#i slept with a knife under my bed for weeks and still do when i get more paranoid and psychotic

[actual-changeling]

how do people live without constantly being afraid. not in an anxiety way or having something concrete to worry about, i'm just constantly scared simply because i am alive and existing.

i know this is a consequence of all the trauma and abuse i went through but it's genuinely wild to me that people exist and go without their day feeling. normal. and not like this.

[saltofmercury]

that break in post was adorbs 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻 if ur reqs r closed just pls ignore this (except for the first part, ur writings gorgeous) but can i req an actual breakin scenario :o like w angst maybe- maybe going further in with reader’s feelings toward konig and his “different persona” after all that happens during an actual break in when theres genuine danger

thank u!!

“The Intruder”

Summary: An intruder comes into the house with König is home with you.

A/N: let me know if I hit or missed!

It had been over 4 months since the raccoon incident. The break-ins had stopped around your apartment, König had felt better with you staying at his place. Everything seemed to go back to normal again.

During this time, König had left on a small mission, returning back almost a month and a half later. He seemed different this time around, he was more on edge, always on guard, and protective. He seemed tense, always looking around his shoulder, looking out the window, at his surroundings, at the tops of his neighbors houses, down the street from his house, it was almost as if he were wishing something would come out.

You could sense him differently too. The way he had built a routine every night on shutting and locking his doors and windows. When walking and entering shopping malls or small restaurants he would enter first almost as if to make sure it was clear and then held the door for you and gently pushed you in with his hand on your lower back.

“We’re okay babe,” you would say to bring him back to reality, and he would nod back to you absentmindedly.

Then one night, it happened. The home you and König had made together, had been tarnished.

It was right before you went to bed, you were brushing your teeth when you heard something down the hall. König had been in bed already dozing off to whatever movie he had been trying to watch for the past week. You peeked outside the bathroom,

“Did you hear that?” You said with foam running down your mouth

He was still fixated on what was on the screen.

You spit out the foam and rinsed, you called out to him

“König?”

He looked up at you, dazed, then brought back to reality with glass breaking in the background.

It was with that sound that the König you slept next to was now replaced with König, from KorTac.

Almost as if he had anticipated this, König pushed himself out of bed, reached for a knife he had stored under his bedside table, pulled the mask to conceal his identity, and then the bat he had stashed in the closet.

“König what are you doing!? — wait!” He had grabbed you by the wrist and brought you aside towards the end of the bed.

“Shouldn’t we call the police?” You had to try to speak with a level head. Only you and König knew what was really waiting for the person.

“The police have nothing to do with this.” He spit out harshly, his accent coming out.

“This person comes into my home, they get to deal with me.”

Panic had bubbled into your stomach, beads of sweat behind your neck.

You heard a couple doors burst open, then one more door burst open, followed by a shrill of a voice unknown to you cry for help. You rushed to the voice.

In the middle of the living room, König had the stranger lifted up by the neck, 3 limbs moving in the darkness. You turned on the lights.

The bat König held was on the ground. You panicked, knowing König could kill the guy in an instant, you immediately began to think of a rational solution to all this. This wasn’t a KorTac mission, this was your home.

“I’ll call the police,” you began,

“I don’t need the police,” he spat out. His back still turned to you, “when I’m finished with him he’s going to have to pick up his guts.”

A chill ran through your body. This wasn’t the man you’ve shared a bed with. It wasn't the man you got to know these past months. You saw the man choking, barely moving, and rushed to his side.

“Please put him down” you pleaded, “You’re not out there right now you’re here with me.”

König dropped the man down roughly, the man coughing up and attempting to breathe again. König stood watch above the man, his gaze piercing through him, he quickly bent down towards him, the man winced in pain and fear.

You ran into the room to dial the police.

It wasn’t until the police arrived that you realized König had broken the man’s leg. The police took the report from König and collected the man, you took some breaths to collect yourself.

König had been sitting on the table playing with the knife. As if nothing had happened. Anxiety crawled back to your stomach. Would he have really killed a man inside his house?

“König—”

He wouldn’t look at you. It made you feel sick.

“K-König you could’ve killed him. In our h-home. In front of me.” You said softly. The picture of the man in a red face kept flashing back into your head.

König said nothing, toying with the knife in his hands.

“Aren’t you going to say anything? Does it not worry you that you could’ve done that in front of me?”

He peered up at you, “I told you what I was, what I was capable of.” Closing the knife up.

It sent chills down your spine. You suddenly feared to be near this person. You were terrified. Turning towards him and spoke softly,

“I’m gonna go home, I think it would be best for us to get some space after tonight.”

He didn't speak a word or try to stop you. Just as the man had encountered pain and fear from König, you just left with the same.

[gyumazing]

Ready?

..

Genre: Fluff and Smut

Pairings: Jungwon x Female bodied reader

A/N: I was so drained last week at school and I wrote the first part of this ff on my notes as a way to comfort myself. But, somehow, it turned into smut lmao. Anyways, the smut part is written amateurly because idrk how to write smut lol.

MINORS DNI

---

You'd had enough of today; everything seemed to be against you, and your life had never felt as miserable as it did today. Upon returning home, all you wanted was to wallow in your room, skip dinner, and call it a rough day. However, your boyfriend had other plans.

"Love?" Worry was etched on your boyfriend's face as he saw your downtrodden expression peeking through your bedroom door. You dragged your backpack behind you and let out a deep sigh as you immediately collapsed onto the bed, groaning as your sore muscles finally began to relax after about 8 hours of tension. You looked up at Jungwon, who was still staring at you intently.

"Sorry, love. I'm so tired," you said with a guilty smile. You could see his worry dissipate into thin air, replaced by sympathy. "Have you eaten yet? How did you get into my room? Does Mom know you're here?" you asked.

"No. Yes, and yes," Jungwon muttered slowly as he made his way towards you on the bed. He wrapped his arms around your waist and then flipped you over, positioning himself on top of your back. For a brief moment, a flicker of alarm crossed your eyes, but it quickly subsided when you felt his warm and delicate palms start to massage your back. He kneaded lightly, almost feather-light, but somehow, you could feel it resonating throughout your entire body. You let out a satisfied groan. "Did you think I was about to do something else?" he teased, continuing to massage you.

"For a second, yes." You answered in all honesty.

Jungwon coughed, obviously taken aback by your answer. "Really?" he asked and you nodded. "Okay. So... Tell me about your day," he changed the topic quickly, humming softly.

You sighed, recalling everything that had happened today.

"Well, for starters, our Physics class was so challenging. I barely managed to grasp today's lesson." You paused briefly, groaning in pleasure. You squirmed slightly under Jungwon's touch and motioned for him to stop because you knew he was tired too, but he nodded reassuringly, letting you know he was more than happy to help you relax even a little. You smiled gratefully. "Next, we had three exams earlier, and I barely slept last night. Plus, tomorrow, we have an oral recitation in Chemistry and a practical exam in Biology. For our Social Science activity, I'm the group leader and for Calculus as well. I'm so tired, love." You were doing your best to hold back a whimper, especially as you felt Jungwon's grip tighten further in worry. You knew it wasn't the end of the world, but it certainly felt that way. Being a straight-A student who wasn't naturally gifted and needed time and doubled effort to actually understand concepts and lessons was both pressuring and hard.

"Do you want some ice cream, Love?" Jungwon cooed, slowly turning you over and leaving a trail of kisses from your forehead down to your jaw. He gazed down at you with his feline-like eyes. He rubbed comforting circles on the back of your hands, pulling your hands closer to his face and affectionately placing them next to his cheeks. "I'm sorry. You're still so young, but you hardly get to enjoy your teenage years."

You suddenly felt a lump in your throat; his words struck you like a sharp knife. It was true. You don't even have any friends, and all you ever did was push yourself to meet expectations. You felt the need to achieve something all the time, or else you'd be deemed worthless.

"At least I have you. I have you, so it's bearable," you uttered weakly, cupping his cheeks with the hand that he had placed next to his face. "I seriously don't know what I would do if you weren't here with me, Won." Tears welled up, and you clutched the hem of your royal blue uniform skirt, feeling warm tears trail down your cheeks. Jungwon held your hands again.

At this point, you didn't even know how to continue. You were so tired, so worn out. Every day felt the same, and every day you felt your identity rapidly fading away.

"I love you." Jungwon carefully wiped away your tears and rested his forehead on yours, humming a comforting tune. You could feel his warm breath on your damp cheeks, the sensation making your stomach churn. "I'm always here for you, Love." he whispered, letting your hands go. But then, his voice cracked in a funny way when you accidentally rested your hands on top of his clothed member.

Your sobs were cut shortly, and your eyes immediately widened as you fumbled to get your sinful hands as far as possible.

You looked at an equally wide-eyed Jungwon, laughing like a maniac at his flustered expression. Jungwon's face turn red in embarrassment. You honestly don't know what to feel right now. You are sad, worried, exhausted, embarrassed, and happy all the same time. It's confusing.

"Why does your voice crack still sound so good, love?" You chuckled, pretending that what had just happened didn't just happen. But, Jungwon's face, down to his neck, was still the same shade as a tomato. He looked so... horrified.

"We were already creating a heart-warming environment." Jungwon groaned, burying his face into his palms. You don't know if he's actually talking to you, or scolding himself for breaking the vibe. He looked up at you for a brief moment and the when your eyes met, his cheeks became even redder. "I'm... I'm...." he trailed, lost for words.

"Sorry, love." You apologized, sniffing from the shortlived crying session you just had. Jungwon's left foot was vigorously shaking up and down uncomfortably, and you could see beads of sweet forming on his forehead. You were about to ask him what's wrong but your eyes vision was immediately caught by the tent like bulge on his denim pants. Oh. That's why. "Wonie... What are we going to do with that." You signalled with your eyes to his bulge that was very visible. Jungwon looked down on his pants and then looked at you guiltily.

"I swear to God, Love. This isn't what it looks like. I wasn't... I wasn't fantasizing about you... It's just that..." Jungwon groaned and rolled away to the furthest point in the bed from you. "God. I know that sounded so weird and it feels like I'm some type of creep. But, I swear, Love. I respect you so much and this..." He stopped midway, almost wailing from embarrassment.

You can't help but snort. He's so cute.

"Really, Jungwon?" You scooted closer to him and on cue, Jungwon scooted further, avoiding you like a plague. He raised his palms in the air indicating that you shouldn't go anywhere nearer, but of course, you didn't budge. "Love, we've been dating for 4 years already. I think it's about time th-"

"You're barely 18." Jungwon immediately cuts you off in horror, not even trying to hear what you were about to say. You were about to utter another word but Jungwon was quick to shush you off. "No." Jungwon stood firmly on his ground.

You shrugged.

"Mom and dad's out of town."

"I know. I asked your mom's permission to stay over for the night and I don't want to break their trust, love." He explained with his puppy eyes.

You can't help but smile at your boyfriend's cuteness.

"I will help you with that," you pointed towards his now pillow covered bulge and of course, his cheeks became red again.

"Love," Jungwon's nose was flaring upwards and the gravity of his glares were sending daggers on your side. "Please stop. I'm already trying my very best to hold myself back."

"Who told you to hold back."

Jungwon groaned. His jaws cleched and his eyes became dark, like a puma lurking to catch its prey.

"No."

"Why?" You asked.

Jungwon shook his head.

You looked at him with pleading eyes. He's always there for you and he comforts you all the time. It's about time that you make him feel loved too.

"Do you really want to do this, love?" He asked in all seriousness.

You nodded. Then, you just blinked and you swiftly felt your back hitting the soft mattress, your body bouncing a little. Jungwon encaged you with his body, kissing you passionately. It happened so fast that you gulped both in nervousness and excitement.

His kiss was filled with hunger. You had shared a couple of pecks and whatnot before. But this, this was different. You don't know precisely how, but you know that it's doing something. It's making you feel... things.

"You okay, love?" Jungwon let go of your lips, staring at you worriedly. You nodded mindlessly, trying to process the fact that your boyfriend is actually so attractive like this. Trying to process the fact that, this was actually happening. "If it's too much, pinch me, okay?" Jungwon instructed as he continued to kiss your jaws, leaving faint trails of his marks as he made his way down to your collarbones.

He skillfully took your school uniform off and you didn't even realize that you were only left with your underwear until he stopped kissing you.

"Won?" You had to shake him lightly when he was staring at your face, doing nothing for a few seconds. "Love?" You pinched him lightly.

Jungwon muttered a quick 'huh' and buried his face on his palms again upon having eye contact with you. You heard him breathing deeply, his shoulder falling and faltering.

"Sorry... It's just that... I'm so happy that you trust me this much, love. I can't believe this is actually happening." He explained, voicing out your own train of thoughts. You gave him a reassuring smile. "I don't know. Somehow, this feels like a monumental event in my life... in our lives. I can't believe this is actually happening now." He added.

You nodded, unbuttoning his shirt too. Now, you guys were left with your underwears only.

