#apologies that this evidently went on people's dashes without a cut

[acequeenking]

Hadestober #8

 Man With Feathers on His Feet - Hermes comes to Hades office with questions. Mr. Hades offers him a drink. (T; post-canon, Hades/Persephone and Hades & Hermes¹)

Mr. Hades watches Hermes; it is not often that his nephew comes into his office.  Mr. Hermes, by now, has surely heard the girl’s fate: gossip never seems to last long before it arrives on Mr. Hermes doorstep. Hades is not and has never quite been sure whether Hermes goes out of his way to find it, or if he’s just simply so fast he’s always running into the drama first hand. Either way, ain’t quite his business, and Mr. Hades doesn’t suffer from the terrible desire to know every little thing on earth the way most of his relatives do. Never was curious beyond his measure. Get burned that way. 

“Quiet here now,” Hermes says. What he means is: Hadestown’s quiet, the mills and the mines not going overtime. And that is true. He has not gone there to crack the whip. He cannot, not just as of yet. Even a dog as old as he needs time to lick his wounds.

Or run a victory lap, as the case may be. Suppose he’s won the day, ain’t he? Proved his case. Love ain’t enough, no matter how much he wants it to be.

“Always quiet, this time of year.” He shoots back; what he means is: my house is empty. What he also means: you yourself is the cause, always taking her away from me. Not his fault entirely but Mr. Hades keeps his grudges. “Missus does make her absence known.”

“Yeah, I know.” Hermes’ mouth shifts into a grin that once might have been cocksure; now, it’s too weathered for that. They’re all too weathered for that. “Sister makes herself known in all contexts.”

“That she does.” He smiles. Always liked that about his bride. Most girls played demure, but not his. Never his. First time she looked at him, he felt the ring of fire ‘round his throat and he had liked it. Knew right then and right there that he would marry her, whatever the gossip on Olympus.

Already misses her. His throat tightens. Funny how the icy absence of the woman hurt more than the scalding heat of her gaze.

“Drink?” He asks. Proper to be polite and Mr. Hades is always proper. Despite his grumpy reputation there’s rules to be obeyed, and he’s not unfamiliar with the requirements of playing host.

“Always been fond of a beer,” Hermes says.

“Whiskeys all I got.” Doesn’t keep the stocks so well-watered with poisons, so to speak, without his wife around to guzzle them down.

And he himself has never been one for soft liquors. Ain’t worth drinking if it doesn’t burn your throat.

“Please.” He nods at the desperation in his voice; Hermes has heard about the boy, then. He pours Hermes a double. Hermes nods appreciatively.

“Thanks, kindly.” Hades serves himself his own glass.

“To Persephone,” Hermes offers, which surprises Hades, but he’ll not contest it. An agreeable enough toast.

“To the queen.”

They clink their glasses together. Hermes swallows down his whiskey in one long gulp; Hades does the same. Neither of them says anything for a long, long moment.Both, he suspects, making the measure of the other. Hermes never does come for a social call to Mr. Hades.

“Rather thought you might offer the toast for Orpheus,” Hades says, finally breaking the silence.

Hermes shrugs. “Won’t help him, now.” Hermes says it flatly, without a hint of emotion. That feels off; Hermes has never been a stoic one.

“Thought you might be calling to…hmmm,” he pauses, studies Hermes. Hermes looks tired more than anything else. Certainly drained, and Hades cannot blame him there. He feels drained, too. Mr. Hades stares at his cards and opts to fold. He’s a big enough fellow that he doesn’t have to play the game when he doesn’t want to. “Renegotiate. For your boy.”

“Uncle,” Hermes says, quiet. Odd; he ain’t called Hades such often, though such is true. Their relationship has never quite been so close, and, frankly, ain’t a lot of people on earth Mr. Hades ain’t uncle to, given his brother’s proclivities to screw anything and everything that moves. Hermes goes quiet again, and Hades wordlessly refills his tumbler. Can afford to be generous can’t he, Mr. Hades who has his wife’s love, Mr. Hades who has his souls still toiling, Mr. Hades who has everything but proof that love and love alone is enough and therefore ought to feel a damn sight happier than he does?

“Thanks.” Hermes clears his throat. “As I was saying.”

“Yes.” He puts his boots up on the desk, pours himself a double. He should be happy, should be gloating his power. He ain’t.

“Only a fool attempts to renegotiate when the other party has all the power.” He cocks one eyebrow, looks Hades dead in the eye. “And I am a lot of things, Mr. Hades, but I sure as hell ain’t a fool.”

He laughs, despite his own melancholy. Hermes is many things indeed. And not a damn one of them is a fool.

“Boy broke the rules. He failed the trial. Wish it wasn’t so, but…” Hermes sighs. “Simple as that. Simple as that.”

“Yes.” Hades frowns into his glass. Wasn’t as if he wanted the boy to fail. Wasn’t as if he wasn’t hoping desperately for some – any – other result. Sure he knew the odds were long. Always has been a fan of the long-shot ponies, Mr. Hades. Paid off for him many a time, though gambling does tend to fall under his purview. “Why are you here, Hermes?”

“My job. Ferrying souls to where they need to go.” He puts down the glass on Mr. Hades table with a definitive bang, and Hades feels a chill come over him.

He raises his eyebrows. “I’m where I’m supposed to be, boy. Bigger forces than you dictated that.” Older forces than him. If he could undo it, he would have centuries ago.

“Yes and no.” Hermes folds his hands into his lap. He looks confident, like he’s gone through this before, though such is of course right impossible, impossible to the right highest order. Mr. Hades has a very good memory. And a very long one. And he would have recalled such before.

“What?” He thumps his own hand on the table, time to call a spade a spade. “Cut the bullshit.”

Hermes smirks slightly. “I’ve always liked that about you, uncle. Never stand much on ceremony, no matter how many times we’ve been through this.” The eerie feeling of a spider walking down his back bristles the back of Mr. Hades neck, and Mr. Hades, himself being a man who has refused to be intimidated upon many an occasion, even in in his incredibly long life, keeps his face perfectly still.

“You’re wondering, I know.” Hermes looks directly at him, eyes still tired, emotion still muted. “Why you think it feels familiar. Why when I say when we’ve been through this before, you feel like spiders go walking down your neck.”

Hades gives no indication of being frightened; however, he does reach for the phone at his desk, and he does most certainly reminds his fingers not to shake as he dials the one number he has memorized above all others.

“She’s fine, but by all means.” Hermes waives a hand. “Go ahead.”

He punches the numbers in hard, each one a punctuated silent statement. He doesn’t take his eyes off Hermes as he puts the reciever up to his year. It rings. Hermes blinks. It rings again. Click - someone’s picked up.

“Hello,” he says; prays its the daughter and not the mother. More likely than not his mother in law will hang up on him.

“Hey,” comes his wife’s voice: soft, concerned. “You…alright?”

Now that is off-tempo; normally ,Persephone would be full of fire if he dared to call for anything short of an emergency; ain’t his time, she’s too free up there and as such cannot  to be tied down with telephone wire when there’s fruit to grow and vines to climb, yadda yadda.

“I’m fine,” he says, though he is not. “You fine?“ 

"Told you, she is,” Hermes says, and Hades gives him a glare.

“Yeah, of course.” She snorts. “You sure you’re fine?” Hermes raises his eyebrows, as if to suggest see?

“Hermes is here.” He changes his topic. “Guess I just…wanted to make sure you made the trip safe. Himself is being a bit coy about such."  Now for many women, such would lead to questions like now why would he do that, but Persephone is way too smart to be distracted by the obvious question.

"Those kids–” She clears her throat. “I looked and I didn’t find them. Are they…?”

“Call you back,” he says, and hangs up.

Hermes raises his eyebrows. “You could have told her.”

“It’s a private conversation,” he snaps. “Now: what do you mean we’ve been through this before?”

Hermes spreads out his arms, and the feathers dangle underneath. “Been through this before. Lots of times. Fates keep playing with us.” He takes a deep sip of his whiskey, and Hades listens carefully on every word. “Every time, the story ends wrong, so…” He shrugs.

“Every time someone starts it again.” He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and tries to sense a time-loop. Doesn’t. But then, when have the fates ever made anything easy for him? Hermes doesn’t look distressed about the situation, and that alone tells him the key piece of information Hermes has left unsaid.

“You’re the one starting it,” he murmurs. “You are." 

Hermes nods. "A favor, from the fates. Not easy to sweet talk them but…” He smiles. “Always had a silver tongue, Mr. Hades.”

“Golden tongue,” he admits; such was never a talent of his. “But the Fates must certainly ask high prices, charmed or not.”

“Very.” He holds his arms out again, and Hades notices now how threadbare they are, the spaces between the feathers. “Running out of chances, I’m afraid. Not a lot of feathers left.”

“So you’re giving up?” He is not sure if he is upset at the thought or not. Mr. Hades has won: won the girl, won his wife, won the town and all the souls therein. Won everything but his own happiness.

“No.” Hermes stares at him, clearly expecting him to offer up something that he does not. He clears his empty tumbler, takes Hermes as well, sets them neatly back on the tray.

“What do you want, Hermes?” He raps his knuckle on the table. “Say it plain for an old man.”

“I want the girl.” Hermes raises an eyebrow. “Fates won’t mess with the souls that aren’t on the table, so to speak. Got to have capital to gamble. Her soul’s…well, you know.”

“Hm.” He snorts. “Only a fool, nephew, tries to negotiate without something to bargain with.” Hermes nods his head, says nothing. Mr. Hades calls the play. “So what are you offering me?”

“Rewind time, and you get her back again sooner. Close your eyes, and when you open them…” He snaps his fingers. “There she is, on the veranda, drinking your whiskey, playing your games. Skip the six months. And if things go right, well..maybe spare her the problem of the girl. Simpler, easier. That’s why you have to - have to forget. Her, too.”

“Hm.” It’s a better offer than he’d like it to be. He has many souls; he has only one wife. And her absence pulls like a yolk at his neck, and he would do just about anything to get rid of it. “Fine.”

He digs through the contracts on his desk; finds the girl’s. Holds it out.

“Splendid.” Hermes rises; always has places to go, the man with feathers on his feet. “I’ll be going then.”

“One thing.” Hermes turns back to face him, already half out the room. “Persephone and I, do we…do we ever make it? Any time?” He does not quite say what he is asking: do I ever wait? Is it always bad? Has there ever been a time when we were in love without such complications? If Orpheus fails every time, then so must Hades, as well?

“Only one way to find out,” Hermes says; he smiles, but Hades knows well enough that he’s dodged the question. 

Still. He lets him go. Part of being a king, to know when to let things go, and when to demand tribute. Today, he lets him go. Today, he is charitable.

He closes his eyes, waits for things to change. Won’t be that long, he knows.

And maybe things will work out this time.

Rashly, before time can start over, before Mr. Hades can allow himself to think too much about it, he redials the same number he’d dialed while Hermes was around. Risking her wrath, dialing twice, but he’s willing to play the game: she won’t remember this, anyway. 

"Yes?” His wife says. Her voice is curious; he’s lucky,he knows, that she picked up, and not her mother.

“Forgot to say I love ya.” He says, and he smiles. “Always did, you know.”

If the world has to end– or end for now – better fire than ice, he thinks, and lets the flames take him.

[millllenniawrites]

warmth (Poe Dameron x Reader)

words: 5.6k yes it is the longest thing on this blog shush

summary: The Resistance’s victory celebration quickly turns sour when their trusted Commander, Poe Dameron, recognizes a toxin in the air. This favourite doctor is the only one he trusts with the information he has. You’re the only one you trust to look after him.

warnings: smut (this is 18+ people); afab!reader; porn with plot; sex pollen so that automatically makes it dubcon; doctor!reader; swearing, drugs, dirty talk, Poe Dameron is so whiny when he’s horny holy fuck; bondage; oral (f receiving); unprotected sex (wrap it up folks); pet names (good girl, honey, sweetheart, baby); this relies on Poe’s spice runner past (the one I use in Helix, not the gross canon one) but it’s not directly dealt with and it’s super vague 

a/n: I was trying to find a place to feature Kade Sol who is my baby sunshine light of my life from the Helix series and I snuck him in here! also this was a worldbuilding writing exercise that somehow turned into the filthiest smut I’ve ever written so there’s that 

__

As the last First Order ship disappeared from the sky, a victory cry sounded through the Resistance fighters. Poe Dameron landed on the tarmac of Cida’s Travel Station, popping the hood of his X-Wing. He grinned, watching the rest of Black and Blue squadron land around him, all hopping out of their ships and rejoicing on the deck.

They didn’t lose anyone in the air today. That alone was cause for celebration.

It had been three weeks of trying to break the First Order’s blockade on the Cida system. King Caran had graciously accepted the help of the Resistance, backed by the New Republic’s ships, and allowed them to set up a temporary base on Cida Prime. In exchange for liberating their system, His Majesty had granted the Resistance usage of their hyperspace lanes, which would cut the transport time from the Hosnian system to D’Qar in half. An easy trade, if anyone had bothered to ask Poe.

Which no one did, these days. But he was doing his best. 

Kade, his captain, shook him from his thoughts as he called from the ground, “The King is asking for you, Dameron.”

He dropped out of his ship, quickly hugging Kade, grateful as always to have his best friend by his side, before jogging into the command centre of the makeshift air base, where King Caran and Admiral Ackbar were waiting.

“Commander Dameron,” the King’s booming voice sounded through the small room as Poe entered.

Poe bowed low, nearly folding himself completely in half. “Your Majesty.” 

A pair of Cidan guards’ in navy uniforms flanked him as he trailed behind the King and Ackbar. Poe found himself tuning out the negotiations, agreeing with Ackbar on instinct as the two men spoke. They took more twists and turns than Poe could count. He began marking various basins, leaking different coloured smoke as landmarks, in case he needed to find his way out. 

Not that he thought the King wasn’t deserving of their trust. This was a war. He just wasn’t going to risk it. 

As they entered what appeared to be the King’s office, Poe felt almost out of place. Like he was floating, a gentle burning feeling in his gut the only thing grounding him. 

In a turn of events Poe was not expecting, he found himself missing you.

He loved Kade. Of course, he loved Kade. His second. His partner in crime. But the flight home was sure to be a boring one without you.

It wasn’t tradition, necessarily. But each time the two of you had taken a mission together, it had been a resounding success. And on your way home, he’d celebrated between your legs. 

And you’d taken care of him after, like the good girl he knew you were. 

The burning moved lower, a sweet smell settling in his nose. One Poe recognized, from a time before the New Republic Navy. 

Fuck.

Voice panicked, “King Caran,” Poe stood, realizing he had interrupted the King. Breathing heavily, he scanned the room, eyes locking on a small stone in the corner. It sat on a warming plate, small tendrils of yellow smoke disappearing into the air.

Caran laughed, following Poe’s gaze. “You know your therapies, my boy.” The man seemed… pleased. Proud. “A gift, from us to you.”

“With all due respect, your Majesty,” Poe coughed, a phantom of the sensation he had only felt once before aching deep in his lungs. “Most organisms outside of the Cidan’s can’t handle Stiima the way your graciousness can.”

“My apologies, my friend. We thought that it would help to calm things. For negotiations, of course.” Caran met Ackbar’s eyes, anxiety evident. “Please understand it is simply the way we celebrate such a great success as we have seen today.”

“I understand, your Majesty.” Ackbar side-eyed Poe, concern evident. “Are you alright, Commander?” 

The ringing in Poe’s ears drowned out the last of their conversation. The next thing he knew, he was back on the tarmac, shouting, “Kade. Get everyone in the air. Now.”

He beelined for his shuttle, locking himself in the cockpit. Hand clenching as he felt himself relax into the passenger seat, the pain of his nails digging into his palm grounding him. 

“Poe, you good?” Kade banged on the door.

He didn’t answer, focusing on the 

Kade finally got the door open. “Poe, what the fuck?” 

“Fly.” Poe said through gritted teeth. “I need you to fly.” 

So Kade did. 

They didn’t dock to the main carrier, flying above it. They would wait until it jumped to hyperspace before they followed. 

Poe watched as fighter after fighter flew into the large ship. Ears filled with cotton, he barely heard Ackbar’s order over the comms for anyone in a shuttle to stay away from the ship.

Code Orange.

Quarantine protocol.

Poe couldn’t stop his mind from going back to you. The last time you were on mission together. The way your mouth felt.

Your eyes. 

The innocent way you would smile, naked and spread out under him… 

“Poe?” Kade asked, sitting forward in his seat. “Are you alright?” 

Poe hit a comm button on his dash, connecting him directly to command. 

“Commander Dameron, are you alright?” A young man’s voice came through his headset. 

“I need you to connect me to med.” 

“Is someone—” 

“Connect me to med, officer. I need to speak with the doctor.” 

*

You opened the hull door of Poe Dameron’s shuttle, a small case of bacta and other various medications tucked under your arm. Coughing into your mask as you entered the dark ship, you quickly located the panel to seal the door behind you, saluting the mech on the ground that would lock you in after the door eased shut.

The convoy had landed hours ago. The medic team had been slowly working through shuttles, administering antidotes to those that could take them.  

It wasn’t poison. You’d ruled that out early. But the obvious effects of dehydration were evident. Poe seemed to know what it was, from the way he sounded in the recording Ackbar had passed off to med, but no one else was familiar with the symptoms everyone seemed to be presenting. 

Looking around, you stayed still for a moment, letting your eyes adjust to the dark. You had been in his shuttle before; you knew you were in the cargo bay, and if you followed the wall to your right, you would find the ladder that would lead you to the cockpit. Your mission. The plan. Assessing Poe and Captain Kade Sol’s symptoms. 

But if you went to the left and pushed the thin black curtain aside, you would find the small closet that served as his bed on long missions.

Your bed, when you joined him. 

It was hard not to smile, remembering the long nights in hyperspace with the famous Commander. The way his curls tangled around your fingers. How his stubble felt against the inside of your thighs…

Taking a deep breath to steady yourself, you shook your head with a small embarrassed laugh and began to work your way to the ladder.

Even with the grey cloth pulled tight across your mouth and nose, you could still smell the musk of the air, heavy in your lungs. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it had a true weight to it, like slightly overripe fruit or warm spices, much worse than the three shuttles you had cleared before this. The rungs of the ladder were warm like the air, slick with moisture, a telltale sign that Poe and Kade had done as asked. There had been no air circulating in the ship since they landed. If any of the airborne toxins had gotten into the ship, it wouldn’t have had the chance to escape outside. 

You smiled as your hands brushed their oxygen canisters, hearing the slow leak of fluid. Always thorough, Dameron…

Your hands grazed the small railing that guarded the catwalk to the cockpit as you made your way down to the sealed door.

“Commander Dameron? Captain Sol?” you called, hoping they could hear you through the dense metal. “It’s Doctor--”

The hiss of the door caused you to jump and you stepped back, taking in the form of the Captain. The large man nearly filled the doorway, dark clothes making it difficult to see him in the blackness of the ship. “I know who you are. Command came through a little while ago.” His voice as gruff as always, but he said it with a smile. “I’ve had no symptoms, but I figure you still need to check me out?”

“Yes, Captain.” You nod, “If you wouldn’t mind going back into the cockpit for me…”

He grumbled something you couldn’t make out but did what you asked, sitting in the only passenger seat in the small room, empty save for them.

“Where’s Commander Dameron?” you asked as you knelt in beside Kade, fingers on his wrist.

You ran through the basics of your training as he talked. 

“Poe didn’t get so lucky. Got hit worse than most people, from what we’ve heard. He was in the King’s office. Said something about a… diffuser?” When you nodded, he seemed to relax. “That’s why he made the call. Asked me to lock him up until a medic got here. He was specifically asking for you, so I guess we got lucky.”

You were grateful for the dark, hiding the way you flushed. “Guess so.” Unable to hide the warmth in your voice, you gave Kade a small smile. “There isn’t a brig on this ship. Where—"

“His quarters. Stun cuffs magnetized to the wall.” He seemed almost embarrassed, ducking his head. “I’m not sure what’s wrong with him, exactly. Just that he hasn’t really stopped making noise since about twenty minutes after we landed.”

You hesitated. Generally careful about the information you give out to patients, you weren’t sure it would be appropriate to explain, but Kade and Poe were a package deal. Rarely did you see one without the other. They’d been joined at the hip since long before they had defected to the Resistance together.

“It’s a potent aphrodisiac.” You murmured, standing behind him and tilting his head to check for discolouration on his neck, “Most people got hit with… well, let’s call it Level 1 symptoms. Loose tongue. Unable to really control what they’re saying, or at least not thinking it through. Level 2 are action: making choices you wouldn’t ordinarily make. The… aphrodisiac part. If you get to level two, we’ve found they wear off in about three hours. No antidote needed. Just fluids and rest, after it all. But you’ve been in here almost a whole day…” and Poe’s condition hadn’t improved.

“Which means what? He’s at level 3?”

There wasn’t a level 3. 

Coming around in front of Kade, you nodded slowly. “Was he complaining of… pain?” you flinched as you said the word, knowing the man had no idea what you were truly asking.

“Right before he asked me to gag him. He had moments he was lucid… basically told me to leave him locked up, no matter what he said.” 

There was only one other person that had said the drug hurt, and she had been fine for a few hours now. 

Kade chewed idly on his bottom lip, seemingly lost in thought. “Not easy being locked in while your best friend is raving like a madman.”

“The gag was a good call. He’ll thank you once he’s back to himself.” You tried for another smile. “You seem okay. Vitals are normal. Rosa is just outside. I’ll let her know that she can open the door. She’ll give you a mask and escort you to showers, and then back to your quarters. They’ll send a medical droid to check you out fully before you’re allowed to intermix with the base. Just in case.”

“Thank you, doc.” Kade stood, heading out the door to the rest of the shuttle. “Poe is—”

“I know.” You nodded, not really thinking through your words. “Closet. Curtain.”

Kade paused, turning to look at you for a moment. His eyebrow twitched, just slightly, before he dropped down the ladder. You appreciated that he hadn’t said anything, having a sneaking suspicion that he didn’t know you only off your medical reputation.

Your excursions with Poe were a relative secret, not wanting command to restrict you going on missions together because of your… you weren’t really sure what to call it. Enough people had stories about him that you knew you weren’t exclusive, but being with him was different. It had always been different. 

Though you supposed all the people he took to bed could say the same thing. 

You pushed the heavy curtain aside.

He was laid back on his cot, only one of his boots on. Poe struggled against his cuffs, attached to the wall above his head, and whined through the gag in his mouth. The bed squeaked and shook. It was a significantly less pleasant sound when you were standing there, not on top of him…

You shook your head quickly, a reminder that you were working, before you knelt on the ground next to Poe’s head. His eyes widened as he focused on you. Reaching for the fabric cutting into his cheeks, your fingertips grazed his jaw. “I’m gonna remove this, okay?” you murmured before eased the gag out of his mouth, letting the loop of dark cloth hanging around his neck.

“Sweetheart…” he whined the moment his mouth was free to move, his voice cracking around the dryness of his throat. You set your med case on the floor and opened it quickly, digging through bandages and bacta patches before finding what you needed. You lifted a small canteen to his lips, letting the water trickle into his mouth. He coughed, spluttering a little before he was tilting his head away, gasping, “Please, sweetheart. I need…”

You shushed him gently, swiping a cloth over his lips. Trying to distract him, you softened your voice, “You got everyone out before it could get bad, Poe. Everyone else is safe.” 

He turned his head to look up at the ceiling, seeming to relax a little. Your eyes found his throat. Watching him breathe, swallow, reminded you of the way his skin tasted… 

Fuck. 

You coughed again into your mask, murmuring, “I’ll be right back.” and ignoring the way Poe whined as you let the curtain fall behind you. 

Once you were a few steps away from him, you could breathe a little easier. The air was hot, fucking scalding through your mask, and you tilted your head back a bit to force yourself to breathe deeply. Slowly. Calmingly. 

You reached up, touching the pad of the in-ear to firmly press it into your head, “Rosa? You copy?” 

The woman’s high voice came through, louder than before. Her voice seemed to be directed straight into your skull. “Everything alright in there, doc?” 

“Everything’s fine. Commander Dameron has symptoms we haven’t seen before and I think I’m contaminated. It’s not bad. I can work through it. But I’m going to take my comm out just in case.” You really didn’t need command hearing your unfiltered thoughts.

She grumbled, “Maker. You sure you’re alright?” You swore you could almost see the way her eyebrows furrowed. 

“Yeah, Rosa. I’m good. Level 1 or less. Just make sure those doors stay locked until we come off it. Don’t open them for anyone. Even the General.” 

She turned on the link long enough that you heard her laugh before she said, “Sounds good. If we need you, we’ll come through the cockpit.” A brief pause, “Stay safe, doc.” 

“You too, Rosa.” 

Pulling the plastic out of your ear, you double checked that you had it turned it off before returning to Poe’s side. 

He relaxed the moment you were back in view, hips stilling on the bed. You tried not to stare at the obvious tent in his pants. 

His eyes seemed to focus better than before, saying quietly, “I heard you. Talking to Rosa. You shouldn’t have touched me.” 

He was right. It was probably your proximity to him that did it. But you had to do your job. That was your only priority, of course. Of course…

“Like I’ve ever been good at keeping my hands to myself with you around.” You froze as the words slipped past your lips, unable to stop them. 

He didn’t seem bothered by the sudden accidental honesty, but his eyes glazed over again, trailing over you. “I miss your hands…” he groaned, biting his lip and sending a wave of heat through you. 

“Careful, or I’m gonna put that gag back in.” Voice sounding forced even to your own ears, you sat down on the floor, your back resting against the bed. 

He mumbled something you couldn’t quite understand, until he repeated himself. “Take yours off. The… the mask. If you’ve got it…” 

He was right. If you’d already been exposed, there wasn’t any point in keeping it on. It was hot. There was no one in there but you. You weren’t hurting anyone. You could take the mask off. It would be fine. You—

“Sweetheart…” Poe groaned, rattling the cuffs. 

You ripped the mask off your face, tossing it near your medical kit. 

“G-good. Can you… can you please take my arms down, honey?” he tugged at the cuffs again. If you had turned to look at him, you would have seen the desperation you knew was painted across his features. “It hurts.”  

His whine sent a pang of guilt through you. “Why did you know what the drug was?” you asked, hoping it would distract him.

“It’s used in party drugs. The way it burns… it’s not like anything else I’ve ever—” He shifted, trying to get more comfortable, despite the way his pants were twisted around his legs from hours of struggling. The fabric stuck against him and pulled, and he moaned, guttural and sweet and chipping away at the wall of self-control you had haphazardly built against him. 

“Poe,” Meant to be chastising, the word landed somewhere in the realm of yearning and breathless. 

“Anything, sweetheart. Please.” Rolling his head back and forth on the bedroll under his head, he sounded close to tears as he whined, “I think my dick is going to fall off if you don’t touch it.”

You couldn’t help but laugh, helping to break the cloud of arousal circling your head. “I don’t think that’s a medically sound diagnosis, Commander.” 

“Say that again…” he breathed. 

“Medically—”

“No.” 

Your sharp intake of breath was the only sound in the shuttle. 

“Commander?” 

He tilted his head back, groaning, “You say my title and I can’t stop thinking about being inside you.” 

“It’s just the drugs.” 

“You know it’s not just the drugs.” You could have sworn it was a growl with the way the low sound of his voice tore through you. “I need you to touch me, honey.” 

“Will you stop talking if I do?” 

“Come lay with me and give me one hand back. Then I’ll stop talking.” 

Negotiating meant he was lucid, if only partially. 

“I thought you said it makes it worse if I touch you.” You squeezed your eyes shut, like that could block out the image that his soft gasps conjured in your mind. 

“It’ll get worse before it gets better.” 

“Always got a fucking answer for everything…” You grumbled, but it worked. Carefully, you eased yourself up off the floor and onto his small cot and leaned over him. One ring of the cuffs released with the click of a few buttons. 

After freeing the gag from around his neck and tossing it to the floor, Poe’s free hand immediately reached for you, gripping your thigh. Even though the thick fabric of your pants, you could feel how warm he was. “Sweetheart…” 

“You said you’d stop talking.” 

“Lay down. Lay down and I’ll stop talking.” 

You had agreed to it. And when his fingers dug into your thigh and the wave of relief washed over you at his touch, you weren’t about to argue. 

So you laid down, back to him, letting his free hand roam up and down your side. Under your shirt. Down under the top of your pants that he didn’t bother to undo. There wasn’t any focus to his movements. Where he touched you, you relaxed, and as his touch moved on, your skin burned. 

You didn’t notice the high-pitched whine leaving your parted lips until Poe’s hand came to rest on your throat. 

“Does it hurt?” He traced from your jaw to your collarbone, over and over, putting just enough pressure on your neck that you were gasping. 

“N-no… Are you…? Does it hurt for you?” 

“This is better. You being close makes it better.” 

“It’s just warm.” That was the only way to describe it. It was like he had set you on fire. Everywhere he had touched ached. 

He groaned, breath hot against your ear as he rutted his hips against you. “Let me help, sweetheart…” No amount of squirming was going to make the heat go away and you couldn’t figure out how he could be so slow about all of this. “I can make you feel good. I can make it go away. Please…” His fingers trailed across the exposed skin of your stomach, soothing the burning feeling that wracked your body. 

You gripped his wrist, bringing his hand up under the hem of your shirt, needing his cooling touch. Arching your back, your ass grazed him and you groaned together.  

“Please sweetheart.” he begged, voice low and sending vibrations through your back where he pressed against you. “Let my other hand down. I promise I’ll make it worth it.” He rattled the cuff still glued to the wall for good measure. 

He didn’t have to ask you twice. Rolling over, you shoved him onto his back and swung a leg over his hips. Grinding down as you reached over him, you released his hands, leaving the cuffs on the wall, up and out of the way. He was quick to flip you onto your back, hand cradling the back of your head as his lips met your neck. 

“Pretty girl…” Poe murmured as his hand tangled in your hair, wrenching your head back to expose your neck. “Such a pretty girl for me… so fucking sweet…” 

“Poe… Poe, please.” The whine left you before you could fully decide what you were begging for. Just more. More of him. His hands on your body. His lips on your skin. 

The heaviness of the air weighed you to the cot, your knees down to the thin mattress as he slotted himself between your legs – still fully clothed – and you fell apart in his arms. Gasping into his mouth, body convulsing, you could barely move with the way he was positioned above you. You couldn’t open your eyes. You could barely breathe with the way every small movement sent searing heat straight to your core. 

“Fuck.” His dark eyes focused on your heaving chest. “Do that again.” 

He fought with the ties on your pants, tearing the sides as he forced them down your legs, taking your underwear with them.

 It was all you could do to keep from screaming as he sunk two fingers into you. 

Each movement of his fingers battled the heat coursing through you and let you come back to yourself, if only for a moment. His other hand splayed out on your stomach to keep you still. He pushed your shirt up and you ripped it over your head. 

Your head spun as you realized he was still completely clothed. 

Leaning down, he sunk his teeth into the inside of your thigh. Where you expected pain, pleasure ran down your legs. Following his trail of bite marks with soft kisses, up closer to where you needed him, he blew softly on your folds and you cried out, bucking off the cot. 

You could hear the squeaking of the bed as you squirmed. Each laboured breath Poe took as he nestled himself between your trembling legs. The rasp in his voice as he murmured, “...wettest fucking cunt I’ve ever seen...” before he lowered his face to meet the apex of your thighs. 

His mouth on you didn’t offer the relief you were so desperately searching for. It somehow made it worse, every swipe of his tongue followed by a trail of fire. 

You pushed at his head but he barely responded. “Poe… Poe please… I need your cock…” 

He hummed lightly against you, his tongue working you slowly, like you weren’t threatening to burn up underneath him. 

Finally, you grabbed onto a handful of his curls and pulled. 

He only looked up in mild annoyance. Gripping your wrist tight, he forced your hand to the cot. “I’ve got you. I’ll take care of you.” Though the words were soft, his tone was gruff. 

Poe slowed his soft circles on your clit and you whined again, pushing up into his mouth. “Stay still.” He mumbled against you. 

Each of his motions were so methodical, you could have sworn you were the only one dealing with symptoms. Until he glanced up at you with his almost-black eyes. 

You stopped breathing.

You weren’t afraid. You could never be afraid of Poe. But you’d never seen him so unhinged. Like he was going to jump, and you were coming with him. 

He snatched up both your wrists, leaning over you. Tipping your head back, you tried to kiss him but he moved further, up above your head. 

In one quick motion, he locked both your hands in the cuffs on the wall. 

“I need it. Please. I need--” He didn’t finish the sentence, hooking his hands under your knees and spreading you out for him. His tongue found your clit again and you couldn’t hear your own scream over the rush of blood in your head. 

He’d always been accommodating. He took constructive criticism well and was determined to get you off, no matter what he had to relearn, when the two of you had fucked before. 

Now, he took each of those little pieces and, like he’d been given the code to your body, he took you apart. 

Every stroke of his tongue would have seemed planned if not for the way he moaned into your skin, the way he grinded his hips into the cot beneath him. You gave up fighting against the cuffs, instead focusing on rolling your hips against his face. 

He held still, letting you move the way you wanted. Letting you use his tongue. Guiding your hips. It wasn’t until he set you down and you opened your eyes that you realized that he was dripping with you.

His chin glistened as he sat up and yanked his shirt over his head. His eyes didn't leave yours as he undid his pants, shucking them off and tossing them somewhere with his shirt. You didn't care. You didn’t care where his clothes were or where yours had disappeared to. 

“My-- the cuffs. Poe, I need to touch you…” 

Your hands were in his hair the moment he released you, pulling his mouth to yours. He tasted of you, and the heaviness in the air, and the familiarity of him that you’d grown so intoxicated by. 

Ordinarily, he’d tease you. Just like this, your legs spread for him. He’d drag the head of his cock over you until you stopped threatening him, until you melted and became putty in his hands and your begging became wordless. 

But he didn’t have the patience. You could see it in his face. He angled his hips, sliding into you slowly. 

With this, there was relief. But it came as quick as it went and you were again whining under him, your cunt clenched tight around him. 

He pushed deeper, his face tucked into your neck. “Relax, baby. Relax. You’re so-- so fucking…”

You didn’t know how he was going so slow. You didn’t know how he managed to stop, only halfway inside you. 

All you knew was that you needed him. 

You pulled his hips into yours. After two orgasms, there was no resistance. He bottomed out, gasping into your mouth. “Pretty girl…” 

“Fu… Fuck me. Poe please please fuck me--” You pulled at his shoulders, his hair, grinding up into him as much as you could with him fully on top of you. “It hurts. Please…” 

Whatever well of self control he’d been drawing from seemed to have dried up. Snapping his hips into yours, he kissed you. 

His tongue dominated your mouth, not giving you space to breathe. Or think. Or do anything other than take what he was giving you. Your nails dug into his upper arms, leaving little crescent moons behind. His soft gasps of encouragement had you writhing beneath him. 

“Perfect little… You take me so well, honey. Like you were fucking made for me…” 

His words alone threatened to take you over the edge. 

The burning came to a throbbing head in your core and you arched up into him, trying to pull him closer. Deeper. Anything to quell the fire inside you. 

