quarrel when they hit each other instead of the string.

All three of the cats present turned and ran towards the door though when Ludwig returned. “Woah, you guys better get out.”, Ludwig said and pretty much banished the cats from Laurence' room, blocking the cat door as well. “Or they won't let you eat in peace.”

Laurence' ever running nose was a blessing when it came to the food, because for once he could actually smell it and it smelled so good, his mouth actually started to water.

“I thought you must be tired of stew or soup.”, Ludwig smiled. “And since you feel better today, I made you another dish. Baked salmon with mashed potatoes and peas on the side, all topped off with a sauce hollandaise. Enjoy.”

“Thank you, Ludwig.”, Laurence said as he dug in, amazed at how well he could taste again and that Ludwig had put the exact right amount of salt he liked into the dish. It was truly wonderful and made him feel a lot better.

Laurence mostly took a nap for the rest of the day until Ludwig came back to him. With him feeling better, Ludwig decided to come into bed with Laurence and join him while Laurence read one of his books, being well enough again to read on his own.

Laurence smiled as Ludwig cuddled against him, soon falling asleep probably from the exhaustion of taking care of Laurence and having to keep up his job. Laurence purged the light not much later and decided to sleep as well.

Three days later Laurence woke up and didn't feel sick at all anymore. He checked his forehead and he surely had no fever anymore, he didn't feel the need to cough and while his nose felt sensitive, it was neither stuffed nor running without pause.

He got out of bed and walked over to his wardrobe, putting on his usual church robes. No sense laying in bed anymore, he could get back to work.

As Laurence put the church robe on, he noticed something in its pocket. He felt for it and found a blood vial. He held it between his fingers and stared at it.

He... wasn't sick anymore, so he wouldn't need it anyway... but... hadn't he been off the blood long enough for now? Though, should he take so much of the blood anyway?

Maybe later, Laurence decided, putting the blood vial back into the pocket. He had survived without daily blood ministrations in the past, he had survived this week. Maybe he should try and really tone down on the blood... even though he didn't feel strong enough to put that particular blood vial into his desk and lock the drawer with the key.

The door opened and Ludwig came in: “Laurence, what do you want for breakfast today? Oh, do you feel better?”

“Loads.”, Laurence answered. “I will get back to work today.”

“That's great.”, Ludwig came over and ruffled his hair, making Laurence melt in his touch. “See, it was just a cold, you did survive it, even without the blood.”

Laurence winced at the mention of the blood, thinking about that blood vial he would carry around with him. Time for an experiment... if he would manage to go a whole day without using it, he would consider it a success. For now, though...

“But I still would like that breakfast of yours.”, he said. “Can you make me a rice omelette?”

“Gladly.”, Ludwig said and left the room, leaving Laurence' alone, who sat down on a chair and felt the blood vial in his pocket.

“Only one day...”, he said to himself, hoping that he wouldn't fail. (Author's notes: Spoilers, he fails.

Ludwig has so much trouble reading because he is dyslexic, they just don't have a word for it in Yharnam.

If you want to know more about Laurence' cat, check out my “The Crazy Cat Vicar” fic.

The cough medicine is a reference to the Victorian cough syrup which is filled with alcohol, cocaine and other drugs.

I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave me a comment with your thoughts.)

[shortyisweird9]

'Lonely ghost serie'

Proposition and Accord-part VII

"Ghoooost! Good noon!"

"Hello!"

You opened your eyes slowly, barely awake from the deep sleep you had. The grogginess in your voice shadowed by the abnormal deepness of the voice changer.

"Hey, ghost."

"Corpse! Always pleased to hear you."

"Always ,ey?" Toast picked what you said in a more suggestive tone, teasing you with it.

"Cut it ,man."

You didn't bite on the trap however.

" Anyway, mind if I bring a friend?"

"Of course!"

"Sure why not."

"Okay,brb."

"So ,Corpse..."

"To early for that ,Toast."

Near the white astronaut Ghost had, a new little one came. It was black with a pair of headphones and a Wall-e companion. On top the name Charon was displayed.

The others started circling the new mate as Corpse's pink character stood unmoved by your side.

"Good evening!" A low and mature voice came from a woman. It didn't had a mechanical effect to it so it was coming in naturally.

"Hiiiii!"

"Hello!"

"Guys this is Andreea, Andreea this is the Peanut gallery."

"Ha,nice. Good to meet you all."

"Likewise."

"You too."

"Your robot is cute." Corpse remarked.

You smirked when your phone immediately lighted up. A message from Andreea written in big bold letters: 'HIS VOICE IS HOT!'

