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leiawritesstories · 2 years

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As I Am, 15

Summary: London, England, 1816, early spring. The opening of the Season is every year’s most anticipated event in high society, especially among the young ladies. This Season has been predicted to be one of the most promising yet, given that the debutantes include Miss Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, Misses Nesta, Elain, and Feyre Archeron, Miss Elisa Selvari, Miss Elide Lochan, and many more. Not to mention that His Grace Rowan Whitethorn, the newly ascended Duke of Doranelle, shall be in town with his companions. Where shall the Season lead? We have yet to find out, but as with all Seasons, there will be parties, promenades, dancing and dining, a profusion of flowers in each young lady’s parlour, and of course, scandal.

STORY WARNINGS: language, arranged marriages and other 19th-century problems, eventual fighting, eventual smut

Inspired quite a lot by Bridgerton and Pride and Prejudice. Unknown chapter count. Characters are from Throne of Glass and ACOTAR, as well as various other characters from various other authors. I’ll credit them as they appear, and if anyone is unfamiliar, please go check out their books!

CHARACTER LIST MASTERLIST

Word count: 3.3k

Warnings: language, implied dirty talk, innuendo, a breakup, implied smut.

A/N: Fair warning that there’s some Lorcan/Essar content included here. I wanted to write their relationship in this world. But they’re also not endgame. Oh and also dancing!Nesta makes an appearance.

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The heat wave past, the fine families all returned to their London homes, waiting until everyone who had fled to the countryside was comfortably resettled to hold another ball. It was now officially the middle of the Season, and the Selvari family had the honor this year of hosting the mid-Season ball. Scarcely had they returned to town than their home was flooded with a constant stream of hired hands bringing decorations, cleaning every square inch of space, polishing each fleck of glass, brass, marble, gilt, and metal until it glowed, bringing massive amounts of flowers and greenery to adorn the house. Elisa could hardly leave her room without bumping into a cluster of people she did not know, but as she watched her home slowly transform into gorgeous splendor, she decided that the whirlwind of activity and bustle would certainly be worth it.

On the evening of the ball, she sat calmly before her vanity, pinning a silver circlet atop her upswept hair. Mother sat on a chair behind her, keeping up a stream of chatter about who would be in attendance, whom she hoped Elisa would dance with, whom she hoped Rhys would dance with, and her never-ending but well-concealed worry that something would go terribly wrong and that she would be forever disgraced. Elisa tucked a last pin into her hair, turned around, and grasped Mother’s hands.

“Mamma. Everything is going to go perfectly smoothly. Have you not been through every inch of the ballroom thrice over? Have you not seen to every detail? Breathe, Mamma.”

Mother took a deep breath. “You are right, Lis, I am simply nervous.” A distant look passed over her face. “I do so wish your father were here tonight.”

Instinctively, Elisa kissed her mother’s cheek. “I wish Father were here, too. I wonder what he would make of his little daughter all dressed up.”

“All grown up,” Mother smiled, standing. “And ready to sweep the guests off their feet. Or at least one of the guests.” She winked.

“Mother!” Elisa blushed.

“Do take the praise, my dear, you know as well as I do that it is only a matter of time until Lord Fenrys proposes.”

“Well, I was not the one to say it.” Grinning, Elisa turned a little circle. “How is my dress?”

“Perfect, Lis. You are a vision, my dear.”

“Shall we go and greet all of London, then?”

“Indeed we shall.”

Aelin and Elide greeted Lady Selvari, Rhys, and Elisa and walked into the ballroom. Spotting Rowan and Lorcan some distance away, Aelin caught Rowan’s eye and tilted her head in signal.

“Just what are you smiling at?” Elide inquired, not missing the little smile Aelin tended to wear when she saw Rowan.

“Oh, nothing,” Aelin returned.

Elide raised a dark brow. “Mhmm. You saw Rowan, didn’t you?”

“Is it truly that obvious?”

“Ae, when you make eye contact with His Grace, your whole face seems to light up.”

“And darken when Father and Perrington are around, no doubt.”

Elide snorted quietly. “More like turn to stone. Which I suppose is a good thing, given that your murderous expression could probably put the man six feet under.”

“If only,” Aelin sighed.

Rowan and Lorcan happened to cross their path. “Ah, good evening, Miss Galathynius. Miss Lochan.” Rowan dipped his head, the portrait of noble propriety. “Might I have the honor, Miss Galathynius?”

“You may, Your Grace.” She took his arm.

“Well, that was quite convenient,” Lorcan mumbled.

“Am I that unsuitable, then?” Elide teased.

“Of course not,” Lorcan rushed to explain, “I was just…not expecting Rowan to up and leave me alone with anyone, let alone you, Miss--Elide.”

“He is a man in love,” Elide remarked, watching him and Aelin dance and laugh together. “I cannot say I blame him for stealing his moments with Aelin.”

“Nor can I,” Lorcan admitted. “Would you like to dance, Elide?”

She had not been expecting that. “Why yes, I would.” He extended his arm, and she tucked her hand in the crook of his elbow. “Lead on, Captain Salvaterre.”

Across the floor, Aelin smirked at Rowan. “Look, Your Grace. They are dancing together, just as we had hoped.”

“What have I told you about my title, love?” Rowan purred, his hand practically burning into her side.

“Not to use it unless other proper people can hear, sir,” Aelin murmured, her voice breathy.

“Good girl.” His voice low and rough. “And yes, I do see them. How well our little scheme worked.”

Nesta let her boring partner guide her across the floor, focusing herself on the music and the dance steps rather than the brunette lord’s stilted conversation. She dipped him a slight curtsy after the music ended, heading away from him. Before she could slip away and get herself some water, though, another male form stepped into her path. She glanced up to meet Cassian Ilnair’s twinkling eyes, a half-smirk curving his lips.

“Will you do me the honor of a waltz, Miss Archeron?” She picked up a slight tremor in his voice, a barely-there hint that he was nervous she would turn him down.

She did not hesitate. “Of course I shall,” she replied, accepting his hand.

Cassian guided her onto the parquet dancing floor and took his place opposite her, one hand placed gently on her waist, free hand against his back. Nesta let her arms fall down by her sides, resting atop the silken skirts of her gown.

The small orchestra launched into the opening measures of the waltz, and the couples stepped into motion. At first, the dance steps were controlled, confined, tiny movements back and forth towards each other, their only point of contact the man’s hand on the lady’s waist. Nesta lost herself in the music, in the 1-2-3 tempo, letting the moving melody guide her feet, the swish of her skirts, the push and pull between her and Cassian. As the melody swelled, crested, Cassian’s other hand came up to take hers, guiding her into a sweeping series of turns across the floor. Wrapped up in the waltz, neither Nesta nor Cassian noticed that they had moved into the center of the ballroom and that many of the couples dancing around them had stopped to admire the pair they made, Cassian’s broad, dark-suited form contrasting with Nesta’s graceful, periwinkle-clad elegance, turning in wide, lovely arcs. The waltz broadened, approaching its end, and Cassian released Nesta’s waist, raising her arm above her head, guiding her through a series of spins that made her appear to be floating. The waltz closed in a grand chord, and as Nesta’s focus returned to the room, she blushed, realizing then that every eye had been on her and Cassian. Unable to control her smile, she swept Cassian a curtsy as he bowed to her and allowed him to lead her off the floor and over to the next room to get some water.

“Thank you, Cassian,” she murmured, draining her glass.

“It was my honor,” he returned, “to watch you dance like that. Everyone was watching you, Nesta. Everyone.”

“Stop,” she blushed, “I am quite aware that everyone was staring.”

“How could they not? You are the most striking woman here tonight, milady.”

“Oh, you’re just flirting with me,” she chuckled.

“I never ‘just flirt,’ Nes.” Cassian grinned. “Besides, if I had not intervened when I did, I believe Lord Heliòn would have requested to partner you.”

“Goodness,” Nesta snickered, “he is not a threat, Cass. I do enjoy his company occasionally, when he pretends to be civil. He is not a bad dancer, you know.”

“No, but he is an incurable flirt.”

“Who is fully aware that I have not the slightest interest in his advances.” Nesta looked directly into Cassian’s eyes. “Do not worry about him, Cass.”

“Very well.” His posture relaxed.

After a second dance with Elide, a reel following Nesta and Cassian’s incredible waltz, Lorcan offered the petite woman his arm. “Will you walk with me, Miss Lochan? I should like to get some air.”

“Of course,” Elide replied, “some fresh air sounds wonderful, Captain.”

Lorcan led her out of the ballroom, down the polished hallway, and into Selvari House’s airy gallery, whose skylights revealed a night sky speckled with stars. “Ah, this is much better.”

Elide loosed a large breath. “Indeed it is.” She wandered around the gallery, admiring the paintings and sculpture displayed on the walls. “I did not know the Selvaris had a gallery.”

“House Selvari has many hidden corners,” Lorcan remarked, coming to her side. “Many of them currently obscured by florals.”

“Are you insinuating something?” Elide arched a brow.

“I would never insinuate, Elide, I am far too uncultured for that.”

“In that case, exactly what are you requesting, Lorcan Salvaterre?” Elide cocked her head.

“That I be allowed to steal a few moments with you, Elide Lochan,” he smirked.

“And might those moments be spent in one of those hidden alcoves you mentioned?”

“Why yes, they would.” Lorcan offered his hand. “Though I promise that I shall not do anything to make you uncomfortable.”

So Elide took his hand, followed him out of the gallery and down the hall, followed him into another room, followed him as he slipped behind a huge, overflowing vase of florals and greenery into a quiet, secluded nook. “Well, isn’t this cozy?” he purred, bracing an arm against the wall, over her head.

“Awfully so,” Elide agreed.

And then her knee rammed straight into Lorcan’s crotch. He clamped both hands over his mouth to smother the flood of curses, doubled over with shock and pain. “Gods-dammit, Elide, why?!”

“I had hoped you were more of a gentleman than your reputation suggested.” Her dark eyes bored into his. “Clearly, you are not. Good evening, Captain Salvaterre.” And away she swept.

Hands still over his very blue, very sore balls, Lorcan speechlessly watched Elide leave, caught the hint of disappointment in her gaze. He had underestimated her, or perhaps himself. Fuck it, Salvaterre, he cursed himself, can’t you keep your hands and your mind to yourself for once? Just for once?

When he had settled enough, he too walked out of the alcove, deciding it was time for him to leave the ball. He went into the ballroom, found Rowan standing to the side, speaking with Connall, and made his excuses. Rowan cast him a faintly suspicious look, probably believing he was going to go see Essar. Lorcan hated to admit that Rowan was, once again, right.

As the throng of guests slowly began to take their leave of House Selvari, Rhys slipped through the crowd, seeking Feyre. He found her just outside the ballroom, talking with Elisa in low tones.

“Hullo, Feyre darling,” he purred, making his voice as suave as he could.

Feyre, not turning away from her conversation, held up a finger. Give me a moment, the gesture said. She and Elisa shared a laugh, and then she turned. “Yes?”

Rhys caught Elisa winking at Feyre as she headed for the front doors. “I saw that, Lis!”

“As was intended, brother dearest!” She blew him a little kiss, fluttering her lashes, and chuckled at the scowl he shot her.

“Do leave off your pretended anger,” Feyre said dryly, “we both know you live to tease each other.”

“She knows too much about my thoughts,” Rhys grumbled.

“I would hardly say that’s a bad thing. After all, someone has to stop you from whatever wild scheme you and your brothers have cooked up.”

“Wild schemes? You wound me, Feyre Archeron.”

“Says the grown man who holds snowball fights like a schoolboy each winter.”

“All right, all right, I have childish habits. Will you walk with me?” He held out his hand in truce.

Feyre accepted it. “As long as you do not plan to prank me.”

“Hardly,” Rhys snorted. “I have…ah…something I would like to ask you.” He led her into a side room, softly lit, empty save for the two of them. Drawing in a shaky breath, he let go of her hand and placed himself in front of her. “Feyre, I know it has barely been a few weeks since everything with Tamlin happened, and I know you are probably opposed to the very idea of marriage right now, but I cannot hide my emotions any longer. I fell in love with you the night we met; you stole my heart with your creativity, your laughter, your personality. I have loved you from something of a distance, and I have loved you for these short weeks we have been courting.” He lowered himself to one knee, looking earnestly up at her. “Feyre Archeron, I am yours, if you will take me. Will you do me the honor of being my wife?”

Feyre was speechless. “I--I hardly know what to say. Yes, Rhys, everything with Tamlin was so recent, and yes, we’ve only been together a few short weeks. But I confess I have fallen in love with you, too, even while I was fighting the betrothal. Yes, Rhysand Selvari, yes. I will marry you.”

A shocked, elated smile broke across his face. “Gods, I love you,” he choked out, rising and wrapping her into his arms.

“I love you, too,” she grinned. “Now kiss me, fiancé.” And he did.

They walked to the entrance hall to meet their families hand in hand, smiling silly little lovestruck smiles.

“Well, you two certainly seem to have enjoyed the evening,” Lady Selvari smiled, seeing the pair.

“Quite,” Rhys agreed. “There is nothing so joyful as becoming engaged to the woman you love.”

Baron Archeron’s jaw dropped. “Feyre? Is this true?”

“It is, Father.” Her smile widened. “I have agreed to marry Rhysand Selvari.”

The dowager countess hugged Feyre, tears glimmering in her eyes. “I can scarce believe it! Welcome to the family, Feyre.”

“Thank you,” Feyre grinned. “I love your son dearly, Lady Selvari. I do hope I can make him happy.”

“Please, you must call me Esther, and I have no doubt that you will.”

“With only one touch,” Elisa murmured under her breath.

Feyre choked on air. “Elisa!”

“What?” She smiled angelically. “I say nothing that is not true.”

“You know too much,” Feyre grumbled, trying to control her blush. “But yes. You are correct.” She placed a kiss on her father’s cheek. “Might I stay the night with Elisa, Father? We have so much to discuss.”

“Of course you may.” Father kissed Feyre’s forehead. “I am very happy for you, my dear.”

Lorcan had returned to Doranelle’s town home, saddled his horse, and rode off through the town, making his way down a familiar maze of streets until he reached the neighborhood of neat row houses where Essar lived. A much better setting than her old home, the seedy apartment in the theater district where he’d first begun meeting with her. Now, with his support, she lived comfortably with her sister in a respectable place where the doors locked and stayed locked.

Lorcan tied his horse at the post, went up the path to Essar’s green front door, and knocked. She opened the door a moment later.

“I was not expecting you tonight, Lor.”

“I know. I…I left the ball early. I wanted to see you.” He shrugged off his coat, hung up his hat. “How are you, Essar?”

“Well enough, considering the last week of rehearsals and performances. I’m very glad I do not perform for another couple of days, as my voice would not survive it.”

“That is a blessing, I suppose.”

“And yes, Vassa’s performing tonight, so we’re alone. I could tell you were going to ask.” Essar grinned, heading for her little kitchen. “Tea?”

“Sounds bloody wonderful,” Lorca grumbled. Essar brought out two steaming teacups, handing him one.

“That bad of a night, hmm?” She plopped down on the other end of the sofa, feet tucked up, watching him expectantly.

“No. Yes. I--” Lorcan ran a hand through his hair. “I honestly do not know.”

“You know you can tell me about anything, right?”

“I know. I…I need to tell you this, but I don’t know how to phrase it.”

“Just spit it out, Lor,” Essar said softly.

“I can’t keep doing this,” Lorca blurted.

“What’s ‘this?’”

“Seeing you. Our…whatever it is we have. A relationship? An arrangement? I cannot keep coming to see you, cannot keep sleeping with you. You deserve so much more than casual sex under the cover of night, Sar.”

“Are you…breaking things off?” Essar breathed.

“No--yes--I don’t know!” Lorcan pushed himself off the sofa, paced the length of the room, agitated. “I do not want to break all our ties, I want to uphold at least the piece of our bargain where I help to pay your rent, I feel as though I would be the biggest ass if I did not at least do that.” He broke off.

Silence.

“Gods, Sar, I’m so fucking sorry, please say something,” he pleaded.

“I have no words,” she murmured. “I expected this to happen at some point, expected that you would someday come out and say that you could not keep seeing me, but I never thought you would base that decision on what I deserve.”

“Why would I base it on anything else?”

“I did not give you enough credit, I admit, you being an upper-class gentleman and me being an opera singer, and I suppose that was shortsighted of me. But Lorcan, why now? What happened?” She came up to him, rested her hand gently on his shoulder.

“I do not want to say,” he admitted. Essar searched his face and tried to stifle her spreading grin.

“All right, who is she?”

“You are too damned insightful,” Lorcan grumbled, sinking back onto the sofa, hands over his face.

Essar snickered. “You’ve got it bad, Lor. Who is she?”

“Elide Lochan,” he admitted.

Her eyes widened. “Lady Elide Lochan? As in, the Duke and Duchess of Perranth’s daughter?”

“One and the same.” His eyes narrowed. “How exactly do you know of her?”

“Met her after one of my performances,” Essar replied. “She happens to be…an opera lover.”

“Gods, how did I not know that?” Lorcan groaned. “That seems so Elide.”

“You can be forgiven for not knowing everything about the lady, Lorcan.”

“And, I hope, for what I’m telling you.”

Essar stood in front of him, her face serious, calm. “Lorcan Salvaterre, I forgive you for ending our relations. Like you yourself said, we don’t know what to call whatever it is we shared, and it’s not as if this will cause an ugly rift between us.”

“I certainly hope not, Sar. And if it does, please feel free to slap the shit out of me.”

“Gladly,” the soprano hummed, patting his cheeks. “I…I would still appreciate your assistance with my rent, if you’re not opposed.”

“Of course,” Lorcan responded immediately, “of course. I did say that I would not sever all ties completely, remember?”

“Indeed.” Essar smiled. “Now give me a last kiss and go get Elide, you big brute.”

“I’m not a brute,” Lorcan grumbled, standing. “Thank you, Essar. You are far, far too kind to me.” He pressed his lips against hers, the kiss turning soft, sweet, until it felt like farewell.

“You helped me get out of that horrible neighborhood,” Essar murmured. “And gave me some of the best orgasms of my life.” She winked. “The least I can do is wish you happiness, and if you and your lovely lady ever consider inviting a third…think of me.” She winked again, broadly.

Lorcan coughed, his face turning a delightful shade of beetroot. “Fuck, Essar, you don’t ever mince words, do you?” he spluttered.

“Not if I can help it!”

“I have absolutely no idea if Elide will even let me court her properly, and if that ends well, if she is at all into that sort of thing.” Lorcan winked right back. “But if she is, I shall indeed think of you.”

Essar chuckled, even her laugh musical. “I wish you well, Lorcan.”

“All the best to you, Essar.” He slipped on his jacket, set his hat atop his head, and exited her house.

Late that night, Feyre slipped out of Elisa’s room, taking a dim lamp to guide her way, and headed down the main hallway into the guest wing. As planned, Rhys was waiting at the front of the wing.

“Hullo, darling,” he whispered, his voice low and smooth. He linked his arm with hers and led the way down the hall and into one of the guest bedrooms, locking the door behind them. He took his and Feyre’s lamps and placed them on the side table.

Feyre wrapped her arms around him from behind, turning him to face her and tugging his face down. She kissed him slowly, deeply, her lips parting for his tongue. She pulled away after an indeterminate time, her lovely chest heaving.

“Gods, I love you, Feyre,” Rhys panted, sliding his hands around her waist.

“I love you too, Rhys,” she gasped, half-dragging him backwards until she hit the bed.

He paused, an unspoken question in his eyes. Are you certain?

“Yes, Rhys,” she whispered, her hands framing his face. “Yes.”