“Poe… Commander… P-please let me cum…” You weren’t in control of your words anymore. You weren’t in control of anything. “I need you.” 

You wrapped your legs more tightly around him and his hips stuttered but he wasn’t stopping. Not for fucking anything.

“Let me feel you, pretty girl.” He growled against your neck. 

And you unraveled. 

The relief washed over you in waves as you lay beneath him. Between each peak, you could hear your own panting, feel the way your body fluttered around him. 

You floated in the bliss.

Vaguely, you felt yourself roll over. Something cold dug into your side, but you couldn’t figure out how to move. Or figure out how to want to. 

Your chest was still heaving as he traced along your ribs. A warm body came flush with your back. Fire trailed his dancing fingers. 

“Sweetheart…” A soft moan at your ear. Breath, warm on your neck, sending a ripple through you. He pressed his hips forward, his hard cock sliding against your ass. “I need more. Please?” 

You shifted your aching hips back towards him. “Please.” 

*

You weren’t sure how long passed before you returned to normal – sated and thoroughly exhausted, but normal. Your skin no longer burned at the gentlest of touches. You could stand to look at him, to draw over the planes of his chest as he laid beside you without feeling the unyielding need for his cock inside you. 

Your fingertips traced gently over the straining cords of muscle in his neck and he shuddered. 

“You bit me.” He finally whispered. 

You dissolved into a fit of giggles, curled up against his side. His arm wrapped around you, pulling you onto his chest. 

“I’m sorry.” You laughed against his neck, kissing over the hickies you’d left behind. 

“Don’t be. It was hot.” 

“Where’d I bite you?” You propped yourself up on an elbow, looking down at him. 

He tapped his upper arm, right underneath a series of bite marks. Ducking your head, you kissed over them, murmuring soft ‘I’m sorry’s between pecks. 

“It’s okay. Really.” He tapped under your chin and you met his gaze. “Was that okay? We’ve never used cuffs or anything before and I’m really sorry--” 

You kissed him to cut him off. “I’m okay. I trust you. You know that, right?” 

He didn’t answer. Instead, he rolled on top of you, an intensity in his eyes that would have scared you if you didn’t know him. 

“I’m glad it was you.” Forehead pressed to yours, you shuddered as his soft breaths fanned across your lips. “I was hoping it would be you.” 

Your breath caught. Gently, you brushed away the curls that fell in his face, tilting your face up and bringing your lips to his again. 

He mumbled between kisses, “Can I take you for dinner?” You were too stunned to say anything, letting him kiss your bottom lip gently. He lingered at the corners of your mouth, leaving light kisses behind. “Hm? Will you let me take you out, sweetheart?” 

“On a date?” 

“If you don’t want it to be a date, it can just be a thank-you dinner--” 

“It can be a date. Can it be a date?” 

Giggling against your mouth, he said, “It can. I’d like it to be.” 

“We should probably get out of this shuttle first.” 

“Maybe put some clothes on before that?” 

“Maybe.” Your nose brushed his. “Maybe I’d like to kiss you first.” 

“Maybe I’ll let you.” 

[enha-woodzies]

➸ CHAPTER 5 | " ILLICIT AFFAIRS "

starring: enhypen ft. i-land daniel

pairing: jungwon x fem!reader x sunghoon

genres: royal au, romance, angst, slowburn, 18th century setting

word count: 1.8k

taglist: @serendipitysung @angeljungwon @en-sun @affectionaterainoflove @renkiv @softforjungwoo @jislix @fluffi @gyeraniee @stxrryemxlys

[ PREV. CHAPTER ] | [ M. LIST ] | [ NEXT CHAPTER ]

“The morning sun has come, and the evening moon is gone. Dearlings, I am elated to apprise you of the events at the debutantes’ ball that occurred as of late, and must I warn you, they're not for the feeble spirits!

The ton is abuzz with the most beefy tale as Northumberland’s jewel among the lovely rocks, Miss Y//n Park, has earned herself a ticket to glory! She danced with the most favored noblemen in the ton and surely, she went home with a hearty grace as she'll most likely expect an abundant roster of suitors in the following days.

Not only was she offered a dance by our dear second-born, Lord Yang, but she also had the privilege and pleasure to be twirled around the court by the most charming, Lord Lee, and the ever coveted nobleman among the ton, Lord Park, the next-in-line Duke of Northumberland!

Where's the beef you might ask? Well, it seems to me that these men are blindfoldedly playing fire with each other.

Not only does Lord Lee has women wrapped easily around his fingers, he has men too! With a sly steal of Miss Y/n’s hand from Lord Yang last night, he certainly left the chap earnestly plotting for a segue of intrusion- and Lord Yang intriguingly delivered!

With the timing in its most opportune, Lord Yang managed to finally dance with the young miss, in private! Ooh! This is new! My senses told me they spent their waltz in the Queen’s library, alone! How in the world did they let this happen to the ton’s jewel unchaperoned? That is something the Daily Tattle is unfortunately unable to unearth, but the mystery will continue to haunt us for long. Do take note: the more you hide in careful secret, the more people will know and hear about it.

What happened next will have you either boggled, or enchanted! The young lord abruptly rushed out the room before the music even ended! Should that be counted as a waltz at all? Before you ask about the enchanting part, Miss Y/n was seen dashing out the room moments later in tears and evident heartache. What do you think happened in the mere minutes of alone time in that large 4-cornered room?

But come now, enchanting stories aren't as they are without a knight in shining armor. In fact, in our young miss’ case, her knight wasn't clad in shining, silver sheath, but in magnificent and elegant, vintage red tailcoat draped over a loose white jabot shirt that’s cleanly tucked into the black, satin knee breeches, finished off with a pair of shiny Hessian boots. With skin as white almost akin to snow, it complemented perfectly with his ravishing fit. The beautiful marquess certainly dressed himself valiantly for the seasonal occasion. With that stunning presence, anyone would surely presume he went to the ball looking like a duke in careful search of a duchess.

Lord Park and Miss Y/n surprisingly became one of the ball’s highlights as they graced the Royal Court with the most heart-stopping, corset-itching, tantalizing waltz. All the while their faces are almost an inch apart from each other, a brooding identity was found hiding in the crowded corner of the hall! Under the bright gleam of the grand chandeliers, our dearest second-born, Lord Yang, was seen eyeing the two with such stare that even the buffy slice of vanilla cake on Lord Sunoo’s plate could almost melt in a blink of an eye!

Among the splendid tales told by yours truly, which tea do you think tastes like sweet ecstasy of oddity and fervor? It is the ton's tradition to portend the lady’s endgame by the person whom she had her last waltz with. From one man to another, should these prophecies dictate Miss Y/n Park’s fate?

Well, don't turn your heads away now! The story's just begun.”

The mid-morning sunrays peek through the large leaves and busty trunks of the hibernating redwood trees lining in disarray. Y/n is just about to plummet into her habitual readings in the Kielder forest and the autumnal breeze is keeping up with her bubbly morning approach, fortunately.

The sounds of the birds chirping and the dead leaves crunching under her shoes creep up through her puff sleeves making her tingle in giddiness and enthusiasm. She deeply inhales the aromatic forest and lets out a giggle in the process. With jumpy leaps and crispy leaves echoing in her every move, the young lady surely knows where she's going in this partly mysterious forest that is most often open only to men and men alone.

Somewhere deep in the evergreen woods, Y/n has built a fortress of her own for whenever she needs to run away from the seldom, mundane life in the manor. At the heart of Northumberland's famous Kielder Forest, lies a small, whimsical looking fort made up of translucent voile casually hanging on a tree branch. One of her lady maids helped her out with the fabric one time and it still stood prettily among the chaotic scenes that go around in the forest today.

She enters her slightly sheer fort and sits down on a pillow that she stole away from the comforts of her bedroom. Flipping the olden pages of the aged Jane Austen book she borrowed from a boy several years back, she heaves a sigh at the sight of a dead Catalpa flower resting on a particular page accompanied by a little, worn out parchment dating back to when she was a tiny ten-year-old lassie. She reads,

Her eyes drifted over the page to where the note and the old flower were situated. The pads of her fingers graze over the certain phrases that were underlined by the book's owner that says, “I cannot make speeches. If l loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. But you know what I am.一 You hear nothing but truth from me.一”

She suddenly feels a gush of nostalgia and loneliness upon muttering the words she had ultimately carved in her tongue way back; reciting each word with fervor while she bask herself under the brightly-lit moonlight in their garden. How can children of ten gobble up such emotions at once? So much for a pair of hopeless romantic hearts from the distant years of ten, screaming disagreements and would later huddle on a sprawled out table cloth on the flowery fields, exchanging sentimental poesies and stolen stares.

She relives the brief moments they both shared last night in the Queen’s library, and ponders on how one could be so adjacent to the changing of tides in the sea; promptly, and mostly without warning.

“Well, well, well. If it isn't the feelings I've been trying to avoid.” She whispers to the autumn air. Unfortunately, her pondering truncates as snaps of twigs and crisps off dried leaves echoes in her corner. She hastily crawls out her hand-made canopy and brushes away any pieces of tiny crumpled leaves off her dress.

“What are you doi-”

“Who are you?” She cuts off the startled chap cladded in ragged clothing, apparently embodying that of a mainland farm boy.

“Greetings, your ladyship. I come in peace and I am just here to fetch the chopped woods I’ve laboured a day prior for the farm.” The chap with a very odd accent replies with both hands hanging mid-air. “You are fully aware that you shouldn't be in this place, especially unchaperoned, right?” He continues.

“I am fully aware. But such matters shouldn't concern you.”

“Indeed, my apologies. Furthermore, I will respect your unspoken wishes if it is truly your desire to keep your whereabouts hidden from your townspeople. My lady.”

Y/n relaxes from her bold stance as she found a hint of kindness from the odd stranger. Surprisingly, she extends her hand out to the stranger for a greeting.

“Please. Call me Y/n instead.” The boy looks at her open palm for half a minute before shaking it, looking as equally surprised as the young miss with the sudden gesture.

“You live pretty far from the town, huh?”

“I do. Life's utterly chaotic over on your end?”

“Oh, you don't have the slightest idea.” They both share laughters and inside jokes of their own livelihood that made the young miss settle her shoulders down comfortably.

“I'm Jake Sim. Just Jake Sim. Apparently, my name was originally Jaeyun, but the farm folks got used with Jake and so did I. They said it sounds more Australian.”

“Why would they associate your name with something Australian?” Y/n grew more curious as it was, after all, the first time she's ever been with a person that's not of Northumberland's proper.

“I grew up in Australia.”

“That's curious. How did an Australian boy land among the ragged farms of Europe?”

“It's complicated. The story involves a lot of conspiracies so it's definitely not for your ears. Some other time, maybe?” Y/n smirks at the sudden brazenness from her newly found acquaintance.

“Is this an Australian thing where we shift from acquaintanceship to something more?” She teases.

“Certainly, if you're down to it on your next Kielder visit?”

“For sure. But as for now, I must take my leave. My presence is very much needed for the promenade scheduled for me today.” Y/n half-covers her mouth as if reaching out for a whisper, hissing the last sentence.

“Ah! Rich people things that I could never.” The chap could only roll his eyes at the fancy thought.

“See you soon, Just Jake Sim!”

“Where have you been, princess?” The young miss scoffs at the marquess upon arriving at the town’s park, with a hand immediately sliding through Lord Park’s arm.

“Down with the flirtatious remarks now, aren't we? I went to promenade with myself, Your ever handsome Grace.” Sunghoon smirks at her tiny, playful whispers against his shoulders. They go around and about, traipsing along the cemented pavements as they give away acknowledging nods and polite smiles to whomever wants their brief attention.

The ton is still in amazed shock at the possibility of these two ending up with a ring on a finger. Everyone was subtly betting for Jungwon but as a result of his loss, a much better gent carried his girl off the floor. Something he let himself do, out of cowardice perhaps, or out of pride.

“Remind me the point of all this?” Y/n carefully whispers to Sunghoon.

“To make your man jealous and spit out his genuine sentiments in the process, as well as an advantage for me as we get to keep the marriage-minded mothers of the ton at bay. Now, all we have to do is smile, nod, and appear madly in love with each other if this is to work. Is it clear enough for you?” He jerks a brow at her paired with the most charming smirk he could ever expose.

“Crystal.”

*send me an ask or a message if you wish to be added on this series' taglist!

ㅡ © ENHA-WOODZIES, 2021

[prettywordsyouleft]

The Cowboy - Part 5

Summary: Leaving the city for a rural area called Blayne seemed simple enough. Your task was to convince the people to agree with selling their land for a resort redevelopment. But once there, you soon realise that your city ways are entirely different to theirs. Winning their trust was going to take some effort, and when you start to fall for a local cowboy, you wonder if you really needed Blayne more than the city life after all.

Pairing: Jung Jaehyun x female reader

Genre: cowboy au / drama / romance / if you squint there’s some enemies to lovers up in here.

Warnings: Jung Jaehyun is a cowboy, need I say more? (a bit of angst and drama, and it sometimes might feel like you’re reading a Nicolas Sparks book, so I’m told lol) — if you aren’t a meat lover, there is a scene at the end that involves talk about meat.

Word count: 2093

This series will be updated every Thursday and Friday.

Preview | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

It was dark out by the time you reached your homestead, and you frowned when your headlights shone against the back end of a truck. Shutting off the engine after parking beside the unwanted vehicle, you got out and approached the man leaning against the veranda handrail.

“Here to see whether or not I’d skip town?” you accused with a dry tone, walking passed Jaehyun and straight to unlock the front door. You didn’t stop for his sake, flicking on the lights and went into the kitchen.

Jaehyun followed you in. “No.”

“Then what brings you around here, Cowboy? You made yourself clear enough last night on your stance. I’ll stay out of your way as best as I can. I’d appreciate if you did the same.”

He had removed his cowboy hat and held it in front of himself, his grip tightening when you turned to look at him. You witnessed the remaining sincerity get squashed by a hard look instead. “Well, I shouldn’t have bothered. It seems you’re just fine, Y/N.”

“Perfectly.”

“I won’t keep you then. Goodnight.”

You followed Jaehyun back to the front door where he stepped over the threshold and turned to look back at you. He seemed to want to say something more, and you waited with bated breath before he turned for his truck. Closing the door, you re-trailed your steps into the kitchen in a daze.

Why had Jaehyun come if it weren’t to check on your plans to leave?

You glanced back at the door in surprise. Was he going to apologise for last night?!

“I ruined it!” you whined and stomped your foot, rapping your knuckles gently over your head, berating yourself. “I waited so long for that apology too!”

Looking out the kitchen window, you watched as the truck roared down the driveway until his taillights were no longer visible.

That apology was long gone now.

The following morning, you heard several new noises outside and blearily shunted a window up and leaned out it to see what was going on. Blinking slowly, you focused on the barn out back where the sounds were coming from. You watched as more of the scene started to make sense to you, the two men throwing hay bales out of the loft of the barn onto the back of a truck.

The same truck that left your drive last night.

“Morning Y/N!” a cheerful Avery suddenly greeted, and you shrieked, knocking the top of your head on the window frame as you ducked back inside, your hands covering your chest. Looking down at the sheer chemise you wore, you then stared at the mirror across the room in horror.

Did they see anything just now? Darting over to your wardrobe where your dressing gown hung, you threw it around your body and thumped down the stairs, slipping your feet into the gumboots Avery had gifted you that you kept at the back door and walked over to the barn.

“What are you doing?!” you exclaimed and both men stopped transporting the hay.

“Oh, sorry, did we wake you?” Avery asked with a friendly grin. “Around these areas, we’re up long before now. We should have realised it might not be the same for you.”

“It’s the crack of dawn!”

Jaehyun snorted. “It’s seven-thirty. You’ve missed dawn entirely.”

“Ah. Well, it’s still early for me.” Both men stared at you, and you started to feel awkward. “It’s fine… I just… waking up to men…”

“Ahhhh,” Avery concluded sheepishly and came down the loft ladder to your side. “We needed hay. We stock the barn up down here since no one’s living here to utilise it for livestock with our excess hay. Although we have plenty of grass now with it being spring, we’re preparing for summer when the grass dies off, and we need to feed out again.”

“You don’t need to explain it to her. This is our land, and we waited until a sufficient hour,” Jaehyun stated, throwing down another bale onto the pile they were making.

You stared up at him in the loft and then turned back to Avery. “Sorry, I over-reacted.”

“Seems to be a trend.”

Avery glanced at his cousin and then rolled his eyes, pulling you aside. “Did something happen between you two?”

“N-No. Not exactly.”

“Huh. He’s been exceptionally irksome over the last day. He even cut off early from work yesterday, saying he needed to meet with someone to settle a problem. I had thought it was with you.”

Grimacing lightly, you shook your head. “Don’t worry about it. I get that a lot of people don’t like me here.”

“I don’t mind!” Avery countered, and you grinned at him. He mirrored your expression and then pointed at your head. “But uh… is this what you look like when you wake up?”

“What?” Feeling the top of your head and then clamping your eyes shut at the evident mess of your hair, you heard Avery chuckle heartily. “It was nice seeing you again Avery!”

“I can’t wait to see what other looks you’ll sport whilst you’re here in Blayne, Y/N!” he called after you as you dashed back inside the house, whining outlandishly at looking so ridiculous in front of them.

The next two weeks went by with research inside and out. You took down detailed accounts of the families in Blayne and met with some of them when you went into town. You familiarised yourself with the map of the area and went out on afternoon excursions to discover where best would suit development. You spent your evenings in the town modelling software on your computer, transferring data you had taken down during the day. It was still early days, but you were excited to show your progress to Pierce in a Zoom call on Monday.

But for now, it was the weekend, and it was your first one here where you felt that you didn’t have to work overtime and could officially relax.

Back in the city, you used the weekends for recreation after a busy week. You would sleep in and lounge around your house until you were ready to head out. You’d get your weekly groceries, hit up the gym and then meet with friends in the evening.

You’d already done the lie in part of your usual routine and had lounged around for as long as it took you to eat your breakfast. Without the internet being so readily usable, you couldn’t catch up on current affairs, or the latest social news on Instagram.

You had come to realise just how often your phone had been in front of your face back home.

“Well, I guess it time to get some supplies,” you announced, going upstairs and putting on another of your new casual dresses. Although you still didn’t like the countryside, you did enjoy dressing down a lot more than you expected. You wondered if it was a waste bringing all those pencil skirts and pantsuits with you.

Humming along to a song as you drove into town, you were surprised when a couple of the people you crossed paths with waved. It was a contrast to when they would simply stop and stare, which brought a wider smile to your face.

“Maybe they’ll start to like me soon,” you hoped and pulled up in front of the small grocers on Main Street. You grabbed your reusable bags from the passenger seat and got out, locking the door out of habit. Walking up to the entrance, you pushed on one of the doors to enter.

Except it was locked.

“Huh?” you said in confusion, reaching for the other handle. It didn’t budge either.

“Don’t you know how to read?” a familiar voice asked and you glanced to your left, inhaling a deep breath at the sight of Jaehyun.

You were still too bothered and humiliated by him that you wished to meet with anyone else than him. Still, Jaehyun stepped closer and pointed to the closed sign. “It’s shut until Monday.”

“Who closes their shops on the weekend?”

“Blayne does. You should have come during the week. You’ve been here for almost three weeks, and you didn’t know it closes on the weekends?”

“I was working.”

“That you were.”

“Must you always turn up where I don’t wish for you to?” you asked honestly and then tapped your mouth when you realised you had said that out loud.

Jaehyun smirked. “I guess so.”

“Sorry. I just… whatever. Are the shops open in the town nearby? I need milk.”

“I can get you some milk.”

“It’s fine. I need a specific kind.”

“The grocers won’t be open there either.”

“Really?! Then I have to travel two hours to the closest city for my groceries?!” you wondered hopelessly, flapping your bags around with frustration. “Why is everything closed?!”

“Can I talk now?” Jaehyun questioned humouredly, and you nodded once. “We close the shops on the weekends around here, but the market’s open.”

“Market?”

Jaehyun had gestured for the keys to your car, and without much thought, you offered them to him, climbing into the passenger seat and staring at his side profile as he drove. He glanced at you before looking back at the road. “Am I that handsome?”

“You’re full of it,” you responded weakly, snapping your eyes onto the road. “What kind of market is this?”

“A fresh produce kind. Have you never attended one?”

“Ahhh, an organic shop. We have a grocer three streets down from my apartment where they get fresh produce and meat from the growers on the outskirts.”

“Seriously?” Jaehyun shook his head. “Just you wait.”

“This is amazing!” you enthused an hour later, thanking another seller for the fresh fruit you had just purchased from them.

Jaehyun took the bag from you again and shrugged. “It’s just a market.”

“Just a market?! Can you smell what I’m smelling?! Oh my god, we have to stop for lunch here.”

“Do we?”

You pointed to a burgers sign and nodded eagerly. You bounced up to the counter of the food truck and then gasped. “Avery!”

“Y/N! You finally found out about the produce market!” He looked over your shoulder and then nodded. “So that’s why you bailed on me.”

“Huh?” you asked, looking between the cousins as Jaehyun rubbed at his neck. “I want to try something delicious!”

“Are you opposed to lots of meat?”

“No! Load me up, Avery!”

Once seated at a picnic table with your bacon and beef burger, you beamed across at Jaehyun. “This is totally what I needed.”

“You’re like a kid in a candy store.”

“You’ve been to a candy store before?!” you teased with feigned surprise, and Jaehyun laughed.

“You’re different today.”

“This is me normally.”

“Then how come I haven’t met this version of you, Y/N?” Jaehyun wondered, and you frowned, wiping your lips when you felt sauce from your burger on them. Jaehyun merely watched you, and you coughed lightly, reaching for your juice.

Once composed, you shrugged. “You never really give me the option.”

“I’ve given you plenty of options,” he remarked, and you shook your head. “You turned me away first, remember.”

“I’m really sorry about that. I’ve never had someone speak to me so blunt like that. At the time, I was annoyed with you. But I get why now. I am a stranger with bold ideas, and none of you asked for me to turn up.” You let out a little laugh. “I waited for an apology, but I realised it’s me who owed you one. You’re right. I showed up with little knowledge. But give me a chance. I’m ad-”

“Adaptable,” he finished off with a grin, nodding lightly. “I know.”

“This is amazing, though. The produce markets out here are an entire affair. There’s music and pony rides for the kids, and it just has a general festival vibe. Does this happen every weekend?”

Jaehyun nodded. “We celebrate life a lot out here. We work hard, and at the weekends we try to have fun as best as we can. We might not have fancy technology or-”

“No, this is loads better than the city. Believe me.”

“It is?” he asked earnestly, and you nodded.

“And you thought I wouldn’t last more than two days,” you told him with a laugh and Jaehyun joined you.

“Maybe a month isn’t so hard to imagine with you around, Y/N.”

You stopped laughing then, staring at the man in confusion as your stomach erupted into flutters.

_________________

Part 6

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[razorblade180]

Shackles 12: Protect your own

[part 11]

One thing leads to another. Pain brings grief, joy brings progress, day brings night; Jacquelyn knew simple truths like these, but she had really wished she could get her joy before night came. That didn’t seem to be the case. The tired woman sat on the Belladonna balcony. Her eyes scanned the stars that have kept her company for many years, bringing a sense of ease while her hands clasped a mug of warm tea. Blake’s mother, Kali, walked up from inside the house and poured more.

“Thank you.” Jacquelyn uttered softly. All day Kali hadn’t spoken a word to her. The older woman gave no expression, but her eyes said enough. They were upset, and mulling things over. “I’m-”

“If you’re going to apologize then don’t. There’s nothing you could say on his behalf.”

“Of..of course. I would never. I was going to apologize for myself. I’m…I involved your daughter in this. That one is on me.”

Kali looked over Jacquelyn. It just didn’t make sense to her. The girl before her sat solemnly waiting for a man who’s wracked sorrow to countless lives.

“If I wasn’t for Sun and Ilia, I would’ve denied you being here. I don’t want him near my home. He’s caused enough harm.”

“I understand. Still, I’m grateful. I know this can’t be easy for you.”

Tears of frustration welled up in Kali’s eyes the more Jacquelyn spoke to her. “Did you have a mother growing up?”

“…For a while. I lost her young.”

“I don’t know you, but I can tell she must’ve been caring; the kind of mother that would go to war for you.”

“Hehe, yeah, she was.” A tiny smile crept to her face, thinking back on the remarkable woman. “I owe her a lot in life.”

“A good mother’s only wish in life is to keep their kids safe and happy no matter what. So yeah, this isn’t easy. The thing I love the most in this world, my precious baby girl, you’ve helped invite back the very thing I failed to protect her from. I’m absolutely livid.So don’t tell me you understand. You’re not a mother.”

A lump formed in Jacquelyn’s throat. The little joy she had fizzled out. Kali’s words felt colder than Atlas winds and they had a right to be. However…a click at the door cut through all that.

“We’re home.” Blake said down stairs. Kali quickly ran downstairs. Jacquelyn put down the mug and ran too, but then, she stopped. A loud slurp came from behind her. She turned back around, gasping. Adam sat in her chair with her mug. His face was a bit pale and clothes were replaced with something a bit nostalgic.

“Hey, how you feeling? ” She said, smirking at his attempts to look cool.

“Dehydrated. Also a little stuffy.” He took off his old signature jacket. “Cannot believe this thing was still around. I guess evidence lockers really collect everything.”

“Did you climb up here?”

“Both Ghira, Blake and I all agreed that Kali is the absolute last person who should see me.” He walked towards her.

“Pfft yeah.” Jacquelyn did her best to chuckle but the smile she tried to force turned to a lip quiver while tears came automatically. Adam put her arms around her and she lost it. Her fingers clung to his shirt and wept, not caring who heard.

“Do you enjoy scaring me?”

“What did you think happened to me?”

“I don’t fucking know.” She sniffed, “so many things. I didn’t want to think you decided to up and leave but now I kinda wish that was the case. At least then I could be pissed at you for being an idiot. I held you Adam. You were so cold.”

“You off all people should know how close to death I can get. But I’ll admit it, I thought I was a goner. I’ll tell you about everything later, but first…” Adam let her go and stepped out of view from the balcony doors.

The entire Belladonna family came up stairs. Kali’s eyes were noticeably more red and her hand held Ghira’s. Blake’s eyes were also a bit puffy but much less.

Jacquelyn sighed as she wiped her own eyes. “Have we all been crying today?”

Blake chuckled halfheartedly “Looks like it. You okay?”

“Not really. I need a nap.”

Kali looked at the balcony. “…Adam, sincerity starts with eye contact.”

“Is that what you want from me?”

“No. Frankly I like not seeing you, but it’s rude to let this woman stand alone after waiting.” Kali wasn’t petty. She knew this wasn’t about her.

Adam walked into view slowly and stood beside Jacquelyn. He took Kali’s glare head on. It was actually nice to know one person in this room would definitely not hold back against him. He’s gotten used to that.

Blake looked at Jacquelyn and spoke. “Where’s Ilia and Sun? I thought they would’ve stayed.”

“Those two only stayed for about an hour. Ilia said she had to do something important and Sun tagged along with her. I have no idea where but they took an airship. They said they’d be back by sunrise.”

That was a little concerning. Blake had hoped to have everyone here for this. What in the world could possess them to leave?

“Guess this is everyone for now. Adam, we gotta do something with you. Even if you’re technically dead, things have to be different.”

“Lock me up.” He said bluntly. Everyone jumped a little from the suggestion.

“Lock you up!? Adam I made a case to keep you out of-”

“I wasn’t finished.” He interjected. “There’s already a collection of people here who know I’m alive. Those guards of yours in particular. Loyalty is easy to strain. If you just let me walk then they will resent you. Allowing them to put me behind bars covertly might give you a better chance to negotiate what to do with me later on.”

“Or you’re locked up forever without real protection. You might be at their mercy. I’m not allowing that.”

Jacquelyn nodded. “Neither am I. We didn’t get you out of one situation just to throw you back into the exact same one! Even if they work for Blake, she can’t watch over their every action.”

Ghira rubbed his beard. That was true. It wouldn’t be good for Blake to be visiting jail constantly anyways, still. “It wouldn’t be wise for Adam to go unpunished. I think for people’s peace of mind he must be detained for a while.”

“Dad! But…”

“Saber is a good man. He wouldn’t act out of line on a whim. Besides, I will volunteer personally to check on him daily.”

Kali looked at Blake’s shocked expression. “Sweetie, he is still a criminal.”

“I know, but…this doesn’t solve anything! How do you expect him to prove things are different behind a cell!?” Blake looked at Adam. “How can you be okay with it?”

“I’m not. If I see another pair of shackles again it would be too soon; but the public finding out about me is no short of a death sentence. However, I do have conditions for going along with this.”

Kali’s eyes narrowed. “Are you really in a position to discuss terms?”

“As long as this is a majority, then yes.” That wasn’t gonna score points with her but oh well Atonement or not, Adam refused to be walked all over. “First, Jackie’s home was blown up. I’d like her to stay here until it can be rebuilt. Second, I’d also want Sienna to be put in Jackie's care when she’s out of the hospital.”

Both Kali and Jacquelyn were highly confused. The maiden spoke up. “Ummm Sienna Khan?”

“Hmm? Oh, no. She’s this little girl that escaped the mineshaft with me.”

“White tiger ears? I remember a girl by you in the desert. Why me?”

“Unfortunately she’s not speaking much.” Ghira said. “Adam says you’re pretty good and patient with situations like these. Also, the child seems attached to Adam, so maybe she’ll be comfortable with the person around him.”

“Be careful though. She can get pretty defensive and violent.”

Jacquelyn squinted. “Giving me a way to focus while you’re gone, is that it? Hmph, like I’d say no regardless. Of course I’ll help her if I can.” She folded her arms. Guess she was getting single mother practice early.

“I’m glad. I do have one more condition.” He put his arm over the maiden’s shoulder and pulled her close. “I’ll go to jail, after I help Jacquelyn get through her pregnancy.”

The room went silent. Jacquelyn felt her face get hot and eyes water again. He knew. These terms weren’t for his benefit at all. They were all for her.

Ghira and Kali looked at each other, shocked by this revelation. A twinge of guilt hit Kali for the words she spoke early, but now she understood Jacquelyn’s feelings just a little bit more.

“You would send yourself to jail even knowing her condition?”

“I don’t make money and I don’t see any outcome where me being free makes it easier for Jacquelyn or those two kids. Anybody drawing the connections would be problematic to put it lightly. At least this way I’m not a complete dead beat. So, do we have an agreement?” He asked Ghira.

Blake bit her bottom lip. Right now she needs to look outside herself. She reminded herself of Yang’s parting words. “Slow down. I don’t need things done in a night. Sigh, besides, it’s not like I have a better plan.” Blake looked at her father. “It’s not unreasonable.”

“That’s not exactly the problem. I’d agree but even nine months of him being free is a lot to swallow. We simply don’t have the men to watch him or a place to keep him.”

“Yeah I don’t want him in my home of all places.” Kali added. “Now matter how you look at it, Adam is too dangerous for anyone to look after while he’s free. I can’t go on good faith where there isn’t any.”

“Mom he’s-”

“OH! OH! I’LL WATCH HIM!” Yelled a voice outside, brimming with energy.

A gust of wind blew in from the balcony bringing a glimmer of faith and dozens of rose petals. Blake’s jaw dropped. “Ruby!?”

The full fledged scythe wielding huntress grinned ear to ear. “Yo!” Ruby dashed in and stopped right in front of Blake, giving her a big hug and waving to her parents. “Busy day huh?”

Blake grabbed her leader by the shoulders. This had to be a fever dream. “Ruby, why are you here!?”

The reaper’s face went red as she started chuckling. “Hehe, so funny story…”

xxxx

“Ruby?!” Yang questioned, shouting over the edge of her ship at another ship passing by. Sure enough, her little sister turned around and gasped.

“Yang!? Why are you on a boat leaving Menagerie!?”

“Why are you on a boat docking to Menagerie is a better question!”

“I stopped by your house only to hear from Jaune that you went to see Blake for the first time in forever! You think I was gonna be calm about it? I took the first mission here I could find to have an excuse!”

Yang could not believe what she was hearing. “Rubes…but that..why!? Just why!?”

“You have a bad habit of saying things you don’t mean when you get emotional. If things went south then they might not get better.”

Moments like these made it really hard for Yang to believe she was the older sister; especially when Ruby is absolutely right. “Can you not call me out like that?”

“Why are you leaving? Don’t tell me things went up in flames?”

“N- Well they almost did, but it’s fine! We’re okay; more than okay. I had to cut things short because…I gotta do some stuff. So does she.” Ruby would have a cow if she learned Yang was pregnant. Yang wanted to tell her, but Jaune had to be first. Well…technically second, but first in her heart!”

Ruby could not believe she rushed over to Menagerie for nothing! Well at least her sister looked happy, so things must’ve gone okay. “Well, I’m happy for you! Sigh…I guess I’ll knock out this mission as fast as I can then-”

“Actually, Ruby, can you do your big sis a huge favor?”

xxxx

“And now I’m here.” Ruby rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. “Would’ve gotten here sooner but a supply mission is a supply mission. I also checked in with Saber, was it? When I explained who I was he gave me a brief and vague update. Since I came here to mediate in the first place and Yang asked so nicely, I thought I’d lend a hand.”

“You were gonna do that favor or no favor.”

Ruby grinned. It was nice to be known so well. “Mr. and Mrs. Belladonna, I’ll watch Adam. That’s the main reason you turned the offer right?”

“Y…Yes but-” Ghira stuttered.

Kali sighed, “Do you really plan on sticking around for nine months?”

“Technically as long as he’s with me and out of sight then I wouldn’t have to stay here specially, but I can understand if you don’t want him too far away. If he’s genuine then having him help rebuild the blown up home should be no problem. I can stay in the house to watch everyone, or I’m happy to rent a place and keep them there. Ilia has a spot out of the way of people. We got options.”

Call her impulsive, but Ruby was persistent. A game changer everywhere she went and she knew it. The girl took a step back to be in the middle of the room. Her hands went on her hips. The next words she spoke were with pure confidence and sincerity.

“If you need good faith then look towards me. I love your daughter like family and I’ve always looked out for people, so believe me when I say this. Adam Taurus has nothing on me. I can take him.” Bold words but she meant them to the letter.

That confidence was felt by everyone. Even Adam felt challenged, though he had no intention of betraying anyone. His first time seeing Blake’s leader and the sister of a person he never thought would save his life, and she was trash talking him. Huh, I guess they really were related. The argument was strong, too strong for Kali and Ghira to deny. Both of them gave a look of uncertainty before nodding.

“I will cut everyone some slack and let them stay in this room tonight as long as you’re here too.” Kali said.

“Yes ma’am. I appreciate it.” Ruby gave a nod as the older woman left.

Ghira gave a smile to Ruby. “I’m glad Blake has family everywhere.” He left after his wife, leaving the rest of them to sort the rest out.

Ruby finger gunned Blake before turning around,

approaching Adam for the first time in her life. He was definitely tall. That’s for sure. “I don’t think we’ve officially met yet.”

“But I’m positive you know everything you need to know about me?”