"I love you so much, Love." He whispered, taking your underwear off slowly.

...

"Wonie..." You can't help but tug on your boyfriend's hair as you felt him mercilessly eating you out like a starved lion. His breath on your thighs and the way he devoured your soaking core made you feel things you haven't felt before.

Jungwon hummed, the lewd sound coming from your own wetness and the lapping of his tounge filling the air. You rake his luscious hair, letting it glide and pass through the spaces between your fingers as you savoured the pleasure he was making you feel. "Ahh." You threw your head back as Jungwon suddenly pushed his tounge inside you without any warning. You were caught off guard. Ultimately, you were lured even further to the state of daze and you involuntarily closed your thighs with his head still in between you.

You heard him groaning.

"Won? Are you okay?" You rose from the bed frantically, and came to his aid with a hint of concern and guilt imbedded in your tone. You held his chin up for his boba-like eyes to meet yours as you tried to convey your apology. He immediately pecked a kiss on your lips, nodding to signal you that he's alright. "It's okay, love." He kissed you again, now deeper and more passionate. He drew teasing circles around your clit and you could feel a smile forming on his lips. He broke the kiss and laughed at your shuddering state.

"Does my fingers feel good, love? Does it feel better than my tongue?" He teased while still stimulating you down there. Now, it was his turn to prop your chin upwards, making you meet his eye as he mercilessly kneaded your clit. He was observing you like a hawk to its prey. You can't help but feel your blood gushing towards your cheeks. "Speechless?" He teased again. You looked at him in disbelief and amusement. Now, instead of giving in to his antics and letting him dominate over you, you grabbed his hand off your clitoris and you flicked his nose lightly.

You can't help but snicker at his dumfounded expression.

His eyes that were originally round and feline-like became even bigger. The trace of your own juice from earlier, sitting on the tip of his nose, made him look more of a cat that he already is. The sight of your boyfriend looking like this is to die for.

"What's so funny?" Jungwon raised his brows, cutting your thoughts off. His boba eyes glistened as he fluttered his long eyelashes slowly, his lips were formed in a thin line. You know he's trying to intimidate you but you just find his expression endearing. So, you bopped his nose again. "You look so cute." You replied, raising your right hand up to reach for his bare chest. Jungwon groaned upon your touch. You looked up his face searching for his eyes, and you saw it softening as he shook head, trying his very best to act displeased with your choice of word.

Jungwon's warm and feather-light fingers sent a feverish feeling all throughout your entire system as it swiftly made it's way grip your bare hips, pinning you in place. You saw his jaws clenching, eyes turning a shade darker. "Won? What ar—" You immediately yelped as you felt him bucking his hips to grind himself onto your core. "Fuck." You moaned rather loudly, considering Jungwon's satisfied reaction. Then, as if you were left hanging midair, he stopped.

"Love..." You mewled, bucking your hips upwards, craving for more friction. You looked at him in the eye searching for explanation but Jungwon held you down firmly as he smirked. "Now who's cute?" He teased, bucking his hips painfully slow. His bulge was stimulating the heck out of you like there's no tomorrow.

"I need you inside me." You begged, almost cringing at the sound of your own voice. "Now..." your breathing was hitched and the ache you felt earlier is now a lot stronger. You placed both of your hands on the back of Jungwon's neck and you pulled him in to a deep kiss. When he rose, Jungwon shook his head.

"Be patient, love. I don't want to hurt you." His eyes were sincere and his voice was mellow. You could feel his love through his gaze alone. "Since this is our first time, I don't wan—"

"I can take you!" You protested but he shook his head again. So, you, being a stubborn and horny partner, you decided to take matters into your own hands. You grabbed him by the wrist and flipped your positions over. Him being at the bottom and you on the top.

"No! That'll hurt, love." Jungwon immediately grabbed you by the hips when you were about to sink below him. He looked mad and concerned all at the same time. You sighed. You don't even know what's he on about. He's hard as a rock and straight as a baseball bat. He clearly needs this as much as you need it. "Behave, princess." In one milisecond, you found yourself laying in bed with your back again. You let out an audible squeak when you felt Jungwon towering on top of you.

"I get that you're excited," Jungwon started. He grabbed something from his bedside table and you squinted your eyes to figure out what it was. A bottle of lube. He unscrew the cap with his teeth and squeezed lube onto his hands. You breathe in deeply as a cool slimy sensation greeted your core. You felt Jungwon lathering you up with lube gently when suddenly, it's as if something's tearing you apart. He inserted his finger inside you. You felt pain like the once you feel when you get a papercut... but, triple that pain up and make it radiate and throb throughout your entire lower body. "It's a little painful, right?" Jungwon kissed your forehead. You nodded and bit your lower lip to stop yourself from wailing in pain. You asked for this.

"It's painful because you're all tensed up. Relax for me, love. Breathe." He hummed comfortingly as he buried his face on your neck. You did as you were told and you only thought of happy thoughts. "Good job. I'll insert another finger, alright?" And he did.

"Oh god." You moaned as you felt him scissoring you open, moving his middle and index finger inside you in an ungodly rhythm. You were fluttering your eyes, barely keeping them open as you felt something forming inside your stomach. It felt like something's about to break. Jungwon kept on pushing his fingers in an out of you until you felt like you were on the edge, only for him to stop. "Love... Why did you stop?" You whined breathlessly, your thighs shaking so badly.

"I thought you want me inside you?" Jungwon smiled, pulling your body to the edge of the bed as he stood there, preparing to pound your sanity out of you.

You looked up at him and saw his size clearly for the first time. You never really paid attention to its size earlier but now that you did, you felt a little concerned. He was longer than you expected him to be.

"That's gonna fit inside of me, right?"

"I hope so."

Just as you were about to protest and declare that you were ready to take him, you heard your phone ring from the bedside table.

Instinctively, the both of you threw your glance at it. "It's your mom. You should answer it." Jungwon who reached out for your phone said, as he gave it to you.

Now you felt your confidence slowly dissipating. You're already an adult and there's clearly nothing wrong with starting your sexual relationship at this age, especially with someone who's well loved by your family... but somehow, you suddenly felt like you were commiting a crime and your mom caught you.

"Hello, eomma?" You cleared your throat, trying to eliminate any signs of strain due to your moans, shrieks, and gasps earlier, afraid that your mom would know all the deeds that you've done right away.

"Where are you?" You moved your phone away from your face when your mom's voice echoed from the other line.

"At home." You gulped, trying your best to muster your words.

"Is Jungwon with you?" She asks.

"Yes." You bit your lower lip and buried your face closer to your phone, refusing to take a glance at Jungwon's side. You could feel hin snickering.

"Hello, eomonim." Jungwon greeted through the phone.

You heard a contented hum from the other line

"Be sure to lock the doors, okay? Your dad and I will be returning home tomorrow morning." Your mom reminded. "And, Jungwon, thank you for accompanying her." she added to which Jungwon replied with a polite 'no problem'.

As you pressed the hang up button, you felt Jungwon's lingering stares.

"Ready?" He smiled, and the rest was history.

---

[ladylooch]

Your requests may be closed, and I most definitely respect that, but this is me begging for just a crumb of protective Nico because I need it more than I need oxygen. 🥺

A/N: I almost died eating a cheesy roll up from Taco Bell while writing this… And I came back from near death because I had to finish this for you 😘 No I am not dramatic at all, why do you ask?

You had gone to bed before Nico. He was out in the living room, watching a late west coast game between the Rangers and Kings. He had slept in late and took two naps, so sleep wasn’t coming for him anytime soon. Fine with you. You didn’t mind an empty bed when you knew he was in the other room. 

You fall asleep quickly, taking a bit of cold medicine to help you sleep after having a sinus infection earlier in the week. The medicine helps you slumber deep, but it also brings a very vivid dream that takes place in your bedroom, seemingly tonight. A man is in the corner. He’s lurking, waiting for you to shut the door so he can grab you. You try to yell to Nico, but the hand over your mouth muffles any attempt. 

“Make a sound and your boyfriend dies.” The man says as he throws you down on the bed and pulls out a knife. 

You jolt awake, sitting up and sucking in a gasping breath. You clutch your chest, trying to get your bearings straight. Everything still feels so real. You look around the room, cringing at all the shadows that cast out in oblong shapes to you. You close your eyes, trying to talk yourself down from your panic. When you open them, you swear there is movement to your left. You look fast, seeing the curtains blowing in the breeze from the ceiling fan. Everything in your body is screaming fight or flight.

The weak light from the TV barely reaches the end of the hall as you open the door. You tip toe down, wondering if maybe Nico had fallen asleep on the couch. When you round the corner, his brown eyes immediately find you. He lays on his back, feet crossed at the ankles, with his hands behind his head. You cling to the wall nervously.

“I’m scared.” You admit to him. He perks up to a sitting position, opening his arms to you.

“What’s up, sweets?”

“I had a bad dream.” You mutter into his neck, attaching to him like a baby sloth.

“Oh no.” He rubs his hands up and down your back to comfort you. “Wanna talk about it?”

“There was a guy here.” Your voice shakes. Nico pulls you tighter at the observance. 

“No one is here. Just me and you, baby.” He soothes immediately. 

“He was in the bedroom and he grabbed me. He said he was going to kill you if I made any noise.” You squeeze your eyes shut, fingerprints pressing deeper into his body. Nico sighs, bringing his face close to your hair to press kisses along your head.

“You’re okay.” He reminds you. “You’re safe here in my arms. Nothing is going to get to you through me.” His words are perfect. Nico always knows what to say. You pause right where you are for a moment, not speaking, only feeling the solidness of him beneath and around you. Nico notices your grip on him slacken a bit and pulls away so he can see your face. “Better?”

“Yeah.” You nod, taking a measured breath. “How much longer are you going to be up?”

“I can come to bed now if you want.”

“Yes, please.” He nods, clicking the TV off and helping you to your feet. You let him walk first into the bedroom. He immediately flips the light on and does his due diligence to look around the room, even behind the curtains that scared you when you first woke up. “Just me and you.” He reiterates. “Get under the covers.” He waits for you to do so, then turns the light off.

He climbs into bed and pulls you into his body so you are spooning. You fit together like interconnecting parts. With Nico’s protection, you fall back to sleep relatively easy. This time, you dream of you and him on a sandy, white beach, sipping margaritas and getting interesting tan lines.

[politemagic]

wait ok so consider stalker IV following you around while you're starting a new job in a new city and he's watching and making sure no one on earth gets near you, and when some guy does... and oh okay just

****

It was cold, dark, and I was desperate for some chicken lo mein. I had found a decent place, on the edge of the city after two weeks of experiments with random takeout joints. The bag was too hot, plastic handles knotted together and I was nearly jogging back to my apartment. I could feel eyes on me. They were ever present, had been since I'd moved here. I'd grown used to the feeling of an intense gaze on the back of my neck.

But now, there were footsteps. Close. Too close. I paused, listening to see if they were still following me. They were. I began to attempt to cross the street. The footsteps followed. My palms grew slick against the steaming bag of food. I didn't dare glance backwards. I hadn't thought the eyes were a real person, just the transition from a small town to a city. Under the din, I could make it out now - there were two sets of footsteps right behind me. No, no, no, this cannot be happening to me. I slid past a dark alley and that was when I heard a new noise. Feet, dragging. Muffled yelling, as though a palm was pressed to a mouth. It sounded as though someone had grabbed someone else and shoved them into the alley or something.

I turned around. A man, broad back to me, had another man pinned against the alley wall. The pinned man was a greasy, lanky looking creep with dead eyes. Definitely someone who would follow unsuspecting people around.

"Hey, c'mon man, I didn't know she was yours," the guy wheezed out. The other guy, the attacker, jammed a brutal fist into the creep's stomach. Pain burst across the creep's features. His mouth opened, the attacker jerked his arm again, and blood trickled out of his mouth. Holy shit, he just stabbed that guy!

"You'll never make that mistake again," the guy growled, before lowering the creep to the ground. He turned, kind of awkward, on his knees and looked up at me. Dark blue eyes pinned me in place. A mask obscured most of his face. He cocked his head. I heard him swallow.

"Did I do good?"

KKKKKKKKKAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTEEEEEEEE

he’s coming home with me. we’re sharing the chicken lo mein because a good boy indeed.

@moonchild-in-blue ARE YOU SEEING THIS?????

more thoughts below because i’m feeling it today✨

he’s not wild about my sketchy apartment complex, he’s seen enough dirtbags go through that door to feel uneasy leaving me by myself. who’s to say one of them won’t get any ideas down in the laundry room?

“how are you feeling?” he asked worriedly.

“a little shaken, i won’t lie. but i’m lucky you were there,”

his chest surged with pride, the weight of his knife in his pocket a reminder of the lengths he would go to for his darling.

