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queenshelby · 3 years

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MY BROTHERS FRIEND (PART THREE)

Pairing: Tommy Shelby x Reader

Warning: Smut, Angst, Mention of Attempted Rape, Blood, Violence

Words: 5230

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Pantry Time

It has been two weeks since you agreed to marry Joseph Kruger, just as Tommy had requested, and today was the day of your engagement party.

You had only met Joseph once and you were fairly certain that he was not interested in marrying you just as you weren’t interested in marrying him. In fact, you didn’t believe that he was interested in women at all. He was attractive and had good manners. There was no reason for him not to be married already at his age.

His four brothers on the other hand were savages. You had encounters with them before and you could understand why Tommy wouldn’t trust them.

You still were unsure what Tommy’s plan was but, for some reason, you trusted him and played a long.

As such, you attended the engagement party willingly and with a smile across your face. The smile wasn’t because of the marriage proposal, but because you knew that you would see Tommy again. It has been a week since you last seen him and had a chance to be intimate with him.

There was no denying it, you were falling for him and it was painfully sweet. There was no future for you and him, but yet you tried to deny this fact and dreamed about being with him, one day.

Your father didn’t know about your involvement with Tommy. He certainly wouldn’t approve.

Arthur walked in on you once, but kept the secret. Lizzie and Polly had their suspicions, but no more than that.

‘You look beautiful Y/N’ Tommy said quietly as he approached you from behind with a smile across his face.

‘Good Evening Tommy’ you said, equally happy to see him.

Tommy was joined by his sister Ada and took the time to engage into some conversation with you as you were getting to know Joseph Kruger.

You played the game well, getting to know all of Joseph’s family and pretending to show a genuine interest in him.

Even Tommy was impressed by your skills of deception.

After your initial encounter with Tommy that evening, you didn’t see much of him and were rather disappointed until, finally, he asked you to dance after the jazz band began to play.

‘I missed you’ he whispered as he was leading you to the dancefloor.

‘I missed you too Tommy’ you whispered in return, following his lead.

You were terrible at dancing and Tommy was well aware of that. You tried hard to maintain a conversation with Tommy without falling over your own two feet.

‘Come with me’ Tommy said with a chuckle about your efforts to not injure yourself.

‘Tommy, we cannot be seen together. You know that’ you said with a slight worry.

‘They are all drunk and dancing, no one will notice us gone’ Tommy smirked as he took your hand and you followed him through the crowd.

He walked with you up the corridor towards a room at the end of the hallway.

Tommy opened the door of the mysterious room and swiftly pushed you inside before closing the door behind him.

Within seconds, Tommy’s hand reaches behind your head and he pulled you to him for a passionate kiss.

‘Tommy, this is the pantry’ you said as you took a quick breath.

‘And? Food has been served. No one will come looking in here’ Tommy smirked before leaning in for another desperate kiss.

‘Did I already tell you that I missed you’ he whispered as his hands made their way over your breasts.

‘You did’ you said, biting your lip and running your hand in between his leg over his already hard cock, poking beneath his pants.

‘Good’ he said just before you exchanged one more passionate and urgent kiss before you turned around and Tommy bent you over the small table inside the pantry.

You both wished that you had more time but you were certain that people would be looking for the bride to be any time soon.

Tommy stood behind you, lifted up your dress and pulled down your panties. He undid his belt, button and fly and pushed his pants and underwear down halfway to his knees, freeing his engorged arousal.

Crouching a little, he placed the head of his cock against the hottest spot underneath your naked bum. He lifted upwards and he could feel your treasure open up and slowly absorb the top two inches of his hard cock.

‘Hmm Tommy’ you moaned quietly as he grabbed your soft hips.

Tommy pushed himself up inside you. Inch after inch invaded your intense heat and with one final and hard push he was inside of you all the way. An inferno engulfed him, squeezing around his entire length.

‘Oh god Tommy’ you moaned, closing your eyes and arching your head back.

‘You feel so fucking good’ Tommy groaned as he kissed the back of your neck.

Holding your hips, he began sliding in and out of you from behind, his groin gently slapping against your ass.

His thrusts soon became harder and faster and you loved the feeling of his hard member poking against the depths of your core again and again.

As he was increasing his speed, Tommy ran his hands over your soft belly, holding the flesh for a moment as he slid into her heat over and over.

He then slid his hands further up your body and cupped your breasts over your dress while kissing the skin on the back of your neck. He wanted to kiss your mouth -- badly.

He pulled his cock out of you and you quickly spun around before stepping out of your panties.

Tommy lifted up your dress before lifting up one of your legs and leaning your back against the table.

Tommy kissed you passionately as you ran your hand over his cheek. Then he entered you again and you both watched intently as he placed the head of his cock against your entrance.

‘Fuck’ Tommy moaned as he watched you open up for him and allow his hard cock to squeeze inside of you, inch by inch.

Your heat slowly embraced him, welcoming him. He thrust forward, jamming his entire manhood inside of you.

Holding himself against you, Tommy looked down at your beautiful face as he began thrusting in and out of you.

Tommy slipped his arms around your back and you stopped leaning back on your elbows and put your arms around his neck. Breathing heavily, your eyes mere slits as you were in ecstasy, your lips found his and you kissed him deeply.

Your tongue shot into his mouth hungrily as he continued to thrust into you deeply.

Tommy then sent his own tongue deep into your mouth, thrusting in and out of you even faster. Your tightness pulled at him, coaxing him.

Tommy continued to thrust up into you as hard as he could a few more times, kissing you equally as hard.

‘Tommy, don’t stop’ you moaned loudly, feeling your orgasm approaching.

Your walls clenched around him and Tommy could feel his engorged shaft pulsing.

Just as you let out another loud moan as your orgasm washed over you and your body began to shake, Tommy released. His sticky rope of hot cum shot out the end of his manhood and into your hungry treasure.

You could feel the warmth inside of you as you exchanged a passionate kiss while you both were coming down from your high.

‘I fucking missed this’ Tommy said as he pulled out of you carefully.

‘As did I’ you smiled as you pulled your panties up beneath your dress.

‘But we better get back to the party’ you said as you fixed up your hair.

‘I am sure your father is ready and waiting to make a speech’ Tommy said before giving you another kiss, causing you to smile. There was some sudden awkwardness between you.

You both straightened yourself up and you opened the pantry door carefully.

Just as Tommy opened the door, Finn approached.

‘Finn’ Tommy said surprised just as Finn barged inside. He must have stood there for a while and listened to your sweet moans.

‘It’s not what it looks like Finn’ Tommy said just as you were speechless, starring at them both.

‘Oh yeah? Isn’t it?’ Finn said angrily. ‘Out of all women in this town Tommy… you are my fucking brother’ Finn added.

‘Finn, listen to me…’ Tommy said as Finn walked off.

Tommy followed Finn while you had to return to the party so that you wouldn’t raise any suspicions.

After you joined your father and Joseph for a thank you speech, you hadn’t had another chance to speak to Tommy or Finn and were worried about if and how Tommy managed to resolve the issue.

Trouble Ahead

Without the air having been cleared between Tommy and Finn and Tommy largely ignoring Finn’s feelings, Tommy called a meeting between the brothers and Uncle Charlie, without the presence of Polly.

With his plan, he went behind Polly’s back and he needed man power to take over the Kruger’s family business. As one would expect, he trusted his brothers to keep his plan a secret from others.

The meeting took place at Uncle Charlie’s junk yard and went on for about an hour. Arthur was in favour of Tommy’s plan while Finn and Uncle Charlie considered the plan to be too dangerous. Nonetheless, they agreed to follow Tommy’s orders.

After his meeting with Tommy, Arthur and Uncle Charlie, Finn downed his anger with Whiskey and cocaine at the Garrison where, later that evening, he met a young woman named Esmeralda.

With ignorance and naiveness, he confided in Esmeralda. He told her what happened between you and his brother Thomas and how upset he was about it. He considered you to be the love of his life which Tommy has now taken away from him.

Finn also told Esmeralda about Tommy’s plan. Finn was of the view that Tommy was using you for his own advantage, ignoring the fact that Finn had strong feelings for you.

Little did Finn know that Esmeralda knew the Kruger Family and that, soon, word would come to Manual Kruger, Joseph’s father.

And, as it happened, after Esmeralda comforted Finn for the night, she arranged a meeting with Manuel Kruger and his brother.

During this meeting, Esmeralda explained that Tommy was liaising with Joseph in order to take over the Kruger’s Family Business, making Joseph an acquaintance of the Peaky Blinders.

What you and Finn didn’t know was that Joseph Kruger despised his father and uncle and had been gathering men for two years now to work against them. But Esmeralda was very well aware of the situation and so was Tommy.

For many years, Joseph had been discriminated against by his own father and uncle because of his sexual orientation. He was excluded from family dealings and his brothers worked against him. However, neither of them realised that Joseph did, in fact, have strong ties to certain night club owners in London which was perfect for the distribution of narcotics.

Of course, Tommy saw the potential in this. It was a win win situation for him to help Joseph to take out his father, uncle and brothers and work with him to distribute cocaine throughout London’s nightclubs. In addition, the need for marriage between your family and the Kruger family would be diminished.

It was clear to Esmeralda that this information would create a war between the Shelby family and the Kruger family and this was exactly what she wanted to achieve.

She had a vested interest in seeing the Shelbys lose their fortune. After all, it was Arthur Shelby who killed her brother in a boxing match several years ago. What she wanted was revenge. But of course, Finn didn’t know that, nor did he know that he had put your life in danger when he told Esmeralda about your romantic involvement with his brother and his brother’s plan.

Later that evening, unbeknownst to you, you were to realise how dire this situation had become. The Kruger family was determined to send a message to both, your father and Tommy.

That evening, just as you said goodbye to Tommy and walked out of the office building, you noticed both lights on the street were broken.

This was unusual but you didn’t think anything about it until you also noticed a blood-stained hat on the pavement outside.

‘Karl?’ you spoke loudly. Karl was the man who normally drove you home and, usually, he would already been waiting for you at the front door.

You walked around the corner, following the stains on the pavement.

‘Karl?’ you asked again until, all of a sudden, you stumbled over something. As you looked down, you noticed Karl’s dead body, blood running from his head and chest.

‘Oh my god’ you said, shivers running over your back as you stepped backwards until, all of a sudden, you were grabbed by a man from behind.

‘Shh Love’ the man laughed as he covered your mouth while you tried to escape his strong hold on you.

‘Miss Gold, what a lovely surprise’ another man said as, all of a sudden, a total of three more men approached you from each corner of the street.

‘We know about your man’s plan Love’ the attacker then went onto say as he stood right in front of you, running his dirty hands over your blouse.

You tried hard to escape and reach for your gun in your bag, but the men held onto you tightly.

‘I think it’s time for us to send him and your father a little message’ one of the men said just as he ripped open your blouse.

By that time tears were running down your face and you tried to kick your legs up in protest.

‘You know Love, we will all take our turn and it will be over quick if you hold still, yeah?’ he went on to say just as you leaped out and kicked him into his crotch with your heels.

‘You fucking bitch’ he yelled as he reached for your skirt. In this moment you took your chance and bit harshly into the hand of the man who was restraining you while continuing to kick your legs forward.

‘Tommy’ you yelled loudly as your mouth was freed for a brief second, knowing that he was still in the office.

But, the men wouldn’t back off and began to further tare on your clothes while holding you back down, letting you scream for help.

‘No one is coming Love’ one of the men said as he began kissing your neck.

Just as you felt the man’s tongue run over your ear and heard him unbuckling his belt, you heard a shot.

‘Get the fuck off her’ Tommy yelled harshly, firing again.

The next thing you saw was blood streaming down the pavement. One of the men had been shot into his knee. It was dark and difficult for Tommy to aim.

With a limited view, Tommy approached the attackers while they briefly halted their assault on you.

‘Mr Shelby, nice of you to join us. You can watch while we fuck your little girlfriend’ one of the men said as, suddenly, Tommy could feel a knife against his neck from one of the other men.

With one of the men on the ground and the other keeping Tommy at bay, the other two proceeded with their plan as they tore apart your skirt, leaving your underwear exposed to them.

‘Now Love, we will continue where we left of and your boyfriend gets to watch us’ the man said as he pulled down his pants.

You continued to scream in protest as the man was trying to push down your panties.

Just as he grabbed hold of the hem, you heard a loud scream coming from the man standing behind Tommy.

As you looked over, you observed Tommy slamming a large and sharp piece of metal from the floor besides him into the man’s throat.

You took this opportunity to reach for your gun in your purse and, within a split second, you shot the man who, at this point, still had hold of your panties.

This allowed you to free yourself but, as you stepped backwards, you fell down to the floor. You had never shot someone before and were in shock, trembling at the sight of the dead man in front of you.

By the time you collected your thoughts, Tommy had already shot the other man who attacked you. It was almost like an execution, without mercy. Tommy’s face expressionless.

Tommy decided not to kill the fourth man but, instead, shot him into his other knee so that he couldn’t run away. He was to be questioned and then used to send a message to the Kruger Family.

‘Are you alright?’ Tommy asked as he raced over to you and placed his jacket around your half naked body.

You nodded while you were shivering and crying and your heart was pounding.

‘You are safe now’ Tommy said as he took you into his arms.

His white shirt was stained with blood and he had a large cut on his neck that would soon need some attention. But for now, he just wanted to comfort you.

With the man screaming in pain across the pavement, it wasn’t long for police to arrive.

Tommy didn’t leave your side as police assessed the scene.

‘What would you like us to do with this one Mr Shelby?’ the policeman asked after he instructed his other men to clean up the scene.

‘Take him to 5 Birmingham Avenue and chain him up. I will deal with him later’ Tommy said, causing the policeman to nod while Tommy helped you up from the pavement.

‘Common, let’s get you cleaned up ey?’ Tommy said as he walked you to his car, covering as much of your naked flesh as he could with his jacket.

Tommy helped you inside of his Bentley, which is when you noticed his wound. It was draining a lot of blood down his neck.

‘Tommy, you are hurt’ you said, looking at him concerned.

‘It’s just a scratch Y/N’ Tommy smirked as placed some pressure onto his open wound before driving off.

You didn’t know where he was taking you until he pulled up in front of a large house.

Love and Desire

‘Where are we?’ you asked.

‘My house. You will be safe here’ Tommy said as he parked the car.

Two maids were waiting for you as you walked inside the house. They must have seen the car pull up.

‘Mr Shelby, are you alright?’ Francis asked concerned.

‘Yes Francis. Could you please look after Ms Gold for me while I make a phone call?’ Tommy asked while he continued to press onto his wound firmly with his hands.

‘Yes Mr Shelby, of course. Shall I arrange a bath?’ Francis asked as you were clearly covered in mud and dirt.

‘Yes please. And some clean clothes and whatever else she needs’ Tommy said.

‘I do not think that we have clothes other than…’ Francis said and, before she could finish her sentence, Tommy interrupted her.

‘My wife’s clothes should fit her’ Tommy said.

‘Of course, Mr Shelby’ Francis responded before she helped you upstairs.

Francis ran a bath for you before she helped you undress and get rid of your dirty clothes.

She was kind and welcoming, almost like a mother.

As you then finally sank into the bath you could feel your bruised skin burn. Your legs hurt terribly and small cuts were covering your arms and knees.

Francis gave you some privacy at this point. But she had also given you three nightgowns to choose from before she left and prepared the guestroom for you.

You soaked in the bath for at least 20 minutes and scrubbed your skin. You felt disgusted and embarrassed.

When you stepped out of the bath, you dried yourself off with the soft white towel that Francis had given you before putting on one of the nightgowns. It was white, made out of soft and shiny satin. It covered some of your bruises but not all.

As you walked outside the bathroom, you could hear grunts coming from the kitchen.

You followed the noises to see Tommy being held down onto the kitchen table by Arthur and Finn while a nurse was using tweezers to remove fragments of gravel from the wound on his neck.

Tommy glanced over to you briefly before indicating to one of the maids that he wanted you to leave.

‘Can’t it just be stitched up?’ you asked, causing the maid to shake her head before asking you to follow her.

‘The wound has to be cleaned out, its quite deep’ the maid said as she showed you to your room.

You sat down on the bed in your room but couldn’t help it but worry about Tommy. All that you could hear from your otherwise quiet room were the occasional grunts. He was clearly in pain.

Then, after about ten minutes, there was dead silence and you became even more concerned and worried.

Finally, after 20 minutes, you heard a knock on the door.

‘Come in’ you said.

You were relieved to see Tommy when he opened the door.

You were quick to get off the bed and walk over to him, pressing your lips onto his in a haste.

He had been stitched up and his wound was covered by a large gauze.

Tommy didn’t say anything after the kiss but simply looked at you wearing Grace’s nightgown.

It was almost like he was assessing you and all of the small bruises and cuts that covered your body.

His hands then caressed your face before he kissed you again.

Silence. There was nothing but silence and kisses.

After about ten minutes of this, Tommy caressed your face again and looked into your eyes.

‘I am sorry this happened to you’ Tommy said.

‘It’s not your fault Tommy’ you responded.

‘You will stay here for a while until I sort this out, alright? You will be safe here and no one will ever hurt you again like this, I promise.’ Tommy said.

‘Alright Tommy’ you said as your hands ran over his bare chest. You wanted to tell him what you were feeling for him in that moment but couldn’t bring it over your lips.

At this point you pulled him onto the bed with you, kissing him gently, before reaching in between his legs.

‘Not tonight Y/N’ Tommy said as he could feel his hand run over his crotch.

‘Tommy, please, I need you’ you said, knowing how good it always makes you feel.

Tommy chuckled at your comment and nodded before leaning over you another kiss.

‘Alright’ he said, before he slowly removed your nightgown. It wasn’t long before his hands were touching you everywhere, lingering on your breasts, tracing the sharp curves of your hips.

Tommy’s lips followed his hands, planting gentle kisses against every inch of your bruised skin. His head moved back up to your chest and his full lips closed over the tips of first one breast and then the other. He began sucking your nipples gently, causing you to moan loudly.

‘Tell me if I'm hurting you’ he murmured as his hand reached down between your legs where most of your bruises had surfaced.

You nodded, breathless. You reached for his belt but your hands were shaking so much that you couldn't even maneuver the clasp. You were still wound up by what had happened that night.

Tommy eased your hands away and took over. In no more than ten seconds, he was as completely naked as were you.

He embraced you, holding you tightly against his chest. You ran your fingers up and down the length of his back, scraping your short nails against his smooth skin.

Tommy shifted his position and began suckling at your breasts once more. A moan of pleasure escaped your lips. You could feel his hard member pressing against your thigh. And you could feel moisture seeping out from between your legs.

Tommy reached between your thighs, parted them gently, and slowly swirled two fingers around your wet vaginal lips.

Tommy removed his fingers. His body slithered down the length of yours. He took hold of your hips, placed his mouth between your legs and nibbled at your sensitive flesh. Then the tip of his tongue began flicking against your clit, tracing circles around the hardened nub.

‘Oh god, Tommy’ you cried as you grabbed hold of his muscular shoulders as the shivers and shudders of an approaching orgasm wracked at your weak body.

The arching of your back was sending bolts of pain shooting down your spine. But you didn't care. Pain and pleasure were colliding and you chose the pleasure.

‘Don’t stop Tommy’ you urged him, tangling your fingers in his hair.

Tommy pressed his mouth to your wet entrance once again and used his tongue to toy with your clit some more.

‘Oh god yes’ you moaned as your orgasm was consuming you, fast and hard.

Tommy crawled up the length of your body and held you tightly as you lost all control. You were shaking and moaning. You grabbed onto him for dear life until the final shudder released you from the joint grasp of ecstasy and agony.

He kissed her hungrily, devouring your lips with his own. You could taste your own juices as you returned his kiss with every ounce of passion you possessed.

Though satiated and struggling with the pain, you parted your legs again and reached down to guide Tommy’s hard cock into your soaking wet pussy. Tommy groaned immediately. He propped himself up on his hands and began pushing into you gently.

‘It's okay’ you whispered as Tommy looked at you as if he was seeking approval.

‘Push harder’ you moaned, giving your body to him.

Tommy accepted your invitation and began thrusting into you more forcefully. He lowered his head to kiss you as he was pumping into you with increased speed and force.

The tip of his cock was grazing against your sweet spot as he thrusted into you and you felt another climax approaching.

At the same time, you also felt Tommy’s body begin to tremble with his own approaching release.

‘Oh god Tommy’ you moaned as your orgasm washed over you.

At the same time, guttural groans escaped his throat and, with one final convulsive thrust, he erupted inside of you, flooding you with a rush of hot cum.

After you both came down from your high, Tommy rolled away from you and collapsed next to you.

He took you into his arms and held you against his body as, all of a sudden, Arthur barged through the door.

‘Fucking hell Arthur’ Tommy said just as you covered your bare breasts with the sheets.

‘Abraham Gold is here’ Arthur said, trying hard to look away from you.

‘I thought Finn was full of shit when he told me that you two were still fucking’ Arthur said as you quickly reached for your nightgown and Tommy put on his pants.

‘This stays between us’ Tommy instructed as he walked out of your room and downstairs.

‘Mr Gold’ Tommy said, greeting your father.

‘Where is my daughter’ Abrahama asked.

‘Upstairs, having a rest’ Tommy responded, causing Finn to sigh and Arthur to laugh.

You made your way downstairs after five minutes to greet your father before Tommy took him into his office to discuss the matter.

All you could hear from outside Tommy’s offices were arguments and yelling.

Your father didn’t know about your involvement with Tommy but soon learned about his plan. In your father’s opinion, Tommy was going behind his back and put your life at risk for financial gain and had now created a war with the Kruger family, especially after killing three of Manuel Kruger’s five sons.

‘These were men you wanted to be in business with, ey? Men who tried to force themselves on your daughter’ Tommy said angrily as your father stormed out of his office.

‘Carful Mr Shelby’ your father yelled before telling Tommy that it would have never come that far if he wouldn’t had interfered with the arrangement.

Your father took a hold of your hand told you to get into the car as he left Tommy’s office, the yelling continuing.

‘Mr Gold, it’s not safe’ Tommy tried to argue while your father forced you to leave with him.

‘My daughter’s safety is not your concern Mr Shelby’ Abrahama said and you had no choice but to follow him back to the commune.

You spent the next few days there, not being allowed to work or go on with your usual activities. You knew that your father regularly talked to Tommy. He had no choice but to work with him now after all this. But, you had no idea where things were heading from here on and you knew that Tommy’s actions made your father despise him.

Finally, five days later, your father arranged another meeting with Tommy and Arthur at the factory to which you were invited. It was Tommy who insisted that you were part of this meeting and gain an understanding of the plan. Tommy argued that this was for your own safety.

You appreciated Tommy’s efforts to have you included but, that particular morning, you could have very well stayed in bed.