“Eh, Blake’s not much of a talker. My sister said a few things but they weren’t exactly helpful, just nasty. You’ve done a lot to her, more than you probably know. Still, Yang fights her own battles and I guess recently she won a big one. We’ll only have a fight if you start one, deal?” Ruby extended her hand.

Adam couldn’t get a read on Ruby. She was open, yet guarded. Kinda Jacquelyn. He shook her hand. “Pretty bold to say you can beat someone you never met.”

“Really? I don’t think so. If my friends could do it years ago then me doing it now should be cake. I mean you even look like a ghost right now.” Her eyes shifted to Jacquelyn. “Congratulations by the way.”

“Thanks?” Jacquelyn grabbed Adam’s sleeve. “Can the two of us talk on the balcony in private?”

“Be my guest.” Ruby watched her new assignment get dragged away by….whatever that girl was to him. “So Blake, I know this isn’t the sweetest vis-eep!” A tight hug snuck up on her.

Blake squeezed tightly and let her stress fade

away. “That’s my incredible leader. Always coming to my rescue.”

“Awe, oh sweet hehe. Now I really know you’re stressed.” Ruby hugged back happily.

Outside, things were a little less warm and cozy. The cool breeze against Jacquelyn’s skin did little to cool her off as her hands tugged gently on the front of Adam’s shirt. Her eyes were glued to the floor while she felt his hand on her head.

“For the record, I’m not the biggest fan of all this.”

“Aren’t you the one who’s been preaching about being more than what I was? Salvation and all that?”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t proud.” She lifted her for him to see her pouting. “So you knew I was pregnant all along? Gotta admit, that makes you getting kidnapped willingly and trying to go to jail makes you look really shitty.”

“Jackie-”

“I know I’m twisting your intentions but I can’t help but feel that way okay? I mean it’s fine. I’m just the gal who took pity on you and helped for her own therapeutic needs or salvation; whatever you wanna call it. Sure we slept around from time to time but that’s what happens when you have no one else. We had no labels. Circumstances made us glorified roommates at best. I mean yeah sure, on paper I guess I did what I set out to do. You’re changing.”

“And you’re trying not to cry.” He rubbed her cheek. Jackie wasted no time reaching to hold it in place. “You’ve spent a few years trying to get me to be more direct with myself. Think you can take your own advice right now.”

“……I fucked up. I should’ve just been helping you but I did more than that. I fell for you, and I can’t say with confidence I know how you feel back because we never talked about these things. A situation like this is what I used to imagine but along the line all I thought of was us, always together.”

“So you’re basically asking me what you are to me, is that it?”

“Stupid, right?” Jacquelyn started laughing at her own insecurities until Adam wrapped his arms around her and rested her head on his chest. The sound of his heart filled her senses and calmed her.

“I thought of you every day I was trapped. To tell you the truth, I don’t feel much different from the day you found me. If anything it’s only harder for me to deny how fucked I am.”

“Idiot, that’s a world of difference, and I’m not the only one who sees that.” Jacquelyn gave a soft smile. So much between was unsaid and uncertain, but that's fine for now. He thought of her, fought for her. She did the same. Those actions were worth a billion words. Roughly nine more months of actions before life changed forever. Best to not waste them. Jacquelyn tilted her head up and leaned in, kissing him gently. The joy she waited for was finally hers as he kissed her back.

Two sets of footsteps came back up the stairs. One pair was a very exhausted Ilia and the other was a slightly less tired Sun.

“Ilia! You’re back!” Blake yelled.

“Yeah I-” she spotted the intimacy happening on the balcony. “Hmm didn’t need to see that.”

“Be nice.”

“That’s what I’ve been doing this entire adventure. Also hey Ruby. Couldn’t resist a good drama?”

“As if! I came here to keep things drama free!”

Sun guided Ilia to the couch for her to plop on. Poor girl has been traveling nonstop for at least three days now. He was tired too, but a sudden rush of energy hit him in the form of Blake giving him a running hug and a quick passionate kiss that made him laugh.

“Haha, is that you saying sorry or thank you?”

“It’s me saying you’re amazing and I love you for rolling with this so effortlessly.”

“Oh there’s effort. You’re just worth it.” He smiled, kissing her again. “I’m just happy you’re safe, but you gotta-”

“Slow down. Yeah…I’ve been told.” Blake rested her head on his chest. His heartbeat was steady and strong, like he always is. “Where did you two go?”

Sun looked at Ilia who immediately got up and left to bother the pair on the balcony, grabbing Ruby too. Sun let Blake go. The man let out a faux cough. “So umm this is probably a completely inappropriate time to ask this but…”

Blake saw him reach into his pocket and her face immediately felt like fire. “Wait!” She frantically grabbed his wrist before he could take his hand out. “I know I asked but you could’ve lied!”

“Hey! I was actually trying to get things prepared back in Vacou but people started getting abducted. I know I just talked about you slowing things down and this isn’t the first time we’ve discussed-”

“Yes!” Blake could see the goofy and confused smile Sun was forming. It only flustered her more. “Don’t be surprised. Listen, it was always gonna be a yes. I’m still going to say yes; especially with all that’s happened. Lately it feels like I’ve been putting off things in my life for things I want in my life, but…you are someone I always want. Even if I don’t say it all the time.”

“I know that. It’s okay. Equality is busy work. It is your dream.”

Blake blushed, “So is marrying you. When this situation gets sorted out and dealt with, can you ask me then? You’ve given all your attention through this. I want to give you all of mine when.”

Drat! How could that feel so bittersweet sweet and yet appropriate? Sun knew his face was red too. Blake didn’t reject him by any means but the moment of courage was dashed! Guess that was the point. Typical Blake. Nothing typical about her. Sun let go of the ring in his pocket and chose to hold Blake’s face, staring into her eyes. How could they be so determined one moment and bashful the next. Honestly…

“My future wife is so ridiculous sometimes.”

“I think that’s what my future husband likes about me.” Blake smirked, “I love you.”

The two shared a kiss, taking a moment for themselves.

Ruby smiled from outside and looked at the others. “Okay, I know there’s more of a reason for nabbing me, because that pretty moment was happening no matter how many were around.”

“I brought you out here because the four of us plus Sun are about to keep a secret.” Ilia put her back against the railing, her head looking towards the stars. “Sobek, I handled it.”

Jacquelyn went bug eyed. “What? H-How?”

“Talked to the victims here, Vacou, and Adam briefly. If I would’ve gone in with you all then I might’ve recognized him. He did work in Atlas after all. Anyways it’s dealt with and you don’t have to worry about any of those victims talking. They already wanted to forget the ordeal so adding funds was icing on the cake.” Ilia stared at Adam with soullessness

“I know, you didn’t do it for me.”

“Oh how I wish that were true. Let’s make things clear right now, I’m so pissed at you. If you weren’t injured then I’d throw down right now. Blake never told you this most likely, but near my house I gave you a grave. To me you deserved at least that much; you kept me alive and going for a time. As much as I now hate some of the things I know how to do, I was fortunate you taught me them because those skills help people.”

Adam watched as Ilia took her pointer finger and pressed it against his heart. He could feel her shaking.

“If you ever want my help again then you will keep me in the loop at all times. I was there before and after Blake worked beside us. I had every right to know about you being alive as much as she did.” Ilia would never admit it to anybody but as much as she was crushed when Blake fell for Adam, she couldn’t help but feel angry when both began undervaluing her contribution. Like they say, three is a crowd.

Adam removed Ilia’s finger and nodded. “Hehe, I can accept those rules.”

“What’s so funny huh? Ugh, you really know how to tick a person off.”

“Nothing. Just…everyone is mad at me for something different. Hard to keep track of it all. Guess being a leader was doomed after all. I don’t get any of you. I can’t help but laugh at myself.” He chuckled to himself.

The strange humor of it all caused Jacquelyn to join in quietly while Ilia rolled her eyes and let things be as they were. She said her peace. Ruby though, she couldn’t help but look at the three of them, Adam specifically. There he was, a person recently beaten to near death, laughing at his own past mistakes in a world that didn’t want him.

“Hmmm I don’t get it. What was scary about this guy?”

[roman-writing]

no great revelation (8/8)

Fandom(s): The Haunting of Bly Manor / Star Wars

Pairing: Dani Clayton/Jamie Taylor

Rating: M

Wordcount: 9.012

Summary: Jamie  just wants to enjoy a drink after a hard day’s work on the Telosian  Restoration Project. The last thing she needs is to get herself  caught  up in a mysterious woman with a lightsabre at the local bar.

read it below or read it here on AO3

VIII.

—

Getting to the planet’s surface was the easy part. Jane was told to wait in orbit, while they boarded Rebecca’s ship and flew down. They were all crammed into the tiny cockpit of Rebecca’s ship, where without enough seats to go around most of them had to simply hang onto whatever fixture they could find and pray. Jamie herself had been relegated the space at the very front, which in the event of a crash would’ve sent her hurtling straight through the reinforced glass windows. The Republic military feed they had cottoned onto earlier barked at them down the line, demanding their authorisation codes or threatening swift retribution. Rebecca acted quickly, keying in a sequence on her ship’s dash and sending it off with an expert flourish.

“Calm down, Sergeant,” she said in a cool tone, and her voice was run through a modulator so that it sounded low and raspy. “This is shuttle hotel charlie two five niner with the Third Fleet. I’ve been called from logistics as backup.”

A crackle of static followed, then, “Hotel charlie two five niner, you’re earlier than expected. You’re cleared for landing. Please proceed with caution. Do not engage hostiles until the rest of your squad arrives. I repeat: do not engage.”

Rebecca hit the button to respond. “Copy. Hotel charlie two five niner.”

And without further ado she began the sequence for final descent. 

“Well,” said Owen. “That was efficient.”

Rebecca did not look up from where she was guiding the ship to the surface when she replied in a distracted tone, “I’m very good at my job.” 

“Clearly,” Hannah said. 

When they got within a certain distance from the planet, Dani straightened from her place jammed into Jamie’s side and tried to peer through the glass. The mountains of Alderaan were jagged caps of blue and grey and white. A rather dramatic landscape, if Jamie were being honest; she was far more interested in the way Dani pressed up against her seemingly without meaning to do so. 

They swooped around a mountain peak, the spear-point parapets of House Thul coming into view. Below, people scurried about the ground like insects shooting pinpricks of red blaster fire at one another. The air was filled with enough smoke that it was difficult to make them out, but when Jamie squinted she could just see that the main doors had been breached and the attackers were attempting to push their way inside. 

The ship was pinged by someone on the ground, and Rebecca accepted the transmission.

“Unidentified spacecraft,” growled a voice down the comm in an Imperial accent, “state your allegiance and business immediately, or we will not hesitate to shoot you from the sky.”

This time when Rebecca replied, she did not modulate her voice through the computer, though her tone was just as calm as before. Perhaps with a bit more of a bite. Definitely with a smoother Imperial accent that would’ve fooled Jamie herself if she hadn’t known what Rebecca really sounded like. “Corporal, this is Tau Gamma Three. If you delay my landing on the eastern high ground, I will report you to my Rear Admiral for contempt.”

The corporal responded very quickly, “My apologies, Commander. Your transponder code has just been confirmed. Please proceed with all haste. I will personally greet you on the ground and act as your escort.” 

“Copy. Tau Gamma Three,” Rebecca said, then took her finger off the transmission button and whispered in her usual accent, “Fuck.” 

“Think you over cooked it that time,” Jamie said.

Rebecca gave an exasperated shake of her head. “Damn boot-licking Imps.” 

She guided the ship towards where Dani had indicated earlier, landing in a rumble and jerk before cutting the engines and unstrapping herself from the captain’s chair so she could be the first down the gangway. 

“Let me handle this,” Rebecca told them.

She smacked the button to lower the gangway to the ground, while outside three people in Imperial grey strode up the hill towards the ship. One, the corporal, had a single red tab of rank on his chest, while the other two bore plasma rifles and shiny black chest plates. Jamie, Hannah, Owen, and Dani all squeezed themselves into a corner of the cockpit so they could peer out the side of the ship and watch. 

The corporal saluted as Rebecca walked down the gangway, his mouth moving but his words unintelligible from where Jamie and the others watched. If Rebecca responded, they could not hear her. Without breaking stride, Rebecca unholstered the pistol at her waist and fired three shots. The corporal and one of the infantrymen dropped to the ground. The remaining infantryman fell, but turned over and tried to crawl towards where he had dropped his firearm. Rebecca stalked forward, stepped on his hand, and shot him in the back. 

He stopped moving. A hole through his chest cavity smoked gently. 

Turning back towards the ship, Rebecca saw them all gawking at her from the cockpit, and gestured for them to come out. 

“Where did you meet her again?” Owen asked in a slow, slightly awed voice. 

“Nar Shaddaa,” said Jamie.

“Huh.” Owen nodded. “You know, I don’t think you’re cool enough to be her friend.”

Jamie stepped on his foot and glared. 

Rebecca was re-holstering her blaster pistol when they all emerged from the ship. “I did my job,” she said, then gave a nod to Dani. “Where to next?”

Dani pointed towards a building complex about five hundred meters away. “This way.”

Jamie made a gesture for her to lead, and Dani started off in the direction she had indicated. They walked briskly, and every time Jamie heard another blast in the distance — some Imperial or guardsman of House Thul throwing firepower at one another on the ground below — she winced and quickened her step. It was nice to see she wasn’t the only one, until the five of them were rushing into the guard complex, slightly out of breath. 

When they reached the shut doors, Dani placed her hand on a panel. It scanned her biosignature and flashed green before the doors opened with a hiss of pressurised air. They ducked inside, and Jamie breathed a sigh of relief when the sounds of fighting faded slightly through layers of metal. 

“The checkpoint is just around the corner over -” Dani was saying as she led them further down a set of steps, but when she rounded the corner she froze. 

Where before the entryway had been completely empty of people — signs of a great hurry evident, upended chairs and half eaten rations — now there was a single guardsman staring at them just down the hall. His face was white as a sheet, his livery of House Thul scuffed and scorched, and in his hands he clutched a blaster rifle, which he pointed at them. 

“I don’t suppose you know him?” Owen asked in a low voice to Dani, who shook her head. 

With raised hands, Jamie took a step forward and said, “We’re just here to -”

Before she could get more than a handful of syllables into a sentence however, the guard fired. Jamie flinched, squeezing her eyes shut, but the smell of acrid smoke and burning flesh never came. Instead there was only a strangely familiar buzzing sound. When she peeled open her eyes, one after the other, it was to find that Hannah had moved faster than the guard could pull the trigger. A dark scorch mark marred the floor beside her feet, and Hannah held the purple blade of her lightsabre extended at a perfect angle. 

Hannah straightened, lowering her lightsabre but not sheathing the blade. The guard staggered back a step, hands trembling around his rifle. 

He stared at them for a split second, and then fumbled for the comm unit strapped to his shoulder, pressing the transmit button. “This is Ardi in Post; I need -!” 

Hannah waved her free hand, and his own hand suddenly wrenched away from the comm, both of his arms snapping to his side as though he were coming to attention. His wide panicked gaze dropped to his own arms, and he made a weak terrified noise when he could not move. 

The comm at his shoulder crackled, and a voice said, “Come in, Ardi. What’s the problem?” 

He opened his mouth, but Hannah spoke before he could do so much as squeak. Her voice was like a riptide, like a set of strings attached to a wooden frame. “You will not panic, and you will tell them nothing is wrong.” 

The guardsman blinked at her, his eyes going fuzzy and unfocused, while his shoulders and jaw went strangely slack. Then his hand drifted up to the comm. He pushed the button and said in a flat tone, “Nothing is wrong.” 

His hand dropped back to his side and he gazed blankly at Hannah for further instruction. 

“You will go about your duty,” she said. “You did not see us.” 

“I did not see you,” he mimicked in that same tone, then he strode forward, walking directly past them and continuing on his way. They turned to watch him go. 

“Always creeps me out when you do that,” Jamie muttered. 

Hannah sheathed her lightsabre, but kept the hilt at the ready. “Needs must. Miss Clayton, you were taking us inside?” 

Dani snapped her mouth shut from where she had been gaping at the scene. “Oh,” she said, then started forward. “Right! Yes. We just need to go down this hall here.” 

Thankfully, the next hall was completely empty. They jumped the barriers at the checkpoint and continued down another hallway leading to a set of armour-reinforced doors, which Dani opened with the press of her hand. The doors slid open, and suddenly they were face to face with a whole squad of Imperial soldiers. 

Jamie didn’t know who was more shocked to see the other. Them. Or the Imperials. One member of the squad was kneeling down by the corner of the door, trying to hack his way through the system to get the doors open. 

Jamie shot him, while at the same time Dani slammed her hand back down on the bioscanner to shut the doors before the Imperials could react. 

“Right,” said Rebecca, who had also taken out her blaster pistol and was ready to fire at the next thing that moved. “Any other ways in?”

Dani shook her head.

“Front door?” Owen offered. 

With a low groan, Jamie shifted her grip upon her blaster pistol and jerked her head at Owen and Hannah. “Knights up front.”

Sighing, Hannah and Owen nevertheless dutifully stepped forward and unsheathed their sabres, purple and blue blades between the two of them. 

Dani hovered her hand over the bioscanner, but hadn’t unsheathed her own lightsabre. “Is this really the best idea?”

“Too late now,” Jamie grumbled.

“I told you,” said Rebecca.

“Shut it.” 

“Open it,” Hannah said to Dani in an exasperated tone of voice. 

Dani did so. All of the Imperials had retreated to find cover behind massive pillars and big statues that lined the great hall. The moment Jamie saw one of their stupid grey caps poking around a pillar, she took aim over Owen’s shoulder and fired. Bloody Imps fired back, and soon the air was filled with a volley of blaster fire ricocheting off stone pillars and archways, sending chips of stone spinning across the floor.

Hannah and Owen deflected anything coming their way with an almost lazy indifference, as though they were swatting a few pesky flies out of the sky. An Imperial soldier was hit by his own blaster fire and fell to the ground. Jamie nailed another one in the shoulder, and he swore loudly, crouching back behind cover. 

Ducking down slightly, Rebecca nudged Hannah’s shoulder. “Can you two advance? Slowly?” 

Owen nodded and the two of them walked forward in step with one another, deflecting incoming blaster fire as they went. Realising what was happening, the Imperial squadron began to panic. A handful tried to make a run for another pillar further along the hallway in an attempt to put ground between them and leaving behind a few of their injured peers in the process. Owen reached out his hand, made a pulling motion, and it were as though three of the fleeing soldiers were yanked back on wires. Hannah chucked her lightsabre — Jamie really couldn’t think of a more eloquent way to describe it apart from ‘chucked’ — and the blade went spinning forward through the air, slicing clean through the soldiers before returning straight to her hand in time for her to sweep aside another attack. 

The only soldier left alive was the one Jamie had shot in the shoulder. He was pressing a hand to his wound, sitting on the ground with his legs sprawled and his back leaning against a pillar base. Rebecca rounded the pillar and cocked her blaster pistol.

“Please,” the soldier whimpered. 

“Don’t try that shit with me,” Rebecca hissed. “I know what you do to POWs.”

When she raised her pistol as though to whip him with it, he flinched, but the blow never came. Hannah had reached out and the air seemed to solidify into a jelly that held back Rebecca’s arm.

“Miss Jessel,” said Hannah, “Forgive me, but I will not be complicit in the mistreatment of prisoners of war.” 

The muscles stood out on Rebecca’s jaw, but she nodded and the sensation of being held underwater rushed from the air. Jamie felt at her own chest and cleared her throat. 

“Is it safe to come out yet?” asked a distant voice.

With a frown Jamie turned to find that Dani had remained behind in the hallway, and her head was poking through the door, peering left and right for any sign of lingering danger. Jamie waved her over and Dani quickly crossed the room to stand beside her. 

Meanwhile Rebecca shook her head and holstered her blaster pistol. “Last time I saw you, you made mince of seasoned soldiers.”

Ducking her head, Dani shrugged her shoulders uncomfortably, her grip tight around the unlit hilt of her lightsabre. “I wasn’t really myself then.” 

“Clearly.”

Jamie nudged the injured soldier with the toe of her boot. “Oi. Where’s the Sith gone?”

At the mere mention of the Sith, his face went pale, his dark eyes glancing between the five of them standing over him. His voice trembled when he spoke. “We - We were just supposed to hold ground behind him.”

“We’re not going to hurt you,” Owen assured him. “Just tell us which way he went.” 

The Imperial soldier lifted a shaking hand and pointed at a door further along the hallway, branching to the left. Dani sucked in a sharp breath.

“What’s that way?” Jamie asked.

“Lord and Lady Wingrave’s quarters,” said Dani. 

“There are others,” the soldier said. “My squad was just supposed to flush out any stragglers.”

“Any other way in?” asked Rebecca. 

“Uh -” Dani bit her lower lip and glanced about the great hall. “That wing has been shut for years, but I think - I think so. Yes.” 

Jamie made a shooing gesture. “Lead the way.” 

“What about me?” said the Imperial soldier. 

“Owen?” said Hannah.

“Right,” said Owen, and he leaned down to tap the soldier aside the head, upon which the soldier immediately slumped, head lolling to one side, fast asleep. 

“Useful, that,” Jamie mused. “Can you do that to me next time I’ve had too much stimcaf late in the evening?”

“Only if you want a migraine when you wake up,” Owen said dryly. 

“Mmm. On second thought -” 

“Come on, you two,” Rebecca said in exasperation, already following closely after Dani and Hannah down another hallway. 

Leaving the wreckage of the main hall, they hurried after their guide. Dani led them through twisting corridors and broad rooms, the house like a vast labyrinth of doors sprawling in all directions. At one point they passed through what was clearly a little girl’s room — at least, if all the dolls and the miniature estate were any indication. Jamie accidentally trod on something, and she glanced down.

It was a handmade doll. Pale-skinned. Grey-robed. Long and dark-haired. And completely faceless. 

With a faint shudder, Jamie kicked the doll aside and continued after Dani who had taken them to — of all places — a walk in closet. At the far end of the closet was a floor-length mirror. Dani froze so suddenly that Jamie almost walked into the back of her. 

“What’s -?” Jamie started to ask but never finished. 

Looking over Dani’s shoulder, she could see all of them reflected in the glass, except Dani. In her stead, a grey-gowned shadow with a face worn smooth by time and memory. 

“Dani,” Jamie murmured, staring at the reflection. When she touched the small of Dani’s back, Dani jolted and the apparition vanished like a wisp of smoke. 

“It’s fine,” said Dani too quickly, her voice tight as a clenched fist. 

“Is something wrong?” Owen asked, peering over the tops of their heads for a better look.

“No,” Dani insisted. “It’s nothing.” 

Feeling vaguely sick, Jamie opened her mouth to speak, but Dani had already stepped forward, approaching the mirror with a trembling outstretched hand. A press of her fingers and the mirror swung forward on hidden hinges, revealing a dark passageway yawning beyond it. Inside there echoed the sounds of blaster fire, of grenades and men screaming in the distance. 

“Yeah - uh - no offense,” said Rebecca, “but I do not want to go in there.” 

Dani steeled herself and took a step inside. When she peered back at them, one of her eyes gleamed golden and owlish from the shadows. “It’s the only shortcut to the Lord and Lady’s wing. I discovered it by accident one day.”

And without further ado, she turned and vanished into the narrow warren. When the others all stepped forward to follow Dani into the darkness, Rebecca groaned and trailed after them. Jamie lost all sight when Rebecca shut the mirror behind them. Owen unsheathed his lightsabre, holding it up into the air to light the way as though he were carrying a blue torch. Dani was already far ahead, walking without the aid of light, a silhouette through the murk. 

The sounds of battle grew louder the further they delved. At one point Jamie nearly jumped out of her skin when a bang made the wall to her immediate left vibrate and shed flecks of plaster. 

“Fuck’s sake,” Jamie gasped, clutching her chest in one hand and her blaster pistol in the other. “Can we please get out of here? I think I’m going to have a heart attack.” 

Dani walked a few more steps, then stopped before a section of wall that looked like all the other sections of wall. That was until Owen drew close enough that the light from his sabre revealed the faint outline of an old mechanical panel. Dani placed her hand upon it and glanced over her shoulder at the others.

“Ready?” 

Hannah pushed the button to unsheathe her lightsabre, and she and Owen took up post on either side of Dani, while Rebecca and Jamie stood behind them, blasters at the ready. Dani gave Jamie a questioning look, waiting for a nod before she drew a deep breath and twisted the panel to a horizontal position. 

The wall rumbled slightly, then swung outward with a groan of hinges. The room beyond was not, as Jamie had originally suspected, a bedroom. Instead it was a sprawling lounge. Once lush and wood-panelled, the walls lined with old paintings, now filled with smoke and blaster fire. Guardsmen in House Thul colours scrambled to hold ground in this last bastion of the manor, while Imperial soldiers crowded the only entrance chokepoint. 

Neither side had yet noticed the ragtag group of Jedi, smugglers, a gardener and a governess that had walked through an enormous painting along the wall. 

Jamie didn’t need to be told this time where the Sith had gone; it was clearly evident in the path of destruction in his wake. Dead guardsmen in various states of dismemberment. Great gouges raked along the floor and walls, the stone still simmering with the faint glow of embers. A pillar had been cut completely in half and was sprawled along the ground. The room was a scarred and smoking ruin barely clinging to life, leading up a set of sweeping stone staircases, and the path curving out of sight beyond a cavalcade of slashed portraits. 

“Rebecca,” said Hannah in a brook-no-nonsense tone. “With me. We will hold off the Imperial troops. The rest of you -” She looked at the three of them, ending with a softer glance towards Owen. “Find the children. And come back to me.” 

Owen nodded and his moustache twitched in a tell tale smile. Then he looked back at Jamie and Dani, jerking his head towards the staircase. “Follow me.” 

Rebecca was already going through the motions of checking her blaster pistol to ensure it would shoot without error. 

“Are you keen to kill a few Imperials, Miss Jessel?” Hannah asked, sounding amused.

Rebecca smiled and cocked the pistol. “Always.”

Hannah made a gesture towards the fight. “After you.” 

And they were off to the races. Jamie shook her head after them, then followed Owen, who was already hurrying up the stairs with Dani. There were no soldiers here, neither Imperial nor Thulian. The door to the sleeping quarters was open, and the sound of muted conversation issued forth, as of two people discussing a mundane topic over a drink. Steeling herself, Jamie stepped into the room just behind Owen and Dani. 

The room sprawled, as large and opulent as the rest of the estate. A four poster bed stood proudly at the far end. Portraits continued to dot the walls at all levels. There were a few armchairs and a plush couch, and in the centre of the very room, two men.

The Sith wore a black and fully self-contained suit, complete with a red-eyed mask and tubes that hooked over his neck and shoulder into some sort of apparatus at his back. Jamie had only ever seen someone wear an outfit like this once before, and it was to combat the Rakghoul plague on Taris. His speech was interspersed with sporadic coughing fits, but his movements were steady. He held up Lord Wingrave in the air with the Force as easily as though holding up a cup of tea. 

“You cannot hide them forever,” he was saying, his voice altered through a respirator. “I will tear this manor apart, limb from limb. And that gift which to others hath been a boon shall to you be a very bane."

Owen hefted his lightsabre and said in a commanding tone, “Let him go.” 

The Sith glanced over his shoulder and turned. The eyes of his mask were scarlet half-moons that gleamed through the darkly paneled space. Behind him Lord Wingrave continued to choke, face purpling. 

The Sith tilted his head, sizing up his unexpected company. Then to Jamie’s shock and confusion, the Sith bowed to them — or, rather, to Dani. 

"My Lady," he said, straightening. "Your presence humbles me. We shall find for you a more suitable host in due course."

Dani stared at him in absolute horror, saying nothing. 

Owen stepped forward. “Your fight is with us, not him.” Owen gestured towards Lord Wingrave with his lightsabre, and he repeated, “Let him go.” 

“But of course,” said the Sith. He unsheathed his lightsabre — red as a bloody dawn — and held it to the side so that when he released the Force, Lord Wingrave fell directly upon the blade. 

Dani cried out, but Jamie held her back before she could move forward. Lord Wingrave slumped, his body pierced completely through the chest. He choked on an inhalation, and then the Sith deactivated the lightsabre, and Lord Wingrave crumpled to the floor. 

The Sith stepped over his body, approaching them and coughing, a wet and sickly rattling of his lungs. When he spoke, he addressed Dani alone, as though she were the only person in the room. “The Force has brought you to my side. And I will not let such an opportunity slip between my fingers.” 

At the front of the group, Owen kept looking between the approaching Sith and the man dying in his wake. He did not turn around to ask Jamie, “Think you handle this?” 

Jamie glanced at Lord Wingrave. His chest was still rising and falling, but his breaths were shallow and growing weaker by the second. 

“No,” said Jamie. “But go anyway. I’ll cover you.” 

With a nod, Owen sprinted forward. Jamie fired several shots at the Sith, not aiming to hit, just to distract. The Sith, of course, deflected every blaster fire with his lightsabre as though batting aside a particularly irritable fly. However the cover fire served its purpose, and Owen was able to slip by without the Sith engaging him in combat directly. 

Indeed, the Sith seemed utterly uninterested in anything else in the room that wasn’t Dani. He continued to stride forward, steps slow and sure and steady as the tide. Behind him, Owen dragged Lord Wingrave into the far corner beside the bed, lightsabre sheathed, and began to tend his wounds. Jamie wasn’t well versed in the healing arts — never would be, truth be told — and honestly it seemed like all Owen was doing was meditating beside Lord Wingrave’s body. Must’ve done something, though. At least, she hoped it did.  

And all the while, the Sith was striding towards them with singular intent. 

"You can start shooting again now," Dani muttered to Jamie.

"Do you remember blaster fire being useful against you?" Jamie asked, incredulous, even as she holstered her pistol. 

“No,” said Dani. Even so, she pulled out her lightsabre hilt, ready to unsheathe the blade at a moment’s notice. 

The Sith stopped a few paces away. Close enough that Jamie could see the scars on his armour, the ragged hems of his robes, the piercing quality of his mask’s eyes. When he spoke, it was only to Dani, as though Jamie weren’t there at all. 

“Your love for these people makes you weak. You are ruled by your own fear, rather than taking control of it. If only you had the stomach,” he hissed. “You could be so much more. But as you are, you’re not fit to play host to The Lady.” 

Dani’s hands trembled around the hilt of the lightsabre, but her voice was steady and clear. “You know nothing about me.” 

The Sith’s laughter was broken by coughing, his broad shoulders shaking, yet for all that he never appeared any less commanding a presence. “Your emotions betray you. Lay you bare. I can taste your fear, feel your anger.” 

He circled round her with slow footsteps and Dani turned to follow him with the tip of her lightsabre. She shook her head, eyes unyielding, jaw tightly held. 

“No?” he asked, his tone amused through the rasp of his respirator. “Then, prove me wrong.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Jamie said, low and warning. She could see the way Dani’s throat bobbed as she swallowed, but otherwise Dani did nothing. 

“What are you waiting for?” he growled, and in a motion too quick to follow he hefted his lightsabre — the blade a darker, muddier red beside the pure crimson of Dani’s kyber — and slashed at Dani’s feet with a snarl, making her leap back and leaving a smouldering furrow in the ground. “Strike me down!”

Dani regained her footing and brought her lightsabre back up into a defensive position.

“I will kill all you hold dear. I will make you watch as they die. I will take you to my master on Dromund Kaas as a prize, and you will know such suffering. Until we pry the soul from your lungs. Until the very end.” The Sith stalked to and fro like a great animal pacing its enclosure, dragging the tip of his lightsabre on the ground behind him so that sparks scattered at his footsteps. “Your name will be a blight on this house, a mark of its end. I will find these children and make them instruments of the Dark, and they will know that you were the reason why.” 

Hands tightening around the hilt of her sabre, Dani’s eyes darted away from him and towards one of the paintings hung low on the far wall. The Sith paused, then followed her gaze.

“There you are,” he murmured. 

He reached out a hand and the painting was ripped from its hidden hinges on the wall, revealing a small chamber beyond, just enough for people to hide objects of value. Except in this case, there were two children huddled and crouched. The elder of the two — a boy — saw Lord Wingrave sprawled on the ground, attended to by Owen, and he cried out, “Uncle Henry!” 

“Miles, don’t -!” Dani shouted.

The Sith caught him by the scruff of his neck and dragged him close. Miles struggled and kicked, but the Sith’s grip was iron. 

“My, look at you,” the Sith said, tilting his head as though appraising a piece of fine jewelry. “So wrathful for one so small.” 

Miles tried to claw at the Sith’s respirator, and for this he was backhanded so hard he staggered and fell, clutching his cheek. Both Dani and Jamie took an abortive step forward. His sister raced forward to make sure he was all right. 

The Sith gestured to the children behind him. “New apprentices for my master. Or perhaps, only one is needed.” 

When he raised his lightsabre, Dani moved before Jamie could stop her. She caught the blade with her own, parrying it aside and putting herself between him and the children, lightsabre raised and ready, eyes hard. The Sith tested the edge of Dani’s blade, the sound of two lightsabres running against one another like nothing else, electrifying the very air, and they began to circle around one another like a pair of vultures over a carcass. 

The Sith moved with the swiftness of a snake, striking with sure movements that Dani could barely deflect, her brow pinched in concentration. As they moved about the room, Jamie sprinted forward, avoiding the fight so she could crouch down beside the children.

Miles was fine, though addled and shaken. His breath came shallowly and he trembled more from fear than anything else. The girl meanwhile was putting on a brave face.

“Hey. Hi. I’m Jamie,” she said, slightly breathless. “Can you stand?” she asked Miles. 

He nodded, but struggled to do so. She picked him up and half carried him towards a more sheltered corner, urging the young girl to follow her closely. Jamie checked Miles for any other wounds, but there was nothing but the bruise blooming across his cheek. 

“You’ll be right,” she murmured, cupping said cheek and giving him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. 

Behind her, Dani was losing ground, giving ground, defending rather than attacking. The Sith seemed to be toying with her, darting his blade in various directions to see how she would react, testing the waters and thoroughly enjoying himself if his creepy fucking laughter was any indication. 

“Stay here,” Jamie said in a low tone to the kids, eyes fixed upon the Sith. 

Her blaster pistol was next to useless in a fight like this. Jamie patted herself down. She slipped her hand into the pocket of her slacks and withdrew the small mining laser. Its blade extended maybe only a few centimeters in length, bright green and hot. 

Glancing up, Jamie watched as Dani and the Sith circled one another like two wary predators. She adjusted the mining laser in her grip and waited until the Sith’s back was to her. Then, drawing a deep steadying breath, she rushed forward before her courage could fail, and stabbed into his back. The laser’s tip pierced through one of the hoses wrapped around his neck and shoulder. Instead of oxygen leaking out, a billow of sickly yellow smoke streamed from the ruptured section of hose, smelling strongly of sulphur. With a snarl, the Sith turned and slashed his lightsabre in a raking blow. Jamie ducked to the side but not fast enough. 

The last time Jamie had been on the wrong end of a lightsabre wound, it had burned a hole straight through her shoulder as though her bones were made of softened butter. This was a similar experience, and one she had hoped to never feel again. The tip of the lightsabre whipped up, missing her arm and torso, and instead scoring her face. 