'I know :)))'

"Andreea , you know how to play this game?"

"Y-Yeah ummm..."

"Sykkuno."

"Sykkuno! Yeah, I know me and Y- I mean ghost sometimes play it. "

"You play together?"

"Well yeah, we play Fallout together, sometimes Minecraft even Eyes the horror game. Speaking of which ghost?"

"Yeah?"

"My place tonight?"

You smirked knowing what's to come.

"Time to corrupt another soul?"

You laughed was intentionally made to be interpreted by the others as evil and dark. In the inside you cringed, you sounded so stupid.

"Umm,guys?" Sykkuno asked for clarification, to which he will not receive.

"YOU GUYS LIVE IN THE SAME CITY?" Pooki asked all excited for some reason.

"Yeah?"

"Same city? We leave in the same apartment building." Andreea told ,a pleasant hiss rang as her long nailed hands opened a Pepsi can.

'Cola is better'

'Fuck off, Y/n'

':))🖕'

"That's so cute!"

"I guess,but she's a pain."

"A pain? Moi? Please, I am only in pain not one."

The others chuckled at your shenanigans, the humour between you and Andreea being based in play fighting, cursing each other and bumping as hard as you can into each. Considering how much of a height difference is between you two, everything just gets more interesting.

"Maan,I want to stay in the same building with you guys also." Corpse pouted.

You two sounded really nice to be with, especially you. You were fun to talk witg and your natural voice was a godsend to his anxiety and insomnia. It made him sometimes slip into a blissful sleep,especially when you began reading to him Doom lore in the late hours of the night.

' "The Maykrs' need for the Essence is prime. Without it they must suffer the monstrous fate of Transfiguration, and see their wisdom and faculties slither from their twisted forms. By bidding of the Khan Maykr herself, the Order of the Deag has devised a method to improve and accelerate the production of the Hell aura. What once took eons for the savage beasts to attai...oof. Wait."

Corpse heard you move in the bed, your body getting its pressure off it before settling back in.

He wanted to start to ask you to read again when he was interrupted by the sound of smooching ? You were kissing somebody?

You puffed and smiled as Sergiu bombarded you with another waves of kisses, a tradition in your group. You all were touched starved creatures so you showed your platonic affections through hand holding, sudden hugging, cuddling- sometimes propping your cold feet on the other person's back just to be dickish- and rains of kisses.

Sergiu was the most affectionate out of all of you, the rain of kisses being something that his mother used to do before she left to work. 'A kiss on the forehead to brighten your thinking, two on the cheeks so no one is lonely and one wherever you want.'

"Alright! Alright! I get it, you are leaving!"

You laughed as you pushed the cuddly golden retriver of a man away.

His chains attached to his black leather belt with grey 3d rombes running all over it clicked as it bounced. His hair smudged on the worn out black leather jacket and his face all but a smile. He was happy and you love to see it.

-Vrei ceva? ("You want something?")

-Umm...PIZZA PĂTRATĂ DE LA DEDEMAN ȘI MOUNTAIN DEW.("Um...SQUARE SHAPED PIZZA FROM DEDEMAN AND MOUNTAIN DEW.")

The man laughed at your antics, roughing up your freshly washed hair and closing the door as he left.

"Corpse? You still there buddy?"

Corpse felt a pang in his chest, you sounded like you have much more fun with the other person. He knew it was stupid but he couldn't help feel jealous and worried at the same time. He wanted to be the reason to make you sound so happy and he didn't want to be worried of being replaced anytime soon.

"Corpse? My petit orchid? Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah,I am fine."

It came out shaky and too abrupt for your liking. Something's wrong and you didn't want to overstep your boundaries but you couldn't let him go about his day while having something munching on his good mood.

"Hey,hey Corpse."

"Yes?"

"Wanna see my cat?"

"YOU HAVE A CAT?"

"Yes,so do you..."

"Hell yeah. I mean...sure I am cool with that."

You shook your head and became giggling, it's good to know you weren't the only one who didn't know how to cover their slip ups.'

"Trust me Corpse. You don't want to live with this anxiety filled owl."

"HEY! My anxiety adds spice."

"Oh my god!"

"Guys, guys. Can we start the game please?"

"Oh for sure."

————————————————————

"Watch out for the wall, ghost. Watch out for--GHOST! Oh shit ,I lost her guys! Ghost, where are you?"

His character ran in desperate search to find you. When it left the snowy environment from outside , it stopped abruptly. You were there in the office with Sykkuno ripped apart body in front of you.

"Oh shit! Sykkuno!"