You have been unwell for two days now and didn’t want to see Tommy looking the way you did.

You forced yourself to put on a nice dress and some make up before joining your father and brother in the car.

Just as you arrived at the factory building, you barged out of the car and towards the lavatory.

‘Excuse me’ you said as you stormed into the men’s lavatory on the ground floor. There was no female lavatory in close proximity.

‘You realise that this is the fucking men’s lavatory, right?’ Arthur said while taking a leek as, all of a sudden, he heard a loud choking noise.

‘Are you alright, Love?’ he asked as you were in the cubicle, with the door open, your head hanging over the toilet seat.

‘Yes, I am fine, thank you Arthur’ you said as you straightened yourself up and walked to the basin to wash your hands.

There was an awkward silence between you and Arthur.

‘Ate something bad, ey?’ Arthur said as he handed you his handkerchief.

‘Yes, probably. It’s been like this for two days’ you said. ‘I will return it, washed of course’ you added after you wiped your mouth with the handkerchief.

‘Don’t worry Love. Keep it’ Arthur said as you both left the bathroom and headed to the meeting.

#cillian murphy #cillian murphy smut #Cillian Murphy x Reader #cillian murphy imagine #Tommy Shelby #tommy shelby smut #tommy shelby x reader #tommy shelby imagine #thomas shelby #thomas shelby smut #thomas shelby x reader #thomas shelby imagine #Peaky Blinders #peaky blinder imagine #peaky blinders fanfic #peaky blinders imagine

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secret-ssociety · 4 years

Text

Behind the scenes

Pairing(s): Aaron Tveit x Reader, Les Mis (2012) cast x Reader

Warnings: This is just fluff. Like one curse

Summary: It is never intended for Enjolras and Eponine to fall in love in the original story, but a lot of things can happen when the cameras are turned off

A/N: I know everyone is waiting for more of the Let Me Down series but I have wanted to do this for a long time bc I am utterly in love with this man and I've always said I don't want to just write Peter Parker's stuff. Might make this several parts, who knows, I like things with parts.

masterlist

requests are open!!

For the first time in the whole day, silence fell upon the set of Les Mis, being only vaguely interrupted by the quiet chatter of everyone else who, unlike you, still had energy to talk. It's not like it was your fault, though, you had no idea of how much running around implied to play Eponine.

Huddled in a quiet corner of what had been built to be the Café Musain, you pushed your knees against your chest and hid your face between them, hoping to catch some rest before Tom decided he wanted to do a scene again. Was it maybe two in the morning? Three? You didn't even know anymore, you weren't allowed to carry a watch around your wrist and your phone was charging in your trailer, but the last time you had checked it was midnight and that had been a few hours ago.

Doing a movie, you had come to learn in your first few days of filming, was quite different from putting up a show. Interacting with your surroundings, going over scenes and even directing your eyes to a certain place while saying your lines was a world away from your common place on stage. You'd had to repress a loud squeak on your first day on set when you saw just how real everything looked, and when you started to try on your garments... you might as well have been a street urchin on Paris, 1832.

A small finger touched your shoulder timidly, waking you up from your fragile sleep and making you lift your head from its place. Your eyes took a few seconds to adjust to the light and you even had to squint a little to recognize Daniel standing next to you, looking just as tired, but with a small flame of caffeine dancing in the back of his eyes. Who the fuck gave the kid coffee? You wondered.

"How long do you think they'll keep us here?" he asked sitting next to you. From all your cast mates, Daniel was probably the first one you had grown fond of, but then again, so had everyone.

"Maybe not much longer, unless they want us to be here at noon tomorrow," you answered raising an eyebrow. Being the youngest person on the whole set, you could tell he was trying to hold his own like the adults, drinking coffee and doing his best to stay awake.

The problem with that, you knew, was that caffeine reacted differently on kids and adults: when an adult drinks coffee, it gives them energy for a long period of time, the caffeine is distributed in order to serve the body for good while. When a child drinks coffee, on the other hand, the caffeine gives them a rush of adrenaline that gets them jumping up and down and running circles around the adults, very much like Daniel was doing a while ago, thus burning all the energy they had acquired as fast as they had engorged it.

"You want to rest for a minute?" you asked him, stretching your legs so that he could rest his head on them. He shook his head tiredly, but didn't put up a fight when you grabbed his shoulder and started to lay him down.

Softly, you caressed his hair, while carefully trying to undo the tangles the dirt had made onto his hair to give him that street gamine I-live-in-the-elephant-of-the-Bastille look. In a matter of seconds, he was fully asleep, snoring quietly against the fabric of your skirt.

You heard some of the boys approaching, laughing loudly with cups of steaming coffee on their hands, and were quick to lift your finger up to your lips, to let them know of the resting boy that would be quickly awaken by their laughs. They apologized in whispers, handed you the cup they had brought for you and sat around you.

"Helena is trying to convince them to let us go to the hotel," Alistair commented, although he didn't look tired at all, more like he was amused by everyone else's exhaustion.

You sighed in relief against the cup, which was held close to your lips, making the steam hit your face in a warmth that made you aware of how cold your nose was. Only one gulp of the bitter liquid was enough to warm the blood flowing through your veins and take you back to life, you could open your eyes properly and the first the landed on was one of the most distinctive of your cast mates: Aaron Tveit.

Was there something special about him that made you think of his full name instead of just the first? Yeah, everything. He was the embodiment of the Enjolras Victor Hugo had wrote, the one that had been nicknamed Apollo by his friends. Maybe it was the way he held himself, somehow taller than everyone else, with that revolutionary fire in his eyes and walking around the set like he was actually going to get the people to build a barricade.

Wherever he happened to exist, you couldn't help but feel the presence of an olden god amongst mortals, the time go slower and light to travel in a bliss. There was just something so ethereal about him...

"He's talent, isn't he?" Alistair commented, having followed the direction of your eyes. "Among other things," Eddie joked, perhaps having caught on on the repressed smitten nature of your gaze. Stubbornly, you rolled your eyes.

As if saved by the bell, your director announced that everyone was allowed to go and get some rest, under the condition that you had to be back the next day before lunch. You were so tired, you almost forgot you were on your costume, being remembered by Eddie when you walked straight to the exit.

Up until that day, you had followed you stylist's skincare routine religiously every day after finishing filming, but once you found yourself in your sweatpants and Alistair's sweater, you simply poured water in your face and wiped all the makeup away with a paper towel.

Outside of your trailer, you found at least half of the Amis waiting for you to go grab some pizza while forming a wall to shield a newly caffeinated Daniel from your accusatory eyes. "I just left my cup unattended for a second!" George said quickly. You didn't know if you should laugh or yell at them, but you decided you were too tired to do either, so you simply took his hands and walk with the boys to the minivans the studio had hired for your transportation.

Eating pizza after having barely washed the makeup off of your face and only having a few hours to sleep after? You knew you were going to break out, but that was a tomorrow's problem.

Perhaps it was the magic that gravitated around Aaron that made you look back to see him, walking several feet behind the lot of you and clearly immersed on his thoughts. What you did next wasn't exactly a conscious decision, but it felt as natural as if it were.

"Hey, Tveit," you smiled, stopping before him. He looked surprised for a second, since he hadn't heard you approach him, but then smiled softly at you.

"Hello, Y/L/N," he said back, looking at you with those piercing eyes of him.

"We're going to grab a bite, wanna come?" You asked with a bright smile, one so cute that made it hard for him to say no.

"I don't know, it's late..." he said with half a smile.

"Did you know that pizza wasn't invented until the late half of the 18th century," you said, persistently, making him raise an eyebrow at the random fact, "that means all of our characters died without having ever eaten pizza. Shouldn't we, in order to honor them, do the things they never got to do?"

Aaron tried as hard as he could to fight back a smile at your argument. He had heard from the other guys about your occurrences and funny yet charming way with words, but he still hadn't had a chance to delight himself with it all too much. Maybe you were both too busy, maybe he wasn't as good as he liked to think to break the ice and Alistair had beat him to it.

He was practically convinced already, but still you added, "come on, Enjolras is still going to be here tomorrow morning... er, today a little less morning." You corrected checking the time on your wrist watch.

He was tired and not really hungry, but sill he nodded and followed you to the exit, where the rest of your friends cheered upon his joining.

Thankfully, the place Fra Fee knew was not too far away from the hotel, because none of you would have managed to walk too much after the day you'd had. Pulling a couple of tables together with the help of a waitress who pretended not to be a little starstruck, all of you sat down and ordered. You personally tried to ignore the way Eddie gave you his sit so that you would end up sat next to Aaron.

After ordering three large pizzas and some lemonade, and having grudgingly remembered that you couldn't order a beer or anything of the sort, you resumed your chattery. You soon found that, while you weren't the only theatre actress on the room, you were the only one who had never been on a film before. Still, that didn't mean your previous work had gone unnoticed.

"I was really excited to meet Y/N," Eddie commented on Daniel's side, "because I went to see her in The Phantom of The Opera, in London and I was" he made the gesture of his head blowing up, making you laugh.

"Yes, I knew I had seen you somewhere! You're Christine Daaé!" George exclaimed, interrupting the bite he was about to give to his pizza.

"Didn't you say on the first table reading that your dream role is Esmeralda, from the Hunchback?" Aaron perked up, making you blush a little.

"Esmeralda, Christine and Eponine," Alistair numbered, only giving you time to nod, "are you planning on becoming the Holy Trinity of French Theater?"

"I'll be able to say the Holy Trinity of French Theater died in my arms!"

You almost spilled your lemonade at the exclamation, unable to contain your laughs, very much like everyone else on the table. You didn't mean for your face to be as red as it was in that moment, but you couldn't help it when everyone seemed to be so interested in your past work. Despite attention being your line of work, you didn't know how to handle it that good.

It was when Daniel's adrenaline burnt off, as you had predicted, and he was found too tiresd to even keep his head up that you came back to the hotel, with the quiet company of Aaron, who had also offered to take the young boy back to his room. You were both in silence, though it was not an awkward one, it just wasn't necessary to talk to enjoy the other's company.

"We're getting a cow," he said suddenly, when you were approaching the entrance of the hotel.

"What?" You asked with a confused smile.

"We're getting a cow, on the set, tomorrow," he clarified grinning, "she will be there for the scenes of the barricade."

"Why would a cow be on a barricade?" You questioned with a laugh, opening the door for Aaron, since he was carrying Daniel, and receiving a little thank you in return. "Not that I'm complaining."

He laughed in return and followed you to the elevator, making sure neither the young boy nor the jacket he had put over him fell from his embrace. The cow thing had just been to start conversation and be able to ask what he really wanted to know, although he was a little pumped up about the cow.

"Do you want to do what Alistair said?" He asked curiously, "About being the Holy Trinity of French Theater, it is."

"I had never thought about it that way, but it sounds quite nice," you answer thoughtfully. "Though, I believe I would have to play Eponine on a stage, rather than a set to really earn that title."

"You're not liking movie making so far?" He asked somewhat amused, specially when you whipped your head to look at him with wide eyes.

"No! That's not what I mean," you talked so fast you nearly stumbled through your words, but the kindness on his eyes made you sigh and calm down. "This has been amazing so far and I would never underestimate the huge effort it takes to make one of these. I mean, I've only been doing this for a couple days and I'm already beyond exhaustion. And yet it has been wonderful, the set and the preparation and just seeing all the work it implies is... unbelievable."

You knocked three time on the door, to see Daniel's mother not two seconds later. Aaron had been worried that maybe she would be concerned and even a little mad at how late her son was coming back, but you had been texting her throughout the extra hours of shooting and to let her know you were going to take him to eat something before coming back to the hotel.

She kindly thanked you both, took Daniel (who was still sound sleep) on her arms and gave Aaron his jacket back, to then close the door. Without saying much, he walked you to your own room, prompting you to continue.

"Where was I? Oh, yeah! So filming a movie is... I'm running out of adjectives, but it's really great," he chuckled slightly, "but I don't think it can top the feeling of being on the theater," you sighed dreamily.

"On stage, there is no take two, the things you're doing can only be done once. There's..." your tongue ran through your lips, an action Aaron found almost mesmerizing, as you tried to find the words to describe the thing you loved the most in the world. "There's this feeling, when the show is about to start, the lights dim, the overture starts and you get goosebumps and you heart starts thumping at the moment you come on stage, there's something about that moment being unrepeatable and having the eyes of the crowd on you, the adrenaline is just... is like the identity line that divides the actor from their character disappears and in that moment you're not quite them, but you're not you, you're just..." you let out a breath at the inability to find the word and, for a moment, you worried you might have bored him with your rambling, but he had that bliss over his face, the one only a theatre actor knows and has, that told you he knew exactly what you're talking about.

The next morning, back on set and with your costumes again covering your backs, Aaron found himself so hypnotized by the sight of you rehearsing with Amanda his tea got cold and was utterly scared when Eddie's palm fell onto his back, dragging him out of his day dream.

"Is this the part when the Phantom is stalking Christine?" George asked jokingly, making Aaron roll his eyes.

For someone who made so much fun of him for becoming Enjolras, he had certainly developed Grantaire's mocking nature.

"She's really talented," the blonde man answered nonchalantly, drinking from his tea and making a face when he found out the drink was cold.

"I see," Eddie said handing him his tea, "are you seeing our dear Y/N under a new light?"

Was he? It would be a lie to say he didn't come back to his room with you occupying every single one of his thoughts, his heart fluttering who had managed to put his passion for theatre in words. Had his hands always became a little shaky around you? Yes. But today it was even worse.

Today, your voice giving life to Eponine's thoughts and emotions could make his cheeks blush or bring tears to his eyes in a matter of a second. Today, you walked around with a strange light over you, one that didn't allow him to look away while, at the same time, reprehended him for staring. Today, you were more than an artist, an actress. You were something more than human.

"Nonsense," he replied stubbornly, "I have always known how talented she is."

Before he could get a sarcastic comment or a snide yet friendly remark, the three men's chatter was interrupted by the two previously mentioned ladies rehearsing The Robbery, one of the scenes you planned on filming that day.

"It's the police! Disappear! Run for it!" Your strong soprano voice cut all chattery in one swift motion. "It's Javert!"

He probably held his breath for as long as you held the note. Once you opened your eyes, you seemed a little embarrassed at all the eyes on you, but Aaron didn't understand just what did you have to be embarrassed about.

Eddie shook his shoulder, "breathe, mate!"

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emcads · 2 years

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@dimitresca said: 👀 another one for good measure on this sunday

👀 - …keep my muse close to yours by grabbing their hair

ESMERALDA GASPED, long fingers twisted in black curls prompting a BURST of surprise, and pain, and pleasure. at once, her rise from her lap was halted, at once the process of dressing herself interrupted. leaving ? oh, there was to be no question of her leaving. ( not if the lady herself did not ordain it. ) so she sat, obedient, where her presence was DEMANDED, bare skin glowing in the low fire of the hearth. she felt vulnerable, exposed, without her gear at hand, and there was a CHILL to it now that swallowed up her normal ravenous delight. ( iced and white and COLD as Romanian snow ) somehow this felt DIFFERENT to her usual tease and tormenting, the wicked games that pressed and pleased for her loyalty, her devotion, her SOUL. for even Alcina Dimitrescu tired of her toys after a while. but there was no play in her now.

❝ Alcina ... ❞

it was a weak protest, but a protest nonetheless, and Alcina TIGHTENED HER GRIP until her neck was canting back for to bear that sweet, sweet throat. Esmeralda whimpered. she felt desire crest at her usual attentions, the HARSHNESS in her touch, but for once she swallowed it down into a manageable thirst and ignored the way she moistened even now in the twinges of fear.

❝ you know I must go. my ship awaits. ❞ and they will come looking for me, if I do not come, is what remained UNSAID in the explanation. and she had no wish to watch as her men were slaughtered in some ill-fated rescue attempt. and .. much as she ADORED HER, neither could she wish to remain here in this village forever. she longed for the sea, and the sun, and the hazy voices with drunken Spanish SONG on the wind. and when she had all the wonders the ocean would provide, THEN she would miss the Lady Dimitrescu and all her charms, and she would return as eagerly as a HAILED PUP to her affections. ❝ I hate to leave you, mi amor. I will yearn for you every day until my return. ❞

#[ the cult people did not like that ]#dimitresca #tw suggestive #✘; VERSE: WHEN OUR TRUTH IS BURNED FROM HISTORY BY THOSE WHO FIGURE JUSTICE IN FOND MEMORY，WITNESS ME. ( dimitresca )#✘; LOOSE，CATCH THE WIND ( meme response )#✘; LETTERS ( answered )

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themusicplayedherlife · 4 years

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Some Sugar

Part 1: just keep breathin’

pairing: sugar daddy!steve rogers x reader characters: reader, steve rogers, cassandra jones (oc), selena (oc), bucky barnes, sam wilson word count: 3k+ warnings: angst, family issues, money problems summary: you need to just remember to breathe a/n: give me validation please and let me know what you think

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There’s a steady stream of customers all night, nothing like a few nights ago, but it’s definitely better than it’s been for a while. While you want to be happy for Cassandra, your mind keeps going back to your Aunt Magdalena’s threats, most recently a note slipped under your door, that you thankfully found before Esmeralda could.

It’s no wonder why your mom (and dad) kept communications with her to a minimum—which only adds to the mystery of why she went to her of all people for money.

“Excuse me,” a deep voice calls for your attention, it’s strong yet somehow nervous. When you look up to smile at him, you’re greeted by stormy, blue eyes illuminated by the lights behind you on the shelves and mirror. He’s handsome, alarmingly so with brown hair cascading down to the top of his broad shoulders—cheekbones sharp and chin dented right at the end and covered by mild scruff.

Holy fuck … what you wouldn’t give to spend a night with him. It’s been so long since...

Hey! You’re at work, and work means focusing!

You push your warring thoughts aside and manage your best customer service smile. “What can I get for you?”

“Three beers,” he says, eyes falling to the taps behind you, and with a quiet and unsure voice, he orders three Mirages.

You smile reassuringly. “Good choice.” When he eyes you curiously, you explain, “Local brew.” You turn your back to him and grab the glasses for beer as Cassandra squeezes by you to reach the register at the end of the bar to charge a group.

You fill one of the glasses and set it aside while you absentmindedly fill up another, the sound of the soothing trumpets playing through the speakers washing over the bar.

Eleven thousand dollars. How are you going to pay that much money in two months?

“You okay?” Cassandra asks, watching you carefully, eyes drifting to the glass in your hand.

You’re quick to switch to the final glass when you realize you’re about to overfill the second. With a tired smile you say, “I’m fine.”

She frowns, shaking her chocolate curls, but before she can say anything, someone saunters up to the bar and orders a drink. She gives you a look that says—I’m not done with you—and starts making the drink for the customer.

With the final glass filled, you spin on your heels to face the male that ordered the beers and are surprised to find he’s no longer alone—two men are flanking him.

They’re just as tall and wide as the brunette—a contrast of skin between them, the one on his left a beautiful shade of umber—dark and rich. Black hair short and buzzed, and a thin beard making his face seem slimmer than he appears to be, apple of his cheeks high and round when he smiles at something his companions say. Handsome in a simple white tee and black leather jacket.

The other man on his right is white, almost pink and peach with the low lighting of the bar, nothing like the tanned brunette between them. If his friends are handsome, he’s beautiful. Golden hair slicked back with a semi fade on the sides; muscles tightly wrapped and bounded by a blue Henley that you’re certain is a size too small; lashes, long and thick brush against his cheek bones; face clear of scruff and dark shadows; lips pink and pretty—something almost boyish in his smile that makes you crack a smile of your own.

Shit. You’d take any one of them home!

Three pairs of eyes land on you as you set down their beer, and you freeze, locking with blue eyes—bright and alarming, specks of hazel and greens around his iris making his eyes pop in the dark bar. Something flashes within them, and there’s something familiar about them that you can’t quite place.

What is it?

Cassandra makes a noise from beside you, like a hum and a snicker and you realize you might’ve been staring at him for far too long. Shit.

Clearing your throat, you drag your gaze to the brunette between them and smile politely. “Here are the first two, let me just get the last one.” A sleek, black card comes into view after placing down the final glass, and you take it, a little embarrassed. “Open tab or closed?”

“Keep it open,” the blonde says, a familiarity directed at you that has you raising your eyebrows, but you ignore it. “Just in case.”

“Of course.” You don’t really look at him or his friends after accepting the card, scurrying away to swipe his card to make sure it’s good, and input his first order under the last name on his card—Rogers. Storing the card for the meantime, you go back to cleaning the bar.

“You sure you’re okay?” Cassandra tries again.

“Cass,” you warn with a sigh, eyes trailing over to the men that have decided to settle on the bar-stools instead of an empty table—the three too busy engaged in their own conversation to listen in on yours.

“As your boss and friend, I have every right to worry about you,” she says, resting an elbow on the bar and leaning forward. “Your head has been up in the clouds lately. And more than usual. Did something happen to your mom? Is she okay? Is her arm not healing properly?”

“She’s as okay as a chemotherapy patient can be,” you snap harshly, rubbing at the bar fiercely. She blinks at you surprised and doesn’t retort—shame immediately creeps up on you. “I—I’m sorry. I didn’t—I didn’t mean—“

“Hey. Hey. I know,” she affirms gently. “It hasn’t been easy for you, but you know I’m here if you ever want to talk.” She makes a gesture to herself and your eyebrows knit.

The glasses clink as you put them away. “Thanks. She’s getting better, but I’m not ready. Not yet.”

She nods solemnly. “I understand, but I’m here whenever you are. You hear?” she says, pointing a finger at you before taking the empty tray to the back.

You watch her leave with a sigh. You really shouldn’t be taking out your frustrations on others, you mentally scold yourself.

As you continue wiping down glasses, your phone vibrates in your back pocket, slipping it out discreetly, a notification of a new message appears on the lock screen.

Selena⛱☀️: Went over the docs. You free to talk?

Just those simple words are enough to steal your breath away; dread filling your bones. She didn’t add an emoji, you realize; no emoji usually meant trouble.

Your grip tightens around your phone.

Skyscraper: gimme min

Stuffing it back into your pocket, you look around the semi empty bar—the group in the back, the three men at the bar, a couple by the entrance. Biting your lip, you look back at the door Cassandra slipped through, cautiously. Your phone vibrates again, and it’s enough to push you towards it.

Twisting the knob slowly, you poke your head in and find Cassandra near the merch taking inventory, and your coworker, Matt cleaning up the small kitchen by Cassandra’s office.

Rapping on the wood, the two drag their attention to you. “Cass, do you mind if I make a quick call?”

She blinks, a worried frown stretching itself across her ebony skin and her shoulders tense. You shake your head when she raises an eyebrow.

“Personal,” you tell her. “Kind of.”