“i would never let anyone else hurt you.”

i wasn’t sure if it was the shock from the earlier encounter or the protective glint in his eyes, but against my better judgement…

“would you… would you stay with me? just for tonight?”

iv slept on the side of the bed closest to the door, a warm, protective arm pressing my back against his chest. i couldn’t deny that i slept easier with him beside me, living alone in the city had been a bit nerve-wracking.

maybe that was why i didn’t say anything when i saw him waiting for me after work with an outstretched hand.

“ready to go home?”

it has been a ✨day✨ and you sent this when i was on my second drink so you get tipsy em word vomit <3

[sequinsmile-x]

Stained Glass Windows - Chapter Forty Nine

Life was complicated, but they wouldn't have it any other way.

-x-

Hi friends,

As ever, thank you for the love on this story! It truly means the world. I cannot believe this is chapter 49!! Next chapter will be up on Thursday to mark Emily's 40th birthday in this universe <3

On a separate note, my next one shot is my 250th(!!!) fic, and I am working on something special for it. Please keep an eye out for it at the end of the week!

Please do let me know what you think!

-x-

Words: 3.4k

A full list of warnings for the fic can be found on the Series Master List and will be updated as we go along.

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

“Family of Aaron Hotchner?”

“I’m his girlfriend, Emily Prentiss,” Emily says, her hands tightly clasped together in front of her, “I came in with him and I’m his medical proxy.”

She’s over-explained it, and she knows it, the soft smile on the doctor’s face is the only evidence she needs, but she doesn’t want anything to stop her from seeing him. Happy to flash her gun and badge if she needed to. Or donate as much of her trust fund as it would take to fund a new wing of the hospital, anything to sit by his side. 

The doctor swallows thickly, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he looks at her, and everything stops. Her training her biggest curse as she knows what he’s going to say before he even opens his mouth. She steps backwards, the heat of Dave’s hand burning into her shoulder as he steadies her. 

“We did everything we could, but he lost too much blood.” 

The walls start closing in on her, the air becomes thick, too thick to breathe and she stutters as she speaks, “You have to say it.”

“Agent Hotchner died on the table.” 

___

Emily gasps as she sits up, her lungs burning as she desperately tries to breathe. The hot brand of her friend's comforting hand on her shoulder still burning, a lasting imprint from her nightmare that she knows will take a while to shake. 

She wondered if she’d ever stop dreaming about that night. If she’d ever be free of the image of Aaron being attacked by Foyet. Of the sound of the knife as it was pulled out of Aaron’s chest, the grunt he made as it happened, involuntary and primal like he was a wounded animal. She wondered if she’d ever forget how close she came to losing him, or if her subconscious would always remind her, that the dream that had just torn her from sleep would always follow her wherever she went. 

She blows out a slow breath and runs her hand over her face, taking a second to feel the cool metal of her wedding rings, allowing herself to remember it wasn’t true. She hadn’t lost him. She wasn’t frozen in place in that hospital hallway - she was in their home, in their bed, with their infant daughter just a few feet away. 

She turns to check on Lily, and the panic her dream had sparked sets fire when she sees the bassinet is empty. Her half asleep, and overall sleep deprived brain, jumps to the worst-case scenario, something that only continues when she turns to her other side to find Aaron’s side of the bed empty. She gets out of bed, almost tripping over the blankets that had tangled around her legs as she stands. She’s about to call out, to shout for Aaron, when she spots the light seeping out from under the nursery door. She blows out a breath and presses her hand to her chest, logic finally taking back over as the panic subsides. 

Emily is careful to be quiet as she pushes the door open, and she smiles at the sight she’s met with. Aaron is in the large rocking chair they kept in there, a sleeping Lily against his chest and an empty bottle of milk that she’d expressed earlier that day on the table. Sergio was curled up in the crib Lily hadn’t slept in yet, the cat never too far away from the baby he’d clearly dubbed as his human. 

“Hi,” she says softly, walking across the soft carpet, “Is this a party anyone can join or is it just daddy/daughter time?” 

He smiles at her as he kisses the top of Lily’s head, “We’ve finished everything we needed to talk about.” 

She chuckles softly and walks over, stopping as she reaches the armchair, “You have room for one more?” 

He shifts, making sure Lily is settled against one side of his chest and opening up his arms for his wife, “We always have room for you.” 

She climbs into his lap, careful not to disturb her daughter as she rests her head on Aaron’s other shoulder. She reaches out and runs her fingers over Lily’s soft hair, “She got hungry?” 

Aaron nods and kisses Emily’s cheek, “She woke up and I thought you could do with the sleep.” He explains, and she hums in response, “Did we wake you up?”

“No,” she replies, shaking her head before she tilts it to look up at him, “I had a dream,” she presses her lips together tightly before she looks down at Lily again, finding the same peace and comfort she always did when she looked at her little girl, “About Foyet.” 

He closes his eyes and rests his forehead against her temple, well aware that she would have panicked to realise she was alone. He’d done the same before, had torn into the living room to find Emily there sitting with Jack and Lily, a curious look on her face that would slowly transform into concern as she figured it out. 

“The usual?” he asks, using his foot on the ground to rock them back and forth, both of them well aware that it was more for her benefit than their sleeping baby’s. She nods in response, something he feels more than sees, “Want to talk about it?” 

“No,” she says, “I don’t,” she snuggles in deeper into his embrace, wanting nothing more than to forget about her nightmares, to put it behind her until she inevitably had another one, “Can we talk about something else?” 

“Of course,” he says without hesitation, never able to say no to her, “What do you want to talk about?” 

She sighs as she tries to think of something, to remember something about their upcoming day that they could discuss, and she finally lands on what she wants to talk about, only briefly wondering if it was the right time. 

“You’re seeing Haley in the morning, right?” She asks, and he nods.

“Yeah, I’m going over. The school needs us both to sign paperwork for a few things so it makes sense for me to go,” he replies, looking at her, “Why? Is everything okay?” 

“Everything is fine,” she assures him, “I had an interesting conversation with Jack when he was here at the weekend. He brought up spending more time with us again.” 

It would be lying to say it wasn’t something Aaron had thought about a lot in the months since Jack had last raised it with Emily. He wanted more time with his son, something that had been true since he and Haley had broken up, but it had become all the more apparent to him since Lily had been born. His daughter’s constant presence made his son’s absence sharper, and made him want to see the two of them together all the more often. Jack had never mentioned being with them more again after the one occasion he had when Emily was pregnant, and they had put it down to sibling jealousy that had never sprouted further than that. So Aaron had shaken it off, let the hope flutter away, not wanting to disrupt his son’s life if he was happy with it.

“What did he say?”

She shifts so she’s looking at him properly, “He said he misses us when he’s with Haley, and he misses her when he’s here. But he’s with her more so he misses us more.” 

He sighs and runs his hand up and down Lily’s back, dropping a kiss on her dark hair. Despite the fact he was happy, that he loved his life and his family, he knew he’d always feel some kind of guilt that he wasn’t able to give Jack what he had given Lily. Her parent’s under one roof, their love and understanding of each other deeper than anything he thought he’d ever get to experience. Jack had been so young when he and Haley broke up that Aaron knows he wouldn’t even have memories of them all living together. 

“You think I should talk to Haley about it?” He asks, and she blows out a breath, reaching up to push his hair from his forehead.

“I think you should,” she replies, “It’s not my place to make the decision for you though,” she says, smiling softly at him, “But we’d like him here more, he’d like to be here more. My new job will mean it will be easier to make it work,” she looks down at Lily, who was still asleep but shifted, grunting as she frowns in her sleep, and Emily smiles, “And Lily will have her big brother around even more. Haley may even welcome it. It will give her more time to do things just for her.”

She hopes that Haley will take the opportunity to tell Aaron about her boyfriend so that she’d no longer have to keep it a secret from him, the weight of it heavy on her chest even though, in the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t a big deal. 

He smiles and leans in to kiss her, a quick thing stamped against her lips, “I’ll mention it to her, see what she says.” 

Emily yawns, and Aaron chuckles at her, “We should get back to bed, try and get a little bit more sleep.” 

Lily cries out and they both look down to see she’s awake now, her tiny hands reaching out for Emily, and they both shake their heads.

“Is it bad that part of me misses our sleep being disturbed by serial killers?”

___

Aaron puts off speaking to Haley about their custody arrangement until the paperwork for Jack’s school is all signed. Jack was with Haley’s sister for the afternoon, delighted to spend time with his only aunt, so it was just the two of them in the house they’d once bought together. It felt strange when he looked back on the person he’d been when he first walked through these rooms. Young and sure his life would turn out how he’d planned, beautifully unaware that nothing would go as he’d envisioned. 

“I don’t remember there ever being this many forms when we were in school,” Haley complains, signing off the last form and pushing it over to him over the dining table. He smirks as he signs next to her name. 

“That’s because we went to school in the 70s and 80s,” he quips, looking up at her from the now finished paperwork with his eyebrow raised, “They used to have that commercial ‘do you know where your children are’ to remind our parents we existed.” 

Haley chuckles and leans back in her chair, her arms crossed loosely over her chest, “That’s true,” she says, shaking her head at the thought of it, “Poor Jack, if he ever misses curfew he’ll have half the FBI after him.” 

He laughs and nods, “Emily always jokes she’ll be that mom waiting outside the parties Lily goes to just to make sure she’s okay,” he says, and their laughter quietens around them. The friendship they’d fallen into over the last couple of years was nice, but there were moments for both of them, fleeting and rare, when it would feel as if they were who they used to be. He clears his throat and folds his hands together, his fingers tight around his wedding ring, a nervous habit he’d picked up from his wife, “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Oh,” Haley says, leaning forward, her clasped hands on the table, “That sounds serious.” 

“I was wondering if we could think about changing the custody agreement,” he says, watching her expression carefully, using his training in a way that always drove her crazy when they were still married, “Emily’s new job will have more regular hours, and Jack is older now and I think-”

“I think it’s a good idea,” she replies, putting him out of his misery, a wry smile on her face, “He always talks about you guys when he’s here, it’s obvious he wants to spend more time with Lily,” she shrugs nonchalantly, putting all the arguments he’d practised in his head on the way over firmly to bed, “We’ll figure it out, but I don’t see why it can’t be 50/50.” 

He sits back and runs his fingers through his hair, the tension he’d felt building in his shoulders since his conversation with Emily in the early hours of the morning finally dissipating. “Thanks, Haley.”

She smiles and shakes her head at him, “Of course, he’s your son Aaron. And you and Emily love him. Why wouldn’t I want my son around that more?” She says and they exchange a smile. She looks at him for a moment before she sucks in a breath, “Whilst we’re talking about things…I wanted to mention something to you,” she pauses as he nods, encouraging her to carry on, “I’ve been seeing someone, and I’d like to introduce him to Jack at some point.”

His breath catches in his chest. He knew it was coming at some point, that she wouldn’t be single forever, but he didn’t expect that the news would make his stomach twist.

___

Emily can tell Aaron is in a bad mood when he comes home. 

There’s a tension in his shoulders, in his jaw, that he rarely had in their house. She knows better than to push, than to pry it out of him. So she pretends she doesn’t see it, acts as if it’s a normal afternoon, and it’s only after she’s fed Lily and put her down for her nap, that she realises she’s doing exactly what her parents had always done. As she looks at her daughter’s face, her long lashes fluttering as she sleeps, her rosy cheeks and pursed lips, she reminds herself why she refused to do that, why she wanted to do better. 

She makes sure she picks up the baby monitor had heads downstairs, well aware she’d find her husband in their home office. She knocks on the door and walks in, smiling tightly at him as he looks up from his desk. She walks over and leans against the desk and she crosses her arms over her chest. 

“Honey,” she says, reaching out and putting her hand over his, “What’s wrong?” She asks, raising her eyebrow when he opens his mouth to protest, her hand squeezing his even tighter, “Don’t say it’s nothing, you came home from Haley’s in a mood. Did she…did she say no to the change in custody?” 

“No,” he says, shaking his head as he assures her, “She was fine with it,” he chuckles humourlessly, “She actually said yes before I listed off all of my reasons.” 

She feels relieved, only realising how much she’d been worrying about it at that moment, “That’s good,” she says, squeezing his hand again, “Then what’s going on?” 

He sighs, briefly closing his eyes as he shakes his head at himself, still unsure what he’d been so unsettled by what Haley had told him. 

“She has a boyfriend,” he says, blowing out a breath, “And she wants him to meet Jack.” 

“Oh,” Emily replies, nodding as she clears her throat, “That’s good though, isn’t it?”

He looks up at her, his eyebrows furrowed as their eyes meet, the complete lack of surprise in her expression making the pieces fall into place. “You already knew?” 

She tries to ignore the accusation in his tone, how it sparks a fire in her belly that she stamps out with a slow breath. She takes her hand from his and crosses her arms, her fingers digging into her triceps. 

“She mentioned it to me when she picked up Jack a few days ago,” she says, keeping her tone even, “She asked me not to say anything so she could tell you.” 