His thoughts ran wilde as they hurried to reach a consensus. He knew that you will probably kill him also as you waited for those 10 seconds to pass.

His premonition was proven true went you shut the doors of the office , your character moving slowly towards him.

"Ahhh! Guys ,what the hell do I do?"

His eyes clenched shut as his finger hovered the report button.

The sound of a meeting went off,forcing him to let out the breath he's been withholding. His hands shook as he relaxed himself when his friends started discussing aka screaming at each other.

Someone else called in another body.

You held your fingernails between your lips, leg bouncing from the nerves. You knew Corpse will snitch you out,after all you did killed Sykkuno.

I am so fucked...

Your body covered in a white and black hoodie contorted itself into a smaller position.You ignored the pain that your dead thighs were trying to emit while being in a cross position. Head to busy with anxious thoughts of what Corpse may do.

"Phew, Jesus. I am too nervous for this game."

Andreea's words caught you off guard. She nervous? It's more likely than you think.

Your feelings long forgotten as your protective nature sprung out of the shell.

"You? Nervous? Andreea you are a freaking talented tattoo artist."

"It doesn't matter, my hands are sweating like they are the Danube river."

"Wait ,are you a tattoo artist?"

"Yeah ,I am. I started tatto--"

Mission accomplished! Your goal wasn't to comfort, you knew you sucked at that but to distract. To take her mind away from whatever cause her pain ,then to secretly totally not obviously attack the shit of whatever upset her even bad vibes. Fuck them bad vibes! You and your friends are bad bitches not second hand embarrassments.

"It will be nice if I could do henna also but this hoarding gremlin was only calm enough when she did them. So basically it became her summer job."

Ah. Your mind realised she was telling them how you two met.

You wanted to get some henna tattoos, see if you liked the way the look at you. Andrea was just a beginner when you entered the tattoo shop and her life.

You weren't always an anxious person,the situation changed when your math teacher decided to be a bitch and humiliate you for not knowing geometry. Since then you were always out of breath when you spoke in public, always bouncing your leg when stressed , biting off your nails and having a constant dread when it came socialising with others. And when you are a big girl that amplifies considerably.

People are just shallow like that and you learned a long time ago that their intolerance towards you was a THEY problem rather than a YOU problem.

It's hard thought, sometimes their words and disgusted glares burn you from inside out. Make you feel inhuman ,that your anger,sadness and your passion don't mean anything ,that they are not valid, that you cannot be yourself and liked at the same time nevermind seen as a romantic interest.

But I digress, when it came with Andreea ,everything when abnormally smooth, you joked and laughed, bitch about people and so on. You hit off immediately.

So when you wanted to make a bit of cash ,Andreea didn't hesitate to teach you how to do temporary tattooing.

"That's so nice guys,the body was in specimen room by the way." Dave said.

The others for some reason started blaming Rae , you didn't said nothing as you were still waiting with your breath tight for Corpse to rat you out.

"Corpse? Where were you by the way?"

Here comes the expose.

"I ..uh...wait. I was in the storage then I met Sykkuno in the office but left with ghost."

What?

"Ghost? Can you collaborate his story?"

"Yeah , me and him left Sykkuno. I think orange was with him last time we saw. I am done with my tasks by the way."

"What?"

"LUDWIG! HOW DARE YOU KILL SYKKUNO?!" Corpse growled.

You muted yourself as you squealed. You couldn't believe him. He really took your side!

You took a sip of your green tea, patting yourself on the back for being calm and getting back in the game.

————————————————————

"How could you ,Corpse? I trusted you and you stab me behind my back." Sykkuno exclaimed, pout evident in his voice.

"I am sorry Sykkuno..i-it's just...I...uhh.."

Your microphone was not muted this time so when you burst in laughter you dominated the whole discussion. You laughed ugly but happy as you always did, holding your lower abdomen as it clenched muscle you didn't know you have.

"It's NOT funny, ghost!"

"It'S nOt FuNnY, GhOsT! Bwahaha..."

Despite laughing ,deep down you worried you may have offended your new friends? Nah, too early to call them that.

"I think I know why Corpse did what he did." Grease started in a dramatic sober voice.

"You mean cheated on Sykkuno."

Ludwig ignited couple of laughter from the group.

"Yeah. He did it....drumb rolls please. "

Sean provided the suspenseful roll.

"Because he is a SIMP."

"WHAT?"

"No way..."

"You heard me."

The group went wilde. You didn't know what you could say, your mind crazy yet also numb. Poor Corpse.

"Hey, hey. Guys, please calm down. If you want to come for someone, come for my neck."