Her shoulders drop and a small smile replaces her frown. “Yeah, go ahead. I’ll man the front while you’re away.”

“Thank you.”

You slip into the small hallway connecting the bar to the two gender-neutral bathrooms for customers. You lean against the locked door leading into Cassandra’s office, never used since you started working here, and stare at the door leading out into the dirty alleyway.

The phone rings against your ear, the faint music from the bar encasing the small hallway too, it’s soothing in a strange way, with its slow beat and sensual saxophone solo.

“Hello?” Selena answers, a loose mix of a Californian and Australian accent seeping into her words. She’s only been living in California for a little over a year and she’s already picked up the accent faster than she did yours—traitor.

“How’s the Californian sun?”

“Golden,” she answers readily, a grin apparent in her voice. “Better than New York’s, that’s for certain. Though, not quite like home.” Keys clicking in the background float to your ear. “I looked over the documents—“

You straighten, lifting your thumb to bite your skin. “And?”

She hesitates, clothes rustle and she takes in a deep breath that you try not to read into. “It’s all legit.” Fuck. “Usually, we can exploit mistakes or loopholes, but your aunt was completely thorough with her agreement.” Your head hits the wooden door. “I’m sorry. I know it’s not what you want to hear.”

“It’s fine.”

“Look, I have a thousand dollars saved up right now—“ You’re quick to stop her by calling her name, but she won’t allow you to interrupt her. “And I could probably get another $500 soon—“

You clench your eyes closed. “You don’t have to do that, Sel. I could always get another loan from the bank and--“

“Will you shut up and let me finish? I know your pride won’t let you accept my money for free.” You slide down the door, head hanging as you listen to her. “You can always pay me back, at your terms. Ten, twenty a month, a year, fuck, I don’t care. Whatever makes you feel better. But I’m not going to let you take out another loan! You’re still paying off your mom’s hospital bill and that dumb loan you got for Esmeralda’s school fees!”

“Selena, you really don’t have to—“

“I know I don’t have to,” she snaps harshly, voice full of tough love. “I want to. You and your family helped me through a tough time and I want to help you guys too. I’m in a place where I can help, and if you won’t accept my help, then fuck you, I’ll tell your sister and I’ll send her the money.”

You choke back a sob.

“Listen,” she starts, her voice soft as you hold back sniffles, “1500 isn’t a lot, or even half of the money your aunt is demanding, but it’s a start. And I have a plan, okay? I asked Camille and Jason to whip up a new contract, using the 1500 as a down payment of sorts. I can’t guarantee it’ll work, but we’re going to negotiate with her, fight for it. It’s not over yet.”

“God, what would I do without you?”

Her voice cracks as she scoffs a laugh. “Good thing you don’t have to find out, huh?”

The music fades into the background, loud laughter cuts through the noise. Cassandra’s voice rings out loudly, announcing last call. “I feel so hopeless, Sel,” you admit to her, words laden with grief and exhaustion, and in some ways guilt. Guilt that you can’t do more for your family. Guilt that you didn’t do more to stop JC from leaving. Guilt that you’re such a horrible daughter and sister.

“Oh, darl’...”

“The hospital bills, Esme’s school, even the bare necessities—it was hard to scrape by, and now this? I just—why can’t we catch a break? Esme doesn’t deserve this. Fuck, Mom doesn’t deserve this!” Maybe if you had fought harder—tried harder, none of this would be happening.

“You don’t either.”

She might be right, but it does nothing to ease the guilt that’s slowly starting to grow in your chest. “I’m sorry, Selena. I should let you go. I’ve asked enough of you already.“

“Hey! None of that, okay? I should be the one apologizing for not being there to hand you tissues and force feed you those ice lollies you like so much.” You let out a wet snort that she mimics. “I want you to know, no, I need you to know, that even if I'm miles away, I’m always here for you if you ever need me. No matter what.”

You rub the heel of your hand against your eye. “I know. Thank you, Sel.”

“You’re welcome.”

With whispered goodbyes and cheesy “I love you’s” you hang up. Curling up, you cover your face with your hands, shuddering breath escaping your lungs as you will yourself not to cry.

“Ma’am?” It’s soft, careful and almost stern like, kind of like Captain America from the hospital. “Are you—are you all right?” No, not kind of. It is Captain America from the hospital!

Your eyes snap up, heat licking your skin at the embarrassment of having been caught crying twice by—eyebrows knead together as they take in the blonde costumer with the black card that can certainly not be your Captain America… right?

Rogers. Rogers… Roge—fucking shit. Wait a minute! He’s the real Captain America? You’ve been caught crying by Captain fucking America? Not once, but twice? That’s fucking worse! “It’s you… you’re really… Captain America?”

He smiles, it’s kind and sweet—warmth. “You remember me.”

Of course you remember him! You just can’t believe he’s the real Captain America, history book figure, war hero Steve Rogers. You feel like an absolute idiot for not having noticed!

“Kind of hard to forget when you caught me ugly sobbing in a hospital courtyard,” you find yourself quipping back as you make to stand, quickly rubbing away your tears. “Thank you for the handkerchief, by the way. I didn’t bring it with me—“ Not that you were expecting to see him again, anyway, but you had been carrying it around just in case.

“Don’t worry about it. I told you I have more at home.” Heat crawls up your neck—because of course he does. He’s Steven Rogers, Captain America. An Avenger. A loaded Avenger in every sense of the word. He chuckles, ducking his head, but then he sobers up, smile replaced by a small frown. “Are you okay—I heard—I heard,” he pauses to swallow and you realize that he’s heard more than your crying. Fuck. “Crying. I heard you crying. Again,” he adds the last bit like a second thought.

He’s a shit liar, but you still appreciate his effort. “Fine. I’m fine, thank you for worrying about me,” you tell him softly, trying to push a smile forward. Probably looks more like a grimace. “You probably have a lot more important things to worry about than me.”

Just as you have more important things to worry about.

Peggy Lee’s voice fills the hallway with her soft, haunting crooning—“I was always a fool for my Johnny,” she sings and it jerks you. For just a moment you forget where you are; you’re suddenly eight years old again, watching your mom teach your brother how to play the guitar as your dad records them with the handheld camera.

Your mom looks at you and asks you to sing along with them, but you refuse, embarrassed that she’d even suggest you should sing! You can’t sing! But she and your teasing dad somehow coax you to screech the lyrics along with your brother’s playing, and by the end of it, you’re completely overheated and embarrassed that your dad got it all on tape, even your impromptu performance of dancing around the living room like a maniac.

But as soon as the memory comes, it’s gone. Fading to the deepest pit of your mind as you once more find yourself in the small hallway of your workplace, Steve Rogers’ frown growing deeper, lines making themselves at home on his forehead as he watches you contemplatively. “Do you—Would you like to exchange numbers?”

His request comes completely out of left field, it’s practically enough to shock whatever tears were still threatening to fall to dry up. It’s a welcome distraction. “Why?” falls from your parted lips.

He scratches the back of his head, ears turning pink as he turns away. “I just thought—uh—too forward?”

A little, you want to say, but your inner Cassandra and Selena are calling you an idiot, urging you to give him your number. Should you? You’re not going to lose anything by giving it to him. You’re probably not going to gain anything from it either. But how many times will you ever be able to say that an Avenger asked for your number? That Steve Rogers asked for your number? “Okay.”

His head snaps up and something within his eyes stir, you don’t know what it is or even come close to understanding it, but it sends a weird hum through your body that you try to ignore. Noticing your staring, his melts and gives way to his earlier softer look—kind and warm. “Here.” He gives you his phone after unlocking it and you take it, inputting your number and name before handing it back to him. He says your name aloud—and you physically resist the urge to react to him saying your name—and his lips tilt upward. “Nice to officially meet you.”

“Hey, Steve, we should—“ Steve moves his head to look over his shoulder as you lean to the side to find who you’ve come to the realization must be another Avenger—Falcon. His earthy eyes move between you and Steve, a small smirk tugging at his lips. “Am I interrupting something?”

Your lips roll into your mouth to hide the grimace you’re mostly likely sporting. “Ah, no, we—I was just—thank you again, um, Cap? Steve?”

“Steve,” he tells you, smiling reassuringly in your direction before turning to Sam with a semi serious expression. “I’ll be there in a moment, Sam.“

“It’s fine,” you interject, moving your gaze from him and his friend to stare over their shoulders’ and out into the warm lit bar. “I need to get back to work, anyway.”

“Right, of course,” Steve says, stepping aside to let you through. You smile at him briefly but before you can pass by him, he stops you with a shy smile. “You wouldn’t mind if I call you?”

You falter slightly, taking you a moment to recover, but once your muscles relax, you flash him an unguarded smile. “No, I wouldn’t.”

#steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x y/n #steve rogers x you #steve rogers fic #steve rogers fanfic #steve rogers imagine #sugar daddy!steve rogers #sugar daddy!steve rogers x reader #reader insert

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sweet-marie · 4 years

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excerpt of memoir from last year which i kinda hate now<3 but it has its moments

I decided I was going to drown myself. There was no plug to the bath, but that was easily solved by stuffing the washcloth down the drain. I climbed in and waited as the water rose pleasantly warm over the cold gooseflesh of my legs, short hair starting to prickle over them. This felt good. I didn’t remember exactly what Sylvia Plath had said, about baths, but I tried to remember it as the water closed around my ears.

In water I always felt calm as a whale. My swimsuit was like a fine blubber. My limbs would float, my cells swam around me. The microscopic composition of my body, narrowed down to those precise and perfect details, was invisible to me, an unknowable pile of nerves and jelly membranes. I can’t see my own eyes, of course, that’s a secret to me forever; the same way I can’t go looking around in the dark for my sight… I can see me in your eyes! I told a stranger, delightedly. I was four and the man was bobbing in the community pool across from me. I can see me in your eyes, he replied from behind his sunglasses.

I had a dream about a pool, said Leona, so large-eyed and beautiful, vulnerable, almost alien. So blue. It was—pristine. She loved to say the word.

She loved to make collages about the Holocaust.

Blood chased my feet in the shower at home—they were a pair of moon-white fish, speared by something, circling, dying…

Blood oranges water, not pinks it!

Thom told me this under the grim sky of the schoolyard, gray clouds pressing down on us. We had both refused to change our clothes to the PE uniform, and the others flocked around us in gray shirts. Blood oranges water—I thought to myself this was a good description and I had to remember it. She was right.

The warm bathwater was crowding in on me. Sylvia Plath had said something, I knew, in The Bell Jar—something about remembering the ceilings above the bath, maybe.

Water made such mysterious sounds inside my ears. I always liked it. I tried to breathe in, to gulp down the warm water and fill my lungs but I couldn’t manage it. I had already decided not to drown myself, after all. I didn’t want some nurse to find me naked anyway. I took a breath.

At home I had once tried to choke myself in the shower, my hands grasping my neck as I sobbed and spat into the water. You look fucking stupid, I thought, watching my face contort with tears in the foggy mirror. It was extremely satisfying to watch my eyes turn soft blobby pink, quavering with light. Yes, I was so sad. Yes! All these plans I knew wouldn’t work.

Well, it didn’t. And now I didn’t have a clean washcloth. Stupid.

I enjoyed it and decided to take a lot more baths from then on.

///

Leona, Happy, and Jennifer spent a lot of time on their collages. We were shepherded from C Unit to the art room through the soft winterlike light of the hospital halls. We passed the adult ward quietly. We never saw the adult patients, but they left some of their projects hanging in the art room, charcoal drawings mostly. They looked like self-portraits of ghosts. There were lots of National Geographics for Leona, Happy, and Jen: plenty of atrocities to choose from. The snowy black grain of dead bodies piled into a twisted unfathomable geometry of limbs; the sick, the starving and murdered. A headline about the heroin epidemic also. Jen was only allowed to post the word heroin on her wall if she added an e, which we all thought was hilarious.

What is so bad about methamphetamine? Happy asked. The conversation frequently became about drugs. All of us laughed a lot about the question. I didn’t know anything about drugs. Jen and Happy were busy one night making lists of the good drugs and the bad ones and they’d tried most of the things I’d heard of and some I hadn’t.

What is so bad about methamphetamine? It was a joke that was then repeated often.

One of the nurses said something like, Please change the subject, or, That is inappropriate.

Leona, Happy, and Jen were seventeen, the oldest of our friends; older than many of the children on the unit, young enough that they sometimes forgot to care what the little kids heard.

Johny, our youngest friend, was fourteen. He seemed the saddest. He had very long, skinny fingers like an old man. He told me that I had pretty eyes, sometimes blue sometimes green—when had anybody ever liked me this much, outside of this awful place. He said, My eyes are shit brown. I just laughed along. It didn’t occur to me to say anything nice, even though I would have meant it. My voice was tired; I’d fallen out of the habit of saying what I thought.

When Thom visited she talked enough that I didn’t have to say a lot. That was how it often was with us. She brought me a huge bag of my favorite sour candy, and flaming hot Cheetos for Esmeralda, my ten-year-old roommate. It wasn’t allowed, but we invited her to stay with us while Thom put makeup on me.

A muscle in Esmeralda’s cheek jumped, not working towards speech, just a violent, repetitive twitch I’d never seen before. I didn’t understand, somehow.

What? I said.

She covered her cheek with one hand. It’s a tic.

It didn’t go away even after we got her to laugh—a hesitant few syllables—at something, some joke. Thom’s hair was blonde and blue now. Sometimes, when she laughed the hardest, she used to press her face into my shoulder. I never knew what to do when people touched me. The first time she put her head on my shoulder we were watching Bolt on TV at her house and drinking bottles of orange Fanta, a blanket spread over our laps. She didn’t say anything, just leaned on me. I sat extremely still, so still it hurt. What do people do? I still haven’t learned.

Do you think I’ll go to hell if I kill myself? I demanded of my father.

You could, he said. You don’t know.

He held me and sobbed. You can’t. I couldn’t. Live without you.

I was so angry I didn’t know what to do. Anger rose in my mouth, made my spit sour. I needed him to let go of me. He was too warm, and his coat was too big. For the first time my mother had started looking so old. In some quieter country of myself, maybe, I have been saving up facts, how to recognize this look, how to gently handle remains.

///

The only outdoor part of the hospital was a courtyard sealed in glass, like an aquarium. It wasn’t much, but we were always begging to be taken there anyway, into the real gold light of the sun instead of our usual, indoor wintry fluorescence. And it got tiring to breathe the same dull air and pace the same few rooms, especially that day we were locked in for hours, while some men came in to do something about the mysterious dark stain spreading on the ceiling of the day room.

Everyone loved to go out. Even Celsa went sometimes, and she was so doped up on lithium she barely did anything, even breakfast. Bribes and threats did not work on her. I witnessed it firsthand in my brief duration as her roommate. She was always drowning in bedsheets, drowning in sleep like wet sand. Her eyes were dark with it. My friends gently urged her to come outside with us one night. Celsa gave a tired smile, peered out from under her hair, and agreed. She laughed a little when she played tag with the kids in the dark. She never really said a word. It is good to be with other people, it is not always easy to do. But—it was beautifully possible to have friends in this small, suspended space. I had not often felt when I was very young that I had friends. I felt too tall and serious to be a real child. Here, with our usual secrecy stolen from us, we met each other with our faces plainly lit and open, four floors above the real world.

It was possible to have friends. I’d been so sad. I never knew how to smile with my face leaned toward burning-down candles, opening my brightly-colored birthday presents. There were days, it was decided, you were supposed to be happier on certain days, and I just wasn’t.

A man with the bluest eyes I’d ever seen asked me, in the emergency room, what was wrong. I didn’t want my parents to overhear. I explained quietly about the stupid incident in the bathroom stall at school, the knit gloves over my wrists, and the thing with the Tylenol, and I did—other things… I started to cry. Sometimes I forced sobs out to get rid of the rising bad feeling, an intentional purge; and then there was this other kind of crying, which was different, and took me by surprise. I never knew it would happen until I had already started.

The psychologist with blue eyes looked very sad for me. All I wanted was sympathy; I was intensely hungry for sympathy almost all the time, from anyone, but this somehow made it worse, and I didn’t even know whether he meant it.

I was wheeled up in my hospital gown. I tried to walk, but they explained it didn’t work that way.

Up an elevator, through security gates, through locked doors; a woman’s hands flitted under my clothes, checking for blades, mapping injuries on a piece of paper. There was still cold glue on my chest from the EKG. They’d wanted to examine my heart. There was nothing wrong with my heart. I just couldn’t stop its sickening, wild beat.

It was night, but I was allowed in the day room, wide and silent and dark. I opened the refrigerator—mostly juice. A few months ago, my mother and I had fought, and as I bent my head over some homework that night she silently moved my glass of cranberry juice away from my textbook, so it wouldn’t spill on it. And horrible hope and guilt rushed through me, because I knew she loved me.

I didn’t even like juice. I closed the door and went to a table.

I started drawing pictures because I didn’t know what else to do. I liked to keep my hands occupied, all the time. At first, no one was there, but then there appeared a small gathering of curious children, and Johny.

All the children began to ask, Will you draw me? Will you draw me?, and Johny smiled and cast his dark eyes down.

I asked Esmeralda if she wanted me to draw her, but she started shaking her head before I could finish the question.

Draw me, demanded Rain, a little girl in pajamas and gym shoes.

I did, I did draw most everyone, lots of times. It has been my impulse to give myself away freely, without thinking. I tell people nearly all of my secrets. Here: I won’t need this. I will be going away.

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bubblyani · 5 years

Text

His type (Ronnie x Reader)

Ronnie Kray One Two Shot

Genre: Smut (18+)

Author’s Note: I’m a sinner once again to be inspired at work. And about Ronnie Kray no doubt. Hope you all enjoy!

The red dress stuck on to your body like a magnet, as you swayed your hips in rhythm to the slow jazz. The thin material felt like second skin, for you found it quite easy to freely move, to and explore, and to' be lost' in the music. You certainly enjoyed it. Being the brave one to get up from the table, being the one to move to the dance floor with no hesitation, being the one to dance and wait for no one’s permission. But you also took great satisfaction when there was an audience to witness it, even if it was an audience of one, but only if the ‘one’ meant him.

“Such a crime…to see you alone tonight without a lucky lad by ya side”

You smiled, turning to accept a glass of brandy from Reggie Kray as you swayed.

“Crime? Oh ho! You're the one to talk Reg” you replied in tease, biting your shiny red lower lip, taking in a sip.

“Hey! I am a Club Owner, alrigh?” he reminded you with a confident smile.

“Right...of course” you played along, winking at the Gangster Prince of East End.

“I don't need a man, I have the lot of you to keep me in good company” you continued, tapping him on the chest. He did not wait to hold on to your hand.

“That’s not the company I had in mind love” he said softly, rubbing his thumb on your hand.

“Oh Reg...” you pouted in protest, still aware of the pair of eyes that haven’t left your sight since you got up. His eyes that you didn’t mind watching you. The eyes you wanted to watch you.

With confidence gained from another sip, you finally raised your glass to Ronnie Kray, who sat with Teddy a few tables away. Raising his glass in return, he maintained his gaze, smoking his cigar. Clouds of smoke escaped his lips, misting his glasses, yet the alluring shade of red that approached the table helped him focus.

“Mind if I join ya lads?” You asked in a mockingly polite tone, with fluttering eyelashes. Teddy jumped up,

“Only if you promised to stay the whole night” he chirped, walking over to pull up a chair for you.

“Which won’t be a problem” you replied with a giggle, pinching his cheek before sitting down.

“Yeah, cause good company is not easy to find, don’t you agree Y/N?” Ronnie spoke out of the sudden, looking at you with intense eyes. You suddenly stopped giggling, lost in his eyes with confusion.

“ Yes...couldn’t agree more” you managed to reply, finding it difficult to read his mind.

“That’s more like it...Get more fuckin drinks over here” roaring into laughter, Ronnie was in high spirits calling out the waiters.

Relieved, you watched as Reggie joined in along with Leslie and Albert. Your bubbly personality and appreciation for sarcastic humor won the hearts of The Kray twins and most of The Firm, and was invited as great company for quite some time. Every week, nights like these at Esmeralda’s Barn was an essential.

Unlike some, you firmly believed each brother possessed a charm which was simply irresistible and unique . Your friendship with the Krays never was romantic nor sexual. As much as you found Reggie’s smooth advances enjoyable, Ronnie was the one who secretly became your unattainable fantasy. With his rather unconventional social life, you liked to wonder the what if’s.

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

“Oi Y/N! You off work?”

“Firstly Teddy, don’t 'Oi' me now. That’s rude. Secondly, it’s actually my lunch break ” you replied with a tone that hinted sass, waving at Teddy who just stopped the car, when he found you walking.

“Afternoon Ronnie!” You certainly didn’t forget to greet Mr. Kray, who sat on the back, nodding in acknowledgement.

“Where are you lovely people heading off to?” you asked, with your hands behind your back.

“We're going to pick up Lesl-“

“Join us Y/N!...” Ronnie suddenly cut off Teddy, "...we'll pick up Leslie then head for lunch, that sound alright?"

You smiled, "The perfect way to spend my lunch break for sure" getting into the backseat, joining Ronnie.

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

"Lazy fucker! Is he not up yet?" Ronnie grunted irritatingly. You sighed, looking out the window as Teddy called out for Leslie outside the building.

"I'll go get 'im, Ron...might take a while" Teddy shouted back at them, before entering the building.

"Ahh.....get it fuckin done...we'll be late for lunch" Ronnie angrily motioned him to be quick. You looked over to him, "It's alright...we can wait a bit, maybe he's having a bad hangover" you said.

As he grunted in reply, there were the two of you, sitting on either sides of the backseat.

This was the first time you were ever alone with Ronnie Kray. And for some reason the one thing you wanted to talk about felt quite ridiculous, but you gave it a try.

"I just had to ask..." you began, "Do you have a certain type with men?"

Ron stared into the distance mid thought, "Not really. I guess the taste... varies". You smiled.

"And what about women? Is there a type?" you felt daring,"Am I your type?" And there you went. Not like you were risking anything. You could always laugh about it later. Or did you cross the line? Were you that desperate?

Ron suddenly turned his head to you, with narrowed eyebrows. You felt embarassed, regretting everything in an instant.

"Of course not...not in slightest eh?" you said, wrinkling your nose, laughing nervously, hoping he'd tell you to fuck off or something. But instead,

"I never said that" he replied.

Tension started building in the car. You raised your eyebrows in surprise.

"Come here" Ronnie commanded. You scooched over to the middle seat, slowly.

"No...closer" he said, as he patted the seat closest to him. He sounded firm and certain. Confusion and excitement mixed together, you moved over untill you sat cross legged next to him, your knee lightly brushing against his thigh.

This view was new to you, being this close to a man who was known to be quite dangerous.