Well then.

~~~~~~~~

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#as i am #my writing #regency au

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meher-sumedha · 3 years

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Gwynriel : She breaks up with one of us, she breaks up with all of us.

Over the last 3 months, Gwyn had grown very close with Elain. They even considered each other sisters. Elain had even started coming to training, but she had backed out after a week, for being a valkyrie, was not for her.

Elain and Azriel had also grown closer to each other. Even though, they had been dating since 3 months only, the had had sex. All thanks to the great Gwyneth Berdara, who had practically begged Rhysand to let them date each other.

Gwyn had promised Azriel that she would find out a way for him and Elain to date, she did. But, they still had to follow rhys' condition, that they could not date each other exclusively.

Elain still had to go to the day court to spend at least 3 days with Lucien, they had become good friends now, or as Rhysand thought.

Elain was, well, she had started to grow a liking for Lucien. She noticed that even though he was shy in front of the inner circle, he just wouldn't shut up in front of her. Elain knew there was some kind of relationship between Helion and Lucien, as they often went to the day court, but she didn't press on the matter. She was impressed about the amount of sarcastic jokes Lucien could make.

He told her his idol was "Chandler Bing", one of the characters from a human sitcom. He said he was the king of sarcasm, and after watching 10 seasons of the show, Elain too realized that. Every time Elain visited him, they watched at least one episode from the sitcom. And if they really really liked the episode, they would re watch it and would enact as characters. Elain had a lot of fun, especially as she could be herself around him.

She didn't have to pretend to like anything, and didn't have to do anything to impress him. Sometimes she would catch him staring at her during the sitcom, she never said anything, not until today :

"You're staring" She said, trying to stop the smile tugging at her lips, her eyes still on the television. Yet, from the corner of her eye she could see Lucien's cheeks had become the colour of his hair.

"Am not" He said, his voice sounding a little shy, which led to Elain chuckling a bit and looking at him, only to find he was still staring at her. They were currently watching the episode, "The one with the proposal" and both Chandler and Monica were on their knees.

Elain didn't back down from his stare, she kept looking at him. But she couldn't help glancing at his lips once or twice. They were sitting extremely close today for some reason.

And if they moved a bit closer, their lips would touch. Lucien was too staring at her lips now, and Monica was happy crying. Gods! He was looking good today. Elain knew she shouldn't do anything, that she was still in a relationship with Azriel, but she couldn't help but lean in slowly, and touch his lips with hers.

Elain started kissing him, but he didn't move, he didn't kiss her back, and just when she was gonna give up and move back, his hand strangled her hair and tilted her head in a way so that he could kiss her in a better manner.

Fireworks started exploding everywhere, Elain had never felt such a thing while kissing anyone, not even Azriel.

And that one kiss, had led to another and another and something else.

(Gwynriel starts from here)

And now, Elain was on her way to break up with Azriel. She'd been seeing Lucien since a month now, which meant only three days. But in those three days, she had never been happier, and she wanted nothing more, than to spend time with her mate.

With Azriel it had always been about him, what he liked. And Gwyn would always be the one to tell her that. What kind of flowers, instruments, sleeping positions, and whatnot Azriel liked. But Elain didn't find it creepy, as she knew Azriel and Gwyn were best friends.

But she always had the pressure of being with Azriel, it was like she was a puppet who had to do exactly as told. Now, she had had enough, and was gonna tell him, that she wants to break up.

Well not before telling Gwyn. Elain and Gwyn were sitting in the House of Wind's library. They were reading a book, Elain opened her mouth to speak a few times but then shut it.

Until she finally gathered the courage to speak, "I need to tell you something", "Okay" Gwyn replied, not looking up from her book. "I need you to be quiet about it", Gwyn looked at Elain and said, "When am I not?"

"Literally never" Elain said and Gwyn rolled her eyes. Elain continued, "I wanna break up with Azriel", "WHAT", "WAY TO BE QUIET" Elain shouted back and Gwyn took a long breath.

"Why do you wanna break up with Az?" Asked Gwyn after calming herself down. After Elain kept quiet for a few minutes, Gwyn finally understood, "oh, Oh, OH! YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH LUCIEN", "I AM NOT IN LOVE WITH LUCIEN", "THEN WHY DO YOU WANNA BREAK UP WITH AZ".

"BECAUSE I CAN'T-I CAN'T BE MYSELF AROUND HIM!." Gwyn opened her mouth but Elain continued, "ALL THE TIME GWYN, ALL THE FUCKING TIME! YOU'RE TELLING ME WHAT TO DO, WHAT HIS FAVOURITE THINGS ARE, WHAT HE LIKES TO DO! WELL I CAN'T DO ALL THAT, I CAN ONLY BE MY SHITTY SELF AROUND LUCIEN AND NOT AZ CAUSE I'VE GOT SO MUCH PRESSURE! FROM YOU, FROM NESTA, FROM RHYS AND WHAT NOT. IT'S-it's too much for me Gwyn, I-I'm sorry".

And then Elain left, leaving Gwyn with guilt of being a bad friend. Gwyn was upset, and when she thought she couldn't be more upset, she sensed the shadowsinger around her.

Azriel paced to his room, knowing that Gwyn was following him, he still slammed the door shut, and the tears he'd been fighting finally came loose.

Even though he slammed the door in her face, Gwyn still came in his room after a few minutes. He was sitting on the floor, with his back resting on the side of the bed.

Gwyn didn't know what to do, so she just sat on the floor, beside him. They stayed like that for a few minutes, until Gwyn noticed there was something in his hand that was resting on the floor. She took his hands, and opened its fist, only to see a ring box.

Gwyn gaped at the box and Azriel let out a dark chuckle, his sobs had stopped now. "You were going, to propose?" And Azriel chuckled once again, but that chuckle was muffled by a sob.

Gwyn didn't know how to react, "YOU'VE BEEN DATING FOR THREE MONTHS" Gwyn shouted at him, clearly angry and surprised by his stupidity. Azriel didn't say anything. He just brought the ring box closer to his chest, and opened it.

That ring. Gwyn could have sworn all the diamonds of the world were present in that ring. Azriel just took the ring out of the ring box, and looked at it, a sad smile on his face.

Gwyn just stared at the ring, not able to form any words. And then Azriel asked, "Do you think she would've liked it?" and offered it to Gwyn to look at. Gwyn was silent for a while and then said, "No" and Azriel chuckled.

"Why not?" He tried to be amusing, but his voice still broke. And then Gwyn looked at him with an emotion in her eyes, that even Azriel could not recognize, "Because if she loved you, she would never want such an expensive ring. She would want you to save money for your future with her instead".

And then Azriel smiled, a genuine smile, but a sad one. And then he said, "It was good while it lasted" while not breaking his eye contact with Gwyn, and then Gwyn repeated, "It was good while it lasted".

And then ice creams appeared at both their sides and they both chuckled, Gwyn opened hers and it was Belgium Chocolate. And Azriel opened his and it was Dark chocolate. The house also provided them with brownies to eat.

They both chuckled and sat there the entire night, stealing bites from each other's ice cream. And contemplating whose heart ache was worse :

"Well I lost a future wife" Azriel said and stole a bite of Gwyn's ice cream and mixed with his own. Gwyn tried to move away but he still got the bite anyway.

"Well I lost a friend". Azriel was not even listening to her at the moment, just trying to take bites of her ice cream.

He then took another bite and at this time, Gwyn didn't even try to move away, she just stole one bite of his ice cream and then made a face, "How can you eat such ice cream? It has no sugar!" which led to Azriel laugh, a full and real laugh. Gwyn just looked at him, and burst out laughing as well.

*It took me 2 hours to write this. It is currently 4am in the morning. ANYWAYS, hope you liked it. And I may not be online this month a lot as I have my mid terms coming up. ANYWAYS, this was ONE LONG headcanon, and I hope it fulfilled your quota. BUT, I hope y'all won't stop writing headcanons as I may not write any BUT I read ALOT. ANYWAYS, thank you for coming to my ted talk.

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londonspirit · 2 years

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“There’s this queer pirates show. Go and watch it.”

Something like that started crossing my dash at the end of March. Only a few posts, but they continued, getting more enthusiastic every time I saw someone post about it (mainly looking at you @mylastvow and @atlinmerrick).

I didn’t see anything about that show over on my Twitter (which usually is the reason for me to start watching something). But then again, I was still mourning the end of award season for Tick Tick Boom (also grieving a tough RL loss).

I wasn’t in the headspace for anything new just yet - especially not a TV SHOW (my brain’s weird like that the past two years - it’s either just new films or shows I know, very rarely I was in the mood to start sth new.)

But then, on a normal Thursday evening the links for it crossed my dash (again) and I was like, why the hell not. You’ve got nothing else to watch, and since Tumblr seems to love it, there must’ve been something about it.

So I clicked the first link.

And it changed my life.

First thing that struck me were the accents (I admit I expected English accents, not the insanely awesome mix of all sorts of accents.)

Then there was the fact that it wasn’t a full on white show (which lately makes me wanna turn off things).

And then there was Stede, swanning in like he does and I was like ‘okay, there's something strange going on - I like.’

And the second BB appears I was like ‘Oh hello, what’s happening here?!’

This doesn’t feel like a pirate show, not at all. So I kept watching.

(There’s soo many wonderful and deep analysis about the show so I won’t bore you with that - go and find them and you’ll see why exactly that show’s the most wonderful thing in the world right now and hopefully in the future we’ll see more like this!!!)

Sadly I had to stop just after E5 to go to bed (yeah, NOW I do NOT know how I had the strength to do that after THAT episode! But I had to work and sometimes I can be a responsible adult.)

I could NOT wait to get back home tho - and the second I was back I raced through the last five epis.

My mind’s still blown away, and I knew I found something very very special!!!

I did a full on rewatch over the following weekend, slower, appreciating all the amazing things, the acting, the sets, the STORYLINES, fucking everything! I was in love with every single thing.

Naturally Tumblr (and then Twitter’s tags) helped deepen that love even more.

And then it was all ‘downhill’ from there.

Now I’m soo deep into that rabbithole I will NEVER come back out.

I will defend David Jenkins until the end of times for coming up with it.

I have deeply, madly and irrevocably fallen in love with Taika and Rhys (because I don’t do casual!) (and in a less crazy way with the rest of the cast) and am working on my way to consume everything they made and will make!

I haven’t laughed this hard or this much in a long time ( I'm pretty sure a therapist would have a field day with my mind right now, but it all makes me happy and helps to deal with harsh real life shit so I don’t care!). My face still hurts. Did you know that the back of your head can start hurting when you laugh too much? Right behind your ears?! Because it does!

Anyhow.

It’s funny: Taika’s been always around the past years, always at the periphery of my watching movies and shows, always been scattered around my social media for the things he did (mainly Marvel, of course, for me) and I liked him but I wasn’t in the headspace to appreciate his… well, everything. He was too silly, too all over the place for me.

*shakes head at self* How fucking WRONG I was.

Yes, he’s silly sometimes. Yes, even now he’s sometimes too much. But the more I watch and read and find out about him, the more I wonder how that man stayed as unique as he still is.

That one’s too fucking special for the world he’s in.

One just has to look past the exterior he puts on and you find one hell of a human, who’s kind and creative and intelligent and so painfully mindful of his surroundings, and I can only hope that the world will not break him and he can continue to be as incredible as he is. (He’s also fucking gorgeous! The HAIR! GUH! Those eyes and the deep deep crinkles when he laughs. The intensity on his face when he listens to something he cares about. I could go on but yeah…)

A true fucking artist in every fucking way!!!

So yeah, there will be LOADS more of him on my dash in the foreseeable future. I will keep yelling about the show and its incredible cast, and HBO better fucking renew it ASAP (and my country better gets its shit together and make it available over here so I can scream to my RL folks about it as well!!)

What I wanted to say with this way too long, way too personal, post is

THANK YOU TUMBLR!

For once again pulling me into something that keeps me sane and safe and happy in a world that seems to want to break me.

And now I shall go and spend my weekend with yet another deep dive into everything OFMD and TW!!!

Laters!

#personal #newest obsession #so much love #just what I needed #ofmd #tw #musings

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bloodycassian · 3 years

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newlyweds

ACOTAR - Rhys x NO GENDER reader. short stories by a short writer. Rhys pops the question in a special way.

Cassian’s yell of pure adrenaline made the hair on the back of your neck stand up. You knew it was a good yell, but it always scared you that something bad was about to happen.

“We’re fine, you dont have to worry.” Rhys purred in your ear. He had sensed your anxiety through your bond.

“Flying will never be safe, I dont care how long they train or if they’re born being able to.” You shoved him slightly, not turning from the skyline where you watched Cass fade into the first of the snowfall on Velaris. It had been a very dry season so far, and they were all waiting desperately to go up to that cabin and have their yearly snow fight. Az had already left, hoping to get a head start on his tactical positioning according to Rhys.

“You mean you dont love being protected by these while we fly?” As if for emphasis, his wings appeared around you, immediately shielding you from the cool chill of the air. You felt a shiver of his power radiate out of him as you grazed a hand on the inside of his wing.

“You know I dont particularly enjoy flying. These, however…” You raked a fingernail across a broad section of wing. His jaw set, and he let out a low growl. “You are a wicked thing aren’t you?” He growled, leaning down to capture your lips, his wings pulling you in closer as you melded to his body. He wrapped his arms around your waist, drinking in your form as his hands wandered slowly, down and down.

“Just because we can’t see you doesnt mean we dont know what’s going on.” Mor chided, Amren chittering just behind her as they made their way up to the roof.

“Public decency has never fit you, has it Rhys?” Amren sneered, taking a sip of something steaming in a paper cup. You refused to focus on it too long, an idle thought passing by of if she had decided to start trying blood again. She resented food enough that you wouldnt doubt it.

“As if you’re one to talk, pixie devil.” Rhys tucked his wings in tight, but you kept your hands where they were on his waist. “You’re sure you dont want to come see the cabin?” Rhys sent you his thought, along with a brief flashback to the last time you were there together.

Amren and Mor slid chairs around to either side of a firepit, now lit with their arrival. “It’s a tempting offer, but I dont know about the cold…” You trailed off, the heat between your legs from his imagination making you second guess. Flying was always terrifying, but Rhys knew your fear was real and he would always send you soothing thoughts of what he was going to do next so you wouldnt be caught off guard.

“I’ll keep you warm.” He promised, sensing your hesitation and pouncing on the opportunity. Then, the wind was rushing past your ears, you felt the thrill of excitement as he wrapped his arms around you again, and took off into the sky. You yelped as your stomach dropped into your feet, clinging to Rhys for your own sense of safety. Amren and Mor’s laughing made your cheeks heat slightly, but they faded quickly.

“You’re lucky you fly fast.” You muttered into his shoulder, not looking down.

“We’ll be there in no time.” He promised, pecking the top of your head, as he began sending you the predictive thoughts of his next maneuvers.

It was an atmosphere of complete silence, save for the wind as you arrived. He set you down gently in the snow, letting you regain your balance before letting go of you. You were directly in front of the cabin now, the snow falling in fat, clumpy chunks.

Rhys was beaming down at you, starlight dancing in his eyes. “I am very grateful that you trust me to fly with you. You have no idea how much it means.” Your heart swelled, and you smiled cooly at him.

“I think I have a good idea.” You sent him thoughts of things that meant a similar amount to you. He smiled sweetly. You were about to ask where the others were when he reached into his pocket.

“I know in the human realms there’s no mating bond. But I wanted to do everything….everything possible in this world to tie myself to you.” He lowered himself to a knee, and opened the box. The most detailed, eloquent jewel lay in the box facing you. Your eyes welled with tears at the simple beauty of it. Black, with tones of purple in the right light. White specks reflected back in the middle as it reflected. It matched his eyes exactly. “Will you please.. Be my mate - my partner forever?” He asked, his eyes slightly glassy.

“You already know the answer,” You spoke, continuing with your mental thought and dancing out on that mental bridge to meet him. “how did you find a ring like this?!” You laughed, embracing him tightly as he fitted the ring to your finger. Your passed your overwhelming joy to him - mind to mind and he laughed.

“You’d be surprised what jewelers can come up with when you say you want the embodiment of the Night Court.” He breathed a sigh, and scooped you up in his arms, making your way towards the cabin together, his thick muscles flexing around you.

“I may have been inclined to make something more inappropriate” You teased, grazing his ear with your teeth. He nipped back at you, catching your lower lip in his teeth. You continued together into the cabin.

“You know if Cass or Az get here any early - well, maybe even on time - they might call us crazed newlyweds.” He warned.

“Well crazed would be an accurate term.” You whispered. Rhys gave you a smirk as he stepped inside.

#ACOTAR #ACOMAF #RHYSXREADER #A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES FIC #RHYSAND #RHYSAND X READER #RHYS X READER

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mylittleredgirl · 3 years

Text

trekathon: disco 1x8

in this week’s episode of star trek discovery:

saru gets zapped by a sentient version of the winamp player visualizer and proceeds to terrify the fuck out of me

intrigue! on the ship of the dead

with only a passing knowledge of latin, i assume “si vis pacem, para bellum” means “if you want peace, square the fuck up”

remember that time odo said “the klingons felt menaced by fog?”

i feel like that’s about to become relevant

we’ve avoided this topic long enough:

t’kuvma shining a bright light to draw klingon ships in from around the quadrant

that whole business with the red lights appearing all over the galaxy in season two

detecting klingon ships by sonar

it’s just going to be easier on all of us if we accept that for mysterious space reasons, for a brief period of time about 10 years before captain kirk’s five-year mission, light and sound traveled at infinite speed and then we don’t worry about it anymore

yikes™️:

is there anything creepier than when a character get possessed by aliens and starts attacking their friends

with a calm smile

and it turns out they weren’t possessed after all

i mean i too would go to some lengths to get rid of anxiety but i wouldn’t donkey-kick my colleagues and destroy the federation’s last hope of ending the war!! SARU!!!!

this episode is very stressful

i posted this and then immediately realized i need like three more hours of thought before i can get into it properly, but it feels actually inevitable that saru and michael would get into a physical fight and the “you won’t stop taking!” line just. the way they’re both grieving for georgiou and he’s taking it out on her HURTS.

meanwhile, klingons:

that “scream” scene with l’rell and cornwell? a+++

i don’t remember what l’rell is after and that makes this Very Good TV

but seriously... mary chieffo creating a layered character using none of her actual face or eyes or teeth and in a language she doesn’t speak

i know things are going to go to hell before redbubble would have time to deliver, but i want lorca and cornwell and tyler to have matching “i got tortured by the klingons and lived to tell about it” jackets because that seems to happen a lot

STOP STOP I ALREADY LOVE THEM:

they really really got me with the michael and ash tyler thing, like there’s a deep wailing in my soul when i think about the ship they make me think they are setting up here

“our futures look different” 😭😫😭

i was going to keep these recaps text-only because i love mediocre memes too much to stop once i start, but there’s really no other way to express my love for ash tyler’s pickup line:

AND IT WORKS

i just want them to get on a boat together in peacetime and eat fresh trout!!! discovery!!!!! why are you doing this to me!?!!???

while i’m making vaguely relevant memes:

it’s like gersha phillips looked gene roddenberry’s ghost dead in the eye and designed these field jackets as a personal attack

other characters:

tyler and lorca have now both played the Reveal Trauma card as a diversion technique and people wonder why 100 years later it became standard to put a trained mental health professional on the bridge

in the meantime, we have tilly in the mess hall!

stamets’s mushroom hangover periodically yeets him out of this dimension oops

that definitely seems like a thing you should not keep to yourselves when stamets is the key operating component of your starship engine but ok

i REALLY thought that when saru gave tyler the pahvan harmony crystal it was going to knock loose the klingon brainwashing

i have spent way too much time on this:

i feel like we should talk about captain t’shen kovil of the uss gagarin, human man with a traditionally female vulcan name

i mean obviously?? the first thought is trans human-vulcan hybrid, BUT we know from tng that vulcan/romulan ears remain dominant for at least two generations, and it hasn’t been long enough since enterprise-era for more vulcan generations to pass

so instead, consider: “10,000 names for your baby from 65 Federation worlds!” books

linus! jennifer! t’shen! imagine the federation version of the babynames.com message boards

“i want to give my baby an andorian name but that’s sooo popular right now ugh so i’m thinking i should spell it in rigellian or klingon??”

very sad though that we didn’t get a replay of that “i was told to expect a vulcan” scene with stamets, except it’s t’shen and michael meeting each other

“i assumed you’d be a woman.” “i assumed you’d be a man.” “i also thought you’d be a vulcan.” “i get that a lot.” “....... actually so do i.”

rip dude i thought about you for 75 times longer than you were actually on screen

