#at least a little bit. ALSO ALSO LET'S ALL CLAP AND CHEER FOR HER SCARS AND HER DIMPLES BC I LOVE THEM

[deadrlngers]

she’s waiting for the bestie (miss panam) ♡

[rosiesung]

7 Days || Y.JW

for @geminirules "Just Friends" collab

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Pairing: Jungwon x Fem!Reader

Genre: Fluff, Slight Angst, Friends to Lovers AU

Words: 3.63k

Warnings: Reader calls Jungwon a dick.

Synopsis: You are dared to pretend to be in a relationship with your best friend Jungwon. Initially, you go through with the childish challenge, knowing it will be insignificant to your friendship. But as the days pass, you begin to realise your true feelings for him. Will your revelations ruin your friendship? Or will something beautiful blossom because of them?

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"I dare you to pretend like you're dating Jungwon for a whole week."

You looked at your best friend with wide eyes, a similar expression of surprise on his face. There was no way you were going to do that. It would be way too awkward.

"Come on y/n. Don't be a party pooper. It's not like you guys are going to fall in love."

Of course things wouldn't turn out that way. No matter what, nothing would change the way you saw Jungwon. He would always remain your best friend and nothing more.

Jungwon looked too embarrassed to say anything. Both of you knew it was just a dare. What was the worst that could happen?

"Fine. Starting tomorrow Jungwon's my unofficial-official boyfriend," you announced, linking your arm with his. Jungwon hid his face in his hands as everyone around you screamed and cheered. This was going to be one interesting week.

~

☀︎ DAY 1 ☀︎

Since you only had to put on a show in front of your friends, you figured the best thing to do would be to hang out with Jungwon in solitude. He didn't have a problem with your plan. You both had been having playdates together ever since you were three. He was comfortable being alone with you.

Both of you met at your secret spot. A small grove behind the schoolyard. It was a place the two of you had found while skipping classes one day. Ever since then, this was where you spent time together whenever you needed some peace and quiet.

"I can't believe you actually agreed to this," Jungwon said, mindlessly plucking the grass he laid on. You sighed, staring at the row of trees beyond. "A dare's a dare. Besides, we have nothing to worry about because we don't have feelings for each other."

Jungwon sat up. "You know that we can't avoid all of them for the entire week right? They're literally planning to hang out at the cafe just so they can see us in the act." He sounded worried. There was no need to be.

"Of course I know that. So what? We'll let them see what they want to. It's not like they're going to make us kiss or something. The most we'll do is feed each other and hold hands."

Unlike Jungwon, you had already thought everything out. You knew how far to go while respecting the boundaries of your friendship. All Jungwon had to do was trust you.

He cringed in disgust at your words. "You're going to pay for landing me in this mess. We've barely even started and I already feel so miserable."

You patted his shoulder, flashing him an assuring smile. "You're not alone in your miser mister. After this is over, I'll do all your homework for you."

Jungwon laughed. "Learn how to do your own first. Then you can come and ruin mine."

~

☀︎ DAY 2 ☀︎

As Jungwon had predicted, your friends called you out to the cafe. Both of you were supposed to show up together. Jungwon met you a block away from the cafe, looking incredibly reluctant. "Are you sure you want to do this," he asked, just about ready to turn back around.

There was a determined look in your eyes. "Remember when he had to play Hansel and Gretel's parents for that play we did in preschool?" Jungwon nodded. He could never forget that day. "If we managed to get through that, we can get through this without a problem."

That made sense. Appreciative of your pep talk, Jungwon took your hand and whisked you away to the cafe.

By the time you reached your destination, both your hands were sweaty. Jungwon was just as nervous as you were. Not only because you had to pretend like you were dating, but also because your friends weren't going to miss the opportunity to tease you.

Seeing you two enter hand in hand, everyone began hooting and cheering. Jungwon's cheeks flushed almost immediately. You had to drag him towards the table you were supposed to sit at. "It's nice to see you two arriving together," one of your friends said, making space for you.

Taking a seat, you watched in horror as they placed a glass of juice with two straws in front of you both. No one had to explain what its purpose was. You glanced at Jungwon whose eyes were fixated on the glass hesitantly.

"If we get this over with now we'll be at peace," you whispered, leaning forward to place one of the straws between your lips. You looked away when Jungwon did the same, feeling the heat in his face on your cheek. You were certain you had never downed a drink so fast in your life. It didn't take long for you to finish the contents of the glass, quickly sitting back up to catch your breath. Your friends couldn't seem to get enough of the event, laughing and clapping avidly.

"You guys are so cute," some said. "Both of you would make such a nice couple in reality," said others.

Sitting there amongst your terribly evil friends, you wondered how you were going to get through the next five days with Jungwon.

~

☀︎ DAY 3 ☀︎

Your friends had invited you to another escapade at the park. You couldn't tell what they had in plan this time but you were sure it wasn't going to be enjoyable. At least this time, you and Jungwon didn't have to show up hand in hand.

When you reached the park, Jungwon was already there. Your friends beckoned you over, making you stand next to him.

"Now that our subjects have arrived, here's your to-do list. First, remain holding hands the entire time we are here. Second, Jungwon, give y/n your jacket if she starts feeling cold. Third, walk her back home and make sure you give her a nice, sweet little kiss before she goes inside."

Jungwon let out a noise of surprise. He wanted to run as far as he could and never come back. Holding your hand was fine. He had gotten used to it because of the previous day. He didn't mind giving you his jacket, but you were already wearing one so he didn't see why he would find the need to. Jungwon could do many things. But kissing you was not one of them. It didn't matter if it was on your cheek, your forehead, or the back of your hand, because there was no way on earth that he would bring his lips anywhere near yours.

What neither of you realized was that your friends were willing to go to the farthest lengths to make sure you went through with their tasks. They made you two walk in front of them so that they could see your hands intertwined. When the sun went down and the air started getting colder, they made you take your jacket off so that Jungwon would be left with no choice but to give you his. Just when it seemed like your night of torture would come to an end, they even made you share a single cone of ice cream. When it was finally time to go home, two of your friends followed behind you to make sure that Jungwon did his bidding. It was awkward enough walking through your neighborhood hand in hand. Those who knew you cast looks of confusion and surprise upon you two. Eventually, you reached your doorstep. Jungwon let go of your hand, standing in front of you. He looked everywhere but at you, avoiding your gaze. You glanced behind your shoulder, rolling your eyes when you saw your two friends filming you from behind your neighbor's car. They weren't even attempting to be discrete.

"Hurry up and kiss me already. This is too embarrassing," you urged, slapping Jungwon's arm. He sucked in a breath, pressing his lips in a thin line. "Do you think it's not for me? I mean, I'm the one who has to kiss you for heaven's sake."

"Stop pitying yourself and just get on with it. The longer we stand here the more reason they'll have to punish us tomorrow."

Jungwon stared at you long and hard. He squeezed his eyes shut and leaned forward, pressing his lips onto yours without a second thought. You froze, eyes going so wide they might have popped out of your head. Even though it was probably only for two seconds, it felt like an eternity. Time froze as you stood in the foreign feeling of his lips on yours. He pulled away almost immediately, skipping down your driveway as fast as he could with a short wave and 'good night'. Still stunned, you entered your home, breaking into a smile when you closed the door.

~

☀︎ DAY 4 ☀︎

The next day, Jungwon asked you to meet him at your secret spot. So far, your friends hadn't made any plans to get you together. You saw Jungwon sitting in the middle of the grove, laying down on the damp grass as he usually did. Walking over, you sat down beside him, flicking his forehead so that he would open his eyes.

He grinned on seeing you, sitting up with a soft groan. "So, how was your night?"

You furrowed your brows at the question. It wasn't like him to ask you things like that. But you decided to overlook it. Maybe he was still feeling a bit awkward after the kiss you both hard shared the previous night.

You shrugged. "It was fine. How was yours?"

"I couldn't sleep," he revealed. It sounded like he'd been dying to tell you. "Why's that," you asked, believing that you had an idea of the reason.

"Last night scarred me," Jungwon shared, pretending to gag. You didn't know why, but hearing him say that made your heart sink. Suddenly, you felt horrible. "Was it really that bad," you asked, genuinely curious to know what he thought of it. Jungwon nodded, making you feel even worse. "It was worse than I thought it would be," he added. Your eyes started stinging. A lump formed in your throat and the longer you held it back, the more it hurt. You knew you hadn't been eager to kiss him, but you would argue about how 'bad' it was. But bringing that up right now would just be stupid. Jungwon would misunderstand where you were coming for and that would just lead to another disaster entirely. You had told yourself that you weren't going to let this dare get to you, but four days in you were already slipping. The longer you sat there, listening to Jungwon whine and complain about everything he'd had to do with you so far, the harder it became to control your emotion. Not able to take it anymore, you got up abruptly and ran away, leaving Jungwon sitting there extremely puzzled.

~

☀︎ DAY 5 ☀︎

You didn't respond to any of Jungwon's calls or texts. You didn't have it in you to face him. He would be disappointed if he found out the real reason behind your sappy mood. So you were gonna wait till you got over it before facing him.

You still couldn't believe that you had been so affected by Jungwon saying that he hated the kiss. Despite telling yourself that you disliked it too, you couldn't help but think otherwise. There was something so magical about it. You had never felt that way because of a kiss before. Whenever you thought back to it, an exciting warmth rippled through your mind. Your heart danced in glee and a wide smile formed on your lips.

But you weren't supposed to feel that way. Jungwon was your best friend. Besides, he hadn't kissed you willingly. You didn't understand why it felt so special to you when it clearly meant nothing to him. You knew you couldn't blame him for that. His mind was wired to see you as nothing more than a friend. You found it hilarious. Here you were, realizing that you probably liked your best friend after having continuously assured yourself and him that something like that would never happen. The sad part was that Jungwon would never reciprocate your feelings. You were all alone in this.

A knock sounded at your window, startling you. Slipping out of your reverie, you glanced towards it, eyes widening in surprise when you saw Jungwon crouched before it. You didn't think twice before letting him in. He entered your room and stood in front of you, crossing his arms over his chest. "You wanna explain what happened yesterday?"

You frowned and turned away shoulders slouching disinterestedly. "Is that what you came here for," you asked, regretting letting him in?

"Well did I have a choice? You've been blatantly ignoring me while all I've been trying to do is make sure you're alright," he said, stepping closer to you.

"I'm fine. If that's all you needed to hear, you can leave now," you replied. You didn't need him prying and prodding at you right now.

Jungwon stood his ground, clearly not satisfied with your answer. "No, you're not y/n. You aren't fine. Tell me what's bothering you."

You sighed and faced him. "Trust me, you wouldn't want to know."

Jungwon furrowed his brows. He didn't know what that meant. "I think I'll be the judge of that."

"It's you. You're bothering me," you spoke, narrowing your eyes at him. Jungwon hadn't been expecting that. But he didn't let the surprise show on his face. "What did I do?"

"You made me feel so worthless and undesirable. But that's not your fault. I can't blame you because you're right to think that way about me. I'm just pitying myself here and there's nothing you can do about it so please, just leave me alone." The tears were coming back again. You didn't want to break down in front of Jungwon. His face fell. He didn't know what to say to that. He thought you knew he was just being overdramatic. He seriously hadn't meant to hurt you. Before he could apologize, you turned to him. "I don't think I'll be good at keeping this a secret, so let me just tell you that I'm starting to catch feelings for you. If that makes you uncomfortable then you can leave. If you have something to say, just say it and go. But don't ask me why I feel the way I do because that's something I'm yet to figure out."

Jungwon was at a loss for words. He stood there, gaping at you like an open-mouthed fish before turning on his heel and exiting through your bedroom door. You heard your mother yelp on seeing him, probably wondering where he had shown up from. A part of you wished that he hadn't left, but the other was glad that he was gone. You felt like a fool for letting all of this happen. You should have never agreed to this dare. Who would have thought it would lead to something like this? There was nothing you could do now. There was no way you could change the way you felt. Because at the end of the day, it was as clear as ever, that you were undeniably in love with your best friend Yang Jungwon.

~

☀︎ DAY 6 ☀︎

Jungwon couldn't stop thinking about everything you had told him yesterday. He would never have imagined that you would catch feelings, especially through such a childish dare. Your friends had called you out to the park again today, but Jungwon wasn't going to go. He knew you wouldn't be there so there was no point. He wished he could tell you that he hadn't meant half the things he'd said about the kiss at the grove that day. He was just trying to show you that the kiss hadn't made him feel some type of way. Not just that, but he was also attempting to persuade himself that he indeed had loathed it. Maybe he should have been truthful instead of lying about it.

This was exactly what he'd been afraid of. Jungwon was always fond of you. He cared for you and he wouldn't lie when he said that he loved you. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that maybe he felt that way because he thought of you as more than a friend. Jungwon didn't want to convince himself that he liked you just because you had confessed to him. He wanted to understand the way he truly felt about you.

He knew every little thing about you. No one knew you as well as he did. Jungwon cherished your friendship and the time he spent with you. Whenever anything bugged him, he always came to you, knowing that you were the only person who could make things better. He relied on you more than anyone else. He couldn't go a day without speaking to you. After yesterday, he realized how important you were to him. The fear of losing you ate at him the longer he stayed away from you.

Jungwon hated knowing that you were sad. It hurt more to know that he was the reason behind it. He wanted nothing more than to hug you and apologize for making you feel bad. He felt guilty for everything he had done. It had only been a couple hours since he had last spoken to you, but it felt longer. He missed you so much.

So he left you a text, asking you to meet him at your secret spot. He kept his phone close, waiting till you replied. But you didn't. You probably wanted nothing to do with him. Nonetheless, he still hoped and prayed that you would give him one last chance to make things right again. He couldn't afford to lose someone as special as you. There was nothing for him if he didn't have you.

~

☀︎ DAY 7 ☀︎

Jungwon laid in the grass, staring at the dull sky above. It was filled with clouds, hiding the sun. The grove felt so big and endless when he was alone. When he was with you, it was much more cozy and bright, even if the atmosphere was gloomy.

He had been waiting for you for quite a long time now. You hadn't replied to his message last night, but he knew you had seen it. Just before he was about to lose hope, he heard the grass crunch a few feet away from him. Jungwon didn't have to look to know it was you. No one else knew the path to get here.

"What do you want," you asked, voice small but laced with malice. You were cross with him. Jungwon wished to change that today. He patted the space next to him. "Let's not pretend like we hate each other. You could do the worst thing to me but I'd still admire you."

You didn't argue and sat down beside him. Other than the tension in the air, everything felt normal. There was a scowl on your face. It must have taken a lot of convincing for you to come here. Jungwon needed to get to the point.

"I'm sorry about everything I said. I didn't even mean half of those things."

You scoffed. "Oh really? They sounded pretty heartfelt to me."

Jungwon sat up. "I was just trying to enforce the idea that I wasn't into you, on myself," he revealed, hoping that you would forgive him. "And being a dick was the only way you could do that? Jungwon, you weren't the only one who was attempting to suppress their feelings," you refuted.

"I know y/n. And it's my fault for not realizing sooner," he admitted, hanging his head. You sighed and shook your head. "This is so immature. I can't believe we're letting a stupid dare get in the middle of our friendship."

Jungwon chuckled darkly. "Maybe it's a sign that our friendship has run its course."

You turned to him. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Jungwon smiled. "I gave it some thought yesterday. We're both attempting to be in denial of our feelings. Obviously, that isn't working out. If it wasn't for this dare, they would've remained buried deep down somewhere. But I guess you could say everything happens for a reason." He took your hand in his, intertwining your fingers. "I never realized how much I loved this feeling until I had to go a whole two days without it."

You couldn't even hide your smile. "Where is this going Jungwon?"

"Maybe we should give this a chance. Give us a chance. Who knows? It could turn out the be the best thing that's ever happened to us," he said, meeting your eyes.

"And what if it doesn't? We would be throwing so many years of friendship away."

Jungwon shook his head. "How long are we supposed to contradict how we truly feel about each other? That would take a heavier toll on us."

You laughed, squeezing his hand. "It doesn't hurt to try I guess."

Jungwon beamed. "That's the spirit!" It felt nice to see you smiling at him again. He was grateful for that. It was funny how a large part of his mood depended on you. If you were happy, he was happy. If you were sad, he was sad. His entire world revolved around you, and Jungwon knew the best thing to do was strengthen that bond.

"So, will you be my girlfriend," he asked, smiling cheekily. You bit your lip, looking at him through your lashes. "Of course I will."

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A/N: I hope you enjoyed reading this fic. Please let me know how you found it! Thank you so much!

[etherealluminescence]

The Now Dateables + Bros and MC who wears a face veil because they were cursed with an appearance everyone would immediately fall in love with. The face veil is so they know that their relationships are genuine and not because of their curse.

Asmo without the horny was my very first thought, but thank you for the ask! Here you go!!

I’m assuming it’s a regular face veil and not completely covered?? Like one of those lower face veils and for the sake of this, not transparent.

Also meant to post this awhile back but I guess I can’t do schedule releases correctly?? Man am I dumb.

Everyone reacting to GN!MC with a beauty curse

Before you were born, your parents had saved a witch who was struggling and in a lot of physical pain, after nursing her, she repaid their kindness by cursing (blessing?) all of their children to be extraordinarily beautiful, which sounded great at first, but you have come to learn that it wasn’t as great as it seemed.

Lucifer

When Lucifer chose you as the exchange student, it was noted you had a peculiar habit of wearing a veil, but he didn’t think much of it.

When you two become closer though, he’s kind of curious. Do you ever take it off? What’s it for? Are you self conscious, if so, that’s really stupid because he will still love you no matter what.

He’s blunt and asks you, so if you choose to tell him about the curse, he nods in acknowledgement, and asks if you want it removed.

You’re so shocked and he’s completely serious, he’s stronger than some witch, so he would be willing to help you out because he likes you.

If you say yes and show him your face he’s stunned for a second, but that’s only because of the curse, he understands now what you mean.

Is super prideful when you say you trust him to remove it, and how you think highly enough of him to even show him your face in the first place.

If you choose to keep it and still show your face to him, his ego is huge now, like even bigger than before. :))

Mammon

He thought you looked really stupid, not going to lie. Like why the hell are you wearing a face veil? Whatever. Probably tried to take it off or catch you without it on.

When you two makes a pact and become closer to him, he’s pretty curious about your face because he’s a model and has seen some pretty people, and you have gorgeous eyes.

Personal hype man because he gets the wrong idea at first, thinking you’re self conscious and he wants to see his human’s face.

At this point if you don’t believe he loves you for you, you’re kinda an oblivious monster, because he’s followed you like a lost puppy, protected you, and even genuinely wants to raise your self confidence.

So when you explain to him what’s up, and feel comfortable to show him your face he’s like !!! My human is literally the most gorgeous thing he’s seen. And then it strikes him he’s probably the first to see this outside of your family, too, and he’s so smug.

Won’t tell anyone about it if you tell him, he’s sad about it but will respect that you want a genuine friend. And then he’s super happy again because you think so highly of him.

Leviathan

Thinks you’re some cool person with a trouble past and now wears a veil to cover your scars from battle at first.

Wait? That’s not it? Lame. Will probably find it weird how you wear a face veil at first, and is curious to what you look like. Your eyes are really pretty, so why hide your face?

When he finds out it’s a curse he’s super interested again! My human wears a face veil to hide their curse from the world, sounds like some sort of anime plot. Will really want to see your face and will have puppy dog eyes, but ultimately it’s your choice.

If you choose to show him your face, he’s a blushing and stuttering mess, as if you didn’t just warn him? And he’s also just so surprised you agreed!!! Like you really trust him that much?! He is overwhelmed.

When you laugh and put your veil back on, he’s just standing there so confused? Like what just happened? He swears blood isn’t rushing out of his nose as he tells you that the curse worked okay.

Will definitely be jealous if you let other people see you without your veil on, he thinks he is special to you and that’s why you let him see it, so please don’t break his heart!

Satan

Satan really didn’t care at first, he may be a little curious, but it’s whatever, he’s met weirder people.

When you two are closer, he’s quite curious and asks, so if you tell him about the curse, he definitely wants to see.

He won’t pry to respect your privacy, but he totally understands now why your eyes are so pretty, and why you’re wearing the veil. But you can tell from his body language he wants to see your face.

Has a large amount of acquaintances and probably knows the witch as well, so when he finally sees your face, it was because of her. He invited you to meet an acquaintance of his, who just happened to be the witch your parents saved.

She’s gushing over you because she hadn’t seen you since you were a toddler, and asks to see your face if her curse worked, and how thankful she was to your parents.

When you take it off, telling Satan you trust him enough to let him see, Satan is a little surprised and bewildered by your beauty, he already liked you, but you were amazingly pretty.

The witch is clapping and so proud of her work, she asked how it’s been and if you say you want it removed, both she and Satan wouldn’t hesitate to help break it for you, because even if your curse make you look stunning, he’s attracted to you because you’re you.

Also he likes it when your face veil dangles and the cats coming to you try to smack at it with their little paws and play with you.

Asmodeous

Originally was a little uninterested in you because you didn’t show your face, and rejected his advances.

Also when you laughed at him when he said “Everyone is beautiful, so if you’re hiding scars, you can show me!” He thought you were mocking him, as he didn’t know of your curse.

It doesn’t matter at all though, because he eventually likes you with time, and is attracted to you even if he hasn’t seen your face properly, other than your pretty eyes.

When he gets close to you and finally finds out why, he’s just like oh!! I totally get it!! I’m so gorgeous I could cause a war over my beauty, so you’re the same, right?

Apologises for trying to make you take off your face veil before, but is obviously curious as to just how gorgeous you are. Probably won’t drag you to parties anymore if it makes you feel uncomfortable.

Also loves you a little bit more because he’s the same! He’s extremely gorgeous, sure, but he wants a genuine friend too who isn’t after his beauty, so you two can bond over that.

Beelzebub

This baby honestly didn’t notice at first, and if he did he just thought of it as a human thing maybe? Well whatever! You give him food and cuddles so he just loves you.

He will never pressure you to take it off and probably is the least curious out of everyone. He probably doesn’t even notice your eyes until one of his brothers points it out and he’s like “oh, yeah they are really pretty.”

If anyone tries to take your veil off of you or bullies you for it, Beel only needs to grab their wrist and they know to run away, Beel would protect you.

When you tell Beel about the curse, he’s concerned for you and asks how he can help you feel better, like the previous baby he is!

When you show him your unveiled face, his eyes widen for a second and his hunger dissipates a little, but he’s not going to make a big deal out of it since you said you wore one for that reason.

He munches on his food and acknowledged it, and says you look nice, but if you want it gone he could ask Lucifer for you. If you decline, he respects your wishes, and just treats you like his favourite regular human.

Belphegor

Tied between gives no shit and also you’re weird asf. He says he doesn’t care why you wear a face veil and it doesn’t matter, but also looks at you like you’re weird for always wearing one, even to naps.

Tried to take it off when the two of you were sleeping ones because the frantic was against his face and it annoyed him. He found another face veil underneath, and two more and just gave up.

Will be super blunt. “I don’t think you’re ugly, even if you wear a veil.” He thinks that you’re probably self-conscious, and this is his way of cheering you up.

You can only laugh and say it’s a curse that makes you really beautiful. Huh, that explains why you have nice eyelashes, he thought.

Now he just doesn’t care, he’s used to it. If you choose to show him your face, man will he flaunt it to Lucifer, like has Lucifer seen your face? No? What a fucking loser.

Is charmed by your face for a minute before regaining his senses and telling you that you’re a 6

Actually really appreciates you showing your face to him even after he kinda murdered you. Appreciates all the trust in him you have.

Will probably punch anyone who disrespects you for wearing a veil in the face, he always wakes up and chooses violence.

Diavolo

Not phased by it and finds it kinda cool, perhaps they chose an interesting human! How fun.

Though he is very curious about what you look like, he stares at your veil and you can feel it but he won’t admit it because he respects you.

You grow close to him quickly and he’s delighted!! And you can tell he’s a genuinely good person, so when you tell him about the curse he just laughs!

No wonder you’re such a great and respectable person, you take after your parents! Not many would pick up a stray and dying witch.

He asks you if it’s really that inconvenient, and offers to just break the curse for you! No problem.

If you choose to keep it, he respects that too, but hopes he can see more of your face, he wants to love each part of you, if you allow him too.

If anyone makes fun of you for making a veil he would punish them or probably start wearing a veil too, either one works.

Barbatos

The least bothered by it number two, if you want to wear a face veil be his guest, he already knew the other exchange student would be weird when he saw Solomon.

He doesn’t pressure you to take it off and sometimes you just genuinely feel like you’re not wearing a face veil with him because he never comments on it, he just treats you like a normal person.

If you choose to tell him about the curse he will listen while maintaining perfect eye contact, his eyes never once even drifting to the lower half of your face, how respectful.

He will offer to help remove the curse for you, or ask Master Diavolo to help you remove it, but it really is up to you.

When you show him your face he’s in awe for the slightest second and then is back to normal. You are extraordinarily stunning, yes, but he respects the fact that you hate it when people stare too long or fall in love by your looks.

Honestly you could stop wearing the face veil around him altogether and he’d still treat you like normal, he has drunk the whole can of respect MC juice.

Solomon

He wasn’t fazed in the slightest when he sees you walking around with a face veil. Maybe it’s just your thing? He’s been alive long enough to see many different human things.

It doesn’t take long for him to want to see your face though, he’s curious and may drop subtle hints, but it’s up to you to pick up on them and decide if he can see.

If you tell him it’s a curse, it would pique his curiosity more, but he won’t use force to get you to remove it. If you choose to remove it for him though, he’s going to tease you but secretly be ecstatic.

He’s in awe of just how beautiful and stunning you are, may forget to breathe for a second before commenting on what an effective curse it was! But tries to be polite and not make you uncomfortable by staring too long.

Will try to help you remove the curse if you don’t want it anymore! You have a gorgeous personality and that’s all that really matters at the end of the day!

If you choose to keep it he will also respect it, and if anyone harasses you for wearing a veil he can put an ugly curse on them to make them as ugly as their personalities.

Simeon

Wondered why you wore a veil, but respected you and your privacy, so didn’t ask about it in case it was a sensitive topic.

When you two grow closer you can just genuinely tell he’s a good person, he’s an angel after all! So when you confide to him about your curse, and tell him you want him to see your face he’s super honoured!

Acknowledges that you put a lot of trust into him, and won’t tell anyone without your permission, but you truly are a work of art. He quickly gets over it though and smiles, giving you a small compliment, before asking if you want some tea.

He steers the conversation away from your curse and tries to be really respectful and not try to stare in case you don’t like it, and it only makes you laugh.

Is happy to know he can make eye contact with you like always, you don’t mind, and appreciate his thoughtfulness.

Just overall very sweet and thoughtful of you! If anyone makes you uncomfortable about wearing a veil, or make comments will defend you!

[pillage-and-lute]

An Ever Fixed Mark (Part 3)

 Part 1 Part 2 (here) Part 4 Part 5 Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10,

Read it on Ao3 HERE

It’s back! The boys get hitched, and Geralt gets nervous. 

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Three days.

Three entire, fucking awful days until the wedding.

Geralt had paced in their quarters, he had paced in the halls, he had paced in the courtyard (after getting lost and pacing until a footman found him). He had taken Roach out for a ride and paced her.

It wasn’t just cold feet, pre wedding jitters, or the usual sort.

He was afraid for Jaskier, afraid for himself, and afraid of letting down witchers. If Jaskier became unhappy in their marriage the contract was void. Jaskier didn’t seem happy in Lettenhove but it was comfortable and he had plenty to eat and a warm place to sleep. Nice clothes. Like minded, well educated people. The list just kept getting longer.

Geralt had to keep him happy.

More than that, he’d have to keep him safe. The path was dangerous, no place for an Earl’s son who’d only known luxury. He understood Jaskier had been at Oxenfurt, so he must know something of the world, but only of the academic world. He’d studied literature and music, what good was that for a witcher’s companion?

He liked Jaskier. It would be hard not to. But would he like him on the Path, as a constant companion? Another person to look after, another mouth to feed? He liked Jaskier, but he also barely knew him. He knew he was young, thankfully unafraid of witchers, but could he fight? Would he do as he was told? 

And Geralt would be around him all the time. 

Geralt didn’t like being around anyone All. The. Time.

He needed space even at Kaer Morhen, sometimes disappearing into his room all day, or if the weather allowed just taking Roach into the forest for a day.

Eskel was beating the stiffness from Geralt’s muscles again, the evening of the day before the wedding, and said quietly, in between vertebrae numbing digs,

“You ever think all that worrying will be a self fulfilling prophesy?”

“Hmmm...OW Eskel the fuck!”

“Listen, first of all I didn’t even do it that hard. Geralt, you’re my brother, and I know you better than anyone. You get all trapped in your head, and you worry, ‘cause you don’t understand people. You think you’re different.”

“I am different.”

“Don’t interrupt me,” Eskel said, popping Geralt’s back with well placed pressure. “You’re different, okay. I don’t know what all they did to you with that extra trial. I don’t think Vesemir knows, really, no one does. But I remember you before, alright? You were like this before. It isn’t a bad thing, some people just don’t always get other people. Jaskier does though. Allow him to understand you, don’t try and understand him all at once.”

Eskel finished the massage with a truly bone-wrenching press. “I think you could be really good for each other, just don’t...don’t go and mess it up just because you think you shouldn’t have something good.”

“Hmmm.”

Geralt woke up on his wedding day feeling hungover, except he hadn’t been drunk last night. 

Eskel didn’t look well rested either, although he had a sort of stupid grin on his face. Mabel had been by a few times in the past days, and Eskel at least was having the time of his life. 

Judging by the scratch marks she’d left all down his back, she’d been having the time of hers as well. 

Geralt sunk into the bath, which had been tepid by the time the tub had been lugged up the stairs and servants had filled it with water. Igni took care of that, and Geralt sat and steamed behind a little standing wooden panel that the servants had also brought. 

The little modesty panel room divider had been a source of some amusement for the witchers. Body shyness was bred out of witchers before it had time to form. Lambert did comment, however, that it would be nice not to have to watch Geralt sit and cook in the bath like a boiling potato.