"You know..." he began, looking at you, "sometimes...I'd wonder..." you caught your breath when he moved his gaze down, where his hand made contact with the bare skin of your calve "...how it would be like if you and I ever had...-"

"-something? " you completed it for him, "Funny you should say that.." still finding it hard to get over his touch, you strived on "...that was something that crossed my mind..more than a few times" your breath quickening, as you felt his hand moving up to your knee.

Maybe it was his touch or something else completely. But Ronnie Kray suddenly seemed far from unattainable at this point.

With your hand on the seat as support, the leather squeaked as you got up, pulling up your tight skirt. Putting your leg around Ronnie, you straddled his right thigh, your skirt pooled around your waist. Leaning forward, you carefully took off his glasses with both hands, gently placing it next to you, while you held his shoulder with one hand. If Ronnie was known to be unconventional, well that was what you were going to be with him without a doubt. You proceeded to loosen his collar and tie. Placing your hands on his suit, running over his broad chest, you bent over, kissing every inch of his neck with much satisfaction. The low moan that came out of him gave you a strong, throbbing sensation down below.

You felt yourself jump as Ronnie's hand gripped your neck, hard enough to keep you in place, but not so much to strangle. With lips slightly parted, you watched him eye you up and down. Loosening the grip, his hand settled on the top button of your high collar, unbuttoning one and moving down to do others. Impatient and obedient as you were, your hands quickly moved to where his were, unbuttoning your silk shirt in haste, exposing your skin more and more as you stared at him, lips pressed tight. The silence was only cut off by the visible breaths coming out of your heaving chest as Ronnie Kray leaned back to watch you undress. Pulling out the tucked in shirt, you removed the last button. Thankful of your clothing choices today, you unhooked the bra from the front, stretching your shoulders back. Though you were still dressed, the mere exposure of your breasts to the open air made you feel very much naked, especially when he was the one looking. Ronnie leaned forward as you slide closer to him, his strong thigh rubbing against your crotch as you did. Grabbing one of his hands, you opened his index finger, placing it on your lips. Watching you from the corner of your eye, you kissed it softly, taking the time. Guiding his hand to your neck, you allowed his hand to taste the skin of your bare neck then moving to your collarbones. The throbbing grew stronger between your thighs as he took charge, his callused palm feeling his way around your bare breasts.

"You're..." he murmured deeply ,"...quite the fascinating creature Y/N" his eyes glued to your chest as your body winced and reacted to every touch, squeeze and caress. With reddened cheeks, you held on to his shoulders, rocking back and forth, letting your heat create fiction against his thigh. Your movement felt more at rhythm when Ronnie's other hand slithered round your waist, resting on your left buttock, extending his palm around the area, gripping it tight as you kept going.

"Ronnie..." you breathed, "please..." bending down to snatch his lips. But he merely teased you, tilting his chin up, watching you groan in frustration.

"Do you want me to beg?” You whispered angrily, “Is that it? Ro-"

Pulling you close, Ronnie hungrily clashed his lips against yours. Finally.

So sudden yet powerful, it felt like a KO merged in a kiss. You felt as if you were suddenly injected with the strongest drug. So you did not hesitate to let your mouth open as his tongue slid in searching for your very own. This drug of a kiss was strength inducing, you felt brave enough to run your fingers through his neatly combed, slicked back hair, pulling out locks, pulling him further to you, deepening the kiss to depths you've never dove before.

Deliberately pressing your chest against his suit, your nipples remained erect as his crisp shirt and the suit jacket brushed against your exposed naked torso.

"Ronnie!” Your hand rested on his clothed erection, “I want...I want...", quickly unzipping his trousers , you dipped your hand in, releasing soft swears out of Ronnie's lips as you felt him. The level of arousal was so high, you felt completely soaked down south.

"Ron! Leslie's alive...Don’t be cross now”

Teddy's loud voice from the distance shook you both into reality. In a flash, you ducked under the seat, pulling your skirt down, and buttoning up your shirt in seconds.

"Alright.. you’re forgiven...fuckin wanker” Ronnie cried out while he brushed his hair back. You snickered as you slowly got back to your seat. Hoping they didn’t see much.

Sitting next to him, you hurriedly placed a handkerchief over the soaked stain on his trouser leg.

"Sorry about that..." you said quite casually, with a smug look on your face. Ronnie quickly grabbed your hand,

"Your place...tonight" he growled in a low tone.

You shuddered, biting your lower lip, as your thighs pressed together to suppress your arousal. But quickly changed expression as you looked on forward, smiling at Teddy and Leslie.

" I hope you're hungry Y/N" Teddy called out as he started the engine.

"Oh trust me...I'm fucking famished"

—————————————————————

Part 2

Mood for Reggie?

Check my MASTERLIST for more.

#tom hardy #the krays #ronnie kray #ronald kray #ron kray #ronnie kray x reader #legend 2015 #tom hardy fanfiction

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vtheobscurial · 5 years

Text

Fallen

The Fall of the Adrasteian Supreme

I have only slipped away into the next room

It started with a trickle. It wasn’t the kind of trickle that would leave you with a sense of relief at the end, at least not to the prying eyes that stood there as they witnessed the end of a life, a life that had been cursed with the most of unfortunate strings of events. It was never easy to reign completely a Coven of witches, witches that looked up at her with a glint of hope in their eyes as they stared back, believing wholehearted that she would be the one to change their outcome and protect them no matter the cause, leading her to make a pact with the demon from her early Supreme days. Her soul being the only thing he asked for and as awful as it sounded, Esme took the deal and sealed her own death warrant.

This was just another of those insistences. She used the remainder of her powers to protect the living members of her Adrasteian sisters. The city was in ruins, between Gatsby – the Bellona Supreme – and unspoken new threats Soteria had reached its limit, no longer fit as a haven but now served as Hell. Esmeralda watched in horror as everyone around her fell, victims to these threats and even the strongest witches and allies were no challenge. It was one of her darkest hours, unable to do anything useful. But there was hope. One trickle of hope left. Esme didn’t hesitate to muster any bit of strength she had left to cast a spell strong enough to create a powerful barrier to keep everyone that still held air in their lungs and a beating heart knowing what this meant for her own life but it didn’t matter because she knew that this was her only card left and if given the chance she would do it over again because it was just the kind of person that she was.

Rot now followed, the grim reaper slowly digging its nails deeper into her core with each morning she awoke, weaker and more disoriented though Esme always did her best to hide it from everyone, even her husband at the time who grew more distant for reasons still unknown to her but she knew it would only be a matter of time before he gave up on her just as the rest of them. There was only one person that was able to smell the death in her whom questioned it immediately, Draven. The first intense love and hate was reserved for the Hellhound that couldn’t bare the sight of her yet again slipping through his grasp, promised to yet another man that would never love her the way he loved her. He kept her company those few last days, never questioning or giving her a ‘no’ for an answer though he felt obligated to treat her with delicacy, she knew deep down that there was nothing else he would rather be doing than being there for her through it all. Never knowing just how close she was to the edge.

Esme never did tell anyone that her soul had been marked, always thinking that she had more time but now she found herself in the grasps of this very demon. The room was arranged just as any ordinary living room, a black sectional covered the back wall where a huge clock set in the center. A series of photographs spread evenly along the wall, photos of a family; two girls, a mother and a father and they all seemed so happy with their even smiles. The hardwood flooring still held its beauty though it carried many years of abuse with dragged marks from tiny wheels rolling on the wood and now the home was filled with laughter from the past. The red curtains draped with odd patterns, none which she could interrupt then and sure as hell not now but her mother loved them so everyone just let them continue to hang. Esme’s childhood home, where she was birthed and raised. It was the home that held many good memories. Though after the death of her family Esme couldn’t bear spending another minute in that home which had lost the coziness, the safety she held as she walked each room in bare feet had vanished so one day she locked the door behind her and never looked back. One of the hardest things she had ever had to do but torturing herself with memories of them would have been the death of her.

Milo stood with her, he had promised that everything would be okay now, that him and Davide had struck another deal and as much as she wanted to believe that it was true, something felt so very wrong. Her instincts had spiked and she couldn’t shake that feeling.

“What deal have you and Davide agreed with?” She asked Milo, there was no muse in her words as she did her best to hide the fear brewing inside of her.

“Don’t worry about that babe, he won’t be hurting you anymore.” Milo replied with confidence in his tone, never a moment where his words quivered with doubt and it was one thing that Esme absolutely loved about this man. Always optimistic and looking at the bright things in life.

Esme reached out for him, resting her weak hands on either side of his cheeks that were covered in the gruff of beautiful blonde hair. “Pl-Please tell me that you haven’t offered your soul,” her voice broke, a deep sorrow in her heart as she spoke those words. “I won’t allow that.” Her eyes held a shine, glistened from the tears that had built up, clouding her vision and the only way to make them go away was to blink and let them fall but a blink would mean that she would miss a fraction of a second as she watched Milo and it was something that she didn’t want to do.

“I promise that wasn’t the deal, he won’t be taking my soul.” He stood straighter as his eyes flickered to the side for a moment as he replied and then back at Esme. She knew him enough to know that he was hiding something because he never had it in him to look her in the eye when he couldn’t allow himself to tell her a lie, when he was holding information.

In the background Davide set on the sectional, arms spread out and making himself quite the cozy Demon. The crooked smile that curved his lips held a menace to them, eyes full of hate yet amused by the conversation that he was allowing for them to carry on. A woman stood to his left, hands entwined behind her back and watching the couple from across the room. Her eyes never blinked and her plain expression never changed, never moved except the movement of her chest as she took in breaths. Esme had never seen her but by the looks of it she knew that this woman was important to Davide otherwise he wouldn’t be conducting business with anyone by his side, perhaps he grew wary of Esme and her unstable fire? No, Davide lacked the ability to fear anyone, that much was clear.

“Enough.” Davide spoke out, his voice roared and the room felt its tremble but it took a moment for Esme to realize that it was her that trembled. Though she hated to admit it, Davide terrified her because he was the only one that held her life on the balance at this exact moment, he could completely wipe her from the face of the earth and take her soul to Hell with a snap of his fingers. Anyone that wasn’t afraid of that had no sense of death and the unknown, lucky them.

He raised to his feet and for the very first time since their arrival the brunette beauty next to him moved, now standing behind him but her expression still potently piercing. There was an odd feeling radiating from her and not the kind to make anyone curious but the kind of feeling that would make just about anyone coward in a corner. Even as weak as Esme was at this exact instant she knew the nameless woman wasn’t anyone she would want to go up against, it would be suicidal to do so.

“You’re deal has been accepted.” When he spoke he only directed to Milo, Esme at this point was completely invisible to the Demon. “Esme will be healed, completely.”

A sigh of relieve left Milo’s lips, there were no words left in Esme to know how she felt just now. Milo took Esme in his arms, wrapping her and holding her tightly against his body as his devilish smile became more angelic. He had found a way to save her even when it wasn’t his responsibility, he managed to surprise her once more and all she could do was hold him back and let those pesky tears have their way as they left a streak of wetness behind.

“I told you that I would save you babe.” He said as he kissed the top of her head.

Esme was still speechless and the only thing she could manage was sob and in-between tears whisper a ‘I love you’.

“I ask that you step away from her now.” The unknown woman finally spoke. If the feeling being around her wasn’t odd enough, her voice brought chills to Esme, the most eerie of tones but if she would be aiding Davide in the healing of her, Esme wouldn’t question what the hell she was. Davide stood in his spot, arms rested against his chest as he crossed them and gave the woman a nod to continue.

Milo had a puzzled expression on his face but Esme nodded at him, letting him know that it would be okay to do as she asked and so without question he moved further. The woman made her way towards Esme and when she was close enough she reached into her own black suit jacket and removed a small bag; the contents weren’t exposed and this made Esme wary.

“What is that?” Esme asked with a furrow of her brow, backing away from the woman some.

“It’s your life line, sweetheart.” Sweetheart was said with a hiss, definitely no good feeling behind it, not really meaning it. “Now stay still so that I can cure you from this rotting.”

Esme nodded, no words needed for exchange. She didn’t move when the woman got even closer to her, close enough to be able to smell the soft perfume that lingered on her skin. Close enough to smell her breath yet nothing there to actually smell. Close enough to see the wrinkles that formed at each side of the woman’s eyes; swirls of a light shade of brown but they held no true life to them. A witch forced to bid the Demon’s work, that much Esme suspected. The woman poured the contents of the bag in her hand, black powder but there was a sparkle to the dust and Esme couldn’t stop staring at it as she was further struck into curiosity. The woman brought the hand to her lips and blew, the particles reaching Esme’s nostrils and with each breath she took the sweeter and intoxicating the smell became. And before Esme knew it her back was against the wall as she felt the waves of the dust coursing through her, a euphoric sensation washing over her. Her body was gaining its strength, the strength she remembered and had before she casted the spell that condemned her. Quickly she noticed that she didn’t feel as tired as she was just a few moments ago, her skin smooth as her body gained a fuller appeal. Her body didn’t hurt anymore, all the pain had vanished and if she wasn’t so enticed on the changes happening in her body she would jump in the air from the excitement.

“There.” The woman spoke again. “You’re all healed up.”

And so, Esme was. She felt alive. And it should’ve been one of the happiest moments of her life, she was healed and it meant that she could continue her life with Milo but she wasn’t so lucky. The Adrasteian Supreme was never lucky enough to have one thing go as planned, her life was full of unpredictable outcomes and this event wasn’t any different then those in her past.

With a wave of Davide’s hand, Milo was pinned to the wall and Esme snapped her head in horror as she watched. The need to fight grew strong but her body wasn’t moving and though she was screaming on the inside her mouth made no attempt to move and vocalize her horror, her pain.

Then it was her turn to be pinned against the wall, her head hitting the wall and bouncing off. It started with a trickle. It wasn’t the kind of trickle that you would hope for, it was the trickle of her hot blood escaping through the crack in her skull. Esme felt disoriented but not enough to forget that Davide and this woman had betrayed them and as much as she wanted to fight back, she couldn’t, her body completely immobilized.

How terrible to know this would be the end of your life and literally not being able to move, not even make a fucking peep!

Would it be painless? She thought to herself.

No. That was a stupid question. The woman reached her hand into the pit of Esme’s chest, tore through flesh and bone as if it were nothing, just like reaching inside a bag as her hands began to seek something. The pain was one of the worst feelings in the world that Esme had ever endured, physical pain anyway. The hand on the clock began to slow down, the ticking of the clock loud in her ears. Her breathing loud and the beating of her heart pulsed hard enough to pound from her chest to her head and it nauseated her. She wanted to make it all stop; the pounding was making her dizzy but it wasn’t truly the pounding that was making her feel sick. It was the woman as she found what she was searching for. She held Esme’s heart in her small hands, they were cold, so very cold. Esme’s body was growing colder as the woman squeezed her heart, tighter and tighter.

The look on the woman’s face was horrifying, she was enjoying this, the killing of another being but Esme didn’t want to go out with that image in her mind. It would haunt her to the afterlife if she allowed herself to only look at her just a second longer. So, her eyes roamed, searching for Milo. When they landed on him they glued themselves to him, wanting to take in every bit of him but it wasn’t until she saw the excruciating pain in his eyes that the gravity of hit her, she would die today but he would live on hating himself knowing that he trusted a Demon that shouldn’t had been trusted to begin with. That he really believed that he was saving her only to have it snatched from him in mere seconds from achieving it. The tears in her eyes welled and stung as they escaped knowing that she wouldn’t be able to save him from this experience.

Esme’s vision was distorting, darkening as they began to make their fade. Her body colder than she ever had been. It was this moment that she came to acceptance and that perhaps dying wouldn’t be such a bad thing, maybe she would be reunited with her family.

In that split second, she heard everything. Milo’s pleas, Davide’s snarl at Milo’s begging and the beating of her heart that was no longer in her chest as it was meant to be.

3…2…1… and a gasp escaped between her lips…

Esme is one of my precious beans, she has done a lot of suffering and this was her final scene as the person who she used to be. It was an extremely emotional piece because not only do I love her, but she was the first character I ever created.

#rp #roleplay #drabble #sad rp #death rp

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justjessame · 3 years

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Sins of the Father: Chapter 7

I didn’t get an early wake up from Danny or Dad the next morning. In fact, I didn’t need a wake up call at all, since I was up before everyone else. I managed to fall asleep eventually, and I woke up as the sun was rising.

Dressed, hair tamed, and makeup in place I was downstairs with a book and ready for the day to begin before Danny. The dogs were lounging beside me on the sofa when Dad came in flanked by Sandy and Corky.

“You’re up early,” he offered with a smile, as I glanced up from my page. Dropping a kiss on my forehead, he moved through the room and the other two offered their own greetings as they carried on. “Oh, Esme?”

Holding my spot with my finger, I looked up. “Before you go in to check on our guest later?” I waited, and he shook his head at my silence. “I’d like to have a moment?”

“Sure,” I went back to my book, thinking he’d be telling me that my services were no longer needed now that he’d sent in the A-team.

“Esme,” he sighed and I rolled my eyes and looked up again. “It’s important.” He was staring at me as though I’d decipher the morse code in his eyebrows.

“Yes, Dad, I understand.” I didn’t, but neither Sandy, nor Corky could know that. A Roper showing weakness in front of anyone? Good luck with that. “I’ll come see you in a bit. After Danny and I have breakfast, if he ever comes down that is.”

That got a chuckle from him, but at least he knew that I was listening, which made him marginally happier. “Alright, sweetheart.”

Danny emerged finally, closer to lunch than breakfast, but we managed to eat together before I had to go have my audience with Dad.

“I think you had fun last night, too,” I teased, catching him yawning over his plate. Shaking his head, but the grin that popped up on his lips told me that he wasn’t able to deny it. “I have to go see Dad before I head in to check on Mr. Quince -”

Danny’s brow furrowed, “why?”

Shrugging, I told him the truth. “No idea.” Then I promised him that once I finished with my daily chore we could do whatever he wanted to. “Even take a nap.” When he yawned again, I giggled.

Dad was in his office and I plopped down in a chair in front of his desk because he was on the phone when I walked in. I still had my book with me so I opened it up and got lost in it while he finished up his call.

I heard him hang up the receiver, but I wasn’t quite finished with the sentence I was on, so I continued until I came to a spot I felt worthy of stopping at - marking my place, I closed my book and looked up to find him smirking at me. “What?” He shook his head and the smirk gave way to the indulgent smile of the proud father I knew he was. “You wanted to speak to me before I went off to tend to Mr. Quince?”

Thinking I was going to be released from my duties, as they were, I was taken aback when he leaned back in his chair and studied me. “Yes, our Mr. Quince -” squinting at something I couldn’t see, Dad puzzled out what he wanted to say for a beat. “I thought he’d try to pry, if not with you, then with Danny, but according to -” he stopped and I huffed a laugh, of course the walls had ears and eyes while his children were near the man who’d rescued one of us. “Well, he hasn’t. Not nearly as deeply as I’d thought.” I waited to hear him say it, to hear him tell me he’d finally told Jed to stop tiptoeing and go ahead and satisfy her curiosity, but he didn’t. “Ask HIM questions, Esme. Don’t push, but ask things you asked your classmates when you first arrived at school.”

I nodded, wondering if he wasn’t telling me about Jed’s late night visit because he was playing the long game or because he didn’t know - but if he was keeping watch. There hadn’t been a guard last night though. My mind was slightly spinning at this new turn, so I had to shake it off. “You want me to find out his background without letting him know I’m digging.” He smiled and I fought the urge to roll my eyes at how he looked like he wanted to clap at my cleverness. “Do I debrief you after? Or -”

“Don’t be silly,” he stood up and I knew our meeting was over. “Just like when you tell us about your friends, you’ll tell us about Mr. Quince.” He was standing in front of me, hovering as always. “You’re a Roper, Esmeralda. Never forget that this is a part of who you are -”

My back straightened and I raised my chin, meeting his gaze head on. “Of course, Dad.” Find out everyone’s background, all their weaknesses, and make sure you can exploit them for your own purposes. It’s like I’d been weaned on this knowledge. “I should go get his tray ready.”

“You’re feeding him?” A tilt of my head told him I knew what he meant so he could go on. “It’s a touch I hadn’t thought of,” his grin told me he thought it was a good one. “You just might have more of my instincts than I thought, my dear.”

Not a compliment, Dad, I thought. Instead I smiled up at him and left the room with my book tucked under my arm. Anything to get away. Though taking care of our guest was going to feel like a true chore today - after what I’d semi-witnessed last night.

The tray was loaded with my first aid supplies and his lunch, and I was telling myself that today was just like the past two days. Nothing had changed - no one knew that I’d come down last night on some ill timed and ill conceived attempt at God knew what - so I would go inside and go about the exact same thing I’d done before. Only this time I’d ask him about who he was, like when I got to know the friends I’d made during my time away from my family.

Smiling at Corky as he held open the door for me after I asked that he knock to announce my arrival, I entered with a ramrod straight back and worked to hold onto the smile when I saw that Jed was seated where I normally sat to feed him.

“Oh, I didn’t realize you had company.” She looked as startled to see me as I felt uncomfortable to see her. “I could just leave this here -” I felt the burn of a blush creep along my face, and knew I couldn’t fight my own body’s reaction regardless of what Dad would want. Moving to his bedside, I sat the tray down. “I’ll leave it to you then.” I was turning away when his hand reached out and wrapped around my wrist, stopping me in my tracks.

“Don’t, please?” My eyes snapped shut and I honestly wished the damn floor would swallow me whole, though I had no idea why I was so fucking mortified. “Your step-”

“She’s NOT -” I snapped, and felt Jed stand up from the bed, the breeze of her moving away from me and Mr. Quince.

Her voice, soft and far enough away to tell me she was at the door, told me she was leaving, but my eyes stayed closed. I was still fighting the burn of my own embarrassment. The anger at my body’s response to BEING embarrassed was even more disturbing.

“Miss Roper?” His hand was still on my wrist, holding me still and his voice was low. “Please open your eyes?”

Taking a deep breath and praying that I wouldn’t start crying, a reaction to anger that I’d had since a child and an annoying one at that, I obeyed his plea - opening my eyes, but refusing to glance down at him. “Honestly, Jed is just as capable of giving you care as me, I’m sure.” Terse and tense, my voice was cutting and I prayed he didn’t think it was jealousy. Was it jealousy?

“I’m sure you think so,” he soothed, his hand’s hold on my wrist sliding down to my hand. Soon his fingers were tugging against my own, pulling to see if he could tempt me to turn to him it seemed. “Perhaps I prefer my regular nurse?”

Swallowing down the dry lump that was threatening to choke me, I hazarded a glance to see him studying me. “Let me get your plate,” turning back to the tray, I realized he wasn’t letting go of my hand. “I might need both to make this work.”

“Pity,” he offered, his gaze falling to where his fingers were sliding along my hand, teasing before he linked his through mine. “This does feel better.”