Your hands flared up into a peaceful backing sign, you knew of Corpse's bad anxiety and you didn't want to cause him distress by bringing the limelight into his face.

"It's alright, ghost. I am a big boy, I can take it."

You tried to keep it short, you really did but your mind wanted to say one more thing.

"Just like you can open foil?"

You heard a breath intake. You lowered your volume, thinking of what he may do.

"I FUCKING HATE FOIL!"

————————————————————

"Tonight was fun." Corpse said after taking a sip of water.

"Yeah, it was."

You watched your dark hair moving in the air as you played with your toes.

"Sorry again for bringing all the...uh...attention on you."

"It's fine,ghost. I know you didn't mean it."

"Y/n."

"What?"

"My name is Y/n."

Ah!

His heart jumped a bit ,you told him your name that means you trust him right. Lily doesn't know your name so he is the first to know. The first to guard this special information.

"Ghost was kinda wearing down,you know?"

"Y-yeah,...uhh..I mean no! Yes? No? Fuck...It's a pretty name,um...Y/n."

You haulted, getting used to him saying your name will take a while.

"Heh,thanks Corpsie."

"Mhmmm, did you have time to think about what I told you?"

Couple of nights ago,Corpse proposed the idea of starting your own Youtube channel. You were hesitant.

"Corpse, I told I don't think people really like me. I think they just like the voice."

"Non sense. You watched our stream?"

"Noo...? Sorry,I didn't really have time to..."

"Hey, it's okay goofball. Anyway,they were asking more videos with you. Maybe some of them like you because of your voice but most of them like you because they like your personality, gh- Y/n."

"Yeah, I guess..."

"Look you don't have to do it if you don't want to. I just feel bad for all the fans that want to talk with you or sometimes I found something funny and I want to send you or tag you. It's stupid I know."

You didn't like the sad tone of his, your heart tightened and your worries worsened.

"I think I am going to sleep. Goodnight, ghost."

"'Night,Corpse."

You were left in the darkness of your room, at the end of the bed with your long fingers reaching towards your knife, your personal fidget spinner. You chew your nail as you moved the blade unconsciously.

Corpse's account:

.ghost added you. Add them back?

————————————————————

Hey,guys!💖💖

Hope you like the seventh part of the serie. I almost went into a writing block with this one.

Anyway, have a nice day!💗💗

Tagged💖💖: @moolujk @magenta-skyline @yikesyikesyikes95 @mythicalamphitrite @yoyoanaria @simonsbluee @cherry-piee @gaysludge @softboiicorpse @heavenly3308

[doodleimprovement]

A Hat in Time :: The Nutcracker AU :: 1st Climax and 2nd Rising Action

Wooo, after this, there’s only one more update! 

Maybe I’ll get this done before the holiday, who knows :3c

Enjoy Clara’s senseless bravery, and Francesca’s ceaseless desire to help! 

1st Climax: 

Clara: 

Clara watches as the Queen of the Cats tells the Nutcracker how excited she is to finally beat him, and how the Kingdoms of Snow and Sweets will finally be hers. The Nutcracker is knocked back, working on getting up with the Queen brandishing her claws. Just as she’s about to swipe down at him, a small slipper nails her straight in the face with enough force to knock her back, and her attention is drawn to the little girl staring at her with all the misguided bravery and conviction an 8 year old can muster. 

Clara immediately regrets her decision when the Queen’s claws turn towards her, but the Queen is stopped by a sword - the Nutcracker getting in her way, and said soldier tells Clara to run - calling her by name and she does as she’s told, but sees something that might help and heads towards it. 

Getting the help of one of the toy soldiers - joined by a few more, the group uses a book up on the table next to the tree to push it down and damage the Queen’s “artillery”, and the destruction distracts her, and it's just enough for the Nutcracker to take the upper hand, stabbing his sword clean through her - defeating her and causing the other cats to retreat in fear. 

The soldiers and Clara cheer in victory, before Clara jumps down onto the chair she used to climb to the table, and then, while making eye contact with the nutcracker, jumps down to him. He manages to catch her, but scolds her for doing that and seems a bit high strung after everything that occurred. She asks how he knows her name and he retorts that he was aware and conscious the entire time that she was playing with him - only just now realizing that this nutcracker is in fact “The Snatcher” 

Francesca: 

Francesca, meanwhile, sees that Vanessa and Ludwig have been in correspondence, with Ludwig saying that he was searching for his missing brother, and also seeing his notes on curse breaking, putting things together pretty simply. Her eyes scanned over his notes about his brother’s curse - written in a weird, “if you know then i don’t need to explain it” kind of way, but she starts to put together that Vanessa definitely knows something, talking about Lukas as if she knows where he is, and that she hopes he’s not “toying around”, which Ludwig takes much umbridge with as his brother “has never been like that”, with her responding that he’d “be surprised.”