other moments of delight:

michael’s explanation of starfleet protocol brings peace to my soul

i was going to come at voyager specifically for their tendency to toss everything under the prime directive banner but then it occurred to me that voyager is well over 100 years later, so they probably added some sub-paragraphs

so more specifically, michael’s explanation of starfleet protocol at a simpler time in star trek history brings peace to my soul

“mr. rhys, can i trouble you to FIRE at something!” i.... still really like lorca

“the needs of the one” most romantic line in star trek confirmed

#trekathon #discotrek #star trek discovery

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msjr0119 · 5 years

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Cordonian Wags

Part 6 - Don’t go

In a world full of Professional footballers and their demanding wives- can their football team nicknamed the ‘Cordonian Apples’ succeed? An American female physiotherapist joins the club. Will this cause issues with the footballers wives?

*This series is based on The Royal Romance characters who belong to Pixelberry - AU Plot switch*

A shorter part- but the best is yet to come 😁😁😁

Tags: @annekebbphotography @burnsoslow @drakesensworld @ladyangel70 @kingliam2019 @bbrandy2002 @butindeed @bascmve01 @drakewalker04 @pedudley @captain-kingliamsqueen @duchessemersynwalker @insideamirage @of-course-i-went-to-hartfeld @kozabaji @texaskitten30 @ibldw-main @kimmiedoo5 @nikkis1983 @dangerouseggseagleartisan @gnatbrain @walker7519 @lodberg @cmestrella @hopefulmoonobject @addictedtodrakefanfic @angi15h @liamxs-world @rafasgirl23415 @notoriouscs @whenyourheartskipsabeat @jovialyouthmusic @nz1091 @yukinagato2012 @indiacater

******

“I need you both to take me to the airport. Please.”

Both the men shook their heads. Their eyes both filled with sorrow. They had only known her a few days and already felt like they had all failed her.

“Do you want me to stay with you at your flat? I don’t mean that in a pervy way. I am a nice person really. I know my boundaries, I just like to test the water but I know you’re out of my league.” Riley was shocked at his statement, not knowing at first if he was being sincere. The sparkle in his baby blues proved he was concerned for her. Maybe he isn’t as bad as he is perceived to be?

“Thank you, Leo. But I need to leave Cordonia for a bit. This is all my fault.”

“Why is it your fault? You only kissed Drake.” Liam said, Riley not knowing that he knew. Her face blushed.

“You kissed Walker?” Riley could see the hurt appear in his eyes. She found Leo an attractive man, but for some reason she didn’t feel anything in her heart pulling her towards him. Really she shouldn’t feel anything in her heart as all the men on the team are in relationships.

“Yeah Liv told me before she added you into the group text.. Riley don’t worry about Kiara, we can press charges. You have all of us on your side. She’s a nutcase along with Madeleine- no offence Leo.” Group text? Am I just gossip for everyone? She’s a nutcase- that’s an understatement.

“None taken! I totally agree. I wish I could divorce the bitch. But Riley don’t go.” Leo held her hands, his eyes pleading with her not to go. She felt like she needed to confess everything that happened between her and Drake before they found out from another source.

“I.... I didn’t just kiss him... so therefore I deserved what I got. But as far as Kiara is aware that’s all I did.”

“You slept with him? Man. He’s more sly than I thought.” Leo was in utter shock, he always believed that Drake was loyal.

“Enough about Drake, Kiara etc. Can you organise a taxi for me. Please. I couldn’t ask Maxwell he would persuade me to stay. Please Liam. You said if I needed anything to just ask.”

“Fine, okay.” Liam held his hands up in defeat, shaking his head they were losing this battle against the stubborn New Yorker.

“Li!”

Liam gestured Leo to ignore the matter. Riley was a mess- he didn’t want to upset her even more.

Riley was still shocked at Leo’s reactions since she met them at the stadium. He was honestly a good guy and she felt awful being a bitch towards him when she first met him.

The taxi arrived, they sat in silence. Riley every so often rubbed her ribs- due to the lingering excruciating pain, the two men noticed. Asking her if she was okay, she just responded by nodding. After a short drive they arrived at the airport. The two men hugged her, before she made her way into the airports entrance. The Rhys made her promise that she would return- Oh boys I’m not even going anywhere. She watched the taxi leave before removing her phone out of her leather jacket, noticing she had a new notification.

I’m here. I’ve landed. Where are you? X

Just arrived- meet me at the exit. I had to get someone to come with me to think that I was leaving. X

******

Savannah arrived home feeling exhausted, she was hoping that Bertrand had settled Bartie down. Walking into the lounge, she nearly jumped out of her skin seeing Drake.

“What the fuck Drake? Why are you here? Why are you sat in the dark?” Turning the light on, she didn’t want any more shocks.

“Sorry Sav. Bertrand insisted that I came back here.”

“Yes i did! You’re lying about something! You Drake Walker are not clumsy. Did she hurt you again?”

“Woah! What’s happened?”

“Drake insists that he lost his phone and fell down the stairs. Show her your bruises!”

“Drake... did Kiara do this? You’re matching your girlfriend.” Savannah softly touched her brother’s skin- he winced at every touch.

“What do you mean?” My girlfriend? I’m single. Well in my mind I am anyway.

“She beat up Riley at the champagne bar. Kiara announced that she was pregnant- please tell me it’s not yours! Then Riley and Madeleine were having an argument, maddy then exposed that you two kissed and Kiara beat her to a pulp.” Both men’s eyes widened.

“Bertrand take me to Riley please.”

“No Drake. Just let her sleep it off she was drunk, I don’t think she will want to see you anyway. She called herself a slag.” Drake held his head in his hands, feeling guilty that he had got an innocent person involved in his toxic relationship. Tears began to fall down his cheek. His heart was breaking at the thought of Riley being hurt.

“Sav please. I need to see her. I haven’t got a phone because Kiara smashed it up and then she did what she did to Riley to me. I need to know that Riley is okay.”

“She did what exactly Drake? Tell me the truth and the whole damn truth! Or I swear to god you won’t see Riley ever again- you need to tell me so I can help you.”

“It started over a year ago.. I was constantly pestering her, asking to try for a baby- I just wanted what you and Bertrand have. I loved her at that point. I kept asking her to marry me and she rejected me. Then the abuse started, emotionally - she called me names. She made me feel guilty for everything, telling me what I can and can’t do. Then it gradually turned physical. I didn’t want to tell anyone due to the stigma. I felt ashamed, at first I was in denial hoping it would get better. And who would believe me anyway?”

Drake began crying uncontrollably, feeling emotional but finally relieved that he could talk to someone about the hurt and pain he had suffered. He didn’t want to elaborate on what exactly happened, but having Savannah aware of what he went through was helping him- baby steps he thought. Savannah felt like she couldn’t breathe- both her and Bertrand began crying at Drakes confession. All this time her brother needed her and she wasn’t there for him. He concealed it that well that no one was aware, they were oblivious to the domestic abuse taking place on their doorstep.

“I felt that I had nobody to talk to. I just accepted it all. I tried to get her some counselling but it made her more angry. I let her walk all over me. I still do. I think that’s why I got injured last season because i couldn’t concentrate. I’m a Walker. I should be strong. I’m a failure.”

Sighing, he didn’t know if he could continue. Had he said to much? Had he said too little? Would Savannah want full details?

“Every time the lads asked me out, id make an excuse up because she would lecture me on my return. Every time she couldn’t attend I made excuses up for her, lied for her. I never cheated, not until Riley. She was my saviour. When I was with her I felt loved. I don’t know why? I feel weak. I feel useless. Dad would hate me for the man I’ve become.”

“Dad would never hate you Drake. He loved you. And he was so proud of us both. He would be disappointed that you was stuck in a relationship that you weren’t happy in. He would have wanted you to be happy. Would you have ever left Kiara if Riley didn’t come?”

“Honestly... I feel stuck. I don’t think I’ll ever be free of Kiara. I like Riley. I like her a lot Sav, she’s like a breath of fresh air. Her smile is hypnotising. She is beautiful. I know she’s still married, and her husband was one lucky son of a bitch to have her in his life. I want to have a future with Riley. But what would she see in me? She probably hates me now.” Lucky son of a bitch- oh Drake if only you knew... he did to Riley what Kiara has done to you.

“I saw how your eyes lit up when you spoke about Riley. I never saw that with Kiara. I wished you had come to me before Drake. I could have helped you, we could have pressed charges. I feel like such a shit sister. I just wish that you had opened up to someone. Trust me Kiara is a dead woman!” Savannah and Bertrand both hugged Drake, from now on they were going to support him and help get rid of Kiara once and for all.

*****

Liam and Leo snuck back into Liam’s house, hoping that Olivia didn’t notice them. They were both melancholy as if they were grieving. Liam poured them both a scotch, both thinking about the events of the day.

“I don’t think she’s gone you know.” Leo stood smirking, whilst pouring another scotch.

“Why? We saw her walk into the airport.”

“Li, I know she hasn’t gone. If she has feelings for Walker she wouldn’t just walk away even if his ex battered her. She has a job here. She can’t leave.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to go to her flat. I’ll text Maxwell for the address. He’s that gormless he probably hasn’t noticed that she’s gone.”

*****

Riley felt an idiot wearing sunglasses inside, mainly it was to cover up the damage that Kiara had caused- but also to cover up her identity up in case someone from the team saw her. Her intention was never to leave. She just wanted space from everyone before the first match. If they had all thought that she had left, no one would consider going to her flat to check on her.

“Hey, babe.” Riley recognised the voice, and smiled for the first time that day.

“Oh good. Thank god you are here.” Riley fell into the persons embrace, and broke down crying.

“What happened to you?” Riley sighed, knowing that she was going to have to explain the situation she had got herself in.

“It’s a long story. I’m so glad you decided to come. I could use some company that I’m used to.”

“You know I love you. And I’d drop everything and anything to come and support you. You mean the world to me.”

“I love you too. Come on. Let’s get out of here.” Riley grabbed the persons hand, they entered the taxi that pulled up and headed towards Riley’s flat.

#theroyalromance #choices trr #riley brooks #drakewalker #maxwell beaumont #hanalee #olivia nevrakis #bertrand beaumont #savannah walker #trr liam #ttr leo #trr au cordonian wags

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emdythewriter · 5 years

Text

Scars of our lives | chapter one (acotar)

A/N: I feel like I’ve been posting a lot of new fics lately and you guys are probably getting annoyed and just want me to update new chapters of the ones already posted (which will happen) but I wrote this in one sitting and am super proud of it and couldn’t want to share so here you go!

Summary: all three Archeron sisters are now business owners, which brings about some new faces. Every thing starts out perfect but life likes to throw a curve ball or two. Things are about to get a little complicated but whose to say the sisters have never dealt with complicated before, after all it only helps to find who you truly are, scars and all.

“Shit,” Feyre cursed as she tripped over an unpacked box, almost breaking the bottle of liquor in her hands. She was a few days away from the grand opening of her bar, Stars Eternal and nothing could go wrong.

“Are you okay?” Elain asked from where she was unpacking boxes of glasses. Both Nesta and Elain had come to help her out on their days off, and Feyre was eternally grateful. Both of her sisters had their own businesses to run and most of their time was devoted to maintaining the success they had found. Nesta owned a bookstore a few doors down and on the other side of the road. It was the first Archeron business to open and soon another Evening With Words location would appear on the other side of town.

Elain had a bakery directly across from the bookstore called Floral Desserts. The theme of the bakery was that everything was decorated with flowers and her sister had found beautiful and creative ways to make that work. Due to the uniqueness of her craft the business was increasingly popular over the summer during the wedding season, which they were in the midst of currently.

“I’m fine just missed the box at my feet,” Feyre answered her sister. With that she went back to unloading to copious amounts of beer, liquor, and wine she had ordered to supply her bar. Nesta carried thrings to the back storage room as Feyre filled up the shelves and storage cabinets behind the bar.

Everything was coming together and there was a buzz in the air as she anticipated the opening in a few short days. For years she had dreamed of having her own place, of having some accomplishment to call her own, and here it was. Feyre couldn’t help but smile for the millionth time that day at the joy of finally doing something she wanted. After the years of helping her father pay the bills, barely passing high school with the right grades. After being forced into going to college for two years, then dropping out and being considered a disappointment. She felt happy, truly happy. It was a wondrous feeling.

“You smile anymore and you’ll be stuck like that,” Nesta said as she came out of the back storage. She had a broom and dustpan in one hand and was rolling a garbage can in the other.

“As opposed to a permanent frown like yours?” Feyre teased with a satisfied smirk on her face. Her oldest sister had always been especially hard on her. She would get on her for staying up all night and falling asleep in class, though it was because she was too busy keeping their family under a roof during the day. Nesta didn’t talk to her for months after she left college, saying that she was tarnishing their mother’s memory. Eventually they found common ground after their experiences with their exes came to light.

“You aren’t starting a fight are you?” Elain asked coming over to join her sisters. She dumped an arm full of tape from opening boxes into the waiting trashcan before looking between her younger and older sister. As the middle child she was the barrier between the two hot headed women. Though she wasn’t always happy being the voice of reason it was worth it in the end to keep her family together. Even more so now that their father had passed away a few short months ago.

“Don’t worry Lainey we’re just teasing,” Feyre said as she wrapped an arm around her sister’s shoulders, hugging her close. All three of them turned to take in the space, from the long bar at the center of the floor, to the booths placed along the walls of the building, and the wide open dance floor all around them. It was a quirky layout but it was everything Feyre had ever imagined.

“I hope you're not regretting this decision because I don’t think there’s any going back now,” Nesta said as she crossed her arms over her chest. Despite the tough love in her words Feyre could sense that her sister was proud of her. Knowing it and feeling it are two different things and Feyre smiled again as she felt it.

“Nope,” Feyre said as she released her sister and turned to grab her stuff behind the bar. “In fact I think it’s time to get some food and celebrate.”

“Anyone else in the mood for chinese?” Elain asked as the three Archeron sisters walked out of the bar. Feyre turned to lock it up as her sisters discussed food options.

“I think that sounds perfect,” she said grabbing both her sister’s hands and heading down the street to order chinese at their favorite restaurant. The whole way Feyre found herself unable to stop smiling.

___

“Come on Cassian we’re getting impatient!”

“We? I think it’s just you Rhysand!” It was true Azriel was perfectly content waiting another hour for their brother, but Rhys wanted to get out of this apartment. He wanted to go out and get a little drunk and maybe find a girl to take home later. None of that was going to happen though if Cassian didn’t hurry up and get his ass out of his room.

“How long does it take to pick out a shirt that will end up ruined anyways?” Rhys called back. His brother had a habit of being a messy drunk, meaning the alcohol ended up all over him but somehow he still managed a hangover the next morning.

“Who says I’m looking for a shirt!” Cassian called back. This time both Rhys and Azriel rolled their eyes at their brother. For some unknown reason Cassian had always decided to act like a girl before going out, meaning he took a whole century to get his hair right before getting dressed in five minutes.

“Just put it in a bun if you don’t know what to do. That’s what you do most days anyways,” Azriel pointed out as he typed on his phone. For the past few days Rhys had noticed he was doing that more often, getting sucked in by his phone.

“When we get there I’m ripping that phone out of your hands, skin and all,” Rhys said to his brother just before they finally heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Both of their heads turned as Cassian entered the living room they had been waiting in for the last half hour. He had on an old pair of ripped jeans he always but on after a day at the office. His shirt was gray with a list of characters from The Office listed. The outfit was completed with a pair of boots he wore everywhere and would to his job if he didn’t work at a corporate office. Cassian had chosen to keep his hair down, the dark waves falling to his shoulders, and a grin plastered on his face.

“You ever going to tell us who the girl is?” he asked Azriel with a teasing smirk.

“Yeah,” his brother answered standing up and smoothing out his black shirt. “The day you stop taking as long as my sister to get dressed.” Azriel sent the same teasing smirk back to Cassian but his was more so done in satisfaction.

“I hate you,” Cassian said as he glared at the back of his brother’s head.

“No you don’t,” Az responded as he led the trio out of the apartment and onto the busy streets of Velaris. The city was always crowded and bustling with people but the night life changed the tone. Now instead of hustling and stressed pedestrians trying to get from one place to the other, it was happy and joyful. These were the people that lived and breathed the city of starlight, the people Rhys had grown up loving all his life.

Being the son of the former mayor was not easy, most of the time Rhys hated it in fact. Then he started going to charity events with his mother, helping people and he saw why his father remained in office for so long. Despite not being the best father he was an amazing mayor to the citizens of his city. Most people expected Rhys to take up the mantle after his father passed, but he went the route his mother had led him on. He started his non-profit charity where he made millions every year for five different programs and issues he was passionate about. Rhys lived off the money in his trust fund thanks to the long legacy of his family and remained CEO of hotel business that was passed down by his father’s family. These days however, his sister, Kingsley, ran the business while Rhys assisted when she asked for it.

Cassian actually worked for the business, overseeing the construction of new locations around the world. In a few weeks he would be travelling to Scotland to begin work on their first bed & breakfast which seemed like a popular trend in Europe. Azriel on the other hand was Rhys’s right hand man at the non-profit while also working out of the family owned garage he was raised in.

“What is this place called again?” Azriel asked as they round the corner of their street. Earlier that week Rhys had heard from an employee about a new bar opening up tonight. It was already getting a lot of buzz and had only just opened an hour ago.

“Stars Eternal,” Rhys said having remembered the name because of its uniqueness.

“Whoever the owner is must really like Velaris,” Cassian commented as they followed Az. Rhys chuckled at the comment having thought the same thing the first time he heard the name.

“That only makes it better,” Rhys told his brother. A couple more blocks and the trio were met with a line of people waiting to get into the bar. He took in the sight, a flashing violet sign with the name, a neon sign reading “it’s 5 o’clock somewhere”, and bright red double doors held open by two bodyguards checking IDs. The color didn’t match the black painted brick building, either of the neon signs, or what Rhys could see of the inside. Yet it matched it perfectly.

“Think we’ll be getting in tonight?” Azriel asked as he took in the line of people that kept growing.

“Of course we are,” Rhys said as he laid an arm over each of his brother’s shoulders. “You’re with me.” That being said he dragged the two up to the entrance, a resting satisfied smirk on his lips.

___

Nesta was in a corner booth with Elain as they watched their younger sister work. Feyre was flawless in her movements, as if she hadn’t just opened the bar not even two hours ago. She felt a mix of emotions as she watched, the first being proud. She knew Feyre had wanted something to call her own all her life and now she had it. Despite that overwhelming feeling Nesta also felt worried. She didn’t want her sister’s dream to crash and burn though based on the crowd it seems like that wouldn’t be happening for a while. That worry led to fear of what Feyre would do if her business failed. She would always have a place with Elain and herself if need be, but her younger sister had never spoke of a back up plan to this bar.

“Stop thinking so much you’ll make those frowns more permanent,” Elain said breaking Nesta out of her trance. She looked over to her younger sister who had her own expression of worry on her face. She knew Elain and Feyre both believed she thought too much, but Nesta couldn’t help how her brain was wired.

“I’ll always worry about both of you,” Nesta said looking at her sister, straight into those brown eyes. “That’s my job,” she turned back to watch Feyre, who was currently mixing a drink and talking to a customer.

“She won’t fail you know,” Elain said knowing that was exactly what was on her sister’s mind. “She’s an Archeron and not likely to give up even when she hits a roadblock.” Nesta knew that was true, hell she had hit her own bumps in the road and overcame them.

“Doesn’t make me worry less,” Nesta said. She stood up to go to the bathroom before Elain could see another word, which she knew she would based on how her lips started to part. She sighed as she watched Nesta go, wishing there was something or someone in Nesta’s life that would break down the walls her sisters never could.

She was heading for the back exit when someone bumped into her, someone with a fresh drink based off the sticky liquid that was flowing down her shirt. Nesta gasped at the contact while the other person swore under their breath.

“Shit I’m sorry,” a deep voice said before setting the rest of his drink on a nearby table. Her blouse would be stained if she didn’t get home soon to clean it. Feyre had warned her against wearing it but Nesta had wanted to prove nothing would happen to it. She should’ve listened to her sister.

“It’s fine,” she said stopping the man from reaching out with paper towels she hadn’t even seen him get. Looking up she met a pair of hazel eyes belonging to a tan and fit man. His hair was down to his shoulder in black waves, that looked blue when the light hit him right. His shirt had a cast of characters she didn’t recognize listed and his jeans were adorned with holes, the hem tucked into an old and worn pair of boots.