Cutting up his food, once he released my hand, I contemplated how to start up where Dad wanted me to go. Especially after my slight freak out when I first came in and saw Jed holding court.

“You look as if you have something on your mind,” he offered, watching me curiously. Nodding, I held the first bite up to his mouth and waited while he chewed.

“I was thinking that I know nothing at all about you,” he was swallowing, but his lips were quirking into a smile. “You saved Danny. You’re a chef?” He shrugged. “Yet that’s all I know. Oh and your name is Thomas Quince?”

“What more do you wish to know, Miss Roper?” I held up his next bite as I feigned contemplation for what precisely I’d like to know about the stranger in our guest bed.

“Where are you from?” Chewing carefully before swallowing, his gaze never left mine, or at least not while I could keep it - loading another bite forced mine to drop.

“England.” I rolled my eyes and he laughed, wincing at the tenderness in his ribs. “Alright, that was a bit of a joke.” I withheld his next bite and he shook his head, telling me a more specific place of origin. His reward was his next nibble.

“And you can call me, Esme.” His eyes were locked on mine again and mine left to load up his next mouthful. “Did you always want to be a culinary master?” He chuckled and I looked up to find him staring at me.

“What did you go to school to be?” Ah, a question to answer a question. It was my turn to laugh. “I’m sorry, are you the only one allowed to be curious?”

Biting my lip, I shook my head. “No, you can be curious too.” Sighing, I held up the fork for him and gave in. “Literature. I went to college to get my Master’s in Literature.”

“English or -” He actually looked interested, which surprised me. This information wasn’t something anyone could use against my father.

“I didn’t actually have a focus, which made things interesting to say the least.” I loaded up the fork again. “Now, do I get an answer?”

He shook his head. “No, I didn’t always want to be a chef.” Our eyes met as he took the bite. I waited while he made it ready to go down the hatch, so to speak, then he finished his thought. “I wanted to be a big shot, someone who made things happen. That’s not an easy thing to become when you start out where I did.”

“I see,” or I thought I did. A few of my dad’s inner circle didn’t start out on the right side of the law, it seemed he’d found another one. Lowering my eyes to get another bite ready, I wasn’t prepared when his hand reached out to touch my chin, forcing me to look up again.

“You’re not upset are you?” I shook my head, but I was confused why he’d care. “I - I don’t want you hurt, Esme.” Squinting at him, trying to make sense of what he was trying to say, his thumb brushed my lower lip and I lost whatever train of thought I had been on. “You’re not exactly what I’d expect to find here.”

“What had you expected to find here?” I sounded breathless, but that couldn’t be helped.

“Nothing.” His hand dropped and the bubble popped. I could breathe again, and giving myself an internal shake to get a grip, I got back to feeding him lunch.

#jonathan pine x oc #jonathan pine #Richard Roper #the night manager #alternate universe #eventual smut #slow burn

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wiener-soldiers · 7 years

Text

can’t help falling in love - peter parker

request: I was wondering if you could write a peter parker x reader and have the reader being able to play the Ukulele? And maybe have peter not know she plays and he catching he playing/singing? Lots of Fluff? I hope you notice this! Ps love your writing sweetheart💚 (requested by @nevaehsuga)

summary: As an avid music lover, the ukulele was just another instrument you had learned to play. However when Peter catches you playing, he can’t help but be amazed.

pairing: Peter Parker x Fem!Reader

words: 1,522

warnings: major fluff like i was squealing while i was writing

a/n: first request guys! this was super fun to write, so i hope y’all enjoy. i’m working on a part 2 to Forgiveness in Time, so that’ll be up tomorrow. remember that requests are open and im honestly so happy when i get them! ALSO ITALICS ARE FLASHBACKS!

There were three constants in you life; your love for your family, space, and music.

Growing up, the relationship between you, your parents, and your sibling was tight. No matter the situation, the love shared between yourselves was constant.

Space was also consistent. To anyone else, space is just something out of their reach; a beautiful sight to behold, but no one bothers to look because they are busy sleeping. Not you, though. Although space had always fascinated you (let's be real; NASA was the goal), space was just a way to show that there was so much you didn't know, and that you curiosity was always overpowering.

Music, however, was not an art. To you, it was a religion. From as long as you could remember, music had been incorporated into your life. In the fourth grade, you joined an Honours Choir, signing in competitions all across New York City. In the seventh grade, you joined the middle school band. You picked up the clarinet and played well enough to have been invited to join the New York City Honour Band less than a year after you started to play.

Your love only blossomed from there. When you became old enough to discover Broadway, you immediately fell in love. You bought countless cast albums, and still cry every time you listen to Hamilton. As soon as you started high school, you were auditioning in the school's production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Along the way, you mastered the piano, you taught yourself the guitar, and even learning some trumpet.

But the small, charming instrument called the ukulele captured your heart.

In middle school, you were definitely the 'always-on-Tumblr-oh-my-god-Tyler-Joseph-is-my-dad' kid, and after hearing House of Gold by Twenty One Pilots for the first time, you instantly fell in love with the charming stringed instrument, later running to your favourite music store and buying yourself a ukulele.

You picked up the ukulele very quickly after already knowing how to play guitar, and every extra second you had to spare was strumming that instrument.

Which was where you found yourself that Saturday afternoon. Instead of studying for your biology exam, you found yourself distracted and desperately craving the sound of the ukulele. So, you pushed your textbooks aside and grabbed your ukulele, strumming a few chords.

Before you know it, you find yourself strumming the chords to We Don't Believe What's On TV by Twenty One Pilots.

The song was special to you, solely because it reminded you of your best friend, Peter Parker.

You had met him after school during rehearsal night. You were starring as Esmeralda in the Hunchback and slipped out of the auditorium to grab some water while the ensemble was learning some choreography. As you stepped away from the water fountain, you noticed a blur of someone wearing red and blue skin tight material run past you and up the stairs. Curiously, you had followed him.

The staircase lead to an empty hall, aside from Peter Parker standing at his locker, attempting to stuff something inside it.

"Peter?" you call out, "Peter Parker?"

You watched as his head whips around. "Yeah? That's me. Uh--(Y/N)?"

You walk closer to him. The closer you got, the more nervous he seemed.

"What are you doing here this late?" you question.

Peter scratches the back of his neck. "I could ask you the same question."

"I'm at rehearsal. We're doing The Hunchback this year, remember?"

"Oh," was his only response, forgetting to answer your question completely.

You put a hand on your hip and continue, "Say, did you see someone run up here? Clad in red and blue spandex?"

He stutters out a, "No."

"So then what are you doing at your locker?"

"Getting some books I forgot, I told you."

"No, you didn't."

"Didn't what?"

You roll your eyes, getting impatient. Finally deciding that enough was enough, you grabbed the handle to his unlocked locker. Despite Peter's pleas, you yank it open to find the Spiderman suit hung on the coat hook.

"You're Spiderman," you say in disbelief.

"You can't tell anyone."

So you didn't. You and Peter came up with a deal. Peter was in the same Biology class as you were, and as much as you hated to admit it, you needed a tutor. So in exchange for keeping your secret, Peter helped you not only pass, but ace the midterms.

As the months went by, your 'business deal' turned into a friendship, and on your part, love.

You got to the chorus of the song and began to sing.

“I need to know that when I fail you'll still be here,

'Cause if you stick around I'll sing you pretty sounds,

And we'll make money selling your hair.

I don't care what's in your hair,

I just wanna know what's on your mind,

I used to say, ‘I wanna die before I'm old,’

But because of you I might think twice.”

You continue to strum and finish the song with some occasional singing and humming. As you strum the last chord, a slow clapping comes from the fire escape outside your window.

There you find Peter clad in his Spiderman suit, mask off, sitting on your windowsill.

A blush comes up your cheeks as you stand up to close the door and pull him inside your room.

"Pete! What are you doing here? Someone coulda seen you!" you scold him, but your insides were screaming in joy that Peter decided to stop by.

He laughs and slings the backpack he was wearing off his shoulders, gesturing for you to turn around so he can get changed. You quickly spin against your heel, but you manage to sneak a glance at Peter's insanely sculpted back muscles before he slipped on a shirt.

You finally become aware that he had finished changing as you heard the squeak in your mattress as Peter sits down. "I didn't know you could play," he says while inspecting the ukulele laying on top of your comforter.

You sit next to him and smile a little, "I picked it up a couple weeks ago. I haven't really shown anyone. Well, until you showed up."

He laughs and nudges your shoulder before replying, "Well, I'm glad I did because you are absolutely breathtaking."

You stare at him and smile, "Thanks, Pete."

He smiles back and look back at the ukulele, turning it in his hands. He plucks each string one by one, before strumming all four together. He turns to look at you again.

"Teach me?" he asks, looking at you hopefully.

You nod in return and move your hand above his, moving his fingers above certain strings to form a chord.

"Now strum," you instruct.

With his opposite hand, his fingers gracefully strum the strings. The beautiful sound reverberated in your ears.

"I did it!" he says excitedly, with the biggest smile on his face.

You let out a giggle at how cute he was, "Yes you did, you big dork. Now, shut up so I can teach you a song."

After a couple of minutes, he learns the rest of the chords. And in less than an hour, he plays the song almost flawlessly.

You watch him with a smile as he stands up on your bed to do a celebratory dance, ukulele still in his hands.

"Peter!" you manage to say in between your fits of laughter, "come down before you break yourself, or my ukulele!"

He laughs at you, but sits back down beside you nevertheless. You had retreated to the floor, using the bed as a back rest in fear that Peter was going to jump on you.

After the laughter dies, he places the ukulele in front of you and turns to you.

"What song did you teach me anyways? You never told me."

"Oh!" you say with a surprised tone, "it was I Can't Help Falling in Love with You."

"Good," Peter says with a slight smirk on his face.

"What?" you ask, utterly confused.

Peter smiles and shakes his head. "Well," he starts, "it's good to know that the girl you fell in love with can't help falling in love with you, too."

Your mouth drops in shock, trying to process what just happened.

Deciding that it didn't matter you quickly uttered, "Peter Parker, you are the smoothest dork I know," before pressing your lips to his.

He makes a noise in response before responding. His arms find their way to your back, pulling you closer to his honey tasting lips, and your hands find themselves wrapped around his neck, playing with his hair. He begins to lean closer, but accidentally ends up kicking your ukulele in the process, a sour sounding chord playing quietly. You both pull away in laughter.

"I'll make you deal. You keep teaching me how to play, and you'll do me the greatest honour in letting me be your boyfriend," Peter says as he tucks a stand of (Y/H/C) hair behind your ears.

You smile and pull him in for another kiss. You whisper back in adoration, "It's a deal."

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bellatrixmalfoy · 4 years

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Phoebus managed to disappear in the time it took Bellatrix to kiss Vittoria goodbye and see her off. The boy inherited his father’s patience, much like many other things.

She wasn’t angry, she hadn’t told him to wait. Though it did sting that he didn’t seem keen on staying with her. She had been away longer than she’d originally planned, maybe he was upset with her and didn’t want to tell her... She sighed, shaking the thought before calling out.

"Where did you go?” her voice echoed through the stone walls as she peeked into each room she came across, seeing no sign of her son. It was a few minutes before she heard the response to her call.

“Mummy? I’m in Papa’s potions room!”

“And who said you can be in here by yourself?” she crossed her arms as she stood in the doorway, though the hint of a smile tugged at her lip. The excitement on her little boy’s face was contagious.

“Papa told Nanny Tori that I can play here, and he said I should try making this if she watched me!’ he took the piece of parchment on the table and ran across the room to show her.

“I see” she she chuckled, rolling her eyes. of course Lucius just gave their eight-years-old reign of the bloody Apothecary office. Bella knelt down to be more at eye-level with him and take the parchment. Bella looked over Phe’s shoulder to see the simmering little cauldron on the table. At least Lucius had the sense to keep the open fire to a minimum... “how far did you get then?”

He was already taking her hand and ushering her to the table before she’d finished her question. Thankfully Tori had been here--this worktable wasn’t in as bad of a condition as she was anticipating. He’d kept it pretty neat actually, his mortar and pestle already wiped clean and most ingredients were resealed into their jars. Phe’s hands flew over the table, brushing some of the debris away as he talked quickly.

“Well I had to have nanny Tori help me open some of the bottles--they had charms on them, and she lit the fire. But i read all the steps myself! And she says now I need to watch it, I have a little longer left! I just didn’t want to mess it up--I’m sorry Mummy” he squeezed her hand, now realizing why she looked a bit sad when she found him, “I should’ve taken you with me, but you were saying goodbye for so long and my potion--”

She kissed the top of his head, squeezing him to her for a moment. “It’s okay my sweet boy, but next time just tell me, I can run really fast when I want to” she ticked his ribs, causing him to squirm and laugh as he pulled away from her.

“okay...mummy, will you check it? does it look okay?”

Bella eyed the instructions--Cure for Boils seemed a bit advanced for Phe, but considering this was his first time making it, and the fact that he’d made it this far, he was doing pretty well. it also helped that Lucius had simplified a lot of the verbiage...had he made the little drawings or had Phe?

Bella made a show of looking between the cauldron, Phe, and the parchment, and it took Phoebus’s leg to start bouncing before finally answering his question. “It looks great sweetheart! I’m so proud of you! Let’s read the next step then...”

~*~

“Mummy! Phephe! We’re home!” Esmeralda’s high voice rang through the parlor, making three house elves pop into view and nearly run each other over while picking up the massive shopping bags placed on the floor by little girl’s father.

“See to it that the purple bags go into the other closet, and the contents of the little blue bags must be gift wrapped and placed on my bed by the time dinner is over. Also I’m expecting dinner to be ready in twenty minutes.” Lucius called over his shoulder to the elves as he lead Esme down the hall

“Mummyyyyy! Pheeeee!” continued Esme, now cupping her hands around her mouth, “Papa, where are they?” she pouted.

“Wherever they are, I’m sure their eardrums are intact.” He murmured to himself, “They’re probably in papa’s potions room, do you think Phe got lots of help from nanny Tori?” he asked, looking down at the now skipping six-years-old.

“Oh noooo Papa, Phe doesn’t like help!” she answered simply, making Lucius throw his head back to let out a proper guffaw.

it didn’t take long before they found the other half of their family. Bella stood next to Phe while he carefully ladled the finished potion into a vial. Bella looked up to see them enter the room, a grin spreading on her face at the sight of her husband and her daughter. Lucius had to take a small moment before speaking, and frankly, he had to clear his throat to fight back the smallest lump forming there. The sight before him was certainly one he’d have to save in the Pensieve later. “Hard at work then?” he asked, making his way to Bella, as did she to him.

“Hello Darling”

“Hello yourself Bells, I mi--”

“Hi mummy! Hi Phephe!” Esme was faster though, running to Phe’s other side to kiss his cheek.

“Hi Esme--hang on” Phe made a kiss noise when he felt her little peck, though his eyes didn’t leave his vial.

Bella detoured, getting Esme in her arms and a whole three feet away from Phe’s concentration in no time, smothering her little girl with kisses on both her cheeks. Esme squealed, hugging her mother tightly despite squirming under the attack.

“How’s my sweet girl? I missed you!” she asked, finally putting her down as she watched Lucius take over her spot next to Phe.

“Oh mummy, I missed you too!” Esme stroked her mum’s cheek, “We went to the shops today! I got lots of pretty dresses, and Papa got so many shinies!”

“Did he?” she asked, turning to him with a curious eyebrow

“What did I tell you Esme?” Lucius sighed

“Oh! It’s a surprise!” she grinned, it took a solid three seconds before her grin disappeared and little hand went to her forehead “ohhh...sorry Papa”

“Don’t be sorry sweetheart, Papa should’ve known better, because you always tell mummy everything don’t you?”

Esme’s grin returned as she nodded, holding Bella’s waist as the woman returned to her earlier target.

“Well done Phe!’ Lucius sighed proudly, hugging the boy to him and kissing the top of his head

“Does it look like the proper one Papa?” he asked, hugging him back as he looked up at his father.

“What do you mean? That is the proper one, you’ll be doing third-year Potions before you even get sorted into Slytherin” He grinned down, his hand how fluffing the boy’s curls, pushing them from his face.

Phe let go to take the now sealed vial to his sister, “look Esme! I did it!”

“Oooh! Well done Phe” she beamed, letting go of Bella to run to him, she peered at the container for a moment before asking “What is it?”

The two children continued their little conversation, not noticing that their parents were engrossed in one of their own.

“I was saying I missed you so much I could hardly stand another minute.” he murmured into her hair, embracing her to tightly her feet were grazing the ground.

“Missed you more. much much more...” she whispered in his ear, her fingertips rubbing the back of his neck.

They pulled back enough for their lips to meet, both sighing like they’d had their first drink of water in days. Bella’s feet were now inches off the ground, their arms unable to decide where to settle. Lucius felt her nails even through the fabric of his cloak, and he realized he needed to rip himself away before they traumatized their children.

“Esme, look away” Phe placed his hand over his sister’s eyes, shaking his head as she

“Why are they always like this?” she asked, not bothering to remove Phe’s hand.

“Because we love each other” Lucius answered, now merely holding Bella’s waist “You should be lucky to be this in love one day.”

Esme made a face, sticking her tongue out and shaking her head. Phe just laughed, removing his hand and rolling his eyes.

Bella leaned into her husbands shoulder, grinning as she looked between her two children for a moment before speaking “Come on then, you both have some cleaning up to do dinner is ready”

They went to the hallway after Phe labeled and placed the vial right in the middle of Lucius’s shelf. Together they made their way to the stairs, where a few day’s worth of catching up awaited them.

#drabble #um #here you go #you wanted fluff #have all the fluff #love you

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lilacmoon83 · 5 years

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Dreaming Out Loud

Also on Fanfiction.net and A03

Chapter 103: Way Above the Chimney Tops

Snow sighed in contentment, as she lay atop his chest and he cuddled her close. It had been a night full of passion and love and neither of them had ever been happier. She mewled sensually, as he kissed her throat and she ran her fingers through his hair.

"I love you so much…" he rasped, as they bathed in the afterglow of many bouts of lovemaking that had kept them up most of the night. But neither of them minded losing sleep. He knew that soon, she'd have to go back into hiding and he would have to return home. They were fairly safe at the spring cabins and there magical protections around the meadow, but they could never be too careful. So they always made good use of their time.

"Wanna go out and spend the day at the falls?" she purred.

"That sounds wonderful," he agreed, as he kissed her.

"But first...I'm going to make you breakfast," he said, as he got up and she enjoyed the view, as he slipped his pants on and she fell back to the pillow and he went to work in the kitchen. David's mother had taught him to cook and he was very good at it. He loved cooking for her and she was only too happy to let him. She sighed, as she soon smelled the aroma of cooking eggs and homemade bread.

~*~

James marched along with the other soldiers, as they were led by a mysterious warrior that his father called Leviathan. Apparently, this man was some kind of super warrior and rumor was that you never saw him coming once he struck. They had been ordered by Arawn to travel to the east to assist the Royal Vizier in some quest. James knew they weren't being told everything and he had a gut feeling that they were being led into something that would be over their heads. This whole war was senseless and coming from him, that was saying something. He had never been one to shy away from a battle. In fact, he had often thrived on it, but fighting in this war the last few years had changed him. It left him seeing his life differently and yearning for more than just the next fight. But it didn't matter what he wanted. As long as Arawn was in control, the warring would never end. He just kept conquering Kingdom after Kingdom and soon, every single one would just be chess pieces on his board in one big Empire. It was unsettling, but he was trapped in this life and he didn't much like the fact that death quite possibly would be his only escape.

"Excuse me...Leviathan is it?" James called out. The man stopped and turned, before motioning James forward. He watched the man remove his helmet, revealing a dark skinned man, though he didn't show his face to the other soldiers.

"Is that what they are calling me?" he asked, with a bit of amusement.

"Yeah...I thought it was ridiculous too, but where exactly are we going?" James asked.

"Soldiers are to follow orders without question," the man responded.

"Not this soldier," James refuted. The man smirked.

"I respect that actually," he said, with a nod.

"We are going to a place called Bald Mountain," the man stated.

"Why?" James questioned.

"Not even I am privy to that information...but I know that whatever is there could give supreme reign to whoever controls the ancient entity that supposedly exists there," he said.

"And you're okay with that being Arawn and his deviant Royal Vizier?" James questioned.

"I've been paid to do a job," the man replied vaguely.

"Fine...but the men are tired and I think we should make camp here for tonight. There's a fresh water source nearby. I can hear the waterfall from here," James stated.

"Then we agree...we'll make camp here tonight," the man said.

"What do I call you? Because I'm not calling you Leviathan," James stated shortly. The man smirked.

"Lancelot," he stated.

"Of the round table?" James questioned.

"Not anymore," he responded.

~*~

Two Days Later

Frollo gazed up at the cone shaped mountain, as they had finally arrived at the location. The stars atop the hat, in its dormant form, had morphed into the constellations, which had led him straight to the mountain. He had no idea was awaited him inside, but he was determined to have victory for his King. He had full faith that Arawn would rule this land with a firm hand and rid it of the undesirables that plagued it. With this power, they could cleanse the land and destroy the wicked.

The Apprentice's words did echo in his mind and he wondered if he was fair in blaming his impure thoughts on anyone other than himself. But he quashed any doubts the old man had put in him. He was a man of religion and had taken the vow of celibacy. Witches like Esmeralda, a gypsy of all things, had tested him and almost broke him. He had failed to eradicate her and her kind, but he would not fail again. He thought the temptation of the gypsy had been bad, but the wiles of Snow White, daughter of the Underworld, were perhaps even more seductive. She was the second dark haired beauty to tempt him, but he had resisted and truly believed if he succeeded in burning the temptress at the stake, that it would release him from her spell.

Firstly though, they needed the power of the ancient creature that was said to be imprisoned inside this mountain. And now...that power would work for them.

He approached the mountain and saw a crevice that looked to the entrance. With a smirk, he motioned to the soldiers with him and they ventured into the narrow pathway into the mysterious mountain. And Frollo was astonished by what he found inside once they made it through the pathway.

They stood upon a ledge that overlooked a basin of churning magma that seemed half molten and half cooled. They saw water pour from some sort of man created reservoir into the magma pit, keeping it cool and steam billowed around them.

"Inconceivable," Frollo uttered, as his eyes searched the cone shaped mountain and he took the hat in his hands, willing it to open, but it would not. He shook it slightly and it glowed, which made the magma below begin to twist and churn. He smirked.

"Rise Chernabog!" he commanded and the lava began to rise into the air and take form.

"Yes…" Frollo seethed in anticipation, but what took form was not the monster he had been promised. Poofs of light blue magic gave the lava form and several black baby centaurs came flying at them, neighing in amusement, as they ducked away from the creatures. More lava bubbles formed and in blue puffs of smoke, baby cupids flew about, shooting them with hearts. And if he wasn't certain he was being mocked before, he was now, as more lava bubbles formed and formed into walking brooms that marched toward them. He snarled and looked up to find Hades and Persephone on the ledge opposite of them.