Rosewater had been put in the bath, not much, and it wasn’t a strong scent, but to witcher senses it was heady. 

Geralt scrubbed his hair. Then Vesemir scoffed and told him he was too gentle. Vesemir practically beat his scalp into submission.

Geralt had a gold doublet and he felt like a ponce. Lambert insisted that he couldn’t wear black to a wedding, and certainly not his own. Geralt wanted to protest, but he couldn’t, not really. None of the wolves were wearing black, and if the occasion had pried black from Vesemir, then it really was time for colors.

Lambert was in a mahogany brown-red, and looked almost dashing, if a little rougish. Eskel was in dark green, he looked good, too. If Maybel was serving at the wedding there would almost certainly be some appreciative remarks. Vesemir was wearing brown. If he couldn’t wear black, Geralt supposed a neutral color was the next best thing. 

It was still inexplicably a party brown. There was some quilting on the sleeves of the doublet done in a coppery thread and, all in all, Vesemir looked as festive as Geralt had ever seen him.

Geralt didn’t look festive, he looked like Midas had touched him, then, when apparently that wasn’t enough, covered him in glitter and embroidery. The wedding was to take place outside, and Geralt wondered if he wouldn’t blind people. Still, looking at the School of the Wolf, he thought he at least had a rather handsome entourage. 

His face was scrubbed and, short of the miraculous disappearance of a couple scars, he was as handsome as he could get. Lambert had pulled his hair back with a couple braids. Also, in Geralt’s opinion, poncy, but he’d seen a few of the other nobles in a similar style so perhaps he’d best leave it to fashion and not put up a fuss. 

They were lead by a footman, more a foot boy, with a face full of freckles and unfortunate ears, to a garden. It was probably a bower but Geralt didn’t know about horticulture. Trees had been planted and then twisted by someone dreadfully patient into a sort of cathedral of arching limbs. Spring meant flowers, and they were everywhere. The trees were the flowering sort, almond trees with fragrant blossoms. Delicate petals had fallen to the ground in a sort of pale carpet. Every time a breeze blew a few more drifted to the ground like spring snowflakes. Smaller, brighter flowers abounded near the edges of the manmade clearing. Their perfume was giving Geralt a headache, but he couldn’t blame the knee-knocking terror on them. 

Little stone benches had been arranged in rows, but were empty as of yet.  Vesemir sat in the position traditionally meant for the father of the groom. Eskel was best man, with Lambert beside him as the other groomsman. 

And they waited in silence, blossoms falling around them as Geralt’s knees turned progressively into liquid.

He felt sick.

He might throw up.

The image of stuffing his head into one of the bushes of pink and yellow roses and puking lurked threateningly in his head.

Lambert smirked at him unsympathetically. 

Ladies swept in, dusting petals from benches and hanging little baskets of flowers off the back of the benches. Geralt absently wondered what for, all the while fighting his roiling stomach.

He’d been too nervous to eat this morning, and now he was worried it would growl during the service, but if he ate now he’d vomit for sure.

His flower question was answered when a broomstick-thin lass came up to him with a basket in hand and nervously proffered a little twist of flowers. He took it, baffled. One of the funny pink and yellow roses, something purple, a bit of greenery, and a couple almond blossoms. He glanced at Vesemir, questioningly, who pointedly stuck the flowers in a decorative slit in his doublet. 

Next to him, another girl nudged the skinny, nervous one out of the way. He recognized Mabel. She gave him a cheerful grin.

“Switched places with Leeann for the day,” she whispered to Eskel. One of her hands slid slowly up his chest, wrapped in green silk. “And I’m so glad I did.” She stuck the boutonniere into the collar, his doublet lacking anywhere else, and sent him a wink that, in more conservative countries, got women jailed.

Past Eskel, the nervous girl was holding flowers out to Lambert. They shivered in her grip. Instead of the vicious grin Geralt expected, Lambert gave her a polite smile and an attempt at a courtly bow. She scuttled off and he tucked the flowers into a small pocket on his doublet, looking at his brothers and shrugging.

Geralt looked at the twist of flowers in his hand. They seemed very easily bruised and broken in his fingers. He didn’t have anywhere to tuck them. 

Eskel came to the rescue.

“There’s a little slit here somewhere,” he said, poking at the embroidery on Geralt’s chest. He found it. “Ah, here we go, just stick those in there.” Geralt did. “You almost look presentable.” Eskel said, not totally unkindly. 

Then he must have seen the raw terror in Geralt’s eyes. 

“It’ll be fine, brother,” Eskel said, clapping him on the shoulder. “You look good.”

Eskel stepped back into place, sending a wink towards Mabel, lined up near the back with the other housemaids. 

Guests slowly filtered in. 

There were more jewels and crystals about the throats and in the hair of the ladies than Geralt had ever seen before. Geralt felt a little better about his golden doublet, because there wasn’t an outfit on the benches that didn’t glitter. 

Then a couple minstrels struck up a sweet, simple tune, and two little children entered. A girl in an almond blossom crown was scattering pink petals on the already well-petaled floor. She was so sweetly serious about her duty, solemnly distributing the petals, that coos and chuckles filtered through the crowd. The little boy was holding a cushion with wedding bands. 

Geralt cursed mentally and began to panic. He’d left Jaskier’s mother’s ring in their rooms. It was too late to get it. He felt even more sick. Vesemir gave him a worried look and Geralt took a deep breath. They could always swap the ring out later.

A young woman in a pale blue dress entered, holding a small bouquet of the white almond blossoms. She was followed by another young woman, in the same dress and a very similar bouquet. Bridesmaids, Geralt supposed. One of them reached down and took the hand of the little flower girl. The ring bearer, slightly older, stood without a hand, but fidgeted. Geralt could sympathize.

The music changed.

A slow processional began and a hush fell on the crowd.

 The Earl stepped forward, Jaskier on his arm. The earl wore grey, like a dove, but Jaskier.

Jaskier.

Well.

Wow.

He wore pearly white, with a crown of almond blossoms and roses, and every inch of his doublet was covered in tiny, delicate seed pearls. In this beautiful bower, with delicate flowers all around, he looked like the spirit of this place. Like a dryad made of almond blossoms and sunlight. 

He was beautiful. Truly breathtaking.

He wore no boutonniere, and his hands were free of bouquets. Geralt’s stomach chose this exact moment to remind him that he really, really wanted to throw up right now. His head pounded and his knees felt weak.

He vaguely registered the slow procession being brought up at the rear by a priest in white. Next to Jaskier, the white looked dull and lifeless as the priest took his place.

“Who gives this man,” the priest croaked.

“I do,” the earl said, linking Jaskier’s hand with Geralt’s and sitting in the mirror of Vesemir’s position. 

Geralt looked at that hand, so delicate in his giant paw. He thought of the flowers tucked into his doublet, so easily crushed. 

The priest was saying something about eternity, but Geralt’s blood was rushing in his ears. Jaskier was looking at him too, but Geralt’s gaze was locked on their hands. 

Vows were said, and Geralt was lucky they were short. 

“From this cup we shall drink,” Geralt repeated, taking a sip of wine from a goblet that appeared out of nowhere and handing it to Jaskier. 

“And we shall share this wine as we share our lives,” Jaskier said, taking a sip.

“All the days of our lives,” the priest said, taking the goblet.

“All the days of our lives,” Geralt and Jaskier said in unison. Their eyes met for the first time, and Geralt’s stomach protested. 

“Have you the rings” intoned the priest. The little ringbearer stepped up. Jaskier took a wedding band and thanked the boy with a smile. Eskel nudged Geralt and palmed a ring into his hand, Jaskier’s mother’s ring. 

The ringbearer took this well in his stride and went back to his place. 

Jaskier smiled up at Geralt, then carefully slipped the little golden band onto Geralt’s finger. Geralt gulped, Jaskier’s smile slipped a little, looking concerned, and Geralt wondered what he’d seen in his face. 

His big fingers fumbled a little with the delicate ring, but he slid it into place on Jaskier’s finger. It fit as exactly as it had in the little study, which seemed very long ago now.

“You may kiss the groom,” said the priest. 

It felt like a badger was gnawing Geralt’s intestines. He slid his hands hesitantly around Jaskier’s waist. The young man’s arms wrapped around his neck. It would have been nice if Geralt wasn’t so nauseous. 

Geralt gave Jaskier a peck. 

He pulled back and caught Jaskier’s disappointed look, but then they were being ushered back down the aisle and into the hall and there were congratulations. Bells were ringing, people were throwing rice, Geralt’s head was pounding like his brain was about to leak from his ears. 

Out on the steps of the chateau they were handed plates, most of the wedding party were, and they smashed them on the ground, to the misery of Geralt’s poor head. 

Jaskier seemed to be having a wonderful time, laughing as the porcelain smashed and shining even brighter in the bright sunlight on the steps. Geralt longed for the dimmer lighting of the glade. Jaskier kept looking over at Geralt, and the laughter in his eyes kept dimming. 

It made Geralt’s ribs ache to see. He knew he must be scowling, but the thought that Jaskier’s day was being ruined by him was awful. He wasn’t an ideal husband but surely he wasn’t that bad. It definitely didn’t bode well.

The tide of people bore them into the great hall, and they were sat at the front table with the earl and Amaria. Vesemir and Geralt’s brothers were at another table and Geralt felt very alone. 

“Is everything alright?” Jaskier asked, leaning in close to whisper in Geralt’s ear.

“Headache,” Geralt grunted. 

“I’m sorry,” Jaskier said, rubbing his thumb over Geralt’s wrist. On his finger, the opal caught the light. The young man’s shoulders slumped a little. “I’m sorry too that you’ve been roped into all this,” he released Geralt’s wrist. “I know this isn’t your choice.”

It wasn’t Geralt’s choice of course. But if he was getting married, Jaskier didn’t seem like a bad husband. There was something in Jaskier’s eyes, though, a sort of wistful distance. It occurred to Geralt that Jaskier was in this arranged marriage too. This wasn’t his choice. From what he’d said before, the viscount had probably grown up believing he’d be able to marry for love, or at least someone he liked and was of suitable social status.

Geralt wondered if the young man wasn’t looking around at his own wedding, wishing love were the base of it after all. True love, a smile during the procession, giggles during the ceremony and little jokes and kisses during the reception, instead of a witcher with a headache. 

Geralt realised that he didn’t know if Jaskier liked men at all. Perhaps he was looking around wishing some pretty noble lady was wearing white instead of he. 

Clanging started up as first one, then many people tapped spoons to glasses. 

“They want us to kiss,” Geralt said numbly.

“Yes,” Jaskier said, turning towards Geralt and leaning in. At least he didn’t seem to horribly mind kissing men. Geralt rested a hand, the one towards the audience, on Jaskier’s face, hiding the view of their lips. Then he leaned in and kissed the air less than a centimeter from Jaskier’s mouth. 

It satisfied the crowd, but Jaskier looked unhappy as he pulled back. Had he minded the play acting? Did he just want Geralt to let them ring the glasses indefinitely? Had Geralt crossed a line, even pretending to kiss him? Jaskier stared at his lap.

Geralt stared at his own.

They both picked at dinner. Sounds swirled in Geralt’s ears.

“Geralt.”

He wouldn’t have heard it but for his enhanced hearing. To anyone else it was just another murmur of conversation, the susurrus of the ballroom. Geralt looked up, to meet eyes with Eskel. 

“Geralt,” Eskel said. “Don’t mess it up, you deserve nice things.”

Geralt nodded, and Eskel broke their locked gazes. 

Some of the headache had subsided by now, and it was too late to be nervous. He took a big swig of the wine. 

Jaskier may not have wanted to marry him, may be dreaming of a different wedding day, but Geralt could still make it memorable. He took another swig of the wine and wished it were stronger.

Dancing hadn’t been planned, but there was music and a clear space between tables. Geralt stood and took Jaskier’s hand, giving him an only slightly wan smile.

Jaskier looked baffled, but followed Geralt to the impromptu dancefloor. The minstrels picked up on what was going on, and a rather cheerful waltz was struck up. 

Geralt wasn’t much of a dancer, but he’d been taught the basics long ago, and Jaskier was an excellent partner. His skill made up for Geralt’s more clumsy footwork. Geralt slid his hands to Jaskier’s hips, keeping his grip firmly appropriate, then lifted Jaskier into a twirl he’d seen once before at a ball he’d been forced to attend.

In that case, the lady’s skirt had swirled and swished most attractively. Here, Jaskier’s slightly wilted flower crown came off, but Jaskier was laughing, head back, the sound like sunshine. The crowed oohed appreciatively at the display and Geralt guided his new husband down to the ground again.

Jaskier’s fancy footwork saved them from stumbling into one another but Geralt wasn’t paying attention. He’d saved Jaskier’s wedding day, or at least he hoped, this portion of it. Out of the corner of his eye he saw motion, Lambert flinging the recovered flower crown to Geralt. He snatched it from the air and placed it firmly back on Jaskier’s head, to applause. 

More couples joined the dancefloor, and soon it was pretty crowded. Jaskier led them back to the head table, giggling a little. 

The earl wasn’t dancing, and Amaria looked wistful, or perhaps just distant, it was so hard to tell with her.

“Look,” Jaskier whispered, pointing surreptitiously at a couple. It was Eskel. Geralt half expected him to be dancing with Mabel, but she was busily serving tables.

Besides, Geralt reflected. Theirs wasn’t a romance, per say, more simple physical appreciation.

No, Eskel had the little flower girl standing on his boots, and was happily spinning them about the dancefloor. He took great, hopping steps that bounced her about, holding her hands gently to keep her grounded. Geralt listened carefully and, in the din of the hall, picked out her delighted, pealing laughter. 

Lambert liked dancing, and Geralt carefully pointed him out to Jaskier, as he showed the shy, thin housemaid how to do one of the fancier spins. 

Jaskier seemed to delight in the people watching, and they chuckled together at a couple, a very large, glamorously dressed woman with her small, slim beau. She whirled him about, sometimes holding him entirely off the ground. 

“He doesn’t seem to mind,” Jaskier said.

Geralt looked at the man’s expression as he was crushed against a frankly enormous bosom. It looked blissful. “No, he certainly doesn’t.”

Vesemir approached their table.

“My congratulations,” he said to Jaskier. He gave a handshake and then pulled the lad into a warm hug. “Welcome to the family,” he whispered. 

“A fine party,” he then said, to the earl and Lady Amaria. “If you do not care for dancing,” this was adressed to the earl. “Would the lady perhaps wish to join me for a dance?”

“By all means,” said the earl, waving Vesemir away. Lady Amaria smiled absently and limply took Vesemir’s hand. 

Geralt knew trading dances was usual, but he was curious to see his mentor dancing. As he watched the couple, he saw Vesemir conversing with her ladyship, whispering into her ear. Even Geralt’s advanced hearing couldn’t catch the words.

After the dance Vesemir returned Amaria to her seat. Perhaps it was a fluke, but she looked more alert. Then the earl tapped his knife to his crystal goblet. 

It had the same effect as a drop of ink falling into clear water.

Silence spread through the hall, twisting between couples and curling around tables until everything was still.

The earl stood. 

Like his son he was a fairly tall man, and in the grey, with his steely eyes and sharp demenour he didn’t just command attention, he demanded it. He got it, too, as men rich enough to have dungeons in their basements tend to.

“I wish to make a toast to my son,” he gave a smile like a stiletto. “And his new husband.

“Before, witchers have been seen as wicked mutants, monsters,” a tiny pause, like the glint of a crossbow bolt. “Butchers.” 

Unease was in the hall, and there was something in the earl’s voice, he was a truly charismatic speaker. And a dick. 

“Long has it been known how they viciously kill, dismember, and pillage.”

“No,” Jaskier whispered under his breath. The words had really set the cat among the pigeons. A few short sentences reminded the crowd of their distrust. The flower girl, still standing next to Eskel, was ushered away from him. Lamberts dance partner was edging away.

“Of course, not anymore,” the earl continued, snakelike. “And it behooves us to make a contract, that so long as they act appropriately, they are to be treated as other migrant workers.”

Damn, Geralt thought. Migrant workers weren’t treated that well, and after this speech...well. 

“It brings me great joy to marry off my only son,” the earl gripped Jaskier’s collar and hauled him to a standing position. “Although many of you know, he is more of a daughter,” here the earl gave an unpleasant chuckle. “And a troublesome one at that, not much of a warrior, too headstrong for knighthood...but today he sacrifices for his people.”

The earl’s voice swelled, an impressive, ringing oration, like a good preacher ringing home the moral point. “He sacrifices much, and it is sad, I am, that I may never see my son again, to submit him to the ravages of a witcher,” a vicious breath, “’s lifestyle.”

Lambert looked murderous, Eskel betrayed. Vesemir’s face was entirely impassive. Granite. Unreadable.

“But we each make sacrifices for the greater good, and I place my faith in our people, as I have always done. My, admittedly troublesome, shameless son has become part of a new...family.” Family was said like it poisoned the tongue. “And my people become my children. I work for your benefit, my beloved subjects, and today, so does my son, Julian. Three cheers for the new couple!”

Three very hesitant cheers were given, then Geralt and Jaskier were very nearly pushed into a room.

“What the fuck?”

“Evil, stupid, bastard,” Jaskier cursed at the same time. 

Jaskier looked furious, but there were tears in his eyes.

“Jaskier,” Geralt said, crossing to the young man and guiding him to sit on the huge, lavish bed. Their marriage bed, Geralt supposed. “Jaskier I don’t understand, what was all that.”

“He couldn’t resist humiliating me, his last chance, I suppose,” Jaskier said, pulling off his boots. “But it’s worse what he did to you lot.”

A tap at the door. Geralt opened it hesitantly, but it was the wolves, and there was fire in Vesemir’s eyes.

“I didn’t know,” Jaskier said, looking up at Vesemir pleadingly. “I swear I didn’t know what he would do.”

“I understand lad,” Vesemir said, but the fire in his eyes didn’t bank. At least it wasn’t directed at Jaskier, who looked positively wilted.

“I don’t,” Geralt said. “He said, some awful stuff, he referenced Blaviken, I get that, but what does it mean.” 

“The common people don’t know the specifics of out contract,” Jaskier said. “Most of them can’t read, and they’ll never see the document in any case. He implied that you’re going to...well, that ravaging bit, he implied that there is a consumation requirement, and the rumors about witchers...”

“Ah,” Geralt said. The rumors about witchers were never kind, what they said about their sexual interests he didn’t know, nor cared to find out, but they wouldn’t be kind. 

“I’m rather well liked by our people,” Jaskier continued, tearfully. “Father’s convinced most of them that I’m simple, but I make a point to be kind and a kind reputation goes around. They’ll hate and fear witchers even more.” He began to cry in earnest, not loudly, but hot, angry tears rolled steadily down flushed cheeks.

“Worse, now,” he said, looking up at the witchers. “He’s some sort of martyr, sacrificing his son to keep the horrible witchers at bay.”

“That’s not even what he said!” Lambert exploded. He’d been fuming this whole time, but his temper was short and he was done.

‘No,” Eskel said. “But that’s what rumor will make of it. He’s going to be seen as some sort of a self-sacrificing hero.”

“He’ll probably use it to raise taxes,” Jaskier said, damply. “And I doubt witcher treatment will get better either.”

“But then, is the contract void?” Geralt asked. 

“Not officially,” Vesemir grumbled. “Improved conditions hold de jure, but not de facto.”

Jaskier shivered. “If the contract is voided everything will only get worse.” The witchers looked at him. “Whatever reason the contract becomes void, Father will say I was mistreated. That’d be enough to convince most of the country to go to war with witchers, all witchers.”

“It wouldn’t take much,” Vesemir mused.

“And I’d be a ruined woman, except that I’m a man.”

“What?” said the witchers.

“I’d have been married,” Jaskier explained, fiddling with the ring. “And no matter the situation, in Lettenhove the woman is almost always blamed for the failure of the marriage. There is no woman in our marriage, but I take on that role, If I’m mistreated, I should have better pleased my husband.”

“That’s idiotic,” Lambert said.

“I’d never be married off again either,” Jaskier continued. “Not only was I ruined, I was ruined by a witcher.”

A deep, heady pause.

“I could probably even be put to death, for failing the contract and shaming my father.”

‘But your people like you,” Geralt said. 

“They won’t if I’m the reason we go to war with the witchers,” Jaskier said. Then, a little more brightly, “At least whatever happens, I wont be an earl. My father may be a rat bastard and a small minded pig and a...” he paused searching for more insults.

“A cunt?” offered Lambert. 

“Yes, thank you, a cunt. But he’s right about one thing, I’d be a very poor earl. No head for politics, I can understand it, I just can’t do it.” He looked up at the witchers apologetically. 

“And now because of me,” he said, “You’ve all been dropped right in it.”

“No worries, lad,” Vesmir said, clapping him on the shoulder in a gesture that made Jaskier’s spine visibly buckle. “We’ve been dropped in it before. As it happens, I may have caused some political trouble for your father all by myself, and it might even be better if we leave a little earlier than planned.”

All the boys looked baffled, but Vesemir looked satisfied.

“Can we leave tomorrow?” Jaskier asked hopefully. “I don’t have much stuff and I want to get out of here.”

The witchers agreed, and then Jaskier and Geralt were left alone with just one bed.

Geralt coughed awkwardly.

“I thought there wasn’t a consummation requirement,” he said.

“There isn’t,” Jaskier said, taking off his flower crown, now quite battered. “There isn’t explicitly, I mean, but there is a hidden fidelity agreement.”

“Hmmm,” Geralt said. He meant a panicky, ‘what!’, but couldn’t say it.

“We both need to be happy in our marriage, if word get’s back to father that either of us is sleeping with someone else, well...”

Shit. Geralt thought. Shit shit shit.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” he said aloud. 

There were no extra clothes in the chamber, meaning no sleep clothes, so they both undressed to undershirts and smallclothes, then Jaskier snuffed out the candle.

On either side of the large bed, there was plenty of room between them. 

Geralt heard a sniffle. 

“Are you okay?” he asked, feeling awkward.

“I’m fine,” Jaskier said. “It’s silly anyway.”

“Can’t be silly if you’re crying over it.”

“It’s just, this isn’t exactly...” Jaskier trailed off, but Geralt thought he had it.

“Isn’t how you pictured your wedding day?” he asked.

“Exactly,” Jaskier sniffled.

Geralt didn’t know what to do, but he stretched an arm out, above the soft covers, and covered Jaskier with an arm. The young man turned over, so they were facing one another, and inched a little closer.

It wasn’t an embrace, not nearly, but it had a whisper of the same emotion.

Geralt listened to his new husband silently cry himself to sleep on their wedding night, and wished there was some way he could help.

A part of him, long suppressed, was crying too, for the bright and cheerful young man in his arms.

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Wow  5000 words that I basically had to thumbscrew from my brain. 

Taglist! Tags were being weird, let me know if I didn’t add you, forgot to add you, added the wrong person, etc.

@llamasdumpsterfire @stinastar @aziz-the-fangirl @mordoriscalling @bastardofmothman @negativenuggetz @morte-mistrata @ailorian @hayleynzlive @filledepluie @bygodstilliam @sociowithatardisachevyandawand @faery-god @honeysuckletook @theflurtifly @saibowtie @1stbonesfan @frywen-babbles @the-kewlest @innocentbi-stander  @aqueenrisesintheeast @toothhurtyam @marauders-fan-account @ineffable-lasagna @limevodka @rocknrollphanda @seralyra @permanently-exhausted-witcher @aj-itated @watchthewolvesfall @00qtee @the-blondey @birds-of-forgiveness @west-moor @abstractartwithoutpaint @darkonesdagger7437 @onwardsandfourwords @underwaterattribute @whenrainbowsend @goldbvtton @in-love-with-writing002 @flustratedcas @fontegagrilledcheese @little-piece-of-tamlin @somanyfandoms @werevampiwolf

[love-amihan]

PLS I READ YOUR PROMISE FIC WITH JUNPEI AND IM SADDDDD 😭😭pls can you possibly do an alternate happy ending where junpei does survive or just fluff for him💓

| ʜᴏᴍᴇ | ᴊᴊᴋ | ᴀᴏᴛ | ʜǫ | ꜰɪʟᴏ | ᴛᴀɢʟɪsᴛs | ᴍɪᴍɪ |

TRUST // YOSHINO JUNPEI

amihan's note: you got it nonnie!! the first op scene scarred me emotionally, here's our bestboi doing his best! happy reading!

summary: itadori yuji became a huge part of yoshino junpei's life in a span of a day. junpei putting his trust on yuji resulted to a more promising future ahead of him.

bf!junpei x gn!reader

"zenin maki, panda..." mei mei says after yoshinobu asked them why they insisted on meeting with him.

aoi soon continues her words, "fushiguro megumi, kugisaki nobara, yoshino junpei, and my brother itadori yuji. these are the six, that i, by my name as todo aoi..."

mei mei fixes her hair following aoi's words, "and i, by my name mei mei" the two utters in sync declaring the goal for the meeting, "...recommend for first grade"

nobara looks back at the three boys she’s currently with, “quit being a slowpoke.” you smile at nobara, “let’s calm down now, there’s a lot of sale we haven’t check out yet.”

nobara looks back to you then at the three, she huffs and links arms with you, “you guys are lucky they’re with us or else i would’ve beaten all of you to pulp,” she excitedly walks with you to yet another store that’s having a sale.

“but they’re my partner,” junpei mutters, looking at the two’s retreating back, hand reaching out that’s full of shopping bags.

yuji chuckles at junpei’s misery, “you gotta get used to it, what’s yours is technically hers too.”

junpei’s mouth drops looking at yuji, “for real?!” the two started conversing, voices getting a bit louder. megumi walks ahead of them, blushing from embarrassment.

“junpei,” yuji nudge his side lightly, the three are ahead of them leaving them a little behind.

he hums quickly glancing at him before looking back at you again, “about the ring,” junpei halts and gives his full attention to yuji.

“what? something wrong?” the pink-haired asks, also stopping. junpei looks down, his shoulders dropping, yuji’s eyes widens.

“you-” junpei didn’t let yuji finish the sentence, just answering him with a nod for confirmation. “that’s it! we’re helping you!” yuji exclaims, full of determination.

“help with what?” megumi pipes in, hands in his pockets. “junpei’s proposal!” yuji smiles at megumi, his usual stoic face faltering after hearing the news.

junpei punches yuji’s arm lightly, blushing from the bold statement. “i’m not proposing!” he turns to megumi clearing the confusion, “it’s a promise ring.”

megumi lets out a small ‘oh.’ “what’s the difference?!” megumi rolls his eyes at his friend, “there’s a big difference.”

you appear in the scene together with nobara who’s glaring at them. “difference with what?” you skip beside junpei, giving him a small smile.

he shakes his head, nervously laughing, “it’s nothing.” you squint your eyes at him making him look away with a small blush.

you hum not wanting to push further, “wanna get ice cream?” you reach out for his hand intertwining your fingers with his.

nobara clicks her tongue, arms crossing over her chest, “boys and their stupid talks.” she turns around leading the way, “she’s extra cranky today,” yuji mutters staring at her retreating back.

you shrug, giving yuji a soft smile, “menstruation maybe?” yuji lets out an exaggerated ‘oh.’

junpei laughs a little while patting yuji on the back, “this is why you’re not popular with girls,” junpei says as yuji looks back at him.

“you’re starting to act like nobara too!” yuji looks at him, frightened. “it’s the truth,” megumi adds in and follows nobara, “and you guys are supposed to be my friends” he mumbles, looking dejected.

“at least, y/n’s nice to me.” you put on a sweet smile, “well truth hurts, yuji.” his lips forms into a pout, walking ahead not before muttering “bullies” under his breath.

the first years are summoned by satoru saying he has another mission for them, “he said it's top secret,” megumi informs them.

nobara shakes her head, “when wasn’t?” yuji soon changes the topic while making their way to ijichi's car.

“nobara’s good with planning surprises,” he says out of the blue causing for the rest of the first years to raise a brow at him.

“the promise ring,” the two boys nods in sync, understanding him. “ring?” nobara slightly tilts her head to the side.

junpei nods at her, pulling out the box from his uniform showcasing the ring. “this... for a promise ring?!” junpei rubs the back of his head.

“is it not nice for a promise ring?” nobara shakes her head, her eyes sparkling from admiration. “you might as well propose to them with this!” junpei blushes at the thought, “don’t be ridiculous, we-we’re still young!” he stutters in panic.

“oh come on, they will say yes,” she gives back the box, “no doubt about it."

junpei looks away, tucking the box back in his uniform pockets, “you never know that” he mumbles, yuji interrupts by clapping his hands together.

“we should make a plan,” in which nobara agreed on, “i’ll do it since it’s y/n.” junpei looks back at nobara and shakes his head, “you really don’t have to,” she waves her hand dismissing his statement, “i’ve already decided.”

for the second time today, you almost tripped on something while blindlessly reaching out.

yuta is doing an awful job telling you where to and not to go, “i'm so sorry y/n” he bows his head even though you’re blindfolded.

he didn’t know how he ended up being the one to assist you when he's really bad at communicating with others, “we’re almost there” he informs you.

you don’t know what to expect since there wasn’t anything special today, your birthday is still months away.

“what's with today yuta?” you face where you think he was which yuta corrects, “it won’t be a surprise anymore if i tell you.”

that didn’t stop you from trying to know until you feel one last little push, “huh? yuta?” you aimlessly try to find him until you feel someone take both your hands.

you try to retract your hands but stop once you hear a familiar voice, “it’s me,” junpei’s soft voice reaches your ears.

junpei slowly removes the blindfold off you, you blink trying to clear your blurry vision. once you did, you see all the effort and preparation put in all of this.

flower petals are thrown everywhere, fairy lights decorating the tree, to wrap it all up love songs softly playing in the background.

he's always been the romantic type and he never fails to amaze you every time, you look at him with pure adoration in your eyes.

you start to panic holding his hands, “i-is it our anniversary?!” you stumble with your words, feeling terrible for forgetting such an important milestone.

junpei shakes his head, smiling at you, “i wanna give you something, darling” you nod and wait for him to continue.