He feels irritation he knows she doesn’t deserve flood through him, “I’m your husband, you should have-”

She scoffs, cutting him off as she stands up and puts some space between them, “Surely you know me well enough to know that no one tells me what I should do,” she says, gritting the words out between her teeth, “And I am not getting involved any more than I already am in your and Haley’s relationship. She shouldn’t have asked me to keep it from you, but you also don’t have a right to be mad at me for it,” she shakes her head, “Do you have any idea how complicated this is for me sometimes? How aware I am that I’m your second wife?” 

He clenches his teeth and pinches the bridge of his nose, trying to calm himself down, well aware that she was right, “I know, sweetheart,” he says, standing up but not closing the gap between them, “I’m sorry…I just,” he sighs, “Finding out she’s with someone else hit me harder than I thought it would.” 

She stares at him, wrapping her arms even tighter around herself as she lets his confession wash over her. It stings, but she knows he doesn’t mean he loves her any less, that he wants to abandon their life and go back to his ex-wife. It was a shadow of his previous life with Haley, a ripple effect of the love he still held for her, something Emily knew he’d always have. It was part of their relationship she’d made peace with long ago, well aware even in their first few months together that he’d loved someone else before her. 

Something that often felt as much of a blessing as it was a curse. The lessons he’d learnt from his first marriage something he’d brought into theirs which helped it flourish. But in moments like this, whether it was selfish or not, she just wished it was all a little simpler. 

 “Aaron, we got together just months after your marriage ended,” she says, her tongue peeking out to wet her lower lip, “In the time it’s taken her to meet someone she wants to introduce to Jack we’ve got married and had a baby. And she’s mostly been okay apart from the odd initial reaction. So take whatever time you need and give her the same courtesy.” 

She’s out of the room before he can respond, the baby monitor tight in her hands.

___

He seeks her out not long after.

She’s on the couch, her book in her hands and the baby monitor next to her as she pretends to read her book. He clears his throat to get her attention and holds out two hot chocolates, his eyebrow raised as their eyes meet. 

“I come in peace,” he says, as he steps towards her when she rolls her eyes, a hint of a smile at the corner of one of her lips. She takes one of the mugs from him and curls her palms around it as he sits next to her, the burn of the ceramic against her palm oddly calming, “I did consider bringing you wine, but it’s barely mid-afternoon and you’re still feeding Lil.” 

She hums and shifts so she’s facing him, her toes digging into his thigh, “You’re lucky you’re cute.” 

He smiles at her, “Usually I’d protest at being called cute,” he says, placing one of his hands on her foot, holding it in place on his leg, “But I’ll take it,” he adds and they exchange a smile, “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I shouldn’t have got mad at you.” 

“No,” she replies, taking a sip of her drink before she places it down, “You shouldn’t have,” she says, placing her hand on his arm, “But I forgive you. It’s not an easy situation. You’re allowed to react like a human, seeing as you are one.” 

“Don’t let the team know, I’ll lose all credibility,” he jokes and she shakes her head before she shifts, her legs curling underneath her as she leans towards him, her head on his shoulder. 

“Your secret is safe with me,” she replies, linking their fingers together and kissing his knuckles, “So, are we going to meet him before he meets Jack?” 

“Yes,” he says, pulling her closer, his chin resting on top of her head, “It will probably be the world's most awkward double date.” 

She hums in agreement, her nose scrunching up at the thought of it, “Remind me to make sure I pump before that so I can drink some very expensive French wine.” 

-x-

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[lchufflepuffcorn]

A Crown of Roots and Ice

Epilogue

Warning: Death, mention of grief, flashforward, descriptive anxiety-inducing moments, mention of wounds.

Words: 1, 867k

Author's note: The gif is not mine, as usual, it belongs to its owner/creator. This is my brainchild, the very first series I was able to finish writing IN MY LIFE. It took me three years, blood, sweat and tears, the love of all of my readers and the release of House of The Dragon for it to happen. I'm very proud of it, but that doesn't mean I won't change it someday ( by change it I mean rewrite some parts or add some things...) So thank you all for your support and your patience, I love you all very much.

Masterlist OGW Masterlist

Serie Masterlist Playlist

Part one, Part two, Part three, Part four, Part five, Epilogue.

Extra : Before Brin’s birth

Taglist: @aegonslover, @aemondsluvr, @yash98.

For love never falters when memories fade

It was a dark, cold night when the lady of the castle awakened, drenched as if she had run for miles. Something deep in her bones ached in panic. The lady couldn't fathom the reason for such a fright.

Her breath came in short, laboriously working its way from her lungs to the cold chamber, leaving her in clouds.

Heart beating erratically in her throat and the feeling of an imminent danger lurking still vivid in her mind, the lady of the castle choose to rise from the warmth of her furs to take a short walk. Hopefully, checking on her sons would calm her nerves if she saw they were alright.

For they were to be safe and sound, of course.

It had been many moons since her nightmares plagued her sleeping moments every so often. Shadows slithering in the dead of night, bringing cold and ice in their tracks. A muted grey light flashed before a freezing feeling in her bones. Red wine splattering in the snow. For months, she'd been woken up with cold sweat ruining the furs for the night, short and panicked breaths waking Bran in turn.

There was nothing he could do to ease her fright on those nights.

For weeks Lady (Y/N) had made her sons sleep between her lord husband and herself. It took a long time for Bran to convince her that their guards were adequate to protect them from anything. Even then, he offered her a long knife for her name day.

"You won't need it." He'd whisper on her neck one night, fingers sliding up and down her naked arm, in his best effort to reconcile her with the night.

"Hmm…" (Y/N) had humoured Bran but never took the knife from under the pillows. He never asked for her to either.

It was silly that the thing made her feel at ease when she slept alone in their room. For Bran was gone. Back to his duties once more. (Y/N) made her way silently in the castle's halls toward her son's shared room. Bran's knife swiftly concealed in her sleeping gown and furs still failed to ease her mood. The two guards were posted at the entrance, and a simple nod was given to her when she entered.

Her free hand had slithered its way to her belly, where a soft bump was starting to show.

Brin and Aeron were sleeping like she knew they would. Brin had his father's features, even at six years of age. Aeron held more of you, from your complexion to his mannerism. Nagga and Aeron's pup, Leviathan, named after one of their mother's many stories, curled at the feet of the boy's respective beds.

Nagga was the only one to open an eye when (Y/N) sat in the rocking chair near the door. She shushed him passing by, holding one of his ears gently between her fingers before settling. Covering herself with the embroidered duvet Meira had gifted her at Aeron's birth, the lady of the castle let her anxiety diminish at the sight of her sleeping sons.

Breaths evening to a slow, repeating rhythm, eyes growing heavy with the lack of stimulation, (Y/N) let herself get caught in the room's darkness and the duvet's warmth, finding herself floating in comfort for the first time in too many nights.

It was a bit later that the lady's eyes opened once more. Now in the shadowed room of her children. Her heart was racing, sweat rolling down in beads from the nape of her neck to her spine, yet an aching cold held the room captive. Her breath once more elevated before her eyes, paler in the room's darkness than the rest.

Lady (Y/N)'s eyes travelled from her eldest son's bed -closer to the door- then to her secondborn, farther away, scanning for anything moving that shouldn't be there. Nothing. She tried to bring warmth back to her nose. The room was colder than when she'd entered it.

A light 'thud' from outside made her heart in a tormenting frenzy, faster than it had already been. Instinctively, her hand clenched around the knife's handle and tossed the duvet aside as she rose from her seat. Her furs followed next. Arms free to move as she pleased, only encombered by the nightdress she wore. Moving from the rocking chair to stand closer to her eldest son's bed, she took the stance Bran showed her when she'd asked.

(Y/N) made sure, however, not to stand in front of the door, so she could keep the element of surprise like Walton had taught her long ago. Nagga and Leviathan stood right in front of the door, the fur around their neck raised and low growls escaping their throat.

Nagga moved first, jumping on the door (Y/N) hadn't known being opened. The dog must have surprised whoever had been on the other side, for a yelp echoed on the stone walls as the creature lashed at them.

A clatter soon followed the chaos, and a shadow slithered its way inside the room, slashing Leviathan's neck as it pounced toward it. Cutting its roar short, leaving only the wet choking sound of air and blood mixing.

Lady (Y/N) didn't need more time to think when she jumped forward, slashing with all her might at the grayish shadow before her. It tried to attack her too, but (Y/N) jumped back just like her older brother had once shown her. It stopped for a second, and the lady took action once more. Dark glare met icy cold emptiness for the first time before combat was launched.

Grabbing a limb and twisting to turn it towards her. She'd managed to pierce the skin, she thought, when a heavy hand threw her aside.

Cold consumed her ribs like a lake suddenly becoming ice, and the shock of her back meeting the stone cut her exhale short, and a cry escaped the woman's lips before she could stop it, but she made no movement to feel the injury. 'Must not show weakness.' Walton had once said. She hadn't had the chance to take a new breath or regain her sense of orientation when something heavy sat on her chest.

Lady (Y/N)'s hands rose instinctively toward those of her attacker. She caught them before the blade could break the skin of her neck, yet she could still feel the coldness of it too close to her throat for her comfort. Unable to release one hand to grab her knife, she tried using her legs to destabilize the thing on her.

"Mother!"

Nagga's growls and sharp calls must have woken the boys, (Y/N) knew it. The sobs she could hear were those of Aeron.

With a new desperation, she pushed the hands farther up and grabbed her knife, knocking the blade with her arm as she struck. Icy cold with yet a fiery warmth following it flowed in the armed she used as a shield, the weapon stuck in her shoulder, and a grunt left the lady. She didn't try to cower, instead trying to strike once more.

Aiming to hurt or destabilizing over killing just yet. It managed to push its damned blade deeper inside her shoulder despite the lady's trashing around.

Pushing what was over her to the side, she struck it again in the head. Then, again and again, she made sure it stayed down before turning to her sons.

"Stay here." Her breath was coming in short, and she must have twisted her ankle while falling, for pain shot through it as she walked.

The lady exited the room to join a whining yet still growling Nagga on the other side. It was slowly losing its battle against the assassin, blood wetting its fur as it had Leviathans.

Making the best of the crouched position her assailant was in, Lady (Y/N) lunged toward it and struck again, aiming for the face.

Once again, cold erupted in her, the lungs incapable of drawing breath for a short time. The assassin had lodged its blade under her breast. (Y/N) moved before it could remove the weapon and kicked at the creature to keep it away.

The commotion had risen the guards toward the boy's room, and soon, the second assassin was eliminated. All happened in a blur, and the lady was removed before it could resolve itself completely. With the danger now taken care of, she could barely stand alone and was forcefully escorted back to her room. Standing between two tall guards making her feel like she was a little girl again. They could not contain her before getting the maids to bring her sons and Nagga.

Apparently, they removed the bodies of the intruders and burned them. The two guards and Leviathan were brought out of the room to be given proper funerals. When mother and sons were finally bunched together, safe, warm and loved, the lady kissed both her boy to sleep.

While being fussed over by maesters, Lady (Y/N) asked for a crow to be sent to her husband. "So he'd be informed of the situation."

She also asked for her brother Urion to be sent a messenger informing him of the situation. Breathing was becoming laborious, and her cough sounded wetter by the minute.

In the letter addressed to her brother, the maester wrote that lady (Y/N) had not been conscious when her death occurred. Sleeping with her children, exhausted from the battle and the blood loss. It was also written to the man that Bran was yet to know about his wife's death, as his crow left four hours before Urion's.

Brin and Aeron cried their little heart out when a maid ushered them out of their mother's cold embrace once the sun came out. Maester somberly nodded their heads as they covered the lady of the castle's face.

Bran could remember the funerals held for her. The crown of roots placed on her hair, a dress in the Stark's colours and a blanket of her family's crest placed as if she was resting beneath it. He could remember the cold in his chest as he watched the fire take her form.

The empty hole it left in his heart as he clenched his son's shoulders.

He could feel the brief warmth of tears rolling on his face before the wind turned them into ice droplets.

Bran could also remember -being shaken as he was sitting in the chariot trailing him to King's Landing- the imagery of a Lady carved in the rocks. He could still see the stone sepulture, both as it was first and as he saw it when he was a boy. The eroded face was once detailed as his aunt was. The sculpture's hands crumpled from the touch of those her loss had hurt the most.

Bran could remember all those things of the ghost he saw that night when winter had lost. But he hadn't found anything relating her story in the archives of the Starks. Brandon's wife had never been mentioned. Only his firstborn Brin, well, Brandon, was named.

Bran could remember that her statue was the only one made with a crown.

And it made his heart soar.

[rosanna-writer]

we said hello and your eyes look like coming home (5/?)

Summary: A canon-divergent AU where the bond snaps for Rhys on Calanmai, Feyre unwittingly accepts it, and Fire Night magic proves to be more transformative than anyone bargained for. Feyre drags a mate she hardly knows out from Under the Mountain, then puts him back together as war with Hybern approaches. Warnings: dubious consent, canon-typical sexual violence, canon-typical violence Rating: Explicit Chapter Word Count: ~3.3k

A/N: All the typical Under the Mountain trigger warnings apply here. There isn't any weight talk in this chapter, but there is a brief mention of skipping meals. A few lines for dialogue are also lifted directly from ACOTAR book one.