"Did you really think that I did not put magical protections in place?" Hades questioned smugly.

"Then this is your doing?!" Frollo demanded to know. Hades crossed his arms over his chest.

"Merlin may have trusted that old fool he calls an Apprentice to keep the hat safe, but I'm not known for my faith in others, save for a few," Hades retorted, as he glanced at his wife.

"I put these protections in place centuries ago, in case someone managed to get the hat. You'll never raise the Chernabog," the God of the Underworld stated. Persephone smirked, as she hooked her hand on his elbow.

"I am a little surprised by the nature of the protections though. I mean, baby centaurs, cupids, and dancing brooms?" she teased. He smirked back.

"I could have gone with the usual spikes, hellfire, and hot coals, but what is life without some whimsy? This is more fun," he replied.

"You think you're denying me?!" Frollo roared angrily.

"That's exactly what we're doing. No mortal or God should possess the power of the Chernabog," Persephone refuted. Frollo smirked.

"You will raise the Chernabog for me then," he stated.

"You really have lost it if you think we'd do that," Hades protested.

"You will...or they will die," Frollo countered. They frowned, as they saw a Knight they recognized as Lancelot of Camelot and Prince James lead in two people. The russet sacks were removed from their heads, revealing Snow and David…

~*~

Two Days Earlier

Snow moaned sensually, as he kissed her lazily and they waded idly in the water. Her legs were still hooked around him and he was still inside her, as they slowly came down from another powerful bout of lovemaking, this time in the lake by the waterfall. As always, it was amazing and they were determined to make the best of their honeymoon.

"Oh David…" she uttered breathlessly.

"I love you so much…" he said in a husky tone, as he kissed her again and she tilted her head, as his lips moved to her neck. Their lips met again and then parted, as she pressed her forehead against his.

"I guess we should probably head back and build a fire," he mentioned. She nodded. Building a fire around a campsite meant sleeping under the stars in his arms and that was always something very appealing to her. They dried off with their blankets and managed to get dressed, before venturing back to their campsite, hand in hand.

"Mmm...looks like Mother packed all our favorites," he said, as he peered into the picnic basket.

"Good...I'm starved. We worked up quite an appetite," she said, giving her husband a hungry look. He smirked.

"We did...and that was only the beginning," he promised, as he swept her close and they started swaying. She giggled.

"There's no music," she mentioned. He shrugged.

"That's okay...I think we can make our own," he responded, as he kissed her tenderly.

"Mmm...I like the music we make," she said dreamily, as they continued to sway.

"Me too...but I better get that fire going or we're going to freeze," he said, as he went about gathering some wood, while she started getting the food out. She opened it and happened to look up toward the woods and froze. She blinked in disbelief at what she saw by a tree. She gaped and glanced back at her husband and then back at the identical man by the tree. The man that looked exactly like her husband seemed just as stunned, as he was looking around her at David.

"What is this?" she uttered, as he started toward her, which made her back away. He may have looked like David, but she knew he wasn't.

"David!" she cried and then gasped, as she saw Deimos there and he had her husband in a headlock.

"Well, well...Snow White, just the fugitive that we've been looking for," he leered.

"Let him go!" she demanded, as she grabbed her dagger, as she was grabbed from behind by another man that she did not recognize, while her husband's doppelganger stood stunned, eyes still locked on the man that looked exactly like him.

"This must be a surprise to you, Prince James...I take it you were both unaware that you each had a twin," Deimos revealed. Snow fought and struggled against the man, but it did no good, as they were both shoved into a prison carriage.

"Charming…" she whispered, as she cradled him in her arms, while he tried to get his breath from practically being strangled.

"Who are you?!" Snow demanded of the dark skinned man. But he did not answer that question.

"Lord Frollo has requested that you both be delivered to him at Bald Mountain," Lancelot stated simply. Deimos disappeared, while the other two men mounted the horses that pulled the carriage and it began to move.

~*~

Two Days Later

"No…" Persephone uttered, as their daughter and son-in-law were prodded forward, hands bound. That was enough shock that they had been captured, but it was clear that James and David were now both well aware of the other's existence and the shock of that had not passed.

"You let them go...or I swear that you will suffer an afterlife that will be nothing short of horrific. And that goes for all of you!" Hades roared. But they didn't seem deterred and that didn't really surprise him. He wasn't as feared as he once was. He knew it was known that family life had softened him and while he was glad for that, it didn't help him any in situations like this.

"Your demon daughter and son-in-law will remain unharmed if you raise the Chernabog," Frollo stated.

"Don't you understand?! Raising the Chernabog will destroy us all!" Persephone shouted back.

"Not if he is controlled with this," Frollo retorted.

"You don't even understand how that hat works. Not just anyone can wear it! This will not end the way you think it will!" Hades yelled.

"Save your diatribe and raise the Chernabog...or they die!" Frollo hissed, as Deimos snapped his fingers and suddenly Snow and David were suspended in a cage above the churning magma. And the cage was slowly inching its way down.

"Damn you…" Persephone growled, as she disappeared and reappeared before Deimos, ready with a blast of magic for him. He countered with his own fireball and they dueled each other in a fiery display. Frollo chuckled.

"That's one way to burn a witch and her lover," he goaded, as Hades clenched his fist and he glared at the evil man. He glanced at his wife, who was holding her own against Deimos, even against his monstrous strength. That meant it was up to him to save Snow and David, without raising the monster in the magma pit below. Hades had plenty of magic and strength of his own on his side. But words and wit were where he excelled and so he decided to appeal to a man that had once been a hero and offer a path back from his fall from grace.

"So...this is what it's come to for you? The great Lancelot is now a mercenary that will have the blood of innocents on his hands?" Hades questioned, directing it to the former Knight.

"I've been hired to do a job," he said simply, but he was clearly uncomfortable with what was happening.

"If this man you're working for gets control of the beast that is dormant in this mountain...then you'll be responsible for the deaths of thousands. Can you really live with that? For money of all things?" Hades questioned.

"Stop stalling or I will use this to see that they fall much faster," Frollo warned, as he brandished his plasma weapon.

"It's out of my hands," Lancelot said regrettably.

"That's too bad...you would have once been admitted to Elysian. A place for only the mightiest heroes. Now...you'll be lucky if I don't sentence you to one of my rivers when your life is done," Hades replied, as he looked at his step-daughter, who clung to her husband.

"It's going to be okay, snowdrop…" he promised, as he met her eyes.

"Papa Hades...you can't release that monster. Not even for us," Snow said tearfully, which made him swallow thickly.

"She's right…" David agreed, as he looked at her.

"Even if we die today...at least I know where we're going and that we'll be together," he said, failing to notice the conflict on Lancelot's face and strangely on James' too.

"He's your brother, Prince James. I know you have questions and they die with him if you let this happen," Hades called.

"This is your final warning, you demon! Anymore attempts at deceiving my men and they will be permanent residents in your realm!" she warned.

"Do something...or she might be one of this man's victims when he uses the Chernabog's power," Hades warned one more time and met Lancelot's eyes as he did. As God of the Underworld, he was well aware of the deception that Camelot's King had them under and that included his Queen, whom was truly in love with the disgraced Knight. Lancelot shook his head and turned on the other soldiers, dispatching them easily.

"You fool...you will regret your treason," Frollo hissed, as he aimed the weapon in line with Snow and David, preparing to use it to shatter the cage and send them falling into the molten death below. But he was the one that was suddenly holding his arm in pain, as James had used his sword to separate Frollo's weapon from his body, along with part of his arm. Hades disappeared in a puff of light blue smoke and then reappeared before them.

"You both have made wise choices," he said, as he used his magic to relocate Snow and David from the cage to the spot next to him. They sighed in relief and Snow hugged her step-father tightly. David met his twin's eyes for the first time and they could only stare at each other, with questions that were obviously overwhelming them both.

Deimos noticed that the tides had turned and abruptly disappeared in a puff of black smoke. Persephone hurried back to her family, glad that Deimos had run like a coward, and promptly hugged her daughter and son-in-law tightly.

"What are we going to do with him?" Lancelot questioned. Hades smirked and picked the man up by his collar with one arm. His eyes flashed with blue fire, as he used his powers to assault Frollo's subconscious with images of what awaited him in the afterlife. Frollo cried out in horror at the images and held his head in anguish.

"You're too dangerous to stay alive...but I will give you one chance to walk out of here and rethink your life," Hades hissed, as he dropped him unceremoniously to the ground at his feet. Frollo glowered up at him, as he turned away and back to the people in front of him.

"There is much to discuss I sense, but perhaps this isn't the best place," Lancelot suggested. Persephone nodded.

"I agree," she agreed and almost didn't see the man at her husband's feet getting up. Fortunately, she saw his movement out of the corner of her eye and the dagger he had brandished from his robes, aiming it at her daughter.

"Hades!" she cried, as he turned and together, they blasted the evil man with their magic, vaulting him over the edge and sending him falling into the churning magma below. His screams of agony, as he burned, echoed through the mountain and Snow shuddered against David, as he pulled her close.

"Let's go...this is no place for anyone, let alone the two of you," Persephone said, as she prodded them out. Hades motioned to the Knight and the Prince, urging them to follow. They did so, having made their choices. And they knew there was no turning back to their former side now. Hades suspected that neither wanted to turn back though and took heart in that. Perhaps this would be the turning point in the battle against Arawn that they needed.

After they left, there was an inhuman roaring from the pit, as the magma churned and boiled. The roaring continued ominously, bubbling violently. The evil that lay dormant inside the mountain was dormant no more.

~*~

Rumple watched the scene on the small crystal ball with great interest. He never had much use for the objects, as his seer powers usually told him what he needed to know. But the Sorcerer's hat had drawn great interest. He had longed to possess the object, but with it back in Hades' possession, he knew that it was unlikely he would get the chance to have it. Frollo's demise gave him pause and he had no desire to fight against Hades or Persephone for it. Essentially, in theory, the hat had the power to free him from the restraints of the dagger, without taking away his powers. But as seen when Frollo tried to open it and failed, the hat was unpredictable and that meant there was no guarantee that it would do what he wanted.

Instead, he was going to keep his efforts focused on the curse and that meant bottling true love from Snow White and her charming shepherd. Interesting enough though, David the shepherd had now come face to face with his twin brother, Prince James. Additionally, Prince James had actually betrayed his post by disobeying Frollo and this would translate back to King Arawn as treason. That made him a fugitive right alongside his brother and sister-in-law.

It was a very interesting development, but did little to get him what he needed from the pair that would give life to the Savior. That was when he was assaulted with a new vision and it was hazy at best. It had to do with Bald Mountain though and he felt the evil stirring inside the mountain. He couldn't be sure what that meant, but that wasn't all he saw. Less surprisingly, he saw Cora and Arawn in the same room, but he expected Cora to try for a deal with him after what Regina did to Zelena. And yet, as usual, he somehow saw Snow and David at the center of all of it. And then he saw why, which led to him letting out a high pitched giggle.

"Oh dearies...no more hiding for you. It's time you take back your Kingdom and become the legends the stars speak of. I will make my potion, you'll conceive the Savior...and then I will find you, Bae," Rumple stated, as he prepared for the final phase of his plan that would end with the casting of the dark curse.

~*~

They reappeared in the meadow they called home most of the time. A frantic Eli, Sera, Ruth, and Robert rushed out of the house and to their son and daughter.

"Snow..." Eli cried, as he swept his little girl into a hug.

"Oh my goodness...where were you?!" Ruth cried, as she hugged her son fiercely.

"We've been worried sick," Sera fretted, while Robert was silent, but his face was ashen and marred with worry.

"We had a bit of trouble and it's a long story," David said, as he could see all three of his parents looking over them and at his brother in awed disbelief.

"James…" Sera uttered and David kept her from collapsing to her knees.

"No…" James refuted, as she slowly walked toward him with tears in her eyes.

"James…" she repeated, as tears streamed down her face.

"No...he said you were dead. You got sick and you died!" James shouted.

"Don't scream at her!" David snapped.

"He lied to you, son...I was taken away. I should be dead, but a Knight spared me and I went into exile. If he knew I had survived, he would have sent someone to kill me," she said.

"Why?! You were his Queen...you were my mother!" James snapped. She looked destroyed by his use of the past tense.

"Because he knew I would interfere with what he wanted for you. I did not want to raise you to in his image. He knew I would raise you with love and compassion," she replied.

"So...you just replaced me with my brother?" James questioned.

"It wasn't like that...I was alone for several years. Then I met Ruth one day and took her and David in when they had no place to go," Sera explained.

"It's true...your mother, Ruth, left me and it was my own fault. I was an alcoholic and she was right to go," Robert added.

"Sera and I fell in love," Ruth said.

"Were you ever going to tell me about him?" David questioned all three of them and they looked down shamefully.

"We didn't know how...we thought you'd never meet and it would be too painful," Ruth said.

"We shouldn't have kept it from you," Robert added.

"We were only trying to protect you, David," Sera said tearfully.

"King George already took one son from me," she said, as she looked at James.

"If he knew about you...he'd kill you on site," she added. James snorted.

"She's right about that," he agreed.

"You don't know how lucky you are," James added.

"Excuse me? Aren't you a Prince or something?" David challenged.

"I am, but you grew up with three loving parents. I grew up with a King that loves power more than anything, including me," he spat. "

And you're married to a Princess, which makes you a Prince too now," he reminded.

"You got our biological mother and our adopted mother," he continued bitterly.

"At least he tried to come for me," James said, as he looked at his father.

"Then you remember…" Robert realized and James nodded curtly.

"What's he talking about?" David asked.

"It's a long story…" Robert replied.

Perhaps the house is a better place for all of this," Persephone suggested.

"She's right...I know emotions are running very high here, but this is still a family," Eli added. James shrugged.

"Why not? It's not like I can ever go home again," the Prince said bitterly.

"Or maybe you can…" a voice said, as it was followed by a giggle. Hades sighed.

"If you're here for the hat, forget it," the God warned.

"As much as I'd like to have it, I know there's no deal we could make where I get it. But that's not why I'm here," Rumple responded.

"Then why are you here and what do you want?" Persephone questioned.

"Hmm...what indeed. Perhaps I'll join this little family meeting and offer all of you a way to not only fight Arawn...but eventually defeat him," Rumple replied.

"What's in it for you?" David questioned, making Rumple let out a shrill giggle again.

"Such a loaded question, dearie. But trust me, Arawn's demise is in the best interest of everyone and I can help you make it happen," the Dark One offered.

"Even for you, that's a tall order. But we'll hear what you have to say," Persephone agreed, as they went inside the cabin that belonged to Snow and David...

#Snowing #SnowxCharming #Charming family #AU #HadesXPersephone #greek mythology meets farytales #Rumbelle #romance #adventure #family #dreaming out loud

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rwybstory · 7 years

Text

Bad Words

“We’re back with Adrianna and Mackenzie Guerrilla!” Ellen speaks into the camera while the audience claps; the two women smiling on the couch next to the host. “So, let’s talk about the family. You two are getting quite the Brady Bunch.”

The wives and the audience both laugh, but soon turn into ‘awe’s as the large screen behind them shows a picture of the whole family from a couple weeks prior.

“Look at our babies.” Adrianna beams.

“We definitely make some good looking kids.” Mackenzie laughs and Adrianna can’t help, but to kiss her wife. She’s so proud of how far they’ve come.

“So, how is everything going? You guys have, what, twenty kids now?”

“Nooo,” Kenz draws out. “We have six. Autumn June, Conner James, Anya Janae, Radley Joel, and the newest two: Olive Joy and Brock Jaxon. Who are respectively, now, eleven, ten, four, and the babies will be two next month.”

“Wow! And how do you two manage that at the young age of eighteen?”

“Oh wow!” Ade fakes surprise. “I wish we were still eighteen, but thanks for that compliment!”

“I’m just kidding, but honestly, they might look young, but that’s because they really are. How old are you both?”

“A lady never tells her age, Ellen.” Mackenzie winks.

“But her wife does.” Adrianna finished to a laugh from the audience and the host. “Kenz is turning thirty next month and I am thirty-one.”

Some of the audience gasp, but most clap and whistle for the two guests.

“So, how big is your whole family now? I know both your families are extremely close.”

“Umm..” Adrianna starts naming people while Mackenzie ticks off, “There’s the eight of us. My parents, her parents, Naya and Heather makes five, Mychal and Lea make four, Miguel and Alison are three, Carlos and Holly will be four once the twins are born, Nickayla and Brent, and Lilly and Becca, so…”

“Thirty-two people is a normal family dinner for us.” Mackenzie laughs because it’s just normal to her, but she’s never actually counted everyone out before and it’s a huge number.

“So, do your kids help? Like, when you have a family gathering. I’d imagine they help.”

“Definitely,” Adrianna starts. “Autumn, our oldest, gets her OCD from Mackenzie and so the two of them are usually in charge of cleaning. They’ll usually recruit Radley and the babies.”

“Really? Not Conner or Anya.”

Mackenzie laughs. “Oh, no.. they get their cleaning skills from their mama which is ‘we’ll just wait until the last minute to clean.’ They know that doesn’t fly with me. Radley will usually help Autumn cleaning up the toy room and living room. The babies help me in the nursery and our bedroom and bathroom.”

“You’re telling me two year olds help you clean..” Ellen gives a non-believing look.

“Yes!” Mackenzie defends herself as Adrianna and the audience laugh.

“Honestly, Ellen, if I didn’t see it myself, I would think she’s lying too, but they help her dust, they help with laundry, they sweep the floors. Obviously, we’re not saying things are perfect, but it gets them doing something other than sitting in front of an electronic.”

“What are Conner and Anya doing when all this is going on?”

“They’re with Ade in the kitchen. The three of them love cooking and dishes are something they all willingly clean.”

“Nice! Backing up a little.. you two have always been pretty vocal about children and electronics and you’ve written multiple children's books, some on the topic of electronics. Why don’t we talk more about that?”

The two women look at each other to silently determine who would talk. Adrianna let’s Mackenzie.

“I mean, it’s kind of public knowledge now about how I grew up and was raised. My parents weren’t around a lot and I had kind of a revolving door of nannies who were usually there for a paycheck. Adrianna and I just really love being in the moment with our kids and always finding a way to learn and grow with them and watch them throughout their journey. We don’t completely ban electronics. We watch movies on Netflix and they have iPads and game consoles, but it’s limited and we know what their playing and watching. So many kids now are playing and watching things that are so mature for their age and they aren’t learning to be kids, so I think that’s just our view on it.”

“Well, a lot of people must think the same, because every one of your seven books have made it to the number one spot on the New York Times best-seller list!”

Again, the audience claps and Ellen cuts to a commercial break after announcing that every guest in the audience was getting a bundle of all seven books.

“We’re doing a special hour-long segment with your favorite mommies, Adrianna and Mackenzie!” Ellen waits for the audience to calm down. “Most of these questions come from audience members, so let’s go out to some of them right now. Where’s Maya Gold?”

A loud screaming came from the left side of the audience while a microphone was being passed down the aisle.

“Hello, ladies!”

“Hi!” The two answer in unison.

“I've been in a relationship for five years now and my question is: how do you keep the romance and sexiness in your relationship?”

Ooohhh’s fill the studio and Adrianna decides to answer the question.

“I wanna say something cheesy, like, ‘Have you seen how beautiful my wife is?’” The audience laughs as Mackenzie playfully slaps her arm. “But honestly it's not about looks or sex. Don't get me wrong, the sex is great!” Mackenzie hides her face while Ellen and Adrianna give five. “But when you have a connection with someone, such a connection that a kiss can make you weak in the knees; you can't beat that.”

“I agree.” Mackenzie talks over the audience. “We’re not always sexy and romantic. We’re also full time moms, so sometimes things can get a little crazy, but we do cheesy things to keep the romance up like make blanket forts and send the kids to grandma’s for the night to have the house to ourselves. We rent movies and just talk. Reconnect as a couple. We’re just normal parents. I will say that we both make an active effort to talk strictly our relationship everyday. We ask each other how the other is feeling or if something needs to be done. No kid talk. No business talk. Just us as a couple and that helps a lot.”

“Next question.. We have Esmeralda Martinez.”

“Hello! My question is: Have any of your kids said a curse word?”

“Oh my gosh. Yes!” Mackenzie exclaims. “All six of them, because their mama has a very bad habit of cursing in front of them.”

“Um, so does their Tía Naya!” Adrianna attempts to defend herself. “Anya’s first curse word was because of Naya. Not me.”

“Doesn't matter. You both need to stop.”

“Sí. Sí. Lo que tu digas.”

Mackenzie gasps. “Adrianna Isabella. You did not just whatever me!”

“I did, pero lo siento.” Ade kisses Kenzie’s cheek, but the blonde wasn't having it.

“No hemos terminado con esta.”

“She said ‘We’re not done with this conversation.’ Great, you all got me in trouble. Trying to act like a badass for you all and now I'm in trouble.” Adrianna pleads to the audience and Ellen.

“Oh boy So, I'm assuming the kids speak Spanish as well?”

“Yes, they’re fluent in Spanish and sign language and they’re all currently learning French.”

“And they know how to curse in two of those.” Mackenzie continues from moment before.

“See, but mommy, they learned how to curse in ASL from you. She’s got a potty mouth, people.” She turns to the audience. “Don’t believe the angelic exterior.”

Mackenzie again playfully slaps Adrianna’s arm and kisses her cheek while Ellen calls for the next question.

“Hello, ladies!” The audience member gushes. “My question is: If you could come up with a hashtag for your wife, what would it be?”

The two take a moment to think before Mackenzie answers. “Ade’s would be #tiredbutnottired. She is such a hard worker and such an attentive mother that she makes everything look so easy even though she’s exhausted.”

“Kenzie’s would probably be #iwasntjoking. She’s so witty and sarcastic. Which she gets from her sister.” She playfully rolls her eyes. “That so many people think she’s joking when she could, like, tear you to pieces. I’m telling you guys! I’m sure a lot of you have seen her in some of her many ‘twitter feuds.’”

Next question: “Hello! I’m a stay at home mom of two kids, ages 2 and 3, and currently 24 weeks pregnant with twins. I was just wondering how you introduced your kids to their younger siblings and if there was any jealousy.”

“Congratulations!” Mackenzie starts. “Well, Autumn was barely one when our older twins were born and she was kinda fascinated with them.” She looked to Ade who nodded in agreement. “When we decided to have Radley, the older three were 7 and 6 and they had been asking for years to have another sibling. They were such great helpers.”