“I really am sorry. Someone knocked my shoulder and I lost my balance,” he said for all the world sounding like he had just run over her cat.

“Seriously it’s fine I might be able to get the stain out,” Nesta explained as she took the paper towels from his still outstretched hands. Those hands were big she noticed as they rested against his sides, so large they would swallow her frail ones. She had a feeling they were covered in calluses, he looked like a man that wouldn’t mind living off the land. If a zombie apocalypse ever came she would want to be at this stranger’s side.

“I’m Cassian,” he introduced after a beat or two of silence. He stuck out a large hand again for her to shake, and just as Nesta had suspected it swallowed her own.

“Nesta,” She didn’t know why she was still standing her talking to him. It was something she never did, talk to strangers. She hated repeating introductions, it was something Elain enjoyed though Nesta never puzzled out why. Despite her distaste for new people she felt a pull to him, and a weight in her shoes keeping her in front of him, and some unknown confidence forcing her to keep a conversation.

“Well Nesta sorry about the spill,” he gestured to the front of her blouse. “I can let you borrow my jacket if you plan on staying longer.” Nesta wasn’t planning on staying longer, in fact she was about to leave before his drink found her skin.

“That would be great. I’d hate to run out on my sister during her grand opening.” She was rambling, Nesta never rambled. Something had possessed her, a demon who found pleasure in making her talk to Cassian. The same Cassian that was now taking the leather jacket off his back and resting it on her shoulders. She slipped her arms into the sleeves being overcome by warmth and a woodsy outdoor scent that matched this man perfectly.

“Your sister is the owner?” He asked sounding surprised. Nesta hoped it wasn’t at the fact a woman was operating this bar, it would ruin him completely and she didn’t want that.

“That’s surprising?” Nesta asked giving him a look that said he better be honest with her or he might lose a body part.

“I guess I wasn’t expecting you to be related to the bartender,” Cassian said pointing over his shoulder in the direction of where Feyre was standing. She looked over her shoulder and found her sister chatting the ear off of the same customer Nesta had seen her talking to before she left Elain alone.

“Most people don’t until they see our eyes,” she answered, thinking of how the blue-grey coloring was her last connection to both her mother and little sister.

“Can’t really tell with the lack of lighting,” Cassian answered waving his hand up at the ceiling where there was a limited number in lights.

“It is a bar, what else would you expect?” Nesta found herself teasing him, another thing she rarely did even with her sisters. Cassian chuckled, and it was a deep sound she never thought she could want to hear again.

“Very true,” he smiled at her and Nesta smiled back.

“I should go before my shirt is permanently stuck to my body.”

“Yeah you probably are getting uncomfortable.”

“I do have beer all over my chest and it’s not for pleasure.” Nesta didn’t know why she made the comment but it was too late to take it back now. Cassian’s eyes lit up with mischief though she doubted he would make a move unless he knew she truly wanted that.

“You’re into that kind of stuff?” he sounded intrigued by the idea rather than appalled. Nesta’s nippled hardened within her bra, the place between her legs tingling.

“You’ll never know,” she shrugged with a teasing smile. Nesta wanted him to know. She wanted to drag Cassian out of this bar and to her apartment where he could lick the beer off her body, and then other things too.

“Don’t you know you aren’t supposed to say that to a guy?” he teased back and she actually laughed, laughed. She hadn’t done that freely in she didn’t even know how long anymore.

“Who said I didn’t like playing hard to get too.” she was on a roll but it was time to wind it all down and go home so she could strip out of her clothes herself. Though Nesta had a feeling she would imagine her hands as his when she did so. “I’m going to say goodbye to my sisters and then head out.”

“I’ll walk you home,” Cassian offered. He wasn’t ready to leave her side almost as much as Nesta wasn’t ready to leave his. She should say no but she knew that wasn’t on the menu for the night.

“Wait here I shouldn’t be long.” He nodded and she headed to the booth where she had left Elain. She was talking to some guy with long red hair, smiling happily. Nesta had never seen the guy before and was immediately put on edge as she approached the duo.

“Nesta, you’re back!” Elain said as she smiled up at her older sister. “Where’d you get the jacket?” she frowned as she noticed the new piece of clothing Nesta had acquired.

“Doesn’t matter,” she shrugged the question off and her sister seemed to accept it by the way her shoulders dropped. “I just had a drink spilled on me but it’s no big deal. Anyway I’m headed home so I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Elain nodded. “Good night Nesta,” she added as her sister began to turn away. Nesta looked back to return the sentiment but Elain had already turned back to the man next to her. She could only hope the night continued to go well for her.

“Feyre!” Nesta shouted to the new bartender pulling her away from the man she had been talking to most of the night. Nesta looked at him as his gaze turned to her. His eyes were violet, almost matching the color of the building’s sign. His hair had a blur or purple tint to it, but was pure darkness besides that. His skin was the same tone as Cassian’s, maybe slightly lighter but Nesta couldn’t tell in the dark.

“What’s up,” her sister said as she came to the side of the bar Nesta stood at. She was washing a glass with a wet rag. She watched Feyre for a moment before shaking her head and meeting the eyes that matched her own.

“I’m heading out,” she said pointing to the back door where she noticed Cassian stood by still waiting for her. “The hulking body over there spilled his drink on me and now wants to walk me home as an apology.” For some reason Nesta felt more comfortable sharing this with Feyre rather than Elain, maybe because she knew her youngest sister was more experienced with men than the other.

“That also where you got the jacket?” Feyre asked looking from Cassian to her sister with a smirk on her face. She wiggled her eyebrows at Nesta as she set the glass back on a shelf at her feet.

“Yes,” Nesta didn’t see the point in hiding that fact after she had shared everything else with her sister. Feyre smiled brighter, a smile Nesta had never seen directed at her, especially coming from her youngest sister.

“Well good for you sis.”

“Nothing’s going to happen,” the male towards the end of the bar chuckled drawing both the Archeron’s attention to him.

“Might want to tell my brother that,” he pointed to Cassian. “I think I can see his boner from here.” He took a sip of his drink with a smile that was really more of a suggestive smirk.

“He’s your brother?” Nesta asked incredulously. “You look nothing alike.”

“Not by blood,” the new stranger explained. “We grew up together along with another one of my friends who seems to have disappeared on me again.” The man turned on his stool looking around the bar, or what he could see of it at least. “Anyone seen a dashing fellow with his face glued to his phone?”

“‘Dashing fellow’?” Feyre questioned using air quotation marks as she said the phrase.

“I’ve been watching a lot of period dramas in my spare time,” he sighed as he turned back to the bar, taking another drink.

“Try reading them when you’re done,” Nesta told him.

“I’ll get a personal list from you.”

“Nesta,” she told him without a second thought. He gave her a quizzical look in response not yet understanding her meaning. “If I’m going to be giving you book recommendations in the future you should know my name.”

“In that case I’m Rhysand, Rhys for short.” He stuck out his hand for her to shake. She noticed his hand didn’t swallow hers as much as Cassian’s had and she kind of hated that it didn’t.

“I should get going,” Nesta said as she pulled her hand back. “The beer is really starting to stick and I’m beyond uncomfortable,” both Feyre and Rhys laughed at that. “Nice to meet you Rhys. Good night Feyre.”

“Try not to wake up your neighbors!” Feyre called out as she walked away. Without turning back Nesta flipped her sister off causing an uproar of laughter from both Feyre and Rhys. she shook her head as she headed for the back door where Cassian waited.

“Ready?” Cassian asked holding an arm out for her. She took and they began their journey without another word.

“I met your brother,” Nesta said as their feet met the sidewalk and the door to the bar closed behind them. “Rhys.”

“I’m sorry about that too,” she laughed at the joke smiling at him.

“Can I tell you something?” Nesta asked as her laughter died down.

“Sure.”

“I’m not usually comfortable with strangers,” she began. “Yet for some reason with you I am. It’s like I met you before.”

“You could have,” Cassian shrugged after a moment. “In another life that is.”

“You believe in that?”

“You don’t?”

“I suppose you might have a point.” Nesta smiled up at him and Cassian smiled down at her. The smiles didn’t disappear the whole way to here apartment, nor when they said good night and he headed home alone. They didn’t fade as both of them wrapped up in their beds and fell into a peaceful slumber.

(Let me know if you want to be tagged!)

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riseandshinelittleblossom · 5 years

Text

Hoping for Home Ch 5.2~Head Above Water

Summary: Sixteen years ago Libby Scott was supposed to become Queen of Cordonia, but Fate had other plans. Catch up here (ya know ya wanna).

Song for this chapter: “Head Above Water” by Avril Levigne

Disclaimer: I don’t own the TRR characters, they own me. Also this chapter includes smatters of canon dialogue which also belong to PB.

Tags:@fullbeaumonty @ritachacha@speedyoperarascalparty@cocomaxley@leelee10898@itsstillnotwhatyouthink@choiceswreckedme@indiacater@drakesensworld @carabeth@daniv2278@cosigottahavefaith @gibbles82 @innerpostmentality@blackcoffee85@perfectprofessorherokid @darley1101@jovialyouthmusic@liamxs-world@thequeenofcronuts@blznbaby@stopforamoment @zilch3382@wannabemc2@jlouise88 @lodberg @jasieschoices

Outskirts of the Capital, Cordonia-safehouse - 16 years ago

“Did...did that work?” Libby asked, flabbergasted.

“I dunno. Sounds like it did.” Maxwell said. “Look at us. First detectives, now electricians!”

“We're almost as multi- talented as Hana.”

“Whoa, don't let a couple of successes go to your head.”

Libby watched as he plucked a twig from a nearby bush, turning it over in his fingers. A light breeze kicked up, rustling his careless brown hair.

She allowed herself to believe - just a fleeting thought - that they could always be as perfect as they were in that moment.

Everything inside of her was screaming to kiss him and she found herself involuntarily leaning closer to his slouched figure.

“Listen, Libby…” he broke the silence between them.

“What's up?” She shook her head, her fantasy from a moment ago falling out of focus.

“I was so scared last night.”

“With assassins in the palace... I think everyone was.”

“No,” he began. He focused his gaze off into the forest surrounding the tiny cabin.

“not for my own safety. Well, I mean, partly for my own safety. But mostly, I was scared for you.”

Maxwell trained his eyes on her then, squinting against the sunlight. Libby took a step closer to him, only then did she notice the subtle sheen in his eyes.

“I laid awake all night wondering if you were okay. If you'd made it out of there alive. I tried to go back for you, but they wouldn't let me back into the ballroom.

I don't.. I don't know what I would've done if I'd lost you, Blossom.”

Libby reached for his hand, gripping it as if she were holding on for dear life.

“But you didn't lose me, Maxwell.”

He gave her a weak, lopsided smile.

“I never want to spend another night wondering if I'm going to see you in the morning. Not knowing was awful. Libby, I lov- I can't lose you. If we left all of this...together...do you understand what I'm saying?”

She chewed over his words, unsure how to respond.

Her mind told her that he was speaking fairy tales. They could never run off into the sunset together, away from the fight that was no doubt brewing in Cordonia. Liam would need every ally he could rally by his side, and after everything he'd done for her- for both of them- her mind knew that staying was the right thing to do.

But her heart- her heart was soaring, thumping wildly in her chest at the thought of Maxwell being hers forever. They'd buy a small house somewhere with a white picket fence. She'd make him coffee while he cooked breakfast. They'd kiss each other sweetly as they left to began their day. He'd come home after work and they'd snuggle by the fireplace and…

Her face fell as she licked her lips.

“We can't.” She said flatly.

Maxwell pressed his lips to her temple.

“I know.” He whispered.

They stood in silence for a long time, both knowing that their friends were likely wondering where they were, but neither willing to let go of the other just yet.

“You know, Maxwell, I'm not going anywhere. Not ever. You'll never lose me.” Libby finally said.

********************

Valtoria, Cordonia - present day

“Penny for your thoughts?” Hana asked sliding into the stool beside her best friend at the bar. Libby blinked away her memory, giving Hana and her husband a warm smile.

“The kids are actually having fun, I think.” Mark commented with a laugh.

“That's good. I'm glad Hana let me get away with a slightly more modern playlist.” The redhead chuckled.

“It was a compromise. I keep the string quartet for traditional songs, and you have your jazzy, retro whatever it is..”

“You two make a good team. I hope now that you've returned you'll stick around for awhile, Libby. Seeing you really makes Hana smile. Also, although I thoroughly enjoy our time at Valtoria, our estate in Whipstaff is...well empty.” Mark told her.

“I can't promise forever, but for a while at least. It don't really have much of a choice. I came back to do the right thing, Mark. The twins will need to be in Cordonia.”

Libby caught sight of Liam, Maxwell and Drake across the room. She watched them, deep in conversation.

Liam wore his characteristic “lost in thought” look, his forehead creasing as tapped his lips with his index finger. Drake was gesturing between Maxwell and the king, and Maxwell popped his neck flippantly. Whatever they were discussing, he obviously wanted no part in it.

“Where are the kids, anyway?” Libby asked. The three friends scanned the room before Mark pointed out. “There. At the table.” He said.

“Well hello there, cousin. Abel. Either of you care to introduce me to the new Lord and Lady?”

“Hey, Bartie. Sure thing. This is Emma,” McKenzie began gesturing to her friend. “And Will Scott, Lord and Lady of Valtoria. Guys this is my cousin, Barthelemy Beaumont, Lord of Ramsford. We call him Bartie.”

The youngest Beaumont male held out his hand to Will, giving it a firm shake before grasping Emma's hand and placing a brief kiss to the back of it.

“I'm surprised we've not met before as close as I've heard our parents once were. In fact, if I eavesdropped properly, your mother was once heralded as a Lady of House Beaumont. During King Liam's social season.”

Emma nodded enthusiastically. She remembered her mother's recount of her past in Cordonia word for word and to say she was excited to be starting her own adventure in the small Mediterranean country was an understatement.

“You can cut the shit, Bartie. These two are far from the pretentious assholes you're used to interacting with at these things.” Mack rolled her eyes.

Bartie's shoulders visibly slumped, almost like a balloon slowly deflating, and he flopped down in a chair next to Abel, slouching.

“Thank God. You never really know,do you?” He breathed a sigh of relief.

“No, you don't, and it's exhausting.” Abel agreed, elbows on his knees.

“Wait, so you're telling me that you always have to put on a show? Like with everyone you meet?” Emma questioned.

“They do. Ya know gotta make the House look good. Luckily, I'm not noble and my dad could give a shit less what this court thinks of him.” McKenzie remarked.

Will shot his sister a pained expression.

“I don't get it though. Why does anyone care?”

“That's this life, man. Everyone is constantly pretending to be something that they're not. Constantly trying to appear perfect. But it's all just a facade. Take a look around you. Everyone is smiling, sure, but how many are smizing?” Bartie spoke up.

“Smizing?” Mack asked.

“Smiling so that it reaches your eyes. My mom says that all the time.” Will chimed in picking at the linen tablecloth.

“So don't you ever just want to leave? Like sneak away from these things? I'm sure no one would miss us.” Emma suggested and the others all perked up.

“Okay, Lady Valtoria. We're listening.” Abel told her as her cheeks flashed crimson.

Before Emma could respond, Libby approached the teenagers followed closely by King Liam and a brunette man that the blonde girl didn't recognize.

“Hello, kids. Could you excuse us a moment?” Libby asked. Abel, McKenzie, and Bartie nodded, each rising from their seats.

Maxwell planted his feet, slipping his hands in his pockets, fingering the pack of gum in one of them. He appraised the twins thoughtfully for the first time as they rose from the table at their mother's prompting.

His jaw went slack as he soaked in their features, noticing now how much Will looked just like himself at that age; and Emma strongly favored his treasured photos of his mother on her wedding day.

His eyes darted over each of them, thoughts racing as he swallowed hard. ‘Still,’ he thought to himself. ‘it doesn't mean much.’ Taking a deep breath he reminded himself that his mother, Claudia, had always been mistaken for Liam's mother, the late Queen Antonia. There was also the fact that Will's wide blue eyes were set on his face almost exactly like Liam's and the late King Constantine's.

Maxwell shifted his weight uncomfortably as he tried to calm his thoughts.

“Emma, Will, there are some people I'd like you to meet. This is King Liam of Cordonia.” Libby began. The broad shouldered young man dipped into a deep bow, his sister a delicate curtsy. Liam nodded to both of them, surveying each child for some kind of sign of parentage.

Emma's features we're graceful, but defined. Her one sided dimple reminded Liam of the identical one his father had had. Will, on the other hand, had the brightest “Rhys blue” eyes he had ever seen.

“A pleasure to meet you both.” He told them, his jaw tensing to try and hide his astonishment.

“And this is Lord Maxwell Beaumont of Ramsford.” Libby continued. The twins repeated the courtesies they'd shown to the king and Maxwell nodded.

“I'm sorry to stare,” he started, his tongue flicking out to nervously wet his lips. “It's just that you both look so much like your mother.”

Liam stared hard at Maxwell. He had known the man for all of their lives, but he couldn't recall the last time he'd truly looked at him. Immediately he noticed that Maxwell and the young man before him shared the same chiseled jawline. He also found himself transfixed by the obvious “Cupid's bow” shape of his old friend's upper lip, which both of Libby's twins shared.

Liam exhaled sharply, his analytical mind already beginning to prepare him for the very real possibility that he was, in fact, not the father of the children before him. Although only hours ago he had not even known of their existence, Liam found himself slightly disappointed by the thought.

“So one of you-I guess-is our dad, huh?” Will asked awkwardly, unable to stifle the urge.

Libby's eyes shot daggers into her son who immediately stared at his feet.

“It looks that way.” Maxwell said shooting a sideways glare at his former flame.

The tension was already thick, and growing thicker by the minute as Liam clapped Will playfully on the shoulder.

“Obviously we all have a lot to discuss in the coming days, but for tonight...perhaps I can interest you in a dance, young Emma?”

Emma batted her eyes bashfully as she nodded in agreement allowing the monarch to lead her to the floor.

A few hours later Bartie sidled up next to Will and Abel. The ball was winding down now, but there was still a sizeable crowd.

“Hey Will, I was thinking about what your sister said earlier. Was wondering if you guys were really serious.”

“About sneaking out? Hell yeah. I can't wait to get out of here.”

Abel rested a hand on his friend's shoulder.

“This whole party must be kinda heavy for you and Emma.” He empathized and Will nodded.

“Well I had an idea.” Bartie smirked reaching into his pocket. “I managed to sneak into the estate car park and I found these. There's a Rolls Royce in there with our names on it...that is is you guys aren't chicken.”

“I'm game. Let's find Mack and Emma and get outta here.” Will agreed.

Before long the teenagers were barreling down a dark and winding road. Bartie was behind the wheel, as Will and Abel hung out if the back seat windows whooping and hollering. McKenzie and Emma had dialed the radio as loud as it would go shouting gleefully.

“Oh I've been shaken/ I love it when you go crazy/ you take all my inhibitions/ baby there's nothing holding me back!” They sang along with Shawn Mendez as they rounded yet another curve.

“Why have we never thought of doing this before, Mack? Good friends and old school music….this is the best!” Bartie shouted taking his eyes off of the tree-lined road for only a moment to glance at the girls both jammed into the front seat.

“I don't know, but I think it's a new tradition, Bart!” McKenzie beamed.

“Bartie! Bartie, watch out!” Will shouted just as a deer hopped into the road.

Bartie whipped his head back noticing the animal just in time to pull the wheel. The car flipped on two wheels as they skidded into a hard swerve and in the mayhem Bartie lost control entirely. The car careened off the road smashing head on into an old, thick tree.

Smoke billowed from the hood, the sickening sound of crunching metal and shattering glass echoing all around.

Will looked around in a daze, his eyes meeting Abel's. “Is everyone okay?” Bartie called.

“I- I can't feel my arm. Em? Em, I can't feel my arm.” Will began to panic, noticing now that the extremity was pinched between the newly mangled seats.

“Emma! Oh my God, Emma!!” McKenzie squealed. Will craned his neck trying desperately to find his sister. Peering between the seats he saw her crumpled, lifeless body in the front floorboard, head lolling against McKenzie's knees.

His eyes widened to the size of sand dollars as he shouted, “Fuck! Emma? Emma! Please wake up!”

#hoping for home au #hoping for home #trr fanfic #trr au #the royal romance fanfic #trr king liam #trr maxwell beaumont #trr hana lee #riseandshinelittleblossom fic

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celestialallstars · 5 years

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Episode #1: “This cast, fuck me, fuck them.” - Rhys

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Ok so my pregame thoughts. It seems like there are a lot of contenders that were threats in their original seasons just based off of placements. I’m really gonna try to use this to my advantage because in my season, I don’t think I was very threatening. Unfortunately I’ll miss the cast reveal, but I’m hoping that doesn’t put me in a bad spot. This game is gonna be tough, but I know I can do it. At least make merge. You need small goals in order to achieve bigger ones. Cast assessment coming up next :)

Y'all I am ANXIOUS! I've had a bad run recently and for the most part I never really care that much. But if I flop on this season I'll die of sadness. Okay but for real, I want to do well this season and idk what kind of people I'm going to be up against, and I couldn't even get my intro to send like i'm such a joke. Ugh y'all how can I be this stressed already.