Feyre goes Under the Mountain.

Read on AO3 or you can find the fifth chapter below the readmore.

ch. 1 - the altar is my hips | ch 2. - an arrowhead leading us home | ch. 3 - by the way, i just may like some explanations | ch. 4 - can't not think of all the cost | ch. 5 - honey i rose up from the dead

The next six weeks were the longest of my life—I didn't hear from Rhys again. Even with my own shields up, his feelings leaked through occasionally, none of them positive. Despair, guilt, rage, violation, pain, disgust.

At night, my dreams were glimpses through his eyes of Amarantha's cruel court Under the Mountain. When it was nothing more than heads on spikes or lashes across a back, I slept through the night. Sometimes, though, it was his hands and mouth all over Amarantha in her bedroom, and on those nights, the urge to vomit ripped me from sleep and sent me running towards the toilet. The dreams were so vivid, I could still taste her on my tongue when I woke up. I'd never thought the sick, burning taste of bile could be a mercy until it erased the evidence of what she'd been doing to Rhys.

I took to skipping dinner, just so there would be less to hurl up.

I could only hope that if it worked the opposite way for him, the sight of the city—Velaris, as I learned it was called—helped him through it. But he clearly didn't want to talk, so I couldn't be sure.

When Amarantha didn't feature in the nightmares, it was the Spring Court. Sometimes I dreamed about Andras killing me in revenge, sometimes it was Tamlin dragging me back and forcing me to kill and kill and kill. Those dreams never made me vomit, just left me with a sense of guilt that felt like a physical thing weighing me down and pinning me to the bed.

On those nights, I'd stare at the ceiling and wonder if the blame truly lay at Tamlin's feet for sending Andras to die, Amarantha's for cursing Tamlin in the first place, or mine for being so quick to shoot. I couldn't have known Andras wouldn't hurt me—and had every reason to believe he would—but maybe if I had something other than ice and hatred in my heart, I could have figured it out. The uncertainty meant I'd never be able to scrub that particular stain from my soul.

During the day, I trained. I had no hope of besting a faerie in combat, but that didn't mean it was useless to learn. Cassian ran me through drills intended to make me more nimble, harder to grab onto and winnow to another location. And after I'd mentioned chucking my hunting knife at Tamlin when he'd taken me away, Azriel found me a properly balanced set of throwing knives and taught me to use them. Even if I never landed a hit, the distraction of blades sailing through the air might buy me time to run and hide. Mor wrestled me to the ground as I practiced bargaining, making sure I could close loopholes even as she twisted my arm behind my back. Amren taught me to shield my mind, though it was slow going without an actual daemati to practice with. I didn't dare ask Rhys.

When we weren't in the training ring, I poured over maps of passageways Under the Mountain. There was always the chance that Amarantha had rearranged things in the last fifty years, but I memorized it all anyway. The four of them quizzed me on the key players in Amarantha's court and their allegiances, or at least, what we knew of it from the rumors that drifted back to Velaris. Information could also be its own sort of armor.

Amren was researching exactly what my unfinished bargain tattoo with the Night Court could mean. Every so often, she brought the books to the training ring and sat in the sun to read as we practiced and sparred. Cassian sometimes tried to goad her into joining us, but she never did. 

From what I could gather, Amren and Mor had their hands full keeping the Night Court running in Rhys's absence, and their inability to leave Velaris only complicated matters. Cassian and Azriel were often pulled away to attend to their own duties, too.

Even with so much work to distract us, we were all anxious and restless.

After a few days, I moved my things to the House of Wind, tired of feeling like an invader in someone else's house and a burden for needing to be flown to the training ring. Mor, Cassian, and Azriel were staying there too, and we had an unspoken agreement not to discuss how little we were all sleeping. I wasn't the only one who overtrained to the point of exhaustion—sometimes it was easier to be too worn out to feel or think.

Perhaps it was just because at this point, I might have been able to get used to anything, but after a week at the House of Wind, I realized I was comfortable here. There was less formality than in Spring, and even as she sipped blood, Amren was less frightening when she dropped by just to sit at the dinner table and bicker. Mor and Cassian both offered to pick up paints for me, but I declined every time. It felt selfish to sit and paint while Rhys was suffering.

And I wasn't sure I was ready to face whatever would be staring back at me from the canvas when I was done.

The four of them took to playing cards, something Cassian told me they'd done with other soldiers during the War, when everything either had been short bursts of danger or long, dull periods of waiting and dread between battles. Killing time before Tamlin's curse ran out felt like the latter. Azriel offered to teach me the rules—and some of the strategies that won him more games than the others combined—but I was content to just watch, sitting on the sofa with a blanket around my shoulders and listening to them talk. At times, I was still acutely aware that everyone there but me had centuries of shared history, but I could live with that.

In Night, I was just Feyre, not Feyre-the-human, and that made all the difference.

The night before I left, we didn't talk about what I was going to do. I didn't want to be fussed over, even if I was preparing to run straight into danger. And now I knew that they'd seen enough comrades off to war that all four of them knew how to navigate the situation. Fretting too much might just make me panic and lose my nerve.

That morning, I changed back into the clothes I'd come here wearing—it wouldn't do to let anyone conclude where I'd been. I took my bow and a few knives, ones that wouldn't have a maker's mark that could be traced back to the Night Court. Mor winnowed me to the very edge of the wards, glamoured me to hide my scent and tattoos, and gave me one last wordless hug.

I headed south for the caves.

Something akin to relief washed over me as I walked. Part of it was almost certainly the mating bond—I'd always feel a bit better when I was getting closer to Rhys. But beyond that, it felt good to be actually doing something for once. Nothing rankled me more than inaction in the face of a problem, whether that was my family's money troubles or Amarantha.

When I crossed the Night Court's border, back into the cave, my stomach flipped. I stood stock-still in the entrance for a while, just letting my eyes adjust before I pressed forward. I took a few deep breaths, willing the instinct to turn and run back to safety to subside.

I followed the path back the way I'd come after Calanmai, not sure where I was going beyond a general direction. Save the occasional drip of water in the distance, the cave was silent. This wasn't like hunting in the woods, where there was still distant birdsong or rustling leaves. This was a place devoid of life.

I lost all sense of time, but at some point, the cave walls became something unnatural, deliberately hewn out of the rock. A hall. I was close, then. A part of me wanted to tug on the bond, to send out I'm here I'm here I'm here, but that would likely prove deadly. I needed to get my bearings.

I turned another corner and found myself in a passageway lit by torches. The firelight wasn't strong, but after so much darkness, the light hurt my eyes. I pressed against a wall, trying to conceal myself in a shadow while I let them adjust again.

As I waited for the pain to fade, long, bony fingers wrapped around my arm. I bit the inside of my cheek to hold back a scream.

"Hello," a voice said, and at least it was a voice I recognized, even as I suppressed a shudder. The Attor. "What's something like you doing here?"

I let it drag me and realized we were heading towards the throne room. Or at least, that's where it was on the maps. The thought of getting closer to Amarantha ignited my anger, burning away the last of my fear. Faeries we passed leered at me, not a single familiar face among them.

As the Attor pulled me through the enormous carved stone doors, I felt the bond light up in my chest. Music played in the distance, and the throne room was crowded with fae—a party of sorts, and Rhys was among them somewhere.

The Attor hurled me forward, and I stumbled but didn't fall to my knees. I raised my head and looked at Amarantha through my own eyes for the first time. She lounged on an ebony throne, picking at her nails, the nails I'd seen scratching Rhys's skin too many times to count.

But the sound of my name pulled my attention away from her.

"Feyre?" Tamlin said from his place next to her. "You're alive?"

Even with the golden mask still covering his face, he looked rattled, almost as if he'd seen a ghost. I hadn't known how he'd react, but I hadn't expected him to go so pale.

Amarantha looked right at me and smiled like an adder. "Don't tell me this is the one and only Feyre Archeron," she said.

My blood ran cold. She was not supposed to know my name.

But I couldn't let her see the fear that was clawing at my insides—if my time in the Night Court had taught me anything, it was how to put up a front. I held my chin high and said, "So my reputation precedes me, then?"

Amarantha actually clapped at that, as if I were nothing more than a trained animal who'd just done a trick for her amusement. The crowd tittered behind me. Good. They'd hold off on killing me if I was more fun for them alive.

"Tamlin, you didn't tell me she was so mouthy. It must have made all your attempts to get her to fall in love with you so much more aggravating," Amarantha purred. Tamlin just sat in stony silence, though even from a distance I could see his jaw tighten. He must have recovered from the shock enough to realize that saying anything would just be giving her the satisfaction. Undeterred, Amarantha continued, "But that does beg the question: if Feyre is alive and well, whose corpse did you leave in Tamlin's garden, Rhysand?"

I followed her gaze over to where Rhys was sauntering through the crowd. By now, I'd thought I'd gotten used to the mating bond, but it took every ounce of self-control I had not to run and fling myself at him. And though I really should have been more concerned with who he might have murdered, all I could think about was how unfair it was for anyone to have that refined perfection of his, even when he looked at me as if I were something unpleasant he'd stepped in.

"She wasn't the only mortal out near the Wall on Calanmai, and humans all look the same. I must have mistaken the other one for her," he said.

A lie, of course. Rhys could never mistake someone else for me. I wasn't sure what he was up to, but if it made everyone else believe he'd kill me without a second thought, then we were both safer for it.

Perhaps this had been the dirty work he'd taken care of after sending me away.

Amarantha's voice went sharp as she said, "You're getting sloppy, Rhysand. Don't."

Rhys inclined his head at her, moving with the fluid grace of someone who'd been raised as courtier. "Apologies, my queen," he said, all polish.

I almost lunged for her right then. The hatred must have shown on my face, but I didn't let it go beyond that. Even if I could have killed her with my bare hands, Rhys deserved to be the one to pry her apart, not me.

Amarantha turned her attention back to me, and I stared back, waiting for her to look away first. She didn't scare me, even if she should have. "And the other question," she said, her voice now dangerously soft, "is what brought you here and why I shouldn't just kill you now."

A test, but one I was fully prepared for. Without hesitation, I said, "I'm here to claim my High Lord."

"Your High Lord?" Amarantha grinned and turned to Tamlin. A fatal mistake. I'd chosen my words carefully, practiced just so she'd wrongly assume instead of asking exactly who my High Lord was. "Oh, this is just marvelous. You actually got a human worm to love you after all. But she's here just a little too late, and isn't that a tragedy? I don't think I could come up with something more deliciously ironic if I tried."

Tamlin just continued to sit in silence, which was probably for the best.

"You tricked him and bound him unfairly," I said, all righteous anger. Never mind the fact that I was also tricking her at that very moment.

"And you think you're going to do something about it?" Amarantha said with a laugh that revealed her too-sharp teeth.

Perhaps it was reckless, but I said, "Yes."

Her laughter died, and she snarled at me like the beast she truly was. "I should kill you just for that, human. But since the curse has ended, I've been desperate for some new amusement. I'll make a bargain with you."

A familiar, sick sort of satisfaction washed over me, the same feeling I got as I watched the loop of a snare tighten around a rabbit's leg. I hadn't even had to suggest a bargain myself—she was walking into my trap all on her own.

"Complete three tasks of my choosing, and he's yours. Three little tasks. How hard could it be?" she crooned.

"If I complete all three of your tasks, you'll return his magic immediately," I said.

Perhaps it was a leap of faith, but if Rhys's power was returned to him, that was all we needed. He wouldn't let her kill me. Maybe it was the mating bond clouding my judgment, but that was the one thing I'd bet on every time. I decided to take the risk of leaving some loopholes open—if I seemed too adept at bargaining, she might suspect something.

Even that was enough for Amarantha to narrow her eyes at me. I was tempted to glance at Rhys for reassurance, but I couldn't give in to that. Instead, I did my best to look poised—not defiant enough that she'd change her mind and snap my spine, but not cowed, either.

"Lest anyone here think I'm anything but a generous queen—and just to see how smart you really are—I'll give you a faster way out. Before the third task is complete, you just have to solve a riddle to return his magic. You can answer at any time, but if you're incorrect, I'll have your dear Tamlin kill you in whatever way strikes my fancy. How does that sound?"

I turned that over in my mind and didn't find any loopholes to close, at least not with the riddle. The tasks, however, were a different story. "Tell me more about the nature of the tasks."

"One each month, at the full moon."

"And in the meantime?"

The words had left my mouth a little too quickly, and I held back a wince. Amarantha's eyes flashed, and I might have pushed too hard.

"You'll remain in your cell," she said pointedly, "or earn your keep doing whatever work I require."