“Now, our little Rad..” Ade jumps in and Kenz laughs, knowing the story. “Rad was two when the twins were born and he absolutely hated them for a couple months. They cried, he cried louder. They got a pacifier, he took it. Pulled their hair. Pinched them. He tried to bite Livy once, but we stopped him before he could. We just continually worked and played with him and made sure that he got attention from us, separate from the babies. After the first, maybe month and a half, he was fine and left them alone.”

“Now, he’s all over them to play. Now that they’re older.”

“Okay, one last question from the audience, where’s Alex Rydel?”

“Hello!”

“Oh my gosh! Hey, Alex!”

“Hey, gorgeous!” Ade calls out. “Alex has been one of our biggest supporters for years.”

“Hey, ladies. My question is: What are you most afraid of?”

“No! I refuse to answer.” Mackenzie instantly gets defensive and starts looking around the set. “Alex, you probably planned this with Ellen to scare me!”

The audience laughs as the blonde stands up and starts pacing. Adrianna pulls her sideways into her lap, Mack’s right arm instinctively wrapping around her wife’s shoulders and left hand tangling in her right.

“Baby, you know I scared Ellen years ago and told her if she ever scared you, she’d be in trouble.”

“En serio, Adrianna, qué control tienes sobre Ellen? Eh? Ninguno! Ella es Ellen!”

Adrianna laughs and again acts as translator. “ When Kenz is real serious, she switches to Spanish. She said I have no control over Ellen, because she’s Ellen! Back to the question. I’m most afraid of wild animals. Even, like, open zoos terrify me. Babe?”

“Aliens.” She whispers and quickly whips around to make sure no one is sneaking up on her.

“Aliens aren’t real!” Alex laughs.

“You don’t know that, Alexis!”

“Ohhhh, full-named!” Adrianna jokes.

“I’ve seen the documentaries. I’ve read the books! I swear I saw them when I was young..”

“AHHHH!”

“AHHHH! Pinche pendejo!” (Fucking asshole!)

Adrianna, along with Ellen and the audience, lose their minds laughing so hard as Mackenzie runs after the poor staff member dressed in a green alien costume.

“And she says the kids only get their cursing from me!” Adrianna shakes her head, waves to the audience, and runs to save the staff member from her wife.

#adrienzie #lesbian #lesbian relationship #lesbian family #soulmates #writing #stories #rwybstory #right where you belong

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eienias20 · 7 years

Text

Butterfly and Firebird

An RP featuring DeltaMachina’s Butterfly of the Battlefield: Esmeralda and my own Fiery Corporal: Jaynix. These two hang out a lot in RPs and this another of their adventures wherein they partake in the much loved activity of Ganglion killing!

RP ran from 6/23/17 to 7/2/17

Butterfly and Firebird

DeltaMachina || Esmeralda

Dodonga Caravan, an ever bustling source of commerce for the Nopon in Noctilum. Despite being in a less than ideal location, they somehow still continued to operate their center of business from here for throughout the region.

Right outside is a small base camp and tonight's shift just so happens to belong to a certain Interceptor among others, sitting at the table and sipping from a milkshake as she speaks to a yellow Nopon wearing a blue beanie.

"Aaah, it's all so adorable!"

She grins, looking at the Nopon's collective of freshly made hand-knit hats laid out in front of her. There's a twinkle in her eyes as she speaks.

"Sad to say the headgear is kinda my thing, but you just make them all so adorable!"

"Then tall green friend should spend! Give to other friends like always!"

The Nopon beams with pride, her wings clapping together as she speaks happily.

"Nosusu is glad that friend is willing to gather materials so often, or may not be able to keep up with orders!"

"Oh, how could I abandon one of my girls when she's so adorable and talented?! Let me just-wait, shouldn't I be getting a discount?"

"Meh, meh! Friend gets paid for services! ... Usually!"

The Nopon pouts, adjusting her hat as she averts her gaze. To be honest, usually Esmeralda just dropped off the items free of charge after a nice little clear out of the local nuisances.

"Haaah... Nosusu, you are a dangerous businesswoman. No wonder Koko always recommends me to you."

"Nosusu is a pure and honest businesspon! Dangerous is Prone hideout around corner. So full of nasties. Even after all this time, surprised friends have not blown it to pieces!"

Esmeralda's eyes shift over in the direction the Nopon speaks of. Understaffed, no Skells, not much of anything compared to the larger base at the center of Noctilum's northern area...

"You and me both, Nosu."

The girl sighs as she pokes at one of the hats, thumbing her finger against one colored red with a pink stripe.

Eienias || Jaynix

Not far from Es' base camp, a rover cut across the normally serene Noctilum forest, hard rock blasting from the speakers as Jaynix, at the wheel, whistled along with the song.

She enjoyed the music but it being loud also allowed her to block out any and all unpleasant thoughts...at least for the moment. Spotting the base camp, Jaynix turned down the volume and slowed the rover to a stop. Jumping out she turned to the two BLADEs she brought along for the shift change.

"Anton. Archer. Hope the ride was smooth but here we are!"

The two thanked her, Archer speaking.

"We owe you. I'm not sure what went wrong with my chopper but it was a grand help."

Jaynix waved him off.

"The Outfitters will have it up and running before you know it. Anyway, off to work with the two of you. Go on! Get!"

Thanking Jaynix again the pair took off to relieve the current on duty BLADEs. Jaynix turned to watch them go, taking in a deep breath and slowly exhaling…calm. She was calm and whispering to herself.

"All I long to see...is your smile..."

DeltaMachina || Esmeralda

While Nosusu spoke, Esmeralda continued to think quietly to herself as she thought about the base more.

“If I remember right, the Prone in that base were supposedly under command of some asshole called the 'Blood King' or something dumb like that. But after he kicked the bucket they supposedly just kind of started petering around and... yeah, I think there's a new head honcho there. Question is what was their name again? Whatever, I'll just call him dead meat if I-“

The sound of the other BLADEs walking over threw off her train of thought.

"Hey there, we-"

"Yeah. Whatever."

Esmeralda huffed as she got up, rolling her eyes and flicking her launchers to her back.

"Later Nosu, I'll drop some materials off next time I'm in the area."

The two blades just stare at her as she walks forward, eyes looking at her Skell cleverly stuck behind the trees. Then again, hard to miss a large white Skell with an E-scythe on its shoulder.

"C'mon sweetheart, I think it's time for us to-wait a minute I know that rover...!"

Without a second though, she completely blows off the two BLADEs and dashes forward without a moment's thought.

"Jaaaay~!"

The girl smiles as she runs at the red Interceptor, all six feet of her rushing forward before grabbing the girl in a very embracing hug.

"Hey there gal pal what are you doing here?"

Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix's soft whispers were abruptly cut off upon feeling a powerful oncoming force, before she could react in any way she was being hugged incredibly tightly by a very familiar green Interceptor.

"Es?"

Looking to the other woman holding her, Jaynix smiled. This was exactly what she needed.

"Hey there Butterfly! What brings...well, I guess you asked me first."

Hands stuck to her side as a result of Es' powerful hug, Jaynix gestured by tilting her head towards the two BLADEs that just arrived.

"Archer had some technical problems back in NLA so I offered him and Anton a ride out. Wasn't doing much back in town and a drive sounded like a good distraction…what about you Butterfly? What brings you to Noctilum?"

DeltaMachina || Esmeralda

"Oh you know just... point defense."

Esmeralda stated as she tilted her head towards the base camp.

"You know, make sure no nasty Indigens get near-make sure no Prone get too rowdy down the road..."

Esmeralda let go of Jaynix, coughing into her hand and flicking some of her hair out of her field of vision with the other.

"... Man, gotta tell you though honestly? Not really too exciting over here. For a Ganglion base down the road, it sure is quiet. They just all decide to hole up there; you know... things like that..."

There's an irritated look on her face as she places a hand on her hip.

"I'd kill for a chance for me and the big steel sweetheart around the corner over there to go ham on the place, but they'd say I'm just causing a scene or something.”

There's a moment of silence from her before she grins and looks at Jaynix.

"You know, it's a shame. They'd probably be ecstatic at the Caravan to hear that the Prone got cleared out if someone gave them a thrashing, right?"

Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix tilted her head, listening to Es. Boredom sucked, she'd rather be in the middle of the loudest, wildest mess than just standing around doing nothing. Es definitely wasn't a fan of the nothing thing. Relatable. Hearing Es' last statement, Jaynix chuckled.

"Subtle."

She then looked down the road in the direction of the Ganglion base. She knew about it. No surprise that the Ganglion remnants were holed up there and still putting up small but annoying resistance. Looking back to Es, Jaynix smiled and put an arm around her.

"They're worried about you causing a scene? With the two of us together we will do much much more than that. You get some excitement and we do some good. I'm 100% on board with this thrashing. "

DeltaMachina || Esmeralda

There was a moment of laughter, before Esmeralda stared at Jaynix and her smile turned into a slightly confused look. Then the realization hit.

"... holy jitt, you're serious."

The girl looks at the caravan, her eyes drifting back to the Corporal after a few seconds of thought.

"Okay, so let's say we do tackle this place. Much as I want to approach it and blast the place in my Skell, it's not that simple."

She flicks out her comm device, bringing up a layout of the fort and leaning against Jaynix's rover.

"The entire place has to get unmanned in one shot if we want to pull this off. And if we do... honestly, I like to think a lot of people would be sleeping better once tonight hits."

The girl nods her head at the corporal, flicking her comm device out of view of any other nearby prying eyes as she checks to see if the other BLADEs that were dropped off are watching.

"You're all in on this, then?"

Eienias || Jaynix

Once Es' eyes met Jaynix's, the Corporal gave her a determined, fiery gaze. She's serious. She then observes the fortress layout on Es' comm device and listens to her words.

"I am completely down with this, Butterfly. If we get this done, take out all the Ganglion hiding out over there and not letting any of them get away...BLADEs, Nopon, anyone who comes by this area will have a lot less to worry about."

Walking over to her rover, Jaynix retrieved her weapons from the trunk and gave each of them a quick check before looking to the other Interceptor and smiling.

"It's you and me, Es. We've taken on Ganglion before. We've got this."

DeltaMachina || Esmeralda,

"Yeah? Well much as I hate to admit it, unlike the other ones these idiots are... well, smart idiots."

With that conflicting statement out of the way, she begins to bring up a small written analysis of the base itself.

"Lakeview Stronghold, despite its unoriginal name, has an oddly high amount of anti-Skell measures, primarily cannons that take down anything that tries to approach from the air. They've reinforced the place with a few troops, but they're a lot more organized."

Her screen flicks to the image of the base again, red dots lighting up at key points where the troops were stationed.

"Even with a little over a dozen Prone, they have it set up so that once anything steps into the base, the entire place goes on alert-and then they always manage to repel anyone who approached from that point. Positioning, tactics, everything that I wasn't expecting... otherwise I would have taken it out earlier, honestly. Also, I really doesn't help that the entire upper half of the fort is covered in snipers either. Whoever it was who set that place up knew what they were doing."

She flicks the device back into its holding place, and she places a finger to her lip as she tilts her head.

"And besides that, trying to approach from the ground is... way too risky."

She shakes her head, not wanting to say why it is for her.

"I did find one alternate route, but there's a Sylooth in the way and I couldn't fit my Skell through there. Our only option is to try and approach from the upper levels, on foot."

With a shake of her head, she looks at Jaynix with a slight pause.

"Plus, if we take too long then they might send word to their neighbors at Bedrock Hold over the mountain. And...you can guess how that would go."

Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix crossed her arms and focused, listening to everything that Es had to say. Once the other Interceptor brought up the map of the base, Jaynix leaned in close, eyes taking in everything. Seeing this heavily fortified location gave her a sense of nostalgia. Familiarity. She was all set to comment on it but remembered that the last time she brought up something relating to Earth, it looked like it made Es the slightest bit uncomfortable. She wouldn't be the first either.

"Alright then Butterfly let's see if I'm on the right page here. We have to go into that Stronghold and take everyone out as quickly as possible knowing that the moment we engage, everyone in the facility will know what we're up to. Between that and the positions they're occupying it definitely seems like they're using their heads...that or, they have one person using their head and they know a thing or two."

Jaynix then looked off in the direction of the Stronghold.

"I've got experience with raiding bases...I do it all the time...part of that included disabling fortifications. If we could take out the base wide alert system it would be easier. If. That said, if you're sure we can't get by the Sylooth then we can go with the upper level approach. Where would that route take us?"

DeltaMachina || Esmeralda

"If you have good footwork? A small groups of ledges that we can jump to the start of the upper levels from."

She nods.

"We start from there, we can take out the snipers on the upper levels, move onto the rest. Ground combat is easy pickings from there without the eyes on high after all"

Her eyes move to a large group of tree roots not too far off, and she nods her head.

"We climb up Redsnake Pass, take a bit of a hike to the top of the mountain there and we can... probably hit the mark! Definitely probably!"

Scaling most of a mountain just to approach a base right around the corner. Well, it's certainly an approach.

Eienias || Jaynix

"Definitely probably?"

Jaynix followed Es' gaze to the route that the pair would have to take. It certainly was a long way around but if it made the oncoming fight easier, then she had no real complaints. With a confident smirk she looked back at Es.

"I've got great footwork and enough energy for a hike or two. We can make our way there and take these guys out no problem! Those snipers won't even know what hit em."

Jaynix slammed her fists together.

"If you're all set to take it to em, so am I!"

DeltaMachina || Esmeralda

God, Esmeralda knew she liked this girl the minute they hit it off-and sure enough she continued to impress. Usually most people met her ideas with skepticism or just outright avoided them, but Jaynix? Took them to heart and was ready to roll in the blink of an eye.

“I wonder why Irina never introduced us-“

The realization this might be why crossed her mind...but was then promptly shoved to the side as she nodded happily.

"Then let's get moving. Might take an hour to get up there, but once we get there I can probably get us down nice and easy! Come on Jaynie, time to take down some threats!"

The girl quickly clasped her hands together, and her wing-like launchers zipped to her back from their resting place in the base camp.

"Man this is the best though. I can't wait to see the look on Irina's face when we get back and tell her we totally trashed this place!"

Her voice softens for a moment, and she gives a slight sigh as she closes her eyes.

"I guess it has been a while since I got to work with her, though... maybe the three of us should all sit down after this, get something nice to eat and shop a little. Then we can all go on missions together, kick a bunch of Ganglion butt, just you, me, Irina and..."

She pauses for a moment, crossing her arms in thought and a quizzical hum.

"Oh and Gwin, I guess. I mean it's not a four girl squad but hey, he pulls his weight! Well... usually.

Sheepishly smiling, there's a faint blush on her face as she scratches at her cheek.

"Eheh, sorry... I'm running my mouth too much again, aren't I?"

Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynie. The Fiery Interceptor couldn't help but smile at hearing that nickname; it was so cute and innocent sounding. Not at all like her but she loved it. An hour hardly sounded like any sort of huge commitment, Jaynix was more than ready for it.

"You, me and Irina? That sounds like a guaranteed good time! Come to think of it, it’s been far too long since I last saw her...well, here's hoping that changes soon."

Jaynix began moving away from the base camp when she heard Es mention Gwin. Of course! Can't forget the loyal farm boy. Noting Es' face, Jaynix couldn't help but chuckle.

"No worries Butterfly, I tend to talk a lot too, sometimes more than I should, other times not enough but a lot of words do come out of my mouth, heh. Anyway, once we wrap up with the Ganglion and have some free time, if you wanna bend my ear about Gwin for no reason in particular, I’m always available!”

Jaynix gave Es a wide smile and a wink. She felt so much lighter just after a few moments with Es. Hopefully this mission took a while, she desperately needed something to occupy her mind and focus with.

DeltaMachina || Esmeralda

Bend her ear? Esmeralda didn't quite catch onto what Jaynix meant, but she just gave a light chuckle and motioned for Jaynix to follow. "Alright, enough chit-chat. Let's get climbing.”

//////////

The top of the mountain hadn't been too hard to trek to, thankfully due to the whole ‘Mims having really great leg parts' thing she supposed. Though she had been quiet most of the way, since it did require a fair bit of focus.

Regardless, the two Interceptors had made great time climbing to the top-only a good thirty minutes. Looking over to Jaynix, the girl gave a nod as she motioned to the cliff's edge, looking down at the Ganglion base below. It was simple compared to most of the others... but perhaps that was why it proved a more difficult place to topple. Security in simplicity, or something. Whatever, it was going down today and that's all that mattered to her.

"Alright, so we're going to start from the left. There's a small series of ledges below we'll drop to-Oh, fog."

Es was now looking down on the fort as a thick layer of the frustrating stuff drifted in and covered the surrounding area. Mira's weather was working against them apparently, and Esmeralda gave a disappointed huff as she tried to find the location below. The fact that she could see the top of the Fortress' bridges and platforms was the only thing she had to go on right now... and very, very little else.

"Damnit, this is going to make things tougher, isn't it?"

Eienias || Jaynix

The climb was relatively effortless, Jaynix welcomed the physical activity and before she knew it, they reached the top. Jaynix joined Es in looking down at the Ganglion base, their target.

She looked at it right up until the fog began covering most of it up. Jaynix chuckled at Esmeralda's disappointed huff. But she felt her slight irritation, the weather certainly wasn't agreeing with them.

"Tougher yes, but look at the bright side Es. They'll be having a hard time keeping their eyes on us. The big difference is we are two highly skilled BLADEs. I think the fog might be a boon. An annoying one...but a boon nonetheless."

Jaynix gave a thumbs up to Es, the fog was unexpected but it was not going to sideline her. Either of them. No way.

DeltaMachina || Esmeralda

"... Eh, at worst if we get separated you'll be able to find me from the light show."

With a smirk, she stared at the ground below and tried to pinpoint the location they could land... but with the fog, all she could do was estimate. If she messed it up, then she would land right... No, she couldn't mess this up. The one thing that could screw up this mission was not going to happen.

"Well, this might be easier if we try to do that... okay. Hope this works for two."

The girl made a motion with her hands, her launchers spreading to the side of her and Jaynix, taking a breath as she grabbed onto the corporal's shoulder.

"So hey, you know how when you free fall in a Skell it's super cool? At least I think it is-but then you realize you're off on the landing and you only have a few seconds to... Actually, don't think about that. Just uh, think about butterflies and birds. Landing. Delicately."

Yeah. Delicate. That thing she is. Completely. Extending her hand out to her companion, she tried to keep her smile on while inside silently trying to... well, hope that this little experiment would pay off.

Eienias || Jaynix

Light show eh? Jaynix laughed, she enjoyed how confident Es was in her abilities and after their shared mission in Oblivia, Jaynix knew she had every right to be. Es then began setting up some kind of...plan on how the pair would jump down and land safely on the barely visible Ganglion base.

Feeling Es' hand on her shoulder, she gave her a smile which then faltered a bit once Es mentioned Skells. That was the last thing she wanted to think about in any capacity after what happened in the AD.

Jaynix shook her head, focusing instead on butterflies and birds...which matched the pair of them very well. Thinking of it that way, she felt herself calm down before looking to Es' outstretched hand.

"...a Butterfly of the Battlefield and a Firebird. I'm not quite sure I'm so delicate with how I rough house assholes but...I can try."

Reaching out, Jaynix took hold of Es' hand and gave her a confident smile, she had faith in Es' plan...whatever it may be.

"We've got this."

DeltaMachina || Esmeralda

"Gravity Lunge."

On cue, the launchers flicked to their combat state and created a sphere of energy as Esmeralda wrapped her arms around the other Interceptor. Grabbing onto Jaynix and gritting her teeth, the two were caught up in the antigravity field of the psycho launchers as they began to drag them along their course, the sphere surrounding them pushing them forward off the ledge, and sending them rolling down it-tossing up debris from the mountainside as they continued to careen down the side. Four seconds left, three seconds...

“Okay, ledge! Can't land on the center of the bridge or we'll get seen, so a bit to the left and”

Careening the sphere's trajectory to the left, Esmeralda tried to focus as a tree branch came into view to her left, sticking out from the side of the mountain. The girl's eyes widened as she realized her miscalculation, and that they were falling faster than she had anticipated-did she put too much thrust into it or-? One second left.

“I really wish the Colonel's words didn't always apply when these things happen...!”

As the two fell into the thickest of the fog, Esmeralda spun herself around, the launchers disengaged the field- THUNK ... the feeling of her back hitting the solid rock and using herself as a cushion so Jaynix didn't was not one of her proudest moments.

"O-okay, destination... arrived..."

She muttered with a wince of pain, quietly as to make sure nobody else would hear. Chock this up to the list of things she would feel tomorrow...

Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix was not expecting Es to wrap her arms around her, next thing she knew they were inside an antigravity field and rolling down the mountainside. This was definitely not at all on her list of ways to get down a cliffside and onto an enemy base...but there is something to be said for being taken off guard.

All the raids and assaults she's done in the past never involved something like this. Then the pair hit solid rock, it was an abrupt stop though Jaynix didn't feel it as much since Es took the hit. Looking to Es below her, Jaynix let out a small, quiet laugh.

"This is not at all where I expected to be today. Thanks for taking me on a ride, Butterfly."

Jaynix smiled at Es before standing and helping the other Interceptor up, now taking the time to examine their surroundings. Their foggy surroundings. She could make out some figures here and there but this was definitely going to be a test for the pair.

DeltaMachina || Esmeralda

"Yeah no, I'm... I'm glad you enjoyed it. Oooof..."

Pushing herself up to her feet, Esmeralda pressed her hand against the mountainside to try and orient herself with where they just landed. Taking a look to her left, she could faintly make out the waters below, and knew full well that meant-

The sound of a Dilus' growling caused her to lock up, and she shakily grabbed at her saber.

“It's down there... you won't have to deal with them if you stay inside the place... just stay calm...”

"Just keep moving along the wall here, mind your footing. Once you see the upper level of the base... it's all a straight shot from there."

With a nod of her head, she looked to Jaynix once more and gripped on her saber's handle tightly.

"Give me a second; I'm still... a little disoriented from that fall. I'll get moving in a moment."

Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix stood aside, keeping an eye on Es as the other Interceptor tried to center herself. The fall was incredibly disorienting after all and the impact did not help things either.

Then she saw something very familiar in Es' face and her body language. It was faint but something about it connected with Jaynix. She remained silent as Es told her the directions they should be heading, Jaynix let her eyes wander for a bit and observe their foggy surroundings.

Once Es had fallen silent, Jaynix stepped closer to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Es. Are you okay? Aside from the fall."

DeltaMachina || Esmeralda

Jaynix's hand meeting her shoulder made Esmeralda jolt back a bit, but a sigh of relief and a reassuring smile went across her face as she nodded.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry. As long as we clear this place out, we don't have anything to worry about afterwards."

Her launchers centered behind her back again, and with a quick few steps forward, jumped up to the next ridge over. The base's upper bridge was right below her, and that meant it was finally time to start the offensive.