Just roughly 2 hours before we're gonna really dive into the thick of things. There are so many things I wanna say and so many things I'm just beyond excited about. I really think this is gonna be a Top Tier Season.

I'm vowing to make the most of my stay no matter how long or short. I'm gonna try to drive the pessimist in my mind away and do my best to avoid being that early boot just because I'm a previous winner. Y'all better watch out!

This is gonna be FuCkInG LiT!!!

Getting ready for this season, I'm honored tbh. I feel like it's my first fully-legit-no-strings-attached All-Stars appearance. I was on EMBB All-Stars, but only because I was an alternate for Jake and he decided to be a host instead. Being invited back on my merits exclusively feels amazing, I just hope I can live up to my own expectations in this game and take home the win.

Hi I’m super excited to be brought back to play this game. I’m gonna play maybe a little harder but I’m hoping to keep my gameplay very similar to last season cause it did me well I just need to not freak out. I’m really looking forward to seeing who I’m playing with and I know this season will be fun.

So. This cast, fuck me, fuck them. Like they all seem so much more capable than me. Like bitch bye.

My tribe honestly idk yet. They seem cool, haven’t talked to most of them yet. So I’ll get back on that.

The only person I’m not happy is cast is Michael. Bitch hated me for no reason last season. So bitch best watch his back cause I’m bringing this hatred back this season.

Also one world can fuck off

So I am meeting everyone and honestly so far this is a nice group. A mixture of old faces like Zach and Loris and new ones like everyone else! Everybody is radical, but I am gonna try and give it a short moment before giving an assessment. Having that said, im gonna get dragged and murdered by this cast....call the police.

Hi so the game has just started and I feel like already so much has happened it has been intense. This cast? stacked. One world? intense. Me? crying.

This entire cast is so iconic and so loved I honestly don't know how to feel rn I am scared as all hell but I'm ready to fight for my fucking life. I'm also quite glad for the one world because I love the idea of being able to socialise with EVERYONE since that's such a strong point of my game for me considering I'm horrific in challenges. I just really hope I can pull things off this season and actually have someone like me and prove that I am in fact worthy of an all star title.

Being on call with people from the one world chat is honestly so fun and I can tell this is going to be a great season and we're literally only like 2.5 hours in. I really wanna make it to the end so I can experience it in it's fully glory.

amazingly, i don't think me being an admin is going to be to a problem??? i wanna thank you three beauts for giving me a wonderful tribe. i love matt, bodhi's hilarious, alyssa intimidates me but she's cute and i love allying strong women, tobi forced me to keysmash, and mo and karthik are kind of blase but its ONLY NIGHT ONE. all in all, think i can survive on this tribe. just get me to merge baby i cannot go premerge in this org if annas not gonna play then I CANT LET US DOWN

So we've officially landed in this ORG, and immediately smacked in the face with a flaccid twist that is One World. So instead of trying to balance 6 relationships I have to balance 20. I'm of course already a mess trying to keep track of it all.

Bodhi and I already have an instant F2, we'll see how that works out given we aren't even on the same tribes. Meanwhile I'm already in love with Bryce as a person and trying to possible Corral all the winners together. Obviously we need to make sure the Winners make it to merge.

I think on my tribe specifically I'm probably getting along best with Mitch, I think Rhys has a similar sense of humor as me but he went to bed too early for me to figure out more. There's a ton more sweet people on the other tribes too I just don't have time to delve into all of them, nor do I have enough substance to any of them to develop opinions anyway.

I have an idea as far as connections go for this tribe but I'm not sure yet if it is strong. Loris is sleeping though I did talk with everyone else. I have a feeling Chloe/Zach would be safest but also that Chloe/Michael might be together. Regardless I think I'll be sticking with Zach if I can help that. Drew seems nice too and Sharky seems it too. Not sure how things will go but I do have to be smart since I would be the easy choice as winner if we lose. I'm gonna be optimistic about it all though :) as for the people on other tribes I'll get to them later. This is going to be fun!

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Now that I can see the actual twist (am dummy) I have to try and make some alliances between and in the tribes. I mean making one with the winners shouldn't be too hard but I am gonna want something with a few member here and there from each. I think things are about to get much difficult because I can tell lot of these people are more familiar with each other with their histories and I am just like "hi..." so I def need to wedge myself on in there some way..I've got my work cut out for me

HI ASDDASJKLASDLJK I was so nervous but like.. I feel my victory coming.. I'm pulling my weight in the challenge I think and our tribe's pretty cool!! It's all stars.. so like.. it's no surprise that I like everyone. Sharky seems to be busy so like.. if we lose that could be a good scapegoat.. ALSO?? i was on the blog and i was like wow jones' fairy drawing is so pretty.. so i hovered over it and accidentally clicked it.. and.. i found my legacy advantage again ADSALKDKLJASKLD. and anna said to make sure you search the blog to learn about people and i didnt even see that......... im so lucky :)

So this is so exciting. I’m trying to get to know everyone. Theres one person i was effy about on my tribe and that was Jared. But he’s been talking to me and been nice. But i still have my eyes 👀 on him. Its been nice catching up with Bryce. And been talking to Mitch Rhys and Kori. I hope i can get myself in a good social position where even if im not in their alliance, that im not someone they want to take out. But this time im gunna use my bonds to my advance and hopefully it gets me to the end.

Hi i don't really know what to say right now I just know I wanted to put down some thoughts. So far I'm so fucking in love with this entire cast I'm pretty sure I've spoken to every single person in one way or another which is great, I love to see people fully invested into a season they're playing. I also really love this first challenge, although scavenger hunts stress me the fuck out because i find so many items are so hard to find, I'm just hoping my tribe can pull out a win for us and I'm sure they will cause they're all so iconic and I love them all with my whole heart already.

So I've spoken more to people thusfar and like currently I'm speaking more to people I've spoken to before which like isn't great, because i hate relying on past relations. Like i am speaking to others who are new, its just a bit awkward. So lets push by that and hopefully they aint boring af.

Well so far I've gotten a few items on my list done. Progress is slow but steady. I'm a bit worried about this tribe given it seems like all of us being on at the same time might be unlikely. (That and we're halfway through and only 2 of us have added items to our list.)

I might just be too uptight though, we'll probably be fine. I haven't gotten to talk with people today as much as I wanted as a result of balancing the other ORG and this one as well as apartment hunting and scavenging. I'm beginning to think I planned poorly and have too much on my plate at the moment...

BUT I WILL PERSEVERE! YES SIR'RE I WILL!

CAST ASSESSMENT TIMEEEE Let me start with Orfero Chris- So chris is someone who I think can either go really far as an UTR threat like he did his first season, or be an early boot. I think him and I have a similar playstyle, but he is much more poetic and structured. I am really looking forward to play with him again! We dominated in afvv and im glad he won, but I won't let that happen again. He's too good. ioris- Honestly I see ioris as more of a goat. Maybe that's false perception, but I could easily see him latching onto someone for the long haul and not being respected later on. As of now, I don't think I would work with ioris, but if the situation arises, I wont hesitate. Drew H- OK I LOVE DREW FIRST OF ALL. I am actually SUPER excited that we are finally playing a game together. I really want to work with him, but unfortunately I think he is too threatening to the point where he wont make it far. Michael- Ok so this was definitely a wildcard. I think Michael is someone to watch out for. I don't know how he'll fair in this game, knowing that people recognize his gameplay. He could either go mid merge or permerge, but I dont think he has a shot at winning. Sharky- Sharky is someone I'm unfamilar with, and for that reason alone, I am guessing he makes it deep by flying UTR while winning challenges. Zach- Zach is another sneaky player. I really would love to work with him after our relationship in emvv4 where I voted him out at f10. He is definitely not someone to brush under the rug though, because he is also very threating. I predict a mid merge boot for Zach. Clohie- I personally don't see Clohie as much of a threat, but I hope she proves me wrong. We have had limited discussion, but I can tell she is here to play. I predict she will make FTC this time, but only time will tell

Alignments: For Orfero, I can see Chris ioris and Zach on one side, Michael Drew H and Sharky on the other with Clohie in the middle

Tuatha Kori- I've been itching to play an org with kori too and im glad we are on the same tribe because i know how well he can perform in challenges. He is probably my closest ally right now, so I really hope he gets far. My prediction is early merge for him. Rhys- Rhys seems so sweet. We havent had much conversation due to timezone issues, but I'd love to work with Rhys. He is super charming and I think he can go far! My prediction for rise is late merge. Maynor- Maynor is probably the person most difficult to talk to. I have discussed with Kori and he says that his weakest relationships are with Maynor and Jared, so i think its telling that maynor might be an early boot. Jared- I think jared is super cool and he's been a player I have to watch VERY carefully. I do see myself working with him because our convos have been good so far, but I feel like he can be a good talker. We'll see how it turns out but i predict Jared being a premerge boot. He claimed to be a crackhead in confessionals though so we'll see :). Stephen Z- Man i really wish I had better conversations with him!! I think he is super cool, but he does not seem to remember who I am. If our convos improve like I hope they will, I could see Stephen going early merge. Bryce- I really like bryce too but he is soooo unpredictable and sketchy. I think his cast reveal intro shed bad light on him to other players too, but I know from experience. I see bryce being a premerge boot, but I hope he proves me wrong. I just dont feel like I can fully trust him.

Alignments: For Tuatha, I see myself aligning closely with Kori and Jared. I dont know what the dynamics would be, but I feel like Maynor is already on the outs.

Cyrena Mo- I LOVE MO SO MUCH. What a gem. I met him in TS Montenegro and he considered me one of his closest allies and saved me from elimination at f9 only for me to vote him out at f8. I still feel bad but im hoping we can mend our relationship and go far together. I actually do think he could make a deep run and definitely get to finale by laying low. Tobi- Tobi and I in games USUALLY don't end up on the same sides. That being said, I'd love to work with Tobi and I hope he makes merge unlike in emvvas. Matt- Matt is another mystery for me. On one hand, I know he is not only a host favorite but a fan favorite as well, but on the other I dont really know what he brings to the table. Another wildcard for me that I see going early merge. Jack- Jack and I have a history for sure LOL. It feels like we play every game together. I think Jack is a super nice person, and I'd love to work with him again. We dont really mesh on a personal level which makes it difficult, but I learned my lesson of trying to avoid Jack in emvvas (he got me out) Bodhi- I've seen bodhi around a bit, and can be the hero or the villain. He is quirky in a good way. I see bodhi as being the comical relief that goes mid merge for being too likeable. Alyssa- honestly alyssa seems kind of annoying. I dont want to speak too soon but i dont get good vibes from her. I think she might be an early boot on her tribe. but i truly hope im wrong about her. Karthik- I know karthik from em and i really think he could make a loyal ally. His win was well deserved but i dont necessarily think he is a threat. My predicition for him is still prejury because of his timezone. It's unpredictable when he has power and when he doesnt.

Alignments: For Cyrena, I see Mo Alyssa Tobi in one alliance and Matt Jack and Bodhi in another with Karthik out of the loop.

I'm excited to see how accurate my predicition are! I didnt bother including a winner because i still think its too early to tell. Game ON!

Wow a discord call this early in the game!! Strategy? Nope! It's... Alyssa explaining tarot cards to me. Gotta do what you can for social game ig (its ok now we're talking about romcoms)

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iz me beech

what a gift, hi im mo. a dumb bottom who treats himself like shit so no one else does.

IM AN ALL STAR ISNT THAT INSANE. I cannot express how excited I am to be playing this game, plus I fucking love this cast. Like my tribe? Fantastic.

Alyssa - The sister I always wanted. I love her she’s so great.

Matt - New good friend and probably who I’m closest to at the moment I get happy when he gets online cus he gets me and my shit.

Jack - He can rap and he’s nice, what an icon.

Rhys - SUCH A SWEETHEART, I’m so excited to play with him again.

Karthik - Also super sweet, he seems like a genuine guy and I’m looking forward to playing with him.

Tobi - I love that I get to play with him again we haven’t talked all too much but we’ve talked a bit. (I definitely have my guard up around him just cus of something he did in Muxloe)

Bodhi - Kinda inactive unfortunately but he seems nice.

Mo - Dumb bitch.

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sits. hi. so like. just like elara im gonna do a countdown to when i can play my legacy because yall CRAZY if you think im willing it to someone else... uh...WAIT.. I JUST REALISED... I THINK I COULD'VE SAVED BIG Z WITH MY LEGACY?? if only i knew he was going... sorry big z... you wont read this.. anyways. ok so. it is final 21. so. 15 (or 8 i guess...) people need to be voted out before i can play it.. i can DO IT. and this time i am not telling a SOUL about it. like. NO ONE.. and the beauty of the legacy is that people shouldn't really even suspect it exists.. heehee!

ANYWAYS! let's talk about the game. so. my tribe is a mess. i love zach and chloe... chris is a king.. i played elara with drew h and he's a babe so there's that. michael king. and sharky hasnt been on much because he's busy which is like awful timing n i feel bad especially if we lose because i think he might go? :-(

as for the other tribes.. bryce asked to be allies i said shure. i love rhys.. thats all bye

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UPDATE!! i love BODHI!!!!!!!!!!!! like..... wow. hes such a king. no words at all.

Our tribe has lots of stuff done on our sheet. I hope we are able to get it done. I hope we can win immunity, first tribal will suck.

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Omg. 3 minutes until sheets are locked. Im kind of nervous. I really want us to be immune.

My tribe mates- Rhys: he is amazing and i feel like we get along pretty well. We have been talking. Mitch: also very nice. Was the first person to message me and i really like him. Kori: we talked a bit. Is someone i need to talk to more. Bryce: my marmoreal f3. ❤️ Jared: amazing guy and really like talking to him. Would work with him. Stephen: the person i least have talked to but i need to talk to more.

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I’m am extemely excited that we won immunity. It gives me more time to talk and bond with these people. Im really liking my tribe. I hope we can keep winning immunity. (Knocks on wood)

We won! Yas! It's unfortunate that we couldn't snatch the reward, but we came close and I think that counts for something.

Chloe and Drew definitely carried the Orfeo tribe to their reward, meanwhile Karth practically killed Cyrena himself. I'm pretty happy being that perfectly middle score on my tribe. High enough to be a contributor, low enough to like not be a threat for try-harding or something.

I'm gonna hopefully take this time to get to bond with people more. Chloe and I are getting married apparently which is cute. She's honestly pretty sweet so I'm already a hardcore stan.

Gonna enjoy the time off, and see what this idol system is about. Maybe I'll get lucky this season.

i am OVERWHELMED like ok so most the cast i feel like doesnt like me. my tribe has ppl who arent super active (this is literally marmoreal flash backs) kori is so.. much idk JKFADSHFKJ like he just is rly.. there! jared is my new fave i love that man so much we are going so far KNOW that. rhys.. an angel i LOVE him i just get him and he gets me. maynor? doesnt reply idk its off. stephen.. not here. mitch? ignores me for long time. so ya that sucks but wooh jared and rhys! also LOVE chloe, loris, zach, maybe tobi!!!

YAAAAAAAAS safety is so important right nowwwww, having safety is crucial bc I wanna keep my friends in this game and keep building bridges. I also have a little advantage to help me search for the idol and nobody needs to know about it except me so hopefully soon I’ll have an idol in my back pocket!

The first few days of this game have been fun. I always enjoy getting to know a new tribe of people. Still, all of these people are essentially new to me. I've been in VL's with Kori and Mitch, and I helped host Jared in Wakea, but playing with people is a totally different ballgame. Still these 3 are probably the relationships I'm most interested in investing time in right now.

As for people off of my tribe, I feel pretty good about my old Komnata castmates. Alyssa, Zach and Karth all worked well with me in the pre-merge and I can definitely see myself working with them here as well. Chris is also my BFF I would literally die for him. Jack is also someone I know well and I know he's a good ally, but we're also playing another ORG together at this very moment (SBBB7) and I just made a move there knowing he wouldn't approve of it, so that's something I have to keep in mind as well. I think as long as I can set myself up well on this current tribe, I could be in it for the long hall!

Looking at the challenge results, it looks really bad for my bro Karth. It's gonna suck if he goes first because we instantly connected back in Komnata, but hey, I don't think I have the clout to save him here. It's the first tribal council and there's no basement to hide in this time.

Today is gonna be a big day though. Before Cyrena goes to Tribal Council, I'm planning to reach out to Mitch and Kori about formally becoming allies. Just like my first season, I'll use the idol search as my opening statement!

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SO lots to discuss. First off, we got fucking demolished in immunity. Fucking embarassing. Matt Alyssa and I showed tf up with 100+, and Mo and Bodhi weren't far behind. Tobi did not have a good showing but FUCKING. KARTHIK. TWO POINTS? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? That's disgraceful this is god damn all stars you're a WINNER and you give 2 god damn 1 point submissions. Get the fuck out of my tribe. He should be the easiest first boot in history but of course everyone wants to pussyfoot around for the first 12-18 hours of tribal and not throw out a name. But there's no avoiding this. He's inactive, he has a bad timezone comparatively, and he did diddly poo in the challenge. He's. Gone.

Luckily I find myself with 2 quick alliances right out the shoot, a trio with Alyssa and Matt and a duo with Bodhi. I found myself gravitating to these 4 a lot the first couple days, Mo and Tobi are a bit quieter so I like these 3 allies for me moving forward. Sidenote, BoJack has got to be the greatest alliance name in Celestial history. I'd go back and look to compare but I'm lazy.

One World is still kicking my ass, a lot of people want to talk to me and I don't have the energy for it but damn it I guess I have no other choice, I can't just not respond to them.

Ok so fucking karthik made an alliance with Me, Mo, Matt. And spilled his heart out to us. But we left him on read and now he’s super lonely. Hopefully he doesn’t have an idol or whatever.

Also this game started!! I’m very busy with school but I have things to say. I’m close with some people from before, I really like Loris and Tobi and Alyssa. I’m feeling pretty good about my position right now.

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Fuck yeah, not first boot!!! Although I would’ve loved to win as were so close, but can blame that on my tribe mates cause me and Bryce pulled through.

So right now, my closest ally I feel like would be Bryce. Primarily cause were on the same tribe and then I speak to him most on our tribe, and most of the other cast. Then would be jarred, so I want to make hopefully an alliance between them, maybe another, just to confirm my spot in the tribe.

Feel like my main goal is to make connection, as it seems like everyone else has some with other people. So like if it comes to me someone they don’t know, against someone they've player with before just looks bad for me. So I’m trying to make up with Michael, just so that’s one less target in my back.

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Also I talk to Zach a lot. But don’t trust him at all. We have been “dating” since the cast reveal. But he asked Mo to be in a showmance too?! Plus Bryce said he talks to zach the most but Bryce wasn’t in who Zach talks to the most.

This sounds like Tween drama but it’s so much more.

Am I being flirted with?????????

https://youtu.be/GBCr-tAsKTc

My slow self. In regards to the other castmates- I didnt realize how much I talked to the members of Tuatha. Bryce, Rhys, Kori all are red but I've probably done most of my talking with Jared and Stephen who I really wanna get together with at some point. I've reached out to other people like Jack and Alyssa and Mo. I may be forgetting some people but I'm just gonna keep talking up a storm with everybody! If I had to pick my closest people so far, it definitely would be Jared, Stephen, Zach, and Michael.. stay tuned!

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I FLOPPED at this challenge hard. Drew and Sharky I am sorry for sharing you peeps on the low for being MIA when I was here and performed worse! I am happy we won though because I like my entire tribe and honestly I see a lot of good from them! And so the game begins!

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I am just putting gears in motion! I've made it clear with Stephen, Kori, and Jared I want to work with them. I want to get a cross tribe alliance going and it seems Tuatha is my in though I have to see about other people. As for Orfeo...I talked with Zach on starting a majority alliance with Chloe and Loris, we'll see how it goes and if it is legitimate but I definitely hope I can trust Michael enough to keep him. I still am gonna not get comfortable because I can see myself being targeted but yeah

https://youtu.be/ia3DTwLWMi8

So we’re going to tribal... and honestly I’m terrified bc I was one of the poorer performers in the challenge but the thing is that Karthik got a whole ass 2 in the challenge... a challenge where you get 8/9 points for drinking water... so I would think he’d be the easy vote but everyone was SUPER quiet yesterday and no one wanted to give names but today is looking a bit better but I swear if I go home over karthik.... I. will. call. out. all. of. them. Not only was his score tragic but I don’t think he’s been social at all... people from other tribes think that karthik is definitely going so maybe I’m just crazy paranoid for no reason but idk I’ll have to talk wayyyy more to everyone just to be sure