I hesitated, thinking of the work Rhys had to handle that wouldn't leave him clean. She might make me a murderer again.

For Rhys, I'd do it.

It still left too many other ways for her to rig the tasks, so I said, "Running me ragged would put me at a disadvantage."

"Nothing beyond basic housework. Human filth earns its keep in my court. Are we agreed?"

As she waited for my answer, she tapped her nails on the throne impatiently. The hall had gone silent, the entire court seeming to wait with bated breath for my answer. There would be no more negotiating.

And that was fine with me because I'd gotten exactly what I needed from her, a viable path forward to return Rhys's magic. I suppressed a triumphant smile as I said, "We are agreed."

I'd won the first round, and I'd done it in true Night Court style—concealing everything so well that she didn't even know she'd been bested.

I let her sit back on her throne looking like a cat that had just caught a canary. Magic swept through the room. It left a faint trace in the air, the way the smell of lighting lingered after it struck.

To someone behind me, Amarantha said, "Give her a greeting worthy of my hall."

On instinct, I braced myself to take a hit just how Cassian had taught me—jaw clenched so it wouldn't shatter, knees bent, elbows and forearms protecting my liver and spleen. The Attor hissed. Something hard collided with the side of my face. I rolled my torso to minimize the damage, planting my feet so I wouldn't fall. I tracked the movement of leathery wings and dodged the next punch.

I took two more hits before I finally fell. My bones cracked. By then, I was in too much pain to count how many of them were beating me. All I could do was make a feeble attempt to protect soft places—my eyes, my stomach—until I passed out.

I woke in a cell, laying on my side as if someone had placed me there to ensure I didn't choke on my own vomit. My head swam, but I forced myself to my feet anyway, bracing a hand against the stone wall for balance, even as my legs trembled.

Each breath hurt, which probably meant bruised or broken ribs. I swirled my tongue along my teeth and sighed in relief when I confirmed for myself that all of them were intact despite the taste of blood in my mouth. That must have come from my swollen, split lip. The worst of it all was the throbbing pain in my nose, compounded by what were surely two black eyes. I didn't dare touch my face, but I suspected my nose was broken.

I took deep breaths and willed myself to stay calm enough to think clearly. The injuries hurt, but there was nothing that seemed to need immediate attention or threatened my life. That seemed like a deliberate choice on someone's part.

Fine. I would be fine. It was just pain, and I could white-knuckle my way through that, the way I had endured hunger for years.

Just as I felt confident enough to step away from the wall and bear my own weight, the light from the torches beyond the cell door winked out. I wasn't afraid. There was only one person here whose arrival would be heralded by darkness.

As if on cue, Rhysand appeared. It was the first—though certainly not the last—time that I saw my mate looking absolutely furious with me.

[mercurygray]

After the Storm

@latibvles asked: “ after the storm had passed ” for Naera and a character of your choosing !! :)

Pairing: Erryk Cargyll x Original Female Character (Naera, a dragonkeeper) Rating: Mature

Thanks for the prompt, friend! I'm experimenting with a new format for these.

If someone ever asked, she'd say the storm had made them wild.

Outside the Dragonpit the sky was ablaze with lightning, the wind howling at the high windows. But dragons did not care for storms - deep under the Dragonpit they slept, unafraid. And the word came to her chamber - Someone is asking for you, Naera.

He looked almost hopeless, standing there in his muted browns, dripping rain from everywhere. Where is your white cloak, Ser, and your sword and armor? Where are your badges of office? And, perhaps the thing she wanted to know most of all - "Where is your lord?"

"He bid me leave him," Erryk said, shaking a little in the cold. "And for once I did not want to disobey." He swallowed. "My night is my own." And then he said a single word, spoken so clearly she could not mistake it - "Kostilus, Naera." Please.

How could she refuse?

It had been too good, to bring him to her little cell and strip him naked, bid him untie her belt and let her tunic down. It had been many moons, since she'd last taken a lover, and he took to her like a flame, his lips everywhere he could reach while she sat astride him in her narrow cot and called him sweet names like a dragon she meant to coax, ñuha azantys, ñuha rhovio, ñuha perzys, my knight, my thunder, my fire.

(They built strong men, in the Stormlands. He might have been out of practice but she was mostly pleased.)

And in the light of morning, after the storm had passed, they were still here, and the Seven had hardly called down the end of the world. Erryk was still sleeping soundly, his hair loose on her pillow. She'd never quite noticed the color of it before, sandy brown in some places and almost copper in others. Like a dragon's shell.

He turned over a little as she stroked his chest, his eyes still heavy with sleep as his hand met hers and brough it to his lips. "Ñuha perzys. My fire."

So he knew more than a simple please. "When does a Kingsguard find time to learn High Valyrian?"

"Aegon has lessons every week. A man must do something to pass the time."

Naera could have laughed - lessons every week, and his kingsguard speaks better than he. "Where is he, do you think?" When he orders you away, where does he go?

"Flea Bottom. Docks. Mouth of Hell. I'm not sure he cares as long as there's wine and a girl to fuck." It was the first time he'd spoken so openly and disdainfully, and she would have laughed if she'd had the time, but he remembered himself too quickly. "Sorry, I'm -"

"-allowed to say what you like in my bed," Naera said, cutting him off before he finished his apology. "My gods don't judge like yours do."

She knew, then, that she shouldn't have said anything - his face fell. "Yes, my gods do judge - traitors and oathbreakers alike."

The Doom take his Seven and their damned oaths. "You are no traitor, and you've broken no oath."

"I swear to ward the king," Erryk repeated. "I will never flee, nor falter in my duty. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, and father no children."

"I am no wife," she reminded him, gently stroking his hair. "And when I bear children, I will name no father. They will be Naera's only, and none of my people shall mind." She sighed. "Why would they ever ask such a thing of you?" To be so lonely, and live such a life?

"Ask Visenya," Erryk replied, almost irritable. "It was she who wrote the oath, in the Conqueror's day. We swear it still." He took a deep breath and dragged his hand over his eyes. "I suppose I should go find him."

"I could go with," Naera offered. "Four eyes are better than two."

Erryk shook his head. "I don't want him to know about us. The King's house is full of secrets and I don't want any of them knowing mine. He'd hold it like a knife to my throat - or to yours. He already dislikes you," he added, quietly. "Because you stand up to him. Bad things happen to women like that - and to men who take what he wants."

Now that I do believe. "Then we will be silent." She rose from the bed, letting him collect his shirt and tunic while she poured water for him to wash. "When will you come again?" she asked, watching him as he got dressed and prepared to leave.

"When?" Strange how even a simple word could make him laugh, even now. "You're not tired of me and my complaints?"

"The blood of the dragon runs hot," she murmured with a grin. "I need a storm to slake it." She kissed him on the cheek, lingering close. "Go find your prince. And come to me when you can." You have something he wants, she wanted to whisper. Let that comfort you.

Any errors with the Valyrian are entirely my own - grammar isn't my strong suit when learning new languages. You can read more of Naera's story here on tumblr or here on AO3. Comments and tag commentary are read and appreciated!

[renee-writer]

He Didn't Have to Be Chapter 3

AO3

She danced with him and then with me.  I wasn’t much of a dancer, not then, but it didn’t matter. The joy on her face as she held my hand in hers and we twirled around the floor, made my lack of skills, irrelevant.

 

It was a true party, even had cake, like a birthday. Mum and Jamie, holding the knife together, cut into it. They then fed each other pieces of it.

 

“A tradition, eh,” my new Uncle William says, “a bit queer though.”

 

“We get some, right?” I asked him.

 

He laughed and ruffled my hair. “Aye lad, we do.”

 

A whole family is what I have now. Besides Uncle William, I have an Auntie Jenny, an Uncle Ian, many cousins  and, wonder of wonders, grandparents.

 

They are who I will be staying with while mum and Jamie go on something called a honeymoon.

 

“It is a holiday that nearly married people go on, a way to have some alone time.” Mum explained.

 

“I promise, Judah. We will come back and this will be the last holiday we will take without you.” Jamie also told me.

 

I would miss mum and Jamie but was looking forward to the uniqueness of spending time with grandparents, for the first time in my life.

 

She kneels beside me. Instead of her beautiful dress, she knows wears a pair of jeans and a jumper.

 

“Judah, I love you. I will miss you. You will behave for them; I know you are a good boy.”

 

I hugged her. “I am a braw lad, that is what,” a slight pause before I test out my new name for Jamie, “Daddy Jamie says.”

 

Her breath catches and she hugs me close. “Yes, my darling, you are.”

 

Daddy Jamie lifts me into his arms before they leave. He has also changed and is dressed like mum.

 

“I love you. We shall ring you once a day.”

 

My new grandpa comes up. “Jamie lad, the wean will be fine with your mam and I. Dinna fash, “ turning to me, he adds, “won’t we Judah lad?”

 

I remember grinning so big my cheeks hurt. “Yes we will grandpa.”

 

“You heard him,” He takes me from Jamie, “Now away with ye, son. We shall see you in a week.”

 

As excited as I was to spend time with my new grandparents, that first night was still hard. Before then, their was never a night I hadn’t been tucked in by my mum.

 

Grandma took a seat beside my bed. It, she had explained, was the same bed Jamie had slept in when he was my age. She took my hand.

 

“It is hard, eh?”

 

I nod. “I always have her at bedtime.”

 

She nodded. “For the next week, you shall have me. I, wee lad, am an expert tucker. Your new daddy, uncle, and auntie can testify to that,” as she speaks, she moves the warm tartan  blanket, securing me cozy into the bed, “why I tucked them in sae tight that I sometimes had to help them out of a morning.”

 

I am giggling when she is done.

 

“Grandma, may I have a story?”

 

“You shall have better then that. You shall have a tale. One thing us Scots are good at is storytelling,” She took her place back beside me and retakes my hand, “I shall tell you of the tale of the silkie that stole a lass away, straight from the castle.”

 

Grampa took me out to the stables where I helped with the horses. Never been around a horse before, at first I was scared.

 

“Aye, they are big beasts alright but,” He took my hand in his and placed both on the flank ( I now know) of one of the horses, “they are gentle. They  are just like a dog,” I recall giving him a skeptical look, “in that they just want exercise, good food, and loving hands to give them a pat.”

 

He was right. Under his guidance, the massive beasts weren’t so scary. He taught me how to touch them with gentle hands, how to position the food under them, and how to lead them out of the stalls into to the paddock for exercise.

 

“Once you learn how to see to them and they learn you are a trustworthy and gentle lad, then we can start teaching you to ride them.” He told me as the week drew to a close.

 

“But grampa, mum and daddy Jamie will be back in two days then I will go home.”

 

He chuckled.

 

“Judah, you are family now. You will be back here quite often. There is plenty of time to learn.”

 

Family! What a brilliant word.

[shelbeetaylor]

Chapter Fourteen | One Dagger, Two Endings

-> story masterpost

-> previous chapter

Waking was once again a blessing for Cassandra. All she could see that night was the same dream repeating itself over and over as her body was under the influence of Galen’s sleeping draught. That horrid invention kept her trapped in that nightmare, and she would be grateful for the day it would stop. For now, however, she was haunted by the images flashing in her mind as she prepared for the ceremony at midday. 

Cassandra found herself staring absentmindedly out one of her windows, her gaze falling upon the palace courtyard below. It was flooded with people– knights in armor, locals making their delivery rounds, and workers carrying baskets upon baskets of pink flowers. She had nearly forgotten amidst the chaos… the welcoming feast for Evie was to happen that night.

As she watched the workers move about all the decorations, Cassandra wondered if the feast was even going to happen. Of course, it would… if all went well. If it didn’t, well, everyone in the courtyard would have worked towards nothing. The castle would revert to being devoid of color, as had become its constant state in the recent weeks. In fact, there were only two ways that Cassandra's awful nightmares would end. The first would be after Theo and them successfully thwarted the assassins’ plans, and the entire situation would be avoided. The second… Unfortunately, the second would end with a knife in her mother’s heart.

 “Good morning, my lady,” Gena greeted as she entered, pulling Cassandra out of her thoughts. “I trust you slept well?”

“Yes,” Cassandra replied, still staring out of the window. “Unfortunately, I did.”

Gena made a face at the princess as she began making the bed. “Come on, don’t be like that. It’s good that Galen is fixing your sleeping schedule. You were making yourself sick.”

“Genevieve, you will never know what it is like to have my nightmares,” Cassandra said gravely, turning away from the window and towards the maid. “If you did, you would not so quickly side with Galen and his horrid inventions.”

The maid came to almost a full stop, silence plaguing her lips for a moment. “Are they really that horrible?”

Cassandra gave the floor a small smile. “I have seen things no one ever should, and most times I am utterly helpless to stop them.”

“This time will be different,” the maid said. “It has to be.”

“Perhaps it’s not. Perhaps the reign of my mother is truly destined to end today.” Cassandra then looked at Gena with a sick, twisted half-grin. “Perhaps I am to be queen today.”