Ludwig finds her in his office, and in a slightly frazzled state asks her what she’s doing, and she doesn’t bother explaining herself, immediately telling him that Vanessa’s letters are suspicious - pointing out perhaps the most damning detail - that she knows that Lukas disappeared at night, something that no one else knows but Ludwig, because he was there to help his brother (something she read in the man’s journal). Not to mention that Lukas wasn’t pronounced missing until two days later, and, perhaps most damningly to Vanessa, she claimed that she’d left their home the night Lukas went missing, so there was absolutely no way that she could have known when he went missing unless… 

Ludwig, in a sudden burst of alarm, picks up Francesca out of his chair and puts her on the desk, looking back through the documents and seeing the other red flags, as well as her accusatory language. He seems disbelieving still, but he grabs a book off the shelf that he’d gotten from his family's library, and opens it to a frayed page, written in an old, dead language, but recognizing handwriting in the margins with the translation of the spell. It was Vanessa’s. The looping of her As and the crossing of her Ts gave her away. 

Ludwig sits back in his chair, disbelieving and bewildered that he hadn’t put it together before this.. 

Second Rising Action: 

Clara: 

The Nutcracker stated that he has to return to the Land of Sweets, to report to the Sugar Plum Fairy. Clara asked if she could join him, and he snapped at her that of course he’s taking her with him. She wasn’t supposed to be here, or shrunken down in the first place! Clara pouted at him and scolded him for yelling, leaving him sheepish as he led his army of toy soldiers under the chair, where there was a “portal” into the Snow Kingdom. 

Clara jumped out of the Nutcracker’s arms, and ran forward into the land, fascinated and excited at the beauty and magic of it all, the Nutcracker freaking out when she slips on the ice and he catches her just in time, scolding her, but much softer this time - seemingly learning from his last scolding of her already. She still rolls her eyes though, and starts rushing ahead again. Exasperated, he chased after her right up until they got to the gates of the snow castle. She starts talking to the snow guards before he catches up and tells them to let the king know that the Queen of the Cats is dead. 

They are called into the castle, where the king greets them with much joy and excitement. He thanks the nutcracker, and Clara buts in and says that she helped and the king - a man with children of his own, also congratulates her, offering the two of them sweets and to stay for a little while - stating that his children were happy and willing to perform a celebration “ceremony”. Clara excitedly says yes, and - when it looks like the nutcracker might say no, she gives him a very adorable pouty face and he caves. 

The prince and princess appear, with the princess showing off her annoyed attitude and the prince looking super excited to perform. Clara banters with them a bit before taking a seat next to the Nutcracker and they watch the prince and princess put on a spectacular ice magic show - think the ballet but with Elsa’s ice powers. The Nutcracker takes some moments to explain how the magic works and some of the visual tricks, and is pleased when Clara seems interested and talks about how amazing all of it is. 

The performance ends, and Clara excitedly claps and compliments them endlessly, while the Nutcracker speaks with the king, who gives him a cape for Clara to wear, since it is “awfully cold, don’t you think?” The Nutcracker - literally a wooden toy- hadn’t even thought of that. He calls Clara over, and drapes the cloak over her to keep her warm, telling her they have to go on their way to the Land of Sweets. Clara excitedly wonders if she’ll be able to eat everything there as the Nutcracker leads her out, and they make their way to the open road, where they head off to the Sugar Plum Fairy’s domain. 

Francesca: 

Francesca watches Ludwig try to collect himself, and she asks, as gently as she can manage, what happened. Ludwig explains to her that his brother was cursed, and that he had spent the last two years looking for a way to break it, but he never knew who did it, or now, and with Francesca’s insight, he realized that it had been his brother’s finance - one of the few people he trusted while on his journey. They had been in constant correspondence for those two years and he’s only realizing through rereading just how thoroughly he’d been tricked by her. (There is a lot of dialog here as well as a few flashbacks, so it's like, just as long as the previous section, but I’m just summing it up here) 

Frannie tries to comfort him, asking if now that he knows who did it, if that helps him at all, and he tells her yes, that knowing that Vanessa did this to his brother helps immensely, explaining that now he can look specifically for the curse that she translated and its various permutations for a curse breaker. The little girl than asks how she can help, and he looks at her, feeling her burning desire to help him right in his chest. He gets up and grabs a book, telling her that she needs to help him look for similar curses with similar ancient symbols. 

She nods and the two of them begin to look…