“y/n, my love. you’ve been with me through everything, may it be a pleasant or bad memories, you're always there by my side. you’ve always come to pick me back up to my feet when i'm down..." he takes a deep breath.

he continues, "what i’m trying to say is… will you grow old with me?” junpei looks into your teary eyes, “i want to be by your side until my last breath, you’re my everything y/n” he opens the box and showing the ring.

“of course i would baby,” you hold his face and close the gap between the two of you, kissing him passionately.

after pulling away, he slide the ring on your ring finger. “this is just to seal our promise, you better fulfill them” he sniffs and chuckles at his shakiness.

you lightly hit his arm while laughing, “you know that i would” he kisses the back of your hand admiring the ring.

“this is beautiful darling, you’ve always been a sweetheart” you hold his hand and look around.

“i love you” you smiled at him, “i love you more” he pecks your lips, the group coming out from their hiding spot.

clinking of glasses echoes the room accompanied by loud cheers of best wishes. yuji swings his arm around junpei who's laughing with you not long ago.

“you remember junpei?” both of you look at yuji, a little lost with his sudden outburst. “when we helped you with your first proposal?” yuji’s words are slur as he continues to rant.

“ahh that does bring back memories,” you smile at the thought, you bring your hand up and look at the ring.

“and now look at you!” yuji starts getting emotional, the alcohol may have started to kick in. “two of my best friends will get married soon,” he sniffs, tears now running down his face.

nobara laughs at drunk yuji while maki scolds him for drinking too much, it’s amazing how the group stayed together throughout the years.

even after graduating, all of them, including you knowing how they grew fond of you, making sure to stay in contact.

junpei smiles in malice, he decides to add more on yuji’s emotional state, he pats yuji’s back as megumi assists him.

“go and have your rest, best man.” yuji looks at junpei with big puppy eyes, his brain processing the information before breaking out in tears.

“be-best man?!” toge laughs in the background holding two thumbs up while panda stops maki from pouncing on toge for fuelling on junpei’s actions.

the group is already in their twenties yet one thing that never changes is how chaotic it has always been.

they really did bring out the best of junpei, you remember how he finally opens up to them and how he warmed up to the second years during the kyoto goodwill event.

it was tough for junpei at first, his experience would be best described as how yuta was treated back in his 1st year.

but the big difference is that junpei has yuji, with yuji's persistent approach and friendliness they soon take a liking of junpei.

the group feels more like a family than a bunch of friends in junpei's eyes, well for all of you.

it's a little family who you can freely express yourself to. he especially got close to toge, they talked about movies, planned pranks on the other students, they’ve made really good memories alongside each other. thus, toge’s antics rubs off on him.

you giggle and look down at the rings, it’s beautiful seeing them together.

“daddd, i’m already grown up” your child whines at junpei who’s babying him, “no, you’re not” he denies as he fixes your child’s collar.

the two of you are now married and have a child together, “come on now dad, stop that” you tease junpei, siding with your child.

the kid flashes a big smile and runs to you, jumping in your arms sticking their tongue out at him.

junpei huffs, crossing his arms and faking to be upset. “guess you won’t get ice cream later,” his tone in a sing-song manner, knowing their weakness.

the kid gasps loudly and looks at him with the most betrayed expression, their little banter is soon interrupted by a greeting.

“junpei-sensei!” one of his students greets making you smile fondly at the sight, he’s really come a long way.

his students who've always looked up to him and respected him. they never miss a chance to greet him outside the school, junpei smiles at his students greeting them in return.

this is yoshino junpei’s simple life, married to his first love, a small family with them, a supportive group of friends he made through the years, and finally a job that he loves doing.

this all happened because of the one decision he made that changed everything for the path ahead of him.

all because he put his trust on his long time friend, itadori yuji.

copyright © 2021 by love-amihan all rights reserved. do not repost in other platforms. reblogs are welcome and highly appreciated! <33

[unitchiefs-blackbirdphoenix]

Truth and Awakenings Ch. 6

Summary: A Jemily rewrite of certain scenes in 14x15-15x03, with a few additional scenes :)

Chapter summary: JJ works out after a few weeks and Momily-ish stuff.

Read on AO3

I’m back and I have the next chapter up, which is broken into 2 parts so this is a part one :) (tw gun mention)

@jemilyisms @binariesarebullshit @bridget19

A week after JJ was discharged from the hospital, Will and Emily had decided to take turns looking after the blonde. Did JJ object and say she was fine once she got out? Yes. In fact, Emily and Will had to convince her to stay back home. It was, however, a bit of an awkward talk between Will and Emily at first, at least, to the older woman it was. Well, it’s not every day that you talk to your lover’s ex and have things not be awkward, she thought. Will had to assure an anxious Emily that he supports the two women, and was only waiting for them to actually get together.

Whenever Emily was at work, Will tended JJ’s wound and looked after her. Emily had not spent a lot of time with her due to conflicting work schedules. She nearly felt bad for not helping JJ with her wound as much, but she promised the younger agent late-night phone calls while away on cases and cuddles when she gets home.

A few weeks of recovery passed and JJ’s wound began to heal within that time frame. She wanted to get her mind off of the events that had occurred a few weeks prior, so she decided to exercise as a stress reliever.

To start out her day, she had gone out for a jog in the woods. JJ’s ponytail bounced as she jogged, coming to a complete stop. She landed her hands on her hips and took a few breaths before continuing her steps.

After her 40-minute workout, JJ headed back home and, without looking, she accidentally bumped into Emily on the sidewalk, tripping slightly. “Whoa, JJ! Are you ok?!” Luckily, the older woman swiftly caught her by the arm and raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Emily helped her back up and her hands lingered her arm for a little longer. Even though she was the one to catch the blonde, she couldn’t help but feel how strong JJ is. Emily lightly squeezed her upper arm and her mind was blown. “Wow,” she mouthed with widened eyes, totally focused on JJ’s small but hard muscles beneath her shirt, feeling them tense under her touch. Although FBI training was required, Emily bets that JJ loves to spend time at the gym when she’s not working, currently seeing the results of that.

JJ’s little chuckle broke her out of her reverie. “Having fun there?”

Emily felt herself blushing from JJ’s smug stare and slowly removed her hand from her arm. “No, I don’t mind. Come on,” JJ smirked, pushing her arm towards her and flexing it again.

Emily rolled her eyes. “I didn’t know I was going out with Derek Morgan.”

JJ laughed and pointed towards her house. “You coming inside or…?”

“Oh,” the unit chief remembered. “I, uh, wanted to see how you’re doing. Maybe have some time with you before I go? I brought donuts,” she lifted a pink box in her other hand.

JJ laughed, knowing how much Emily loves donuts. “Sure.” She opened the door and held it for Emily, seeing Will and the boys walking up the front porch also. He gave each woman a hug and put Michael down from his arms.

“I’m here to drop the boys off,” he said to JJ. He and JJ decided to share custody over their sons after their divorce, so they traded off weekends or whenever else they were free to look after them.

JJ flashed a smile at him. “Alright. Thanks again, Will.”

Will nodded and patted Emily’s shoulder on the way out, leaning to whisper, “Take good care of her.”

The woman smiled, “Ok. You sure you don’t want a donut on your way back?” She held the pink box in front of him.

Will chuckled, “Sure.” Emily brought one glazed donut out and he thanked her before leaving. Things between her and Will had become less awkward and more comfortable over the past few weeks, and the two started talking a lot more often, even having discussions that didn’t always involve JJ.

Once the women and kids got inside, they all walked into the kitchen. “Aunt Emily, you have donuts?! Please say yes, please say yes,” Henry asked, crossing his fingers.

“Yep,” Emily smiled. “And don’t worry, I got your favorites since your dad told me he was coming to drop you guys off.” Emily placed the box on the dining table, seeing their faces light up.

JJ’s sons had no knowledge of her and Emily’s romantic relationship. All they knew was that Emily was one of their mom’s best friends, and the two women planned to keep it that way until they were ready to tell them, which was why the boys referred to her as ‘Aunt Emily’. Not even Will spilled about their relationship to the boys as to respect the women’s boundaries.

“Yes!” Henry pumped a fist in the air, immediately running up to the grey-haired woman to hug her.

“Thank you, Aunt Emimy!” Michael clapped his hands excitedly, hugging her as well. He was still learning how to say Emily’s name correctly, but she let it slide because of how adorable the boys were. They are JJ’s kids, after all.

The woman smiled and ruffled both their heads full of blonde hair, “You’re welcome.” She was surprised the kids liked her, seeing as she always doubted herself with being surrounded by them.

JJ pulled Emily aside and whispered, “I’m gonna take a quick shower, and I’ll meet you right after.”

“Ok.”

JJ went to her bathroom and closed the door. She stripped down and stepped inside the bathtub before turning the shower faucet on and began rinsing herself.

As she scrubbed down her body, her fingers met with the electrical burn from her 2014 abduction and gunshot wound both on the left side of her stomach. Fingers tensed and curled as she shut her eyes at the memories of those two times she was tortured and shot. She shook her head and wiped away the haunting thoughts as she carefully washed around the scars.

After her shower, JJ dressed in her black leggings and white tank before drying her damp hair with her towel. The blonde went downstairs and stopped once she saw the back of Emily’s head and her sons’ concentrated faces. There was chattering among the other woman and her sons around the dining table. Apparently, they were playing a card game.

“No way, that’s cheating!” Emily accused, her mouth open in fake shock. She crossed her arms and pouted.

“No, it’s not,” Henry grinned and took a card from Emily’s hand. “That’s how go fish works, Aunt Emily.”

Emily rolled her shoulders back to fix her posture, still frowning. “I swear to god, you’re like your mother, sometimes,” she said under her breath.

That was JJ’s cue and she slowly made her presence known with an amused smile. “Means I taught him well, then, huh?”

“Mommy!” Michael shouted, dropping his cards on the table and beamed.

Emily looked up and froze, turning to face the blonde, “Hey.” She held her hands up as if she was caught committing a crime, and stood up from her chair. “I can explain. They roped me into this.”

JJ shook her head and lightly laughed. “They are irresistible boys.”

“Yeah. Wonder where they get that from. Plus, I think Henry is starting to take after you,” Emily muttered.

“Oh really? How so?” JJ innocently batted her eyelashes, making Emily stick her tongue out in return.

Henry tapped Emily’s elbow to get her attention, which worked since she looked down at him. “Are you gonna come tonight?”

Emily opened her mouth to answer but looked at JJ, who shrugged at her. “If you want. You’re not too busy today, are you?”

“I hope not,” Emily shook her head. “I’ll get work done and I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

The kids cheered and the older woman checked her watch. “Speaking of which, I gotta go. I’ll see you later?”

JJ nodded and patted her arm. “Ok. I’ll walk you out. Be right back, you two,” she said to her sons. Once they reached the front door, JJ looked over her shoulder and saw her sons playing with each other. She turned back and smiled at Emily, giving her a short kiss.

Emily matched her smile and moved her head to kiss her cheek. “See you tonight.”

“Ok,” JJ said and opened the door for her, watching her leave. Little did she know, Henry had witnessed his mother kissing her friend when he went to grab something on the kitchen counter.

JJ walked back and had the biggest grin on her face, which quickly faded once she saw her eldest son. She blinked and awkwardly pointed at the door, “You didn’t see any of that, did you, Henry?”

A slow smile came to Henry’s face and he pointed at his mom with both index fingers. “Mom and Aunt Emily, sitting in a tree…” he said in a sing-song voice.

JJ was about to stammer out a response, but felt her cheeks burning. Emily was right. Her son was starting to take after his own mother.

“That’s enough of that,” she laughed and ruffled his hair.

Henry pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and tilted his head to the side. “Since when did you start liking Aunt Emily?”

“Ok, buddy. We’re going soon. Come on, get ready,” she clapped her hands and lightly pushed him away, avoiding the question before getting ready for her day with her sons.

Later that evening, Emily came over for dinner like she promised. She and JJ sat next to each other, squeezing each other’s hands under the table and discreetly brushing each other’s fingers every chance they got. Soon, everyone went to sleep, and JJ had convinced Emily to stay the night, after a few kisses, of course.

So there they were, under the covers, tangled in each other’s arms. More accurately, Emily was spooning JJ from behind. Sometime at midnight, she felt the blonde’s body stiffened in her grip and heard quiet whimpering. Emily lifted her head to see JJ’s head pressed further into her pillow and her eyes shut tight.

“JJ…” Emily moved to wake her up. “JJ. JJ.”

JJ finally opened her eyes and her hand instinctively flew to her stomach. She slowly sat up and did a quick scan of the darkened room.

“It’s ok, JJ. It’s just me,” Emily calmly said, stroking her hair. “It’s just me.”

“Emily,” the younger woman finally let out, tears coming to her eyes.

“Shh… it’s ok,” Emily said, pulling her into an embrace. JJ gripped onto the back of her shirt, slowing her breathing back to normal. Emily thought that she would want to talk about it in the morning, so she held her until JJ fell back asleep.

The next morning, Emily slowly arose from her slumber and stretched her body, rubbing her eyes with a hand. Her other hand reached for the right side of the bed, finding it to be a cold, empty spot instead. She made a small confused noise, opened both eyes and saw that JJ wasn’t there.

She must be in the kitchen or picking up the kids. She got out of bed and rubbed her upper arms once she felt the cold hit her. Emily made her way to the kitchen, only to find no one there. Her body suddenly startled before she made a quick search around the house. No text was sent or note left anywhere and that made Emily worry that JJ might’ve been taken while she was asleep.

The gray-haired woman let out a frustrated sigh and dialed Penelope’s phone number, asking her to track JJ’s phone.

“Are you sure, Emily?” Penelope said into the phone.

Emily knew tracking JJ’s phone was wrong. The blonde agent valued her privacy and she respected that, but all the worst case scenarios ran through her mind. “I’m sure, Garcia. I came by to check on her and she just… disappeared,” she lied about the last part, knowing she couldn’t tell her the nature of their relationship.

“If you say so.” Typing was heard in the background. “Ok, here we go. She’s at the gym she and Derek go to.”

The gym? What the- She closed her eyes and answered. “Ok, thanks for your help, Penelope.”

“Anytime, captain.” She hung up the phone and dropped it onto the coffee table in the living room, head in her hands. Why the hell was she at the gym? JJ wasn’t supposed to do any sort of heavy weightlifting activity at the moment. Emily stayed in the living room with her thoughts as to how she was going to talk to JJ about all this.

Meanwhile, JJ was at the gym. She hadn’t told Emily she was leaving for the gym, but now she felt guilty for not saying anything. Emily doesn’t know JJ exercises as a distraction or a way to cope with her problems. It would’ve been considered almost excessive, if she knew. This was her third workout day in a row this week. If Emily found out, she would freak.

JJ had finished taking hits to a punching bag and was currently at the lat pulldown machine. She pulled the handles of the piece of equipment behind her head, grunting as she mentally counted to 20.

12. 13. 14.

Her mind started going back to her lying on the ground, coughing out blood and hearing tires screech away. She closed her eyes and adjusted her grip on the handles, attempting to file that memory into the back of her brain. As she pulled down again, she saw a flash of white and heard a gunshot.

JJ’s eyes snapped open and she quickly let go of the handles, hearing the weight blocks clash when she did. Her eyes shifted from left to right, and her chest quickly rose and fell. She cursed to herself and took ahold of the handles again, pulling them down to finish her 20 count.

She stood up from the machinery after, and used the back of her hand to wipe the sweat that had formed on her upper lip. JJ slightly parted her lips to take a few deep breaths and placed both hands on her hips. She glanced down at her stitched wound and the electrical burn, fingers lightly brushing them before she stilled her movements.

Both Emily and Will had seen JJ’s wounds, but she had a much harder time with Emily. She didn’t know what Emily had really thought when she saw them. Every time they cuddled together, she had to bite down her tongue to stop from wincing at the pain she felt from her injuries. The blonde hated feeling insecure about herself. It always made her feel so small, almost like a coward. She didn’t want Emily to hate her because of her disgusting wounds. They had already gotten together, she didn’t want to drive her away this early on.

JJ sighed and grabbed her towel, wiping her face and the back of her neck. She walked towards the locker room as her phone buzzed inside her duffel bag. She dug it out and saw the name on her screen. Emily.

JJ contemplated answering or ignoring it before choosing the latter, shoving her phone back in her bag. She went inside the showers and scrubbed away any sort of negative thought she had.

Eventually, she drove home and saw Emily’s car still parked in her driveway. JJ sighed and turned off her engine, stepping out of the car. She made her way inside the house and found Emily in the kitchen with her arms crossed.

“I left you a phone call, JJ. Several, as a matter of fact,” Emily tensed her shoulders and clenched her jaw.

“I was at the gym, alright?” JJ rolled her eyes and tossed her keys into a bowl, doing the same with her bag onto the counter.

“I know. Garcia told me.”

JJ’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. “You had her track down my phone?”

“I was worried about you, JJ! You didn’t even leave a note or anything!” Emily let her hands fall to her sides and raised her voice. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going?”

JJ ran a hand down her face. “I didn’t think you would freak out this much. I’m fine.”

“‘Fine’?! You’re just ‘fine’?” Emily repeated back to her. “You know, that’s the problem with you, JJ.”

The younger woman raised her eyebrows and tilted her head down, offended. “I have a problem?”

“You always say you’re ‘fine’,” she used air quotes for emphasis. “But are you really? Last night, you had a fucking nightmare and then, you act like everything’s fine the next day! You think I’m just gonna ignore that?”

JJ scoffed and muttered under her breath, “Says the queen of compartmentalizing.”

Emily’s heart stung at the harsh dig being thrown back at her, but she wasn’t ready to back down just yet. “This is not about me, JJ. This is about your safety! You could’ve gotten hurt.”

“God, Emily!” JJ threw her hands in the air in frustration. “Why can’t you just get off my back and leave me alone for once?! I am a grown woman. You don’t get to fucking decide what I want and don’t want,” she huffed and quickly walked towards her bedroom before she slammed the door shut.

For once in a very long time, Emily flinched at the sound and sighed to herself. She felt angry, yes, but her worries overshadowed that feeling. All she wanted was for JJ to be a little more careful. It was fine for JJ to do a light physical activity, which she had come across yesterday, just as long as she wasn’t lifting heavy objects. Maybe Emily was assuming things. JJ hadn’t said what she did at the gym exactly and she’s not stupid enough to lift weights while healing. She is stubborn though, that’s for sure.

[arent-you-scared-lil-human]

Bølger (2)

Merman!Kae x Reader.

Words: 3,183

bølger means waves.

Chapter 1.

Merfolk were almost divine to your eyes, living near the coast gave you the blessing of discovering these amazing creatures, well, or the thought of actually seeing them. 

You were 7 when your mother gave your guard to your aunt Betty, your mom grew sick and she wanted to be sure you would be cared for when she passed. But it took her cancer to reach stage 4 to allow you to live with Betty. 

The thing was, your mother hated the coast, the town, and the ocean.

When Betty went to visit you, she would take small cards with fairies, merfolk, werewolves painted on it. She would tell you to believe in magic and accept that we aren't alone on the big blue planet.

Which made your mother mad because she hated the mere idea of mermaids, so much that the little mermaid movie was never allowed. But she had to swallow her revulsion to be sure you would be cared for and not thrown on the orphanage in the end.

So you went to live on Walrey Coast with your aunt. She was a good woman, a bit light-headed but good nonetheless. She taught you how to cook, even though you hated it, taught you how to work in her small restaurant and how to read and love Julio Verne's work. 

The house was small but notably comfy and colorful, each room had a color and somehow it didn't get overwhelming. Your bedroom had fairies painted on the walls, and a lamp with a mermaid painted in gold.

But you never saw a mermaid or a merman in your life.

And since your city was a small place each person ended up knowing another.  You were homeschooled till your 11, but Antony -your aunt friend- told that his nephews were your age and that his sister could teach you too.

Antony's nephews were three, a girl called Hope, and two boys, Archie and Hunter. Hope and Archie were twins, and Hunter was a year younger but their mom taught them the things at the same time so they could always be together if they ever went to a "normal" school.

So, with your 20's and seeing Archie leaving the town to persuade his dream university made you happy, but sad in seeing Carla's tears, after all, she always wanted her kids together.

"C'mon, Y/N, I consider you like a daughter so let us re-form your brother's bedroom..." Carla tried to smile through her tears, Hunter hugged you and Hope rolled her eyes at her brother's trial of reaching your interest, the poor boy has been crushing over you for 6 years already.

You kept your routine of woking at your aunty Betty restaurant, Antony tried to coax you to leave town and go to uni -as every elderly person tries to tell us to-; But something held you in Walrey Coast, maybe it was the trauma of the last time that you left your home was due to a loved one passing, or maybe Betty being abandoned in her big picturesque house... or who knows, perhaps something else, something unseen, or forgotten.

Hope didn't want to go to university, she craved to open an auto-shop, Carla said she didn't mind, but everyone knew deep down she wanted her small girl to be the perfect wife-to-be. And Hunter wanted to become a biologist, the boy adored the sea more than the air he inhaled and after years and years of Antony pulling his ear telling him that the idea of being a professional surfer was as idiotic as his hair, he swallowed down and picked another profession that connected the sea, too.

You loved them, and the town, but you were lonely. You had your first kiss, and even that you studied in "not a homeschool but it was basically one" you knew the other people in town, the men in their 20's that lived near and also the visitors that came and go. And working in the restaurant you saw lots of people, soldiers, biologists, families, even sailors, travelers, wanderers, et cetera. 

So you had your 'first times' but nothing serious, and even that Hunter tried several times to date you, you couldn't see him farther than a brother. He was attractive, smart, polite, liked animals as you do but he was... a brother. Through and through.

So your life was based around this minimalist and simple presence. Waking up, helping Betty at home, go to the restaurant, visit Carla and your dear friends, go back to the restaurant, sit in the pier where Antony lived while you ate your dinner looking at the sea, go home, shower and sleep.

Antony tried to make you go swimming or try to surf with Hunter, but you were terrified of the ocean, you loved it, it was fascinating and very very beautiful, but scary.

Dangerous.

Yet, gazing at it brought you a level of peace that couldn't be accomplished in any other form.

So finishing your meal and making sure to set any trash inside a bag so you could throw in the trashcan later, you stood up and gave one last look at the dark waters and went home.

Deep in the waves, stood Kae, gazing at you leaving your favorite spot in the docks, each day you went there and in each one he approached the surface to make you company, a silent one.

Sometimes you hummed a song, one that of course he had not heard before. And sometimes you would put music to play in a small black device he saw humans carrying around all the time, the music was a mixture, but he enjoyed them, and loved when you sang along.

Merfolk took singing into high consideration, it was important to lull food, to find a good partner, to... well, everything!

And he hummed back with you, but he knew you didn't hear him. You didn't remember him.

It was funny how different worlds that co-existed, should know about another, should collide.

Humans are evil, everyone says. But what Eros did with you wasn't it? Hurting an innocent cub, or better saying: a child, and bringing your unconscious body as a trophy was the most repugnant thing he ever witnessed. After that episode years prior, Kae never glanced at his cousin in the same way, Eros was still family, but he wasn't the good merman Kae thought he was.

And with their adult forms and getting the spot of protectors of the ocean society, the mating season was approaching. 

Jaxi was in love with a mermaid that was from oceans away, they found each other in a hunt for food and after that, they've been planning their wedding ever since. Melin grew to be an insatiable lover, the mating season was an open feast to him, especially since it didn't involve a mandatory loyalty. Eros had the most beautiful sea creatures he could find, he was handsome and strong, but he was a player, which wasn't so shocking.

And Kae had some encounters, had his first sex in his 16's but he didn't like the notion of marrying and being away from the bare soil, away from his little friend that didn't even remember his existence.

He wonders if you still have Eros's nails wounds scarred in your skin, or maybe you healed after he rolled the algae around it? The alkaline water helped sea beings to heal and regenerate their skin, maybe oxygen did it too to humans? And if it hasn't healed, have you ever questioned the origin of it?

Kae didn't see himself as a stalker, he was more of a curious merman. And after leaving you in the waves near the sand, he has been reaching the surface searching for you. Ecthelion realized his peculiar interest in you, so he at least told Kae that his human friend, Antony, has told him that you were alive and well. And that the human's healers said you declared that you floated too deep in the ocean and the waves took you away.

Only that.

And as much that was a relief to hear you didn't remember the evilness Eros committed, Kae was still disappointed that you wouldn't remember him, or Jaxi and Melin that were also very much curious about human's anatomy and helped to save your life.

He wanted to talk to you, to see how different you are, would it be shocking for you to see him? Would you run away seeing his different form? He was very pretty, and one of the most desired young merman between the merfolk, but their physiology are different for various reasons. Maybe you wouldn't think he is pretty, his monster form would push you away. Scare you.

               ...

Hunter lost his mind, inviting you to go surfing? Insane.

"You know I'm afraid of the sea,  Hunter!" You told him and your friend only shrugged.

"Y/N, i know but we can try. There won't be big tides today, and I'm an expert at it."

His sad voice made you feel bad, you loved him dearly but couldn't answer his romantic feelings. "Is just... we are not kids anymore and with our brother away and Hope getting you away for 'girls night i barely have time with you. And i don't want to be an asshole, i swear, but that accident that happened years ago was an accident. You were a kid and now you're all grown."

Yu chuckled and hit his shoulder slightly. "All of this only to convince me to go with you?"

He narrowed his eyes and gave you a shy smile. '"Only if you say it worked."

"It did. But! If the waves get too big or anything we will come back, alright? Don't try to prove a point."

"And which point would that be?" He seemed offended.

"That you know how to suffer."

"Right, I won't do anything stupid."

                       ...

Carrying Hope's board firmly you questioned if the straight material could hurt your palms. "Come on." Hope yelled cheering you up, she agreed with Hunter that it would be good for you to test the waters. Being afraid of it was a dangerous thing.

Hunter extended his hand while his other one was carrying the board under his arm. "Trust me?"

"Yeah, but please if I want to come back help me."

"Don't worry."

You held his hand and walked to the waters, Hope clapped her hands a couple of times yelling "you got it" to give you motivation.

It was a pretty day, the sun was out but it wasn't awfully warm Some seagulls flew through the skies and you admired the blue water touching your skin.

The water wasn't cold, and so far no big waves came and snatched your nor Hunter's life.

"Now in the way we tried back there." Hunter held the surfboard you were firmly grasping and helped you to jump on it. He did the same on his and held your hand looking at you with nothing but honesty.

You laid your chest on the board and moved your arms in the water to push you a bit far from the sand. Hunter was smiling, he adored the ocean and adored you so he was very happy.

A small wave came and you looked at him. "Hunt!"

He didn't tell you to go, he gave you a tiny nod and told you the two of you could swim around until you felt more relaxed.

After some minutes you tried to surf in a tide, it was small, amen for that, and Hunter seemed proud. He went to the bigger ones and even when he fell in the salty water he would emerge smiling and laughing.

Hope entered the water too and swam around, you never swam with your friends before.

Some minutes passed and you lost your fear from the ocean, the salty water, the rays of sun, Hunter's smile and Hope's laugh was a blessing and you wondered why you never gave Hunter a chance when he asked you to surf with him since you two were 12.

A medium-wave came in, and you told them you would try. Hunter has surfed and tides four times bigger so he was secure you wouldn't get hurt.

You moved your arms in the water to push you near the growing wave, you managed to feel it moving the surfboard, and you got on your feet and yelled in euphoria when your body kept firm above it. It was amazing, a sensation of pure joy.

The adrenaline, the beauty on it.

Hope and Hunter were cheering you up, and you smiled at then before noting a big movement near the tide, head got out of the ocean and the creature knocked your breath out of your lungs.

Was it... a mermaid? Well, better saying a merman?

"What?" You lost balance and fell into the water, the string holding the surfboard to your ankle made a pressuring pull and you whimpered at the pressure. You shut your eyes as the salty water burned your eyes but soon your foot was realized from the surfboard-pull.

You opened your eyes terrified that you lost the board because you were being dragged further in, but you saw something, someone. 

The strong features, the gills on his neck, the floating long hair... the tail. 

"Y/N!" Hope yelled. "Where are-", "Y/N!" Hunter yelled too.

He swam to you and leaned in, you got terrified, the water was burning your eyes, the lack of oxygen making you anxious and this creature was placing his hands on your cheeks. The cold hands made you stare at him but he only leaned in to kiss your forehead and then your nose. 

Hope's and Hunter's yells going deaf to your ears. You could only stare at the merman.

Before you could do anything else he smiled and touched your feet pushing you up to find oxygen.

You broke out of the surface and coughed as Hunter pulled your body to his chest. "Jesus Christ! You scared me." He said and kissed your forehead over and over making sure you were alive under his touch.

Hunter's kisses were gentle, urgent, and you enjoyed them, but it wasnt like the creature's touch. 

The monster's touch that could certainly snap your neck in a fraction of seconds, but the same touch that made your heart beat faster a moment prior.

And when he held your feet... you thought he would pull you in, to kill and eat you.

No.

He launched you up, assisting you, freeing you!

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have brought you." Hunter cried and you leaned in his touch, holding his neck and looking over his shoulder seeing familiar eyes gazing at you miles away in the water.

                       ...

Sitting in Hope's bed and having her blow-drying your hair, you told Hunter for the 45° time that you were okay and wasn't his fault. He gave you a cup of hot chocolate and checked your fingertips again searching for any hint of extremity cyanosis. He was terrified of losing you, shit, he even argued with Hope when he told her he wanted to help you to take a shower. And even if crushing on you, his intentions weren't sexual, he only wanted to be sure you were warmed up.

"It's okay, it was my fault. I thought I saw something. I got distracted."

Hope brushed your dry hair and you held Hunter's big sweater closer to your chest, he was taller than you so his clothes were the most comfortable. "Hope, i'm sorry for-"

"No no, it's okay. The thing was old anyway." She hugged you from behind and assured you it was okay the loss of her surfboard. "But i wonder how the safe-string got out of your ankle."

You remembered the pressure the string was making, remember the relief it was when it was snapped away from you... the merman did it.