well here is my first real confessional of the game! Sorry its late been busy.

So firstly my tribe is like super cute. I'm glad i don't know everyone cause then i would be worried, plus i do genuinely like getting to know new people so that is definitely a yay moment. I am also really liking this cast, though more wahmen would be nice but this is all stars, we r not casting wahmen for the sake of it. - anna jane 2k19.

The first challenge? selfie scavenger. a classic if i have seen one. a surprisingly difficult one at that but im glad how well i performed. top scorer on my tribe so i'm really glad about that and how I will be perceived as an asset for a while at least (we will see how that pans out longer down the line). but yay go me! Unforunately, we lost though so like UGH.

During immunity i approached alyssa and jack about a trio, who could control the tribe as i knew we would be high scorers and i genuinely like the two of them. also made sense becuase i sense we are the 3 most active. Karthik, who scored only 2 in the challenge, is probs the target due to inactivity LOL. tobi and mo i also like, but bodhi remains a mystery to me. might be a timezone thing idk but still. a tad worrying that i dont know him as well as i would like.

One World does my head in but im trying to talk to everyone. i've learnt though i need to make connections on my tribe first and foremost as they r the ones who vote, not people on other tribes. god i do hate one world tho. i want to be napping, not messaging people

think im gonna be in an alliance?? on day 3? is this a joke? literally winning................... wow....

I usually make videos but today I am lazy so hello. So One World is ass because I don't want to talk to everyone but these people are crackheads so like I guess. Uhhhhh I'm in an alliance with Jack and Matt because I adore them both greatly. Mo is on my tribe which is so nice because we have played together before and he has such fun energy and is just a ray of sunshine so I'm very happy (although he makes me nervous cuz the last game we played together I killed him for no reason basically.... But I don't think he's the vengeful type). Tobi makes me nervous because I think he is a social king and I mean like... Idk I guess there are a lot of very social players which makes me nervous that I would be pushed out for maybe not being as social? Idk if that makes sense.

But anyway Karthik is also on my tribe and I was like OF COURSE. Because this is the man from my season who I cursed out via DR video for flipping on me LOL He is a sweetie though. I recently looked and saw he was rooting for me a lil in a game I was in which is really nice of him, especially seeing as I didn't vote him to win our season. I think he's going to be first boot. He was on vacation this weekend somewhere where there's no wifi (that's what he told me) and only sent in two things for the scavenger hunt, dooming us to a first tribal. I feel somewhat bad but have told people on my tribe that if not for Komnata's twist of the season he would've been out pre-merge easily because his overarching challenge performance is not great. So basically just reiterating to people that I'm not so sure that this was a fluke and overall I think it's probably just best for us to cut him.

Yeah that's it. I have so much crackhead energy from the games I've been playing as of late I feel like I majorly need to chill the fuck out. Here's to praying.

so everyone’s kinda agreed on voting out karthik due to him only scoring two points so I’m like ok cool i’m down but then karthik made an alliance chat with bodhi, matt and myself asking to be saved and

https://i.imgur.com/AxCzqxd.gif?noredirect

Sooo im making this last minute confessional to tell ya that I THINK im in a good spot. Im sharing my idol guesses with Stephen Z and Jared which is helping me build trust with them. I also have mutual trust with Kori. Maynor and Rhys are kind of boring tbh so hopefully they go soon. Bryce and I never seem to have good conversations so idk where his head is at. IM JUST HAPPY THAT MY CURSE OF ALWAYS GOING TO THE FIRST TRIBAL IS FINALLY LIFTED. I WONT BE FIRST BOOT YAHOO

Short and sweet, glad to be back, beast moded another selfie scavenger hunt. Got a good tribe, I think, couple of good friends, couple new people, at least one I think obvious boot should it come to that, but here's hoping it won't. Not a lot of players from my season so hopefully there won't be too much bad blood coming into this. Shoutout to Chloe Bryce and Tobi who are apparently contractually obligated to be in every fucking game I play on Facebook and associated communities for the rest of my life. 21 people is a lot to get through so I'm just hoping for merge, then we can go from there.

Well let's give confessing on my phone a try.

So far I feel like I've been making decent strides conversing with everybody. It's kinda weird how much I like everyone on this season. Its gonna make being a snake harder but I cant afford to blind myself I'll have to do whatever I'll have to do to hopefully win again.

I've made a sort of trio deal with Bryce and Chris as we're all former winners. I'd have included Kavish but we're all predicting he's more than likely the first boot alarm Tina. I'm growing closer to Zach and Clohie on the outer tribes. Also obviously still have my Bodhi connection. I'm talking with just about everyone a bit. Though I cant shake the feeling there is someone I've missed.

I am concerned not being in any sort of majority alliance on my tribe, so if we do lose that's worrisome but still not being the first boot is a huge relief for me, and hopefully there is only good for me going forward. (I say as 4 people probably plot my demise.)

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Karthik is voted out 5-1-1.

#episode #shinebright

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callmetippytumbles · 5 years

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A Happy New Year (Liam x MC)

Tippy’s Note: So listen, it’s been a hot minute since I did a fanfic. Blah, blah, life. Blah, blah, busy. Other stuff. I wanted to get back into the swing of things with something fluffy, sweet and in the spirit of the season. Like the first fanfic, Tipsy Halle had to make an appearance. I hope you guys like it. I may have more stuff cooking for you guys.

Disclaimer: Choices owns this and I do not.

Words Counted: 2,135 Rating: PG Pairing: Liam x MC (Halle), Driara

Liam x MC tags: @jacksonsmaine @umccall71 @blackcoffee85 @theroyalweisme @writtenbycandy@hopefulmoonobject @mynameiskaylabella @the-everlasting-dream@zigbadboy @indiacater @lolablackwrites @i-choose-liam

Fic tags: @coldcolectornight08 @brightpinkpeppercorn @smalltalk88

Halle and Liam sat in front of one of the large pine trees outside of Applewood Manor. Their large grins trained on the camera in front of them.

“Wishing a Merry Christmas…” Liam started.

“...And Happy Holidays to you and yours.” Halle added, hoping the huskiness to her voice brought warmth and not exhaustion.

“And an extra happy holiday to you.” Liam cooed to the youngest Rhys, two-year-old Asher, Ash for short, who nuzzled against his mother. The young boy smiled and clasped his father’s nose in his gloved hands.

Five-year-olds Kalilah and Zuri sat in front of them and waved to the camera. While Zuri continued to wave, Kalilah reached down into the snow and threw a snowball at her brother and father. Zuri quickly retaliated and soon the peaceful moment descended into chaos. Lilah had Zuri pinned within seconds. Ash patted snow on his sister’s back leaving Halle and Liam to have a battle of their own.

Halle smashed a snowball on her husband’s face.

“Is that how you want to play, my love?”

She didn’t finish her nod before Liam tackled her in the snow.

“Cut,” An exasperated Madeleine shouted behind the camera crew. “So much for a regal but festive address.” She threw her hands up in the air.

Halle pulled Lilah off of her brother while Liam held Ash. They walked over to where Madeleine was with the camera crew.

“Think we have it now?”

“No, Your Majesty, we do not. We should do one more take.”

Zuri groaned.

Halle looked down at her children. Lilah looked about ready to cry. Zuri had his arms across his chest. They were more than done. Ash was also over it, getting antsy in his father’s arms.

“I don’t think the twins have another take in them and Ash is about ready for a nap.”

“I still think…”

“Maybe the snow fight is a good thing,” St. James interjected. “It makes them seem down to earth.”

“They are not down to earth, they are the Royal Family of Cordonia. This isn’t some cutesy e-card we are making for Grandma.”

Ash became even fussier, fighting his father’s embrace, his small limbs flailing in every direction. “I say that we go with this one. With the snowball fight.” Liam giving his final word while trying to calm the toddler.

“Of course, Your Majesty,” Madeleine says with a fake grin, though the tightness in her jaw said otherwise. She walked away with a determined stride, calling over her shoulder as she went. “Make sure that the footage gets to the editor ASAP. I want this on every television station by primetime and on Instagram before tea-time.”

“I am already on it.” St. James hollered back.

Now Drake was playing the clip of Liam getting smashed with a snowball on his phone during New Years Eve gathering that Halle and Liam were hosting at the Valtoria Estate.

“You don’t get to see that every day,” Drake pointed out. “The Sovereign Ruler of Cordonia getting pummelled with snow.”

“I seem to recall you being buried in snow by your wife and son on Instagram. I think it even had the caption hashtag ‘snow daddy’” Liam countered.

“But I am not the king.”

“Dieu merci pour ça,” Kiara said as she joined the two men. “The last thing we need is a grumpy monarch who would spend an alarming amount of the GDP on whiskey.”

“I am not a grump.”

His best friend raised his eyebrow and his wife side-eyed him.

“I am not!” Drake defended. “I like fun. Woo. Fun. Good times for all.”

“But you are my dear, and I love you anyway,” Kiara added with a kiss on Drake’s cheek.

“You’ve got to now. You’re stuck with me.” Drake kissed her on the lips.

“Guess I am... Snow Daddy.”

“Truer words have never been spoken.”

Zuri ran up to his father, his footie pajamas slipping on the hardwood floors. “Can we do sock slides with Uncle Maxwell?”

Henri, Drake and Kiara’s son followed closely behind. “Yeah, can we?”

“What did your mother say?”

“Ask your father.”

“Did she now? Well, I guess I do not see the immediate harm in this.” Liam reasoned.

“They would be with an adult,” Kiara added.

“You are calling Maxwell an adult?”

Henri held onto his father’s leg. Drake saw his own eyes peer back at him as he pouted his mother’s lips.

“Please,” the child begged with a lip quiver.

Drake sighed, “Fine.”

“Yes!” Henri cheered, his pout vanishing.

“Sock slide contest with Uncle Maxwell!”

“He has all the best tricks.”

Henri and Zuri ran off in search of their fun uncle, leaving the adults to themselves.

A waiter walked by with a tray of drinks. Liam and Drake picked up tumblers of scotch while Kiara’s had non-alcoholic Lythikos eggnog. She and Drake were expecting their second child, so that meant no wine for her. This led to a discussion about adjusting from one child to two. Liam did not have much to offer in that discussion since he and Halle went from zero to two in one go.

Halle had Ash for most of the night. He didn’t do well with spending long periods of time with the nanny or with lots of new people in the house. With all of the strangers in the house, Ash was especially clingy. Any time she would put the child down to have him play with the other children, he would throw a tantrum that could only be calmed by a mother’s love. Eventually, the stimulation became too much and Ash tired himself out. Now Halle was free to actually enjoy the party that she planned.

Heading towards the great hall where everyone was, she was intercepted by Bastien.

“Your Majesty, we have a situation in the kitchen.”

“Liam!”

Bastien held his hands up. “No-no, it’s not your husband, it’s your son.”

“What happened.”

“We can walk and talk.”

Halle entered her kitchen to find Zuri and Henri passed out by an half-eaten chocolate cake.

“Zuri!”

“Mamma?” The boy sleepily responded.

“How did you get here?”

“Well we were feeling sleepy and Uncle Maxwell said that if we eat a lot of sugar we can stay awake until midnight.”

“Like the grown-ups,” Henri added.

“Well, how grown up do the two of you feel?”

Zuri groaned, “Well being a grown-up means being tired.”

“My tummy hurts.”

“I bet it does.”

Halle wiped the chocolate frosting smeared on the boys' faces, then put the chocolate cake in the fridge. While wiping down the counter, she saw a sight that made her stop in her tracks. Her eyes scanned the liquor cabinet and landed on a full bottle of her favorite, Hennessy Pure White. Halle smiled. I am gonna make my way back to you, beloved, she thought to herself.

Halle motioned for Bastien to grab Henri while she grabbed Zuri. In Zuri’s room, she changed both of them out of their cake soiled pajamas and into clean ones and put them to bed. She sent Kiara a text letting her know where her son was. As soon as both boys were sound asleep in their beds, Halle beelined back to the kitchen. Once there, she found the Hennessy Pure White that was flirting with her earlier.

“Come to Mama!”

Halle made herself a quick, but potent island punch and rejoined the party upstairs, drink in hand.

Later on that night a little closer to midnight, Liam was looking for his wife to have a moment alone but had not seen her since she made him hold Asher for a quick bathroom break. There was a tug on his pant leg. He looked down to see Lilah trying to get his attention.

“Ready for bed?” He asked picking her up.

She slowly shook her head. “No. I will make it to midnight like the grown-ups.”

“You do not have to. If you feel tired, I can tuck you in. I am sure Zuri is already asleep.”

“I’m okay, papa,” she said before stifling a yawn.

“Let’s go find mamma though.”

“Mamma is over there.”

The room fell quiet as Liam turned his head. Hana was in front of the baby grand piano while Halle laid atop it. Halle perked up when Hana started to play the opening bars to a song. Liam was familiar with the melody, but couldn’t grasp the words or the name. Then he heard it.

“I believe the children are our future…”

Lilah buried her head in the crook of her father’s neck.

“No, mama, no,” she whined covering her ears.

“Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess insiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide.”

Hana giggled as Halle drew out that last note but continued her flawless playing.

“Give them a sense of pride….”

“You have lost all of yours, Halle,” Drake mumbled to himself. “Question is which bottle of Hennessey took it.”

Kiara smacked her husband hard on the chest. He responded with a shrug and finished off the finger of scotch in his glass. Liam moved towards the front of the room holding their daughter, not only to get a better view of the show but to be ready to intervene if things went downhill.

Halle slid off the piano and approached her husband and daughter, continuing to sing.

“Let the children's laaaaaaaaughter remind us how we used to beeeeeeee.”

She booped Lilah on the nose. Lilah snuggled into her father more.

“Every–”

“Everybody's searching for a hero,” Maxwell sang joining the Queen.

Halle strode to his side and whispered, My time to shine.

Maxwell whispered back, Sharing is caring.

“People need someone to look up to, I never found anyone who fulfilled my neeeeeeeeeds,” He continued. “A lonely place to be, and so I learned to depend on meeee.”

Not being one to be outdone or overtaken, Halle cut back in, raising her voice. “I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadows.”

Maxwell roared back, “If I fail, if I succeeeeeeeeed, at least I'll live as I believeeeee.”

“No matter what they take from me, they can't take away my dignityyyyyyy!” Halle sang back, dramatically pointing to her chest.

“The greaaaaaaaatesssssst love of allllllllll–” Maxwell sang.

Halle turned to face him, “Is happening to meeeee!”

Maxwell stepped closer, “I found the greatest love of all, inside of me”

“THE GREATEST LOVE OF ALL–”

“IS EASY TO ACHIEVE!”

They both stopped for a moment. Hana stopped playing once she saw that they went silent. They stared at each other. Maxwell was red in the face. Halle had developed some sweat along her hairline. When the moment could not get any tenser, they broke down and started laughing.

“Learning to love yourself,” they sang in unison, “it is the greatest love of all.”

Everyone in the room applauded the impromptu performance.

Maxwell and Halle embraced. Halle held him close and whispered, we will talk about you leaving my son alone with a sheet cake later. Maxwell gulped and smiled nervously while everyone applauded. Hana stood from behind the piano and joined the two of them. They linked hands and took a final bow.

Halle joined Liam and Lilah. She gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead as she continued to rest on her father’s shoulder.

“You wanted to drop the mic and say ‘Sexual Chocolate’ so bad, didn’t you?” Liam whispered.

She let out a disappointed sigh, “No need to rub it in.” He rubbed her back soothing her mild disappointment.

“Oh my God! It’s almost midnight!” Savannah shouted from across the room.

Everyone counted down the final moments of the year. When the clock struck midnight, the first minute of the new year was filled with the sound of applause, champagne poppers, party horns. Couples kissed. Bottles of champagne were opened with loud pops and served to everyone.

Lilah perked up a little during the commotion but quickly returned to sleeping on Liam’s shoulder. He and Halle brought her to bed before returning to their guests.

The party went on for a little while longer after that and when it was finally over, Liam and Halle were finally alone in the Royal Chambers. They were in their bed, still awake, despite the long party. Liam pressed his forehead against Halle’s.

“Happy new year, my love.”

“Happy new year, my king.”

His hand cupped her face as he dipped down to kiss her. She pressed herself closer to him returning it.

“We didn’t sneak off during this party to have any time to ourselves,” Halle commented.

“We are alone now.”

“We are.”

Liam yawned, “Want to raincheck in the morning.”

Halle nodded, “Yeah.”

With that, they began the new year the way they planned to spend the rest of their lives, together, in each other’s arms.

#the royal romance #the royal romance fanfic #liam x mc #liam x mc fanfiction #liam x halle #playchoices

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jovialyouthmusic · 5 years

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Charlotte’s Choice

A Royal Romance AU fanfic

21 The Hunting Party

Anton spends time with Charlotte on home ground. A shooting party proves to be eventful.

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21 The Hunting Party

The next day was spent packing and travelling to Valtoria, seat of House Severus, home of Anton Severus since his father passed him the title some five years previously. Charlotte was nervous as to what might happen there, and Bastien was on edge. As head of the King’s Guard he was protector of House Rys, travelling to the stronghold of ancient rivals of the Crown, even if only in legend. Anton had his own in house security and it was tricky negotiating the arrangements around protecting the King and Princess, let alone any other members of the Court.

Drake was settling into his room, which he couldn’t help but note was a long way away from Charlotte’s when he heard a knock at the door.

‘Who is it?’ He heard a familiar cough out in the corridor and went to it immediately ‘Bas, what’s up?’ The guardsman walked in after a cursory glance down the corridor. Once Drake had closed the door, he placed his finger on his lips to indicate he should remain quiet.

‘Good evening Duke Walker, just checking to ensure your accommodation is satisfactory’ he said in a loud voice. Drake got the message immediately, and the two of them started to sweep the room for listening devices, all the time carrying out a loud conversation about the journey. Bastien nodded to indicate all clear, but Drake drew out his smartphone and selected some music as background noise just in case. Bastien reached inside his jacket and produced a bottle of whiskey. Drake raised his eyebrows, knowing that his mentor did not often drink, and never on duty. He passed him a glass from his bedside table and went to the ensuite to fetch another.

The guardsman sat heavily on the edge of the bed, pouring himself a finger of whiskey. Wordlessly he passed the bottle to Drake as he took a mouthful of the amber liquid.

‘Well, Walker’ he started ‘This has been a stressful day’

‘I thought all the arrangements had been made beforehand’ Drake answered, pouring himself a measure. Bastien sighed.

‘Anton insisted that as Lord Bradley has first of all been added to the list, and secondly has been elevated to nobility, he needed extra cover and had to draft in more staff. He claimed that logistics meant he might as well cover the whole of the Court, including the Royal party.’

‘Might as well?’ repeated Drake ‘Nothing’s more important than Constantine and Charlotte’s safety’ Bastien grimaced.

‘The man would not budge and in the end, I had to ask his Majesty to intervene and insist on retaining the presence of the King’s Guard. Our quarters are less than ideal as Lord Severus asserted that he could not move his own staff on short notice’ He downed another mouthful of whiskey and looked at the glass ‘I also have reason to believe Severus has made structural changes to the Castle since he last submitted plans for my examination’

‘Should you be drinking?’ asked Drake cautiously and Bastien looked at him critically

‘I won’t be sleeping tonight, I need something to balance out the caffeine I’ve been consuming’

‘What did you mean by structural alteration?’ asked Drake, realising he would be better not having a second measure of whiskey, stay sharp as he had never seen Bastien on edge like this.

‘Doors bricked up or added so that access to rooms and suites are changed or compromised. If my men are to be effective, I need to know the layout of the Castle as you might imagine.’

‘I can understand how that compromises your effectivity’ said Drake.

‘I don’t think Severus would be so stupid as to try anything major on home ground’ Bastien said, putting his empty glass down on the side table ‘But I don’t trust the man, no matter how charming he tries to appear. His father always thought he had a legitimate claim to the throne, and Anton has never discussed his views in the open’

‘If there’s anything I can do you know I will’ Drake asserted.

‘I don’t want you to put yourself at risk, you may be a target’ The guard laid a heavy hand on his shoulder ‘I know what’s going on between you and Charlotte. I can’t let personal feelings interfere with my duty to the Crown – please Walker, take care. I promised your mother I’d look after you, and I hope I’ve fulfilled my duty. You’re a grown man and responsible for your own life now. If I can still help you I will – but the Crown comes first, you know that’ Drake put his hand over Bastein’s.

‘Thanks Bas, you’ve been more than a father to me. I hope neither of us ever have cause to work against the other, but I understand’ The older man pressed his lips together.

‘If you have any information that makes my job here easier, I trust you’ll let me know. I’ll defend the King and the Princess with my life, you know that.’ Drake nodded

‘Be careful Bas’ Drake watched the older man as he walked away, shoulders slightly bowed until he reached the door, when he straightened up and left the room with his head held high.