Gena seemed a bit frightened, yet she stood firm. “I believe in us. I think we can do it.” Cassandra nodded quietly in response, and Gena finished making the bed. “Do you have a black dress in mind for today, or shall I rummage through them myself?”

Cassandra's lips parted at the thought. “Actually, I believe a new color is in order.”

Evie sat at the table in silence as Teddy finished dressing behind his changing screen. She just listened to the rustling coming from behind the screen, tracing the designs in the piece of wood with her fingers.

“Have you had any fighting experience?” Teddy asked.

“No.”

Teddy popped his head around the screen. “None? Ever?”

Evie shook her head.

“Have you ever confronted assassins before?”

“Nope.”

Teddy stepped fully out from the screen and grabbed his scabbard belt to wrap around his waist. “H… have you ever sabotaged a plan… or anything of the like?”

“Not at all.”

Teddy sighed and ran a hand down his face. “I can’t–” Another sigh. “I’m not giving you a weapon if you’ve no fighting experience.”

“I’d rather not have one anyways,” Evie shrugged.

“You know this is dangerous, yes?”

Evie raised her eyebrows. “I figured that out on my own. And besides, you don’t need a weapon to help.”

“It’s quite nice when you do, though.”

“I am perfectly fine doing what I can without a weapon, even if it does end up being just moral support.”

Teddy sheathed his sword and began pocketing a couple extra weapons, like several daggers hidden in several different places. “What are you even doing here anyways?”

“If I’m being honest, I thought this was going to be like my books,” she replied. “A thrilling adventure to tell tales of. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still a part of me that’s excited to be included, but it’s different now. There’s stakes– real ones– and I can’t lose anymore family.”

Teddy opened his mouth as if he were going to speak, but he was interrupted by his chamber door opening. Gena popped around the door, dressed in a new outfit Evie had never seen before. It seemed more battle appropriate, what with the pants and the vest. She even had a scabbard belt, though Evie assumed she was borrowing Cassie’s.

“Civarn and I are ready when you are,” she announced.

Teddy nodded and said, “We’ll meet you in the council room in a few moments.”

Gena bowed her head quickly and retreated behind the door. Evie looked back to the knight, who was doing a quick sweep of his weapons before getting ready to set off. When Teddy was satisfied with the results, he leaned down to Evie's level.

“Are you ready?”

Evie nodded in response.

“Don’t worry,” Teddy told her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You won’t be losing any more family today.”

Evie gave a small smile, then joined Teddy in standing and waltzed towards the door. Just as she crossed the threshold, however, she felt a force push her to the side. She stumbled for a moment, but quickly recovered and looked to see what the cause was. Awkwardly standing over her was a boy who looked like he was attempting to catch her. Her eyes met his, fire and hazel swirling in his irises, and he backed away after realizing she was okay.

“My apologies!” he exclaimed, running a hand through his spiky cinnamon brown hair. “Won’t happen again!”

Evie was so close to saying something, but the boy ran off before she could get a word in.

The knock on Cassandra's door echoed through her chambers. Gena had left not too long ago, dressed in her usual battle attire and carrying Cassandra's sword, so no one was there to answer. Cassandra simply kept adjusting her waves in the mirror and called, “Enter!”

Cassandra continued fidgeting with her hair and moved onto picking out jewelry for the ceremony, but she realized halfway through putting in her necklace that it was still silent. She had heard the door open, a couple footsteps, and the door close, but nothing else. Cassandra turned towards the door to find Enoch Starvale standing awkwardly, waiting for her to acknowledge his presence. Cassandra looked him up and down quickly

“What the fuck do you want?” The question came out as more of a statement.

Enoch quietly gulped, yet kept up his usual charismatic poker face reasonably well, “I was assigned to be your personal guard for the ceremony.”

Cassandra gave a slow nod as her lips pursed. “How convenient.”

The knight continued playing with his charade, this time the strength of it renewed. “Extremely convenient, indeed. I get to spend the whole day alongside a beautiful woman, protecting her.” 

“I don’t need you padding after me like a lost puppy dog,” she replied, returning to her vanity. The remark was too sharp, too hostile to be their usual playful banter.

Enoch carried on, though. He smiled his ridiculous little smile and kept going. “I know. The great Cassandra, never needing a man to make sure she’s okay–”

“I am FINE!” Cassandra snapped, her shouting echoing through the empty room and the bracelet she accidentally threw clattering against the stone floor. “Why does everyone think I’m NOT?”

Enoch’s countenance fell immediately. The silence began to ring, only broken by Cassandra's breathing. Her teeth clenched in rage, she was prepared to show him a horrifying stare of death, but instead her jaw went slack and dropped at the sight of his brandy eyes and the melancholy in them.

Her mouth struggled to form words, and she looked away from him. “I…I apologize. That was out of line.”

“Cass–” Enoch immediately backtracked– “My lady…” Cassandra held out a hand to stop him from advancing, and he obeyed. “You don’t have to keep this up. You can be vulnerable. I’m your friend, just let me be there for you–”

“And what?” Cassandra smiled an awful smile, trying to hide the tears welling in her eyes. “I’m supposed to cry on your shoulder while you stroke my hair, then you give me a kiss after I’ve shown you how broken I really am? Is that what you want?” Enoch’s heart breaking in front of Cassandra wasn’t about to stop the words spilling out of her mouth. “I’m just supposed to show you every part of me so you can get the girl? Is that it? Well, it won’t happen. It’s not going to happen.”

Cassandra regained control of her face, setting it into the stare she intended for him earlier. The knight could only stutter incoherently.

“Leave me, and I’ll call you when I’m ready to leave,” she ordered.

He obeyed, bowing quickly before practically running out the door. Once it shut firmly behind him, Cassandra collapsed onto the vanity bench, her breathing a bit labored. Something rolled down her cheek, and in the mirror she saw a tear escape her eye. She wiped it away immediately, making sure there wasn’t another to follow it, and resumed her final preparations for the ceremony.

Evie and Teddy were the last to arrive in the council room. It was strange to see such a usually busy place completely empty. There wasn’t even a guard in sight. Perfect for them, however. It was nice and secluded and quiet. Fantastic for conspiring, or so Evie had been led to believe by her books.

“The ceremony should be starting soon,”Gena declared.

“Everyone clear on the plan?” Teddy asked. He received nods and verbal responses from everyone. “Great, let’s get into position. Civarn?”

Teddy’s manservant nodded and gave his luck to Gena and Terran before leading Teddy and Evie into the hallways. Teddy had warned her on the way to the council room that she needed to be silent the entire time during this mission. She intended on following all of his orders. This plan was not going to fail because of her, so she didn’t speak a word as they traveled through the maze of hallways. There was only the quiet sounds of Teddy and Civarn’s chainmail rustling and the muffled footsteps of the trio to keep her mind busy.

By the time her sense of direction was completely lost, Civarn slowed to a stop and whispered, “Just up ahead is the staircase that leads to the balcony.” He pointed to the adjacent hallway. “That hall is a straight shot to the main staircase, should you need us in an emergency.”

Teddy clapped him on the back and in the same hushed voice said, “Look at that. Not completely useless after all.”

Civarn gave his master a little smile and replied, “I’ll see you in a little while.”

“See you then.” 

The walk to the great hall was a silent one, but Cassandra just focused on the clicking of her heels rather than the lack of conversation. Enoch hid his feelings well, keeping a solemn, straight face and his eyes focused on the path ahead. She did the same, except hers manifested in one of her usual terrifying stares that warded off interaction with other people. Cassandra was so focused on appearing unbothered that she didn’t prepare for what would happen when they turned the corner. 

Waiting outside the doors to the great hall was Cassandra's mother, looking a tad irritated. Cassandra sighed through her nose before continuing on to meet her mother. She kept listening to her heels against the stone floor until she saw her mother’s eyes widen a bit.

“Hello, mothe–” 

“What,” her mother seethed, “are you wearing.”

Cassandra couldn’t help but look down at her dress. She was suddenly aware of every part of the white fabric touching her body. Even the gold detailing began to feel like needles piercing her skin. Cassandra pursed her lips as her dress began to suffocate her.

“Would you rather I have come in trousers?”

“I would rather you follow our traditions and remain in mourning.”

“Well, I’m not mourning anymore,” Cassandra replied.

Her mother opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the sudden appearance of the Valoran king. “My apologies for taking so long Ginevra.”

Her mother’s face shifted in a split second from horrifyingly angry to completely calm. “No worries, Guillame.”

The king nodded, then turned to Cassandra. “You look wonderful today, princess.”

Cassandra smiled a half-genuine smile– the other half was taking pride in the fact that Guillame’s comment made her mother’s eye twitch slightly– and replied, “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“Shall we begin?” her mother asked rather quickly. She didn’t bother waiting for an answer from either of them as she nodded to the guards. The muffled sound of horns came from behind the grand doors, and Cassandra felt the knight’s arm reluctantly loop through hers before the door swung open.

Time seemed to slow down as Cassandra caught a glimpse inside the hall. Like a sea parted in a far off legend, the council and local nobles stood awaiting the arrival of the princess and the rulers. Familiar faces stood, staring at her and Enoch with dispassionate expressions. Cassandra struggled to level her breath as she saw rays of sunlight falling onto the floor, displaying the patterns of the window panes on the wood floor. Before the knight and the princess was what felt like the longest walk of her life which led up to the fated podium where the Nevernian-Valoran Treaty lay. 

As per the traditions of having an escort, Enoch was the one who initiated the walk. Cassandra followed his lead, concentrating more on keeping her face serene and stoic. It was so quiet in that giant room it took years for the sound of her heels to echo back to her. With every step, Cassandra's throat closed up more and more, her dress growing tighter and tighter, and her legs growing shakier and shakier. She caught Enoch glancing over at her, and he lightly squeezed her arm. Maybe he sensed her feelings, or maybe she wasn’t hiding it well. By the time Cassandra and Enoch reached the podium, Cassandra was forcing herself not to throw up as her heartbeat rose to her throat.

They turned at the base of the podium and moved to the left. Not too far behind them was the queen and the king. The crowd of people bowed their heads to the two rulers who gracefully floated across the floor. Cassandra took in a deep, audible breath watching her mother, and she felt another light pressure on her arm. Cassandra didn’t acknowledge the knight a second time, instead glancing up to the balcony at the back of the room. There was no ominous black mass, nor a mysterious figure looming over the crowd. It was empty. 

Cassandra's mother and King Guillame stopped before the podium and turned to face the crowd of people. The queen began addressing the crowd, “We welcome you all to this momentous occasion. It is truly an honor to share this day with those we trust. As most of you are well aware, the plans for my daughter and King Guillame’s son to marry were shattered by the untimely death of Prince Henri.” Cassandra clenched her jaw a bit. “While we mourn his death and keep his memory in our hearts, we have faith that this treaty will honor the merge we wished to forge with our heirs’ union.” 

Gena tried to quiet her breathing as much as possible. Her heart was pounding so loudly in her head she thought her eardrums would burst soon. What Cassandra had said that morning unsettled her, but she was not about to let that interfere with the mission.

Terran was next to her in this hiding spot of theirs. Unlike Civarn, the physician’s apprentice wore his usual shirt, scarf, and jacket rather than any sort of battle attire. Granted, he was being trained to heal rather than to fight, but after all the adventures they’d been on even Gena had acquired some pieces more fit for defending the kingdom than her normal dresses. He was barely even armed, just carrying a small dagger. She’d barely seen him wield the thing in all her years of knowing him. Again, she could attribute it to his studying to be a physician, but still… She just wasn’t quite sure how much help he’d be in a fight. Gena would much rather be the backup. Gods above, she wished Cassandra could’ve fought with them.

Terran was unnaturally silent. It shouldn’t have been right, but being undetectable was a certain skill of his. Gena tried copying everything he did in hopes that she could even semi-emulate his hiding abilities. She was not about to be spotted and end up the reason the plan failed. 

Two sets of footsteps echoed down the barren hall. 

Gena and Terran glanced at each other, and that was all the communication they needed. Both of them shifted ever so slightly so the incomers were within view. Gena initially made eye contact with Civarn, who hid across the hall for a more hidden escape. They held stares for a few seconds longer as the footsteps grew nearer. Gena's breath hitched, and two figures passed by and blocked her view of Civarn. They moved and looked like shadowy ghosts in the night, sans the audible footsteps– though their canter sounded almost exactly like the guards’. 

Gena felt two taps on her arm, and she turned to see Terran still following the movements of the figures. That must’ve been his sign to warn Civarn. Gena popped her head back around to find Civarn wasn’t there. She let out a quiet exhale and returned to her hiding spot, hoping that Civarn would get there in time to warn Theo.

Evie heard the faintest footsteps a split second before Civarn appeared.

“They’re here,” he said, barely getting the words out before Teddy turned to the stairs and unsheathed his sword.

Cassandra's mother had been droning on about the little specific details in the treaty. Each territory change. Each law amendment. Each promise. It was getting exhausting to listen to, but it seemed that she was the only one struggling to focus.