"I don't know either." You lied and tried to get up, only to have them push you back in Hope's bed and ordering you to rest.

Hunter called your aunt to tell her it was all okay and that you would have a sleepover.

You fell asleep, dreaming of waves and gentle touches.

                         ...

Waking up you looked at the covers and searched for a clock to see how long you've slept. It was 2 AM and Hope was passed out, you gently got up from the bed and grasped a pair of Hope's boots.

You got off the stairs and unlocked the door discreetly before closing it behind you.

You walked to the docks and sat in your dining-spot. The vision of the water moving slowly under the stars always eased your thoughts. 

Yes, you consumed a bit of seawater but you didn't imagine what you saw. "Hey, uh, thank you for saving me." You spoke, feeling stupid and looking over your shoulders to be sure no one was near to listen to your nonsense.

"I... nearly drowned and if it wasn't you... I... Fuck!" You swore under your breath. The quietness of Walrey Coast at the dark night was comforting, silence was everything, it meant peace.

Holding your legs together and leaning your head on your knee, tears formed in your eyes. You missed Archie, you felt bad for making Hunter so worried, for destroying Hope's surfboard, the silence that engulfed you, and the thought of going crazy.

As tears drop reached the water, Kae got the courage to break out of the surface. He cursed himself so much earlier on, he should have reached you, if you haven't seen him you wouldn’t fall. So saving you was nothing less than his obligation. 

And touching you... well, that's another story. He couldn't help himself, you were so soft, so grown and stunning. Watching you from afar was something, but perceiving you centimeters away was enchanting.

With your eyes closed, you moaned a song that you loved, and even that the music spoke about heartbreak and a lost lover... it was beautiful.

Stopping to hum while you cleaned your nose, you opened your eyes startled when the song kept resounding,

Widening your eyes you looked at the water and placed your hands on your mouth to avoid a scream to leave your mouth.

There he was, the same thing that saved you.

"Hm, hi-hi!" You gagged.

Kae looked down at his torso, he hated how the human guy held you in his arms early on. His chest was free of hard skin, freed of scales, his skin color was near yours... it wasn't pale as his.

"Maybe you don't speak my language, I, uh actually I'm sort of believing i'm dreaming. My name is Y/N."

The smile on your features was all he could see, the previous shriek apparently wasn't from his ugly self. But surprise, or so he hoped.

"I know," His stark tone of voice made you gasp, he spoke! He could speak, and your language! "Hi, little human."

                       🧜🏻‍♂️

[descendantofthesparrow]

Maybe a soulmate au of your choice with a gender-neutral reader? Whatever you pick is bound to be cool!

Combining two requests this anons and @sephiralorange! Soulmate au! Sharing wounds

*GRAPHIC CONTENT! TALK OF BLOOD AND BONE*

=

Since you were little, your parents had been worried for you, even with the utmost care and sheltering, you somehow ended up with bruises all over you, sometimes even huge lacerations on your back, as if someone had taken a blade and slashed it down.

They were relieved each time when you would move along as if they didn’t exist, no pain, no aches, nothing, that was how they knew they were your soulmates wounds.

So instead, they worried about your soulmate, taking the best care of you to help heal the wounds on his side, as the faster you heal, the faster they did.

Once you realized why your parents always looked at you with such pain in their eyes, you took it upon yourself to keep yourself out of danger. You knew if you ever got injured they wouldn’t feel it but you couldn’t bear it if they did.

At 10 years old you watched as blood poured from your wrist, dripping down onto your carpet and staining it. Your skin peeled apart, the white of your bone showing, you almost threw up.

What were they doing?! You grabbed your towels, pressing them to your painless wound, wishing for whoever was hurting them to stop.

Soon, it stopped; a slight slice in the corner of the gaping wound telling you someone had ripped the weapon away from whoever was hurting them.

You let out a shuddering sigh, grabbing the medical kit from beside you and beginning to disinfect and wrap your arm, making a mental note to thank your parents for having you take those medical care classes for the extreme soulmate.

Your mother had screamed in horror as she looked at your wrist when she came home from work. She picked you up out of bed and had rushed you to the hospital; the doctor who took you in was confused in how you weren’t screaming in pain before realizing it was a soulmate wound.

They fixed you up and sent you home with some antibiotics and sterilized bandages, requesting you to come in once a week to change bandages and to look over the wound.

Once you were old enough to know about the isle of the lost across the sea, you knew.

Your soulmate was on the isle, what was happening to you would have been stopped years ago in Auradon.

You hoped one day your soulmate would be safe one day, but the reappearing bruises and cuts scared you, and if they stopped, you feared for the other option in your mind.

=

When Ben's proclamation for the new generation of children born from the villains came around, you jumped at the chance to support it, advocating for the VKs to come to Auradon to live their lives in a safe environment.

Your parents, knowing that their child’s soulmate was an isle child, they eagerly funded the program, helping buy the extra food they needed, any medical expenses, or rooming during the season breaks.

You had never been prouder of them.

But still, none of the recent four vks matched your scars, specifically the one on your left wrist; it had taken a long time to heal, leaving a heavy scar deep in your wrist.

You sighed, looking around the locker area, Mal and Evie chatting with each other as they switched their books out, Carlos and Ben waiting for them by the rails.

Tomorrow there would finally be another round of VKs.

One of which was Mal’s “arch-enemy” Uma, the daughter of the sea witch Ursula.

Honestly, she sounded cool, enough to want to seek her out and attempt to be her friend, but with Mal’s stories (most of which you took with a grain of salt) she seemed to be unapproachable.

But you always made it a point to wait until you met someone and got to know them before believing someone else’s stories about them.

“Look there’s scarry~” a group of nasty, privileged teens walked by you, taunting at your visible scars and bruises. “It’s a wonder that their soulmates even still alive!”

“I think that even they’ll be disgusted by them!” they snickered with their friend, squealing as you turned around and “accidentally” smacked their shoulder.

You grinned, making them pale slightly “what’s wrong~?” you purred, sneakily flipping your switchblade in your freehand “scared of lil’ ol me~ ‘scarry~’?” you took a step towards them, making them squeal and run off.

You rolled your eyes and closed your switchblade, pocketing it before turning back to your locker, stashing your history books before grabbing your nursing elective books.

“you ready for tomorrow (y/n)?” Evie asked as she passed you, stopping to lean on the rails to wait for you.

“as ever” you cheered, closing your locker and turning to Evie, a thought came to your mind. “hey uh, do you think….that maybe….THEY are in the next round?”

“they who?” Evie asked, tilting her head. You lifted up your wrist, shaking it around a bit, Evie’s eyes widened “oh! Um…I don’t know, I don’t remember anyone on the isle with a wrist injury?”

You sighed, shaking your head, letting your arm drop to your leg. “alright then, more of the waiting game I suppose, see you guys later”

“see ya (y/n)!”

Mal waiting till you were out of earshot before turning to Evie with a smirk “Harry has a wrist injury”

“he does!” Evie gasped, rummaging through her memory “but I don’t-“

“oh, right you weren’t…….around” Mal winced, remembering Evie's banishment from the main isle “um, harry tried to cut off his hand when he was 10, ya know, to get his hook?”

“That’s awful!.....oh…..oh!” Evie gasped, clapping her hands “Harry is-!”

“-Harry is (y/n)s soulmate~ also, remember when we went to the beach? (y/n) had scars all over their back, they looked exactly like-“

“-a hook ran down their back. Oh my” Evie sighed, her shoulders dropping “poor (y/n), thank goodness she didn’t feel any pain from it, I think even I could hear Harry's screams from my mom’s castle.”

“They were horrific, even my mother ordered him to stop, according to her they were “annoying” Mal curled her lip in disgust in thinking of her mother’s lack of sympathy.

“Shoot we have to get to class!” Evie jumped at the bell, grabbing Mal’s hand and pulling her down the halls to class.

=

Harry had not grown up with bruises or scars other than his own, no cuts, no scrape of the knee, nothing.

It was the one thing his dad was proud of him for,

“Nothing to be distracted by my boy! no true love to ruin your plans!”

But….one day, when Harry woke up with a large bruise on his jaw that wasn’t there when he went to sleep, and couldn’t recall getting hit in the jaw, nor did it hurt when he poked it,

He realized he had a soulmate.

All his wounds healed faster than they should’ve as well, his wrist healing within the month, the scars on his back never becoming infected.

His soulmate was looking out for him, taking care of “his” wounds on their side to help him.

He realized he loved his soulmate before he’d even met them.

They had to be from Auradon, no kid on the isle would be able to care for themselves this way.

So the day he got the letter to go to Auradon, he couldn’t wait until the limo came to pick him up.

Maybe he would finally meet them!

As he stepped out of the limo, his breath escaped him.

There, waiting by the doors, was the most gorgeous person he had ever seen. They looked to have soft (s/c) skin, (hair type/hair color) hair that reached their (where ever ur hair ends), very faint scars littered across them, Harry’s eyes drifted down, gasping as he spotted a bandage around their left wrist.

He looked from his own bandaged wrist to theirs, now he didn’t know if he was jumping to conclusions, but the feeling he got from just looking at them told him that he was looking at his soulmate for the first time.

he felt Gil shove his shoulder a bit, moving him forward a bit, he took his eyes off his soulmate and started to walk with his friends and following Ben and Mal around the dorms.

=

The new group had been settling in for a month now, you had tried to talk to Harry but he had been….shy? to say the least, he wouldn’t speak and couldn’t keep eye contact with you.

But whenever you walked away, you sneaked a look back at the tiro to see Harry hit his head against the table they were sitting at.

You snorted as you thought back to it, the pirate was quite handsome, what luck would it be if he was your soulmate huh?

He didn’t seem to be interested though, always off Standish and silent. What you didn’t know was that he ranted to Uma and Gil about you, constantly gushing about your eyes, saying they were brighter than the neverland stars.

Or about how your smile just made him feel things that he just couldn’t explain.

Uma and Gil were very close to just punching him in the jaw right in front of you to get him to stop rambling to them.

Your train of thought was interrupted as someone tapped the edge of your book, you looked up, smiling as you looked into Evie’s blueish brown eyes. “hi” you whispered, avoiding the chance of getting the library mad.

“hi~” she whisper-sang back, sitting down next to you and setting her bag on the library table. “whatcha studying?”

“history stuff” you hummed, flipping through another page “for the test tomorrow”

“ah, I for-“ Evie trailed off, staring at your face intensely “whats-(y/n) your jaw!”

You put down your book and touched your jaw, feeling nothing but gathering heat. “is it bruising?”

“yeah! Oh, there's, your shoulder too!” the librarian shushed you, stopping as she got a good look at your bruising body.

“oh shit” you muttered, pulling up your shirt to see multiple fist-shaped welts forming around your body. “they’re getting into a fight-“

Evie’s phone went off, and she picked it up, eyes widening “Harry’s getting cornered, lockers, come on!” she grabbed your wrist, tugging you out of the library and towards the lockers.

You pulled your wrist out of her grip and ran faster toward the lockers, skidding to a stop as you turned the corner. You gasped.

There against the lockers was Harry, being held down by two tourney jocks and Tyler, the asshole who had been obsessed with you since middle school.

“they’re mine, you filthy pirate!” Tyler spit in Harry's face, punching him in the jaw again.

“they-“ Harry spit a mouthful of blood on Tyler's shoes, looking back at the seething boy with a bloody grin “-they aren’t even yer soulmate yeh jackass”

Tyler screamed in rage and socked harry in the face again, slamming his head against the locker “shut the fuck up you asshole!”

“(y/n) your face” Evie whispered, you took out your phone and quickly opened the camera, in the same places Harry was getting hit, was forming welts and bruises on your face.

“that’s it” you snarled, swiftly taking off your jacket and tossing your phone at Evie, bolting towards Tyler and Harry “TYLER BACK THE FUCK OFF MY SOULMATE YOU JACKASS!”

Tyler perked up, eyes widening in horror as your fist flew at his face. You hit him with a hard right hook, breaking him away from Harry and blood spurting from his nose.

“ah-“ you grabbed his shirt and pushed him back towards the rails, hitting him in the jewels and tripping him over the rials, sending him to the ground below.

You turned, glaring sharply at the two leftover jocks holding Harry down, they looked from Harry to you and released him, backing away with their hands up before bolting off somewhere.

You looked around at the forming crowd, letting out a single snapping word “GO!” the Auradon kids scrambled off, leaving you, Evie, an arriving Uma, and an almost unconscious Harry.

You sighed and ran towards Harry, kneeling next to him and cupping his face gently. “harry, can you hear me?”

He shook his head a bit and shifted his striking blue eyes to you, he gave a small painful grin. “alright then” you huffed, giving him a soft smile “you’re an idiot Harry Hook, Uma!” she stepped next to you, kneeling next to you, giving harry a look “can you help him?”

“I can….but im thinking he needs to learn a lesson of not ranting to me about you” she huffed, giving Harry a shit-eating grin.

Harry groaned and flipped her off, Uma chuckled and waved her hand, the bruises on you and Harry disappearing. “there, now yall get officially acquainted and ill take evie somewhere so she doesn’t disturb you with her squealing” she stood and walked over to evie, dragging the grinning Evie away by the arm.

You sighed and took Harry's hand, pulling him out of his sitting position to stand with you “so why don’t we go get to know each other hm?” you grinned as Harry chuckled and held out his arm.

You wrapped your hands around his arm and let him lead you off to where ever.  

What a way to “meet” your soulmate huh?.....saving him from getting his ass kicked.

-end-

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[maybedefinitely404]

Day 8: Moceit

@tsshipmonth2020

Day 8 - The temperature of your chest gets hotter when you are closer to your soulmate and colder when you move further away. 

Content warnings (oh boy): This is an afterlife fic! Meaning there is technically character death, but it is essentially the beginning of a whole new life, and the death itself is only briefly touched upon. That being said, warnings for; hypothermia/frostbite, death, car accident, talk of past death, mention of cancer, brief description of body horror (no gore).

Word count: 2.8k

It started when Janus was two. His parents were awoken by his feral cries, throwing open the door to his room, imagining the worst. They recoiled immediately upon touching him, his skin almost freezing to the touch. They closed the bedroom window and piled him in more layers until he stopped wailing, but that was only the start.  

When he was six, his mother explained soulmates to him. He looked at her with huge eyes, fiddling with the sleeves of his oversized hoodie, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. 

When he was ten, he had grown sick and tired of the constant cold. A majority of his classmates and friends hadn’t met their soulmates yet, but they all didn’t seem as bothered by it as he was. They didn’t keep their winter jackets on in class, no matter the season, and their hands were never too cold to hold a pencil.

When he was thirteen, he caught hypothermia. At the insistence of his older brother, he joined him outside in the snow for a hike in the forest. His countless layers and heat pads in his pockets only did so much when they got hopelessly lost in the woods, and while his brother seemed to be unaffected by the cold, Janus woke up the next day in the hospital. He could vaguely remember falling face first into the snow, his cold slowly morphing into pleasant warmth, his brother shouting his name. The doctors were unable to save his left eye, leaving him half blind, and his frostbite scars never quite disappeared. They said the very fact that he survived was some kind of miracle. He didn’t go into the snow after that. 

When he was sixteen, his mother took him to a doctor. After thorough examination, the man could find nothing wrong with him. He suggested B-12 supplements and a list of ways to increase his circulation, and when that did nothing to help months later, he sat them both down in his office and explained it most likely meant Janus’ soulmate had died. Janus didn’t know until that moment that it was possible to miss someone you’ve never met, but he cried on the way home. His mom said nothing. 

When he was eighteen, Janus was alone. He had become reclusive and standoffish, unwilling to spend time around any of the people who tried to befriend him. All of them had soulmates. All of them got to be happy. 

When he was twenty, his family suggested group therapy for those who had lost their soulmates, and he had reluctantly gone to one session. For a moment, he felt at home, surrounded by other people in thick sweaters and jackets and gloves, until he learned that all of them had lost their soulmates after meeting them. They had been able to spend years together, enjoying each other’s company, before losing the love of their life. When he explained his situation, he was only met with the same sympathetic looks he’d received everywhere else in life, and he never went back. 

When he was twenty-two, he graduated with his Bachelor’s degree in psychology. The crowd was the quietest it had been all night; no one knew this guy, but it felt wrong to not cheer at all. He shook the Dean’s hand with thick yellow gloves and took the diploma, ignoring the man’s confused raised eyebrow and walking away to the noise of half-hearted claps. 

When he was twenty-five, life was okay. Not good, just okay. He’d found a lab job in the psychological social experiment aspect that paid decently and wasn’t a total bore. Most nights he was numb, especially after experiments that revolved around soulmates, so he turned on Netflix and poured a glass of wine and fell asleep on the couch, wrapped in a thick weighted blanket. Life is fine, he told himself. It could be worse. 

And when Janus was twenty-seven, he died. It was an accident; a mix of a long tiring day and an ignored red light just as he was crossing the street. The car barreled through the intersection, other car horns blaring, and he looked up just in time to see the person looking down, probably on their phone. He’d never know. The impact was quick, and he didn’t even have time to feel pain before the world went dark. He was a little grateful for that.

It stayed dark for a long while after that. Well, in full honesty, he didn’t know how long it was. It felt like a long time, but it also felt extraordinarily short. The seconds turned to years and millennia became mere minutes, the very concept of time fading away just as he did. A minuscule part of him was still aware that he was conscious, and he probably should have been a little scared of that, because did that mean he was destined to float around as an unattached subconscious for eternity? A larger part of him was just relieved to finally rest, with the weight of student debt and an exhaustingly lonely life finally gone. 

Until it wasn’t. The light crept into the center of his vision first and he grumbled in annoyance. Let me just enjoy it a second longer, he thought distantly, but the light didn’t listen as it slowly spread across his vision like molasses. For the first time in his life, he realized with a start, he didn’t feel cold. There was a heat in his chest that he’d never felt before, and he was scared when the darkness faded, so would the warmth. 

“Janus, are you okay?” A desperate voice broke through his dark haze in whisps, slowly clearing the fog that had set in. It rambled on, “Oh, stupid question. You just died. Sorry! Can you see me?”

His vision lit up all the way, replacing the darkness but not taking away the heat. Perfect. He was about to answer no to the stranger’s question; there was just a blur of blue and white and green, until the figure loomed that much closer and came into focus. It was a man, probably his age, with bright blue eyes and floppy golden hair, his freckled nose just inches from Janus’. His eyes held concern but he was smiling like no tomorrow. The man seemed to realize when Janus could in fact see him clearly and backed away, holding out a hand to help him up. Why was he lying on the ground? Where was he?

That question was answered as soon as he took the offered hand, looking around him in shock. Apparently the dark void hadn’t held him for as long as he thought. A distant siren pierced the air, and people’s shouts rang over each other as they milled around the body in the street, his body. The car that had hit him was nowhere to be seen. It was all too surreal, too uncomfortable, and he turned back to the man standing in front of him. They were standing on the sidewalk, just meters away from the gruesome scene on the street, and Janus suddenly felt very lightheaded. 

“I carried you away as soon as your soul formed. Didn’t want to overwhelm you when you opened your eyes for the first time.”

“I’m dead?”

“Yep,” The man answered just a bit too cheerfully, before noticing the newcomer’s expression and softening, “Sorry. I’ve been here for a while, the shock has kind of worn down.”

“What’s here?”

“The afterlife. Deathny World. Aliven’t. I’ve heard it all.”

“Ah,” Janus choked, trying to take in the environment around him without looking at his own dead body, or the paramedics that had just arrived on the scene. It looked like the real world, and obviously they were still in the real world to some extent since he was witnessing the aftereffects of his own death, but the subtle mist floating through the air was definitely new. It curled through the air gently, resting on every surface it could land on, coloring the world with soft rainbow hues. It was the real world, it was just as if he was seeing more of it for the first time. The parts that were invisible before. An orange tuft graced by his ear and he could just make out the sound of someone laughing, the smell of fresh bread, the taste of fresh jam on a summer morning. A smile tugged at his lips before he realized.

“Forgotten memories,” The man spoke up, as if reading his mind. “Every lost memory of every person winds up here. Mostly good ones, but some are bad. You’ll learn how to sift through them soon enough.” 

Janus was finally able to pull himself away from the colorful world, staring into the bright eyes of the stranger. “Who are you?”

“I’m Patton,” he said with a new grin, scratching the back of his neck nervously, “I’m your soulmate.”

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

It took Janus a much longer time than he would have liked to admit to unfreeze from the revelation, Patton taking his hand gently and sinking them out to a new location. His stomach churned upon rising up, the new sensation making him nauseous. He didn’t recognize where they were, some cafe, and Patton gently pushed him into a seat before strolling up to the counter with no hesitation, starting a conversation with the barista and gesturing to Janus. The mist, the lost memories, were gone, replaced with a golden haze that gave the world a soft glow. The air was thick with the smell of coffee beans and cookies that instantly calmed Janus’ stomach. When Patton finally walked back to him, two mugs in hand, he explained. 

“This is the soul world. We can pop in from the real world to this one whenever we want. Some souls choose to stay on one side predominantly, some switch back and forth a lot.” 

“This single cafe is the soul world?”

“Oh! No, my bad! There’s a whole lot more outside. I’ll have to show you later. Right now, though, just relax. You’ve had a… long day, to say the least.” He pushed one of the cups into Janus’ grasp.

“What is it?” He asked skeptically. It looked like coffee, but who’s to say anything anymore. 

“Whatever you want it to be. Think of your favorite drink, then try it.”

Janus narrowed his eyes but lifted the mug to his lifts, trying to think of a single drink he liked. His mind decided that this was the ideal moment to forget everything he ever drank in his entire short life, so when he finally took a sip, the liquid was disgustingly tasteless. Like warm water. He set the drink down, watching Patton intensely.

Janus took in his appearance, his general shock finally beginning to wear off. An open light blue button up over a white shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He was pretty much Janus’ definition of cute, what with those stupidly adorable dimples and little golden locket hanging on his neck. If he’d met him when he was alive, he no doubt would have fallen head over heels for him.    

“You’re my soulmate? How is that…” He cleared his throat, hoping he wasn’t blushing, “How is that possible?”

Patton hummed, wiping off what appeared to be a hot chocolate moustache, “I died when I was three. Cancer.”

“That’s awful.”

Patton shrugged, taking another sip, “It wasn’t great. I woke up by myself, still half wedged in my own corpse. It was terrifying. My parents were crying, and I tried to tell them I was there, somehow, but they couldn’t see me.”

“Totally not traumatic at all.”  

The man actually laughed, despite the dark story, “I had to figure everything out for myself. Sinking down, navigating both worlds, how to control my own form… which you are doing surprisingly well at, by the way.” 

Janus glanced down at himself. He definitely wasn’t alive, that much was sure, if the wisps of yellow smoke cascading down him were any indication. If he concentrated hard enough, the fog began to disappear, leaving him looking normal, albeit a bit paler. As soon as his mind drifted, however, the golden trails were back.

“This was the first place I was able to rise up in in this world. It’s kind of an easy access point. I popped up behind the counter, scared the living daylights out of Virgil.” He pointed to the barista who was currently chatting with another person ghost, laughing over identical mugs with them. “He’s been here a while. Two hundred years, give or take.”

Janus paled, the idea of eternity becoming just that much more real. “Oh…”

“Yeah. He kind of raised me. And then when I was old enough to understand, he explained that I’d left a soulmate behind. I cried for hours after that.” He smiled sadly, finally meeting Janus’ eyes. 

“You knew my name,” The younger recalled suddenly, sitting up a little straighter, “Right when I was waking up, you said my name.”

Patton looked almost sheepish, focusing back on the cup between his hands, “After Virgil told me… I kind of made it my personal mission to find my soulmate. I spent a lot of time in the real world, years, trying to find you, and of course checking in on my parents sometimes. Ghosts don’t need sleep, we can sleep, if we want, but we don’t need to, so it was a constant search. And then, my parents both ended up in the hospital, long story, and I wanted to be there when they woke up. Make their transition into the new world a little easier than mine was,” His expression lit up, wiggling a little in his seat, “And while I was there, I stumbled across a certain young patient with severe frostbite and hypothermia.”

“Me.”

“Mmhm. And I felt this weird warmth in my chest, which is weird, because ghosts don’t really feel temperature. It didn’t last that long, just a couple seconds, really, but it was enough time to know.”

“The soulbond.”

“Yep.”

They both drank in unison. This time, Janus’ drink tasted like the unsweetened chamomile tea from the hospital. He made a sour face and put the cup back down. He stared into his reflection for a moment, almost captivated in the sloshing against the sides of the mug, before Patton spoke again.

“I spent most of my time in the alive-world after that. With you. And it sucked, because there was nothing I wanted more than to talk to you and hug you and just let you know I existed… you were so sad…”

“Yeah…” Janus mumbled, tapping the ridge of his cup with his fingernail. “Is that why you were at the accident?”

“I tried to stop it,” Patton whispered, a look of pure guilt crossing his face, “I couldn’t tug you back though, and you didn’t hear me. So the least I could do was pull you out when you formed and take you away from the crowd.” 

The odd language was starting to confuse Janus, the weird differentiation between his soul and his body, the terminology regarding the soul world he didn’t understand… it was all just a lot. 

“So… Do we age? You’re obviously not three anymore. But the barista doesn’t look two hundred.”

“Virgil. And… I don’t know.”

“Very comforting.”

“You’re sassy.”

“That I am.” 

For the first time in a very long time, Janus’ lips twitched into a smile in response to the absolute beam on Patton’s face. No one had ever taken his snark as anything other than bitchiness, but this guy, his soulmate, seemed to love it. 

“As far as I know, we won’t. I think I only aged along with you, and now that you’re here, we’re probably done.” He had finished his drink, the barista swooping in out of nowhere and plucking it from his grasp with an impish grin. Patton shouted his thanks as Virgil disappeared into the back room. “He’s been waiting to meet you for a long time. But he can be a handful, so we’ll save proper introductions until you’re settled. Speaking of which…” He stood up, smoothing out his shirt and offering his hand to Janus once more. “I can show you where residency is, if you’d like. It might be nice to take a nap, just to process.”

Janus considered. The vague sounding ‘residency’ was intriguing, but he was much too restless to sleep right now. He voiced as much. “Maybe later. Do you think you could show me around first?”

The grin Patton gave him was bright enough to power a city block. Janus took the extended hand and the man squealed, pulling him towards the door excitedly. Yeah. He was definitely already falling for the literal ball of sunshine that was his soulmate. 

“One grand tour of the afterlife, coming up!” 

[jemej3m]

Dare You

anon asked:

If your still doing prompts... What about if Neil and Andrew are friends and Neil figures out that he likes Andrew and asks his friends how to woo him and then Andrew has to deal with Neil's terrible attempts at wooing. But everything neils doing is the same thing that Andrews been doing but in his own way? Idk, the idea just won't leave me alone and I'd love to see how amazing you could write it. Love your writing besides, it always makes my day :)

also on ao3!!

*

Neil and Andrew had been friends for 5 years when they have their first kiss. 

The context? Neil’s small-town friends had all found themselves at the same university. Obviously, they banded together. Obviously, there were parties. Neil’s not a party person himself, but he loved his eclectic family and wanted spend time with them whenever he could. He’d moved to Palmetto when he was 13 with his mother, and as the youngest of the group, watched as the rest of them moved on from middle school to high school, and then from high school to college. 

But now they were all back together again. 

Thus developed his (mild) enjoyment of Allison or Nicky’s chaotic fiascos, which were technically parties, just lacking any rhyme or reason. 

Andrew wasn’t a party person either: in high school, he, Neil and Renee would have movie nights instead, waiting for the rest of them to stumble home in drunken stupors. 

He still tagged along to these gatherings, though. Maybe because Neil and Renee were now commonly in attendance. Neil didn’t think that Andrew would come just for Neil, but he hadn’t worked out why Andrew had become so inclined to participate. Maybe because Aaron was there, and they were trying to patch things up with one another. Their mother’s accident had really put a rift between them. 

“Are you playing?” Allison demanded. “Neil, you’re playing. Renee’s managed to convince Andrew to play, so you’re playing.” 

“Fine,” Neil mused, mostly to appease the inebriated monster that Allison was. No attention was paid to him in these drinking games, mostly because he didn’t drink, but also because he didn’t do anything too unreserved. 

“Great!” she cheered, slinging an arm around his shoulder and brought him to the circle. He automatically took his seat next to Andrew, and felt his friend lean closer. 

Friend was a loose term. Neil and Andrew were almost attached at the hip: When Neil’s mom had died two years ago, Andrew snatched him away and got a spare mattress in his bedroom till Neil had enough money to afford rent somewhere. Andrew was the only one who knew every horrific detail of Neil’s violent childhood, and the only one who’d seen the scars left by his dead-beat dad. Neil was the only one who knew everything about Andrew, too. 

“Spin the bottle, Allison?” Dan leered as the girl put an empty beer bottle in the centre of the circle. Everyone was there. “We’ve got family members here!” Aaron mimed a retching action as Nicky laughed, clapping loudly. 

“It’s just to pick who has to do truth or dare,” Allison retorted, waving the bottle in Dan’s face. “You wanna go first, huh? I’ll pick out your dare for you, Wilds. A personal attribute!”

“No way,” Dan laughed, leaning back into Matt’s shoulder. The guy was half asleep: alcohol did that to him, sometimes.

“Fine, I’ll spin it,” Allison huffed. With a little too much vigour, she flicked the neck of the bottle, sending it spinning wildly. 

And of course, it had to land on Neil. 

“First of the night!” Nicky crowed. 

“Neil’s just going to pick truth,” Allison complained. “And make us all sad.”

Neil grinned at her. “Not my fault you grew up in a guilded bubble.” 

“Shut the fuck up. Choose!”

Neil hummed, cocking his head to the side. 

“Don’t do something stupid,” Andrew warned under his breath. 

“Dare,” Neil said. 

“Here we go,” his best friend sighed. 

“Fuck yeah,” Allison grinned. “What should we make you do, hm? We all know you can and will eat anything without even flinching, no clothes-off, no alcohol...” 

“Maybe he should go try and steal something,” Kevin slurred. “He’s good at it. Fuckin’ hot-wired a car once, for the hell of it.” 