Despite spending the day travelling, Charlotte was expected to deal with paperwork that night. Anton had given the main guest suite to the King, and Charlotte had a room across the corridor which had a study attached to it with a connecting door. She was a little uncomfortable as Anton was the one who would be sent to help her that night, and her bedroom was only feet away from the desk. She made sure to lock the door from the bedroom side before she went through. It was also the first time she’d worked in a room that didn’t adjoin her fathers’, and he was out of earshot. She had however managed to ask Bastien if he’d station someone outside the study door. She didn’t want to encourage him any more than she needed, so she dressed casually and wore her hair up in a messy bun. She noted the elaborate bouquet of flowers on the windowsill that filled the room with its scent, matching the one in her room, which was twice the size. The fragrant blooms made her feel dizzy.

There was a knock at the door, and she called for Anton to come in. He entered with a bottle of champagne and two glasses as Maxwell had, though he carried them openly. He had a box tucked underneath one arm. His dark hair was neatly cut, he was clean shaven and the suit he wore was expensive and well fitting, his dark rimmed glasses framing his ice blue eyes. His build was slim and slight despite his broad shoulders and he was a little above average height. Sitting at the desk, she swivelled to greet him.

‘Princess’ he put the bottle and glasses down on the desk and bowed deeply. ‘May I formally welcome you to my humble home’ Charlotte’s breath hitched as he knelt in front of her and her eyes widened in surprise.

‘Lord Severus, please – that’s not necessary!’ she protested as he produced a long rectangular box from his jacket pocket. She looked at it, dumbfounded ‘Really, gifts are not usually expected in situations like this’ she protested. Anton smiled warmly

‘Charlotte, I have not been able to convey to you my true feelings until now, and I hope we can leave some protocol behind us’ he said ‘Please, take this as a token of my admiration, for you to keep no matter what the outcome of the social season’ Charlotte’s hand went to her chest to feel the chain around her neck, to remind herself of Drake. ‘I haven’t been able to forgive myself for alarming you at Lythikos’ he went on. ‘Please, accept my gift as a heartfelt apology’ Charlotte was totally thrown, and found herself reaching out for the box he held out to her. He watched her as she worked the fastening and opened it up. She gasped - inside was an intricate gold bracelet inset with diamonds. She took it out and held it in her fingers, glittering and sparkling in the light from the desk lamp, delicate and fragile. Drake’s token felt heavy on the end of its slender chain and she couldn’t think of a reason to reject Anton’s gift without insulting him.

‘I know as Queen you will inherit many fine pieces of jewellery’ said Anton ‘This piece belonged to my mother. I suppose you could call it a peace offering between the houses of Rhys and Severus. Here, let me’ Mesmerised, Charlotte held it out and he took it, fastening it around her wrist.

‘I – thankyou, Lord – Anton’ she said, mesmerised, the bracelet cool against her skin.

‘You deserve beautiful things’ he said softly ‘You deserve to be looked after and cherished. If I may be so bold…’ he paused, fixing her gaze ‘If you were to choose me, our two houses would be joined in harmony and put to rest the old rivalries.’ Charlotte started to speak, but he interrupted.

‘Please Charlotte, I know that you don’t have any affection for me, but I promise you I would work to earn it. I’d like you to treat my home as yours while you are here, use all its facilities as if they were yours – as they would be if…as indeed in theory all this is yours, as future Monarch.’ he trailed off. He stood ‘But enough of my fantasies. Let’s drink to the future, whatever it may bring’ He opened the champagne and poured her glass first. As if in a dream she found herself taking it and sipping, though she found she had no response for his extravagant gesture. Anton drank too, and his gaze fell on the folders on the desk.

‘May I?’ he asked, and reached out for one, opening it and scanning its contents. He smiled ‘Such a trifling matter’ he remarked ‘You must be tired from your journey. Why don’t you leave all this to me? I’m sure your father will be checking it himself’ Charlotte blinked.

‘I – that’s not possible, it has to be signed by me personally’ Again Anton smiled.

‘Then allow me to precis them for you and we can go through them all quickly’ Charlotte was feeling indeed tired and found herself agreeing to his suggestion. He had opinions on every paper they went over together and was sympathetic to both Noble and Common concerns and proposals across the board of economics, politics and protocol – the first of any of the suitors to be so knowledgeable. Charlotte’s stomach tightened as she realised that she couldn’t hide his competence from her Father as he would be reviewing it all the following day. Finally the documents were finished, and Charlotte found herself yawning. Anton took her hand and kissed it softly. She found she didn’t have the strength to draw it away.

‘Princess, you’re tired. You should get some sleep ready for the shooting party tomorrow’ He walked across to the door that lead to her bedroom and frowned as he found it locked. Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief before he turned back to her.

‘Oh dear, I meant to leave it unlocked’ she said, feigning a look of annoyance ‘I’ll have to go out into the corridor’ Anton smiled

‘Allow me, Princess’ he held his arm out for her to take and led her out into the corridor where Bastein’s man stood guard. He paused at the door to her room and again took her hand to kiss it, looking up at her as he did so. ‘Until tomorrow Princess. May you have sweet dreams’

Charlotte slept heavily and woke with a headache. She unlocked the door to the study and then went to the door into the corridor, summoning Bastien’s guard in.

‘Micah, I don’t feel up to scratch. Could you send down to the kitchens and get breakfast served in the study please? Just a pastry and scrambled eggs with mushrooms and toast – oh, and if I could get coffee as soon as possible please?’ The guard nodded and Charlotte went to take a shower.

A pot of coffee stood on the table beside the huge bouquet of flowers when she emerged from the en suite and she went to pour some, looking out of the window at the view over the lake behind the castle and the wooded hills. The day was clear and bright, and she threw the window open for fresh air, standing to take in deep lungfuls. That and the coffee, dark and strong, started to clear her head. She decided to throw on a slip and dressing gown and dress properly after she’d eaten, having heard movement in the study. It was quiet so she presumed it was empty.

Unlocking the door she stepped through, only to stop in alarm as Anton rose from a seat next to the desk. Her hand flew to her neck, grasping the slender chain that bore Drake’s token. Anton’s gaze took in her informal attire, her hair damp. She was inwardly grateful that she hadn’t washed her hair and appeared with it wrapped up in a towel.

‘Princess, I’m so sorry to intrude…’ he started, his tone slightly cooler than she liked even though he looked away with an embarrassed expression. ‘I thought as you’d sent for a private breakfast… I’m sorry, I’ll leave you to it’

‘Lord Sev – Anton’ she said levelly, recovering quickly ‘I woke with a headache and wanted to be fresh for the shooting party. I’m feeling better already.’ She looked over longingly at the covered tray on the desk, her stomach feeling empty ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know if the kitchens have sent up enough for two’ He bowed slightly.

‘I’m sure I could send for more – if you would permit me to stay’ Charlotte was slightly shocked that he hadn’t already left, but she felt it would be rude to send him away. Still, she couldn’t remain dressed as she was.

‘That’s considerate of you Anton – if you would give me a moment please’ She went back through to her room. It would be ungracious to lock the door, so instead she grabbed some clothes and went into the ensuite to dress casually. She cursed herself for not sending him away, but this was after all his home and she didn’t want to displease him any more than she had to. She fully expected to see him standing by the window when she emerged, but thankfully he remained in the study.

‘So Anton’ she said, sitting at the desk and uncovering the cooling eggs and toast ‘tell me about your beautiful estate, I haven’t had the pleasure of visiting before.’

Drake and Hana waited with consternation for Charlotte as they stood with the shooting party, ready to walk out to where the birds would be flushed out for the guns. Drake was not fond of shooting animals for sport rather than for the table and this was a halfway house – the birds would go to the kitchens and would be served up for dinner later. Normally they would be hung for flavour, but there was no time with the Court’s tight schedule and Anton had a few that had been shot a few days previously.

Alarm bells had rung for Drake when the Princess had not appeared for breakfast, but a brief word with one of Bastein’s guards assured him that she was up and about. Apparently, Anton had taken her out on a short morning ride before the shoot, wanting to show her his estate. Luckily Bastien had been around to insist that a guard accompany them, and Drake wished he had gotten up earlier and been able to volunteer himself. However, he didn’t think Anton would have agreed to that in any case. He had restrained himself from visiting the stables in the hope of seeing them return from the ride, instead seeking out Hana for company. Olivia and Brad were there too, and Maxwell, and they stood together chatting and waiting.

At last she appeared, walking at Anton’s side. He noted with a sick feeling that they looked every bit the country couple, out for a stroll on their estate. He was thankful that she wasn’t holding on to his elbow. He scrutinised her expression, hoping that the smile on her face was for show and not for the pleasure of spending time in Anton’s company. She walked over to Hana, embracing her and kissing the air to either cheek, fixing Drake’s gaze as she did so. He was half satisfied with that – for one, she had acknowledged him, but secondly, he saw the strain she was under to keep up the appearance of being relaxed and at ease. She greeted Olivia in the same manner, giving her shoulder a quick squeeze.

‘Ladies, gentlemen – if you follow me, we will walk out to the first shoot’ announced Anton ‘The beaters will flush the birds when I give the signal’ He held out his arm for Charlotte ‘Princess’ he smiled, and she privately flashed Drake an apologetic glance as she went to take it.

The group of nobles, men and women, walked out to the first clearing and lined up, Anton’s staff waiting with guns and ammunition. Drake looked down the line, noting that Neville was there, having chosen to continue to follow the court even though he was out of the running. He gave Drake an oily smile, and Drake made a note to steer clear of him. Drake knew Charlotte’s feeling were similar to his own on shooting for sport, but she was a competent shot – as was Olivia. He was surprised to see Hana taking a gun.

‘Have you shot before, Lady Hana? He asked with surprise, knowing how she excelled at everything she put her hand to.

‘Once or twice’ she said softly, but loudly said to the member of Anton’s staff that handed her the shotgun ‘Oh, does that thing go in there?’, at which the man winced and stood well back. Anton raised his hand as everyone loaded their guns

‘Ready Gentlemen – Ladies?’ and after a short pause he brought his hand down. A commotion rose up in front of them further down the sloping hillside, and the birds flew up. A flurry of shots rang out, but Drake held fire, choosing to watch. Hana fluffed her shot, giggling and holding her hand to her mouth as her gun went off before anyone else’s.

‘Oops’ she said, and Drake looked over at Brad. He aimed and tracked perfectly, his chosen bird falling swiftly for the dogs to retrieve. The Englishman looked over at Olivia and Drake, gaping at his skill.

‘I used to work at a firing range’ he explained, and Olivia rolled her eyes. She had saved her shot for the next flush, as had Drake. Maxwell had aimed and missed, and Charlotte had bagged her own target. The birds continued to rise, and Drake took aim, tracking and firing to see the fowl drop like a stone. Olivia just missed, winging her bird without a clean kill. He was aware of a blur of movement next to him, and Hana’s gun went off. The shot was perfect, and he looked over at her, mouth open. She shared his glance.

‘That was Maxwell’s’ she said innocently and went back into the helpless oh how does this work? mode she had affected before, asking the gun bearer how to reload even though Drake could see she absolutely knew full well what she was doing. She fluttered her eyelashes at Brad.

‘Lord De Montfort, that was a superb shot’ she simpered, and Olivia scowled at her. ‘Perhaps you could give me some pointers’ Brad smiled and walked over to her, showing her how to aim while Olivia looked daggers at Hana. Drake made a mental note to talk to the newcomers later.

Meanwhile, Anton continued to pay suit to Charlotte, acting as her gunbearer, passing her ammunition when she needed it and paying her compliments when she shot well. They moved on to another location and Charlotte pleaded tiredness. Anton took his turn, his technique flawless, never missing a shot. Drake noted Neville blasting away, an average shot at best, and getting flustered with his bearer, speaking sharply and blaming him for his lack of success. Brad had gone back to Olivia’s side and looked to be placating her, and Hana wandered over to Neville.

‘Lord Vancoeur, what a pleasure to see you again’ she simpered. Drake knew how she hated the man and boggled at her flattery. Neville’s scowl turned to a smirk, and the two fell into conversation.

Suddenly a shout went up from the ground ahead, and Anton called a halt to the shooting. There was a flurry of movement amongst the beaters and shouts went up for a medic. Everyone froze for a moment, then Brad raised his hand.

‘I’m a first responder at home – that is, I know first aid’ Anton motioned him forward, and Drake followed him. Charlotte started forward, but Anton held her back. Bastien was at her side in a flash.

‘Please your Grace, we don’t know what’s happened or whether it’s safe’ Drake heard him say as he rushed to the scene. One of the guards took over from Bastein as he too rushed forward. Brad and Drake arrived at the scene, where the beaters surrounded a man who lay prone, pale faced and bleeding heavily, holding his hand to his chest. Brad knelt to take stock, asking his name and carefully examining the wound. Bastien arrived a couple of seconds later, and gasped.

‘Martin – what are you doing out here? What the hell happened?’ the Guard asked. Drake recognised him as one of the junior guards. Brad stood back as Bastien knelt, the man signalling to him to come closer. He gripped something in his hand and Drake saw Bastien quickly take and hide it before bending close to listen. Drake couldn’t hear what was said, and Martin collapsed back from the effort of talking, his eyes fluttering shut and his head going limp.

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endless-vall · 6 years

Text

The universe works in funny ways - Sinclaire x MC fanfic

Summary: After learning about Henrietta’s meddling, Mey storms off. But a night stroll isn’t the smartest idea for a young lady like her, she realizes. Thankfully, the only person that approaches her, is the one she wants.

Author’s note: I’ve been writing in the notes in my phone while at work, and have a few unfinished drafts due to that. I’m trying to finish them, hope you’ll like it!

It’s a bit hard to write D&D fanfics, since I don’t feel like I know enough about the era and how exactly courting/flirting went there. Would 100% appreciate if someone messaged me/brainstormed with me about it 🤔😂

Anyway, Sinclaire didn’t appear in the chapter this week, but from the description of the next one we can be sure he’ll appear. Can’t wait!

Tagging: @meeraaverywalker @writtenbycandy @asprankle @liam-rhys @hellomynameisdeviblaire @blackcatkita @dandeservestheworld. Comment on this post to let me know if you wanna be tagged as well.

Mey's first day in London was a long, tiring day.

And she'd be lying if she said she wasn't disappointed she didn't get to see a certain someone.

Sinclaire.

She knew the first event of the social season was a dinner party held by Mr. Sinclaire, and she’s ought to see him there, but it would’ve made her feel much more comfortable and secure had she hang out with him today, after they arrived in London.

Funny enough he'd probably just scoff at her for letting things like these to get under her skin, but her stepmother Lady Henrietta was intolerable.

She managed to politely, respectfully excuse herself after successfully arriving to their quarters, despite Lady Henrietta's and her son Mr. Marlcaster's meddling.

But then took off into the busy streets of unfamiliar London, in a late time of night.

Admittedly, it wasn't the smartest idea. Not in the slightest.

Mis Parsons and Mis Daly tried stopping her, but to no avail. Then Mr. Harper tried suggesting he'd at least walk with her, but Mey refused and just ran off.

The cool night air felt suddenly alienating, and Mey wrapped her hands around herself, trying to save as much body heat as she could.

She reached a bridge overlooking the bustling street, and leaned against the railing to admire the view.

Dispite being so far away from home, and in such different environment, something about that bridge felt like home. Comforting.

She thought back to the day she had, trying to reason with herself. Maybe she was overreacting.

She was quite taken aback by Henrietta’s actions but she shouldn't be too surprised.

The carriage ride was pleasant, and prince Hamid was kind enough, too.

Kind... but he wasn't what she was looking for.

For her to think of such things as suitors and marriage was a bit silly and absurd in a time like this,

And admittedly a prince would be a better match in her Grandmother's eyes, but...

She bited down at her lip, her thoughts wandering back to Sinclaire.

Was she that hopeless? Had she truly already fallen for him?

She scolded herself inside her head.

He probably haven't even thought of her today, yet thoughts of him occupied her mind all day long.

"And what might a fine lady like yourself be doing here in this time of night?"

She heard a voice beside her, stratling her.

She almost jumped in her place, when she finally caught up on who this voice belonged to.

Sinclaire.

Was her mind playing tricks on her? How could he be standing right next to her right now? What are the odds for that to happen?

She shook her head, smirking.

She guessed the universe worked in funny ways.

Sinclaire looked as if he was about to question her what was so funny, but Mey spoke up first.

"So I'm a fine lady now? I thought I was only 'agreeable', as of last time." She couldn't help but tease him, it was too much fun and he never seemed truly offended.

Sinclaire's mouth fell open, and his cheeks gave a hint of pink blush, but it was hard to tell in the dark.

Then, after recomposing himself, he smiled at her.

Not a full-on wide grin, but a heartwarming smile nonetheless.

Speaking of warmth... She suddenly was very aware of how cold it was around them, and how her dress wasn't nearly warm enough.

A shiver ran through her spine, and Sinclaire looked in thought for a long second before he took off his jacket, and held it to her.

She blinked at the offering, feeling how her cheeks suddenly feel A LOT warmer.

"Oh- of course!" She caught up, and accepted it.

He helped wrap it around her, and then leaned against the railing beside her.

"If you're going for night-walks now, the least you could do is make sure you’re dressed for it." He said, almost in a frown. As if he was annoyed with her.

But the look in his eyes gave her nothing but concern. She knew it sounded as if he was scolding her, but it didn’t feel that way - Really.

She pulled his jacket tighter around her, trying to hide her amusement.

She watched Sinclaire standing next to her in his undershirt. It was a white-cream dress shirt, buttoned up until the very way up, and, well,

She was never one to judge a man by the way he dressed, and she doubted Sinclaire cared about fashion, but she’d be lying if she said he didn’t look good. Like, really good.

She leaned against the railing next to him, watching him intently. They stood in silence for a while, but it didn’t feel like a depressive, awkward silence.

It was pleasant.

"I didn't really plan of taking this night walk." She finally admitted, breaking the silence.

"So how did you end up here?" He questioned, out of curiosity. He didn’t seem to mind her ruining the moment. Maybe she didn’t ruin it, at all.

Mey shrugged. "Let's just say my stepmother gives me a hard time." She didn't want to give away too much.

"Ah, obviously." Mr Sinclaire nodded. "Lady Henrietta was never a pleasant woman to be around." He continued, not as cautious as her.

Mey smiled at him, leaning closer and nudging at his shoulder. "But then again..." she teased, not bothering to finish her sentence.

By the smug look on his face, she was certain he got what she was saying.

"I already told you. I give away certain things, only when they're deserving." He noted, then eyed her with a meaningful look, his expression serious and intent.

"And tell me, now, Mr. Sinclaire." She stepped closer to him, lowering her voice and looking at him tentatively. "Should I consider myself deserving?"

He leaned in as well, lowering his voice to match hers. "Most definitely."

She was surprised by his directness, but flattered tremendously.

"So," She fought the urge to bite her lip, or worse - to bite his lip, and forced herself to change the subject. "How are you liking London?” She changed the subject completely.

They were standing merely a few inches away from each other.

It’s not that she didn’t like this kind of intimacy with him, but she wanted him to be the one to make the first move.

Even if she fit in pretty well, it was still a new territory for her. Nobles and all of their rules and customs. She wanted Sinclaire to court her. Not just to sneak around with him and have stolen moments.

“London is...” He started out, breathing out. Something wasn’t quite right.

Was that disappointment she heard in his voice? She was a little amused at the thought, but then again there were many things that could disappoint Sinclaire, and she shouldn’t be too ambitious and guess it was because of her.

“Tolerable.” He finished his sentence, looking back at her for her reaction.

“Just tolerable?” She sounded almost offended for the city she herself met a few hours ago.

“Don’t get me wrong,” He countered. “London is surely beautiful,” He looked around them. “But the social season makes my memories of it less fond,” He sighed.

“Oh,” It made sense.

Her own memories of London weren’t really happy ones, considering she almost got lost (on purpose, by Lady Henrietta).

But she didn’t let it ruin the whole experience for her.

“Maybe this season your luck would change,” She said, wondering if she was pushing it.

The corners of Sinclaire’s lips curled into a smile, even before her looked back at her.

“Maybe it would.” He nodded, once.

He was watching her for a long moment, and she felt as if he was about to lean in when he cut her line of thought and broke the silence again.

“And how do you like London?” He asked. He was teasing her, wasn’t her?

Paying her back with the same coin she gave him a few minutes ago.

“London is wonderful.” Mey composed herself and answered. If they were going to play, she might as well give her best performance.

She went closer to the edge of the bridge, placing her hands on the railing and leaning against it.

“I suppose.” He went back to old habbit and gave her half an answer.

She didn’t get worked up about it though.

“But I think…” she looked at him from the corner of her, through her eyelashes.

“That sharing it with someone… is what makes it truly special.” She bites at the inside of her cheek so she wouldn’t smile and completely sell herself off.

She did, however, raised her hand and brushed her fingertips alongside his arm.