A flare of white-hot pain. Jamie flinched and scrambled away, nearly losing her footing and only managing to catch herself on the edge of an armchair. The mining laser clattered to the floor. One hand reached up to test the left side of her face, and she grit back a hiss through her teeth. She had shut her eyes reflexively and was now afraid to open them for fear that one might not work anymore. Tentatively she peeled them open — one after the other. Her left eye stung, unable to see through the curtain of blood dripping down her face. She blinked and tried to wipe the blood away, but stopped when she accidentally touched the wound slashed from brow to cheek. 

“Are you okay?” asked a small voice through the din, close by. 

The boy, Miles, had crawled over to check on her, his face pale. Jamie nodded and tried to stand up, but felt woozy. Flashes of red and animalistic snarls. With her right eye Jamie could just make out two figures fighting tooth and nail in the centre of the room. 

Where before Dani had never attacked, now she never defended. Her lightsabre struck out, sharp and sweeping and reckless, always advancing, always taking ground, always seeking an opening, demanding an opening, finding an opening. The Sith stumbled back with a desperate parry, the air like a painting itself streaked with the red of their sabres and the yellow of sulphur and the bright, crucible gold of Dani’s gaze. And it was cold, a cold so deep Jamie could feel it congeal the blood on her face. 

Dani thrust out her hand, a wave of the Force slamming into his chest and forcing the Sith back until he was cornered against the foot of the four-poster bed. He held his lightsabre up to deflect another attack, but could not move as Dani rained down blow after wailing blow. No art to it now. Just mad ferocity. Hacking at him as if with an axe, teeth-bared, hair wild, terrifying to behold.

“Shit.” Jamie kept a hand on Miles’ shoulder, putting herself between him and the scene unfolding even as she fought the urge to shrink back, to grab him and run for the exit. 

Something darted just under Jamie’s sight, a flurry of movement past her bad eye. Before she could stop her, Flora raced over and jumped atop the bed, wide-eyed and terrified. “Stop it! Miss Clayton, Stop!” 

Dani froze, panting, lightsabre lifted overhead, mid-swing. She blinked, her face slackened, and she slowly lowered the lightsabre with a small shake of her head. The Sith at her feet was wheezing, wracked with intermittent coughs as the gas in his suit bled out. And when her guard was lowered just fractionally too much, he let out a sound like a growl and stabbed. 

Dani swept her lightsabre down in time to block the attack. What exchanged was a brief flurry of action so fast Jamie could scarcely follow it. Parry, riposte, and then they were poised in trembling finality, Dani’s lightsabre struck through his chest in a killing blow. 

The Sith’s hand trembled. He reached forward to clutch her close by the shoulder and whisper something in Dani’s ear. Jamie couldn’t hear what he said. She could only see the way Dani’s eyes widened, the way Dani sheathed the lightsabre and caught him before his body could fall to the ground, lowering him gently into death. 

Jamie let go of Miles, and he raced forward towards his uncle, kneeling beside him. Owen seemed to come from a trance, looking pale and exhausted. When Henry took a deep breath and sat up, Miles made a sound both choked and relieved, hugging him tight. Meanwhile, Lord Wingrave grimaced in pain, barely able to do more than wrap an arm around his nephew and send Owen a confused glance. 

Mopping up the side of her face with the sleeve of her shirt, Jamie stepped forward. Dani was still kneeling on the ground, supporting the weight of the Sith with a dazed expression on her face. The young Wingrave girl sat crouched on the bed, trembling and frozen in place. Jamie touched Dani’s shoulder, feeling the tense of muscle there, and urge her to stand upright so she could bring her into a swift and fierce hug. Dani breathed harshly in her ear, sounding dazed, sounding thready and disbelieving. 

“I’ve got you,” Jamie said. “I’ve got you. Well done.” 

Dani reached out a hand and pulled the Wingrave girl into the hug until the three of them stood there in vaguely puzzled bliss, unsure of how exactly they had escaped, unscathed. 

When Dani let go, the Wingrave girl jumped down from the bed to join her brother beside Owen, the three of them checking on her uncle. Dani’s gaze followed them, looking pained, even guilty. 

“Hey,” Jamie said, drawing Dani’s attention. She pointed at her own face. “We match.”

For a moment Dani simply blinked at her in confusion until Jamie indicated her own fucked up eye. Then Dani laughed, shocked, brief, and belly-deep. She reached up and gently stroked the side of Jamie’s face, her expression pained. “I’m sorry.” 

“Some things are more important,” said Jamie, lifting her hand to cover Dani’s. “Like: does it make me look dashing?”

With another incredulous laugh, Dani leaned forward instead of answering and kissed her. Jamie winced when Dani’s nose brushed against the burn on her cheek. 

“Ow.”

“Sorry! Sorry.” 

Dani pulled back and tried to pull her hand away as well, but Jamie held it where it was so she could press her lips to the centre of Dani’s palm. 

Owen was urging Lord Wingrave to his feet when Hannah strode into the room. Her lightsabre was hooked back onto her belt. She had a few marks on her otherwise pristine burgundy robes, evidence of the fight she and Rebecca had endured on the front lines. Rebecca herself was in deep conversation with a Thulian guardsman near the exit.

Dani spared Jamie a rare smile before she rushed over to Henry and the others when Jamie let her go. Touching the wounded side of her face, Jamie blinked through a layer of crusted blood and was gratified to find she could, in fact, see through her left eye. 

“How’d you get on?” she asked as Hannah stopped before her. 

“All’s quiet on the front,” answered Hannah. “The Imperial invasion of House Thul has been thoroughly cast aside.” 

“Happy fuckin’ days,” said Jamie, still exploring the wound on her face with a tentative press of her fingertips. 

“You look a little worse for wear,” Hannah replied, cocking her head to one side. “Though you seem to have done the job.”

Lowering her hands, Jamie gave a bitter laugh. “Not me. All Dani. I just stood there like a muppet half the time. And got injured, to boot.” 

Hannah made a soft sound in the back of her throat. “Pasha and his Troopers were looking for a Sith assassin.” She nudged the dead Sith’s robes with the toe of her boot. “This looks like a Sith assassin to me.”

“Yeah, but they were looking for someone of Dani’s description.”

“Unfortunate that,” Hannah sighed. “How easy it is for innocent people to be pulled into the undertow of Sith machinations. Lord Wingrave will say nothing of her, I’m sure; his debt is too great. The children are young; they will forget. And the overwhelming evidence will say that Danielle Clayton was never here.”

Jamie stared down at the Sith corpse before her. She mused over the possibility of tearing off his mask and looking upon his face, before coming to the conclusion that she would rather not know. That he was better in her memories as this — the awful caricature that he wished to be perceived as. With a shake of her head, Jamie tore her gaze away in favour of watching Dani across the room. 

Dani talking to the children. Dani talking with Owen. Dani tucking a lock of hair behind her ear and standing with hands clasped gently before her and an auspicious smile on her face. 

"Such a small thing. Such a little thing to house the echo of a soul," Hannah mused beside her. "It's got me to wondering about our dear friend Miss Clayton."

Jamie made a noise to indicate she was listening, even while both their eyes remained training on Dani, watching her chat with Owen and Lord Wingrave.

"Holocrons, you see," continued Hannah, "wouldn't make for very good receptacles of secret knowledge if they could be opened by just anyone. To open one requires use of the Force. A great deal of it, I might add."

With a jerk, Jamie tore her gaze from Dani to stare at Hannah. Then she turned her head back towards Dani, who was now crouching down to talk to one of the children — the little girl. Jamie watched as the girl threw her arms around Dani’s neck and something flickered, gold and bright, in Dani’s eye, her expression unreadable before she relaxed and returned the hug with an easy warmth.

“Does she know?" Jamie asked.

Hannah shrugged. "I have hinted at it, but thought it best to leave it at that for now. She should come to this realisation on her own. I'm telling you, because in the future the two of you might want to explore what she is."

"And what is she?"

Hannah smiled. "Herself, of course."

Across the room, Rebecca gestured from the main entryway and called out. “Pubs incoming. We should get a move on.” 

Dani straightened, hand lingering on the girl’s shoulder. She nudged Flora towards Owen, who was now talking directly to the Wingrave boy. Meanwhile Henry took the opportunity to pull Dani into a grateful hug of his own, making Dani go rigid all over then laugh nervously and pat his shoulder. As Jamie watched her, she felt something warm in her chest unspool. 

Beside her there came a slight cough. Glancing at Hannah with a frown, Jamie said, “What?”

Looking like she was trying to bite back a smile, Hannah shook her head. “Nothing,” she said, one hand toying with a gold earring. “Just nice to see you so unsurly for once. She’s a good influence on you, that one.” 

Jamie narrowed her eyes. She nudged Hannah’s elbow with her own and grumbled, “Shut it.”

Hannah chuckled, a low warm sound. When Jamie started towards the exit as well, Hannah did not follow. 

Jamie stopped. “You coming?” 

With an all-encompassing gesture towards their ruined surroundings, Hannah said, “Someone has to stay behind and spin a tale for the Republic Troopers. And doubtless there’ll be paperwork for Owen and I to fill out regarding our new Temple initiates.”

Jamie nodded. “Thanks. I owe you one.” 

“You and I both know that’s not how this works, dear.” 

“Right.” Jamie gave a rueful shake of her head and rubbed at the new scars on her face; they itched something fierce. “More Jedi bantha shit.” 

Rather than take umbrage with Jamie’s word choice, Hannah simply made an amused sound in the back of her throat. “The fact you think that doesn’t apply to you after all these years -” Hannah trailed off and waved Jamie away. “Laughable. Really.”

Jamie backed away towards the door in lazy strides. “We’ll see you soon?” 

“You had better,” Hannah replied in a warning tone. “Three years of nothing but pre-recorded postcards? The gall.” 

With a laugh, Jamie blew Hannah a kiss — which earned her an exasperated roll of Hannah’s eyes — before finally turning and walking towards the exit, headlong. Dani stood just outside the doorway, waiting. When Jamie drew near enough, Dani tangled their fingers together and gave Jamie a tremulous smile. 

“Okay?” Dani asked. 

Jamie squeezed Dani’s hand. “Yeah. Perfect.” 

Dani reached up but did not actually touch Jamie’s face. “We should probably get this looked at.”

“Later,” said Jamie with a dismissive shrug. “I bet Jane can’t wait to hold my head under a kolto tank until I drown.” 

“Jane likes you,” Dani insisted, dragging Jamie along so that the two walked after Rebecca and out of House Thul. 

“Do they, though?”

“Well,” said Dani, then she paused in consideration. “I think so, anyway.” 

Guardsmen of House Thul scurried about. They were taking prisoners and speaking into comm units to — presumably — incoming Republic troops. Dani and Jamie slipped past them all, doing their best to avoid all and any notice. Nobody stopped them, just as nobody stopped Rebecca, until the three of them had left the manor and stood before Rebecca’s ship. The three Imperial soldiers were still sprawled on the ground from when Rebecca had shot them. The Corporal’s eyes were glassy, his muscles rigid in death. 

When they had reached the ship proper, Rebecca holstered her pistol and turned. “Guess this is it,” she said. 

Jamie stopped and squinted at her friend. "If I hug you, are you going to taser me again?"

"Depends on where you put your hands." With a laugh, Rebecca pulled her into a hug, arms wrapped tightly around Jamie’s shoulders. Jamie returned the gesture, tucking her face into Rebecca’s shoulder before stepping away.

"I really need to dash before either the Pubs or Imps find out I've been here." Rebecca grasped Jamie's shoulder. "We even, now?"

"Yeah, yeah. Go on, then. Wait -" Jamie said when Rebecca took a step back. "How are we supposed to get off the surface without you?"

Rebecca made a vague gesture to the sky. "Jane has a transport shuttle. Just call for it."

"Jane has a transport shuttle?"

"Good grief, Jamie. I gave you one of my favourite ships. The least you could do is talk to it."

"I'll think about it." Jamie grinned when Rebecca rolled her eyes. "We'll probably head off to -"

"Ah, ah!" Rebecca shook her head and mimed covering one ear. "Don't tell me. It's better if I don't know."

Her dark eyes drifted over Jamie’s shoulder. Jamie heard light footsteps approaching, and Dani stepped up beside her. She smiled at Rebecca. “Just thought I should say thank you, before you go.”

“My pleasure. Really.” Rebecca held out her hands. “Don’t suppose you want a hug, too?”

With a shake of her head, Dani nevertheless stepped forward, smiling into the hug. Rebecca patted Dani on the back, her hand getting tangled up in Dani’s nanosilk cloak. 

Laughing, Rebecca stepped away, untangling her hand from Dani’s cloak. “How you manage to fight with that thing on is a miracle.” 

Dani straightened the cloak around her shoulders, grinning broadly. “Just lucky, I guess.” 

“From what I understand, luck has nothing to do with it.” Rebecca glanced between Dani and Jamie, her smile softening. Behind her, her ship lowered its gangway. Rebecca lifted her hand and touched her brow in a jaunty sort of salute. “Don’t be strangers.” 

Dani waved as Rebecca turned and boarded her ship. The gangway retracted behind her and the ship sealed itself. Jamie watched through the transparisteel windows of the cockpit as Rebecca strapped herself into the captain’s chair. The engines revved to life and with a burn of fuel, the ship rose up into the air, and she was gone. 

Jamie fished out a handheld transponder from her pocket. "Jane?"

The ship's computer spoke through the little speaker. "How may I be of assistance?"

"We need to get off the surface. Think you can help?"

"I am sending a transport shuttle now. Estimated time of arrival: two minutes, thirty-seven seconds. Please stand by."

Lowering the transponder, Jamie pocketed it right beside the small mining laser. Dani had her head tipped back to look at the sky to watch Rebecca’s ship go, shielding her face from the watery sunlight with the flat of her hand. With a smudge of dirt across her cheek and her hair a-tumble, standing amidst the rubble of a warzone, she was perfect.

"Do you think it's warm on Corsin?" Dani asked idly. When Jamie did not answer, Dani lowered her hand and tipped her chin back down to face her. She blinked in confusion. "What are you looking at?"

The cold mountain breeze toyed with the long curls of Dani's hair that had come loose during the fight. With a smile, Jamie gave a slow disbelieving shake of her head. Then she reached out and tucked a stray lock of hair behind Dani's ear. 

“You,” she said. “Just you.”

—

—

The ship’s engines hummed steadily. Rebecca had set the computer to control autopilot, and now stood over a small table in what was supposed to be the dining area. She never used it for that. Only for storage. The place was littered with things most people would pass over with a sniff of disdain, but which years of experience had taught her could get her out of a bad scrap in a pinch. 

The table was cleared of everything except the frame of a square object, small enough to sit in the palm of her hand and made of a black gold metal. Inscriptions had been carved into each triangular section, the pieces carefully assembled into a diminutive and unassuming box. Reaching into her pocket, Rebecca pulled out a final triangular piece. For a moment she turned it over between her fingers, then set it carefully into place, so that the holocron was once more complete. 

The holocron hummed, filled with a brief intense light, then went out like a snuffed candle. 

“Well,” said Rebecca softly. “Shit.”

Behind her a light blinked at the terminal dash. With a grimace, Rebecca looked around before slinging a spare jacket over the holocron to hide it. When she touched it even through the fabric however, she could still feel a faint hum that tingled through her palm and all the way up her arm, an intense numbing itch. Shaking her hand free of the sensation, Rebecca turned around. She ran a hand over her hair and clothes to ensure her appearance was somewhat tidy. Then with a deep breath, she straightened her shoulders and pressed a blinking button on the terminal. She tucked her hands smartly behind her back and lifted her chin as a holo flickered to life.

The projection was life-sized. A towering figure all in black. Black robes. Black hood. Face hidden utterly behind a black mask. Rebecca set her jaw and swallowed, tamping down the unsettling urge to look the figure in the eye, even though there were no eyes to look at. And though there were whole solar systems between them, she could not shake herself of the feeling that if the figure reached out, they could grab her by the neck and hoist her up into the air as easily as if she were a child’s toy doll. 

When the figure spoke, their voice was deep and crackling through the speakers of their mask. “Have you recovered the holocron?”

Rebecca kept her hands clasped behind her back, her gaze kept straight ahead at a space just over the figure’s shoulder. “Yes, my Lord." 

“And?” 

“Nothing,” she said. “It seems to be inactive, now that The Lady no longer resides within it.” 

“I find that disappointing,” said the figure. 

A brief terrifying silence followed, during which Rebecca counted her heartbeats, wondering when they would stop. She squeezed her hands together behind her back when the figure started to speak again. 

“Where is the host now?” 

“I do not know,” Rebecca answered.

The figure tipped their head slightly to one side and a red light gleamed across the mask. “Are you lying to me, Agent Jessel?” 

“No, my Lord.” 

“Quint thought he was a good liar. You’re not under such delusions, are you?” 

“No, my Lord,” she repeated.

Behind her, she swore she could feel the holocron hum. She had to dig her fingernails into the palm of the hand that had touched it through layers of cloth to ground herself. The figure’s head jerked towards the sensation, sightless gaze watching the space behind Rebecca as though they could see beyond the simple holo of herself she would have projected in return. Most days she was confident in the fact that she had coded her holo to not give away any of her surroundings, no matter where she was. Today, she was not so sure. 

The figure looked back at her. “You will return to Drommund Kaas to receive further instruction.”

“And the Jedi?”

“Are none of your concern, Agent. Report back immediately for a full debrief.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

The holo flickered out of view. Only once the light had stopped blinking on the dash did Rebecca allow herself to breathe properly again. She inhaled deeply and shook her head. Then she turned and pulled the jacket off of the holocron. 

It was still unlit, but it hummed gently.

With one last look at it, Rebecca left the room and returned to the cockpit. She sat in the captain’s chair, keying in commands with practised ease. 

The coordinates to Dromund Kaas were set, and she hit the jump command to hyperspace. 

[hey-its-nonny]

So, thanks to the lovely @themerriweathermage, i can repost all of my chapters of in between!! Again, a huge, huge, thank you, love. i can’t tell you how happy i am about this.

Chapter one of In Between!

i’m super excited for this!! hope y’all like it!!

note: this first chapter will start out (and maybe end) in Legolas’ POV just for somewhat of his backstory. the rest will be told from your POV!!

~~~

The battle was over.

Burials for the dwarves had come and gone, and while Tauriel was grieving over Kili, Legolas was left with a broken heart over the she-elf in question. He just didn’t understand. Tauriel was supposed to be the one. At least he thought so.

Was there something wrong with him? His father would have told him so. He didn’t understand why it stung so harshly, but he supposed that was the risk you took when you fancied someone.

But, a broken heart didn’t really matter now, did it?

The truth was that Tauriel had all too quickly slipped out of Legolas’ grasp; and there was no getting her back. Like a ticking time bomb waiting to explode in his face, it had only been a matter of time before Tauriel slipped away from him. So, he traveled for months to meet a man by the name of Strider.

At first, Legolas had lost his sense of just about everything. He knew where he was going, but he didn’t want to find his way there. Everything he’d loved had slipped out of his grasp in a matter of weeks, and he had no power to stop it.

That’s what he hated: being unable to change things in his life. He was a prince, for Valar’s sake. Changing things to get what he wanted was quite literally what he was used to. He understood that he was privileged, although his father said he’d deserved every bit of what he got, unsurprisingly. Somehow, though, he felt he didn’t.

Just like he didn’t deserve Tauriel.

But, as his walked on with his thoughts tormenting him every waking second, he bumped into something- or someone, to be precise. While lost in his thoughts, Legolas’ feet had taken him to a small village -somewhere near Rivendell- he guessed, judging by the forests and whatnot.

It was a man. He’d bumped into another man. Upon realizing this, the elf froze, his senses coming back to him quicker than he’d lost them. He murmured an apology to the man, and the hooded figure nodded, quickly turning to go on his way.

Legolas realized he didn’t know where to go next, so he went to ask the man. “Do you know a ranger by the name of Strider?” He called, stopping the man in his stride. “Who’s asking?” He replied, low voice ringing in the almost eerie silence.

Legolas somewhat scoffed. “I am.” He stated, knowing full well what the man meant. He was angry and hurt, so a little sass or sarcasm could be expected from the elf. Who would blame him?

Apparently, you would.

Laying the pile of wood down, you readjusted the strap of your pack as your combat knives found their way into your hands. “Answer the question properly.” You spoke out, causing the elf to flinch. Cute. A fight prior to this meeting had put you in a bit of a sour mood, so any further irritation would only make things worse.

Legolas turned and faced you, eyes slightly narrowed, making it evident he wasn’t in a good mood either. “Legolas of th-“ He started, cutting himself off to correct himself. “Legolas Greenleaf.” He stated, turning to face Aragorn once more. “Now, answer my question.” He returned, raising a brow.

You shared a quick look with Aragorn, a questioning gaze evident on your features. “Strider.” He answered, and your expression phased into a calm one. You never really trusted people easily, and this elf would be no different, no matter how pleasant his face looked. Whenever Legolas heard this, however, he looked a bit embarrassed.

You smirked, leaning against the tree with a quiet hum. Aragorn grabbed both yours and the elf’s attention as he spoke up, removing his hood. “Why are you searching for me?” He asked, hand readily reaching for his blade. The bitter cold made this exchange far more intense than it should have been, but the elf showed no intentions of harming either of you.

The elf cleared his throat, searching for the answer to that question. “I merely wish to follow along whatever path you choose to take.” He said after seconds of silence, bringing down his ego as best he could. “Companionship, if you will.” He clarified, earning a distrustful, yet knowing exchange between you and Aragorn.

You walked over and pulled Aragorn aside, hoping to get out of ear’s reach from the elf. It took a while, but once you both were far enough from him, you whispered, “Are you going to let him follow us?” You asked, nodding in the elf’s direction.

The man huffed. “Perhaps. I cannot fully trust him yet, but I feel that it may be good to have him around.” He admitted, gazing at the leafless trees that surrounded you. You sighed, brows furrowed. “I don’t know if it is a good idea,” You replied, uncertainty and caution churning your insides. “but I trust your judgment.”

“We’ll have to take night watch, though.” You added, earning a chuckle from the man. “Let’s get a move on, then.” You sighed, trudging through the woods with Aragorn trailing behind you. A hopeful Legolas met your gaze, searching for any signs of confirmation. He didn’t get anything, though.

You simply grabbed your pack and firewood, tightened your tunic, and went on your way. Aragorn spoke up one final time, doing the same as you. “We do not stop until nightfall.” He stated, earning a swift nod from the elf.

~~~~

Hours later, you all finally found a resting point in a cave and started a fire, gathered around it in attempts at gaining some warmth. Aragorn had gone to scout the surrounding area, leaving you shivering and alone with Legolas. As you huddled close to the fire, shaking due to the cold, Legolas stood, walking over to the pack he’d brought.

He pulled out a thick cloak, walking over to offer it to you. “Take it. You need it.” He quietly stated, draping the fabric over your shoulders. The warmth was almost instant, and you allowed a sigh of relief to escape your lips. “Thank you.” You smiled, to which the elf nodded.

Suddenly, your curiosity got the better of you. You peered at the elf from across the fire, staring into the sky blue eyes he possessed. “Where are you from?” You asked, trying to pass the time. “Mirkwood, as they call it now.” He answered reluctantly, though he seemed a bit more at ease now. “And you?” He returned, raising a brow as he met you e/c eyes.

You stared at the flickering flames in thought, pondering if you should give the elf an answer. It was only fair. “I don’t remember.” You quietly admitted, a solemn expression on your face. “My parents passed when I was young. I’ve been with Strider ever since. He’s like a brother to me.” You explained, earning an almost sympathetic look from the elf. What were you doing?

You stood before he could offer pitiful condolences and drew both of your knives. “Speaking of Strider, I am going to search for him. Excuse me.” You quickly blurted, gently folding the cloak and setting it down.

You rushed out, internally scolding yourself for such foolish behavior. You searched for Aragorn, wondering what possibly could’ve taken him so long. After a while, you came upon a slight clearing, the silence heavy over the bitter air.

Then, you heard it. Orc voices could be heard nearby, and you assumed Aragorn was with them. You cautiously padded through woods, making no noise as you passed. You counted twenty five orcs surrounding Aragorn, preparing yourself for battle.

Then, quicker than the wind, you dashed towards the orcs from behind and began slashing at them, taking out four within a minute. But, as fate would have it, you got caught in a fight between two particularly determined orcs. “Run!” You ordered, earning a scoff from Aragorn as he faced the majority of what was left of the group.

You took the two down, your worry for Aragorn outweighing your will to survive. Aragorn fought well, taking down the mindless creatures with a certain grace only Aragorn possessed. Just as you thought you were finished, you caught a glimpse of a blade held at Aragorn’s neck.

“Aragorn!” You shouted, cutting down whatever orcs stood in the way as you bolted for you best friend. Amidst the chaos, you were caught again as another group stole your attention. You fought hard, taking the orcs down with urgency. Luckily, however, an arrow was caught in the center of the orcs head before too much harm could be done.

You looked in the direction from where the arrow came and found Legolas standing there. You finished off the rest of the group with both of the boys’ help, panting slightly once it was over. Without hesitation you went to embrace Aragorn, quietly letting out a sigh of relief. “Please don’t do that again.”

The man returned the embrace, and you pulled him along back to the cave, grateful he was still alive.

~~~~

You sat at the campfire once more, both of your companions sound asleep a little bit away from you. You watched the flame climb the air, relishing in the warmth it provided you. Then, you remembered the cloak Legolas had given you, and you picked up the soft fabric.

You wrapped it around your shoulders and sighed, making sure to keep an eye on the entrance to the cave. You made it a point to thank Legolas for saving Aragorn, unsure of what you would’ve done if things had turned for the worse.

At the end of the day, Aragorn was alive and well, and you had another companion to get to know. Legolas saved Aragorn’s life, and that was all that really mattered to you.

Maybe the elf wasn’t so bad after all.

~~~~

ugh this SUCKED, but it’s done! i’ll probably edit it later, but i just wanted to post it.