“Fuck off, Kevin,” Neil managed, ignoring the incredulous looks that the others were giving him. 

“When the hell did you manage that?” Dan demanded. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.” 

“He should kiss Andrew,” Matt mumbled, burrowing his face into the crook of Dan’s shoulder. No one heard him. 

“We should see if he can jump from the dorm roof!” 

“No,” Andrew said. 

“He should shotgun three Caprisuns,”

“Too easy!”

“Fine, five!” 

“He should kiss Andrew,” Matt repeated, sitting up and blinking the sleepiness away. 

The circle grew quiet. 

“Yeah,” Allison breathed, grinning wildly. She looked to Neil. “You’ve gotta kiss Andrew.” 

Neil glanced at Andrew, whose gaze was hooded as he glared at the been in his hand. 

“I’m not doing that if Andrew doesn’t want to,” Neil said. 

Andrew shrugged. “I don’t care.”

“See?” Allison said, gesturing wildly. “Pucker up, Josten.” 

“Well, this isn’t how I expected this to go,” Neil muttered. Andrew looked up at him, something making his eyes sparkle. “Tonight, I mean.” 

“Right,” Andrew said. “Well? Hurry up.”

Neil hadn’t kissed many people before. Andrew knew that all too well: he’d heard about all three of Neil’s dating disasters in meandering rants about expectations and Neil’s lack of interest in - well, anyone, really. 

He was overthinking this. It was just a kiss. 

“And no measly pecks, either!” Dan insisted.

Andrew didn’t care. It was just a kiss.

Neil felt all stiff and awkward, because he had no idea what he was doing, but it was fine, because Andrew was tilting his head and lifting up his hand to press his fingertips to Neil’s cheek, tilting up his chin a bit. Neil let him. 

When Andrew drew back, all Neil could think was that his lips were so soft. So soft. Everything about the kiss had been feather light, which wasn’t like Andrew at all. 

Neil learned new things about Andrew every day. 

“Happy?” Andrew said, facing the circle once more. Allison was cheering as Nicky and Aaron gave each other all-knowing side eye: Dan was clapping, and Matt was looking right at Neil with his head tilted to the side. “Now: go pick on someone else.” 

“Someone your own size, might you say?” Nicky teased. Andrew flipped him off. 

It had been a nice kiss, Neil thought. He didn’t know Andrew could kiss like that. 

“You with us, Neil?” 

Neil glanced up and found everyone looking at him. “Yeah? Why?” He frowned. “Did it land on me again?” Did he have to kiss Andrew again? He didn’t want to: not in front of everyone, at least. 

Wait, what?

“You’ve been spared for now,” Allison grinned. Neil flipped her off. 

And that was Andrew and Neil’s first kiss. 

*

Neil burst into Matt and Kevin’s dorm room - obviously, he and Andrew shared one, and Aaron was in the fancy dormitory for academic scholarship students - in a small frenzy. 

“Hey,” he told Kevin, who was sitting on his bed minding his own business. “Fuck off.” 

Kevin glared at him. “You realise this is my room?”

Matt took off his headphones, looking over his shoulder from the tiny desk he’d crammed in at the end of his bed. It was comedically small in comparison with his gargantuan frame. 

“Please?” Neil begged. “I need to talk to Matt.” 

“Why can’t I hear it?” Kevin demanded. “I’ve literally known you longer than anyone else. We used to watch each other shit in toddler potties, Neil.” 

That was true. Still, Neil needed Matt, his not-childhood friend. 

“Dude,” Matt said. “Neil and I are bros. Somethings are just bro to bro. You talk to Andrew about shit you don’t talk to Neil about, yeah? Y’all are like brothers. That’s different from being bros.”

“None of that made sense,” Kevin muttered, packing up his shit. He glared at Neil. “I’ll be in the common room. You’re making up for this by editing my thesis.” 

“Looking forward to it,” Neil said dryly, ushering Kevin out the door and leaning against it, feeling a little breathless. 

Matt jumped onto his bed, patting the spot next to him. “Come hither, child.” 

“I hate it when you say that,” Neil complained, dutifully crossing the tiny room and curling up into a ball on the mattress next to him. Matt patted him on the shoulder gently, though it still managed to send shocks right to his fingers and toes. Matt was just a big guy. 

“What’s this all about?” Matt pushed, when Neil stayed in a curled ball. 

Neil’s head flopped back, thudding against the wall. He swallowed, staring at the ceiling. 

“I like Andrew.” 

“Well, that’s good news,” Matt laughed. 

“No, Matt.” Neil glared towards the window. “I think I’m in love with Andrew.” 

“Yes,” Matt said earnestly. “I know.” 

Neil’s neck nearly snapped what with how fast he looked at Matt. “What?”

His friend snorted. “Dude, you’ve always been infatuated with him. We’re best friends, Neil. You and Kevin are best friends. Do you really want to go cuddling up with either of us, like you do with Andrew? Do you spend hours with either of us at a time, just talking? Do you dream about us? Have you told us everything about you?”

“How do you know I’ve done those things with Andrew?” Neil accused, even though he was completely right. 

Matt shrugged. “That’s how I am with Dan.” 

“We’ve cuddled,” Neil said weakly. 

Matt slung his arm around Neil’s narrow shoulders. It was like wearing a blanket. “Hell yes, we have. But that’s not what I mean.” 

“We don’t do that.” 

“Head out of the gutter, bucko. Remember that photo Allison managed of the two of you? Asleep on the couch? You were literally asleep on Andrew’s chest: one of his legs was hooked over your hip. That’s some serious canoodling, bro.” 

“You’ve analysed us that intensely,” Neil said flatly. 

Matt snorted. “It’s kinda hard not to. You’re both all over each other. I’d say it’s sweet if it wasn’t, well, you and Andrew.”

“So if you knew I liked him,” Neil complained. “Why’d you dare me to kiss him? Now I’m aware of it, and I hate it!”

“That was kinda the point,” Matt admitted. “Why the hell do you hate it? Love is a good thing!” 

“Need I remind you of my parents?” 

Matt shoved him gently. “Don’t start pulling the parent card. Neil, you’ve loved Andrew for years. And - well, I can’t really read him, no one can - I think he likes you back.” 

“He does not,” Neil insisted. 

“He does!” Matt sung. “You know what you have to do now, Josten?”

“No,” Neil said, sullen. 

“You’ve gotta woo him.” 

“Here we go,” Neil mumbled. 

Matt winked. “Don’t worry. I’ve got you. Andrew will be head over heels for you in no time.”

*

“So,” Neil said, sitting on his bed. Andrew was reading a book, his reading glasses perched on the end of his nose. He only wore them in their room, even though everyone knew Aaron had reading glasses and thus Andrew would have to wear them too. He had his armbands off and a pair of knitted socks on. Neil had become so keenly aware over everything that constituted of Andrew recently: it was driving him up the wall.  

Andrew looked at Neil from over his book. “What?” 

Neil shrugged. “I don’t know. Do you want to go somewhere?” 

Andrew glanced at his watch. “Now?” 

Neil shrugged again. 

“What’s this about?” Andrew asked, sitting up.

“Nothing!” Neil stressed. “Just thought it might be good to - get out?” 

“It’s a Tuesday evening,” Andrew said flatly.

Neil deflated. “We don’t have to go.” 

Andrew sighed. “Fine.” Neil perked up. “Where did you want to go?” 

Neil hadn’t thought that far ahead. “David’s?” 

“David’s,” Andrew repeated. “Neil, you don’t like diner food.” 

“Well, now I do!” He really needed to stop the hiccups in his voice. Stuffing his feet into his shoes, he yanked on his coat and shoved his keys and phone into his pocket. 

“Now I’m even more suspicious,” Andrew said, watching Neil’s erratic behaviour with mild amusement. “You’ve never willingly taken that phone with you unless I forcefully reminded you too.” 

He needed it to text Matt. “We all learn and grow,” he said breezily, escaping out the door. “Hurry up, I want coffee!” 

“It’s nearly fucking midnight,” Andrew growled. 

He skipped ahead till he arrived at the dorm’s parking lot: Andrew’s was in the corner, where it couldn’t be scratched. After his mother’s death he’d used his portion of her life insurance to buy the thing, but it hadn’t got him more than a heap of junk. He’d spent a whole summer fixing it up: Neil had watched him from the corner of his garage, a little mesmerised. 

Fuck, he liked Andrew so much. He could hardly contain it within himself. 

He switched the radio to Andrew’s favourite channel as they drove to David’s, an old diner on the corner of campus. It was run by a grouchy old man by the name of David Wymack, hence the name. He served the only pancakes Andrew would speak well of, and sometimes Neil could withstand the fruit smoothies. 

Andrew glanced over at Neil at the music choice - Neil almost always usually bickered with him about playing heavy rock when it got past 9 o’clock - but said nothing, continuing to drive. 

There was almost no one in David’s when they arrived, even though he usually shut at one. Neil was relieved for that: he didn’t feel like anyone watching him as he failed miserably at wooing Andrew Minyard.

Andrew got his pancakes and Neil decided to try the blueberry smoothie, sans ice cream. 

“What is wrong with you,” Andrew muttered. 

It clearly wasn’t going well. Neil grimaced and shrugged. “Dunno.” 

Andrew squinted at him. “Are you upset?”

“What? No!”

“Can you bozos stop wasting my time?” Wymack huffed. 

“Fuck you too, old man,” Andrew said. Wymack flipped him off and proceeded to put an extra scoop of ice-cream onto Andrew’s plate. Their relationship was baffling, especially after Andrew worked the summer here with Renee. 

They sat at a corner table, a little ceramic jug with plucked daisies plonked in the centre of the red-and-white chequered table cloth. 

“You seem jittery,” Andrew said. 

“I’m fine,” Neil managed. Andrew reached out with his hand under the table to stop Neil’s leg from bouncing. The heat from his palm was addictive. Neil made a strange squawking noise, and Andrew immediately withdrew his hand. 

“You’re fine,” Andrew repeated. 

“Yup,” Neil insisted. Andrew’s pancakes arrived, so Neil tried to distract himself from the ruffled blonde hair and pale eyelashes and the freckles on his nose, sipping at the smoothie. Neil didn’t know what to do with that information. It was quite unnerving. 

They were done by half-past-twelve, when Andrew decided to get up and leave without warning. Neil - in a moment’s panic - took one of the daisies from the jug and hopped up after him. 

Andrew was leaning against his car door, lighting up two cigarettes. Moonlight shone down, curling in his hair and curving across his jaw. Neil found himself a little star struck. 

Andrew offered up the second cigarette and Neil took it from between his fingers with his lips, like he usually did. This time all he could notice was how close it put them, and the shape of Andrew’s lips. Now Neil knew what they felt like, too. 

This is ridiculous, Neil thought. 

“Why are you holding a flower?” Andrew asked. 

Neil looked down to where the daisy rested in his palm. He brought it up and tucked it behind Andrew’s ear. The tips of Andrew’s ears went very pink: he had to be warm in that large sweater of his. 

“Don’t know,” Neil answered truthfully, looking at where the daisy drooped down over the shell of Andrew’s ear. 

“Okay,” Andrew managed, though his voice was a bit strained. What if he was allergic to daisies? No, that was ridiculous. Neil would know if he was allergic to daisies. 

They finished their cigarettes in the quiet. Everything was so muddled. Neil just wanted it to go back to normal. And yet: he wanted to kiss Andrew. 

Fucking hell, he thought. 

*

“Back to the drawing board,” Neil announced, bursting into Matt’s dorm room again. Kevin wasn’t there, thankfully. 

Matt arched his brow. “Huh?”

“Date and flowers didn’t work. What the hell do I do?”

His friend hummed. “What about gifts? Is there something you could give him that’s romantic?” 

“He likes chocolate?” Neil hedged.

“Could work,” Matt acknowledged. “Or, you know, we could make him jealous.”

“Absolutely not,” Neil grimaced. 

“Just a thought.” 

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Neil groaned, sinking into a puddle on the floor. 

The door opened as Kevin stepped through. He didn’t even pause, stepping right over where Neil had melted onto the floor. 

“Don’t mind him,” Matt acknowledged. 

Neil made an exasperated noise. 

“Have you always been so dramatic?” Kevin acknowledged. 

“Maybe you could recite a monologue to him,” Matt suggested. 

Kevin frowned. “Who?” 

Before Neil could shush him, Matt sung out “Andrew!” with a cheerful smile. 

Kevin signed. “Fucking finally. Everyone’s been waiting years for the two of you to sort yourselves out.” 

“What?” Neil sat up. “Are you serious?” 

Kevin shrugged. “It’s pretty obvious.” 

“For fuck’s sake,” Neil groused. 

“He’s trying to woo Andrew into liking him back,” Matt informed Kevin. 

Kevin frowned. “Why don’t you just tell him that you like him?”

“Because that’s mortifying?” 

“You’re such a horribly adjusted human being,” Kevin muttered. 

“He’s kinda right,” Matt acknowledged. “I just kept asking Dan on dates till she accepted.”

“No,” Neil hoisted himself to his feet. “I’ll figure it out. It won’t have to come to that.” He glared at both of them. “Thanks for nothing. Neither of you know anything about relationships.” 

“We are both in committed, loving, long-term partnerships,” Kevin pointed out. 

“Love you too!” Matt called as Neil stomped out.

*

Neil eventually developed a checklist. 

Spontaneous midnight date? Nope. Flowers? Definitely a no. Making him a mixtape? Not the right decade. 

Accompanying him places definitely didn’t work: Neil was late to all his classes for a week. Cooking for two also didn’t work, seeing as the only thing Neil could cook was 2 Minute Noodles. 

Chocolates was a moderate success, but it probably didn’t help the wooing cause. It didn’t help that they roomed together: Neil didn’t get much time to scheme, because neither of them were social butterflies, and their dorm room was their safe space. 

The only thing he thought could’ve been counted a success was when they decided to rewatch the last two Harry Potter movies together: Andrew yanked Neil over to his bed and they nestled into the corner to watch the films from Andrew’s laptop. Neil was so consumed by the thought kiss him kiss him kiss him that he barely registered either of the films. 

One month passed since Neil’s epiphany, then one and a half: It even got too the point that Neil jostled Andrew’s shoulder at another of Allison’s ‘parties’ and said “Remember the last time she made us participate?” to which Neil only received an odd look and stale silence.

He also tried to rig one of Allison’s silly games, giving Andrew a piece of paper that asked do you like someone? Andrew set the thing on fire with his lighter, and the dormitory nearly had to be evacuated.

Neil was beginning to lose hope. 

“You upset, Neil?” Renee asked, dropping into the chair next to him. He was studying in the library, one of the few places he knew Andrew wouldn’t follow. 

“Hi, Renee,” Neil said, sullen. 

“I’ll take that as a yes.” She twisted herself around to face him. “What’s up?”

“Can’t talk to you about it,” Neil mumbled, resting his head on his folded arms and glaring at the table. 

“You know,” Renee said, slightly amused. “I overheard something about someone being interested in Andrew recently.”

Neil sat up. “You did? Who?” He’d fight them. Not that he was possessive, or jealous. 

Renee laughed. “You, silly.” 

Neil deflated. “Does everyone know? I feel like I was the last one to figure it out.”

Renee patted his shoulder gently. “Almost the last one.”

“What do you mean?”

“Andrew doesn’t know.”

“Good,” Neil huffed out. “That’d be embarrassing.”

Renee shook her head. 

“He’s never going to like me back,” Neil mumbled. “I’ve been trying so hard, but he won’t notice.”

“He did mention you were acting odd, recently,” Renee acknowledged. 

Neil huffed. “Yeah, well. There’s no point in keeping it up, is there? Not if nothing will happen.”

“You know,” she said. “I always found clarity in honesty.” With that, she winked and slid off her stool. “See you around, Neil.”

“Yeah,” Neil muttered. “See you.”

*

Neil dressed quickly in the shower stall and hooked his towel over his shoulder, carrying his small caddy back to his room. He was wearing old pyjamas: fire-engine truck flannels with one of Matt’s oversized (or normal sized, for him) hoodies that went all the way to his fingertips. He shook out his wet hair as he traversed from the bathroom back to his dorm room and shouldered his way in, the door unlocked. That meant Andrew was back.��

And back, Andrew was: facing the wall, he was tugging off a turtleneck sweater and yanking on a t-shirt that Neil recognised as his: he’d already changed into grey sweats that were too long for him, hanging around the ankles. 

Neil slowly put his soap back onto his little shelf, hanging his towel on a wall hook. Andrew glanced over his shoulder at him, acknowledging Neil’s presence, before going back to unpacking from his day and readying for bed. 

Neil felt sucker-punched. 

“Andrew?” 

He glanced back again, brows furrowing at Neil’s strange tone. “What?”

When Neil couldn’t answer, he dropped what he was doing and came closer. His fingers curled in Neil’s collar, tugging him closer. 

“You’re pale as shit,” he commented. “Are you going to collapse?”

“I’m already falling,” Neil joked weakly. 

“What?”

“What?”

Andrew stepped back. Dammit, Neil thought. “What the hell is going on, Neil? You’ve been acting fucking weird for ages, now.”

“I really like you,” Neil breathed out. 

Andrew froze. 

“I wasn’t meant to say that,” Neil bit out, folding his arms over his chest. “But I can’t get over it. Ever since we kissed I’ve been kinda losing my mind, and everyone’s told me I’ve liked you for years -” 

“Shut up,” Andrew said fiercely, stomping right up into Neil’s space, crowding him against the door.

“Um,” Neil mumbled, blinking. 

“You’re the worst,” Andrew hissed. “You’ve been doing all this shit because you like me? I thought you were working up to telling me you were leaving!”

“What?” Neil echoed. 

“Shut up,” Andrew complained. “You’re the fucking worst. I hate you.” 

And then he kissed him. Andrew kissed Neil, that is. It was definitely one of the best moments of Neil’s life, which wasn’t saying much, considering his track record. Still, Neil’s fingers spread out across Andrew’s shoulder blades as his hands grasped Neil’s jaw, kissing him for real, this time. 

Neil had been right: it was definitely better when there was no one else watching. 

Andrew’s shoulders were hunched over when he fell back, pressing his forehead to Neil’s shoulder. 

“You like me?” Neil asked, voice higher and breathier than he thought he could manage. “Since when?”

“I hate you,” Andrew retorted. Then, quieter, he said: “Since forever.” 

Neil’s hands pressed him closer: this wasn’t unfamiliar, the proximity, Andrew’s touch, breath wafting over bare skin. But the warmth encompassing it made sense now. 

“Okay,” he said. And then: “Me too.”

“Were you trying to woo me with 2 Minute Noodles?” Andrew inquired.

“No,” Neil said sheepishly. 

Andrew shook his head, tilting Neil’s head down for another kiss. Then he signed against Neil’s lips. “I hate you. So much.” 

Neil grinned.

*

HEEHEEE

[ears-awake-eyes-opened]

Wedding Colors (Part 1)

(Hayffie ❤️🧡💛💚💙💖. An exploration of Effie’s evolving character as she faces past and present personal intensities while making preparations for Finnick and Annie’s wedding.)

6:00—wake up. The timer in Effie’s quarters buzzed, and the overhead lights turned on automatically. Up up up! It’s going to be a big, big, big day! If the lights could have spoken, that’s what they would have said... The irony.

“This oppressive cavern has no respect for my individual biorhythms!” She pulled the blanket up over her head.

Her one consolation was that the blanket smelled like Haymitch — his skin, his hair, his body with hers. She breathed in deeply, and the scents evoked memories of the evening before. If there was going to be regret, she hadn’t yet felt it. Instead, she was inundated with the sensations of an awakened heart and flushed cheeks.

She lifted her nightgown and traced the paths his hands had taken. Pleasure urged her fingertips in concentric circles and symbols of infinity. Her core flooded as she came alive, so quickly. Effie turned her face into the pillow to stifle the sounds coming from her throat as she trembled and found release.

Every morning in that dungeon, she’d missed the sunrise — the infusion of gold and blue, with wispy clouds white as cotton or pink like tufts of spun sugar. For weeks she’d longed for some bit of delight. And she was feeling it now.

Unfortunately, the timer chirped every five minutes until she placed her forearm into the hole in the wall which imprinted her schedule for the day. She dragged her sated body out of bed to submit to obnoxious authority in order to silence the equally obnoxious alarm.

“...7:00—breakfast, 7:30—kitchen duties, 8:00—Command...” It had been a couple of weeks since Plutarch had an assignment for her which took her down to Command. Am I in trouble? was her initial thought.

Aemilia Trinket’s voice crept out from the recesses of her mind. “You deserve whatever punishment awaits you for sacrificing your virtue to that boor!”

“Oh, Mother...” Effie pushed back at the chastising words inside her. “I said goodbye to my *virtue* 17 years ago. ...And shut up about Haymitch. You don’t know him. You don’t know him at all.” She said it louder than intended, then glanced around her quarters. Are there recorders in here? ...Probably. The people in charge in 13 seemed to care as little about privacy as they did about free will. In which case, they likely got an earful last night! Effie changed into her clothes quickly, imagining the horror of cameras hidden as well.

She slid one of her bracelets onto her wrist and slipped her sunglasses into her pocket. Then she gazed into the small mirror on the wall, searching for evidence that someone might be peering out at her from within. Her reflection was flat here, a shadow of her normal self, her former self.

Her soft curls were weighed down by the residue of industrial shampoo. “This golden color is lovely,” her mother had told Effie’s 5-year-old self, “Though I had hoped it would have grown long and thick by now. You must resign yourself, Euphemia, to a lifetime of woven ribbons, extensions, and silk scarves. Implants may be a possibility when you’re older. Or wigs might come back into fashion. Let us hope they do.”

This is my favorite part of you... Haymitch’s words broke through the old memory. He’d threaded his fingers through her hair and held on like a person drowning, kissing her until her lips were raw.

For an instant, she considered leaving her head uncovered today, but split ends after weeks of unmanicured growth brought her to her senses. She brushed out the night’s tangles and tied her hair up as usual in order to continue hiding at least that much of herself.

If Coin had given Effie approval to continue wearing the wig she’d arrived in, then she wouldn’t be restricted now to improvised kerchiefs and turbans. How is a person supposed to stand out here when everyone is ordered to look the same!?

***

7:00—Breakfast. In the dining hall, Effie always sat at her assigned table, unless someone she felt comfortable with was scheduled to eat at the same time, in which case she joined them if space permitted.

The list of people in 13 who she was comfortable with was short. It began with the Everdeens and Gale. He’d introduced her to his family, but they remained distant. Most people here kept their distance from her. She didn’t like to think about it. “Everyone is still adjusting,” sweet Delly Cartwright had mentioned weeks ago.

Effie tolerated Plutarch’s company as soon as she’d forgiven him for the forced rescue effort which brought her here. Next came Katniss’s *prep team* which included 13’s barber along with the nurses who did laser treatments to remove scarring. Cressida and her film crew whose names Effie never made an effort to recall were from the Capitol, but she felt little kinship with them.

There were also the people who had gathered to brainstorm for the propos. Beetee and Finnick she’d known loosely for years through the Games. Boggs often had his little boy with him in the dining hall. She’d scarcely spoken with Dalton from District 10 or Katniss’s friend Leevy, but at least ther faces were familiar.

Greasy Sae worked in the kitchen during mealtimes, otherwise Effie would have enjoyed her company. Her lively presence was one of the saving graces of “kitchen duty.”

And there was Haymitch.

At breakfast that morning, she sat alone. The food was tasteless as usual. She stirred mashed beets into porridge, creating a bright pink swirl. At least her meal would have some semblance of beauty.

At 7:15 a tray plopped down next to hers. “Morning, sweetheart.” He looked cold in his knit hat and sweater. His bloodshot eyes avoided hers, but he was here.

“You want coffee...” she said knowingly.

“Whiskey first. Or preferably both together, if you’re offering.”

“We’ll have to pretend.” She clinked her plastic water cup against his. “Cheers.”

He finally looked at her. In this light, her eyebrows were golden like the hair she concealed under that kerchief. He wanted to trace them with his fingertips. Why hadn’t he done that last night?

“Did you sleep?” she asked.

“More than usual.” He wanted to touch her. Could he touch her here? When they were making their rules, they hadn’t talked about this part. “I was worn out from the... unscheduled exercise.”

“Is that what that was?” She leaned toward his ear and whispered, “My hips are marked black and blue with your fingerprints.”

His expression changed. He slid an arm around her waist and rested his hands lightly on her hip bones. “Here?”

His face was close to hers. The cut on his lip was starting to knit itself together. She wanted to kiss him. Could she kiss him here? When they were making their rules, they hadn’t talked about this part. “Yes... I’ll live.”

Her echoing his words from the night before only added to the feeling of intimacy. He brushed his thumbs along her hips, offering a gentle apology; even though she was the one who had asked for roughness.

She dropped her hand to his thigh. “I like having your fingerprints on me.”

“I had a good time.”

“I had SUCH a good time.”

“Want to do it again—“

“What’s this about good times?” Finnick arrived with two breakfast trays. Annie’s hand was tucked in the crook of his elbow. He set the trays on the table directly across from Haymitch and Effie. He pulled a chair out for Annie, then sat beside her.

“It looks like we’re having a little reunion here...” Haymitch grinned at Finnick and left his hands right where they were on Effie’s hips despite her letting go of his thigh and returning to her meal. “...Annie, you’re looking lovely.”

Their his-and-hers hospital gowns had been replaced with standard District 13 clothing.

“Indeed, it is WONDERFUL to see you both — together.” Effie fidgeted, uncomfortable now with Haymitch touching her so personally in front of his friends and her associates.

“Annie, my love, you remember Effie Trinket? And Haymitch of course.”

“Effie...” Annie took a moment to place the name. “Oh! I didn’t recognize you. You look so... beautiful.”

Welling tears made Effie’s eyes shine bright blue. Unadorned and dressed in these rags, she hadn’t expected anyone would find her beautiful, let alone give voice to such sentiment. “Thank you, my dear. YOU are the beautiful one. That hair is absolutely divine.”

Finnick beamed as he held Annie’s hand, “Can I tell them?” he asked and she nodded. “She’s going to be a beautiful BRIDE very soon.”

“Ohh!” Effie clasped her hands together and held them in front of her chest. “You’re getting married! This is DELIGHTFUL news.”

At the mention of marriage, Haymitch let go of Effie’s hips. Having sex with someone he cared about was feeling dangerous enough. Marriage was a whole other species that he wanted nothing to do with. That said, he couldn’t help but feel a moment of lightness. He reached forward to clap Finnick’s shoulder. “I’m glad, kid. Nobody deserves a good thing more than you two.”

A slyness slipped into Finnick’s smile as he glanced from Haymitch to Effie and back again. “Other people deserve good things too.” For years he’d observed them shooting barbs at one another, holding each other’s hands each time one of their tributes died, lifting one another up through his drunkenness and her disappointed hopes.

“You and Effie?” Finnick had asked him years ago. “...Too complicated,” had been Haymitch’s response.

Noticing Finnick’s scrutiny, Effie cleared her throat. “Well, look at the time! It’s my turn to be a *servant of the masses.* Congratulations, dears. I look forward to seeing you all later.” She looked intently at Haymitch before moving toward the kitchen.

When she passed through the doorway, Finnick poked him in the arm. “You LIKE her.”

Haymitch said nothing. He could feel the corners of his mouth start to creep up, and he shoved them back down again.

“You’ve never had much of a poker face.” Then Finnick said to Annie. “When he’s got a good hand, he has too many tells. He definitely likes her.”

Annie was glowing like late morning sun lifting up over the woods.

Haymitch had played enough poker with Finnick to know it was pointless to protest his assessment. “It’s like liking a cat,” he admitted, “One minute they’re all soft and purring. And the next, they’re hissing and scratching your eyes out.”

“Or your lip maybe?” Finnick’s eyes were twinkling mischief. Flecks of light on a green sea.

“Alright, alright. Eat your porridge.”

***

8:00—Command. Plutarch and Coin were in the thick of discussion when Effie arrived. She waited unobtrusively just outside the room, hearing only pieces of their conversation.

“My soldiers are occupied with intense training which does not include *walks in the woods*.”

“Forgive my assumption, but soldiers would likely shovel fallen leaves at random and lop off branches without finesse or discernment. We need someone with artistic flair.”

“Effie Trinket will have to make due with the foliage within the exercise yard and along its perimeter.”

“The yard is small. Those limited trees will not provide the diversity of colors and shapes we need for a truly festive propo. This propo is KEY to reaching into the minds of the citizens of the Capitol. Surely regulations can be flexed so a handful of civilians can spend their exercise time gathering vegetation in a small section of the woods.”

“I hear your perspective. But I cannot authorize a full security detail to supervise the equivalent of *berry picking*.”

“Madam President, may I remind you that you agreed to decorations. To honor the spirit of that agreement, those decorations must actually be decorative.”

“What do you propose?”

“Two security guards for two hours, a 100-yard radius, with four civilians wearing tracker anklets and communicators.”

“I’ll allow the two hour shift for a single security guard, a 50-yard radius, and two civilians working in tandem. Any additional foliage you need must be gathered from within the yard.”

Plutarch opened his mouth to negotiate further, but decided against it when he noticed Effie near the doorway. “Ah, Miss Trinket, just the person we’re looking for.”

Effie stepped inside, carrying herself with grace to hide her lingering concern that she’d been called to the *principal’s office* for doing something wrong. “I’m grateful to be at your service. All this dishwashing lately has been MURDER on my hands.”

Coin stood up, signaling an end to her discussion with Plutarch. He followed as she greeted Effie. “Hopefully your hands can be resurrected, because we’ll be needing them over the next few days.”

“Fortunately, resurrection is one of my specialties!”

“Well, that’s something we have in common.” Coin always took the last word, though she never showed overt pleasure in doing so. The president was clearly adept at concealment. The stillness of her hair was uncanny. Stoic even. Maybe it’s a wig after all, Effie thought. The nerve of this woman.

“Madam President, please excuse us.” Plutarch nodded to her. “Miss Trinket, let’s walk.”