Sinclaire eyes her intently, eyes widening, following the movement of her hand.

He... didn’t flinch away from her touch, not even the slightest. On the contrary, actually. Mey could swear he leaned into her touch.

“I…” His voice got caught out in his throat, his eyes still not wavering from her hand.

“Don’t disagree.” He ended his sentence, gulping.

Mey chuckled, and it seemed to wake him up from his trance. He composed himself and looked up, meeting her gaze.

Her hand still lingered over his elbow, but he didn’t pull away.

“You should probably head back,” He reminded her.

“I wouldn’t want you to be late for tomorrow’s dinner party. And you should get a good night’s sleep before that.” He said, and Mey suddenly felt herself blush.

He gave it thought. Of course he did.

Why did she doubt him, in the first place?

He never ceased to surprise her, to amaze her.

“You’re probably right.” She nodded. She was reluctant about ending this moment but happy knowing she’d be sharing many more with him, in the upcoming season.

Though he didn’t show it, she could guess he was excited about it, too. For a change, he didn’t seem to hate the social season this year.

She took off his jacket, handing it back to him. Sinclare put it on before offering her his elbow.

“Walk you home?”

Mey nodded, slipping her hand intertwined with his and nodding.

The way back felt much shorter than she thought. But maybe it was because she enjoyed the company.

Before long, the arrived in her quarters and it was time to say goodbye, for now.

Sinclaire’s expression was unreadable, like it was many times.

But Mey started becoming better and better at studying it, and guessing what he was thinking about.

He hesitated, before taking her hand in his and brushing his thumb against her palm. “I’m... Glad you came to the social season after all.”

It was a moment of clarity, a moment of sheer honesty and something she didn’t think she’d get to see from Sinclaire so soon.

It made butterflies flutter in her chest and her stomach and she was unable to hide the grin that smeared over her face.

“Me too.” She confessed.

Reluctantly, but quickly, he let go of her hand, and nodded at her. “Good night, Lady Mey.

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.” He bowed slightly.

Mey curtsied and gave him a knowing smile. “Good night, Mr. Sinclaire.” Before entering the estate.

She could see him waiting until she had closed the door behind her, and only after he was sure she was safe he started walking in the opposite direction, probably back to his own estate.

It made her feel warm in her chest.

Sinclare made it seem like he didn’t care about anything at all, but that was a lie,

and anyone with two good eyes could see it.

And she was certain... He cared about her.

Squealing almost silently to herself, she made her way up the stairs to her assigned room.

Tomorrow would be a better day in London, she was sure of it.

#playchoices #playchoices fanfic #desire and decorum #desire & decorum #mr sinclaire #ernest sinclaire #sinclaire x mc #ernest x mc #dd #fanfic #my writing

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bobasheebaby · 6 years

Text

Secret Love

Pairing: Bastien x Harlow Word count: 1,600 Warnings: angst Summary: Harlow falls for him during the social season, does he feel the same way? Title comes from Hunter Hayes Secret Love. A/N: AU that takes place during the social season, no scandal. @liam-rhys wanted a Bastien x MC this is one of two ideas that came to me. Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist. Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters, just borrowing them from PB.

The moment Harlow Williams entered the social season he was taken with her, he just never thought she would feel the same about him. Towards the end of the social season he knew he was wrong, the stolen glances, eyes only on him. She had stopped paying attention to the Prince long ago and no longer snuck off with him, a fact that had baffled Liam. Harlow had originally come for the prince but didn’t have eyes for him, she had fallen for someone else, someone she never expected. He consumed her thoughts day and night, she knew she couldn’t lead on Liam, he deserved a chance at happiness, it just wasn’t with her like they once thought. If she was meant to be his she never would have fallen for another, she never would have fallen for someone so close to him. He stole her heart unexpectedly, his innocent check ins, obviously for Liam had soon turned longer and longer—stolen moments. They started getting to know each other bit by bit, never meaning for it to turn into something more. Harlow became drawn to him, excited for his check ins, dressing up with him in mind.

She realized quickly her heart lay with another, so she told Liam, not wanting to hurt him, not wanting to break his heart. Liam was surprised when Harlow told him, only wanting to know when, who—she couldn’t tell him, not until she knew if he felt the same way. Her heart broke when she saw how sad her admission had made him, but she wouldn’t lead him on—that would only hurt him more in the long run, that was the last thing she wanted. If she told him now he had a chance to fall for one of the other suitors, any one of them would be a better match than she was. She had felt a spark at first, sure—but she never wanted to be queen, she knew that was a job she couldn’t handle no matter what Liam thought of her and her strength. Telling Liam she didn’t feel the same way, that she could never be what he wanted was the hardest thing Harlow had ever done, but now she had to have a talk with him. Harlow was terrified that he didn’t feel the same way, that their talks never meant what they did to her to him. She was full of trepidation when she thought of talking to him, she couldn’t take the heartbreak if he didn’t feel the same way. Harlow stopped spending extra time with Liam, allowing him to get to know the other suitors instead—yet she hadn’t talked to him yet. She’d rather return to New York at the end of the social season having never taken a chance than with her heart completely shattered when he didn’t return her feelings. Their moments continued, no longer the same has they had been—Liam still wanting to ensure she was okay, but realizing Harlow wasn’t the one for him. The moments becoming slightly awkward, at least to her, worried she would slip up and tell him how she felt and ruin everything before she could escape Cordonia and back to New York with her heart still intact. He was too perceptive, noticing her stolen glances and furtive looks. He was soon questioning her and Harlow wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep her feelings for him to herself. Harlow was strong, resilient—but she knew one thing she’d never overcome was a broken heart. Not at his hands, no she couldn’t let her heart be broken ever again. The last time she barely survived, she couldn’t let him break it too. The last time it took her too long to pull herself back together, she wouldn’t allow herself to be hurt ever again—no it was better to keep it inside, never letting him know. Soon enough the season would be over, Liam would pick his queen, someone who could make him happy and rule by his side. Just a few more short weeks and she could leave Cordonia and him behind. She just had to bide her time and soon it would be like they never met, but they did. He would still be on her mind and in her heart, it would be painful, but it was still the safer option. No, she couldn’t let him know how she felt, she just had to keep her head down and her feelings shoved deep down. Two weeks and Liam would announce who he picked to rule by his side as his queen. Two weeks, she just had to get through two weeks and she’d get to go home. She nearly made it, she was so close, and then he was at her door—she should have known better than to think she’d make it home free. His usual pristine look slightly disheveled, his sleek black hair looked as if he had been running his hands through it repeatedly. Harlow was as shocked by his appearance as she was by his unexpected presence, it wasn’t when he usually checked in with her. His breath gave off the slight smell of whiskey as he spoke. “Why did you turn Liam down? He said it was because you fell for someone else but you wouldn’t tell him who. You haven’t spent any time with anyone else, so I have to ask—is it me?” He asked, his grey eyes bore into her, his heart pounding in his chest. He roughly ran his hands through his raven locks. He was both terrified and anxious of the answer, hoping, praying that his suspicions weren’t wrong—unfounded. Harlow gaped at him, her caramel eyes wide with shock, was he actually hopeful she’d say yes, that it was him she fell for? Was he hoping to be the one that claimed her heart when she was supposed to be vying for the heart of Liam, the prince? He couldn’t have feelings for her too, could he? No, she was being stupid, reading way too much into his question, his words, the subtle changes in his face, his eyes. There was no way he felt the same way for her, yet she was now stuck, she had no choice but to answer—to tell him how she felt. She was so close to making it out without spilling her feelings, without having her heartbroken—now she had to tell him. Her brown eyes filled with tears, ready for him to tell her he didn’t feel the same way for her. “Yes.” She replied, her voice barely over a whisper. Her drew eyes towards the ground, she couldn’t look at him when he told her he didn’t feel the same. She couldn’t watch as her heart was broken once again. His hand cupped her chin, her breathing hitched as he slowly raised her face so she was looking at him. “Bastien?” She breathed, her question hanging in the air. The air hung thick around them, making it difficult for her to breathe. She felt like time had stopped as she awaited his response. Bastien’s face moved closer to hers, their breath mingled together, he was close enough she swore she could taste the whiskey on his breath. Harlow was stunned, she swallowed harshly trying to swallow the lump that formed in her throat to no avail. His lips claimed hers in a soft and sweet kiss, electricity spread through her veins at just the simple caress of his lips against hers. Her mind was racing as they broke apart, he felt the same—that kiss, she gently touched her lips. She stared at him unblinking, her mind a jumble of thoughts each one louder than the last. What did this mean? Where do they go from here? What did they do now that their feelings were revealed? Harlow grabbed his lapels, pulling his body tightly to hers, her lips crashing into his in a hard bruising kiss. Her skin felt like it was set ablaze by his touch, the feeling surprising her, but she needed more. She slid her hands up, wrapping her arms around his back, pulling him as close as she could, but still not close enough. Electrical impulses lighting up her body in ways she never imagined. Bastien broke the kiss, pulling away leaving Harlow stunned. Hadn’t he kissed her first, so why was he pushing her away now? Hot tears stung at her eyes when she realized she must have misunderstood, she internally chastised herself for believing he could ever feel the same way about her as she did him. She turned her head as she blinked back the tears, she wouldn’t allow him to see her fall apart, she had to keep some of her dignity intact. Bastien stopped her, his hand on her shoulder, his other hand coming up to cup her cheek, wiping away the few stray tears with his thumb. “Just not like this, I want to take you out first.” He stated, kissing her one last time before leaving, stopping her had been difficult, but it was the right thing to do. Harlow smiled softly as she nodded, not trusting her voice, she wiped the offending tears off her cheeks as she watched him walk off. She closed the door and leaned against it, he had feelings for her—that kiss, she touched her lips again. She could still feel the slight lingering feeling of his lips on hers. She sighed happily, wondering where their secret love went from here.

Made For You Masterlist

Masterlist

Tags: @imafictosexual @speedyoperarascalparty @liamxs-world @choicesgallery @annekebbphotography @tanyaschoices @hopefulmoonobject @leelee10898 @blackwidow2721 @bobbersb @endlessflame @innerpostmentality @imma-winchester-addict

#angst #bastien lykel #bastien x mc #choices the royal romance #trr au #bastien x harlow #harlow williams #made for you #mfy #crack pair

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followthru4 · 6 years

Text

The Newcrest Titans secured a strong win versus the Windenburg Falcons, 104-90. Rhys was the Titans leading scorer with 27 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists. His best friend, Orlando, finished the game with 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. The team now sat with a record of 12 wins and 0 losses, making them first place in their division and conference. With only 4 games left on the season, they were the talk around town as the favorite to win the championship. Following the game, Coach Amador lectured his guys on remaining poised during the season.

Coach Amador: “Fellas, great team win tonight. Everyone brought their A game and it showed! I asked for us to be humble and we did. Thank You. Now I know its a Friday night, however please head straight to your dorms and stay in. I do not want any of our players running the streets. We’ll have practice bright and early tomorrow at 7am. Do not be late.”

“Yes Coach!” The team proclaimed in unison.

****(music)****

Walking through the hall with his Beats headphones blasting Rexx Life Raj, Rhys was in an upbeat mood following his good game and team’s win. It was always a great night after defeating the opposition so easily like his squad had done a few hours ago. Had it been a lost, his mood would be the complete opposite. Replaying his points scored, and coach’s advice in his head, he spots Orlando and Emmett in the hallway.

Rhys (in his head): Why are they both wearing our team jackets?

Orlando: “So that’s why we should just step bro.”

Emmett: “I don’t know man, coach said it’s lock down tonight.”

Orlando: “Ahh, come on! Don’t be a L seven on me tonight.” He said as he noticed Rhys coming down the hall. “Aye, yo Rhys!”

Rhys: “What’s up ya’ll. You two dating now or something? What’s up with the matching attire?” He asked with a chuckle.

Emmett: “This genius is up to another one of his master plans.” He said fingering quotations as he said master plans.

Rhys: “Oh yeah, what is it this time fam?”

Orlando: “Glad you asked.” He said with a smirk. “Join us, tonight we’re going to a penthouse party in San My.”

Rhys: “What?! Fool you’re crazy. San My is a solid hour, hour and a half away. Besides, coach said it’s lock down tonight.”

Emmett: “See, that’s what I said!”

Orlando: “Ya’ll some squares all of a sudden? Look, we just destroyed Windenburg, and its Friday night. Live a little fellas. Besides, we’ll be back in time for practice, so it doesn’t matter. Let’s go! The more time we spend standing here, the less time we got in the city.”

Emmett followed Orlando’s lead while Rhys stood in the hallway contemplating his best friend’s words. He knew it was absolutely not the brightest idea to go to the city after his coach ordered the team to stay put in their dorms, however he definitely didn’t want word getting around that he was some nerd or square dude who passed up on lit parties in the city. Rhys took a deep breath, as if it were his last, and proceeded to his dorm to change his attire.

****(music)****

It took the guys exactly 45 minutes to get to San My. Emmett drove a 2014 Ford Mustang and showed off his GTS engine, going on average 92 miles per hour the entire way there. It was shocking not a single cop noticed the speeds in which Emmett raced down the highway. Rhys was exuberant to be out of the car, as he felt he might not make it to the city alive. Orlando on the other hand loved it. He always was one to enjoy adrenaline rushes and living life on the edge. He blasted hip-hop music the whole ride, yelling every lyric like the songs were written by him. It reminded Rhys how he became friends with Orlando in the first place. He, simply put, just didn’t give a fuck about anything or anyone. Rhys often wished he had that kind of spirit, however his best friend gave him the balance he was desiring in that.

Once inside the penthouse the guys made their way downstairs to the party. It was a large pool area with dark lighting and scenic views of the city lights. Neither of them had ever seen the city this close and personal before. They instantly felt like kings. As they headed in the direction of the DJ booth they found a couch area and decided to park it there. They didn’t know everyone in the party, so this spot was perfect for viewing and keeping a look out on the entire place.

Orlando: “We made it fellas, and those ladies twerking over there look DTF.”

The guys laugh at Orlando’s comical statement while observing his description. Two young girls were in fact twerking away to the beats of the infamous DJ Onix. He was a regular throughout nightclubs in San My, so seeing him at this private party definitely made the guys feel like royalty.

All through the night folks were having a good time. There was no drama, no mess, and no party goers got sloppy or wasted drunk. Rhys was enjoying his time with his crew, forgetting all about how they snuck out of their dorms against their coach’s word, when his eyes noticed a familiar face.

Emmett: “You got to admit my pass to you cutting to the basket was sweet. I put that thang right in the perfect place for your dunk though!” He said with excitement, reliving the moment with jubilation in his voice.

Orlando: “Hell yeah you did! It made Widenburg’s coach call a timeout and chew his guys out.” They laughed at the memory and noticed Rhys wasn’t chiming in.

Emmett: “Ain’t that right, Rhys?” He said nudging his pal.

Rhys: “Huh? Uh, yeah. Yup, fo’ sho!” He forced a response and chuckled.

Orlando: “Man, he don’t know what we’re talking about. Rhys, who got you shook bro?” He said laughing.

Emmett made eye contact with Rhys and followed his eyes. Once he knew what Rhys was looking at, he took control.

Emmett: “Aye, yo, Sage!”

Rhys: “Bro, what you doin?!? He asked surprised and somewhat irritated.

Emmett: “Chill, I got you bro.” He replied with a smirk.

Rhys: “Nah bro, for real, you don’t need to do this.”He was more nervous to speak to Sage than upset at Emmett for calling her over.

Sage walked over to the group of guys with a bright smile. Rhys couldn’t tell if it was the moon shining through the penthouse windows or her grin that shed a spotlight on their night. His heart skipped a few beats as he caught a quick sniff of her scent. Lavender, with a hint of shea butter and vanilla. It appeared she was keen with her appearance and health.

Emmett: “How you doin’ little sis?” He said giving her a hug.

Rhys (in his head): Little sis?! What the fuck?!

Emmett: “This is my homeboy Orlando.” He said pointing to his right. “And my good friend Rhys, I don’t think you two have ever met.” He added, with mischief in his voice.

Sage: “Hey Orlando. I heard you had 20 points tonight. Good job!”

Orlando: “Okay little sis, keeping up with the squad I see. Thank You.”

Sage smiled at the compliment and then turned to Rhys. “Hi Rhys.”She said with a calm and soothing tone. It was like music to Rhys’ ears to hear her say his name. It was definitely something he could get used to.

All Rhys could do was smile and throw up a hand to wave. Orlando had never seen his best friend so awestruck by anyone in their entire life. Not even the time they met Michael Jordan at a basketball camp their freshman year of high school.

Emmett was equally surprised and gave Rhys a quick nudge as to snap him back to reality.

Rhys: “Hey.” He was able to let out after encouragement from Emmett.

Sage: “What are you boys doing here? Does coach know about this?”She asked, knowing her brother and that most likely they snuck out.

Emmett: “Ah, don’t worry about all that. I should be asking you the same thing. What are you doing here freshman?”

Sage: “I was invited by my friend.”She said turning around and looking in her home girl’s direction. “She really wanted to come, but didn’t have a plus one.”

Emmett: “Well just be careful out here tonight, and don’t drink too much.”

Sage: “Okay, dad.” She said rolling her eyes. “Bye guys, nice to meet you.”She said locking eyes with Rhys.

He froze with her eyes locked on his. It was as if time stood still and it was just her and him. He imagined all the discussions they could have with one another if they weren’t at this party. He would ask her to dance, convince her to ditch her friend, and just converse with her all night. He wanted more of Sage, not physically, but spiritually. That’s when he knew she was the one.

Orlando: “I mean if I knew he was going to freeze up like a little school boy at the sight of your sister, I would of left his ass in Newcrest.” He said teasing Rhys.

Rhys: “Whatever fool, I heard you that time. I’m not frozen, just...She’s just...”

Emmett: “Go ‘head bro, you’ve got my blessing.” He said feeling the energy from Rhys and knowing he had nothing to worry about. He had never allowed any of his friends to talk to his baby sister, and there had been many growing up. Now she’s a young adult, and in college, so he felt it was time to release his big brother reigns and allow her to do her own thing. Besides, what better way to keep dibs on her than to allow one of his closest friends to court her?

Rhys: “You sure bro?” He said, eyes wide, and bushy tailed.

Emmett: “Yeah my man.” He replied with a smile. “She likes comedy movies and cheeseburgers. Thank me later.”

Orlando laughed at Emmett’s subtle advice. “Aye, come with me to the bar. I need a damn shot after all this cupcake talk.”

Emmett and Orlando left Rhys and walked over to the bar. Meanwhile, Sage had made her way back to Janae. Rhys noticed they were hysterically laughing about something and hoped they weren’t bagging on him and his boys. He swallowed his nervousness, slid a piece of gum into his mouth, and mustered up the courage to ask Sage for her time.

To his surprise she agreed, but took a few minutes to say goodbye to Janae first.

Sage: “I’ll text you when I’m back at the dorm. Hell, I might even just come to your room and wake you up.” She said with a grin.

Janae: “Please don’t, just text me bitch. Be safe.” She replied with spunk as she waved and walked away.

Sage and Rhys took a seat on a nearby couch and began their first one on one conversation. Rhys had waited for this moment since their first session in Business Communications.

Rhys: “This party is pretty lit, and this house, my god.”

Sage: “I know right.”She said surprised that he began their first conversation without being all cheesy or directly hitting on her. “And this view, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Rhys: “Me....either.” He said pausing between his words as he was referring to her looks and not the skyscrapers against the city skies.

Sage: “So, how was your game tonight?” She asked, knowing how he did but not wanting to mention that on their first encounter.

Rhys: “I played well.” He replied, wondering how she knew Orlando’s stats and not his. “I had 27 points, wanted 30, but maybe next game.”

Sage: “Ooh, Mr. Big Baller I see.” She gassed him up with a smile.

The two continued their conversations for the rest of the night. They discussed his interest in basketball, along with his production on the team. They also conversed about their Business Communications class, and how easy it appeared it would be. She shared with Rhys her interest in cheeseburgers, just like Emmett said, and comedy movies. Rhys was on cloud nine in her presence and didn’t want any of it to end. Sage ended up riding back to the city with the boys. She and Rhys sat in the back seat together, but remained respectful of each other’s space. Rhys didn’t want to rush, or give her the impression he only wanted one thing. He was looking to build a true friendship, and make her his girl, forever.

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#black simmer #black simblr #poc sims #TS4 #urban simmer #sims 4 stories #no expectations #gen 2 #season 2 #followthru4 #rhys #sage

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