@elvish-sky is the only person on my tag list at the moment i think?? pm me if you want to be added, otherwise i won’t remember lol 😂 hope you enjoyed it!

~~~~~

[scammydoesstuff]

So about that 'Blue Bloods' episode…

I recently saw something come across my dash regarding Alex Brightman’s guest appearance on the season 11 episode of 'Blue Bloods' (The Common Good) and it reignited the vehement response I had to the episode as a whole. And, since I have this blog now, I figured…fuck it. I need to rant about it.

So that's what this is.

Take what I say with a grain of salt, of course. This show is so clearly not for me and I acknowledge that, but I went to school for and got my degree in creative writing and so much of this episode pissed me off from a narrative perspective and I just really need to talk about it. Putting it under a Read More, though, so you can ignore me if you’d like while I rage to no one in particular. Apologies in advance if you choose to read on. I'm super long-winded. Luckily I don't have pictures and this is more of just a lot of text, so…it could be longer?

So, to begin, I’ll freely admit that I’d never seen an episode of 'Blue Bloods' before this and I’ve not watched it since. I mean, if the rest of the episodes are as badly written as this one, I have no interest to either, but I digress.

Overall my main problem with the episode was how desperately it avoided ‘showing’ over ‘telling’ and, as a visual medium, that’s kind’ve a big deal. We were told pretty much every detail that was presented to us. These people love to hear themselves talk, but do little to actually show things as they happen and I believe a part of that has to do with the focus of the show itself, which is definitely unique to this brand of television. By that, I just mean that it’s not the format I might’ve expected from a show like this. Most cop shows give a lot of focus to the cases, and the intrigue you get with the characters is how they apply their own skills and knowledge to solve them, with the hi-jinks they get into along the way being more of a bonus.

This is not that kind of show.

No, 'Blue Bloods' as a show is way more interested in the cops and their familial ties than it is about the actual job that they’re doing, as shown prominently with the political plot of this episode which was also very focused on the relationship between Tom Selleck’s character and his daughter and the wholly unrelated dinner scene where they talk about lent for 2 and a half minutes and acknowledge nothing else that happened in the episode. This show doesn’t care about the job of being a cop so much as it cares about the cops themselves.

Which would be fine if I gave a shit about cops, but I don’t.

You could argue that the mentor plot is the exception to that, but that entire situation had no real consequences for the cop in question, Jamie, abusing his power. It was entirely focused on how the situation affected him and how it was fine that he’d nudged this kid to get information which ultimately led to the arrest of Dion's brother, and Dion quitting the program. Hell, if Jamie had, in his final scene with Dion, owned up to his abuse of power and left the program — to then urge Dion to rejoin so that he can have that positive outlet in his life without him there — I would’ve been way more okay with it, but Jamie faces no consequences past ‘I don’t wanna see you anymore’, which I was never convinced he actually cared about in the slightest. There's nothing cathartic about it, it's just shitty and left me feeling frustrated at the lack of consequences for the cop.

But hey, you prolly don’t wanna read me going on and on about those parts. You prolly wanna know why I hate it despite Alex’s plot — which I fully expected to love because he’s perfect and gorgeous even when he’s playing a bad guy and he was just so adorable in his lil suit and they let him keep the scruff this time, and he was all handsome an— I need to stop. That could go on forever.

Anyway, to put it simply; it was bad, but I'll definitely explain why.

Now, I don’t think any of the guests in this episode necessarily did a bad job. They still acted well enough for what they were given. I just think they had a shit script that wasn’t interested in that story line. I mentioned at the top of this that this show cared more about telling than showing and that’s a huge problem when you want me to buy a character being the culprit in your murder plot. I need evidence, not anecdotes. Cuz, yeah, by the end of the episode, I didn’t buy for even a second that Ralph did it. And it’s not because he was played by Alex who is just charisma incarnate. I can believe him playing a bad guy. I also watched his 'Law & Order SVU' episode where he scared the shit outta me. He can play a creepy and violent character very well, he just wasn’t convincing to me as a bad guy in this show.

And here’s why!

First of all, he confessed at knife point. That confession would be thrown away IRL. It’s the same problem with using torture to get information. If a person’s life is threatened or they're being harmed in some way, they’ll usually say whatever it takes to get you to stop threatening them/causing them pain. Same deal here. You can’t convince me with a confession like that.

But they didn't seem to be interested in convincing anyone as far as I could tell. They just expected you to believe it because, ‘no, didn’t you hear? He said he did it, so he did it.’ They had so many opportunities to portray this character as the shitbag that we’re told he is. Hell, great way to really implicate him? Give him a female assistant that Donnie Wahlberg and his partner overhear / walk in on him berating for something small like getting him the wrong coffee or something. Then have them talk to that assistant later on and her mention some weird behavior from him on the night of Andrea’s death. It's cliché, but it's more than what we got.

Or you could have him talk to Meghan in a super condescending voice when he approaches her after her interview later on. Or, hell, have him refer to the murder victim in a condescending way even as he talks about her death. But no. The most we get out of him is that he's maybe a little snarky and smug when talking to the cops, but that’s not enough to convince me he’s a bad dude. Frankly, his producer buddy came off as more of an asshole, if I'm being honest. Just cuz (we’re told) his character did shitty things to her in the past doesn’t mean he’s still shitty. Show me he’s still shitty. I wanna see it and I know Alex is capable of a performance like that.

Second, it’s also just…obvious to make him the culprit if we're to believe everything we're told about him. He and Andrea are described as having had beef a little while before the murder with him being abusive mentally and physically. He’s known in the community to be a misogynist and an abusive person overall. He’s the obvious suspect, but if there’s anything that Scooby-Doo taught me, it’s that it’s never the most obvious person. Like, once in a blue moon, sure — but it’s rare.

So yeah, I don’t believe that Ralph did it. You wanna know who I do think did it?

Meghan.

Alright, so bear with me. This'll prolly sound a little conspiratorial, but hear me out:

She had the motive. She confirms in the beginning of the episode that she’s also a female gamer like the victim, but that she was ‘no Andrea’. Andrea was her competition. They were (supposedly) friends and stuck together as female gamers, but Andrea was still competition. With her out of the way, Meghan’s able to rise in the ranks, if even a little bit.

She had a scapegoat in Ralph — again, the obvious suspect given his tumultuous relationship with Andrea sometime prior — and an obvious grudge against men in their community in general. And, don’t get me wrong, men in gaming can and often are hella toxic — I’m not, in any way, denying that — but she got way more emotional when talking about the men in their community than when she was talking about her supposed friend lying dead in the adjoining room.

Speaking of the adjoining room, how did she not hear the murder happening? It couldn’t have been when she was down in the bar, cuz we see Ralph there too in the crappy CCTV footage that was supposed to show him being an asshole, I think (hard to really see). Was she just fucking around somewhere else when it happened? She doesn’t mention as much that I recall (correct me if I'm wrong on that, of course). And Andrea was strangled to death. I would assume that there would’ve been a struggle with that. Are you seriously telling me she wouldn’t hear that in her adjoining hotel room? Those walls aren’t that thick. I find that kinda hard to believe. And that she wouldn’t have found her till the next morning after that, also strikes me as a little odd.

Going off on some previous points, she shows very little grief over her friend’s death. Not just in the intro scene, either, but later on as well. (Side bar: that intro scene itself was very misleading. Don’t lead with a murder plot if it only takes up less than 10 minutes of the overall runtime, kay?) The show did a pretty bad job at indicating the passage of time, but it’s implied that the convention is still happening when Meghan gets the confession out of Ralph, so it would’ve had to have been the same weekend, or possibly the same week (though most conventions I’m aware of don’t last that long — it’s usually a weekend thing, at most Thursday-Sunday — but it could be similar to AGDQ, which seems to last about a week). So, if this is only a day or so later, why would someone who is supposedly grieving over their dead friend do interviews like nothing is wrong? Wouldn't you, like, reschedule or just politely decline and say you need time to process the shock? Like, when we cut to ol’ Donnie Wahlberg calling her after her interview, she doesn’t look upset — as I imagine she might if they’d likely asked her questions about Andrea / her feelings about the murder — and she seems cool as a cucumber when she asks Ralph to go somewhere private. In fact, the look on her face indicates pretty clearly that she’s planning to do something. Specifically, not that she's scared, that she's angry.

Finally, she’s the one who’s attacking Ralph when Donnie Wahlberg and company arrive on the scene. She doesn’t seem to have any marks on her indicating that he made any move to harm her (again, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember seeing her with any marks / cuts), but he’s got a clear, bleeding cut on his face. She attacked him first and was going in for the kill.

Or…was she? Cuz right before Donnie Wahlberg pulls her into that bear hug to stop her from the attack, she doesn’t do a great job of actually trying to kill Ralph. She was close enough that a quick dart at him would’ve probably been enough to at least injure him pretty significantly — maybe even fatally — and would’ve surely led the cops to pull them apart to secure him, but she kinda just hops around a bit and screams before lunging for him. That’s a really weird way to attack when you actually want to kill someone.

But, then again, I don’t necessarily think she did want to kill him. I’m convinced she wanted that confession, but that she also wanted him in jail and was playing the part of the super sad and hysterical victim who was just so overcome with her grief that she wasn’t in her right mind. I think that’s what they were going for in regards to her character in general, but it came across as less sincere in the performance and more like the character was putting on an act. They then cart Ralph off while comforting her — despite the fact that she disobeyed a direct order from police, which should lead to her being detained as well! — and that plot ends.

So, she gets what she wants in the end. A person she despises is now in police custody, her competition is out of the way, and the publicity she might get for bringing that ‘murderer’ to justice might eventually lead to her own career getting a nice boost. I dunno, it just strikes me as her having a great reason to have initiated this over Ralph just being a misogynist who 'was really trying to kill Meghan and just got the wrong girl'.

So yeah, with what the show presented to us, I believe Meghan’s the real killer. Again, if they’d done more to show me that Ralph was a bad dude or that she was more affected by her supposed friend’s death, or if they'd just given that plot more room to breathe to show those things, I might’ve been more inclined to buy the narrative they were pushing but…as is, I don’t believe it.

That’s pretty much all I wanted to say on the matter. I had a lot of issues with the domestic abuse plot line too, but they barely gave that 5 minutes of the overall runtime, so does it really matter in the long run? This is just…my thought process of the only part of the episode I watched for and how disappointing it was for me. And yes, I timed each section of the episode to figure out how much time was given to each of the 4 plots, plus the dinner scene at the end, but not counting the intro theme, and the murder plot got just over 8 minutes, of which Alex was on screen for half of that time. He got less than 5 minutes of screen time. It was definitely worth it just because he’s wonderful and I just like seeing him on these shows, but from a narrative standpoint, it felt pointless.

Okay, I’m done. Thank you for coming to my TED talk. Unless y’all wanna talk about this some more, cuz I’m so down for that.

[dazed--xx]

Alone

REQUEST: *Hi see you mentioned about story requests. I'm having a hard time since I'm currently pregnant and my partner walked out on me, so could you do one when Jungkook where I meet Jungkook and he helps me raise the baby please*

Summary:  “I'm pregnant Jungkook.” the line goes dead silent “look before you say anything, no I wasn’t hiding this from you and I completely understand if you don’t want to talk to me shit I wouldn’t want to talk to me and move on to someone who is not pregnant and going to be having this type of responsibilities-” “Y/N-”

GENRE: Mild-Angst, Fluff

Member: Jungkook x Pregnant!reader

Word count: 2,132 

A/N: so this is literally my first fanfic ever and i hope you guys like it. and to the person that requested this I wanted to tag you because i did post it but i didnt want to kind of call you out online especially since this was based on something you have personally happening to you, trust me pregnancy is scary let alone having to go it alone so if you need someone to talk to im here btw.. but hopefully you guys like this it was pretty good i wanna post a couple of requests a day since i banged this out as quickly as i did im taking more requests just inbox me or go to my ask let me know if you want your name attached to the request and i will send everyone that i know requested a specific story i will tag and send it to you so you know it is done but without further ado ALONE

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“Where are you going? Do you really expect me to do this alone?” I shouted to the already abandoned house. A swell in my throat rises and I can't breathe. My body shakes as the tears take over. I fall to my knees running my hand over my stomach. “Don’t you worry baby; Daddy will be back he loves you I promise” I say to the life growing within my womb. 

The warmth from the comforter consumes me as I awaken with dried tears in my eyes. My heart aches as I remember the events from the past 12 hours. The thick silence takes hold of my heart and it begins racing. My heart beat sounding as if it is being played on a speaker the size of a skyscraper. Feeling the bile rise in my throat, rushing to the bathroom, I empty out the contents of my stomach. Tears escape my eyes as I reach out to the void. I'm alone truly.  

My first OBGYN appointment rolls around and my heart is in my stomach. The nurse escorts me in, slowly my feet turn into lead as I drag myself onto the cot in the room and lay back facing the monitor. Once I feel that cool gel upon my stomach, my heart settles and the most beautiful BUMP BUMP BUMP is heard throughout the room. My eyes focus on the image in front of me. “well congrats sweetie you're about 10 weeks, Due September 27. Remember no stress and make sure to take your prenatal. We’ll see you next week” My ultrasound technician announces excitedly. I smile anxious as to what I should do next.  

I make my way to a small café after my appointment wanting a small tea to calm my nerves. Looking around the coffee shop I notice quite the crowd and my panic begins to set in. It feels like I can't breathe while the crowds begin to grow as the café reaches the brink of rush. More and More people pour through the door as my anxiety takes over and I feel the bile rising again, I abandon my spot in line trying to make it to the restroom before I release the contents of my stomach all over the café floor. The restroom door becomes the only thing in sight to me as I dash for it. I reach for the handle and the door opens and I slam into a hard chest and soon I am on the floor.

“HOLY CRAP!!! IM SO SORRY I WAS NOT PAYING ATTENTION” A angelic voice apologized above me. My eyes drift from the floor up to see the most amazing man I've ever seen in my life with his hand out and my voice gets caught in my throat. I stare at him for a while capturing every detail of his face and take his hand. I nod quickly and mutter a fast “Sorry” and dash around the beautiful man and lose myself behind the safety of the door. I was dreading walking back out into the craziness of the café, but excited to see if I could once again get a glimpse of the gorgeous man from before.  

Soon I am back in line and order my tea, when a familiar voice sounds from next to me “You know.... you should let me pay you back for your drink you know...since I hurt you” Shocked I turn my head to see the same beautiful man from before. “Oh, please don’t worry about it I really wasn’t paying attention either it's not a big deal” I smile shyly. “Besides I'm sure you have better things to do with your time than to buy a stranger a drink” He laughs “Honestly, Beautiful, I don’t really have anything to do with my time that doesn’t involve getting to know you” Heat creeps up to my face and I lower my gaze and smile. “I don’t need you to pay me back for my tea for you to be able to get to know me, but unfortunately I gotta go” I say slowly moving past him. “At least let me get your number...please” He asked “You don’t even know my name and you want my number?” “Hey I know what I want and I feel like me knowing your name won't matter much cause I probably won't be calling you anything other than mine” I let out a small giggle “ that was super corny but since you're trying so hard give me your phone” I put my number in his phone and hand it back to him and walk toward the door “By the way my name is Y/N” as I make my exit I hear him shout back “Jungkook!”  

As the weeks pass, I find myself talking more and more to Jungkook. He still hasn’t stopped flirted with me as much as he did that day in the café but we talk everyday about almost everything and I can't help but feel scared to tell him I am having a baby. What would he say? Will he not want to talk to me anymore? Would he not like me as much? A loud RING pulls me out of my thoughts as my phone lights up with Jungkook's name and photo comes up on my screen.  

“Hey, what's up cutie?” He says excitedly  

“Not much, just lying in bed not feeling too good today” I respond pouty  

“Aw, do you need anything? Medicine? I can bring you soup it'll make you feel better I know you said you went out with your friend last night are you hungover?” The worry evident in his voice.

“Um honestly no um I can't drink so I'm definitely not hungover just different I know what it is though I'll be fine” the nervousness in my voice is evident

“what's wrong then beautiful? Is everything okay?” Oh no... not that question. He’s worried and I know he is but I don’t know what to say. I can't stop it the words just rush out of my mouth like the bile I throw up every morning  

“I'm pregnant Jungkook....I'm 14 weeks pregnant” the line goes dead silent “look before you say anything, no I wasn’t hiding this from you and I completely understand if you don’t want to talk to me shit I wouldn’t want to talk to me and move on to someone who is not pregnant and going to be having this type of responsibilities-” “Y/N-” No listen Kookie cause I really like you and I didn’t mean to keep this from you I was just scared that you would hate me” “Y/N-” “I mean I know you just met me a couple weeks ago and it wouldn’t mean much for you to just walk away from this because let's be honest who wants to deal with that-” “Y/N! JUST STOP AND LISTEN PLEASE!” The words stop flowing as quickly as they began.

“Do you think id stop liking you because of the simple fact that you're pregnant, I mean yeah it does suck that you're going to have someone else's baby but I don’t care about that... WAIT! Is that why your ex left?” I stay silent

“Baby....are you there?” He asks worried.

“Baby girl???”  

“Beautiful are you okay? Hello?”

I sniffle “Yeah I’m here sorry” my voice cracks at every word.

“Baby are you crying? Do you need me to get you anything?”  

“No, I'm fine I promise I'm going to go to bed okay? Goodnight handsome I'll talk to you in the morning” “wait what no I'm com-” I cut him off to end the already overwhelming call. My vision blurs as the tears cascade down my face and I let out a harsh sob. I was scared for nothing or he's just too optimistic. A loud knock on the door grabs my attention.  

“who is it?” fear leaking out in my tone. “Baby it's me open up” I hear Jungkook's melodic voice through the door. Quickly I swing the door open to be greeted with the man I've grown so accustomed to in the past few weeks. Taking in the sight of him my heart begins to race as the tears began to no longer form. He reaches his arms around me and pulls me against him. “Baby girl, why didn’t you tell me sooner? You really thought that would make me just leave. How could I do that when in the past few weeks, you’ve stolen my heart” He looks at me and there's a hunger in his eyes as they shift down to my lips. “aww fuck it” he exclaims as his lips capture mine. His arms wrap around my waits as my hands get lost in his soft midnight hair. After a while he pulls away and a small whimper is released from my mouth. “Do you know HOW long I've wanted to do that” he exclaims excitedly with a smile plastered across his face.

After that night Jungkook never left my side, everything I craved he got, Anytime I felt nauseous Jungkook was there.  It became routine with him his calls became more frequent on days he knew I had appointments and he went to every ultrasound. His excitement for my baby was shown one day when I came home from work and my whole apartment was filled top to bottom with diapers bottles and wipes. Jungkook was still too nervous to buy much because he felt he was taking part of the experience from me and the fact that we still don’t know what the baby is yet. As the date rolls around to the appointment it's all Jungkook can talk about. He wants a girl every five seconds he reminds me it's always “Baby do you think the princess will like me? I mean I want her to know I care and that I love you” which is why he was so heartbroken when he could not make it to the gender reveal appointment because of a last-minute practice session. “Please promise to call me right after you find out okay baby?” He begs sadly before he left for the morning.  

After the appointment my heart swelled with joy as I turned into my driveway to see Jungkook's car sitting there. As soon as I unlocked the door, I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around my waist and feel kisses peppered up my neck “Hey, Baby how did your appointment go? How are you feeling?” he says in-between kisses. A blush creeps up onto my face “Yeah, it went great baby is a growing good and healthy, so I have to tell you something” I state biting my bottom lip and looking toward the ground.

“Oh god what's wrong? Is our princess okay?” his use of the word our makes my heart skip a beat “OUR? And the baby is fine....” I look at him pointedly and his hand runs through his hair as his face turns beet red as he slowly stutters out “I mean....um... I'm sorry I didn’t mean to just assume that you wanted me involved but it's so hard not to be when I'm so in love with you that I don’t care if I wasn’t the one that got you pregnant that’s my baby and you’re my girl so yeah our.... so, what is you have to tell me?” I kiss him softly at his words. I beam at him “You're literally so amazing I can't believe you would even consider any of this I know it's a lot to ask for someone to be involved with someone who is pregnant and all I appreciate it baby BUT unfortunately it's not a princess we got blessed with, handsome” as I put his hand on my stomach and his face twists into confusion “what do you-WAIT! IT’S A BOY? FORREAL? IT’S A BOY?” the smile cannot be contained on his face as he comes to the realization.

"Yes, it’s a boy” I state as Jungkook lifts and twirls me around I laugh.

Jungkook happily exclaims “Oh my god, I'm gonna have a son.” Jungkook drops to his knees and places his hand on my stomach and softly speaks “Hey handsome, its daddy, no I'm not your real daddy baby but I'm going to love you and your mommy like I am. I can't imagine a world without you I can't wait to meet you”

I stand there smiling knowing.......Jungkook won’t ever leave me alone  

[darkkitsuneprincess]

Homecoming pt.1 (Nobunaga x MC)

Several people have asked for a sequel to Preparations for War and have pretty much begged for fluff. And I started out with fluff...I SWEAR I DID. And then...then Hideyoshi had to go and be dumb and, well, here we are.

Don’t worry, kids...nobody dies. I can’t do that to any of my best boys. And part 2 will be all the fluff you can stand. It should be in your hands tomorrow.

Title: Homecoming (part 1) Pairing: Nobunaga x MC Rating: T/M (talk of violence and surgery) Word Count: ~4,000

Description: After three months, our heroes return from battle, but not in the best of ways. Angst with a dash of H/C and some horny Nobunaga for good measure.

WARNINGS: Angst. Lots and lots and loooooooots of angst. More angst than the first part. Major character injury with talk of death (but no death!). Vivid descriptions of medical procedures. Blood. Lots of blood.

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

The page placed the neatly-folded letter in my hand with a bow and offered a sad smile before disappearing from sight. My sewing fell into my lap, forgotten, as I cradled the single sheet of paper in shaking fingers. Before I consciously registered that it was actually in my hands, a single, round spot of wetness marred the otherwise pristine surface.

Three months they’d been gone. Three long, lonely months I’d haunted the halls of Azuchi castle, waiting at Ieyasu’s side for our family to return.

I opened the letter carefully so as not to tear the paper and smoothed it out against my chest. There, in Nobunaga’s beautiful handwriting was yet another heartbreaking update.

  My love,

The tide of battle has finally turned and we may yet persevere. Our men are weary of battle, beaten down and exhausted. Longing for home. Perhaps if I’d thought to bring my lucky charm with me, this battle would have long-since ended and without the casualties.

My hands are stained with blood, yet I long to hold you again. My nights are lonely without you in my arms. I will return as soon as I am able. I love you.

Nobunaga

 I carefully refolded the letter and tucked it into my kimono as tears rolled down my face. I missed him desperately. I wanted him home with me. I wanted him to know the beautiful things that waited here for him. So many times I’d started to tell him in letters but in the end I’d burned them all. I wouldn’t do that to him; give him something else to worry about. No, I’d wait to give him the good news when he returned so that I could enjoy his reaction.

I wiped at my face with my sleeve and turned my attention back to my sewing. There was nothing else left to do but wait. And wait. And wait some more.

***

Another week passed with silence from the battlefield. I sewed, I cleaned, I cooked…I found any number of ways to distract myself from the fact that nearly everyone I loved was at risk. I couldn’t shake the sense of dread when I thought about all of them out there, struggling to make peace out of blood.

With all of my work for the day completed, I sat in the garden enjoying the warmth of the sun on my face. With my eyes closed and my face tilted toward the sky, it was easy to imagine my men coming home, the steady, rhythmic stomp-and-clank of marching warriors rattling the ground beneath them. I pictured Nobunaga’s face, streaked with dirt and smiling that infuriating, devilish smile of his. I imagined his arms sliding around my waist as he pulled me to him. My hand dropped to my belly, rounded enough now that I had to be careful how I dressed and how I sat in order to hide the evidence from the house staff. Only Ieyasu knew, and I wanted it to stay that way until Nobunaga returned.

“Lady Mai,” one of the castle pages called my name, pulling me from my beautiful daydreams and back into that harsh, lonely reality. He bowed when I turned to face him. “Lord Ieyasu has called for you.”

“I’m on my way,” I replied with a smile. He bowed again and disappeared. Once I was certain I was alone, I struggled to my feet, fixed my clothes, and exited the garden.

I found Ieyasu in the audience hall discussing trade arrangements with a new ally. The conversation seemed to be going well, if not a little awkward thanks to my contrarian friend, and when I attempted to back out of the room and leave them to it, Ieyasu lifted his hand and waved me over. The look on his face was almost one of relief when I obliged.

“I apologize for the interruption. A page said you were looking for me.”

“Yes,” he answered as I stepped onto the dais and he offered his hand to help me sit, for which I was grateful. At roughly the half-way mark of this pregnancy, my balance wasn’t exactly great. I tucked my legs beneath me and arranged my kimono to keep my growing belly hidden, and when I cast a glance at our guest, he gasped audibly.

“Lord Hiro, this is Princess Mai, Lady of the Oda.”

“My Lady,” he replied, dropping into a deep formal bow with his head against the floor, “rumors of your beauty abound, but they do not do you justice.”

“Careful, Lord Hiro,” Ieyasu admonished. “Remember that she is the wife of Lord Nobunaga, the man to whom you’ve recently sworn your loyalty.”

“I-I-I’m sorry,” Lord Hiro stammered, trying harder to push his face into the floor, “I meant no harm, I swear!”

“Please rise, Lord Hiro,” I cut in. “No offense was taken, I promise. I assure you, a lady always likes to hear compliments.” I turned to Ieyasu with a scowl. “Now play nice, Ieyasu.” He narrowed his eyes at me and shook his head, so I smiled as sweetly as I could and turned my attention back to our guest. “Tell me, Lord Hiro, what are your hopes for this alliance?”

The man slowly rose from the floor to recompose himself, but I noticed his hands shaking as he folded them into his lap.

“I am new to my position,” he admitted, and out of the corner of my eye I noticed the change in Ieyasu’s expression. This was news even to him. “Our land is small, largely unnoticed by the Shogunate in Kyoto. We are hard workers, my Lady, I promise you. But…”

He trailed off, as if he were afraid to speak.

“Please, Lord Hiro, continue.”

He took a deep, shaky breath and nodded. “My people were mistreated by our former Lord. He wanted the Shogun to notice him, so he would take our crops and our crafts for his tributes and leave us with barely enough to survive.” His voice trembled on the last word. It broke my heart to hear. “When he died, he left no heir. So the Shogun’s people came and assessed our home before the infighting could begin. Because my family is one of the oldest in our land, I was given this charge.”

“That is quite the honor,” Ieyasu said, his voice cold and impassive. I elbowed him in the side when Hiro looked away. He grunted.

“It is,” I answered, turning my attention back to our guest. “I understand that being in charge of something so large can be terrifying,” I told him. “Look at the two of us—Ieyasu and I have kept Azuchi Castle going for months now while Lord Nobunaga is away. Like you, we are here to care for our people. So please, tell us what you need.”

“I…I wanted to open up trade with Azuchi,” Hiro answered. His shoulders straightened and the lines of worry left his face. “We do not have much right now, but with time and a little assistance, I know my people can be a valuable asset to Lord Nobunaga.” Excitement glimmered in his eyes when he spoke next. “We have skilled craftsman—woodworkers, blacksmiths, weavers…so we can pay in trade. But we need food. Our people are starving.”

“Then food you shall have,” Ieyasu answered, his tone much softer than before. The statement brought tears to Hiro’s eyes. “Speak with Daichi on your way out and he will arrange for the deliveries.”

The man fell into a tearful, formal bow, his forehead once again on the floor at our feet. “Thank you, Lord Tokugawa! Thank you so much! And thank you, Lady Mai! Your kindness has healed my heart.”

“You are very welcome, Lord Hiro. Now please, return to your people and help them prosper.”

Once Hiro was out of earshot, Ieyasu sighed and shook his head.

“Did you have to do that in front of him?” he asked.

“He wasn’t looking,” I answered with a sweet smile. “Besides, you totally deserved it.”

“I did not!”

“Yeah, you did.” I laughed when Ieyasu turned his face away to hide his own smile. “So why did you want to see me?”

“They’re coming home today,” he said and produced a letter from his kimono. Everything around me went fuzzy as his words registered in my head. I took the letter and scanned it, Nobunaga’s writing surprisingly sloppy as if he were in a hurry. It was true; Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, Ranmaru, and Mitsunari were on the way home. Masamune and Mitsuhide were staying behind to clean up the mess.

“Really? This is real?” I asked, disbelieving as I waved the paper between us.

Ieyasu rolled his eyes at me. “Of course it is. That was delivered last night. They’ve secured peace along the southern border. However, there’s one more thing.” He held up another letter, though he didn’t let me have it. “Hideyoshi has been injured.”

My breath seized in my lungs and tears sprang to my eyes. “I-is he…”

“He’s alive,” Ieyasu confirmed. “I’m not supposed to tell you this, but he did something stupid and you need to be aware of it.”

My gut roiled and inside my belly, my unborn baby began to squirm. If Hideyoshi managed to get hurt, that meant…

“He covered Nobunaga, didn’t he?” I asked.

Ieyasu nodded. “He took an arrow through the left side of his chest. After the fighting ended, they’d returned to camp. An assassin, acting alone from what I understand, made an attempt on Nobunaga’s life.” My breath escaped in a stuttering cry before I could cover my mouth with my hand. Nausea bubbled up my throat behind it. “Apparently Hideyoshi’s armor was damaged during combat and when he leapt in front of Nobunaga to stop the assassin, the arrow pierced it.”

“No…oh, no. Tell me he’s going to be okay.”

“I won’t know for certain until they arrive. One of the field medics cut the arrow off and bandaged it, but they were afraid to remove it because they don’t know what it might have hit. Nobunaga is bringing him home himself.”

Tears ran freely down my face. While I was thankful that Nobunaga was okay, the idea that Hideyoshi willingly put himself in harm’s way and was actually harmed scared the daylights out of me. My chest ached and what little breakfast I’d managed to eat threatened to come back. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I didn’t want to believe it.

“Mai? Are you still there?” Ieyasu asked, waving his hands in front of my face. My attention snapped back to him.

“Sorry…”

“I said I need you with me for this,” he repeated. “You’ve handled arrow wounds before and Hideyoshi trusts you.” He glanced down at my belly then back at my face. “Do you think you can do it?”

“Yes,” I answered without hesitation.

“Then let’s get ready. They’ll be here soon.”

***

I’d just finished sterilizing our equipment when the doors burst open and in stormed Nobunaga with a flourish. He was covered from head to toe in dirt and blood, and the lines of worry etched into his face broke my heart. His gaze found me and a mixture of relief and fear flooded his features. I didn’t have time to dwell on it, though, as only a breath later Ranmaru and Mitsunari shuffled in carrying an equally muddy and bloody Hideyoshi, though the majority of the blood on him appeared to be his own.

“Careful now,” Ieyasu instructed as he helped them place Hideyoshi on the prepared table.  He was conscious though I had no idea how, and groaning in pain. “Drink this,” Ieyasu ordered, tipping a cup up to Hideyoshi’s lips. Our friend swallowed, though not without great effort, then I began to wipe away the grime from his face.

His skin was pale and waxy from the blood loss, his eyes sunken and yellowed. His breath came in tiny, wet gasps. He looked…he looked like he was dying.

“Hang in there, ‘yoshi,” I whispered in his ear and kissed his cheek. “We’ve got you. You’re gonna make it.” His hazy eyes locked onto mine for a second and recognition flared in his gaze. Then his eyes fell closed as if the effort of recognizing me had sapped all of his energy.

Ieyasu unwound the blood-soaked bandage while I set about removing as much of his armor as I could reach.  With each tug, Hideyoshi groaned in pain. Ieyasu cut his chestplate between the ribs of metal, careful not to disturb the stump of the arrow sticking out of it. The sight and its imagined pain brought about a series of dry heaves in me.

I’ll make him new armor myself, I thought to remove my mind from the wet work in front of me.

“Stick with me, Mai,” Ieyasu murmured. I nodded and pulled the last of the ties free, focusing my attention on my hand and not the possibly fatal wound of my dear friend. Hideyoshi’s eyes rolled in his head and he cried out when Ieyasu lifted him enough for me to pull away the plates of armor surrounding his body. His clothing underneath was soaked through with blood and we could see then just how deep the arrow had gone. Ieyasu wrapped the arrow in cloth and placed my hands around it while he cut away the rest of Hideyoshi’s clothing.

“At least it missed his heart,” I said, my own voice wobbling. “It’s also high enough that it shouldn’t have hit his lung either.”

“You’re right,” Ieyasu replied. “But it’s going to bleed a lot.”

“I know.” This was bad. So bad…

“Here.” He handed me a strip of worn leather. “Double it over and stick it in his mouth.” He glanced over his shoulder at Nobunaga. “I need you to hold him down. This is going to hurt like hell.”

I moved around, lifting Hideyoshi’s head and placing it in my lap while Nobunaga took my place at his other side. He’d stripped off the majority of his armor from the waist up but he, too, was still covered in layers of dirt and blood. Mitsunari squeezed in between Ieyasu and me, then he and Nobunaga placed their hands on Hideyoshi’s shoulders and pinned them to the table. Ranmaru appeared beside Nobunaga, placing his full weight on Hideyoshi’s thighs to further pin him in place.

“Hold still, stupid monkey,” Nobunaga snarled. “You have to live through this so I can kill you myself. Idiot.” I worked the leather into Hideyoshi’s mouth and held it down against the sides of his face, pinioning him against my legs so he couldn’t struggle—not that he had much strength left to fight with anyway.

“Listen to me, Hideyoshi,” Ieyasu said. “This is going to hurt. I have to get the arrow out. Don’t fight or I might kill you.”

The gleaming blade sank into Hideyoshi’s chest, widening the hole. His body tensed and would have bowed upward if not for the six extra hands holding him down. I pulled the strap tighter and felt him bite down on it, muffling his scream. A moment later I heard the thunk of the barbed arrowhead hitting the wooden bowl at Ieyasu’s side. The pressure on the strap eased and I dropped it, leaning over and placing my hands over the wound to push down. Hideyoshi groaned, though this new pain was probably nothing compared to what he’d just felt. Blood bubbled up through my fingers and I could feel the rapid fluttering of his heartbeat under my hands.

“Hurry, Ieyasu…we’re going to lose him!” I cried, and a moment later he swept my hands to the side and poured sake directly into the wound. Hideyoshi cried out again, his voice weaker still. The clear liquid mixed with the blood, turning it a sickly pink color that ran over his chest and down his sides, soaking into the remnants of his clothing. Ieyasu flooded the wound a second time then quickly stuffed the hole with an herb-filled cloth. It immediately turned red, but it was gone from sight a moment later, hidden behind the layers of bandages. I took the long bandages and wrapped them around Hideyoshi’s shoulder while Ieyasu and Nobunaga held him up, then took the rags and warm water we’d prepared and carefully washed his face, neck, arms, and chest while Ieyasu removed the remainder of his armor. Nobunaga rose and herded the others out while we continued to work.

Then all of a sudden, the excitement was over. Weakness filled my limbs, and for a moment I wanted nothing more than to lie down beside Hideyoshi and sleep. It was over. Hideyoshi was no longer screaming. Mitsunari was no longer whimpering, Nobunaga no longer cursing. There was no more blood except what was soaked into my clothes and staining my hands. It was just…quiet.

Hideyoshi’s breathing slowed and when I pressed my palm to his chest, I felt his heartbeat. It was still too fast for my liking, but it was at least steady now that the worst of the trauma was over. I continued to hold his head in my lap, brushing his matted hair back from his forehead, and prayed to anyone who would listen for his recovery.

Ieyasu checked his bandages and, seeing nothing immediately alarming, replaced the wrappings and leveled out another dose of medicine.

“He’s going to be alright, Mai,” Ieyasu said beside me. “He’ll stay here with me for now. I’ll change the bandages and keep giving him medicine to keep the infection away.” He laid a hand on my shoulder. “Someone else needs your attention more.”

My heart stuttered. I’d daydreamed a thousand ways to welcome Nobunaga home…and none of them included emergency surgery on his right-hand man. Every single one of my plans had been foiled and Ieyasu was right…I needed to find him.

Carefully, I worked my way out from under Hideyoshi’s head, bending to kiss his forehead one more time before rising and leaving through the open door.

I found Nobunaga at the end of the hallway, leaning against the wall. His head was tilted upward, his eyes closed. His hands were balled into fists at his sides and he struggled to breathe. He looked so broken…

Though even dirty and bloodstained, he was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen in my life. The sight of him took my breath away and made my heart ache.

“Nobunaga,” I called as I moved to his side. My voice seemed to startle him. “Welcome h—”

Before I could finish my statement I was in his arms, his mouth crushed against mine. He held me so tight I couldn’t breathe and he kissed me with such ferocity that I feared he might devour me whole. My back was against the wall in the next instant, his big body pressed against mine top to bottom. I kissed him back with equal hunger, threading my hands through his dirty hair and pulling him even closer. Every bit of the stress and strain of these last three months melted away under that kiss.