He led Effie to an elevator and pressed a button. She watched the lights as they descended to who knows where. “Are you taking me to the dungeon?” she asked.

“It’s all dungeon; isn’t it.” As ever, he was aware of his audience, “Though some places here are less... unpleasant than others.”

The elevator opened up into a zig-zagging corridor flanked by rooms full of technology. The end of the maze was marked by light, lustrous enough to resemble sunshine.

They entered a large room steeped in stillness, interrupted periodically by the flitting chatter of hummingbirds. The floor was dotted with planters full of grass. Several trees carried Effie’s eyes upward to an elaborate ceiling. The architecture was austere yet beautiful. She drew a breath and held it in awe. If this dungeon had a cathedral, then this surely was it. “What is this place?”

“Special Defense. A fitting name for the site of our ultimate propo... the wedding of Annie Cresta and Finnick Odair. The details are being arranged as we speak. Do you feel up to the task of coordinating some of those details?”

His words filled her with a sense of purpose. She could have hugged Plutarch! She could have skipped around the nearest tree like a girl. With a lifetime of rehearsed restraint, she walked to the center of the room and turned methodically in a circle, observing the entirety of the space.

“I do!”

Plutarch smirked. “You realize that YOU are not the bride?”

Effie glared at him. “Don’t be ridiculous! I DO want to help coordinate. When Katniss left for District 2, I was relegated to the work of a peasant!”

“Apparently nobody avoids chores here. Even the president.”

“I have yet to see HER with a broomstick... outside of metaphor, that is.”

“Careful. I believe 13 is bringing out your natural color.”

“Well, it’s all I have in this fortress of gray! The grass and trees add a gorgeous splash of green to this glorious room, but these cement walls are atrocious.”

“I agree. Coin is allowing them to be decorated with fall foliage. Beetee assures me that a few spools of old wire and aging adhesive tape can be repurposed for making garlands. Have you made garlands before?”

“Of course! Decorating is one of my talents! Not that there has been much opportunity for it down here, to put it mildly.”

“Coin will make a public announcement, requesting volunteers to assemble the decorations later this afternoon.”

“This afternoon?! It’s a great deal to pull together so quickly!”

“Time is of the essence. Tomorrow a hovercraft will take Katniss and Annie to District 12 in order to select clothing for the bride and groom.”

“Ohh...” Effie whispered with even greater reverence than she felt at the sight of the ceiling. “...Cinna and Portia’s closets.”

“Yes. Katniss asked permission for you to accompany them to help the bride with her fashion decisions. Her request was approved, but the choice whether or not to go with them is yours. I’ll be honest; 12 is a gruesome place right now.”

Fire bombed. Thousands of people dead. For weeks Effie had imagined the reasons Haymitch knew he couldn’t face it sober. The images her mind conjured were disturbing.

“Katniss would not have asked for my assistance if she didn’t need it. ...Of course I’ll go. I will always be there for my victors.”

Plutarch assessed her. “You may regard yourself as a reluctant rebel, but it’s clear to me where your loyalties lie.”

“Is it?” Effie’s question was genuine. Loyalty was a concept she didn’t contemplate. Doing her job, whatever that may be, was important to her. The people she cared about were important to her. For a while, she’d felt increasingly tugged in opposite directions. She was still trying to hold herself together.

“I trust you’ll figure that out in time.”

“Plutarch, do you EVER give a straightforward answer?”

“Yes,” he said simply.

She shook her head, half amused and half annoyed.

“I have people setting up three hundred chairs in here later this morning. The film crew will work with them on optimal placement in order to get the best angles. The propo will film the day after tomorrow. Wedding Day. I’ll need you to make sure the bride and groom look their best.”

“Now, THAT will be easy. They have tremendous natural beauty. They just need a little help smoothing out some rough edges.” Effie might have been tempted to describe their appearance as haggard, but when she’d observed them at breakfast, she could see that being deeply in love had a power to smooth out edges that lasers and makeup could not touch.

She felt a flash of envy and let it pass without holding on. She already had enough emotions to contend with. *Deeply in love* was a complication she did not need. She could feel herself standing upon a brink — a precipice with a red canyon below and warm wind rushing around her. Letting the wind take her would be so easy. And letting the wind take her would be the smashing death of everything she’d ever been.

I’m not ready for it.

She and Plutarch spent the next quarter hour discussing juxtaposition of color and shape, length and placement of garlands, positioning of the bride and groom. He’d already thought through each detail. He’s not just planning a propo. It’s almost as if he’s designing... an arena. Effie felt chills along her arms.

“This wedding, it’s not another... Hunger Games?” She began it as a statement, but it came out as a question. To her ears it sounded absurd, but her body clearly felt something she couldn’t wrap her mind around.

“There are different kinds of hungers; aren’t there? And games are always afoot.” Again, he was intentionally vague. “A person only needs to create the right atmosphere; then those hungers will emerge, and those games will play out of their own volition. Creating the atmosphere will be our collective task today.”

The goosebumps refused to subside. She suspected Plutarch would never be out of a job in any regime. “What do you need me to do?”

“You’ll notice this morning that you’re scheduled for two hours of exercise. You’ll be in the woods.”

“The woods?!” Effie enjoyed the natural world at a distance and contained, but nature up close was wild and daunting.

“A security guard will escort you. Coin gave approval for another civilian to work with you to gather vegetation. You’ll need a diversity and abundance of leaves, much more than can be found in the exercise yard. You’ll have only two hours, so make wise use of your time. Whatever you bring back is what the volunteers will have to work with this afternoon.”

“What is the plan for the afternoon?”

“Between the lunch and dinner shifts you’ll have use of the dining hall. Volunteers will show up to make the decorations. School will be done for the day, so expect citizens and refugees of all ages. Afterward, you’ll bring a number of volunteers back here to display the garlands as we’ve discussed.”

“Who will be helping me in the woods?”

“You can select anyone whose schedule for the day can be altered. No on-duty kitchen staff, hospital staff, or military personnel, and no minors. ...Who do you want?”

Who do I want?

A hummingbird hovered close. The feathers covering its throat shimmered like rubies, but the beating of its wings was the only sound she heard.

“If you don’t know who you want I can just assign someone.”

She silently cursed the prohibition of makeup here as her feelings showed scarlet on her cheeks before she’d even said his name.

“Miss Trinket, the clock is ticking.”

A ticking clock... this reminder of the last arena raised more goosebumps. When the chips were down, there was only one person in this fortress, maybe in the whole world, who she was comfortable with.

“I want Haymitch.”

“...Of course you do.”

[i-dream-of-twilight-sparkle]

Chapter 11 - Celestia’s Secrets, Part 1

Twilight has been finishing up any remaining royal paperwork before she set out to get her invitees. She did make a brief teleport visit to see Starlight, Trixie, and Sunburst to hand them a portal gum pack as well as (to her chagrin) give another to Pinkie after the pink pony wasted the majority of a pack looking for her sister in so many spots in Ponyville. But by now she was all done, and it was now time for her to get going. Her first stop? The Crystal Empire, to find her brother Shining Armor, Princess Cadence, and her little niece, Flurry Heart.

She blows another bubble and as it pops, the image of just outside the Crystal Empire castle entrance shows. Twilight walks through the portal and is now just steps away from the crystal castle. In a moment or two, she’s in the throne room. Cadence or Flurry Heart wasn’t there yet, but she can see her brother just looking out the windows. Shining turns around and sees her little sister who’s about to be the sole ruler of Equestria in about a year. But even if she’s a year away from outranking him in an even bigger way, he can’t help but still call her…

Shining Armor: Twily!

Twilight: Hello B.B.B.F.F!

Twilight flies up and hugs her older brother, and he returns the favor.

Shining: Good to see you, sis! You have no idea how much liquid pride I’ve shed since I learned you were becoming sole ruler of Equestria soon!

Twilight: Haha, I bet.

They let go of the hug and just stand in front of each other.

Twilight: Now, not that it isn’t great to see you on your own. But do you know where Cadence and Flurry Heart are, I’d actually like to tell what I came here for while the whole Crystal Empire royal family is here.

Shining: She should be here shortly, she was just feeding Flurry in the kitchen. So she’ll be here any second now. Though before she does, how has my little dragon nephew been?

Twilight: He’s been good, I imagine he’s either visiting the changeling hive or the dragon lands right now inviting friends to the very thing I’m telling you and Cadence about.

Shining: Is his scarred eye still ok? Any nightmares or any other kind of PTSD from what happened in that battle with Zathir?

Twilight: He’s… had nightmares from time to time for sure… but for the most time the fact things turned out fine in the end, has mostly made that fade away in time. And his eye’s fine, I’m starting to finally get used to one eye being permanently purple.

Shining: Well that’s good, as a former guard commander I just get concerned about such things especially for how young he is. From what you told me, he was the reason things turned around back in Saddle Arabia. But even the biggest heroes can have PTSD.

Twilight: And that’s very touching of you, Shining. I’m sure if he were having troubles facing what happened back there, I would be the first pony to be aware and comfort him.

Hoof steps are heard from just outside the room. Cadence and Flurry Heart are back in the room, they see Shining Armor isn’t alone.

Cadence: Twilight!

Flurry: Auntwi!

Cadence runs up in front of Twi, and even with Flurry on her back. They do a little dance that Twilight and Cadence has done since she was Twilight’s babysitter.

Twilight & Cadence: Sunshine, Sunshine, Ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves, and do a little shake!

The whole family giggles. Twilight then approaches to give her former babysitter a hug.

Cadence: Always a pleasure to see you in the Crystal Empire, Twilight!

Twilight: Alright, now I can tell you what I came here for. There will be a royal ball in Saddle Arabia as well as a wedding between Malakhar and Kubuya who live in Saddle Arabia days after, Spike as well as my other friends are using gum portals like these *floats her pack of gum* to go all over the world getting all the friends and family we want to bring. I thought I’d drop by here first.

Cadence: Well that sounds lovel-

Shining: Wait, Twilight. Did you say Saddle Arabia? Are you absolutely sure you should go, given what happened last time?

Twilight: I know, I know. I also got told concerns about it from Applejack and Rainbow Dash when I was inviting the other elements. But this time both me and the royal family are taking every precaution so something like Zathir can’t happen again. I promise it will be alright, but I understand your need to be protective. Heck, if you absolutely want to be sure you’re free to make another of those bubbles you made around Canterlot during you and Cadence’s wedding around the palace. But trust me in saying we’ll be fine this time. 

If an emergency happens, we’ll basically have much of the army we had against Cozy, Tirek, and Chrysalis too. And I will not be bottled up for even a second in Saddle Arabia. Even if there is another Zathir out there somehow, they’re going to have to find some way to get to Ponyville and Saddle Arabia and back. And the gum portals I’m using have magic authorization. No one without our permission will be able to use them.

Shining: Alright, if you’re sure it’s safe. then it should be a nice time. Heck, I’ll go just to make absolutely sure it’s safe. *winks*

Cadence: Yeah, should be a lovely time. Also congrats to your friends Malakhar and Kubuya on getting hitched soon! As the Princess of Love, this is certain to be an event where love is in the air!

Flurry: Aaraaybeeaa!

Cadence: Looks like Flurry’s interested too!

Twilight: Thanks for agreeing to go! It’ll be great to see you there, I need to head off to get off more I want to bring. I intend on getting my family and old friends in Canterlot as well as Celestia & Luna.

Shining: Alright, Twily. Tell our parents, I said hi!

Twilight: I will, Shining!

Cadence: We’ll see you at the ball, Twilight!

Flurry: Bye bye, Auntwi!

Twilight waves at the Crystal Empire royal family before making another portal off to the streets of Canterlot. While she’s walking around, she gets happy stares and cheers from the crowd. Given she’s the incoming Princess, that will be here much more often come a year’s time. They give Twilight her space, but she gets the occasional praise and bows from the populace as she walks through. While walking around, she suddenly finds two familiar ponies near each other. Starswirl the Bearded, and Tempest Shadow. 

The former being the leader of the pillars that were brought out of limbo, and the latter was a former commander of the Storm King’s army. When she started her invasion, she actually had learned beforehand Twilight was a genie, so she made sure she put her in stone first. However, despite also having gotten Cadence, and Celestia. The focus on making sure she got Twilight led into a successful escape for Luna. Luna and the rest of the elements then worked together to find allies from outside Equestria from Pirates, the Hippogriffs/seaponies, and more to defeat the Storm King and managed to bring Tempest to their side.

Twilight: Hi Starswirl! Hi Tempest!

Starswirl: Ah! Princess Twilight, pleasure to see you. And congratulations on your coming transition to the sole ruler here in Canterlot.

Twilight: Thank you, Starswirl.

Twilight turns towards Tempest

Twilight: How are you doing Tempest? Don’t worry, I don’t have any hard feelings about you turning me to stone.

Tempest: I’m alright, Princess. And yeah, a recon on Equestria before the Storm King’s invasion designated you as the biggest threat. Equestria is lucky the focus on you led to Luna’s escape. Though by now, I’m pretty thankful for that too.

Twilight: So what are you with Starswirl for?

Tempest: He was curious about my broken horn and how I’m able to have some decent control despite it.

Starswirl: Indeed, a broken horn should always result in some sort of random effect happening without any sort of control if the Unicorn is even powerful enough to still use it. But somehow, Tempest seems to have found a way thus far unique to her where she can.

Tempest: Well, my horn’s been broken since I was a filly, a part of it is I’ve gotten experience with it. It’s still hard to say, levitate things with it without sparking some magic electricity or something, but otherwise over the years having a hole instead of a full horn has actually somewhat been a boon for my firework-based magic.

Starswirl: Though you once said one reason you joined the Storm King is he promised to restore your horn if you did his bidding. Why haven’t you say, asked for Twilight to grant your horn back or at least tried something like crystal amputee horns?

Tempest: Being back in Equestria has made me found that my broken horn kinda helps a bit with my uniqueness. Like you said, I actually have an odd bit of control for some pony with a broken horn. Maybe I’ve just changed my mind, and decided it’d be my schtick.

Twilight: Well, if you ever change your mind again. I wouldn’t mind granting a wish to restore your horn. Though maybe at the very least I should make it so you can levitate easier.

Tempest: Hmm… yea. I suppose that’s fair enough. Twilight, I wish I could levitate better despite my broken horn.

Twilight closes her eyes and focuses her magic onto Tempest’s remaining part of her horn and her brain. In a few short seconds, she’s finished granting. Tempest’s head becomes a little light afterward but otherwise recovers quickly.

Twilight: There you go, test your levitation on that teacup nearby.

Tempest focuses on the teacup on the table. Her broken horn still brings out sparks but before this, her magic would be going off and on if she was levitating normally. Now it works just about as well as if she had her horn back

Tempest: Ah, thank you Princess. This will make things less of a hassle, and I can still keep something unique about me.

Twilight: You’re welcome Tempest. Now to both of you, would you possibly be interested in going to Saddle Arabia? A Royal Ball’s being hosted so just asking if you wanted to go. And Starswirl, if you go. Would you mind doing me a favor and bringing the rest of the pillars?

Tempest: Sure, why not.

Starswirl: Ah, Saddle Arabia. I don’t think I’ve been back there since before I was in Limbo. I might as well to see how that nation is doing, and meeting the current royal family. And sure, Princess Twilight, I will bring the rest of the pillars.

Twilight: Great! I’ll come by later when it’s time, but until then I have others here I want to invite. You two have a good day!

Starswirl: And you as well, Princess Twilight!

Twilight waves goodbye to Starswirl and Tempest as she walks in the direction towards where she knows her parents live. In just a few moments, she’s reached the house of which she and Shining Armor spent just about all of their childhood. Twilight herself feeling a sense of nostalgia as she stops to briefly look at her first home. She then approaches the front door, and knocks. Opening the door is her mother, Twilight Velvet

Twilight Velvet: TWILIGHT! How nice of you to come visit us!

Twilight Sparkle: Hi Mom and Dad!

Night Light: Come on in, Twily!

Twilight walks into the house and all three get seated in the living room

Night Light: To think, only a year from now you’ll be the sole ruler in Canterlot! Me and your mother are kinda excited that you’ll be back in Canterlot more often

Velvet: Though we are also aware that means you’ll be farther away from the friends you got to know in Ponyville. I hope you’re feeling ok considering that

Twilight: Oh that’ll be alright, I know Canterlot’s still the capital of Equestria and much of the business and politics requires for me to be there. Though I think I’ll have my ways of dropping by my Ponyville castle too. Perhaps it’d be a bit harder if I weren’t a genie also, but I’ll have ways to quickly get to Ponyville and back to Canterlot quickly I’m sure.

Night Light: Guess that’s true that you’re a genie that you get a few more advantages. Heck, you probably have a way of going to a meeting, saying you gotta use the bathroom, and check on your friends during a Pinkie Pie party in Ponyville real quick, before going back to the meeting like nothing happened, haha.

Twilight: Well, I’ll try not to abuse it to quite that level. But you’re right that I could technically do that. *giggles*

Velvet: Since the news that you were going to be taking over for Celestia and Luna, me and your father, have become sort of city-wide celebrities. We’re the parents of not just the Prince of the Crystal Empire, but also the incoming ruler of all of Equestria. I’ve gotten many news reporters asking how I got so lucky with both my children!

Twilight: Well you should tell them you’re not an average Unicorn yourself either, remember when you lifted yourself, Shining, and Flurry all at the same time on our Zeppelin ride? That seriously takes magic strength!

Velvet: Well yes, it’s true that I’m not bad at magic myself. I probably could of at least became a mage or something if I worked harder when I was younger. But I preferred wanting to take a normal life, you and Shining both get to do the important stuff now.

Twilight: Haha, I guess it’s thanks to your bloodline we even made it to where we are now. So I suppose a big thanks is owed to you.

Velvet: Oh no thanks are necessary, thanks for both being the best children I could ask for! Though speaking of children, how’s my grandson Spike doing?

Twilight: He’s good! He’s probably currently visiting Thorax in the changeling hive, or he’s in the dragon lands. Me and my friends are actually traveling all over because we’ve been inviting friends and family to something we’re going to soon. In fact, that’s actually what I came over here for. Cause I’m asking you two, if you’d be interested in going.

Velvet: Well, certainly if you, Spike, and many of your friends are going! Though just for clarification’s sake, what exactly is this?

Twilight: Saddle Arabia’s hosting a royal ball with Equestrian entertainment throughout as well as a wedding between my friends Malakhar and Kubuya there. How does that sound?

Velvet: That sounds wonderful! Of course I’ll go, how about you, honey? *She turns toward Night Light*

Night Light: Absolutely! Though Twilight, did you already get Shining, Cadence, and Flurry invited?

Twilight: Yep! They were my first stop actually.

Night Light: Great! I’ve been wanting to see my little alicorn granddaughter again for some time now! And of course me and your mother’s first born too!

Twilight: Alright, this means I got the whole family on board. I hope I’m not being too rude on cutting our reunion short but I must go and get everybody else here in Canterlot I want to invite. I still have some of my old Canterlot friends including Moondancer, and I also hope to get Celestia and Luna there as well.

Velvet: Oh it’s no problem at all, any time at all is good. Plus there will be both more time to see you at the ball itself, and when you’ll be in Canterlot a year from now! But perhaps, at least don’t leave until you’ve given me and your father a hug.

Twilight: Of course!

The three Sparkle family members move closer to each give each other a big, long hug. Once they let go. Twilight starts to walk out the door and waves to her loving parents.

Twilight: I’ll see you both there!

((Story continues after the break))

She then takes off to the air and flies around carefully watching the streets until she catches any glimpse of any of her ol’ Unicorn friends Minuette, Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine, and especially Moondancer. She would also keep a look for Lyra if she still lived here, but she knows she lives in Ponyville and perhaps one of her friends picked her up at some point. 

In fact, she rolls her eyes thinking likely Pinkie may have gotten her amidst using her entire pack on Ponyville. Eventually, Twilight sees at least three of the four together eating lunch together. It’s Minuette, Lemon Hearts, and Twinkleshine. And she proceeds to fly down towards their table. The first to catch site of Twilight of the three is Minuette.

Minuette: Twilight! What a surprise to see you in Canterlot so soon!

Twinkleshine: Yeah, I thought we weren’t going to see you here yet until you were officially inaugurated

Lemon Hearts: But nice to see you here, anyway!

Twilight: Well, I’m not going to be here for too long until then, so from that end you may still be right, Twinkleshine. But I’m going somewhere soon with my son Spike, the rest of my family, and my Ponyville friends. And I thought it’d be a good gesture to invite you all and Moondancer along for the ride as well.

Minuette: Ooooo, where are you going?

Twilight: Saddle Arabia for a Royal Ball and wedding for two friends who live there.

Twinkleshine: Well, I don’t think any of us have any big plans soon enough before whenever this starts. So sure, why not?

Lemon Hearts: I’ll go too

Minuette: Me three!

Twilight: Thanks, now do you three know where Moondancer is? I hope she hasn’t gone back into a shell in her home…

Twinkleshine: Oh no, Moondancer’s definitely been with us more often since that time you first came back to see us, some years back. Though she did sort of announce something to us just recently that you may want to know as well

Twilight: Oh? What’s that?

Lemon Hearts: I think it was only about a week ago, but she said she wants to move away from Canterlot.

Twilight: Wait, really?! That’s a surprise. I thought she’d never give up being here, always steps away from the Canterlot library she’s spent so much time in.

Twinkleshine: We were as surprised as you, but she said she wanted to get a chance to find a more exotic place to study or at the very least a different place in Equestria for a fresh, new experience.

Twilight: I see, that’s a little bit of a bummer for me since I was almost kind of looking forward to seeing Moondancer more often then I was, once I’m ruling in Canterlot within a year. But I’ll respect her decision, though I’d still like to talk to her first. She’s in her house, right?

Minuette: Yep! She should be home.

Twilight: Alright, thanks all of you. I’ll see you all at the ball, and hope you have a good time.

Twilight waves to her old friends as she goes back in the air to fly towards Moondancer’s house. She gets there in just a few minutes. She arrives at Moondancer’s front door and knocks. Moondancer’s voice is heard from inside

Moondancer: Who’s that at my door?

Twilight: It’s just me, Twilight!

Moondancer: Oh! Twilight! Feel free to come in, the door’s actually open.

Twilight opens the door herself and walks toward the room Moondancer is in. She’s simply been sitting in a recliner thinking by the fireplace on her lonesome.

Twilight: Hi Moondancer, it’s good to see you again.

Moondancer: You too, Twilight. Sole ruler of Equestria within a year from now, huh? You’ve gone a long way from the humble roots of the streets of Canterlot.

Twilight: Yeah, haha… I guess I have. But aside from that, I just got done talking with Minuette, Lemon Hearts, and Twinkleshine.

Moondancer: Did they tell you that…

Twilight: You’re moving from Canterlot soon? Yeah, they did. It surprised me for sure, and I admit a little bit of a bummer. I could of been able to drop by more often, even if course I’ll be busy with much of the politics that goes on here.

Moondancer: I hope you know I’m not moving, because you’re coming back. That wasn’t a factor at all, I was a little worried about the timing of this that maybe you’d think maybe I still held a little bit of a grudge, and decided to leave Canterlot just as you were about to be here a lot more often.

Twilight: I’ll admit a small part of me was concerned about that. But just know that I respect your decision regardless, it’s the least I can do for our friendship. Though if it’s ok, maybe I can personally ask you why you’re moving? I got the gist from our other friends here, but thought I’d hear it straight from you to be sure

Moondancer: Well, I’ll always appreciate Canterlot. I’ve lived here all my life after all. But I thought I’d go try living somewhere else to sort of expand my horizons. I’ve even thought of possibly going as far as moving to somewhere outside of Equestria in general, for a real new experience. 

The only problem with considering the entire world for places to move. Is I have so many choices, And I don’t exactly have the means to just try traveling the world and see which place feels right to me. 

I have to hope I find my next home within at least the first few tries… and like the look of the place, have a nice experience, and… maybe… juuuuuust maybe… findaspecialsomeponytoloveperhaps  *She whispers and speaks that last line fast in a way Twilight can barely hear*

Twilight: What was that last part?

Moondancer: *blushes and looks side to side* Nothing, ahahaha…

Twilight: Well, I don’t know if you’ll end up picking it. But I do have somewhere I can invite you for free for you to at least give a good try.

Moondancer: What’s this place?

Twilight: How does Saddle Arabia sound to you?

Moondancer: Hmm… I admit Saddle Arabia I had high up as possibilities of my outside of Equestria spots. It couldn’t hurt to see how I feel about it. Though what is this event exactly?

Twilight: There will be a Royal Ball hosted by the royal family there, as well as a wedding between two of my friends who live there. My son Spike, and all my friends are also traveling across Equestria to gather friends and family to bring there. Equestrian Entertainment will be on stage, and lots of good food.

Moondancer: Wow, that sounds like the absolutely most grand way to experience Saddle Arabia. We’d all get to participate in what’s essentially a party,in what I hear is one of the most luxurious palaces in the world there? And maybe even meet the royal family?

Twilight: Mmhmm

Moondancer: Well then, of course I’ll go! Even if I’m not quite feeling it in the end, I will have given Saddle Arabia its best shot I could.

Twilight: Sweet, I’ll be happy to see you there. I have to start going now, as my last stop will be seeing if I can get Celestia and Luna there as well.

Moondancer: No problem, Twilight. Maybe I’ll re-read any books I have here about Saddle Arabia to refresh my mind about the place until then.

Twilight: Good idea! Seeya at the ball, Moondancer!

Twilight waves off to her old friend and closes Moondancer’s door. Once Twilight has left, Moondancer goes off her couch and looks at a newspaper she’s had back when the aftermath of the battle against Zathir was the headline of the Canterlot newspaper. Flipping to a page where a photo of all the designated heroes at the victory ceremony of most of the elements, Spike, the Sultana, and  Prince Theandri II. Moondancer in particular looks at the Prince in the photo. She blushes and thinks to herself

Moondancer: (Maybe... I’ll get to meet him...)

Twilight has taken off into the air once more and heads straight for the crown jewel of Canterlot: The royal castle, where at least for now Celestia and Luna still sit as dual leaders of Equestria. But come a year’s time will now be all her’s in a year. 

Coming to the front gates, she comes across Royal Guards, who all recognize her as Princess Twilight and bow before letting her in. Any other guards and staffers who see her as she walks through the halls all take a bow for the incoming Princess. Twilight finally reaches the throne room where both Celestia and Luna are seated. Both look at their successor, and for Celestia herself, the former student she has the most pride in.

Celestia: Welcome, Princess Twilight!

Twilight: Always a pleasure to see you, Princess Celestia. Though I’ll admit, it’ll probably be a while before I break the habit of calling you Princess once I’m sole ruler. Same with you, Princess Luna

Celestia: It’ll probably be weird to us, too. So you won’t be alone, I’m sure. But regardless, I hope you, your son Spike, and all your friends are doing well. 

I also want to say sorry that for now, that we can’t arrange easy plans to simply move the capital to Ponyville where your castle lies. But for now, we wanted a standard procedure that while the leaders are changing... The place is the same. 

But if you so wish, at some point in your reign you’re free to order a move of the capital on your own in the near future to Ponyville, if you find Canterlot is just too far away from your dear friends.

Twilight: That shouldn’t be necessary, a plus about being a genie should give me the ability to have ways of getting to Ponyville and Canterlot quickly. Heck, I created magic gum to get here to Canterlot fast earlier. I obviously won’t abuse it to duck any important matters, but I’ll have my ways of checking on my friends if need be.

Suddenly, a group of butlers, guards, and other kinds of Royal staff enter the throne room slowly. They’re here peacefully, as they just have some concerns about the coming transition

Butler: Princess Twilight, we all come in peace, don’t worry. But we just want to ask that when the transition comes to pass, what do you plan to do with many of us once you’ve been seated? 

Some of us are concerned about being removed from jobs that we don’t want to leave and would proudly continue on to serving you, others are concerned you’ll try to force them to stay despite them wishing to step down as soon as Celestia and Luna have stepped down as well. Those in the latter don’t mean any personal insult to you, Princess. But if they may be honest, they went to work for Celestia and/or Luna. And with a new leader coming in, they want to use their royal resume to find other jobs elsewhere.

Twilight just turns to the concerned staffers and guards, and gives them a gentle smile.

Twilight: Do not fear, regardless of your concerns. If you wish to stay and continue serving when I’m sole ruler, you will keep your position as if Celestia and/or Luna trusted you, then I trust you as well. 

And as for those who wish to step down once Celestia and Luna have, I understand you’re probably afraid I’ll think that you’ll be making the transition harder by making me have to find someone new to take the position... 

But I promise I will be understanding, in fact the sooner you tell me you want to step down, the easier it will be because as we get closer to the transition, I’ll start a process for vetting candidates for the job.

The group of staffers and guards all express relief, and all give genuine thankful bows to the new princess wisely taking a direction that benefits all the staffers individually, even at the potential cost of making the transition somewhat less smooth.

Butler: Thank you, Princess Twilight. Just this one answer, is proof you’ll be just as wise as Celestia has been for more then a thousand years, and that she chose the right successor. I was on the fence personally, on whether I’d stay or go. But what you said has personally gotten me on board of staying on for the foreseeable future. It’ll be an honor. *bows*

Twilight: You’re all very welcome!

The group of staffers and guards leave the throne room satisfied that their jobs are either secure, or they’ll have the freedom to leave for elsewhere. Celestia claps that Twilight handled the group quickly and tactfully.

Celestia: Well done, Princess Twilight. I’ve already known for a long time that you were the one to succeed me, but tiny moments like these help cement that I and Luna made the right decision leaving Equestria in your capable hooves.

Twilight: Thank you, Princess Celestia. Though uh�� is it ok if we perhaps move to a comfier spot like the private chambers to talk?

Celestia: Of course, let’s go!

Celestia, Luna, and Twilight all walk to the private chamber where Celestia and Luna always went for alone time by the fireplace, when they could find time to relax. Each sitting or laying on cushions on the floor.

Celestia: By the way, Twilight. I have some things to tell you that I’m sure you’ll be interested in hearing, but first I have a strange feeling you didn’t come here to just visit us in the castle for a short while and talk.