"I'll take point. You clear out the upper levels once their focus is on me. I'll take the low road once we get our first down up top."

With a nod of confidence, she knelt down and tried to focus ahead of her.

"You all set?"

Eienias || Jaynix

Reassured by Es, Jaynix stepped back. Es was capable and if anything went awry as it often did, Jaynix had Es' back. They'd be fine. Nodding to her partner, she watched Es leap down below before sharing her strategy with Jaynix.

"You're going to draw their fire? Alright. You stay ahead of their shots and I'll cut them down, they'll never see me coming."

Jaynix took a deep breath before drawing her blade. Speed was key here. The longer the enemy snipers remained active, the greater chance they had of hitting Es. Jaynix knew Es could take many hits, but she'd rather keep any possible damage to a minimum.

"I'm all set! Let's get this started."

DeltaMachina || Esmeralda

Launchers orbiting her body and making her usual protective field, she began her walk forward with her saber still inactive. The sounds of her footsteps against the metal stood out among the silence, though the wildlife of Noctilum could still be heard. She only hoped that it would muffle the sound of her approach-because the light created by her aura would stand out far more than even her headgear would.

“Clear for the first part so far... but if I remember right the first station is right at the end of this.”

As the Interceptor thought to herself, the sound of a single sniper shot smashing into her protective field-and quickly dispersing into bits of beam energy-caused her to tilt her head up at the first offender.

"Now you see-this is so much easier than sneaking about."

She grinned, whirling her saber and igniting the cutlass-like blade as she began her rush forward-jumping through the open gap of the watchtower and running up the stairs inside. When she reached the top, another shot smashed into her protective aura, and she just rolled her eyes as she looked at the offender-a large male cavern Prone-

“I mean they’re all large but still…”

The Prone seemed relatively distraught at the fact the sniper was doing nothing to her.

"Knock, knock, asscave."

Es said as she whirled the saber, lunging forward and slashing at the Prone, causing him to block the attack with his rifle. Needless to say that didn't work well, as the thing cut straight through and left him with two halves of a whole sniper that surely- THUNK

Apparently quick thinking prevailed however, as the feeling of said half of that sniper went colliding into the Interceptor's head. Ouch.

"GAH! RUDE!"

Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix watched Es take off, shots ringing out from the Ganglion snipers positioned along the base. Smirking, Jaynix swung her blade, flames covering her body before she launched up onto the base and made for the sounds of gunfire. As she drew closer she could see the Cavern Clan Prone throw part of its broken weapon at Es, striking her head.

"Not cool."

Leaping and letting out a war cry, Jaynix carved deep into the Prone's back, ripping through its flesh. The Prone roared in pain before turning and attempting to strike Jaynix with its fist.

Dodging the first strike was easy but the Prone reacted far quicker than she thought it would given its injury and nailed her with a second blow, pushing her back.

Spitting, Jaynix watched the Prone charge her and smiled, this one definitely had some fight in it. Using her speed she began dashing around the Prone as its fists swung wide, every missed blow led to a quick bite from her blade. As she carved up the Prone it only grew angrier, slamming the ground and causing Jaynix to lose balance from the immense force.

Seizing the moment the Prone tackled her to the ground and raised its fist, the Prone then gagged as Jaynix pierced its body with her blade. Shoving the body off of her and off her blade, she stood and stabbed it one last time. Pulling her blade out of the corpse she looked back at Es.

"You'll take care of the rest down below and I'll handle what's up here. Easy."

Jaynix then brought up her fist.

"Best of luck, Butterfly."

DeltaMachina || Esmeralda

The sound of multiple guns clicking to life and Prone battle cries gave plenty of notice that they were now the center of attention.

"Right then, time to-"

Another sniper shot collided with her as she stood in front of Jaynix, grumbling as she turned in the direction of the sniper with a look of irritation. God, no wonder people had issues with this place.

"Ugh, seriously! Guys always interrupting everything...!"

With that, she turned her head back to Jaynix.

"I'm leaving the upper levels to you, there's a structure in the back-we'll meet up there!"

And with that, she vaulted herself off the side of the tower and to the ground below. Saber in hand as she gripped tightly, clenched her teeth and leapt into the storm of oncoming beam fire with fury in her eyes as, well

"GALACTIC CATACLYSM!"

-Yeah, goodbye to the ground below her as a giant massive energy blade crashed into it, sending dirt and debris into the air and disorienting the ground troops.

"Alright losers, listen the hell up! As the Interceptor's own Butterfly of the Battlefield I-"

And then another sniper shot crashed into her protective aura.

"Can I finish a sentence here, dammit?!"

Eienias || Jaynix

Orders received, Jaynix turned her gaze on the upper levels as Es vaulted off to the ground below. Spinning her blades she began ascending the staircase. A prone saw her coming up and charged down towards her. Ducking his opening strike, she kicked him over the railing and continued uninterrupted.

As the Prone hit the ground below, stunned by the impact, Jaynix emerged at the top where more enemies were lining up their shots, aiming at Es below.

"Hey assholes! Keep your sights off my friend!"

Clenching her teeth she threw herself at the Prone before her. Two rushed to engage her while the last one chose to avoid the battle and provide fire to the combat below. Jaynix cursed, she'd need to get through the two in front to get that last one's aim off of Es.

Blade flashing she began striking at the Prone, this time she made sure to watch them closely not planning to fall for any more sucker punches. Sure enough, much like the first Prone, they were fast, smart with their movements, at least relative to most Prone she's fought.

They evaded several of her strikes, swinging the ends of their rifles at her. All three combatants were dodging and weaving, Jaynix's blade occasionally cutting through skin. She heard another sniper shot go off from the third opponent and knew she had to change strategies.

Swinging out, she struck the Prone's weapons and jumped away, bringing her Gatling gun to bear the sides popped open, a barrage of missiles shooting forth. The Prone before her took the brunt of the blast and were thrown back. Path clear, Jaynix aimed and fired on the third one, bullets riddling him and taking his attention away from Es.

"That's right. Focus on me assholes!"

DeltaMachina || Esmeralda

Esmeralda meanwhile was trying to slash her way through to reach her targets. The constant barrage of beam shots were starting to wear away at her patience and her protective field, but she sure as hell wasn't going to relent.

As one of the Prone finally came into her sight, she went in for the slash and cut a large gash in his chest, her eyes sharpening as she prepared to bring the saber down for a finishing strike.

Before she knew it her attack had interrupted by another Prone body slamming her into the massive rock in the dead center of the base, causing her to stumble with a muffled swear as she got back to her feet and kicked the jerk back.

“These guys... sure there's only the two of us, but seriously? I should be doing better than this... no; they should be way easier than this.”

Darting out of the way of the next volley of shots, the Interceptor renewed her aura, a quick flash of green light sweeping over her before she tried to make out the figures among the fog. If she could just lure them somewhere less open she would have an advantage, but...

“They're playing too defensively, most Prone just go for the attack and nothing else... and why the hell haven't I heard a single alarm this whole time?”

Eienias || Jaynix

Even with the bulky Gatling gun in her hands, Jaynix continued to dodge as many blows as she could from the three very skilled and hostile Xenoforms. Every so often she'd feel a graze or her weapon would take a hit, but she remained focus, she had to do her part.

Spinning around she opened fire, a whirling torrent of bullets shooting out in all directions, pushing her opponents back. Grinding to a halt she leapt at a Prone and slammed her weapon into its face, the size of the weapon and the strength she put into the swing dazed the Prone, giving her time to turn around and fire on the other two attempting to close the distance.

"Hmm. These assholes seem to know a thing or two...but don't worry. Es will be fine, focus on them. Kill them."

Swinging her Gatling gun back again she slammed it into the dazed Prone behind her, throwing it to the ground. Drawing her blade she shot forth, flames once again covering her body.

The first Prone she ran past was quick, evading the end of her blade, but the second wasn't so lucky as she ripped its torso open. Skidding to a halt, she spun around and slashed through its back as well. As the Prone fell dead, the other two joined up. Jaynix then heard something and looked behind her; the Prone she had thrown down the stairs was back.

"Hmph. Still three on one...fine..."

DeltaMachina || Esmeralda

The sound of combat from up above meant that Jaynix was now engaged with whoever was there. The fact the sniper fire had ceased meant she was busy up top.

"... Alright then, my turn to get serious now!"

The girl's eyes flickered with light as the feeling of Overdrive activating swept over her, and her senses seemed to sharpen with it. Making out the distinct shapes in the fog, she quickly dashed forward and through the oncoming storm of attacks. And as she ran up to the first prone, fury reflected as she ripped her saber straight through the Prone's arm.

As he howled in anger, the girl then proceeded to let forth a flurry of slashes, each one drawing blood and burning through the Xeno's body until he falls, lifeless and mutilated as the Interceptor's eyes dart between each remaining hostile.

The other Prone seemed to cease their attacks, staring at the Interceptor as if they were trying to evaluate her. One of the Prone nodded to the others, and the rest of them move back silently into the fog.

"...I really hope you aren't planning to run off, because no way in hell am I-"

"Glennar has returned."

The large Xeno says, arms crossed as he looks at the Interceptor.

"Demands combat. We are to watch, not interfere."

Esmeralda just stands there, glaring at him with annoyance.

"Ex-gacking-scuse me?"

Eienias || Jaynix

On the upper levels of the fort, the sounds of battle rang out; Jaynix's blade collided with two of the Prone clubs. They had engaged her while the third, rifle drawn, prepared his shot.

In the midst of a swing, the two in front of her jumped away and a shot rang out, the round striking Jaynix's shoulder and pushing her back. Even as the other two charged in and their clubs made contact, Jaynix couldn't stop herself from smiling.

With a war cry, her blade shot out, slashing back and forth with burning fury. One Prone managed to jump away covered in cuts while the other was pinned against the railing.

Leaping into the air, Jaynix delivered a savage kick to its head, throwing it over to the ground below. She then turned to the other two who made no move to engage. She prepared to press her attack when they jumped over the railings themselves.

"What the...hey assholes! You don't just stop the fight half way through!"

Following suit, Jaynix landed on the ground next to the lifeless Prone she kicked over, neck snapped on impact. She then made out the forms of two Prone disappearing into the fog. Narrowing her eyes, she gave chase.

"Get back here!"

DeltaMachina || Esmeralda,

The girl glares at the Prone, a raised eyebrow as she points her saber at him and smirks.

"Seriously? You're trying to make demands with me, really! Who the hell do you think you are?!"

With a quick slash downwards, she begins to step forward. Then a large Prone... well, I mean they're all large but-oh you get the idea. The guy is big, has most of his face covered in some makeshift mask that looks like it's made out of bones, markings carved on it. A large string of what look to be incense containers of some sort hangs off his belt, but otherwise he... seems about like most other Prone. Outside of y'know, being more menacing.

"Aaand the tryhard of the day award goes to…”

Esmeralda snarks, whirling her saber in her hand.

"Right then! I guess we'll just go through you first and then I’ll take care of the rest."

Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix continued through the fog until it cleared up...relatively speaking, to a wider opening where she found-

"Es!"

Upon looking over the surrounding area, she also noted several other Prone standing far back, a corpse on the floor, no doubt Es' brutal handiwork and another Prone standing taller than the others around stepping forward.

Jaynix narrowed her eyes as she looked this individual up and done, he seemed a bit different from the others aside from his size...something told her he was the one in charge around here and it also looked like he was personally taking the offensive instead of sitting back in his chambers and waiting.

"Mr. Big Shot himself came out to greet us? Charmed."

Jaynix noted Es was all set to fight, bringing her own blade up Jaynix called out.

"Es, are you alright?"

Keeping her eyes on the big Prone and her hands holding onto her blade tightly, Jaynix was set for whatever came next.

DeltaMachina || Esmeralda

The Glennar proceeded to pull one of the containers off his waist, raising it into the air and waving it about, the smell permeating the area heavily. Smelled like... ew, rotten corpse. Delightful. Esmeralda gave a disgusted look at the Xeno as she shook her head.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Seems like one of those beast trainers the Prone have. Pffft, what's he going to do? Call out a Suid?"

She rolls her eyes, a smile on her face as she tries to ignore the odor... and in the process, neglects to hear the sound of large footsteps coming from the water outside the stronghold.

"Come on Jaynie, I'll cut this idiot into pieces before-“

As she prepared to lunge forward however, the sound of an all too familiar Indigen's growl caused the girl to lock up.

"Uh... ah...?"

A Dilus. The reptilian masses began lumbering forward towards the Prone, obviously drawn by the smell of the incense he wove throughout the air. But not just one, the outline of another began to step forward through the fog, and another, and another...

And Esmeralda's face paled. Her hand began shaking as her hold on her saber started to slip. Backing up into Jaynix, panic began to sweep over her as she moved her saber towards the approaching Indigens, her eyes wide and body almost shaking as she stared at the reptilian creatures.

Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix shook her head briefly at the stench, it didn't matter what aid the Prone called on, a herd of Suid, a Simius or whatever else. Jaynix was ready for it and set to tell Es as much when the other woman fell silent, looking ahead, Jaynix could see a group of Dilus approaching the Glennar. She could make out about four when Es bumped into her.

"Es?"

Jaynix stepped next to her and gave her a brief look, but it was enough to see that Es was not doing well. At all. The fear in her eyes was immediately recognizable to Jaynix. Taking the lead, she stepped in front of Es, keeping her sword up.

"Es! Remember what you told me back in Oblivia. You said that I had to move. To stand and fight...or to run. But I had to do something and I did. Now I'm here to help you. You're strong Es and we're together..."

Jaynix put a hand on Es' shoulder. She wasn't sure what was about to go down and she was the last person who should be offering anyone support after what happened in the AD...but she was also the only other person here and she had to do something.

DeltaMachina || Esmeralda

The feelings of fear coursed through her-instincts failing her, thoughts failing her, an absolute feeling of helplessness washing over her as she struggled to grip onto her saber-tried to remember how to recalibrate her launchers-anything that would keep her alive. Anything that would let her-

Fight. Run. Move.

The words registered, but it wasn't until Jaynix's hand touched her shoulder that they became the focus of her mind. Her head snapped up, her entire body felt a massive surge as Overdrive's innate abilities heightened at an almost alarming rate.

Everything around her stopped registering-just the targets in front of her-and the terror they stirred inside her. The girl's entire body shifted into full gear, the feeling of Overdrive amplifying her adrenaline and mixing with her fear caused her to dash forward at a speed she couldn't normally muster.

Wordlessly, her saber burst to life and entered the high-powered state attributed to Galactic Cataclysm, and she began to swing at the Dilus ahead of her, bringing the massive blade straight into the center of the group-and straight through the center of one of the unfortunate things.

Just one problem. None of these swings had a single ounce of accuracy. She was wildly swinging, like she was trying to keep something away.

“I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't...!”

Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix saw Es' photon saber flare to life and knew nothing good would come of it, quickly she threw herself out of range as Es began wildly swinging her massive blade of energy.

Jaynix rolled across the ground to see one of the Dilus was bisected by the wrathful blade and the rest were opening their maws to engage. Jaynix had to do something but every thought that came to mind was more difficult than the last.

Knowing that she couldn't sit aside as Es continued her savage assault, Jaynix spat and stood up, engaging Overdrive as well. Jaynix watched Es' attacks and the Dilus preparing to strike, one of her swings went wide leaving her completely exposed.

Seizing that opportunity, Jaynix shot across the clearing just as a Dilus launched itself at Es, massive maw ready to bite down. Jaynix collided with it in midair, her blade cutting through it and throwing the pair across the ground. Jaynix remained low as Es' blade seared through the air over her head.

The Dilus continued to fight her as she clenched her teeth and held it down, the additional strength granted by Overdrive helping her greatly.

"Es! Es! You have to breathe! You have to focus! Es!”

DeltaMachina || Esmeralda

There was a voice calling to her, but it barely registered past anything more than a sound as the thoughts reverberated in her head.

Turning towards the sound her eyes flared with light. Dragging her saber along the ground she rushed towards the Dilus with fear and fury in her eyes.

Swinging the blade up over her head she brought it crashing straight down onto the Dilus that Jaynix was holding.

Eienias || Jaynix

"Es! Es! You-"

Jaynix was cut off as Es charged her, and brought her blade up. She could barely register it but knew she had to move. Acting quickly, she released the injured Dilus and jumped aside as Es' blade cleaved it in two.

Skidding to a halt, Jaynix called out to Es again and again before feeling something off. Looking down she saw a large gash running across her body. She didn't move fast enough.

"...Es?"

DeltaMachina || Esmeralda

“Have to survive! Have to survive! Have to-!”

“Esmeralda?”

"Irina...?" Esmeralda's eyes met the source of the voice. Jaynix. When did she get here? When did... she get hurt? Was it the Prone? Or the Dil-

"...no. No, what did I...? No, oh no, no, no...!"

The sound of the remaining Dilus behind her left her with the last of her nerves shot, and she panicked. If she didn't attend to Jaynix's wounds, she would-but the Dilus and the Prone-

“I-I have to-I...!”

Esmeralda grit her teeth and ran away from the Dilus before its jaws tried to clamp down on her, barely grazing her as she ran over to Jaynix and gripped her arm tightly.

There wasn't a single word spoken as she dragged her through the waters away from the Stronghold, barely on the verge of tears as the two vanished into the fog away from the base.

Eienias || Jaynix

The glow of Overdrive kept Jaynix relatively free of pain, but in light of the drastic and unexpected hit she took, it gave and faded away, leaving her body.

Jaynix had enough in her to see some semblance of self return to Es. From there she mostly felt numb as Es took hold of her and proceeded to wave through the waters. She tried to focus on Es' hand holding onto her.

"Stay. Conscious. Es needs you."

"It's alright Es...I'll be fine...it's okay..."

Jaynix took as deep a breath as she could manage, she's pushed her pain down plenty of times before. This was no different. Needing to reassure Es, she focused on her arm that Es was holding; Jaynix moved her hand and held onto Es' arm, giving her a squeeze to let her know that she was still there.

DeltaMachina || Esmeralda

"No, you're not going to be okay!" She whimpered. "Don't lie to me! Don't even speak to me right now...!"

The girl's eyes filled with panic as she pressed Jaynix against the nearest wall when they were finally in a safe zone. She pulled out her saber.

“Have... have to use the healing mode! Crap, I don't have the energy-have to...!”

She gripped her saber, closing her eyes as she gripped at her saber's hilt, activating an art as she grit her teeth. The energy in her body was drained through the use of Essence Exchange, becoming a new source of energy as she quickly shifted her saber to use its healing mode.

“Astral Heal! Astral Heal! Astral Heal...!”

She muttered the words inside her head as she tried to remedy her companion's wounds, green lights sweeping over the wounds-trying to minimize the damage as best as they could. However, it would only be a placebo effect until proper maintenance was performed.

“Have...have to get her to Maintenance...just have to get her to the Skell but...no, have to fix this first, have to-!”

The saber's healing effects continued on and on, as Esmeralda's desperate expression continued to get worse. This was her fault. This always is her problem. She wasn't protecting anyone-she was trying to cut down everything without hitting the brakes. She...

"Astral heal... astral heal...!"

Her voice began to grow hoarse as she kept crying, trying to continue to heal the Corporal desperately.

Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix felt a wall to her back, the support was comforting. Closing her eyes she continued to take in deep breaths before facing Es again who was crying and pushing herself to heal her with everything she had.

"Es..."

Jaynix couldn't let her continue, she couldn't let Es work herself to exhaustion and she couldn't let her take all the blame for this…she saw the panic in Es’ eyes, the desperation in her voice and the tears staining her face.

Jaynix knew all too well what this path led to and she didn't want to see anyone else walk it. Mustering her strength, Jaynix moved forward and pushed Es' hand away, the photon saber hitting the ground.

Jaynix then placed her arms around the other Interceptor, embracing her.

"Es. Everything will be alright. Just breathe. Please."

Holding onto her tightly, Jaynix continued to speak softly.

"We're still in this together Butterfly...we're both still here."

DeltaMachina || Esmeralda

"It's not alright! Astral-!"

The moment Esmeralda's saber fell from her hand, everything felt like it stopped. And as Jaynix's arms wrapped around her, and it felt like everything shattered. The feeling of uselessness, the regret, every last emotion and thought was pushed aside as she screamed into Jaynix's shoulder, one of her hands gripping at the gash as if it was trying to cover it up.

About half a minute later, she clenched at the Corporal's side and muttered under her breath, trying to push herself off Jaynix. It was then the blood on her hand became apparent, and her eyes closed as she struggled to speak.

"Need to... need to get you to the city. Find someone to repair this before you..."

She clenched her hand into a fist.

"Get the first aid kit out of my Skell, air lift you back after I seal the wound properly..."

Eienias || Jaynix

Jaynix ran her hands along Es' back as she screamed. This was what she needed. To let it all out. Jaynix knew that she shouldn't be standing let alone stopping Es from healing her...but she couldn't sit idly by as the other woman suffered, she refused to.

Jaynix heard Es speak; state her plans and how she wanted to help her. She nodded, continuing to hold Es until she felt parts of her body going numb. As strong as she was, blood loss was blood loss. Protoplasmic fluid or not.

"Es. I trust you. Fully. I...I have to go now...but I'm still right here, with you. You can do this...you can get us back to NLA. I believe in you."

Jaynix took her arms from Es, slowly as she leaned against the wall and slid to the ground. She kept her eyes on Es, she wanted to stay awake. No one hated sleeping more than her...but she couldn't.

She gave Es the best smile she could manage before everything went black.

DeltaMachina || Esmeralda

"Jay? What does that-"

The feeling of silence falling over the area as Jaynix passed out was all that remained as she weakly reached for her, eyes staring at the redheaded Interceptor as she fell to the ground.

"Jayn-"

She stopped herself, and all the emotions she had just poured out were replaced with a wave of bitterness, anger, all towards herself as she stood up.

She checked Jaynix for a pulse, but even that didn't ease the renewed bitterness as she turned around and gripped at her headgear, eyes fixed on the ground as she left out a frustrated scream.

"No... why, what the hell is wrong with me?!"

The Interceptor grabbed at the headgear at her head, flinging it as hard as she could against the wall Jaynix rested on. One of the light wings flickered, but the gear fell to the ground no worse for wear as she dug her fingers into her forehead, covering her face with her palms and swearing to herself over and over.

This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. They were going to keep people safe. Go home and maybe spend some time with Irina and Gwin, laugh about stunts they pulled, get chewed out for not letting Irina know so she could join in...

And then she remembered all those people Jaynix said she felt so close to, and her hands fell from her face. Her expression was pained, lonely, and empty.

"...Of course not…why did I even start to think I was starting to belong here?"

#xenoblade chronicles x #rp #roleplay #cross #esmeralda #jaynix #fanfiction #i'm sure they'll be fine #fan fiction #i mean why wouldn't they be?

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forkanna · 7 years

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