When he released me, we were both breathing hard. His forehead touched mine and we remained like that for a long time, just enjoying the fact that we were together again. That we were still alive.

“I love you, Mai,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

“I love you too,” I answered. “Now come on. Ieyasu will take good care of Hideyoshi. He’s going to be okay. But you…you’re about to fall over. We both need a bath and we have a lot of catching up to do.”

Nobunaga snickered and his arms tightened around me. “That we do, my love.”

He released me only to drape one arm around my shoulders and lead me away. I leaned into his side, enjoying his warmth and the feel of him beside me. While we walked, I told him of our earlier meeting with Lord Hiro and filled him in on the petty ramblings and gossip of the townspeople—all the things that had filled my days. Everything except…one thing.

The maids were well ahead of us in that they’d already prepared a bath for Nobunaga—probably Ranmaru’s doing if I had to guess—and vacated the area for us. The room was warm and quiet, and smelled of spicy incense. I slid the door closed behind us, and as it clacked against the frame, Nobunaga sighed. The weight of every action over the last three months sat heavy on top of the sound and when I turned I found an unusual expression on his face.

“What?” I asked. His lips quirked up in a lopsided grin.

“There is something different about you,” he replied. “Three months is quite a long time, but…”

“But what?” I turned away to prepare the cloths and his arms closed around me from behind, pulling my back flush with his chest. He caught my earlobe between his teeth and tugged gently, causing a ripple of pleasure to tickle down my back.

“But…I can always tell when my wife is hiding something from me.”

I pulled out of his arms as a near-hysterical giggle clawed its way out of my throat and his gaze darkened. He crossed his arms over his chest, assuming the angry dad pose.

“Now I know you’re hiding something from me.”

“Maybe,” I answered noncommittally. “But that’s for later. We need to get you clean first. Now strip.”

Nobunaga chuckled, letting the conversation go, and unwound the ties holding on his clothes. I knelt at the foot of the stool where he sat and began the slow process of removing three months’ worth of dirt and grime from my husband’s body. The clean water turned a murky brown as it rolled over his skin, and as I began to scrub, various cuts and bruises appeared. Each one was like a tiny knife to my heart, yet served to remind me that he was still here in my arms and very much alive.

“All done,” I said as the last cup of now-clean water rolled down his back. “You soak while I go find you something to eat.”

“You could join me,” he said, pulling me to him and kissing me gently. “We’ve been apart so long and I don’t want to wait any longer to hold you.”

“If I get in that tub with you, we’ll never get back out,” I answered, trying hard to ignore the feel of his big hands sliding over my sides and down my back.

“I see no problem with this.”

“Well I do. The water will go cold and then where will we be?”

“Making love in a tub of cold water,” he answered with a laugh, then kissed my forehead and let me go.

“You’re impossible.”

“Perhaps. I’ll be quick.”

I left him to finish his bath and went to the kitchen in search of food. It was late and the majority of the house staff had already turned in for the night. To my surprise, though, I found Ranmaru had already beaten me to the punch.

“Lady Siobhan!” he chirped when he spotted me, abandoning his task and running up to hug me. “You were so amazing today! And I was so afraid! Lord Hideyoshi…is he…”

“He’s going to be okay,” I confirmed and his shoulders sagged with relief. “Ieyasu is with him and will bring him back just to kill him again if he dies.”

“That’s…scary, but reassuring. I think.”

“What are you doing in here so late?”

“I, well, I thought Lord Nobunaga might be hungry. None of us have had a real meal in months and after all the excitement…” The pretty young man dropped his head, his long eyelashes fluttering against his cheeks.

“You and I had the same thought,” I told him, which brought a smile back to his face. “That’s why I’m here.”

“Oh good!” He grabbed my hand and towed me around to show me what he was working on.

TBC in Part 2

[illusionlockarchive]

pazam: a mess, truly a mess

so i usually dont do these kind of posts, i guess you could say its a call out of some sort? but i never liked that word, i prefer rather to just compile sources on WHY people would believe that a certain person is not truly as nice and understanding as they seem. consider this more of a psa post, detailing on whats going on with pazam on the sfm community, why so many people are against them.

So, a while back, tumblr user jymble made a post on the main tag stating that pazam was transphobic. they linked back to this post, which contains screenshots of pazam in a group chat stating that they do not feel comfortable with the idea of trans people. now, this did happen 9 months ago, true. however, for the record, pazam is already an adult, 24 years old, so they should have some tact. and as further and more recent events will show, they actually havent changed that much at all, at least not as they claim.

the screenshots should be in the post, but here is a transcript

[Screenshot one]

Pazam:

What????? Why?????

I literally HAVE NOT been doing ANYTHING malicious to them

And if it did I apologized

Yes I do have discomfort about them but I keep it to myself

Why are you doing this????

[End screenshot one]

‘Them’ here refers to trans people in general. Notice the defensive and victimizing stance they almost immediately take upon being confronted about their feelings on trans people.

[Screenshot two]

elliott:

of COURSE you dont

sammaku:

Like specifically

Elliott hush

Pazam:

This whole concept of transness and changing your gender physically

I hate to say it again but it weirds me out and it makes me question my own gender which flings me into anxiety, depression, and obsession

sammaku:

Its fine to not understand but are you willing to learn about it

Pazam:

I don’t want to talk about this anymore

sammaku:

That depression anxiety and obsession just comes with gender issues

(the rest of the text is cut off)

[End Screenshot two]

notice once summaku asks them if they would at least be willing to learn about it, pazam immediately deflects it by saying they dont want to talk about it anymore.

[Screenshot three]

Pazam:

Seriously??? That’s all it takes????

Wow I’m a moron

I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused to you

@.aziraphale @.elliott @.sammaku

I just don’t get this stuff period

And I’ve gotten into trouble with this stuff before

I’ll probably never understand it for the rest of my life but I’ll try to be more tactful around y’all

Especially since you’re all young

And I’m like an adult

[End screenshot three]

While at first this would seem like they had finally learned their lesson and apologized, the things they add on after the @s become quickly worrying. Not only do they admit to ‘have gotten into trouble with this stuff before’, meaning they have probably shown their transphobia in other places and been called out, but they also stand firmly on the fact that they will never understand it or ‘get’ it.

And of course, as jymble points out, the implication that the people they were talking to were only acting like that because they were young.

A while after this post was made, Pazam had posted an apology, and went onto contact jymble asking for the post with the evidence of their transphobic to be taken down. The reason? They were afraid people would see it and think they were still transphobic and not give them a chance.

In this more recent post, you can see the conversation play out between Pazam and jymbles. Long story short, Pazam feels that it’s unfair that that post is still up after they apologized, and jymble of course said they would rather not take it down, people deserve to know what they did and take their own conclusions, even if that involves avoiding them. How does Pazam respond? By flat out deleting the apology post. I’d love to show the apology post to give you both sides of the story but I cannot anymore, because Pazam in a very bizarre move just deleted it because they got mad a trans blogger wouldn’t take down their post with proof.

Here’s the transcript of the screenshots:

[Begin Conversation]

rebloggidy (Pazam’s personal):

I’m by no means transphobia-free after learning what I’ve done but at least I know my actions and am making an effort to be a better person towards trans people.

rebloggidy:

Hi again. So I hate to be that person but would it be ok if you took down that post about the transphobia claims? I know it took me 9 months to apologize but if people only see your side of the story and not realize the post I saw they’ll take it out of context and still think I’m transphobic. Do you understand?

jymble:

... i already told you im not taking down the post.

[jymble sends a screenshot of her own message in a previous conversation, the screenshot reads as follows:

however, i dont think im taking the post down, nor am i entirely comfortable with you interacting with me either. people deserve to know how you acted with this stuff, until youre really and truly *better* with it instead of just trying, and i was a direct target of it]

jymble:

you oughright told me "im by no means transphobia-free", word for word sorry, but i told you before. im not taking the post down.

rebloggidy:

I remember that. But what I'm trying to say to you is that if people who read it out of context will immediately think I'm still transphobic without the other side of it (my comment)

And I don't want people to think that in the future

jymble:

if people make assumptions without looking at the entire situation, thats on them

i am not deleting the post and thats final. people have a right to know what youve done, and they have a right to be uncomfortable

rebloggidy:

I'm ready to take down my post because frankly, I'm sick and tired of having to justifiy something that I did 9 months ago, and that people grow and learn even not 100% during that time and I'm ready to move on.

I'm still into smile for me and feel free to make a blacklist of my name so anybody who rbs my work on your dash can have it hidden or something.

Take care.

[End conversation]

a lot to unpack here, but perhaps most notable is when jymble simply stands her ground and tells pazam she wont take down the post, pazam straight up decides, without being told to or anything, that they should take down their apology. later on, they made a post stating why they deleted the post, and saying they had ‘been forced to’.

I also would love to link it here, but as of now of writing this, like, not even an hour or so after I had seen that post, it got deleted. The only memory I have of it is a conversation I had with my boyfriend about Pazam, in which I copypasted a fragment from that post that read:

“ So for those wondering where the apology post went, I was forced to delete it. I wanted to archive it in some way so I could pull it up for reference, but there was no way I could. Also I didn’t really want to see it every time on my blog because quite honestly it’s upsetting to look at.”

There are some lies and twisting of truths here. Pazam wasn’t forced to delete it, they decided they should do it as a way to somehow get back at jymble. And the excuse that it was upsetting for them to look at is just inexcusable, what matters most, letting people know of what youve done and that youre sorry, or just never addressing the situation?

But, well, I’m just hoping you’ll take my word for it. As you see, Pazam has officially deleted ANY traces of acknowledging this situation on their blog.

This worries me. If Pazam is truly as concerned that they will be seen as transphobic as they claim, why are they deleting anything that could give them a chance of showing their own side of the story?

Now, that is the end, for now, of Pazam’s history with transphobia. However! It is not the end for some other very shady things.

Namely, Pazam has consistently whitewashed characters from Smile For Me, specially Kamal, and when called out on it, simply deletes the asks.

Want to know how I know this?

I sent them an ask myself. I had come across this picture of Boris and Kamal:

And I knew that this wasn’t right. I can understand using light colors and doing watercolor, but if they can make Boris’ hair brown and vivid enough, why not Kamal? He looks like another character completely, or like he’s deathly sick! 

So I sent them an anonymous ask, perhaps a bit exhasperated, true, and my wording could be better. It went something like: “i am begging you to draw kamal with darker skin”.

I waited, checked. But nothing came of it. They never answered it.

Pazam flat out ignored when they were told they had drawn a canonically brown man with skin way too light. Not even a lone text post saying ‘hey anon, i dont agree with you’ or ‘hey anon im sorry it wont happen again’. Nothing. No word, no opinion.

And with this situation going on with them evading responsibility, I can’t say I’m fully surprised.

And, yet another thing. People had expressed concern over the fact they had drawn their Flower Kid, who is 17, in very intimate and close positions with Dr. Habit. It included nuzzling faces, cuddling in bed together, wearing his coat...

And they did hear the claims this time. As of now, their Flower Kid is 24, according to them.

Except... They do not look 24. At. All.

this is a 12 year old. at best. short body, stubby legs, big head. those are all attributes of a very young character, usually children. like, legitimately, thats how childrens anatomy is in real life. the younger the person, the bigger their head is in proportion to their body.

We have already had an adult trying to justify drawing their flower kid who barely looked like an adult if at all in intimate situations with Habit. Let’s not let it slide by again.

And yes, I’m aware Pazam claims that those pictures were not supposed to be interpreted as romantic, ‘only platonic fluff’ and that they intend to keep it that way, but I have talked to my boyfriend who is a survivor and he said it very well could be a case of someone just trying to cover their tracks.

BUT, all that being said, maybe this one particular instance could be just us being wary. Still, it does not diminish all that they have done, specially ignoring the whitewashing claims.

What you are going to do with this information, I do not know. Maybe you don’t care and will keep reblogging their content. Maybe you’re disgusted by them. But I’m just here to give you the facts. Personally though, I’m not willing to give them much of a chance after the way they’ve behaved. They are 24 years old, three years older than me, and I think I could do a better job of handling a situation like this, frankly.

[grither55]

The Princess and the Peasant - (An Azula Epic) - Chapter 48 - Over the Campfire

The sun was now finally going down while the two noblewomen sat waiting for their two companions to return from the springs.

“By Agni. What is taking Azula so long?” Mai asked in a hushed voice while the acrobat played with her long since dried braided hair.

“Uh…I’m not sure.” Ty Lee replied in an equally puzzled voice only to turn her head around when she heard two pairs of footsteps approaching.

The two turned to find themselves gazing at a strangely content Azula walking out of the thick foliage.

Only for the two to sweatdrop not a moment later when they caught sight of their young companion emerging alongside their leader.

Azula was clad in her scarlet robes while she effortlessly carried her washed ceremonial armor over her back.

And the teenager padded after the smug firebender with multiple lipstick marks on her cheeks and her backpack strung over her shoulders.

The acrobat couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of the adorable girl walking after Azula in a lovestruck haze.

“Hey Elle! I was starting to wonder what you two were up to!” The brown-haired woman greeted with a wave of her hand while the younger girl blinked in puzzlement.

“Huh? Oh, hello oneesan!” Elle exclaimed with a bright smile while she gazed at the two as if she just now noticed their presence.

“What were you two doing in those woods? We finished bathing two hours ago.” The markswoman stated dryly while the two strode past her.

“Many things.” Azula boasted with a pompous smirk just before she tossed her armor on the floor of her tent while the two noblewomen exchanged a knowing glance.

“Never mind. We don’t want to know.” Mai muttered with apprehension still evident in her voice only for the teenager to offer her a helpful smile.

“Oh! Well first I washed Azula-sama’s armor! And then I cleaned her boots! And then after that I-I removed her clothes a-and then she removed my clothes. A-and then she wrapped her thighs around my neck.” The blonde-haired girl blurted out with her cheeks as red as a tomato while her big sister’s nearly fell over in surprise.

“A-Azula.” Ty Lee protested with her brown-gray eyes as wide as dinner plates while her leader smirked at her over her shoulder.

“A-and then me and Her Highness shared so many wonderful kisses.” Elle swooned with a hand on her cheek while the two noblewomen sweatdropped in amusement.

“We already gathered that much.” The markswoman replied in monotone while she eyed her leader’s back.

“A-and after that I washed her body…and then Azula-sama held me in her lap while she t-touched herself between her legs.” The blonde-haired girl announced with unwavering cheer while her big sisters balked at their leader in disbelief.

It went without saying that they were completely astonished to hear that Azula pleasured herself with Elle in the springs.

The rest of the details did not shock them…but that?

“U-uh Azula I uh…thought you were going to wait until Elle turns sixteen.” The brown-haired woman spoke with shock in her voice while the royal woman rolled her eyes at her.

“Oh, please Ty Lee. It was just one orgasm. I fully intend on waiting…before we go any further. Now if you don’t mind Ty Lee…. I would very much appreciate it if you refrained from ruining my post orgasm high.” The princess declared in an unabashed voice while she narrowed her callous eyes at her two frightened subordinates.

It was all the two could do to nod rapidly with a hint of a blush on each of their cheeks.

They both knew well enough that it would be a foolish idea to provoke Azula’s wrath.

Especially when she was in such a good mood.

“And t-then she washed me…and I washed Her Highness’s b-behind…and a-after that I dried her body off and then after that we-“ Elle explained only to be cut off by Mai placing a hand over her mouth while Ty Lee smiled at her in amusement.

“We get the point Elle.” Mai assured just as she sat back with a heavy sigh while Elle smiled as widely as can be.

Only for Elle to be torn from her reverie when Azula’s spoiled voice called out to her.

“Peasant! I demand that you cook me dinner!” Azula demanded with a finger thrusting in Elle’s direction while her two lifelong friends stared at her in disapproval.

“That’s…rude Azula.” Ty Lee scolded with a frown only to sigh when Elle sprang forward as soon as she heard Azula’s belly growl.

“Yes princess! As you command!” The blonde-haired girl cried out in mid curtsy while the much taller woman surveyed her with an approving golden gaze.

“Hm. That’s my pet. Diligent and faithful.” The princess remarked with a hand beneath her chin while the young girl swelled in pride under her strict stare.

“I am so very glad that you think so Azula-sama.” Elle spoke with her chest puffing out pridefully while she beamed up at her master’s lovely visage.

“Hey…Elle. Is there any chance that you could…uh cook me and Mai a plate too?” The brown-haired woman requested in a hesitant voice while she turned red in embarrassment when the royal woman glared daggers her way.

“I would be happy to oneesan!” The blonde-haired girl exclaimed with bounce in her step while the two noblewomen gazed at her fondly.

“Thank you, Elle. We appreciate it. We really do.” The markswoman spoke in a softer voice than usual while the younger girl still smiled at them.

“Yeah. Thank you, little sister!” Ty Lee shouted with a broad grin while Elle blushed under her gaze.

“It’s…nothing. Anything for my oneesans.” Elle assured in a compassionate voice only for Azula to begin tapping her boot on the forest floor.

“How strange…I can’t help but notice that you two…are eager to put her to work.” Azula snorted with a roll of her lovely eyes while the two women fidgeted under her cold stare.

“We’re not putting Elle to work Azula…we just don’t trust Zoe with our meal.” The brown-haired woman reasoned with a hurried nod while the spoiled woman still glared at her.

“If I didn’t know any better Ty Lee, I would say that you are wishing you had brought your own pet peasant.” The princess scoffed with her arms folded over her breasts while she narrowed her eyes at her now defensive friends.

“Her name is Elle Azula.” Mai reminded in a pointed voice while Azula’s cold eyes flickered her way.

Only for their young friend to regain all of their collective attentions while she smiled at all three of them.

“I don’t mind cooking dinner for my family! Really! Just…please don’t fight…” The blonde-haired girl trailed off as she chewed on her lip with her plea hitting all three of her highborn friends in the chest.

Even Azula herself.

“We won’t fight! Right Azula?” Ty Lee answered in a cheerful voice while Azula’s callous eyes glared a hole through her sweating skull.

“Let us hope not. It wouldn’t end in your favor…or yours either.” Azula sneered in a glacial voice while she glared at her two nervous compatriots.

“Don’t worry Elle. We promise we won’t.” The markswoman assured in another sigh while the younger girl smiled at all three of them.

“Well! Then it’s settled! I’ll go see what I can cook up!” Elle called out with an eager smile before she began dashing down the hill while her three friends watched her run off.

Once the blonde had scurried down the hill the two noblewomen turned to their leader with their eyes conveying the still unspoken concern.

“Azula, what are we going to feed Elle?” The brown-haired woman asked in a worried voice while the monarch stiffened in annoyance over the reminder.

“Ugh! I’ll think of something to feed the tiger monkey!” The princess snapped with bite in her voice while she began to stomp after her young girlfriend.

“We may as well follow…it’s the only way to ensure that bitch doesn’t put anything in our food.” Mai advised in a hateful voice while the acrobat nodded in agreement.

“Yeah. Good point.” Ty Lee agreed with a sigh while Mai helped her stand up with her arm over her shoulder.

People were eating and talking all over the camp only to find themselves turning their heads when Elle dashed past them.

And not a moment later the soldiers and workers fell into a fearful silence when Azula was seen walking after Elle with her callous eyes glaring at everyone that so much as looked Elle’s way.

“What are you looking at!” Azula roared in a venomous voice with her lips pursed in a scowl while the man in question fell silent under her deadly gaze.

The two noblewomen were slowly making their way over only to find themselves gazing on in embarrassment to see that their leader was currently preoccupied scaring the camp into silence.

“N-nothing princess!” A man called out with his face nearly kissing the grass while the spoiled woman stomped past him.

“That’s what I thought.” The princess spoke in a frigid voice while her greedy eyes watched her lovely handmaid make her way through the crowded camp.

Within a few short moments the blonde came to a stop to find the slain armadillo bear laying on its side behind the cover of the trees.

And for once her amber eyes briefly lost their ever-present spark of joy.

It wasn’t long before Azula stood behind Elle with a sigh escaping her red lips while she gazed down at younger girl’s bothered face.

It was only now that the girl was standing in front of the animal’s carcass did, she consider that her handmaid’s diet would be even more of a pain in her ass than she had first thought.

“We are stranded on an island Elle and my people need to eat. If we don’t eat…then we will become weak and unable to defend ourselves…much less escape this desolate island alive.” Azula remarked with her arms folded over her breasts while she sighed above the smaller girl.

“Sumimasen…” Elle murmured in an upset voice with her fingers brushing against the armadillo bears paw.

And for once Azula was stricken into a speechless silence.

Her mouth dropped open in complete puzzlement while she stared down at her young friends strangely saddened face.

‘She’s…apologizing to the armadillo bear! That’s…preposterous!’ The princess thought with a roll of her golden eyes while she stared down at the younger girl’s turned back.

“Quit moping over that dead creature and fix me a meal!” Azula ordered with a snap of her fingers just when her two-childhood friends approached.

“Azula…” Ty Lee attempted to plea with a heavy sigh while she gazed at the younger girl in concern.

“Fine! I’ll cook your stupid dinner! But I am not chopping up bear meat!” The blonde-haired girl declared with her nose wrinkling in disgust while her girlfriend now glared down at her.

The camp was in a state of bewildered silence while all eyes were now on the odd young girl and their scowling monarch.

“Did you…just backtalk me?” The princess questioned with a narrow of her eyes while her two-childhood friends exchanged a fed-up glance.

“Yes! I just backtalked you! I will cook it for you…but only if someone else handles the…bloody meat.” Elle exclaimed with Azula’s golden eyes now piercing her skull.

“What do you mean you won’t touch it! You have to touch it to cook it!” Azula snapped with her fingers tapping on her bicep while for Elle to imitate her pose with a huff much to her increased aggravation.

Her temper was only further stoked by the coals of her handmaid’s rebellion when she heard the acrobat giggling behind her.

“Elle has a point Azula. The meat in the palace kitchens is already prepared…you can’t expect her to cut that up.” The brown-haired woman commented with her walking stick in hand only for her words to incur another penetrating glare.

“Whatever! Mai! You are co-chef! Help this little pacifist cook my dinner!” The princess roared in a spoiled voice while the noblewoman sighed in defeat.

“Yeah, sure…” Mai trailed off in a cooperative voice while she gazed at the acrobat in uncertainty only for the other woman to smile back at her.

“I’ll be alright Mai. I have my walking stick…just go help Elle.” Ty Lee assured while she removed her arm from the other woman’s shoulder.

“Right.” The markswoman stated with a nod while the acrobat now held herself up by her walking stick.

And then the princess turned to scowl down at her young admirer once more with her lips pursing into a thin line.

“You do realize…that you are going to have to eat that to survive…don’t you?” Azula queried with a sliver of something akin to concern in her frigid voice only grip on her bicep to tighten when Elle shook her head.

“No. I won’t do that Azula-sama. I will simply find fruit to eat!” The blonde-haired girl insisted as she turned away from the armadillo bears corpse while the royal woman’s scowl deepened even further.

“Find fruit! Any fruit trees on this island will be at a lower elevation near the shoreline!” The princess shouted with a trace of anger in her voice while the younger girl turned away.

At this point the two noblewomen exchanged a worried glance in growing fear for their young friend’s wellbeing.

“Then I will simply abstain from eating until rescue arrives.” Elle retorted in an adamant voice while Azula ground her teeth behind her.

“Foolish peasant! If you don’t eat you may not be alive when rescue arrives!” Azula snarled with aggravation lacing her voice that only grew when Elle shook her head once more.

“No. I will survive in accordance with my beliefs…or I will not survive at all.” The blonde-haired girl spoke in a resolute voice while all three of her highborn friends stared at her in disbelief.

Only for a smile to form on her lips once more despite her disgust over the task at hand.

“Now! Let’s go cook that meal oneesan!” Elle chirped after reeling around to face the taken aback Mai while the noble numbly nodded her head.

“Yeah…let’s go…cook that meal.” Mai answered in a noticeably unsettled voice before she stepped past her stunned leader.

And with that the two began to walk off in the hopes of finding something to cook on.

All the while Azula took off stomping after them with her golden eyes flashing in anger over her young admirer’s ridiculous insistence in her naïve beliefs.

It wasn’t too much longer before the noblewoman sat alongside Elle by a small fire that was far out of sight of the armadillo bears corpse.  

And soon enough the two were beginning to cook it while Mai watched her young friend stir it over the fire.

And behind them Azula and Ty Lee observed their young friend cooking their dinner with a shared concern in their eyes.

“Azula…there’s got to be some sort of fruits up, here right?” Ty Lee inquired in a sisterly voice while Azula still glared at Elle’s seated back.

“If I had seen any fruit on this wretched isle, I would have said so by now.” The princess hissed with her fists tightening at her hips while the acrobat’s shoulders sunk in even greater worry than before.

On the other side of the camp the soldiers and workers resumed their eating and talking while Zoe turned her head to gaze in Elle’s direction.

As soon as she noticed the teenager she wordlessly stood up and began walking over in her direction.

Azula turned to glance at her approaching soldier with observant golden eyes that widened ever so slightly when she caught sight of what was in the warrior’s hand.

“Elle.” Zoe called out in a casual voice that prompted Elle to turn her head only for her amber eyes widen in joy.

Mai’s tawny eyes once more flickered with a brief sliver of newfound respect for Zoe upon seeing that she was holding out an apple for her adopted sister.

“A-an apple!” The blonde-haired girl cried out in delight as the fruit was deposited in her hand while her three highborn friends watched in amazement.

“Where…did you find that Zoe?” Azula questioned with something akin to relief in her strict voice while Ty Lee breathed a sigh of relief alongside her.

“On my walk I found an apple tree that is not growing properly due to the shaded forest canopy. Sadly…that was the only ripe fruit that I could find on the entire tree.” The captain explained with her good hand falling back to her side while the princess’s golden eyes shook with renewed annoyance.

“Only one? On the entire tree?” The princess almost snapped with her lips pursing into a tight scowl while her young girlfriend still smiled brightly.

“One apple is better than no apple! Arigatou gozaimasu Zoe!” Elle cheered in a jubilant voice before she suddenly assaulted Zoe in a joyous hug.

The two noblewomen could only sigh when Azula’s cold eyes lit up with a renewed jealousy while she glared at the back of her subordinate’s head.

“Think nothing of it…I owe you anyhow…for the shirt.” Zoe answered with a nod while she awkwardly shifted on her feet under Azula’s terrifying gaze.

“Get off my pet Zoe.” Azula growled with her royal boot tapping on the forest floor while Ty Lee sweatdropped alongside her.

“Azula…” Ty Lee trailed off with a shake of her head while Azula continued to direct a possessive glare at the other woman in question.

If nothing else at least Zoe was grateful for the shirt.

After a few seconds the warrior gently pushed the younger girl off her while the blonde smiled up at her until she caught the hint of something burning behind her.

“Oh no! I…burned it!” The blonde-haired girl exclaimed in a panicked voice just as she rounded around to see that she had overcooked the meat.

“Servant! Pay attention to my food! I absolutely will not suffer burned meat!” The princess bellowed in an ungrateful voice with a spoiled countenance while her two-childhood friends gazed at her in disapproval.

“Seriously Azula…could you possibly get anymore unappreciative?” The markswoman queried in a pointed voice while the royal woman huffed with her fists on her hips.

In that very moment the captain turned to gaze down at her while she defiantly met the other woman’s wrathful hazel gaze.

The two noblewomen engaged in a brief stare down before the House Song warrior turned to walk away.

The meaning behind the glare was all too obvious.

It was Zoe’s way of saying that it was not over.

Azula stared on with icy golden eyes while Zoe walked in her direction.

Her lips curved into an even deeper scowl while the proud warrior did the same.

And the acrobat fell into yet another nervous silence while the two firebender’s momentarily gazed at each other.

Until the soldier took the monarch aback when she bent over in a respectful bow at the hip.

“I apologize for my earlier loss in temperament…but assassination attempts tend to have that affect.” The captain spoke with a frown on her lips before she arose from the curtsy to meet the royal woman’s approval gaze.

“So, they do. Try to keep your temper in check Zoe…and I will rule in your favor upon our return.” The princess answered in a calmer voice with a wave of her regal hand while the other woman nodded her head in response.

‘Mai…I can only hope that you will be okay.’ The brown-haired woman thought with a flash of concern flashing in her warm eyes.

“Understood…princess…” Zoe agreed as her good hand fell to her hip while Azula’s golden eyes shone with a pleased shimmer once more.

The monarch and her favored warrior stared at each other for another passing moment before the noblewoman finally broke the silence.

“So…Elle is the only one on your team that can cook?” The captain pondered with a sliver of playfulness in her voice while the royal woman stiffened in humiliation.

All the while they continued to watch the teenager kneel over the fire while the markswoman brought over another cut of meat.

“Please! Cooking is a submissive role! One that I demand that my handmaid perform for me!” Azula snorted in a beyond entitled voice with her fists planted on her shapely hips while Zoe gazed at her in unconcealed amusement.

“Really? I will have you know that I am quite the formidable chef.” The captain declared with a prideful smirk while both her monarch and her fellow noblewoman nearly fell over in surprise.

“You...are a chef?” Ty Lee asked in a dumbfounded voice with her eyes blinking at the other noblewoman’s clearly proud face.

“I find that hard to believe.” The princess stated with another snort while she rolled her eyes only for her soldier to smile wryly.

“Not as hard to believe as me being the only one of noble blood here that knows how to cook.” Zoe responded without delay while Ty Lee turned red as she sunk back on her walking stick.

Mai winced in unison with her friend while she sat over Elle as she gazed down at the smaller girl skillfully putting the meat over the fire.

As much as she despised Zoe, she made a good point.

“Congratulations Zoe. It is good to know that you could find work as a handmaid should House Song suffer a fall from power.” Azula scoffed with yet another roll of her golden eyes only for the other woman to remain undaunted.

“Perhaps princess…but it also means that if it came down to it that I would survive on this isle longer than you.” The captain taunted with a small smirk on her lips while the royal woman’s golden flashed in prideful rage.

And Ty Lee knew better than anyone what was coming next.

“Please Azula…” The brown-haired woman attempted to reason only to flinch in embarrassment when her spoiled friend began stomping over to the fire.

“There! That should do it…please Azula-sama! No!” Elle shouted in a fretful voice just as Azula swiftly stole her cooking stick before she knocked her aside with her hip.

And Mai could only stare at Azula incredulously as she groaned under her breath.

“Move aside servant! I shall cook it.” The princess announced to the horror of her companions and the obvious entertainment of her soldier.

And thus, commenced an amusing scene while the sun began to finally fade away in the forest encampment.

Many fires were burning around the fire lit camp as soldiers and workers alike engaged in continued conversation while Team Azula’s shouts rang into the air.

“Azula! You should really leave the cooking to Elle!” Ty Lee begged just after she plopped down behind her friends while Azula glared at her over her shoulder.

“Be quiet Ty Lee! I am confident that my cooking skills are as flawless as the rest of me.” Azula insisted with a pompous roll of her eyes while she ignored her little handmaid tugging on her sleeve.

And Nako couldn’t help but gaze up in puzzlement from her meal while she and Saro stared across the darkened campfire in surprise.

“Is the princess really going to cook?” The royal pilot asked in a purposefully hushed voice while the man shrugged his shoulders.

“It would seem so.” Saro replied with his golden eyes observing the scene in mutual amusement.

“P-please master just leave the cooking to me…” The blonde-haired girl stuttered in a mousy voice while her older girlfriend snorted above her.

“By Agni Azula just listen to the girl.” The markswoman commented with an incredulous expression while the royal woman angrily pounded her fist upon the forest floor.

“Be silent and watch as I dominate this dinner into submission.” The princess ordered with a thrust of her finger while her three friends stared at her in disbelief.

And behind them Zoe stood with her lips curving into a slight smile while watched the humorous scene unfold.

“Now this I have to see…by all means Your Highness…show us your cooking talents.” The captain snickered with a hand over her mouth while her monarch stiffened in renewed anger.

“A-Azula-sama please.” Elle whined with another tug of her master’s sleeve that Azula ignored with a stern push of her hand.

“Just you watch little handmaid. I am a prodigy by divine right…even at the most trivial of matters.” Azula declared with a smug smile returning to her full lips while her handmaid continued tugging on her sleeve.

Only for Team Azula to gaze on in abject horror when the royal woman firebent the orange flame into a searing blue flame.

At this point even the hardened soldiers of the Dai Li couldn’t help but gaze over at the bizarre scene with bafflement in their eyes.

In all of the years that they have spent following the ruthless woman they have never seen her act like this.

“Azula…you’re using way too much heat!” The brown-haired woman advised with her stomach growling in protest only to sigh when she could tell that her friend wasn’t listening.

And the weapons expert slapped a hand over her forehead while Azula continued to smirk into the burning azure flames.

“Humph. See Elle. Even dinner submits to my conquest.” The princess spoke as she smugly flipped her bangs from her confident golden eyes while her pretty handmaid hung onto her well muscled bicep with her little mouth agape in awe.

“Princess…” The blonde-haired girl mumbled in a lovestruck voice while the older girl smiled down at her.

“Yes servant?” Azula purred in a captivating voice that sent a pleasurable shudder down the young girl’s spine.

Only for her golden eyes to narrow dangerously when the stick and its contents burned into azure embers.

The two noblewomen could only groan in frustration behind the egotistical leader while the royal woman now seethed down at the blue campfire.

“Y-you need to cook on a lower flame.” Elle quipped with a helpful smile while she scooted closer to Azula while her master pridefully huffed alongside her.

And the princess’s ire was only further stoked by her captain’s amused chuckles while she whipped around to glare over her shoulder at the other firebender standing over them.

“Cooking isn’t about speed…it’s about patience.” Zoe chuckled with a shake of her head while Azula still scowled up at her.

“For once I agree with Zoe. Just let Elle cook it Azula. We really shouldn’t be wasting food like this.” Mai stated flatly while Azula glared at her through the corner of her eye.

“Whatever. Just hurry up with it! I am far too hungry to wait all night!” The princess barked with her arms folded over her breasts while her lifelong friends rolled their eyes at her back.

“Can…can someone get me a new cooking stick?” The blonde-haired girl requested in her usual timid voice only to peer up in surprise when a stick was lowered over her head.

Team Azula could only gaze on in surprise and uncertainty to see Zoe standing behind them with a long stick in hand.

“No. I don’t want you anywhere near my dinner.” The markswoman growled with a distrustful look in her stoic eyes while the soldier rolled her eyes above her.

“I don’t need to stoop to poisoning a tree branch to kill you House Lin. If I want to kill you…I will just beat you to death with my bare hands.” The captain sneered with her hazel eyes flashing in loathing while her two fellow noblewomen shuddered under her cold stare.

Only for Azula to stomp her boot in irritation as she glared between the two of them.

“Enough of this childish bickering!” Azula shouted in an authoritative voice before she seized the stick from her handmaid while she scrutinized it for a brief moment.

Before she nodded curtly as she handed it back to her girlfriend to use for their dinner.

Mai and Ty Lee just sank back in defeat while they continued to eye Zoe with an untrusting stare.

But they knew well enough that they were most likely safe since Azula was eating with them.

It would be nothing short of suicide to attempt to poison the Crown Princess’s dinner.

It was in that very moment that both Mai and Zoe were taken by surprise when they were pulled into an uncomfortably close hug.

The two feuding noblewomen tensed up in an awkward silence while the small girl held an arm over each of their shoulders while she beamed up at them.

“Come my friends let us put the flames of hatred behind us and begin a new friendship!” Elle cheered with both noblewomen leaning over her shoulder as they glared back at one another.

Nearly everyone around the camp stared at the odd scene in amusement.

Even Azula herself seemed comically taken aback by her handmaid’s joyful declaration.

“No!” The two noblewomen snarled in unison while the younger girl happily snuggled their shoulders.

“Elle…” The brown-haired woman trailed off with a renewed smile while she gazed at the adorable sight that was her young friend embracing the two women.

“I just know that friendship will prevail!” The blonde-haired girl cried out with a joyful grin while the two continued to stare hatefully at each other.

Only for both Mai and Zoe to cry out in pain when they were both unceremoniously knocked on their asses and off the teenage girl.

And just as quickly the young handmaid was pulled back under the royal woman’s armpit while Azula’s well muscled arm now restrained her blushing face into her growling chest.

“Stay off my pet or I will strike you both into the ashes of oblivion!” The princess roared with blue fire accenting her intimidating visage while she greedily held her lovesick handmaid against her robed bosom.

“Azula…” Ty Lee sighed in an exasperated voice yet even so she still managed to smile at the heartwarming scene.

“A-Azula-sama.” Elle swooned with her face being crushed into her girlfriend’s chest while she smiled shyly up at Azula’s beautiful face.

“Cook my dinner little handmaid.” Azula commanded with a returning smirk on her red lips while Elle numbly nodded in a spellbound trace.

“Y-yes princess.” The blonde-haired girl murmured in a submissive voice that produced an even larger smirk on the royal woman’s lips.