Twilight: Your feeling is right, Princess. I actually came to invite you both to a Royal Ball and perhaps a wedding between Malakhar and Kubuya as well taking place in Saddle Arabia soon. I along with my son and my friends are currently going around the world to find family and friends they’ve met over the years. And you two are my last stop before I go on and submit the invitation list to the Royal Family there. 

I know you two are currently still technically ruling Equestria, so I imagine you two might be busy. But if there’s room, I’d like to see both of you there.

Celestia: I think we can make time, we may still be ruling. But knowing that we’re out soon has lessened our schedule, as many of our usual dignitaries we meet with have agreed to wait till’ you’re fully in office to get things busy again. I’d love to go.

Luna: I can attend as well, Twilight.

Twilight: Thank you, both of you. That means I’m all finished invite-wise. Though you said you have some things to tell me, Princess Celestia?

Celestia: Yes, there are two stories I want to tell you that I feel like was the right time to tell you at last. The first of which I’m sure you’ll definitely want to hear, would you like to know where I first found Spike’s egg?

Twilight goes wide eyed.

Twilight: Yes, yes, yes! Of course I want to hear that! Where was his egg originally?!

Celestia: Well, in a strange sense of things coming full circle. I came across Spike’s egg near Saddle Arabia after a small, teenage colt who was also there presented it to me

Twilight: Wait, what?! Spike is a dragon native to Saddle Arabia?!

Celestia: I wouldn’t exactly say native, you see his egg was in a cave by what seemed to have been a mother dragon that let go of her eggs there

Twilight: Oh no... Spike... wasn’t abandoned by his birth mother was he?

Celestia: No, not abandoned. However, it seems… laying Spike’s egg… might have been his birth mother’s last action while alive

Twilight: *gasp* Spike’s dragon mother is deceased?!

Celestia: Sadly, yes. It’s why I brought the egg to Equestria, even if say we could find who was the father. Father dragons do not take care of young, and Dragon mothers are almost never fond of adoption. So I had to take the egg with me to decide what exactly to do with it. It was thanks to a dream of all things, that I learned what exactly to do

*Flashback*

Celestia is resting in her royal chambers, in the room is the purple egg she brought back from Saddle Arabia. She gets a few hours of sleep before a very vivid dream appears.

Celestia finds herself in a dream space, and she found she had a little more control and was able to be aware that she was dreaming while not waking up. The last time she was able to dream like this… her sister was not in the moon.

Celestia: Luna…? Is this your doing? I don’t know how you’re doing this from the moon if you are but…

Celestia then hears an unfamiliar voice

???: I’m afraid, I’m not who you hope I am

Celestia: Who are you? You’re not evil, are you?

???: Do not worry, I mean no harm. I don’t need to tell you who I am, however.

Celestia: That seems questionable, but what exactly am I in this lucid dream for?

???: I have a purpose for you, but first. I must read your mind

Celestia: Wait, I’m not sure I trust you yet…

???: You don’t necessarily have to, but I must trust you can help with my deepest desire. Perhaps my desire could connect to your own.

A small wave of white energy speeds toward Celestia, it freaks her out at first, but all it does is simply spin around her head, causing no harm.

???: I see, I can hear your desires… you wish to have your beloved sister back… you wish to have a new protege that could perhaps be your successor one day…

Celestia: What’s the point of you learning this about me?

???: Cause I need you to help fulfill a desire of mine as well… by finding the one who can hatch the egg you found in the cave… It’s under strong magic protection, the embryo will stay alive as long as it needs to… waiting for the right one to hatch it… If you find the one who can hatch it… you will also know your next protege… she will free your sister when the time comes… and perhaps she’ll be your successor in time…

Celestia: Find the one who can hatch the egg…? But… if a pony hatches it… Can they really be able to take care of a dragon?

???: Do not worry, one way or another… The one who hatches the egg, will develop a strong bond with the child… for my desire was for the child in the egg to have the perfect mother…

Celestia: Wait a moment… you’re the dragon who died in the cave aren’t you! How are you speaking to me? Do more spirits like you exist?!

???: I cannot maintain this dreamspace and answer your questions for much longer… just please do all you can to grant my desire… and in time, you’ll find your own granted as well…

The dreamscape world suddenly starts fading, and Celestia’s dream self starts falling until it jolts her awake, as if it was the end of a nightmare.

Celestia: (…What exactly was that, was that actually real?)

Celestia looks on over to the Dragon egg

Celestia: (If that wasn’t just a strange dream I just had… if I can find who can hatch this egg… I’ll know who my next protege will be… and quite possibly finally get Luna freed… and a potential successor… this sounds too good to be true… but I have to try to make sure it comes true… I’ll have to make hatching the egg an entrance exam at my magic school. If there’s anypony who’s going to be able to break that magical protection, it’ll be a unicorn with strong magic potential…)

*Flashback ends*

Twilight: *gasp* So that’s how you knew immediately I was the one… I remember you telling me you saw the moment Spike’s head popped out of the tower of the school. That’s when you knew the dragon had been hatched, and my immense magical power showed up for the first time… 

I always felt that you had a strange sense of omniscience at that moment. Though given you only had one dragon egg to use as an entrance exam. What happened to ponies who failed to hatch the egg?

Celestia: They were given a chance to still attend the school of course, it just simply showed they weren’t my next protege. So when you came in, hatched the egg, and had a huge magic outburst. I knew that you were the one who was going to grant both me and the voice in my dream’s wishes

Twilight: Dang, almost makes me feel like I was a genie long before I actually did become one, haha.

Celestia: Perhaps you becoming a genie was an unexpected twist that put this into full circle, as after all, if you were wished to be the perfect mother for the little dragon in the egg that would end up being Spike… You would agree to having an immortal life, to make sure you’re there for him when he’s older… Though I guess becoming my successor, would have fulfilled that as well… but I guess you can blame me for never really telling you that was my plan, until I truly felt you were ready to become a princess.

Twilight: Wow… I guess in hindsight now it all makes sense. I absolutely must tell Spike everything about this, especially the rather sad news that his birth mother has long been dead. 

Though there’s one detail, if I heard it correctly, about your story during your “dream” that has me wondering about something. The voice in your dream AKA Spike’s birth mother, said NEW protege. Doesn’t that imply you had one before me? Or was that just strange wording?

Celestia: That happens to be the main subject of the 2nd story I wanted to tell you about. Yes, I indeed had a protege before you… 

and her name… was Sunset Shimmer…

Twilight lets out a huge gasp hearing that name.

NEXT UP: Chapter 12: Celestia’s Secrets, Part 2

[fanfictionaries]

Oh So Many Years: Ch. 4 - I’m Alive

Pairing: Hermione Granger x Fred Weasley

Summary:

The tournament has been announced! Hermione expresses some conflicted feelings, and Fred and George make a harrowing discovery.

Warnings: Swearing, Death, Smut/18+ NSFW

Author’s Note: I will now be updating this story every week before midnight on Sundays (US MST)! Please feel free to like, comment, and reblog! xoxo

Masterlist

<< Chapter 3

If I should break My silent streak Will knives come out To cut my cheek?

  Hermione couldn’t help the swell of pride in her chest at Fred’s acknowledgement of being bested. Truly, it wasn’t a thing to be proud of. There was no joy in winning a game amongst idiots. What was the muggle phrase again? Play stupid games, win stupid prizes? Either way, the last thing she ever expected to fill her with smug glee was Frederick Weasley’s approval. No. She shook her head. It wasn’t his approval that made her feel this way. It was the glorious relief of getting the prat to shut up once again, that’s what it was. But if that were true, then why was her mind drifting back to last night’s conversation and the gentle banter the two shared? She felt it then too. The glowing sense of satisfaction that he not only approved of her mental prowess when it came to the art of repartee, but that he also found amusement in it.

Unable to ponder on the thought for long, she turned her attention to Dumbledore as he announced for the year’s sorting to begin. Hermione watched as the group of frightened first years filed into the Great Hall; their eyes wide with wonder. She remembered her first moment seeing the magnificence of Hogwarts. No amount of reading had prepared her for all that the school had to offer. The sorting went by quickly, Hermione clapping and cheering politely when one of the new students joined their table. Some students, especially the Gryffindor students, got quite into the sorting, seeing it as some competition. Hermione was all for house pride, but she really didn’t see it necessary to boo when a child was placed in Slytherin or laugh when placed in Hufflepuff. Glaring over at Ron, Harry, and the Weasley twins, Hermione wished they would conduct themselves with a bit more civility. Honestly, the school could do with more house unity in her opinion. Still, they acquired quite a fair number of new Gryffindors, including the Collin Creevey’s little brother who was already gawking at Harry like he was some kind of god.

Hermione snorted. She imagined they wouldn’t feel that way if they ever had to help him with his Astronomy homework.

Once the sorting ceremony was over, Dumbledore stood up again, his midnight blue robes sparkling with silver stars. Hermione always secretly wondered where he got his robes. They were the most ornate and intricate pieces she’d ever observed in the wizarding world. Surely, they didn’t sell them anywhere in Diagon Alley. At least, she never saw anything quite like them in Madame Malkin’s shop. Perhaps Twilfitt and Tatting’s. She watched as their headmaster adjusted his half-moon spectacles and cleared his throat.

“Good evening and welcome back to another fantastic year at Hogwarts. I would like to begin with a few announcements. First, as many of you know, the forest on the grounds is strictly prohibited to all students. Second, the wizarding village of Hogsmeade is also off limits to students below their third year or for those without permi—” Dumbledore was cut off by a loud crack of thunder and the groan of the large Great Hall doors opening. All heads turned towards the entrance, confused by the sudden interruption. What they found was a short and stalky man standing haggardly as the heavy wooden door closed behind him. A sense of unease washed across Hermione as she watched him enter the hall slowly. His long, patched robes hung heavy on him, dripping water onto the floor as he limped towards the head table. He leaned heavily on a thick, wooden staff and grunted with every step. Wet, tangled grey hair hung in his face – a face marred with thick and grotesque scars. But it wasn’t the grueling number of scars that unsettled her. It was his eyes. One eye was small, dark, and beady, while the other was a striking blue that never seemed to stop moving. It swiveled around in all directions, never focusing on one spot for long as he kept his pace towards the headmaster. As he approached, Dumbledore smiled unfazed. They shook hands briefly across the table in a familiar manner before the mysterious wizard limped to take a seat at the spot usually reserved for the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

“What good timing my old friend, I was just about to introduce you!” Dumbledore exclaimed delightfully. “This year, the Defense Against the Dark Arts position will be filled by a very dear friend of mine, Alastor Moody. Alastor?” Dumbledore motioned to the scraggly man. Moody stood and gave a curt nod to the mass of students. A spatter of confused, yet polite applause greeted him. Hermione stared at the man speculatively. She had read about Alastor Moody. Some called him Mad-Eye Moody, which observing him now, she could see why the nickname was appointed. A famous auror and dark wizard catcher, he was renowned for his part in catching most of the known Death Eaters currently in Azkaban. However, over the past few years he had become known for his increasing paranoia. If the rumors were true, Hermione wondered if he was truly qualified to be teaching young children.

“Right! Lastly, I have the unfortunate duty of informing you that our annual Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not be taking place this year,” announced Dumbledore. His announcement was met with numerous cries of outrage from the tables of students. Some of which were most loudly emanating from Oliver Wood down the table. Hermione frowned sadly in his direction before looking to Harry and Ron who seemed equally as devastated but more entirely confused. While Hermione was disappointed for them, she couldn’t help but feel a small jolt of glee. At least she wouldn’t have to spend hours in the cold watching Harry try to kill himself on a broom.

“This is due to a very special opportunity—” Dumbledore went on “—Over the coming months, our school has the honor hosting an event that hasn’t taken place in over a century. It is my pleasure to announce that Hogwarts will be home to the Triwizard Tournament!”

“You’re joking!” Fred Weasley exclaimed, his voice ringing loud through the hall. Hermione turned to glare at him for his incredibly rude outburst, but ultimately rolled her eyes when the entirety of the hall began to laugh, including Dumbledore himself.

“No, Mr. Weasley, I am not joking,” the headmaster stated before continuing to inform them all on the history of the Triwizard Tournament. Hermione of course, knew all about the tournament. There was a whole section in Hogwarts, a History dedicated to the event. While the competition was a great opportunity for selected students to show off their magical abilities, it was also quite dangerous. In fact, the whole reason the tournament hadn’t taken place in centuries was because of the overt amount of deaths it resulted in. She warried a glance at Harry across the table. This was exactly the kind of thing he would find himself mixed up in.

“I’m going for it!” she heard Fred whisper down the table. Rolling her eyes, she doubted he had half the knowledge and strength it took to win something as monumental as the Triwizard Tournament. As Dumbledore went on, the hall became restless. Student voices, excitedly discussing the tournament and all it had to offer, soon rose in volume that Hermione deemed quite inappropriate.

“Now, now, I know all of you are understandably eager to participate and win the Triwizard Cup for Hogwarts—” lamented Dumbledore “—however, as one of the compromises made in order to bring the tournament back, myself, the heads of the participating schools, and the Ministry of Magic have all agreed to place an age restriction on this year’s event. Only students seventeen and older will be allowed to enter their names for the Triwizard Tournament. This, is something that we feel is necessary as the tasks will be incredibly difficult and will require the education and experience of older witches and wizards, to complete.”

Hermione gave a great sigh of relief at this revelation. Thank Merlin. That fact alone meant everyone she knew at Hogwarts personally was safe. Even Fred and George weren’t seventeen yet. However, looking around at the disappointed and even angry faces at her table, showed that only she was happy about the rule change. She didn’t let their disappointment ruin her mood though. Instead she listened contentedly, until next thing she knew, her was done and dinner was served.

Dinner went by uneventfully, conversation filled laments of summer trips, general gossip, and theorizing about the upcoming tournament. Hermione was thoroughly stuffed by the time the tables were magically cleared and their group departed back to Gryffindor Common room. Hermione trailed behind Harry and Ron as they walked with the twins through the halls, thinking about her classes the next day when George’s voice broke her concentration.

“You know, Freddie, I reckon we could find a way to get past whatever Dumbledore will use to enforce the age restriction,” George said enthusiastically.

“How do you suppose they’ll pick to decide who gets in or not?” Harry asked. Hermione thought that was quite a good question. In her reading, it was never explicitly stated how the competitors were chosen. It simply stated that they were.

“No idea, but it’ll be them that we have to fool—” stated Fred, his chest puffing in confidence “—I think a few drops of aging potion should do the trick.”

“But Dumbledore knows you aren’t old enough,” Ron piped up as they made their way back to the Gryffindor common room.

“Yes, but whoever is deciding doesn’t. It seems to me that they’ll just choose whoever is best from each school. Dumbledore is just trying to stop us from getting our names in is all,” George replied to his younger brother.

“And you two aren’t the least bit concerned that people have died in this competition before?” Hermione inquired, feeling irritation bubbling up below her calm façade.

“Not a bit,” the pair responded with cheeky grins.

Fred and George’s response irked Hermione quite terribly. Were they really that immune to the idea of potential imminent death? Fred definitely wasn’t – no matter what he said. She knew that for certain just from her memories of the Quidditch World Cup. He had been just as afraid as her, she saw it on his face. That fact alone gave her comfort when she continued to endure the agonizing nightmares revolving around that night. Rubbing at her eyes, she cursed at just how bloody tired she was. When she nodded off in the Weasley kitchen that night sitting across from Fred, it had been the first peaceful sleep she’d had in weeks. Unfortunately, the peace did not last long, for as soon as her head hit the pillow in Ginny’s room the nightmares were back again. However, the comforting thought that she had not been the only person scared and panicked that night reassured her that she was not overreacting. Even though everyone had all but forgotten the events of the Quidditch World Cup. Hermione wanted to forget as well.

“Well if Fred and George figure out a way to enter their names, I want in,” said Ron as they sat in the common room. Upon entering the tower, Fred and George made swift exits to their room, most likely to start on their idiotic aging potion idea. It wasn’t going to work, Hermione knew that, but she doubted anything she said to them would get through their thick skulls.

“You most definitely will not Ronald Weasley!” Hermione scolded the freckle-faced boy sitting across from her in front of the fire. He rolled his eyes at her, ignoring her objection.

“Oh, come on Hermione. Everyone knows the age limit is insulting. Us three have faced loads of dark magic already. Especially Harry! You don’t think he’s capable of winning a silly little competition? Tell her Harry!” Ron looked over at Harry for support, but all the bespectacled boy could manage was a conflicted expression before Hermione responded.

“I think Harry has faced enough life-threatening situations for a lifetime, thank you very much. I’d rather you two lose the opportunity of fame and fortune, than risk your necks again. To do so would just be stupid. No one can evade death forever!” Hermione rose from her seat and stormed out, leaving the two boys to gawk at her retreating form.

Hermione huffed and puffed about her room, slamming books down and pulling on her sleep clothes more aggressively than usual. The other girls in the room continued their babble, paying her no mind as they were too engulfed in whatever the latest gossip was to care about her bad mood. She crawled into bed and drew the curtains closed, blocking out all the light from her roommates Pavarti, Lavender, and Fey. Closing her eyes, she willed herself to sleep – to block out all the frustrations of the day and to most importantly not have nightmares. Truth be told, she shouldn’t be so upset at Ron. It was all trivial. In the end, the twins would never figure out how to enter their names into the tournament and thus neither would Ron nor Harry. This might end up being a perfectly normal year after all. There was no magical item with the ability to keep one alive forever taking up residence in the castle; there couldn’t possibly be a second mysterious chamber hidden under the school housing a deadly snake; and there wasn’t an escaped Azkaban prisoner seemingly attempting to murder her best friend – that she knew of. No, this year they would be the spectators. They would watch as three experienced and skilled students, they were not close to, risk their lives in the tournament. Maybe a Ravenclaw or a Slytherin would compete for Hogwarts. Whoever it was, it wouldn’t be them and they would watch from the stands, getting a thrill from the entertainment. Then they would return to the common room, talking about who they thought would win. They would study hard and pass their classes. They would end the year happy and safe, and looking forward to the next year.

Everyone would be safe, happy, and together.

    No, no, no. This couldn’t be happening. It had to be there. It had to! Fred tore through his trunk again, this time physically removing the items one by one and throwing them onto the dormitory floor around him. However, much to his dismay, he reached the bottom empty handed. Standing abruptly, he rushed over to George’s trunk and began to do the same. He was halfway through its contents when his brother came in, followed closely by Lee Jordan and Kenneth Towler.

“Oi, Freddie, mind telling me why you’re scrounging through my personal things?” George asked, staring down at his brother with a curious gaze.

“It’s gone,” Fred answered gravely, continuing to tear through George’s trunk.

“What’s gone?” asked Lee, hopping over the growing pile of things on the floor and landing clumsily on his bed.

“I swear I just saw it the other day and now it’s gone Georgie!” exclaimed Fred in a panic, sitting back on his heels when he, once again, reached the baren bottom of the trunk.

Towler sighed, walking through the mess, and placing his school bag down next to his neatly made bed. Airily he pulled out a few textbooks and laid down before remarking, “I always knew one of you would lose it. Personally, I always thought it would be George.”

George cast an unamused expression in Towler’s direction before crouching down next to his obviously distressed twin. “Get ahold of yourself mate—” George shook him roughly “—just tell me what’s going on.”

“The money!” yelled Fred, breaking away from George’s hold and moving to his wardrobe. “It’s gone! I’ve looked everywhere for it and it’s gone. Last I checked it was in our money pouch and now it’s not there.”

“Wait. You don’t mean the money we won, do you?” George asked, rushing to Fred’s side, and grabbing him by the arm. He pulled him roughly, forcing Fred to cease his search and face his twin. Fred swelled with irritation. He didn’t have time for this. He needed to find the missing galleons. Fred didn’t need to respond for George to know that it was, in fact, the money they won from their bet at the world cup. George’s eyes widened in disbelief and then, he too began to tare wildly through his wardrobe, all the while chanting a desperate mumble of “No, it’s impossible.”

“Two hundred galleons do not just up and walk away Freddie!” cried George, abandoning his wrecked wardrobe, and lying flat on his belly to look under their beds.

“Where on earth did you two get two hundred galleons?!” asked Lee incredulously. He sat up in his bed, showing a larger interest at the mention of money the two had seemed to misplace.

Fred sighed, sinking to the floor, and leaning against the open door of his wardrobe. Closing his eyes tightly, he banged the back of his head against the wood as he tried to think.

“We won it,” answered George, now pulling back the covers on his bed.

Fred smirked sadistically, knowing it was a lost cause. He already checked there.

“Won it?” asked Lee again, clearly both confused and impressed.

“Yeah, we bet our dads friend all our money and a bloody fake wand that Krum would catch the snitch, but Ireland would win—” Fred rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms in frustration “—he was pretty surprised when we were right, but he paid us. We’ve had the money locked up in my trunk ever since. We were going to use it to upstart our business.”

‘Were’, was the important part of that sentence, thought Fred. Now without the money, he had no clue how they would fund their business after school. They could get jobs he supposed. He and George could work in a shop and save up until they had enough. It wasn’t the worst scenario, but merlin, it wasn’t what they imagined.

“Well I didn’t touch it,” said Lee, holing his hands up to signify his innocence.

“You couldn’t have taken it even if you wanted to,” said Fred. “I put so many wards on my trunk, you’d think I was trying to keep Dumbledore himself out.”

“It has to be here somewhere Freddie. Are you sure you didn’t take the money pouch out for something and then, I don’t know, leave it somewhere?”

Fred looked at his brother in irritation before snapping, “Actually now that you mention it, just the other day I was sitting on my bed and I thought ‘Gee, you know what would be an excellent idea? Taking two hundred galleons for a bloody walk.’ Of course, I didn’t take it out for anything! What do you take me for, Georgie?”

“I’m sorry, you’re right. That was a stupid question. I just don’t understand what could have happened to it.”

“This friend of your dads, he wouldn’t happen to be Ludo Bagman, would he?” asked Towler from his bed, nose currently buried in his transfiguration textbook.

Fred and George froze, so still they could have easily been mistaken for victims of a well-placed body bind curse. They looked at their second roommate with suspicion.

“Why?” the two questioned in unison, staring hard at the sandy-haired boy.

“My dad says he’s a real bilker. He’s always making bets and never paying up – still owes my dad two galleons and seven sickles from a game of cards almost a year ago,” said Towler, looking back at his book with a bored expression.

Fred took a moment to process his words. Kenneth Towler was many things: swotty, boring, killjoy to name a few, but he wasn’t a liar. So that meant if he said Ludo Bagman was a renowned cheat, then it was probably true. Still though, he had paid them the money. Almost immediately even. If he was constantly broke, then where did he come up with the galleons to pay them off? Unless…

George seemed to have the same thought he did because it was his turn to sink to the floor in abject horror.

“Leprechaun gold,” they said in distraught realization.

It was the only possible explanation, thought Fred. While possessing the exact same features as a wizarding galleon, leprechaun gold had one little thing about it that made it unique – it vanished after twenty-four hours. Fred cursed under his breath, standing, and beginning to place his things back into his trunk.

“Of course that slimy git would try to con us out of our well-deserved money. We should have known!” exclaimed George, throwing his hands in the air.

“Maybe it was a mistake,” Lee offered kindly.

Fred and George snorted, “That’s likely.”

“Well it never hurts to make sure,” said Lee, taking off his shoes and kicking their things out of the way as he shuffled to his wardrobe to pull out his sleep clothes.

“He’s got a point Georgie,” said Fred, pausing his cleaning to grab parchment, a quill, and his ink bottle from the ground.

Dear Mr. Bagman,

Fred and George Weasley here! We’re sure you remember us from the world cup. We were the two incredibly dashing twins that won all that money off you.

Speaking of the money, it seems there was a slight mistake and you paid us in leprechaun money instead of real money.

We’re sure it was just an innocent error on your part and therefore would hold no ill-will against you as long as you respond to this letter with the amount in full.

Sincerely,

Fred and George Weasley

Founders of Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes

Fred penned the letter as George stood over his shoulder reading aloud and making suggestions. When they were satisfied with the tone and contents of their letter, Fred folded it neatly and placed it inside an envelope, addressing it to Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports at the Ministry of Magic.

“Do you suppose we have enough time to make it to the owlery before curfew?” Fred asked, kicking the rest of his things out of the way, and pulling on his shoes.

Kenneth Towler snorted rudely from his bed, “When have you two ever cared about curfew?”

“He makes a fair point Freddie. Come on, let’s go then.”

“Oi! Aren’t you two going to clean up your mess?” Lee shouted at them as they made their way to the door.

The twins yelled a shifty “Maybe” over their shoulders as they exited the dormitory and made their way down the stairs to the common room.

Fred held tightly to the letter, hoping against all hope that it was all just a big misunderstanding. Perhaps Ludo had been a bilker in the past, but recently changed his ways. Perhaps he had every intention of paying them in full. Perhaps he’d be embarrassed upon opening the letter and realizing his mistake. Perhaps George would sprout a tail overnight and he would shit out a pig.

Still, it was worth a try. Not only were they short the two hundred galleons Ludo owed them, but they were also down the 37 galleons, 15 sickles, and three knuts they originally gave him for the bet. It was all the money they had to their name. They needed that money. Fred rubbed a hand through his hair and gripped it tightly at the roots behind his left ear. He honestly didn’t know how it would all turn out, but one thing became apparently clear as they reached the owlery.

If Ludo Bagman didn’t give them the money he owed them, then it was more important than ever that they get their names into the Goblet of Fire and have their chance at the prize money.

Chapter 5 >>

Taglist:

@theworldisugly-22

[lymazhu]

Rating: PG (cw: anxiety, mild implied homophobia, slight self-injury during a panic attack)

Pairing: Jon/Martin

Set before the end of 160

I went for something a little different that I think still follows the prompt of treating/distracting from injury by focusing on psychological damage rather than physical. 

(edit: AO3 link https://archiveofourown.org/works/26119015 )

“I suppose we can’t really put it off any longer, can we?” Martin’s voice was cheerful, but Jon could hear the strained undertone as the man searched through the empty cupboards. Unbidden, the knowledge came to him that even before being trapped in his flat for two weeks Martin had always feared the sight of bare pantry shelves. He didn’t want to know that Martin used to plan meals around what he found on deep discount at the grocer’s, so of course the Eye told him. 

“Well, i-it’s a nice day for a walk, at least,” Jon replied, hoping that if the two of them started a proper conversation he would forget the things he’d just learned. It never worked that way, but when had he ever stopped doing something just because it had never succeeded before? Martin’s laughter startled him out of his thoughts. 

“Jon, we haven’t seen the sun in days!” There was a mix of fondness and mild exasperation on his partner’s face, replacing whatever expression had been there before Martin had turned to face him. 

“All the more reason to get some fresh air,” Jon couldn’t help the slight sullenness that tainted his reply, but by now Martin would know that he was just trying to cover his embarrassment so he didn’t force himself to try harder to clarify. His partner’s soft chuckle had the same effect it always did; the still-unfamiliar sensation of something warm and pleasant in his chest rather than the icy grip of fear or pain.

“Right. You’re up for it?” Before Jon could reply, a thought came unbidden to the forefront of his mind.

He’s afraid of being alone for too long, and he isn’t wrong to be. 

“I’ll be fine.” It wasn’t, strictly speaking, a lie. Jon knew that Martin would match his pace, find some reason for them to stop for a moment if he needed to sit down, help the time pass faster with light conversation. And in return, neither of them would have to be afraid of the consequences of Martin being alone with no way to contact him. 

For a lot of the travel time, Jon led the way, but as they drew closer to the village he stopped to wrap his scarf around not only his neck but also the lower part of his face. He’d chosen to put his hair up for the trip in case it was windy, so the wool would have to do for covering many of the small, round scars dotting his chin and cheeks. Martin took the chance to fuss over him a little, adjusting the scarf in what he claimed was a more aesthetic way, then took Jon’s hand. 

He does that to hide your burns. So nobody will have to look at them.

Even without having the knowledge whispered to him in the back of his mind, Jon had been well-aware of why Martin favored holding his bad hand when they were out in public. What the Eye had left out, seeking to prey on his insecurities, was why. And perhaps it wouldn’t have mattered what Martin told him before everything they’d been through; he would have pushed aside the kind words as a pacifying lie. Now, though...now Jon knew that his partner was well aware of how much he hated that particular scar and that the weight of a larger, softer hand in his own helped to ground him. 

It wasn’t a surprise that as they walked down the main road of the village, the sound of whispers and, in some cases, stage whispers followed them. It might have been a bit disappointing, a tad stressful, but it wasn’t a shock. After all, they were strangers first and foremost. Even before someone had the chance to register that they were two men walking hand-in-hand, they’d notice that they were unfamiliar faces and make snap judgments based on that. 

Martin greeted everyone they passed, and Jon knew that none of them would notice the subtle tells that the man was giving off. Even if they’d looked, Martin had far too much practice hiding his true feelings for just anyone to recognize that anything was wrong. Truthfully, Jon wasn’t confident about whether he would have known if it weren’t for how long he’d spent studying Martin since they returned from the Lonely. He had never been the best at reading faces or social cues, but by now he was at least well-studied in Martin’s tells. “The Eye has helpfully informed me that sheep have caused more deaths here than human action has,” was what he wound up breaking the silence with. It worked, in that it made Martin stop short with a sound Jon wasn’t sure how to categorize as he covered his mouth with the back of his free hand. Suddenly, Martin’s hand felt a little more solid in his own. 

“Jon.” The name came out a little more high-pitched than Martin intended, going off of the slight blush that followed soon after. 

“Yes, Martin?” His crooked smile might have been hidden behind a wall of dark green wool, but it was apparent enough from the tone of his voice. It was deeply comforting to know that at least when it came to talking with Martin, he would be understood. 

“You-” Martin shook his head, gently squeezing Jon’s fingers. “You are unbelievable, you know that?” Jon made a small sound of agreement, doing his best to squeeze back as they resumed walking. 