“Just stay away from me!” Mai snapped from one side of Azula while Ty Lee sweatdropped once more.

“Eat shit House Lin!” Zoe retorted from the other side while Azula’s eyes began to twitch in annoyance once more.

Only for blue flames to flare to life behind them while Azula’s monstrous eyes glare between the two of them.

“Silence!” The princess bellowed in a deafening voice that caused both noblewomen to wisely fall silent under her glare.

Mere minutes later…

A small orange fire burned once more in place the princess’s azure flame while Team Azula watched their young friend conclude her cooking.

Their stomachs rumbled in unison while they all gazed down at the deliciously cooked meat with unhidden hunger in their eyes.

And even if some of them were too proud to say it aloud. It was obvious that they were all impressed by their young friends cooking.

As was Zoe herself.

“Aha! All done!” Elle announced in a cheerful voice only for Azula to greedily take hold of one before she could begin distributing the food.

“Azula! Stop being such a glutton!” Ty Lee exclaimed while Azula began happily eating her meal.

“As the Princess of the Fire Nation…it is important that I eat first so I can lead my people to safety.” Azula remarked with a content smile while she chewed her mouthful only for everyone but Elle to roll their eyes.

And soon enough Elle began handing out food to each of them.

“Thanks Elle.” Mai stated in a softer voice while she relaxed in her seat just as the acrobat grasped ahold of one.

“Yeah! Thanks, little sister!” The brown-haired woman answered in a kind voice while the small girl smiled back at her.

Only for Elle to take all of Team Azula by surprise when she held out a fourth before Zoe’s taken aback hazel eyes.

“Thank you…” Zoe spoke in an appreciative voice with a look of gratitude in her eyes while she accepted the offering.

The soldiers and workers continued to eat all around the camp only a voice to shout out to them.

Everyone turned their heads in recognition to see that the captain was the one who had called out to them.

Azula tilted her head with a sliver of curiosity flashing in her golden eyes while she watched Zoe stand up before the burning fire.

“My brothers and sisters! Tonight, is a special night…for tonight your honorable princess dines among you!” The captain announced as she pointed down at the princess’s stony face while the camp gazed at her in unhidden fear.

Mai and Ty Lee sat in a nervous silence while they watched over eighty faces pale in terror over the foreboding declaration.

Azula smiled menacingly as she took another bite of her dinner while Elle leaned against her arm.

“Now I ask you…to take a moment to remember those lost to us! Think of their names…their faces and those they’ve left behind!” Zoe shouted to the astonishment of even her monarch while the people in the camp began murmuring to one another.

But her words already had the desired affect.

Team Azula gazed on in surprise when soldiers began to yell out the names of the people that the captain strangled earlier.

“Igon!” A soldier yelled out in a furious voice while the captain turned to glance around the camp when more shouts followed soon after.

“Dezin!” Another man hissed with a fist clenched while the stony noblewoman tightened her burned fist in agreement.

“Let us share this night in their memory! Eat as much as you like! Drink as much as you like from our liquor stores! And never forget what awaits beyond the shores of this isle!” The captain declared in a passionate voice with her hazel eyes narrowing into slits while the entire encampment listened in amazement.

And once more Team Azula couldn’t help but witness the noblewoman’s ability to rally the soldiers in grudging awe.

Even Azula herself was clearly taken aback.

“W-what awaits beyond the shoreline?” Nako questioned in a transfixed voice only for Zoe to unsheathe her blade as she pointed it across the darkened horizon.

“Gloriam!” Zoe roared with her hair swinging in front of her eyes as she gripped the handle of her sword while everyone sat in a speechless silence.

It was obvious that if there was one area where the captain exceeded the princess.

It was her talent at motivating people to continue onward.

Within mere seconds Azula stared up at the soldier with surprised golden eyes when shouts soon erupted from all around the camp.

“It is glory that awaits you and the heads of our enemies! None more so than the Dragon of the West and the Avatar himself!” The captain called out with vigor lacing her voice while she held out her sword while many voices cried out in agreement.

Azula just bit into her dinner with her lips curving into a pleased smirk once more.

Indeed.

At times Zoe may be an insufferable wretch but she was most certainly indispensable.

“Regain your energy my brothers and sisters! Because as soon as we return, we are going to kill them all!” Zoe concluded with a victorious countenance while she held her hand high above her head.

And yet again Ty Lee stared at Mai with a worried look in her eyes.

Their fears for Zuko’s safety grew more and more by the hour.

The less violent members of the encampment could only shake their heads.

“Soldiers.” Shii sighed under her breath while Nako nodded her head in agreement.

And soon soldiers began to pass around drinks in makeshift glasses while Azula quirked a brow in curiosity.

“Is that…what’s left of my royal stores?” The princess questioned in a stern voice while the captain sat back down beside her with a wooden bowl of liquor.

“That is correct. Soldiers tend to perform better when they are well fed and rewarded. Would you…prefer I tell them that you wish to keep it for yourself?” The captain replied without pause while the royal woman’s golden eyes briefly burned through her skull only to wave a hand in the air.

Mai and Ty Lee gave Azula a deadpan glance knowing well enough that even someone as selfish as Azula knew that it would be foolish to spurn her exhausted subjects.

“No. But I demand an unopened, unmolested bottle for myself.” Azula spoke in a stern voice that brook no room for argument while Elle still rested against her elbow.

“Ah certainly. Nako. Bring the princess a bottle.” Zoe ordered in turn while the pilot in question winced as if she was about to be flogged.

“Of course! Right away!” The royal pilot cried out before she sprinted over to the small crate while the princess stared on with paranoid eyes.

“Do be certain that it is unopened Nako.” The princess commented in a spoiled voice as she swallowed her mouthful.

“Uh…is there a certain kind you want Your Highness?” Nako pondered in a nervous voice while Azula rolled her eyes at her back.

“It’s all the same kind. Just bring me a damn bottle!” Azula demanded with an entitled wave of her hand while the now fearful girl rushed over.

“Azula.” Ty Lee scolded in a sighing voice while the poor pilot dropped down on all fours before Azula’s smug eyes.

“H-here princess.” The royal pilot offered in an apprehensive voice while her monarch grasped at the bottle with a greedy hand.

“Good. You may take a seat with us Nako.” The princess commanded to the further shock of her friends while the bowing pilot peered up at her in confusion.

“With you princess?” Nako asked in a dumbfounded fashion while Elle smiled at her just as Azula rolled her eyes once more.

“I told you that you had a place among my counsel…this means that you now have also have a place on my team.” Azula explained in a cold voice that contrasted her words while Nako stared up with moved golden eyes.

Team Azula could only stare at the pilot in shared amazement.

It was evident that Elle’s presence has had a profound effect on Azula.

So much so that the spoiled woman was now willing to look at people in lower standing in a different light.

“I…I don’t know what to say.” The royal pilot muttered only to cower in terror when the princess glared down at her.

“Just shut up and sit down or I will destroy you!” The princess bellowed with her childhood friends sweatdropping beside her.

“Y-yes princess! I’ll sit down!” Nako answered in a clearly intimidated voice before she awkwardly took a seat beside the smiling acrobat.

To sit among nobility and royalty was something most commoners could only dream of!

And yet…

As she gazed at Elle holding her monarch’s arm, she couldn’t help but wonder if Azula wasn’t as bad as the rumors say she is.

“Azula likes you.” Ty Lee greeted with a grin while Nako blinked in evident puzzlement.

“She does?” The royal pilot asked in confusion while the scowling woman continued to gracefully eat her meal.

“Yeah! I can tell. She’s already telling you to shut up.” The brown-haired woman attempted to explain while her fellow noble sweatdropped beside her.

“Eh…that’s a good thing?” Nako queried with a blink of her eyes while Azula rolled her eyes once more.

“It sure is! Because if she didn’t like you, she wouldn’t tell you to be quiet. She would just throw a lightning bolt at you.” Ty Lee answered with a nervous smile while Nako frightfully nodded her head.

“R-right. Thank you once again princess.” The royal pilot spoke lamely while the princess regally swallowed her mouthful.

“Just try not to annoy me too much.” Azula sighed with something akin to a smile on her full lips before she gazed down at Elle leaning into her belly.

Only for her smile to fade away when she heard her girlfriends belly growl.

Elle’s cheeks turned a bashful shade of pink while she reached for her backpack to retrieve her lone apple.

All the while her companions stared at her with varying levels of worry in their eyes.

“Foolish peasant.” The princess snorted with a roll of her eyes while she glared down at her handmaid when the smaller girl cuddled up on her left thigh just as she bit into her apple.

“Sumimasen Azula-sama.” The blonde-haired girl answered in a timid voice with her face resting against the much taller woman’s robed thigh while she heard her master sigh above her.

And once more Nako gazed at the strange couple with ever rising astonishment in her eyes.

They were close. Very close.

“Elle…are you sure that you don’t want any?” Mai questioned with a trace of worry in her voice that only grew when Elle adamantly shook her head.

“No. Thank you.” Elle insisted while she ate her apple with a strangely unconcerned demeanor that took even Zoe aback.

“You’ll be singing a different tune when that apple is gone.” Azula stated with a snort while she stared down at her petite girlfriend already trying to worm her way into her lap.

“Oh no Azula-sama. I’ll be the last one to cry for food. I can easily go four days without eating.” The blonde-haired girl responded in a soft-spoken voice as she ate her apple on her master’s womanly thigh while her princess stared down at her with taken aback golden eyes.

It was a blunt reminder of just the sort of life that the girl led before she met them.

‘Elle…’ The brown-haired woman thought with her warm eyes flashing in concern while the younger girl ate her apple with an unbothered expression.

There was ample meaning behind that statement.

It was Elle’s way of saying that she was used to going for long periods of time without food.

“Vegetarian huh?” Nako queried with a curious blink of her eyes while the girl proudly nodded her head from her position on Azula’s thigh.

“Yep! I haven’t eaten any meat for as long as I can remember!” Elle exclaimed with a joyful smile while Azula rolled her eyes once more.

“Considering the size of that armadillo bear…we won’t be going hungry at all…. peasant.” The princess spoke before she pointedly took a large bite of her meat while smirked down at her handmaid as she did so.

And yet again Mai and Ty Lee exchanged an exasperated glance over Azula’s arrogant behavior.

“And we have ample stores of canned tuna.” The captain commented with a slight smirk while her monarch glared at her through the corner of her eye.

“What will flow will flow! This is just a brief change in the direction of the breeze! I’m not going to let a silly thing like hunger bring me down! I’ll be just fine. I just know it.” The blonde-haired girl announced in a chipper voice while everyone sweatdropped in bewilderment.

And then she returned to chewing on her apple with a content smile while the princess’s golden eyes flickered in aggravation once more.

“Flow.” Azula scoffed with a haughty roll of her eyes while she glared down at Elle trying to crawl into her lap like a needy kitten begging for her owner’s attention.

Which was a fitting analogy if you asked her.

“That’s so Azula-sama! Like a bird soaring in the wind. There’s no need to worry about it. It’s just a momentary change in flow.” Elle insisted with a carefree smile while the group listened in confusion.

“Well…there is surely a great abundance of fruit near the bay. No doubt many banana trees and melons that could feed you for the rest of the year.” Zoe quipped with a small smile while the young girl’s eyes sparkled in delight only for Azula to glare daggers through her skull.

“Bananas and melons…” The blonde-haired girl trailed off with a hungry look in her eyes just as her belly growled once more while her big sister’s sweatdropped.

“Indeed. I have no doubt that our noble princess would be more than happy to launch an expedition to the bay all for your sake.” The captain teased as she began to pour herself a drink in a wooden bowl while the princess’s callous eyes shook in fury.

Only for Zoe to release a pained cry not a moment later while Azula glared down at her with her right fist extended before her.

And Nako frightfully swallowed in fear.

And the other two noblewomen quietly savored the other woman’s small dose of suffering.

“Shut up Zoe or I will shut you up for good!” The princess snapped in a foul tempered voice before she took another angry bite of her dinner only to stare down with a grunt to see her pet curling up in her lap.

“See! What did I tell you Nako? The more Azula yells at you…the more she likes you.” Ty Lee piped with a nod while the pilot nodded as she still eyed Azula’s scowling face in a degree of fear.

“Azula-sama?” Elle asked in a soft voice with her chin propped up in the center of her master’s lap while Azula peered down at her in a fond fashion.

Mai, Ty Lee, and Nako awkwardly gazed away from the strange couple after they took note that the young girl was now lounging over the princess’s groin.

It seemed as if the innocent handmaid was the only one who didn’t realize just where she was laying her head.

And judging by the almost pleased look in Azula’s eyes it would seem that the firebender had no qualms with Elle’s choice of resting place.

“Yes Elle?” Azula answered in a sigh before she took another bite of her meat while her other hand inexplicably lowered into her handmaid’s golden hair.

She chewed on her food while her fingers began to stroke her girlfriend’s plush head and casting anyone who dared to gawk at them with a subzero glare.

“Do you think it’s possible to replicate sour patch kids in the palace kitchens?” The blonde-haired girl requested as she chewed on her lip only for the princess to nearly choke on her mouthful.

As did the two noblewomen who were gazing at the back of her head with a rare look of discomfort in their eyes.

And Zoe, Nako and all of the others in listening range just quirked a brow in curiosity.

“Sour patch kids?” Zoe questioned in a bewildered voice while Azula audibly gulped down her food with her golden eyes grimacing in disgust.

“Oh! It’s a yummy candy from my homeland! It’s sour then sweet!” Elle chirped with an excited smile only for Zoe to stare at her in even more confusion than before.

“I…suppose it is possible. But it may not be the same. After all I don’t have the recipe.” The princess grunted with her full lips pursed into a shuddering thin line that her captain took note of.

‘Of all the things that she could ask me to replicate! She asks for me to duplicate that revolting peasant chow!’ Azula thought with her nostrils snorting out a puff of azure fire while Elle hugged her thigh in a grudgingly adorable manner.

“But you’re so brilliant Azula-sama! I just know that if anyone can do it. It’s you!” The blonde-haired girl chimed with her arms wrapping around her girlfriend’s womanly thigh while the royal woman’s hand continued to pet her hair.

And her two big sisters could only stare on in amusement when Azula’s scowl soon gave way to a sophisticated smile.

“Of course, I am. It’s quite the burden…being so perfect in a world of inferior people.” The princess sighed with a wave of her hand while her two-childhood friends rolled their eyes.

And the captain and the pilot made no comment as they continued their meal.

“It sounds terrible.” Mai stated flatly in a deadpan voice as she still glared at Zoe through the corner of her eye.

To which Zoe spat at her feet with a hateful sneer on her lips while Azula’s golden eyes flickered in aggravation once more.

Only for the young handmaid to come to their rescue once again.

“You’re the smartest person in the world Azula-sama. I just know it.” Elle responded with admiration in her eyes while she nuzzled Azula’s leg just as the much taller woman petted her hair.

“Humph. This one sees the situation clearly.” Azula boasted in a haughty voice just as she reclined back on her bottom while she smiled down at her lovely handmaid resting on her thigh.

“Mhm! Replicating the recipe should be child’s play for a woman of your genius! It has to be.” The blonde-haired girl cried out with a worshipful countenance while her princess’s smile gave way to yet another scowl.

“Yeah Azula. If anyone can dominate that candy into submission it’s you!” Ty Lee called out with a playful grin while Azula glared at her through the corner of her eye.

The two noblewomen knew well enough that their young friend had already roped Azula into saying yes.

Even though the princess was too proud to say as much.

“I’ll…see what I can do.” The princess grumbled before she bit into her meal once more while her two lifelong friends gazed at her in amusement.

And not a single person that was in earshot so much as said a word on how this strange young girl managed to sway Azula with such a silly request.

A jubilant cry filled the air while many turned to gaze at the teenager in bafflement once more to see the girl happily embracing the seated woman’s belly.

“Arigatou gozaimasu Azula-sama!” Elle cheered with sweet laughter lacing her voice while she pressed her face into Azula’s robed belly.

The princess just grunted with a hand still in her handmaid’s hair while she stared down at the petite girl in her lap before her ruthless eyes swept about when she noticed many prying eyes upon her.

“What are you fools gawking at! Turn your eyes away or I will kill every last one of you!” Azula roared with her teeth bared while countless heads instantly turned away in terror.

All except for Zoe that is.

“Azula…” The brown-haired woman groaned while her fellow noble sighed alongside her.

“I-I wasn’t staring Your Highness! Honest!” The royal pilot shouted as she bowed rapidly while her monarch glared at everyone seated around the fire.

“And you see to it that it remains that way!” The princess barked with her palm holding her little pet’s face against her belly while the smaller girl clung to her.

“A-Azula-sama.” The blonde-haired girl murmured in a tired voice with her face hiding in her master’s belly while a strong hand patted her head.

“Hm. You are a good girl Elle.” Azula spoke in a marginally subdued voice while her fingers danced in the shorter girl’s hair.

“Aww…well at least you have a nice warm firebender to keep you company little sister.” The brown-haired woman gushed with a returning grin while the younger girl blushed under her spoiled friends protective hand.

All the while people around the camp continued to drink liquor and chat to one another as their campfires lit darkened night air.

Saro and the rest of Zoe’s soldiers sat in a circle while they talked with each other knowing full well that it would be suicide to interrupt their captain while she was with the Crown Princess.

And the captain tipped her drink back with a content sigh while she briefly eyed the two through the corner of her eye before gazing back down at the burning fire.

“Care for a drink Nako?” Zoe questioned while Nako turned to gaze at her in surprise.

“A small drink. I am still feeling sick from earlier…” Nako answered with an embarrassed expression while the soldier nodded in understanding.

And then Zoe poured a small drink into a wooden bowl before she passed it over.

“Here’s to getting off this wretched island.” The captain stated just as her bowl bumped with the pilot’s.

“I can’t argue with that. Thank you…Zoe.” The royal pilot muttered before she tipped the drink back only to sigh as she did so.

“If only we hadn’t lost the airship. Not only would we not be stranded on this island…the war may well have been over by now.” The princess remarked in a colder voice with her icy eyes turning to briefly glare at her subordinate’s guilt-ridden face.

But even so.

Both Mai and Ty Lee knew better that they would only dig an even deeper hole if they said much as said one word.

“Likely so. By the look of it you would have killed the Avatar had your uncle not gotten the drop on you.” The captain agreed with a shrug of her shoulders while the monarch’s eyes shone in rage once more.

“So, it would seem that way. But then again…had my uncle not done so I would have never known that this tiger monkey was the Avatar’s bane.” Azula commented with a thoughtful curve of her lips while all eyes drifted down to Elle yawning in her lap.

Even though no one said it aloud.

Each and every person in the camp couldn’t believe that such a young girl was the holder to such a supposedly ancient power.

“It is ironic princess. If what I heard is true…her power only awoke when she thought that…you were on the verge of death.” Zoe stated with a small smirk while Azula’s lips curled into a pleased smile.

“How interesting indeed.” The princess purred with her fingers in her smiling admirer’s hair while the younger girl cuddled up in between her thighs.

Nearly one minute later the pilot set down her bowl before she turned to her monarch to speak her mind.

“Forgive me if this is rude princess. But I am feeling rather tired…would it be alright if I laid down?” Nako asked in a careful voice while Azula briefly glanced at her only to wave a consenting hand in the air.

“That is fine. Go get your rest.” Azula answered in a dismissive voice while her fingers still fiddled with her little handmaid’s hair.

“Yes princess! And I…thank you once more for the honors that you have bestowed upon me!” The royal pilot exclaimed before springing to her feet as she bowed at the waist while the royal woman observed her in approval.

“Just try not to disappoint me Nako.” The princess sighed with a finger twirling her ebony hair while the pilot’s face paled in understanding.

“U-understood Your Highness! I won’t!” Nako yelled out in a salute before she turned to sleepily walk off to her tent while the others watched her walk away.

And then soon it was just the three noblewomen, the drowsy peasant girl and the woman of royalty.

“Before you go to sleep princess. I would like to have a word with you…on the hill…away from eavesdropping ears.” Zoe declared as she poured a new bowl full of liquor while Azula turned to gaze at her.

“So be it Zoe. But I can only hope for your sake that you will voice your words respectfully.” Azula snorted with her golden eyes narrowing at the soldier’s aloof face.

The two noblewomen shared an exhausted glance while they gazed up at their tends with a degree of longing in their eyes.

But before anyone could say anything further Azula gazed down into her lap after she felt a hand tug on her scarlet shirt.

“Princess?” Elle pondered in a timid voice while Azula glanced down at her with a refined smile on her red lips.

“Yes Elle?” The princess asked in a silken purr while frigid eyes noted that her handmaid was squirming her legs in a manner that would indicate that she needed to relieve herself.

“I-I have to go pee.” The blonde-haired girl admitted with a blush while the older girl now rolled her eyes down at her.

“Then go pee.” Azula scoffed as she watched her handmaid sit up with her legs wobbling beneath her.

All the while aware that prying eyes were watching them closely.

A thought that prompted her to reel around with her glacial eyes narrowing at her subordinates amused faces.

“W-will…you stand guard and make sure nothing attacks me?” Elle requested with a shy countenance while Azula folded her arms over her breasts as she scowled pridefully.

“That’s so sweet Azula.” Ty Lee giggled while Mai smirked beside her only for Azula to cast the two of them a cold glare.

“You want me to stand guard? From what? Spiders?” The princess snorted only for her golden eyes to narrow when her handmaid peeked around her in a pitiful panic.

“Y-yeah…” The blonde-haired girl trailed off lamely while she listened to her master scoff in contempt.

“That is pathetic Elle.” Azula groaned with a finger massaging the bridge of her nose as her two-childhood friends now cast her chiding gazes.

“W-what if they spin me in a web and drag me off to suck out my innards?” Elle retorted in a fearful voice as she stood up with her backpack in hand.

While her legs shook beneath her only for Azula to release another haughty snort.

“I still can’t believe that you are the holder of the Avatar’s weakness.” The princess spoke in a frigid voice while her handmaid’s shoulders slumped.

“Sumimasen…” The blonde-haired girl mumbled as she turned to walk off only for her girlfriend to stand up with a heavy sigh.

“Ugh! Fine! But only because you are a crucial wartime power!” Azula announced with her arms crossed over her breasts while she glared down at her handmaid as the younger girl cracked a grateful smile.

Both Mai and Ty Lee nearly rolled their eyes after hearing Azula’s latest excuse to assist Elle.

“Arigatou gozaimasu Azula-sama! Arigatou!” The blonde-haired girl cried out as she hugged her much taller master around the waist only for a stern hand to push her off.

“Just start walking peasant!” The princess ordered with another roll of her eyes while she watched her handmaid dart ahead.

Azula just sighed with shake of her head before she took to following after her young companion.

As childish and pathetic as it was the girl had a point.

Not about the spiders she mused as her icy eyes glared around on all sides.

It would be foolish to presume that her assassin from earlier had been alone.

If there was one…

Then there was almost certainly another.

And it would not do to risk her intended’s safety so carelessly.

No, it certainly would not.

[mo-mo-and-porkchop]

Umbrella academy fiction

Chapter 1

Canon and OC; Deigo x OC, Klaus x OC platonic

*as always I do not own any part of the canon characters or show. I am merely writing my own adaptation to the storyline. Nor do I own any gifs/gif credit.

**I do own all things related to the OCs and additional story elements. And apologies, I couldn't find any "young" gifs of them, but they are all meant to be young adults to show age in this fic.

Tagging: @imcrowley , @wicked-bitch-of-the-west

On a typical sunny day in 1989 a girl was born under extraordinary circumstances - her mother beginning the day not pregnant and ending it with a newborn girl. Reginald Hargreaves was unable to purchase their gift from God, but as fate would have she would still become linked to the obsessive billionaire through Klaus, his disappointing Number Four.

One fateful night in her bar thrust the two into each other's life and they soon became close friends, their tragic pasts a common denominator. Emily tried to aid her friend and his family in thwarting the apocalypse, but her life ultimately lost when the shit inevitably hit the fan.

This is not that story.

Our story takes place five years after the Hargreaves family jumped back in time after unsuccessfully saving the world; bringing with them all the knowledge gained from their first chance at life.

-----

"I'm telling you Diego. We can do this," Klaus said pleadingly to his brother. "She said if she had only gotten out a few years earlier, she would have had a better chance at life. We can give her that chance."

Diego stopped just outside his room. He eyed Klaus as he begged for him to agree.

"Please Diego. She is...was my friend," he corrected himself. This time travel thing was hard to get used to. "I owe it to her to at least try."

It was true that Emily had been as good a friend as someone could to Klaus back then. He'd beena raging drug addict who brought nothing but chaos. There weren't many people who could handle something like that. She'd been one of the few; even managing to get him into rehab a few times.

Not that it had mattered. Klaus had a standing bed there back then and the staff a running pool on how short his next break would last.

But it had been obvious she at least cared for him. And that was more than Diego could say for himself. Klaus was his brother and he had given two shits at the time if he lived or died.

"Fine," he finally agreed.

"Yes!" Klaus said quietly, but triumphantly.

With his second time around, he wanted to get it right. Make amends for his previous infractions.

Starting with this.

"But we do this my way. You got it," he said definitively, getting close enough to stop Klaus' little victory dance. He wanted to make sure his brother understood just how serious he was.

"Got it," Klaus said with a mock salute. "If I remember correctly, right around now would be the 'Halloween lockdowns' as Em liked to call it," Klaus said with a small smirk Diego's way.

His brother looked at him confused "Lockdowns? Where is she? A prison?"

Oh, that's right. He doesn't know.

It had taken Klaus awhile to pull what nuggets she had revealed of her past. He knew, without a doubt, Diego hadn't gotten shit out of her. The few times they'd met his brother was partial to being an asshole to anyone who even remotely took Klaus' side and she had been no different.

"She's at a religious boarding school," Klaus explained quickly. "A real scared straight kinda one. From what she told me though, the night before Halloween the nuns do one final sweep of the grounds, leaving the front door unlocked."

"Pfft. Morons," Diego huffed, the fact that he was speaking of godly women lost to him completely. "So it's a dash and grab. Easy."

"Yeeaa...about that," Klaus began tentatively. Diego had only just agreed to spring Emily from Hell.

"What?" Diego asked lowly. He knew he shouldn't have gotten his hope up so easily. Nothing was ever so cut and dry with Klaus.

"She's also, sort of, kinda in her own lockdown. We may need Five to help us too," he added reluctantly. "Which is fine," he quickly continued, keeping Diego from immediately changing his mind. "Ever since we got back Five has really been a team player. I'm sure if our little heist idea came from you he'd be on board. A hundred percent."

Diego couldn't take this shit with Klaus a second go 'round. He wanted to break Emily out of school? Fine. He needed Diego's help? Also, peachy fuckinf keen. But if he insisted on keeping secrets along the way then Diego would walk his happy ass on out the door and Klaus could go fuck himself.

He grabbed hold of his brother, who flinched more from shock than fear, and drug him into his room, away from listening ears. He tossed his brother onto his bed as gently as he could. Klaus watched as he pulled his desk chair over, sitting on it backward and leaning against it.

"Before I ask Five anything you are gonna spill your guts and give me all the Intel you have on Emily. Otherwise, I'm out and you're on your own."

Klaus groaned with Diego's ultimatum. "Fine," he grumbled. "I'll tell you everything. But you have to swear you'll get Five to help no matter what," he countered holding up his pinky.

"What are you, six?"

"Nothing is more binding than a pinky swear," Klaus said, wiggling his fingers enticingly.

"You never quit do you?"

"Nope," Klaus said with a satisfied grin.

"Jesus Christ." Diego sighed with a roll of his eyes, but nevertheless he linked pinkies with his brother.

"No matter what," Klaus reiterated.

"No matter what," Diego reluctantly agreed before immediately letting go of him.

"Good," Klaus said clapping his hands together and rubbing them conspiratorially. "Now. What do I know about Emily?" he asked himself, feigning an attempt to really dig deep into his thoughts. "Em, Em, Em."

"I'm losing my patience Klaus."

"Alright, fine," Klaus said with an exasperated sigh. Nothing much had changed with Diego this time around - he was still far too serious for his own good. "I know she was one of the few dad couldn't buy, obviously. I deduced that one myself," he admitted proudly.

Diego rolled his eyes and sighed. Even without drugs Klaus' mind still ran a million miles a minute. "Focus," he said keeping his brother on track.

"Right," he replied forcing himself back to their present storytelling session. "She was unbuyable. Her parents were religious and pure," he said mockingly, throwing up the the scouting sign of three fingers. "When Em didn't fit it to their perfect life, they shipped her off and forgot about her. To St. Christopher's School for the Misguided to be exact."

"You mean that old school convent on the outskirts of the city?"

"That's the one," Klaus said in agreement. "She's been there..." he checked his wrist as if a watch sat upon it. "Twelve years now," he added looking back to Diego.

"Twelve years?! What the Hell Klaus?? I thought she was just sent there."

"Yea. When she was six," Klaus said with a snort. "That was after all the exercisims failed," he added nonchalantly.

"Exorcisms!?" Diego was beginning to regret his decision to help. "Look. I don't know what kind of "school" you're taking me to, but how do we know Emily even wants to break out?" he asked in a half-hearted attempt to back out.

"Because she makes it out on her own after another three years anyway. But she always said if she'd got out just a few years earlier she'd have gone farther in life. Between you and me, I thought she turned out just fine the way she was," he added leaning in conspiratorially.

"I don't know about that. She was friends with you."

"Hey! Unfair!" Klaus said feigning offense. "Trust me," he continued, shrugging off the insult. "Once Five is on board, everything will be fine," he said reassuringly, but with little affect. "Then it really will be a dash and grab. Five will just do his little time warp thingie and..." He sucked air through his teeth and gestured for in-and-out. "We'll have Em out and free as a bird in no time," he added with a sigh and a smile.

Diego stared at him, only reacting when his wide grin faded. His mind had already been made up, but it was sti fun to see him sweat. He promptly grabbed him up and pulled toward the hallway - and all the way to Five's room.

------

"Klaus has something he wants to ask you," he said pushing past their brother when he answered the door.

"And what might that be?" he asked, confusion evident on his face as he shut the door behind them.

Once through the threshold doego released his grip on Klaus and took solace off in the corner, waiting to see how well he did with Five. Their brother would be a much tougher sell. He'd never even met Emily.

"Well," Klaus began with a nervous laugh, glancing back to Diego hoping to get some backup. His brother simply urged him on. Klaus sighed and his entire being deflated with his refusal.

"Klaus, what the hell is going on? I don't have time for another one of your ridiculous pranks," Five complained impatiently.

"I need your help rescuing a friend," he admitted freely, turning back to Five.

Five laughed freely at his request. "No," he said letting his facial expressions fall flat. "The last time I tried to help you I ended up having to warp out of police custody."

"But you did get out," Klaus cut in trying to avoid a retelling of their most recent mishap.

"And I had to be the one to explain it all to dad. Alone," he added with rising anger.

Klaus grimaced. "Yea. Sorry about that. I wish I could have been there, really, but something important came up. Real now-or-never type stuff."

"What? Like avoiding the inevitable end of the world? Because last I remember we've already fixed that problem and I can't think of anything more "now-or-never"," he threw back at him.

He knew Five was right. "I guess when you put it like that, I could have made it," he admitted almost sheepishly.

Five merely scowled at his admission.

"But this is different," he added quickly, pushing past Five when he went to kick them out of his room. Klaus shut the door and leaned on it for added security he would finish hearing him out.

"How so?"

Klaus' smile returned. His interest was piqued. "Because we...are gonna..."

Diego rolled his eyes. His sales pitch was quickly dying. "Because you're gonna have me," he stepping forward.

"Not that I don't doubt yoir abilities, but how does that any different? Other than your presence of course."

Their brother's smile widened. "Yes!" he exclaimed before Diego could answer, outstreching his arms toward him and crossing to be by his side. "Because Diego here is an extra set of eyes and ears," he added, cradling his shoulders and endearingly placing his hand on his chest.

Diego glared at Klaus. "Because I will make sure Klaus doesn't screw anything up this time," he answerd shaking himself free.

Five remained silent, considering Klaus 'mission'. He had become anxious lately to do more than just train and follow daddy's orders - even if it was what they all agreed to before their jump back. Not that he would ever admit that to Klaus, but he supposed it could be worth it of Diego was on board.

Klaus stated expectantly and his brother who eyed the two of them. "Say I help you. What is your grand plan to save...who exactly?"

Klaus smiled widely at Diego, ecstatic that things might actually go his way for once.

"Emily," Diego answered, ignoring Klaus.

"Emily?" Five asked surprised with a slight laugh. "You mean the bartender psychic?"

"Telepathic," Klaus corrected him. "But yes. Her. So will you help me? Please?"

Diego rolled his eyes at the duo. "Just say yes already. I can't take much more of this," he added exasperated, dropping down onto the chair at Five's desk.

"Alright fine," he finally agreed.

Klaus began to shower his brother with thabks. He sure hadn't been as appreciative of Diego's allegiance. He huffed to hide his offense. "Klaus!" He pointed at his wrist when he had his brother's attention.

"Oh right. So. Now that I have the best two brothers on board..."

"Klaus," Diego warned.

"Alright, alright. Stop getting your panties in a bunch."

Diego jumped up ready to strangle him.

"Hey! Calm down!" Five intervened. "Don't make me regret helping you," he scolded his brothers. "Now," he continued once the two had parted ways. "When and how are we supposed to save Emily? And from what?"

"I'm glad you asked," Klaus responded slyly before repeating the plan to Five

------

"There it is," Klaus whispered to his brothers, pointing out their entry point.

They crouched hidden among the bushes just outside the point of no return. A nun came out of the front door, followed by two others, and just as Klas said left the door open. Diego huffed quietly to himself and rolled his eyes. Klaus smiled widely.

"Okay," Five said shifting his jacket and bit and readying to jump. "Where is her room?" he asked staring at the building.

It was your typical, old-school convent turned boarding opp. The layout would be easy to figure out.

Klaus shut his eyes and mimicked going over a map with his fingers. "It should be, if memory serves me right, last one on the left, second floor," he said opening his eyes and looking toward the building too. "She always said one of the only good things she remembered about this place were the sunsets," he said quietly to himself with a sad sigh. "West side," he added.

And just like that Five was gone.

-----

He reappeared with a small pop in a girl's room. She was sound asleep, her back to where Five now stood. He crept to her bed and gently tried waking her.

"Emily," he whispered. "Emily wake up."

The girl began to stir, turning toward him. The sight of a boy by her bed had to be a dream. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, sitting up to wake up further. The realization that he was real hit her. Her eyes grew wide in terror and she screamed.

Five quickly covered her mouth. "Emily, please."

She quieted her screams realizing who he was and the fear in her eyes grew to confusion. She mumbled something into his hand.

"What?" he whispered, uncovering her mouth.

"I'm not Emily," she managed to stammer out quietly.

[remasteredinnuendo]

Nine Tails

Synopsis: Ben Hardy works for MI6 and Cara Porter certainly doesn’t. But when he finally tracks her down after years of fleeing, it’s for something neither of them hoped it would be. It’s hard to sort out their lingering feelings when danger hangs over them.

Warnings: NONE

Info: This came together really quickly and I’m hoping someone out there likes it. Feedback is Welcome!

Part One:

The Wimbledon Final was known to be a spectacular event. The atmosphere was buzzing and the drinks were few alcoholic. It was a rich event. One that housed royalty of both crown and racket. Everyone who was anyone wanted to be here— and the lucky ones actually were.

It wasn’t difficult for Cara to get herself some tickets. All it took was knowing the right people and swiping the right passes from the right hotel rooms. It was all too simple. Showing the guards outside the venue her pass was all it took. Her lashes batted in one direction and her smile glinted. It was all she had ever needed.

The seats were nearly too close to one another for her liking, but she enjoyed the sunshine. She was amongst the highest in society and none of them suspected a thing. If she wanted to, she could’ve crawled over to the section housing the future King of England. Swiped his watch straight from his wrist without having him notice. She could have shaken his wife’s hand. Taken the ring from her finger that the entire world always gawked at.

It was, she had to confess, a spectacular ring with plenty of history.

Cara amused herself with these thoughts. Eyed the security guards that lined the entire section of seats and overlooked the court. But she did not act on them. Oh, no. She was far too smart for that. Instead, she basked in the small victories she already had and watched the tennis ball go from one side of the net to the other. Clapped her hands when she was supposed to.

“Excuse me,” a man said as he shuffled through her row. He muttered apologies as he inconvenienced the onlookers of the game, but she knew that he didn’t actually care about their line of sight. A blush-pink suit entered the corner of her vision and stood by the man seated next to her. “You. Move. Now.”

“I damn well will not move you imbecile—”

Cara kept her gaze forward, a small smile gracing her perfect lips as she watched her company reach into his blush-pink suit jacket and pull out a black sleeve. He let it hang open, and she saw the glint of a badge. The white sheet of credentials.

The man next to her immediately shut his mouth and rose from his seat, but he did so with a huff. She would have, too, if she had been asked to vacate her seat. If she had paid for it at all. None of these things were terribly expensive, but nothing could compete with government business.

Satisfied, the suit lowered himself into the blue seat and got himself comfortable. Her eyes wandered, watching as he crossed his leg over his knee, putting away his badge. They remained silent like this for a few minutes, watching as the tennis ball hit left and right and went one way and then the other.

“It’s a lovely event to come out for, isn’t it, Miss Porter?” he finally spoke.

She reached her hand up and plucked her sunglasses from her nose. “I’ve made some mistakes in my life. But watching Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer battle it out isn’t one of them, if that’s what you’re insinuating.”

He chuckled, and the sound was like a slow, hot lava-kiss. It made him difficult to ignore, and so Cara turned her head. There he was, looking better than she remembered him. He had cut his hair in the last fourteen months, and had lost weight in his face. She was glad to see his taste in wardrobe hadn’t strayed too far from what it was, but every ounce of familiarity made her heart beat a little faster. Made the sun a little warmer.

Agent Ben Hardy worked for MI6, but hardly looked the part. He was all dashing and charming and slick. Every other agent or operative or officer she had ever encountered in her life was curmudgeonly. Aged. But him? He was delicious. Always had been.

“I’m not insinuating anything,” Ben said, raising his hands ever so slightly to brush her words off. “I’m simply surprised that this was the time and place you chose. It’s been an awfully long time since anyone’s seen you.”

Cara pressed her lips together, folding her hands over her sunglasses in her lap. “That’s untrue. None of you look closely enough.”

“Well I found you as a redhead in Amsterdam, spotted you as a blonde in France. Did you enjoy the Cote d ’Azure?”

“I did, indeed.”

He was quiet for a moment. “And then we lost any rare glimpse of you after money printing plates were stolen in Germany.”

All these years of cat-and-mouse and she found herself slightly disappointed that he hadn’t quite been able to follow her through all of it. They had been friends, once. Six years ago, when she had encountered him at the crime scene of a dead politician’s house. That was when it had all started.

Neither of them had a clue about one another then, though she was well aware he was with the side of the law. But she didn’t murder the politician, so she wasn’t afraid to be there. She had only wanted the golden mirrors in the dead man’s collection, and a few of the priceless paintings he had on his walls. A dead man had no need of such pretty things.

“That’s a shame,” Cara sighed, turning her head back to the game. “Money plates are worth an awful lot. I bet the German government was made to howl over the whole scandal.”

“I wish I could tell you to stop playing coy because I’ve got enough evidence to arrest you for it, but that would be a lie.”

It was her turn to be quiet. “Then why are you here, Ben? What made you pull in all your favours just to find me today?”

“Because MI6 radar showed some alarming activity pointing to your brother, and I was praying you’d know something about it.”

Cara froze. It was impossible.

Her brother was dead. 

XXXXXXXXX

Does anyone want a Part Two? 

[lizord-lord]

Locked Heart Ch.8

(OKAY GUYS IT’S FINALLY HERE-this one was just giving me a lot of trouble so it happened to take a while..and just fyi, @patton-croc-agenda​ (who held a gun to MY head for this one, so the debt is repaid) and I apologize for literally nothing. Except the wait. Now, let’s see what happened to our dear Patton..)

Previous: Chapter 7

Next: Chapter 9

Pairings: Eventual Logicality, Prinxiety

Words: 3,363

Summary: After making the mistake of letting a vampire into his home, Patton wakes up to find himself in a strange room he doesn’t recognize, and no means of escape.

Overall Warnings: This fic will at some point contain: Assault, kidnapping, graphic depictions of death and violence, mentions of/explict sexual content (the more explicit scenes can be skipped), negative/possibly suicidal thoughts and a relationship that can possibly be interpreted as Stockholm Syndrome (though we do try and flesh the relationship out, if the idea of such a thing even slightly triggers you maybe give this one a pass). Warnings will be posted for individual chapters as well.

Chapter Warnings: This is the big one folks..guns, blood, gore, getting shot, biting, murder, kidnapping, arguing, injury.

Logan woke to a quiet house. For a moment he was confused, frowning as he rose from his bed and grabbed his glasses from the nightstand-but then he remembered that it was Wednesday, and Roman and Virgil had an evening class. That would explain the silence. Rubbing his eyes and slipping his glasses onto his nose, he slid out of bed to get dressed, squinting as he entered the hallway-giving his eyes a moment to adjust to the artificial light before continuing down the hall to the guest room. He shouldn’t have been surprised when he found it unlocked and open, as Virgil and Roman often let Patton out before he woke up. That was fine. He trusted Virgil. Roman…..well, werewolves were nothing if not loyal.

However, as he stepped down the hall to get a drink of water, he began to notice.

Something smelt off.

Logan entered the kitchen, and he still hadn’t heard a noise. No creak of footsteps on the old boards. No quiet humming from the library. No shower running, no breathing, no heartbeat-

Halfway across the hall, he froze.

The smell of sugar and sea breeze shampoo-Patton’s scent- had gone stale. It should never be stale.

Stale implies that he-

Logan turned on his heel, eyes boring into the wood of the door-holding breath he didn’t need to take as he clasped the brass doorknob and turned it.

It opened.

He’s gone.

Logan snarled-how could this happen, he’d been so damn careful, and now Patton was out there! Alone, in the dark, two towns away from the apartment Logan had picked him up from. And the only defense he had was the ability to make goddamn glowing cubes, idiot, he clearly should have been even more cautious.

Logan snatched his keys from the hook by the door, slamming the door behind him as he dashed off into the darkening evening.

He reached downtown in about two minutes-curbing his supernatural speed to simply a speedy walk as the buildings came into view and brushing his mussed hair out of his face.

Now, it was just a matter of how far into the city Patton had gotten.

His heart in his mouth, Patton shakily nodded. The gun was not removed from where it was pressed between his eyes, and the safety was clicked off..why, why, why, all he’d wanted was to go home!

“Empty your pockets, the man holding the gun growled, and Patton did so-not that there was anything in them other than a crumpled up piece of paper he’d apparently shoved into his khakis-worthless, by the way the mugger tossed it to the ground.

“All of them,” he repeated, and Patton stiffened.

“That-that was all of them!”

“Please, you expect us to believe you just went on a nighttime stroll without a phone or a couple dollars?” Spoke another of the muggers-a woman this time, her voice full of scorn. Weakly, Patton nodded. He opened his mouth to explain-but no...no, he’d never be able to make them believe the truth, even if he cut out all the supernatural aspects.

“My phone is..is broken, I had to send it out-and I was staying at a friend’s house for the night, promise! I really don’t have any money, I-”

The man grimaced-a glint of white teeth in the faint lamplight still streaming into the alley- and terror clutched at Patton’s heart. Could he use his magic? Make the light again? He tried to think-but any thought of the power he held slipped from his mind before he could grasp it. Too scared to think.

I’m going to die.

“Wait.”

Another voice, different from the first two, coming from the thinnest of the group. “Don’t kill him, Har- dude. So he doesn’t have anything on him right now, we could get him to take us back to his house, can’t we?”

“....I guess…” grumbled the man in front of Patton. After a long moment, the gun’s safety clicked on. Patton felt a wave of relief go through his whole body, visibly slumping back against the bricks.

“Then take us to your house,” said another voice, this one rougher than the others. In response, Patton felt the sudden grip of a hand around his arm and he squeaked-suddenly realizing the situation. He was still lost. He didn’t know where his home was, but that wouldn’t fit with the story he’d given..oh no. Oh no please no.

“I-I can’t-” he stuttered out, scrambling for an excuse, a plea, anything.

“What do you mean you can’t, you goddamn can, and if you don’t then we’ll just shoot you.” growled the man, his grip tightening and sending Patton’s heart pounding so fast he feared it would burst out of his chest.

“I can’t, I-” think think think- “I take the bus!! Yeah, it’s too far to walk, so I take the bus-and I mean the five of you would look kind of suspicious on a bus..”

“He’s useless! See, I told you we should have hit a better part of town-let’s just kill him,” announced the rough voice-and Patton’s hands shot up to attempt to shield his face, even though the action was useless with the gun against his head. God, if there was any time he’d love to understand his weird magic it would be NOW!

“Don’t!” he cried, his voice high and quaking. “I-I could-” what could he do, “Please, I promise I won’t tell anyone about your gang, just don’t-”

The woman scoffed. “Gang? Don’t make me laugh, we aren’t some squad of..Cackling Coyotes or anything. Some people just need to make a damn living, now name one reason why we actually shouldn’t just kill you?”

“Maybe we could get his bank info?” Piped up the thinnest man, but the man with the gun only rolled his eyes.

“That’s like asking a chick at the bar for her number, no way to know if it’s fake until it’s too late. I vote kill.”

“Wait-” the panic rose in Patton’s chest, suffocating and thick, and he almost feared he’d pass out-the choking horror a sickening compliment to the cold ice that was his blood. No, no, this couldn’t be how he died-after everything he’d seen, gone through, he couldn’t die to a squad of muggers!! Please, please..

“I vote kill too,” spoke the man with the gun in a chillingly flat tone-and Patton’s breathing only grew shallower as he saw the silent figure nod.

“Let’s be smart about this,” hissed the thin man-so far, the only thing Patton could call an ally. “What will we do with the body? Hide the evidence?”

“Oh shut up, Di- dickwad, what if he blabs?” snapped the woman. “We kill him. Dump him in the trash and take the gun.”

“Please!!”

“Do it,” spoke the rough man.

“I’m doing it.”

“DON’T KILL ME!” Patton screamed-and suddenly, his icy blood was hot. Light burst forth from his body-

The gun went off, and Patton’s scream turned to one of blazing agony.

Out of the corner of his eye, Logan caught a flash of light-and two sounds in unison. A scream, high-pitched and full of roiling emotion-and a sound that chilled him to the bone.

A gunshot.

A gunshot, and Patton’s scream.

Patton.

Logan raced towards the sound-barely registering the scene before him-five people standing over Patton’s-slumped against the alley wall clutching his side. The scent, thick and sweet and intoxicating, filled his mind and the bloodlust invoked by the mere thought of someone hurting Patton, of Patton being out and in danger-gained a dual meaning.

He collided with the man holding the gun-and he heard shouts, presumably from the people around him, but he neither noticed nor cared. The gun clattered to the pavement as he wrenched it from the mugger’s grasp, a sickening crack echoing through they alleyway, accompanied by a howl of pain-but it wouldn't last, as Logan’s fangs soon tore into his throat, deep into the jugular, spilling blood like a fountain as Logan shoved the body to the ground, disregarding the dull thump.

He felt something smash into his skull-not a fist, some heavier object-he wasn’t sure what, only that it hurt, and a grunt of pain was torn from his throat, only to morph into a snarl. Crimson eyes, glowing in the darkness, turned on the woman that had hit him, and Logan swung his arm out, sending her flying into the wall and splattering blood across the bricks like a gory perversion of a Jackson Pollock painting as her skull smashed open against it.

He heard a scramble behind him-one of the others going for the gun, but Logan was much, much faster-in the blink of an eye, the gun was reduced to scrap metal in his hands, and the one who had dove for it fell right into Logan’s deadly grasp, a screech of pain ripping through the night as fangs ripped his throat open too. Two left. One dashed Logan’s way, and his neck was snapped in Logan’s hands. The last tried to run. Tried.

But there could be no witnesses.

Logan dragged the flailing, screaming man back into the alley, and once more tore open his throat.

Blood spilled from the wound-and as the adrenaline surge waned, the tantalizing smell wafted up to Logan’s nostrils, and his grip grew tighter. His fangs clamped down harder, and he drank, greedily lapping up the blood that flowed from the limp mugger’s throat, more and more until he finally felt full.

It couldn’t hurt.

The corpse fell from Logan’s grasp, the thump of it hitting the bloodstained pavement the only sound in the alley. Well, aside from a sound that he now became acutely aware of. Patton, shivering, his breathing shallow and terrified.

Patton.

In an instant, Logan was crouching in front of the pale-looking human. He reached out his arms to scoop him up- but to his aggravation, Patton tried to tug away, weakly pushing himself back into the wall.

Red eyes narrowed as Logan recalled why this had happened in the first place. That Patton had tried to run. If he’d just listened, but no!

Regardless, Logan tugged Patton to his feet, ignoring the whimper and turning. He felt Patton trying to pull away-heard a weak protest, but it only hardened his resolve. Idiot, how could he just throw himself into danger like that? He’d gotten mugged for goodness’ sake, the second he’d stepped out the door-and Logan had to come save him. What if he hadn’t found him in time? Patton could be dead, did he not see that?

“No..no, lemme go..” echoed the soft whimpers from behind him-but the tugging had stopped. Instead he was dragging Patton behind him-and as Logan turned, his eyes went wide.

With his face still smeared with various people’s blood, the thick, coppery scent right in his nose-fights weren’t neat after all-he hadn’t noticed it. Patton’s left hand clutched at his side-and red dripped from beneath his fingers, staining the fabric of his gray sweater. His face was even paler now as he stumbled along, woozy. That wouldn’t do. Especially now Logan had to get him home faster, before he bled out.

So he yanked Patton in and hefted him into his arms as he had the first night-but very much unlike the first night, even bleeding out and half-delirious, Patton still squirmed, glistening tears dripping down his cheeks as he tried to scramble out of Logan’s grip. Logan sighed.

“Patton, stay still-I need to take you home and get you medical assistance!”

At that, Patton actually started struggling more.

This was ridiculous, if he was going to make sure Patton lived he had to get him home! And yet the human insisted on making things difficult! Logan growled low in his throat, his lips curling up as he gripped the back of Patton’s head and turned it to face him.

He saw the slumping of Patton’s muscles as the red of his crimson stare reflected in Patton’s blue irises, the compulsion turning his limbs to jelly. By all means, an ability designed to incapacitate prey-but in this case, he just needed him to stop fucking squirming.

The tears stopped too, after a moment, as Patton passed out from the pain-and Logan was left in silence to bring them back home.

The door swung open-the faint creak of the old hinges accompanied by Roman and Virgil’s typical loud banter. But both of them stopped dead in the hall-surprise and apprehension flashing across their faces at the sight of Logan standing directly opposite the door, brown eyes narrowed behind his glasses and posture stiff and cold, arms crossed over his chest. Both human and werewolf shrank back just a bit, Virgil recognizing it as the Dad stare and Roman as the ‘boyfriend’s vampire dad who will murder you if you make one wrong move though you’re not so sure anymore’ stare. Equally terrifying interpretations. But neither of them were prepared for the reason Logan was glaring at them so intensely.

“You left the door unlocked.”

“He’s-” Virgil began, worry in his voice (why? He wanted Patton to escape. Just...he’d miss him) but Logan answered before he’d even finished the question.

“He’s here. He ran off and got mugged of all rotten ways luck could go. But he is alive, and well enough considering.”

“MUGGED??” Roman burst out-and Virgil felt his boyfriend’s hand tighten considerably in his own. He looked frantic and angry at the same time, which only worried Virgil because of the high probability he’d do something horribly rash, though the word was ringing in Virgil’s ears too. Mugged? Patton? What could have happened-Logan had said well enough considering, that could mean anything from distraught to terribly wounded!

“Yes, mugged.” Logan clenched his teeth as he spoke the words, “Five of them. I assume he attempted to fend them off with magic, as that is how I found him. One of them had shot him in the side when I arrived, though it did not seem to be a fatal wound except for the copious blood loss.”

“Tell me you ripped them apart.”

The words were growled through Roman’s teeth-and Virgil swore he caught a flash of gold out of his peripheral. There was something else in Logan’s eyes as he shifted to meet Roman’s, something old and something dark.

“I did.”

“Good.”

“Where is he?” Virgil asked-more pressing matters, more important things than revenge..though he’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel a dark rush of satisfaction upon hearing that those goons were gone for good. No one should hurt Patton, not sweet, loving, innocent Patton.

“His room. He’s still unconscious, passed out from blood loss. I bandaged him up best I could and locked the door again..” Logan trailed off, pulling his glasses off his face to wipe the lenses with his tie, looking frustrated. “And so soon after I let him have a bit more space.”

“I’m sorry..” Virgil mumbled. Normally he wouldn’t think this something to apologize for-it was an accident, and Patton shouldn’t have been trapped here in the first place. But he was hurt. And that changed things. Logan seemed to pause before sliding his glasses back onto his face.

“There had better be an explanation for your carelessness,” he said, though unsurprisingly his eyes did not turn to Virgil, but to Roman.

“We were running late for class, and in the rush to get out to not be late, something I’d expect you’d approve of, locking the door was an afterthought.”

“Well that ‘afterthought’ could have gotten Patton killed,” Logan replied lowly. “That isn’t my fault!” Roman protested, but Logan’s only response was a darker glare and crossed arms. “You should have been more responsible! Unfortunately, I can’t babysit you all every hour of the day!” “Ever consider we’re not babies?” Roman shot back. “You can’t control everyone!” “Oh. Oh. We’re going that direction, are we? Sometimes you might as well be children with how ridiculous you act, and if you’re going to be so careless clearly I must!” “And does that include Patton too?” Roman burst out, taking a step towards Logan. “I would have run away if I were him too, it’s not his fault he got into trouble, it’s not ours-hell, I’d even say it’s yours for shutting him up in here in the first place!” “He gets mugged immediately after leaving my care, and you say that my housing him here is the cause of this?? Explain to me exactly how that makes sense!” “Because you can’t just kidnap people and hold them captive, Logan, I happen to think that makes fucking sense!” Logan snarled, sharp fangs glinting in the artificial light. “You tend to seem rather happy to have him here, don’t you?” “So??? He’s a person!”

“Then you say I shouldn’t have brought him back? If that happened he’d be dead, and that is a good solution for no one.” “He shouldn’t-” “Will you two quit it?” The sudden intervention from Virgil froze both werewolf and vampire in place. They were practically at each other’s throats, an unfortunately common sight-though that also left the lone human in the room undeterred. Virgil stepped forward, pushing his way between them as an attempt to cool down the situation. “Look-I think we all know where everyone stands on Patton, and I kinda prefer you two not trying to murder each other, so let’s just...drop it okay?” “Virgil, come on-you know we can’t just-” Roman began, but Virgil spun to face him, cutting him off.

“Ro, can it.” The almost pleading look in his eyes finally did it. Sighing, Virgil turned to Logan, who was still standing with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Dad...I’m glad he’s safe.” He could have said more. But it wouldn’t help, would it? The three of them stood there in silence for a long moment before Virgil finally put his arms down, sighing. You could still cut the tension between his father and his boyfriend with a knife, but at least it wasn’t about to snap. He tucked his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, still looking to Logan.

“Can we see him?” Logan’s brow pinched, as if he wasn’t too happy about the idea-but a moment past, and with a sigh, he nodded, turning and stepping back down the hallway, waving for Virgil and Roman to follow. But Roman didn’t.

He remained in the hallway, glowering at his shoes-and before Virgil could grab his arm and pull him aside, he opened the door and stepped through. “Roman-” Slam.

Virgil groaned loudly, hitting his thigh with a closed fist in-what? Exasperation, frustration, hopelessness? One of the above, at least.

“Just let him go,” came Logan’s voice from down the hall, and as much as it annoyed Virgil to hear the command, Logan was right. Roman threw tantrums, and it was better to have him leave for a while than let another fight break out. So, he did. Virgil walked down the hall and up the stairs, following Logan, until they came to the plain door of the guest room where Patton lay unconscious.

The key in his pocket felt unnaturally cold and heavy as he unlocked the door and stepped inside.

Patton lay unmoving under the cream sheets, only the faintest rise and fall of his chest showing that he was alive. His curls were falling in his face, a plain blue t-shirt covering his chest-but as Virgil stepped closer to the side of the bed and tugged the covers down slightly, he could see the bloodstained bandages underneath. Wincing, he replaced the covers.

The silence filled the room as Virgil stood there, listening to the faint sound of Patton’s breathing and taking his freckled hand from where it lay beside him on the bed. But eventually, he did have to step away.

Virgil headed straight to his room, leaving Logan to shut and lock the door, kicking off his shoes and burying himself under his comforter. It was too cold without Roman.

He slipped into sleep soon after.

It was not a quiet sleep.

Also, we have a new Locked Heart Discord server!! Here’s a link that doesn’t expire, unlike the post I made about it, that was my bad XD

https://discord.gg/Fm6xZJM click to yell at us

Locked Heart Tags: @why-things-go-boom @altruistic-skittles @phantomofthesanderssides @soft-transboy @justanormalfoot @residentanchor @non-binaryemo @phlying-squirrel @shy-writing-life-of-hell @lucifer-in-my-head @forsakethegodsbeforetheydoyou @dragonheart905 @astral-eclipse @thatpinkpony59 @sleepyssnail @unipugsat221b @septic-fallen @cyberpunkjinx @ultimate-queen-of-fandoms2 @kaileah-kat @childhood-wishes-and-dreams @punsterterry @fantazyiskey @spaceviolett @anxiousvirgil0 @radioactivehelena @faithfulcat111 @that-random-fangirl @squidthesyd1174 @the-blue-belle @4amanxiety @rosesisupposes @9-patton-punchlines @ilylogan @nirascharacterdump @i-have-n0-idea-what-im-d0ing @ab-artist @bubblycricket @illogicaldeath @impromptu-sanity @wildhorsewolf @logicalerror @everyday-emo-stuff @belongstotrash @downrightdanny @cookiethedevil @awkwardcat @hatethesinlovethesinner92 @theultimatemomfriend @the-office-cat @ierindoodles @buckydeangirl91

[adoseofyukiya]

Pair (with shared tomorrows)

As promised, here’s the day 2 of my Kise Ryouta birthday countdown~ Still taken from the same prompt. Though this time its three from the list. It became three in one instead of two, I guess.

#22 Muffled, from the other side of the door, #3 a scream and #15 loud, so everyone can hear

I’m still gonna mention these awesome people who have been supporting my writing and has really inspired a lot, @vanilladaydreams22 and @digimondestined. These two love AoKIse almost just as much as I do so let’s fangirl together!

Ate, this has two of your choices so it should compensate enough for the pretty tears from the last one. And this shouldn’t make you cry anymore. At least not as much?  ☆⌒(≧▽​° )

Caaaat~ I’m so glad you’re choice got in time for this one. I can never get enough of your compliments and talking with you really makes my day so I hop this one will make yours. And this one’s in Ao’s POV~  ♡ ～('▽^人)

Kise was avoiding Aomine. He shrugged it off initially when the blond didn’t ask him for a one-on-one that one afternoon chalking it up to Kise’s modelling job. Then the next day, when Daiki personally went to the blond’s classroom during lunch break to ask him on a brief one-on-one, he was refused giving him an excuse about studying for a quiz next period. Then during the club practice, Kise markedly stayed far from Daiki. A phenomenon which was obviously noted by the team given just how much the blond usually clung to their ace. Satsuki’s meddling self even pointedly told him to apologize for what he did. This irregular behaviour continued for three days and now Daiki was at his wit’s end in figuring what he did wrong.

For the life of him, he can’t figure out what he could’ve done wrong to make the blond avoid him this long. It has gone as far as the blond actually running away whenever Daiki was around to confront him.

Daiki knows that Kise was never a logical person. He’s the type to rely on his emotions which was Daiki’s weak point. And thus obviously the main reason why he’s having a hard time figuring out the blond.

“Arrgh!” Daiki grunted as he rubbed both hands through his hair as an evident sign of exasperation.

“Have you finally gone mad, Aomine?” a familiar serious voice asked. Daiki turned his head so fast, he almost got a whiplash. Scowling, he greeted the person, “Midorima. What are you doing here?”

Daiki saw that his teammate was carrying yet one of his odd ‘lucky items.’ This time, it was a stuffed yellow fox. He scowled even deeper when the damned lucky item made him remember the source of his headache.

“The rooftop is for everyone,” replied Midorima straightforwardly. It was only then that Daiki realized that his feet took him up to the rooftop. Normally, the place would be littered with students especially this time when its lunch break but the threatening gloom of rain probably prompted them to stay indoors, which normally would what Daiki would’ve done had he not been distracted with the dilemma in the form of Kise Ryouta.

Come to think of it, even Midorima would normally stay indoors, too. What could’ve pressed the straight-laced Midorima to break his routine? “Why are you here?” Daiki asked again facing his teammate.

“Kise’s being an idiot more than usual.”

The words immediately piqued Daiki’s interest. “What did you mean by being ‘more idiotic than usual’?”

“He’s been pestering me about his own problems.” Midorima pushed his glasses up his nose as he replied. “About what?” persisted Daiki.

“It’s –“ Midorima started but upon realizing whom he was speaking with, he paused for a second then continued, “nothing important.”

“Tell me, anyway.” Daiki closed in towards his teammate. Midorima stood his ground meeting Daiki’s scowling gaze. Before Midorima could say another word, the bell rang.

Midorima skirted away from Daiki’s crowding presence and went towards the exit door. “At least tell me why he’s avoiding me.” He heard Daiki say, resignation lacing his voice.

“It’s his birthday soon. And I don’t want him angry with me on that day.” Midorima looked straight to Daiki’s navy blue eyes as if searching for something. He continued towards the door but paused before turning the knob and said, “Kise is weak against you. Just wait for him.”

As soon as Daiki heard the door close he whispered to the wind, “Stupid Ryouta. You’re going to ruin my plans.”

It’s been two days since Midorima told him to be wait. And Daiki definitely did his best to be patient no matter how it chaffed his nerves to see Kise hanging on to Midorima for the past two days. It also didn’t help that Kise’s annoying fans have been showering him with gifts the whole day. It was already the end of their classes yet the gift giving doesn’t seem to end.

As soon as the bell rang, Daiki headed straight to Kise’s class. He was determined to drag the blond away in case the crowd hasn’t subsided. To his surprise though, Daiki found Ryouta alone in the classroom when he arrived there.

Kise seemed unaware of his presence as the blond tried to gently cram the innumerable gifts he received into a paper bag. It was at times like this that Daiki can really see how much Kise appreciated his fans. Had it been Daiki, he would’ve been fed up with all the attention a long time ago. But Daiki knew that Kise was different.

He remembered that he asked a similar question to the blond before to which he simply answered, “Of course I get tired, Aominecchi. But it is their support that allowed me to reach where I am today. No matter the bad things I might experience because of them, I know the nice ones still outnumber the bad.” Then he gave Daiki that stupidly dazzling smile of his. The kind of smile reserved for people Kise really cared about.

Daiki must’ve made a sound or something because Kise suddenly looked up to his direction. He gave out a startled gasp then whispered, “Aominecchi.”

“Let’s talk, Kise. Enough of this skirting around. Whatever it is that I did, I’m sorry. There now, you know that I don’t apologize just to anyone.” Kise didn’t reply. He simply looked at Daiki with watchful eyes which should’ve warned him of the blond’s next action. Kise suddenly dashed towards the other exit of the room at full speed. Shoving carelessly chairs and tables out of the way. Damn, he’s fast.

Daiki, being another athlete and one that is faster than the blond was ready to catch up in a second. “Kise, wait. Stop! I swear when I get my hands to you, I’ll –“ shouted Aomine as he dashed towards the blond who headed up the stairs.

Daiki ended up cornering Kise in the rooftop who continued to refuse Daiki’s insistence to listen to him. In fact, it seemed to Daiki that the blond was scared to the point that tears were pooling on his golden eyes. And it pained Daiki even more to realize that the blond was scared of him.

He had enough. Kise was really being irrational. He suddenly lunged for the blond but the other was ready for him. Kise darted past Daiki and ran towards the exit. Daiki immediately ran back towards the door and was able to reach just enough to slip a small box inside before it completely closed.

Kise was pulling the door close while Daiki was doing the opposite. Daiki thought he’d be able to overpower the other easily but Kise was surprisingly strong. He might have a girly face but Kise is still a guy after all.

“Kise, open the door. Come on. You know that you’re dead once I get to you, right?” grunted Daiki as they continued to struggle against one another. A muffled shriek was heard at the door. “Come on, Aominecchi. Just let go.”

“I wont!” forcefully replied Daiki. “I gave you space already just like what Midorima said and now I’ve had enough.” Daiki was angry now. He was done trying to understand the blond. It’s time to do this his way. And he’ll use force if necessary.

“Mi –Midorimacchi, told you?” tentatively asked the blond still clutching the knob hard. “What did he say?”

“He told me to wait for you. He had the gall to tell me that you’re weak against me.” A bitter chuckle was heard by the blond from the other side of the door.

Tentatively, the blond asked, “And you actually followed him?”

“Obviously. Why else would I have stayed away from you these past two days? Apparently, he’s wrong though. You’re clearly fine without me.”

The two of them were quiet for almost a whole minute when a loud sigh was heard from the blond. “Fine.”

“I’ll talk with Aominecchi,” whispered the blond to which Daiki almost didn’t catch if it weren’t for his proximity to the door. It also helped that they almost have the same heights even through the door. Daiki tried to pull the door towards him again but the blond continued to hold it tightly.

“Stay there. I –I’ll talk with Aominecchi here, through the door. Promise me not to open it, okay? Or else I’ll simply run again.”

Daiki scowled at the door wishing the blond could see just how much his patience was wearing thin. He had to take a deep breath to calm his temper. “Fine, then. Talk.”

Daiki slowly felt the tension in the door ease indicating that the blond was letting it go. He was tempted to simply yank it open and shake the blond senseless but refrained from doing it knowing that the blond must’ve been as strained as him already if the tears he’s seen and the shaky voice were to go by.

The door gave a rattle as the blond probably sat down leaning against it. Daiki did the same so they were back to back each other, leaning against the door.

“How long have we known each other, Aominecchi?” began the blond. Daiki scowled, confused about the question but he still gave his answer. “Almost two years. We’re even graduating soon.”

“Right. Two years. And it’s not even a whole two years yet. It’s probably only a measly a year and a half at most.”

“Cut the bull, Kise. Get straight to the point. What it is that I did to you? Why’d you avoid me?” Daiki’s voice was markedly angry and slightly resigned.

Another silence. Then the blond hesitantly began, “Does –does Aominecchi remember what happened last Monday?”

“Monday? I don’t really remember doing anything to you that day. I think I only saw you during club activities that day,” Daiki replied, confused as to where the blond was going with this.

“I know. What happened has nothing to do with me.” Daiki heard a sad note in the blond’s speech and it bothered him a lot.

“I don’t understand, Kise. I’m not a mind reader. You know I’m not good in remembering things much less events.” Especially ones where you’re not involved. Daiki silently added in his mind. He was quite sure he’d remember whatever happened had it involved Kise.

“A girl confessed to Aominecchi.” Then, Daiki did remember. A first year did confess to him that day, not that he recalled much though. It was mean of him to do but Daiki was only half listening to the girl’s words back then especially he was on his way to club practice.

He was about to reply when Kise continued, “And I followed you. It was only out of curiosity at the beginning. You know, just so I can rib you about it later.”

“It turns out that the joke’s on me though.” The blond chuckled bitterly. “I don’t understand, Kise. So what if you saw a girl confess to me. It’s not like I accepted her.”

“Right. But does Aominecchi remember your response to her confession?”

Daiki thought hard about it then replied, “I told her that I’m not interested because I have basketball and I’m busy. Or something like that, I guess.”

“No. Well, you did say something like that to her but she continued to pester you and she didn’t want to give up. Then, what did you tell her to make her stop?” prompted the blond.

“I –I told her that I already have someone I like.” Daiki slowly replied the memory finally being recalled in his mind.

“Then, was it true? Does Aominecchi really have someone he likes?”

Daiki considered lying for a second but he realized that there was no point in it anyway. Not anymore, especially with what he has planned.

“Yes.” Then Daiki remembered the mess that has led them to this point and his annoyance colored his voice.

“And what has that got to do with you avoiding me and clinging to Midorima of all people?”

“Because there is no way I can consult with anyone else,” shot back the blond exasperatedly. It didn’t make sense to Daiki but the blond continued, “Kurokocchi and Momocchi are both too close to you. Murasakibaracchi would be totally useless about it and I shudder to think on what Akashicchi might do if I ever asked him about it.”

“So the only one left is Midorimacchi. And Midorimachi’s smart, too so I do think that he’d be able to help me a lot.”

Daiki only became even more confused as he continued to listen to the blond. “Help you with what?” asked Daiki bitingly. Kise was a dense idiot most of the time but Daiki thinks that he was really pushing it this time. Why can’t this airhead get straight to the damned point?

Daiki heard the blond mumble over the door and was having a hard time catching his words. He caught words like, ‘realized something’ and ‘breaking friendship’ and other things that he can’t make out clearly.

That’s it. I’ve had enough. Daiki banged the door hard which startled the blond on the other side. “Quit mumbling, idiot! Tell me it to me straight. You won’t even face me head on. So can’t you at least tell me clearly!?” Daiki was almost shouting by the time he finished speaking.

“I realized that I didn’t want Aominecchi liking someone else! That I see Aominecchi as more than a friend. And that I want you all for myself!” shouted Kise back. Then the volume suddenly dropped and the blond mumbled again.

Daiki got closer and tried to catch the words. He was getting frantic but excited at the same time. He was unable to supress the smile that was plastered in his face right now. More than ever, Daiki was pissed to this damned door.

“Kise, speak more clearly,” gently coaxed Daiki trying to mask the excitement in his voice.

The blond remained quiet then. Daiki was about to plead again when the blond finally spoke. “I like you, Aominecchi.” The blond’s voice was almost shaking as he uttered the words. “More than a friend.”

The words were still muffled by the damned door but this time Daiki heard them quite clearly. Daiki remained silent trying to digest the words he heard and the smile on his face just bloomed even more.

“I –I’m sorry, Aominecchi. You must be grossed out, right? Just forget about it.” Daiki heard the blond whisper almost brokenly on the other side.

No, no, no. Stupid Daiki. You can’t possibly let go of this chance. His silence must’ve been terrifying for the blond and interpreted it wrongly.

“No, no! Wait, Kise! Do –do you see a box over there? A blue one?” Daiki frantically asked.

He heard some shuffling on the other side then a shaking voice was heard, “The one with a yellow ribbon?”

“Yes!” rejoiced Aomine but paused when he realized what was wrong with the blond. “Wait. Are you crying?”

“No! Stupid Aominecchi! I only got my heart broken how could I possibly cry!?” shouted angrily by the blond.

“You don’t understand. You idiotic blondie! Open the damned box so you’ll know my answer.”

Daiki was unable to see the blond but he knows what the blond will see inside the box. Inside it was a lone navy blue hoop earring.

“Normally, people would give rings to symbolize forever but I don’t think it really suits us. At least for now. Earrings always come in pairs and that’s what you are to me. The other half.” whispered Daiki a little embarrassed with his words. He waited for the blond’s reply. He was sorely tempted to finally open the door but Daiki hesitated ‘cause he can’t gauge the blond’s reaction without seeing or hearing him.

“I don’t believe you.” Daiki doubted what he heard at first but when the words were repeated for the second time, his temper flared to an all time high. “I don’t believe you, Aominecchi.”

He yanked the door open and he was faced by a messy Kise. His eyes and nose were red from crying. His eyes were full of doubt but hope was clearly seen there no matter how hard the blond tried to suppress it.

Daiki badly wanted to shake the blond senseless for his idiocy or maybe kiss him silly to give his point across but he controlled himself hearing Tetsu’s voice in his head.

“Kise-kun will probably not believe Aomine-kun that easily. For all his confidence, Kise-kun can be quite insecure when it comes to what others feel towards him. So Aomine-kun must say loudly and clearly. The kind where he won’t be able to argue at all.”

Daiki then made a decision. “Fine, stupid Kise. I’ll show you instead.”

He walked away from the blond towards the edge of the rooftop. The blond gave an alarmed shriek when Daiki began climbing the fence that surrounded the roof.

“Aominecchi! What do you think you’re doing!?” shouted the blond as he ran towards Daiki.

Daiki already reached the top of the fence and was hanging on to it using both hands by the time the blond arrived below him. Down below, Daiki saw students that littered around the school grounds, some on their way home, others were doing club activities. “I’m proving to you that I like you.”

Before the blond could say anything, Daiki took a deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Aomine Daiki. Third year, Teiko Middle School. Member of the basketball club. I like boobs. And I do think that girls are indeed cute and nice and that boys are not my taste!”

Daiki saw that the students began to look up to the roof and were now pointing at him. This should be good enough. “BUT there is a single exception! The only one! Kise Ryouta, I like you! No, scratch that. I LOVE YOU! Will you go out with me!?”

Daiki scrambled to get down when he saw the blond crouch down crying loudly. He knelt down to the blond and coaxed him to look up.

“Stupid! Stupid, Aominecchi! You’re so embarrassing! Now the whole school knows!”

Daiki gently wiped the tear stains off Kise’s face and cradled the other’s face on both hands making him look at him straight. “You haven’t answered my question, Kise.”

“Stupid, Aominecchi! Of course, it’s a yes!” The blond was red faced, tears staining his face but to Daiki he has never seen the blond more beautiful especially seeing the twinkle in those golden eyes and the smile that was blooming in his face.

It was then that Daiki felt like everything fall into its place and he was content. “Here.” The blond gestured for Daiki’s hands. Opening his hands to the blond, Daiki saw him drop the earring to his palm. “Put it on for me.”

“Gladly.” Daiki was grinning from ear to ear as he deftly removed Kise’s old earring and replaced it with the new one.

“Where’s its pair?” he heard the blond asked as Daiki was leaning away after finishing putting the earring. Daiki reached out under his shirt through his neck and pulled out a necklace that has been hanging on his neck for a week now. And there it was, hanging on the end of the necklace was the missing pair of the one Kise has on his ear.

“I haven’t got time to get my ear pieced cause I’ve been running around trying to find out what’s wrong with a certain blond I know,” teased Daiki.

A cute pout was immediately seen in the blond’s face and Daiki was almost tempted to kiss it away so he did.

It was a mere brush of the lips and lasted only a second but the gentleness in there spoke words that were understood only by the two of them. Their foreheads leaning to one another, Daiki whispered, “Happy birthday, Ryouta.”

A beautiful smile bloomed in the blond’s face as he whispered back his thanks. He was then the one to lean first to initiate another kiss. This time one that lasted far longer than a second.

And it was that moment that sealed their partnership. One that lasted until Daiki was finally able to replace the earring with a ring to Ryouta’s left finger. And even until a time that wasn’t quite a forever but a time of shared tomorrows by a pair that are bounded as one.

The MidoKise is totally self indulgent. I consider these two to be good friends somewhere deep in the canon. Really deep.

This time is a Teiko!AoKise~ My first story, Anomaly, is similar but not quite the same.

I haven’t started with the next one yet! I wonder if I’d make it in time for tomorrow. Do your best, me!!!