There wasn’t terribly much to see in the little grocery, and the amount of time it would take them to get home eliminated even some of the store did have in stock from consideration. They were quietly debating the merits of shelf-stable milk when Jon felt a small tug on the hem of his jumper. Heart racing, he whirled, adrenaline already dumping into his system before he had the chance to register that his assailant was a small child who stared up at him with wide eyes. 

“What’re you doing here, ma’am? An’ who’s he? My ma knows everyone and she was saying to Miss Mason that she’s never seen y-whoa, what’s wrong with your hand?” As soon as Jon realized that the burns were visible, he tucked his hand in the sleeve of the jumper and moved it behind him. He’d been debating loosening the scarf while they were inside, as it had begun to get uncomfortably warm. Thank god he hadn’t done so. 

“Hello, little miss. I’m Martin, and this is Jon. He,” and Martin stressed the pronoun a little, “is my boyfriend and we’re visiting here for a little while. Does your mum know you’ve wandered off?” 

“You’re English!” She sounded like she was torn between being awed and horrified at the revelation, and Jon tried to focus on how charming that was even as instinct still screamed at him to run. Children’s attention spans could be measured in seconds, he told himself. She didn’t actually register the way the burns enveloping his hand formed a shape, she just saw something unusual and blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. Jon cleared his throat, contemplating whether he trusted his voice before thinking better of it. 

“Becca! What have I told you about talking to strangers?” A woman who looked to be in her early thirties pulled the child back, kneeling to tap her on the nose with a smile before looking up at them. 

“I’m sorry, you two. Are you...on vacation together?” The moment that she noticed the steadying hand Martin had on Jon’s forearm was audible. Just a slight hesitation, and the slightest shift in tone, but Jon was all too familiar with it. He registered somewhere in the back of his mind that his jaw ached, and unclenched his teeth.

“Yes, we’ve always wanted to see the Highlands in person.” Martin’s voice was polite, but left little room for further conversation. “We’ll let you get back to your shopping.” 

“We’ll have to talk more another time, when you come down just to visit.” The woman motioned at her basket, as though its contents were the only reason she had no interest in dallying longer, and her daughter gave them both an overdramatic wave goodbye before she ran off behind her. 

Jon’s hands scrabbled at the scarf. Suddenly it felt far too tight around his neck, and the feeling of scratchy fabric against his face was too close to that of rough dirt. Once he could breathe again, he realized how much he’d been struggling for air. He hadn’t noticed Martin moving, hiding him from view as best he could without making contact. He was grateful that Martin knew better than to touch him at times like this. Jon met his eyes and mouthed thank you in between deep, shaky breaths. He did his best to stay silent even as his mind screamed at him to gasp for whatever air he could manage to pull in. 

“You’re all right, Jon…” Martin told him softly, continuing with reassurances as Jon fought to calm himself. They’d found out together what worked for each of them through more...incidents than Jon wanted to think about. He forced the self-loathing down, tried to ignore the Eye telling him what a spectacle he was making of himself the first time he’d dared to try to blend in after getting to the safehouse. A quiet clap brought him back to reality, and he was once again hearing his partner’s voice. 

“Jon, you’re digging your nails in. Flex your fingers for me, okay?” Martin imitated the gesture for him, and Jon looked down at his own hands, at the crescent-shaped indents he’d left between two of the scars left by Jude’s fingers. “Ah.” It was all he could manage to say, but he followed the instruction. His eyes flicked to Martin’s face, automatically searching for some manner of disgust or disdain. He couldn’t find any, though; just sincere concern. However, something was different. Taking another steadying breath, it occurred to him what it was. Once he’d pulled off the scarf, Martin must have taken it and wrapped it around his own shoulders to get it out of the way. 

“Do you want to get some fresh air while I finish up in here?” 

“N-no, I think I’d rather stay by your side. If that’s alright.” Jon still didn’t feel ready for direct touch, which ruled out hand-holding, but he carefully linked their arms. He knew perfectly well how he would feel once the adrenaline faded entirely. Having support would help soon enough, both physically and not, and he bit his lip against a surge of emotion at the knowledge that for once, he could count on having it. 

[isidar-mithrim]

A new beginning

While Ron and Hermione are in Australia, Neville and Harry are about to begin their career as Aurors, the raw memories of the battle still fresh in their minds, among some happy thoughts.

{Written for the second weekly prompt on the Hinny Discord: “Think about a teacher who inspired you. What would you say to them if they walked through the door right now?”}

[Read on Ao3]

Edit: I forgot to copy here my thanks! So, many thanks to @glisseowrites for betaing <3 Goes without saying that any residual errors is her fault :P

And also thanks to Flo for spotting the misuse of ‘Minister’ ^^

___________________________________

Neville recognised him right away, his unruly black hair unmistakable even from the further corner of the cafe.

Harry let his gaze roam around the room and Neville waved a hand, nodding in salute when Harry spotted him and walked towards the table.

Grinning, Neville stood up to clap on his shoulder.  “Morning.”

“Hello, Nev,” Harry greeted him, taking a seat on the stool in front of him. “Ginny says hi too.”

“Oh.” He hadn’t expected her name to come up so soon (or at all, actually). “Well, er… thanks. So, does that mean you two…”

As Neville trailed off, Harry’s eyes went wide, a light blush spreading on his cheeks.

“Sorry,” said Neville hastily, cursing himself for making him uncomfortable. “I shouldn’t have asked, it’s none of my b–”

“No, it’s ok,” said Harry, raising a hand. “We, er... yeah... we’re good.”

Neville beamed. “That’s great. I knew you’d be.”

“Really?”

“Of course! She missed you a lot, at Hogwarts. Not that she ever admitted it out loud, obviously, but…” He shrugged. “We could tell.”

“Oh…” mumbled Harry, rubbing his scar absentmindedly. “That’s…”

He swallowed, clearly at a loss for words, and Neville felt a wave of affection for his friend.

“You really deserve it,” he said earnestly. “Both of you do.”

Harry’s lips were tugged into a coy smile. “Thanks, Nev. And… for what it’s worth… I’m sorry I –”

“Hello, guys. What can I get you?”

They both turned their heads towards the waitress, a very cute woman whose blonde plaits reminded Neville of Hannah’s.

“Er… coffee, for me,” said Harry. “And a treacle tart. Thanks.”

The waitress beamed at him. “You’re welcome.”

She seemed quite taken by Harry’s striking green eyes, noticed Neville with amusement. He had to clear his throat to get her attention, biting back a smile when the girl jolted in surprise, blushing.

“And for you?” she asked, her voice a bit higher than before.

“A slice of Victoria sponge and a cup of tea, please.”

“Perfect, I’ll be right back. Call me if you’d like to order anything else, I’ll leave you the menus.”

Neville didn’t miss the soft smile she gave to Harry before walking away.

“She’d be really upset to know you’re already taken,” he teased when she was out of earshot.

Harry blinked at him, bemused. “You mean the waitress?”

Neville tried not to laugh. “Who else? And to think she doesn’t even know you’ve just saved the world!”

“She was just being nice,” mumbled Harry, suddenly very interested in the menu.

“Yeah, you tell Ginny that,” said Neville with glee. “Merlin’s beard, witches from all over the planet are going to be desperate when they hear the news.”

Harry looked up, his expression sheepish. “Er, about that… we, erm… well, we’d prefer to keep it quiet, this time. You know, at least until things are a bit more settled.”

“Oh. Sure.” Neville privately suspected that that had a lot to do with Harry and much less to do with Ginny, but he certainly wasn’t going to address that. “I understand.”

“I mean, her family knows, and it’s not like we’re keeping it a secret, so I’m not asking you to lie for us or anything like that, but…”

Neville smirked. “But no more kisses in the middle of the common room.”

“Ha, ha. Very funny.” Harry had spoken in a deadpan tone, but he was smiling. “Just… don’t shout it around, will you?”

“Don’t worry, my lips are sealed. I was only planning to tell Rita Skeeter,” he assured him, thoroughly enjoying himself.

Harry, on the other hand, looked at him with a grave expression. “I mean it, Nev. Not even around the office.”

When Neville realised the implication of those words, his amusement faded away. “You think we can’t trust the others?”

“Most of them stayed there, did they?” Harry shrugged, resigned. “How can we know if they were sabotaging the Ministry from the inside, playing along, or right down helping them?”

Neville sighed. “We can’t,” he conceded. “But…”

He fell silent when he spotted the waitress coming back, and a moment later she arrived with a loaded tray balanced on one hand.

“Here we are,” she said, looking pointedly at Neville. “The Victoria sponge and the tea were for you, right?”

When he nodded, she took his order from the tray and laid it carefully on the table. Only then she finally locked her blue eyes with Harry’s, a dazzling smile brightening her beautiful face.

“So, the treacle tart and the coffee must be for you.”

Harry swallowed, awkwardly flattening his hair. “Er, yeah. Thanks.”

“Wonderful. Please, call me if you need anything else.”

Neville added milk to his tea and stirred it, forcing himself to stay impassive, but as soon as the waitress was far enough, he grinned at Harry, who rolled his eyes in response.

“She’s just being nice, eh?”

“Shut up,” muttered Harry, grabbing a sugar cube and throwing it at him.

Neville barked a laugh. “Tell me, how many marriage proposals have you received so far?”

Harry narrowed his eyes, looking unexpectedly pensieve with his coffee hanging in mid air. “None, actually,” he admitted, his tone perplexed.

Neville shot him an amused glance. “Aren’t you a bit young for that, anyway?”

Harry rolled his eyes again, but his lips twitched. “I was just wondering if someone at the Ministry is checking my mail or, well, intercepting it.” He took a sip of coffee. “I haven’t got a letter since forever.”

“Oh.” Neville thought of the bunch of letters he had received from his parents’ old friends to congratulate him. A couple of them were still in the Aurors, and that made him realise he ought to resume the conversation that the arrival of their order had interrupted. “That’s… weird, I guess.”

Harry sighed. “I’ll ask Kingsley to have a look into it. Who knows, maybe it was something organised by the Order so the Ministry wouldn’t find me.”

“Yeah, maybe,” said Neville, who felt like they had more pressing topics to discuss. He blew on his tea and took a long sip. “Look, about what you were saying before… My gran mentioned a couple of Aurors that were friends with my parents, so I’d like to think we can trust them.” He tried not to take Harry’s mildly skeptical expression too personally. “And about the rest… I know it’s no excuse, but lots of people in the Ministry had kids or nephews or even grandkids at Hogwarts, and… believe me, that means they weren’t exactly in the position to oppose the Ministry.”

Harry sent him an odd glance, and Neville wondered if he was thinking about Ginny’s dad as well. He waited in silence and took another sip of tea, suspecting Harry needed a bit of time to sort out his thoughts.

“Earlier, when you said that… that Ginny missed me… I was meaning to say... just, you know…” He took a deep breath, his eyes fixed on his coffee. “I’m very sorry I wasn’t there.”

Neville lowered his mug, staring at him in disbelief. “You’re kidding, right?”

“I’m not.” Harry had spoken firmly, and for a moment he looked again like he was carrying the weight of the world upon his shoulders. “What you went through… It must have been awful.”

“It was,” said Neville matter-of-factly. From the way Harry raised his eyebrows, he could tell he was taken aback. “One more reason for you not to be there, the way I see it. And in all honesty, I think we were better off without you.” He grinned. “Troubles always seem to follow you.”

Harry chuckled, and Neville felt quite pleased for cheering him up.

“And yet you want to work with me,” said Harry with a lighter tone, his lips curved upwards. “Doesn’t seem so wise, does it?”

“Not at all,” said Neville, still grinning. “But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Harry huffed with humour. “Suit yourself, then, but don’t hold it against me if you’ll end up with a weird scar on your forehead.”

“’Course I will,” he said cheerfully. “It’s clearly your fault if I’ve been asked to join.”

Harry raised his mug towards him in mock salute, smiling. “You’re welcome.”

Neville mirrored him, clinking their mugs together.

“I mean it, though,” he pressed after sipping his tea, more serious. “I wouldn’t be here, if it weren’t for you. You know that, right?”

Harry’s stunned expression was answer enough. “I…” He swallowed. “You would have done that too. Lots of people would have.”

Neville shook his head. “I wasn’t speaking about that,” he said gently, and Harry seemed even more puzzled. “I meant the D.A.”

“The D.A.?”

“You see, I never thought I had it in me to be an Auror… to follow my parents’ steps. It seemed like an impossible dream, one I barely allowed myself to dwell on... and then you started the D.A.”

“It wasn’t me,” said Harry decisively. “It was all Hermione’s idea, she was the one who –”

“It was you who taught us, though.” Neville looked at him into the eyes, his chin held up.  “And look at us now.”

Harry lowered his gaze to his plate and began cutting the slice of treacle tart in little pieces. “I made all of you believe that… that everybody had to fight, that it’d be cowardly not to do it, that…”

Neville felt a surge of deep compassion for his old friend and his unfair, aching guilt. “You gave us hope,” he said fiercely. “You made us survive.”

“Not all of you,” Harry murmured, so low that Neville almost didn’t catch it. His head was still bent, but Neville noticed his hard blinking nonetheless, and he felt a heavy knot clenching around his heart.

“Colin wasn’t your fault, Harry. If anything, I was the one to call him back. To call everybody back.”

“Only because I was there.”

Neville sighed. He felt like he was fighting a lost cause, but he owed Harry that much. “I promise you this year would have been even worse, without the D.A.”

“At least people would have stayed out of trouble,” muttered Harry, twirling his mug between his hands.

“Would they really, though? Because I clearly remember you saying you couldn’t have done it without all of us, after the battle. Bit pointless to stay out of trouble if you-know — sorry, if Voldemort would have won.”

Harry opened and closed his mouth. “I…”

“I know it’s hard on you,” said Neville. “But… I guess I like to believe that most of us would have stayed and fought anyway, even if the D.A. had never existed.”

Harry didn’t look so persuaded, and Neville decided there was only one way to pull him out of his own head.

“You know, it’s a bit rude of you to think we wouldn’t have,” he said provocatively.

As predicted, Harry’s head immediately jerked up: he looked half horrified, half mortified. “I… I didn’t mean… That’s not what I… I’d never… I’m just...” He took a deep breath, rubbing his scar again. “I’m not undermining what you did, Nev. That’s… the last thing I want, actually. I promise.”

“Yeah,” nodded Neville. “I know.”

“I meant what I said the other day. I’ll make sure people hear about you all.”

“I know you will.”

“I’m just…” He shrugged, letting out a breath. “I guess what I wanted to say is, I’m sorry I dragged you in all that.”

“Funny,” said Neville, “because I’m glad you did.”

Harry looked at him in disbelief. “Don’t say that,” he admonished, his voice sharp.

Neville ignored him. “I’m glad I could fight beside you. I’m glad I could help. I’m glad you asked me to kill the snake, even if -”

“You shouldn’t be!” said Harry, frustration blatant in his voice. “Can’t you see it? You shouldn’t have had to endure all this!”

“You shouldn’t have either.”

“I didn’t have a choice, did I?” bit back Harry.

“I know,” said Neville, placatingly. “And I’m sorry.”

Harry seemed taken aback by those words, and Neville wondered if he’d been the first person to tell him that. “But… even when I had the chance, I don’t think I could have chosen anything different either, you know? And if I’ve been able to outlive the consequences of that choice, it’s only thanks to your lessons. It’s only thanks to you.” He thought of the Chocolate Card tucked in the front pocket of his shirt, alongside the D.A. coin and the Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum wrapping his gran had sent him with her pride. “You’re the first person that really believed in me. The first to think I was worth something.” He thought of those meaningful words heard years before, words he’d never forgotten… words he’d never forget. You’re worth twelve of him.

“Blimey, Neville,” said Harry in a hoarse voice. With his eyes shut and his fingers pushing up the glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose, he looked at the same time incredibly young and years older than he was. It was odd to think they were born just one day apart.

“You know,” said Neville with a conversational tone, trying to spare Harry the embarrassment of acknowledging his words properly, “when we talked with Kingsley I realised that the only time I’ve been in the Ministry before then, was the day I went with you.”

“Oh. Right.”

Harry didn’t seem as relieved as he had hoped. A moment later, Neville realised with horror why: that was the day Sirius Black had died.

Unable to stand that awkward silence, Neville started rambling. “That… that was the first moment I thought ‘Hey, maybe I have what it takes to be an Auror, after all’; then of course my marks weren’t good enough, but… it was nice, to feel like… like I could have been.”

“You can be, Neville. You are.”

He chuckled lightly. “Yeah… I guess I am. Life is weird, eh?”

“It is,” agreed Harry. He checked his watch, and Neville threw him a questioning glance.

“We’ve still got twenty minutes before we have to go,” Harry reassured him, taking a sip of coffee.

“What about you, then?” asked Neville. “Have you always known you wanted to be an Auror?”

Harry looked pensieve for a moment. “Remember when you said life is weird?”

Neville put down his mug, nodding.

“Well… I didn’t even know that Aurors existed, until Moody. He’s the first Auror I’ve heard of, and he – the fake one, I mean – was the first to tell me that I’d –” He frowned. “Are you okay, Nev?”

Only then Neville realised he was holding his breath, his jaw clenched. He exhaled, relaxing the hand he had clamped around the mug handle. “Yeah,” he murmured, taking a bite of cake to buy some time. He chewed in silence, his blood pulsing in his ears, his mind going back to the awful day McGonagall had told him who had taken Professor Moody’s place.

“Shit,” blurted Harry. He was looking at him with wide eyes, comprehension written on his features. “I’m sorry, Neville, I shouldn’t have mentioned him. I’m an idiot.”

“It’s okay. I forgot about your godfather, did I?”

“Oh. Well, that’s not...”

Neville offered him a sheepish smile. “What if we call it even and leave it at that?”

“Sure,” said Harry hastily, shoving a piece of treacle tart in his mouth.

Neville took his lead and busied himself with his Victoria sponge, but he couldn’t stop dwelling about what Harry had said. To think that Barty Crouch had somehow inspired both of them was unsettling, but it was also oddly comforting to know he hadn’t been the only one to be fooled.

“He was also the first to acknowledge I was good in Herbology,” admitted Neville in a low voice. Against his expectations, Harry didn’t look so surprised.

“You already knew?”

Harry nodded, his face grim. “That book about aquatic plants... He gave it to you because he thought I’d ask for your help for the Second Task.”

Neville stared at him, his stomach squirming unpleasantly. He had never felt as used as he was feeling now, but in a way it was almost a relief to know that Crouch hadn’t taken him under his wing just for mere sadism.

Harry swallowed, looking anywhere but at him. “I’m very sorry I didn’t ask for your help, back then. It was very stupid of me.”

And of course Harry had to blame himself for that too.

Neville smiled kindly. “It’s water under the bridge, now. You made it up for it plenty enough.”

Harry didn’t look too convinced, but he gave him a weak nod. “Can I ask you something?”

“’Course.”

“You said Crouch was the first to recognise your talent in Herbology, but… what about Sprout?”

“Oh, well… I reckon she had always been pleased with my work, yeah, but I don’t think I ever thought I was good enough to make a career of it, before… before Crouch said he believed I could.”

Harry narrowed his eyes, looking perplexed and surprised at the same time. “I thought you wanted to be an Auror.”

“I didn’t really believe I could, back then, did I? But now things are different, now I know I can actually give a hand, and since Kingsley is asking for all the help he can get…”

It was weird to say out loud what he had kept repeating to himself for the past few days. He believed all of that, truly, but a part of him secretly wondered if the real reasons he was doing it was a different one.

I’m very proud of you, Neville. Your parents will be too.

“What did they do?” he blurted out.

Harry blinked at him, confused, and Neville felt his neck grew hot.

“Er… your parents, I meant.” He cleared his throat. “What did they do for a living?”

Harry was startled, his green eyes wide behind the round lenses.

“It’s ok if you don’t want to talk about it,” Neville hurried to add, fearing he had overstepped.

Harry slowly lowered his fork. “I… I don’t really know, to be honest.”

Neville really hadn’t seen that coming. It felt like a punch in his gut.

“I think they… they just joined the Order, after Hogwarts. I guess… I guess they thought they could start working after Voldemort had fallen...”

After that awkward confession, they stayed silent for a bit, eating their food and dwelling on their parents’ cruel destiny.

For once, it was Harry to break the ice.

“My mum was a good potioneer,” he said out of the blue. “Slughorn was very fond of her. I… I like to imagine she’d have been a good teacher, I think.”

Neville almost joked that she would have surely been better than Snape, but he remembered just in time that Harry had gotten a bit protective of their old professor.

“I’m sure she’d have been,” he said instead, smiling. “I bet you took it from her, you were great in the D.A.”

“Oh… thanks, Nev.”

“Have you ever considered becoming D.A.D.A. professor, one day?”

“Nah, I reckon I’ve already taken too many risks in my life. I much prefer the Aurors survival rates.”

Neville chortled, humored. “If there’s one person that can survive teaching that class, that’s got to be you, Harry.” He smirked. “Imagine how famous you’d become if you could last more than one year.”

Harry huffed, shaking his head in amusement, then he seemed to realise something, because he frowned, pensieve. “You know what, I actually think things might be different from now on. It was Voldemort who cursed it. He wanted it for himself, but Dumbledore refused.”

Neville froze in the act of biting a piece of cake.  “He wanted to teach?”

Harry nodded, his expression dark. “Insane, eh?”

“Well, I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised, after sitting through Carrow’s lessons,” said Neville grimly.

Harry sighed. “I guess not.” He checked his watch again. “Time to leave, I reckon.”

They both stood up, and Neville insisted on paying, knowing Harry was still sorting things out with Gringotts (and with the blonde waitress). “Help me with this sodding paper money, though. I’ve no idea how Muggles manage not to rip them up.”

Afterward, they headed out of the cafe, walking towards the Ministry.

“For what it’s worth,” said Harry, “I reckon you’d be a great teacher too.”

“Me?”

“Of course.” Harry looked nonplussed. “Kids would love you. But…” He took a deep breath. “I’m truly glad we’re in this together.”

Neville felt really touched by his words. Ignoring the lump in his throat, he gave him a proud nod. “I’ll watch your back, Harry.”

“I know,” he said, and Neville would have sworn Harry was a bit touched as well.

“Let’s hope there’ll be no need, anyway.”

“Yeah… I’m sorry I worried you with my paranoia, but Ron isn’t here, and…”

“I’m not worried, Harry,” said Neville earnestly. “I’m with you.”

Harry’s eyebrows shot upwards. “I…” He swallowed, at a loss for words yet again, and Neville waited patiently.

“Thank you,” said Harry eventually, his voice raspy. “For... everything.”

Neville nodded, and after a couple of steps a cheery thought struck him. He bit back a smile. “You know who we won’t have to worry about?”

“Who?”

“Dawlish,” he said with a smirk. “He’s still at St. Mungo’s. My gran can’t stop bragging about it.”

Harry laughed out loud, and they walked forward with matching grins, a new beginning waiting ahead.

[unexpectedcronchiness]

Pt 7 i think we’re at im just vomiting ideas heck yeah more wolfstar

Based on a text “ sirius is put in an arranged marriage with a pureblood witch or it can be muggle au but with a female (he's gay in this) and remus is the wedding planner “

no warnings on this one either it just fluffy

arranged marriage, who even thought of shit like that? still it wasn't remus' place to question. He walked into the room, prepared to give his "Ok so theme ideas, what do you like, what actually looks good" speech but he stops dead in his tracks

first off, theres a man alone here

usually both partners are together

and secondly hes absolutely gorgeous

this was going to be problematic, remus rarely thought anyone was attractive, but when he did, he fell hard

the man noticed him and stood up, and held out his hand

"sirius orion black, i see you have the, ah, pleasure, of working with my family on getting the union from hell organized"

remus couldn't help it, he laughed

he'd seen arranged marriage cases before, but legally he wasn't allowed to do anything, trust me, he checked

but never were people so blatantly outright in their discomfort or annoyance

honestly it was refreshing

laughing was unprofessional and he was being paid a hefty amount of money to make something tasteful yet elegant, so he steeled his face and started his speech

-----

days passed and he found himself spending more time than necessary with sirius

he couldn't help it

at first he was just curious but then it was something more, it was intense and new. Sirius was funny, charming, kind, witty and so much more

yet there was something subtle, something dark shadowing his features

something that remus couldn't help but be pulled to

he had his own secrets of course, being a werewolf was hard enough, but then managing the top wedding planner office in the wizarding world and trying to keep it all a secret was unbearable

yet he loved it

he loved secrets and the way they kept you warm, the way you were allowed to be possessive and cautious and no one thought any less of you because everyone has secrets. It's universal and completely personal at the same time

so he held onto his newfound secret that he was undeniably genuinely attracted to this sirius orion black.

------

" i was thinking for the flowers maybe something like an acacia blossom" acacia blossoms meant concealed love, amoungst other things, but concealed love was what he was going for but it's not like he would know what it meant

yet the way sirius looked at him after he said it unsettled him

his mouth agape, eyes wide in realisation

then he said "i rather like ambrosia" shit. Ambrosia, your love is reciprocated.

shit shit shit

what was he doing flower flirting with the heir to the blacks, one of the wealthiest pureblood families in the wizarding world

and ya know, that thing how he was going to GET MARRIED And remus was supposed to be helping him

"hmm maybe white lilies" it's heavenly to be with you but, "but, you'll probably like stephanotis better" stephanotis, happiness in marriage

sirius laughed

"do i look like i'd enjoy stephanotis better? besides, women aren't really my type. How about sterling silver roses?" Love at first sight, oh merlin

Remus couldn't resist

"so what is your type then"

sirius grinned cheekily

Dr.Remelems-the fluff monsterToday at 7:47 AM

"hmm, well let's see, men for starters, in case you didn't get my extreme subtlety. Camelia" you're a flame in my heart, shit he was good

he continued

"gold eyes, dirty blond hair, that shimmers in the sunlight, incredibly sexy scars, a nice sense of humor, an understanding of flowers is also deeply important, Carnation" My heart aches for you, admiration. Oh merlin he was in deep

"don't know where you'd find a guy like that he seems impossible, and aren't you supposed to be getting married. Gardenia, white heathers" You're lovely, secret love and wishes could come true, protection

remus hoped it conveyed everything he was willing to risk for this man

he would willingly risk an affair, he would protect this man, give him everything no matter what and he'd only known him for a month

sirius, as remus learned had absolutely no control of his emotions on his face, but at least he knew that he knew what it meant

sirius feigned casualness

"let me one up you, orange blossom, peony.... stehphanotis but with viscaria?" eternal love, marriage, happy marriage, happiness in marriage but when combined with viscaria, will you dance with me, did he, was he understanding this right

unable to play games any longer remus choked out

"did- did you just propose to me in flowers?"

sirius looked bashful

"well i mean uh yeah, but uh I'd need your help in getting out of this current uh, marriage thing if you wanted to do this i know thats not a yes but it would be difficult and i just-"

Remus cut him off

"jesus merlin and morgana yes."

"i do" he said solemnly

sirius looked happier than remus had ever seen him, no shadows, no undertones

"ok so i don't know how to get out of this current ya know marriage thing, i haven't made an unbreakable vow or anything, well yet at least and-"

"Sirius you brilliant man you, you've given me an idea"

----------

It was the day of the wedding. Sirius was standing at the alter, whatser name getting ready in one of the back rooms. The flowers they had chosen, spider flowers (elope with me, sirius and remus both thought it was funny) and remus was ready, in a suit that was probably more decorative than a wedding planner needed, but little did they know, he was probably underdressed

it was his wedding day after all

Remus went over to sirius, walking intentionally down the aisle as he did. It was on purpose yes, but everyone else didn't look twice as the ceremony had yet to start. silently, he gripped his wand and cued the music.

everyone turned to face remus in shock, sirius beamed, as a man should look on his wedding day. Cries of rage came from the black family as it clicked what was happening.

walburga black began to leap up, brandishing her wand but was stopped by an invisible force keeping her to the chair, and the chair to the floor. or ya know, a sticking charm

they'd figure out how to get it off eventually and he only needed a little bit of time anyways

being a wedding planner had perks

he reached the altar and grabbed sirius' hands.

The clergyman looked shook, but also suddenly understood the vague wording in his contract, shrugged, and went on with it

if remus was being honest, he didn't remember much of what the clergyman said, he didn't remember the cries of outrage from the black family

what he did remember was the look in sirius' eyes, the smile that was so large it threatened to come off his face, the tight, nervous grip of his hands

remus remembered that most of all

remus remembered hearing sirius say i do, tears in the old saps eyes, and then he remembered hearing it from himself

screams of protest and indignation sounded like music to his ears but then suddenly he heard clapping and cheers

he turned around in shock and saw that whatserface was in the aisle, in jeans and a hoodie, leading her family in appluase

*applause

as would later be explained to the black family. Remus had not taken an unbreakable vow to marry or love sirius for ever. neither of them could promise that. but what had happened however was meridith (as he learned her name was) and sirius had made an unbreakable vow to never marry eachother

turns out meredith was undeniably gay and had a girlfriend 

and so in the confusion they were wed, and the blacks could do nothing of it, for worries of risk admitting they were beanboozled by a their heir and his husband, or worse that they had made the worst match in all of pureblood history with two incredible gay queens.

yet something gnawed at remus

one day,  a year later, he went up to sirius

it was time, the secret didn't feel as warm and personal anymore

instead it felt dirty and aggressive, mean, harmful

he walked up to sirius

shit he was not crying, he was not crying but he started to speak

"i-i think it's time-time for you to know- and- and i just want- i just want to say to you, i love you so much, more than anything and imsosorry and"

"honey whats the matter, is this about your uh, 'furry little problem"

remus blinked

what

the heck

sirius couldn't help but chuckle

"darling you're hardly inconspicuous, ive known since we were 'dating"

remus couldn't help it, he bawled

sirius pulled him into his arms, tenderly holding him

"hey, hey, hey shh, hey, single full bloom roses, pink rose, rose leaf" i love you, i still love you, perfect happiness, please believe me, you may hope. Remus translated these automatically and allowed himself to finally feel content

THE END

-bonus- after the whole debacle purebloods thought twice about arranged marriages and let their kids be for a while, and so meredith took advantage of this and her girlfriend and her got married, (remus was the planner, they had all turned out to be quite good friends)