“...and finally, the Forest of Raya shall be given over completely to Valoran,” the queen declared.

A small applause came from the crowd, and Cassandra feigned her best smile and clap. She could feel Enoch’s eyes glance her over at the lack of sound from her hands. She didn’t have the energy to muster up a wordless answer. She just wanted this to be over with.

King Guillame stepped forward as the short applause began dying down. He cleared his throat and began to announce, “There is one final, vital part of the treaty. One that with the signing of this document shall permanently bond the kingdoms of Nevernia and Valoran forever.”

It took so much energy to prevent each of her muscles from twisting her face into one of confusion. This was a bit grand for some territory and law agreements, wasn’t it?

“With my kingdom out of heirs and no way to produce more, Queen Ginevra and I decided it best to honor the union that never was. As of now, Crown Princess Cassandra Ravenwell of Nevernia is hereby the sole heir to the Valoran throne and Nevernia shall acquire all Valoran land upon my passing.”

Cassandra's jaw dropped. A thunderous applause echoed in the great hall. Her body went numb. The court was full of smiles. She was to inherit two kingdoms. She never wanted to throw up more in her life than she did in that moment.

Enoch gently put a hand on her shoulder to bring her back to reality. He must’ve seen her face, and him reading her face meant that the entire court could see her thoughts. Cassandra forced herself to take a breath, and steadied her features. She had to retain some semblance of dignity. 

Gods, the rest of them better take care of the assassins.

Evie chased Teddy up the small, dark staircase, Civarn following closely behind. Teddy moved so fast in his heavy chainmail, faster than Evie thought possible, but she did her best to keep up with him, skipping as many steps as she could without tripping herself. When the staircase suddenly got bright again, Teddy ducked out of sight above her, and immediately the sound of clanging echoed down the staircase. Evie sprinted as fast as she could up the last few sets of stairs.

When the wall opened up to a bright light, Evie squinted for a moment, the view of Teddy blocking low and high strikes from a black-clothed figure coming into focus as her eyes adjusted to the light. The figure– one of the assassins, it must’ve been– struck again in the middle, but Teddy held his blow for a moment with his sword before pushing back against the man. 

Below the fight was the entire Nevernian court, unaware of the battle going on above them as they proceeded with the treaty signing. Even Cassie was focused solely on the speeches being given by Auntie Ginny and the King of Valoran, her face full of confusion and a hint of something else that Evie couldn’t quite figure out.

The male assassin feigned a high attack, instead opting for a strike at the torso– but Teddy was not fooled. He easily blocked the assassin's swing, holding him there in an attempt to off-balance him the way he tried with Cassie a couple days ago. The assassin, however, pushed off Teddy before he had the chance to attempt any unbalancing tricks and began delivering blow after blow for Teddy to block.

Teddy attempted to strike back, lunging forward aggressively, but it was easily sidestepped and parried by the assassin. Teddy’s sword slid so far his crossguard almost collided with the assassin’s blade, and he began to fall into the assassin. The man shoved Teddy off with his bare hands, throwing the knight into the wall before ordering the other figure behind him in another language.

Evie didn’t even realize there was someone else on the balcony, she was so focused on staying out of the way of Teddy and the man. Civarn nor her had the chance to help out as the balcony was too small to sneak past the battle without being impaled.

Teddy blocked a low strike, then dealt a succession of his own– low, high, high, low– as fast as he could.

Evie watched the other figure raise her arm, a blade glinting in her hand.

Teddy shouted as he pushed the man backwards again, letting out a resounding, “No!”

Cassandra heard Theo’s shout echo across the great hall from the balcony. Everyone stopped and looked to the source– even her mother paused in the middle of her sentence to figure out what was going on.

On the balcony there were just shadows, figures backlit by another massive window of the great hall. Three figures were up there– no misshapen blob of darkness to be found. One shadow must’ve been Theo because two of them were fighting while the other– 

The final shadow raised an arm, a sparkle shining in the sunlight.

It was happening.

It all was coming true.

The dagger soared through the air, spinning gracefully as a leaf would on an autumn day or a petal in the midst of spring.

Cassandra outstretched her arm, shrieking just as Theo did moments ago, not really knowing if her reaching would have an effect on the flying weapon.

Cassandra's chest and arm grew warm with energy for a split second.

The dagger continued on, striking the floor and skittering across the wooden boards as it missed its mark. Her mother’s eyes widen at the sight, King Guillame and several knights and guards drawing their swords in preparation to fend off another attempt on the queen’s life.

Then there was a loud cracking echoing around the hall. Cassandra's gaze shifted slowly from the still dagger on the floor to the window before her. Splintering cracks spread quickly throughout the great window, the glass’s reflection on the floor distorting on the floor as the damage infected the whole window.

And the glass masterpiece shattered, caving inwards with a horrible screech.

-> next chapter

[rin-bellatrix]

Golden

"You got that look in your eyes, eyes. I can tell you had bad dreams last night. Let me take you in my arms, you can cry, cry. Let me love you 'til you feel alright." - Sia

Rhys and Fiona are faced with the "and there was only one bed" trope, but they're both mature enough to get through this like respectable adults. Rhys plays it cool, lying in bed next to his crush, and falls asleep with her by his side. Everything is fine, until it isn't.

Written for Rhyiona Week 2023 with the prompt "dream/fortune"

Header gif by utopianoverlord 💜

Yellow strobe divider from this post. Yellow star divider from this post. Yellow gradient divider from this post. Yellow heart divider from this post. Yellow reblog and feedback divider from this post.

⚠️ warnings ⚠️: brief description of main character death (don't worry, happy ending guaranteed 😉), as well as some scenes of violence and mentions of slight gore.

Enjoy! 💫

"Don't make it weird, Rhys," said the half clothed vault hunter.

Rhys was trying really hard to not make it weird, but how could he help himself when Fiona appeared at the bedroom door, the light from the hallway shining in from behind her as she flicked the switch for the bedroom lights, plunging the room into dark shadows. Her vault hunting suit and gear were gone, and she looked impossibly gentle and vulnerable in her large t-shirt and bare legs. No hat, of course, and her face was clear of any make-up. She looked... Soft. Which he knew she wasn't, not even in the slightest - but it didn't stop his heart from beating faster.

Strange how she wore less than him, yet he was the one to feel so under-dressed in his t-shirt and pajama bottoms. He was about to share a bed with one of his closest friends and secretly his biggest crush, and he somehow felt that maybe his galaxy themed pants and plain white shirt (with the right sleeve removed) was less than impressive. Though honestly, he'd bet his favorite pair of socks that the slightly older woman couldn't possibly care less about his bedtime attire.

Fiona, the hardened con woman and Pandora native. Fiona, the woman who told a man wielding a knife to her throat that his facial hair was truly depressing. Fiona, who had stood up to a wall of monitors and faced Handsome Jack himself and never so much as batted an eye at his threats. Fiona, who had raced him to the vault, stepped side by side with him inside, and smiled up at him while agreeing that they made a good team. Fiona, fearless vault hunter and a cool badass all around, hesitated in the doorway as she smoothed a hand down her baggy shirt.

She looked unsure and that was something Rhys could never abide by. He pushed himself up to his elbows, ready to leave if she even hinted at it. "I could still go sleep on the couch if that would-"

She waved his words off, scoffing lightly as she finally approached the bed. "I already told you that I was fine sharing the bed with you... As bougie as that couch is, it's designer, so it's more decorative than functional, and therefore not meant to be slept in. Truth be told, I don't wanna hear you whining about your back tomorrow morning."

Her silhouette outlined by the light behind her came closer as she reached for the edge of the covers. She peeled back the corner of the comforter and slid into bed beside him.

'Act cool Rhys, act cool,' he thought as he forced himself to lie down flat on his back and stare at the darkened ceiling. He politely folded his hands over his stomach, doing his best to keep from fidgeting. He hoped she couldn't feel the heat from the blush burning his cheeks. 'Yep, cool as a cucumber.'

A fluffy pillow was placed purposefully beside his left arm, and he looked over to Fiona's side to see her adjusting the pillow she was placing between them.

"This is in case you might feel inclined to wander over to my side during the night. This should keep you in your place and from getting too close."

He raised a brow and then idly wondered if she could even see it in the semi-darkness of the bedroom. "A barricade? Really?"

The Pandoran narrowed her eyes at him, or at least he thought she did. This low light was really hindering reading facial expressions right now. "You forget that I know what you're like when you're sleeping. You might be the president of Atlas, but you're also the president of drool city. Unlike you, I like to stay nice and dry while I sleep."

The president of drool city rolled his eyes, suddenly feeling less nervous about this bed sharing scenario. "Okay, sure. Whatever you say, president of snoring town. You should hear yourself- snork MIMIMIMIMI-"

"At least I don't have to wake up in the middle of the night to rehydrate. How many pillows do you go through a week, Rhys? How does it feel to wake up to a sopping wet pillow-"

"Ooooh, don't get me started! You know, the first time I heard you snore, I thought a hungry baby ratch had somehow gotten into the caravan-"

"Rhys. I will take this pillow and smother you with it if you don't shut up."

"...And on that note, good night." He turned onto his side, back facing the woman in his bed. Their bed? Whatever.

From behind him, he heard Fiona's sigh and the rustle of the sheets as she settled in for the night. After a long quiet moment where the only sound between them was their breathing, a soft "Good night," from her side of the bed made the young CEO smile despite himself.

"Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs drown in your drool tonight."

Rhys' grin grew at the sound of the smile in her voice. Nothing like engaging in a pointless argument to break the nervous tension between them. "Don't worry, your snoring will scare them away."

A moment passed before a pillow gently thwapped against the side of his head, followed by the sound of exaggerated rustling from the other side of the bed. Fiona tugged on their shared comforter as she tried to get comfortable and he playfully tugged back.

"Quit it," she admonished, her voice wavering with the effort of suppressing her laughter.

"You first," he countered, his glee evident even though he ultimately relented his grip on the covers.

She huffed from somewhere behind him and purposefully shoved the barricade pillow closer against his back, before rolling herself up in more than her fair share of sheets.

Rhys couldn't be happier, and that night he fell asleep with a smile on his face.

The next morning he sat at the marble island in the modern kitchen, sipping on some coffee as he scrolled through his morning news feed. The coffee was ridiculously sweet, just as he preferred, and he couldn't wait for Fiona to wake up so they could start their day together.

He threw together a quick breakfast by cutting open a fresh bagel and slathering some creamed cheese and fruit preserves on both halves. He procrastinated on taking his dishes to the sink, so the empty plate speckled with crumbs and a smear of fruit spread sat next to the serrated knife by his overly sweetened drink.

Reaching for his mug with his mechanical hand, he glanced away from his ECHO device and over to his hand, as it wasn't functioning properly. Instead of reaching for his mug, his hand just sort of froze in place. Tilting his head in concern, Rhys tried flexing his fingers and after a moment, the cybernetic limb did exactly that.

'Hm, maybe a wiring or connection problem. I'll have to check it out before we leave,' he thought, looking over his silver arm and wondering over this peculiar issue.

Purposefully reaching out towards his drink, he felt slight relief as his mechanical arm flexed and stretched out to do exactly what he intended. His metal digits curled around the handle of the cup and lifted it to his mouth. Except that halfway up to his face, his arm froze again.

"Okay, I see that I need to tend to you now," he groused out loud, frowning in consternation at his robotic arm. His ECHO device was set off to the side, and he reached over to try and extract his mug from his immovable grasp. But trying to pry the metal fingers off of the porcelain handle was proving to be impossible.

After a few moments of struggling to free his cup, Rhys withdrew and sat staring down at his right hand with a mixture of deep concern and irritation. At this rate, he'd probably have to wake Fiona up and get her assistance - an extra pair of hands would really help, or at least he hoped so.

Sighing, he moved to slide off the bar stool when his hand suddenly opened and dropped his mug, the cup rolling across the counter top with coffee spilling across the gleaming white surface.

"Shit!" he cried out, thankful that his coffee was almost gone and more warm than hot as it splattered on his clothes.

He moved to jump out of his seat, or he would have, but his mechanical hand was gripping the edge of the counter, keeping him in place. He realized this and tried to remain calm. His cybernetics were malfunctioning and acting in strange ways he didn't permit, which was very, very dangerous. Focusing on trying to unfurl his grasp, Rhys frowned as frustration grew when his hand did not release the counter top.

He had to remove his right arm to preform a maintenance check on it, but he would need Fiona's help to get it off. It could be dangerous, but the sooner his arm was detached, the sooner he could fix the problem. He turned to face the hallway that lead down to the bedroom, parting his lips to call her name.

"Hey there cupcake..."

Stone cold shock froze Rhys in place, dread freezing the air in his lungs. Every muscle was primed to run, to get as far away as he could.

"You really thought it was gonna be that easy...?"

But there was no escaping the voice in his head.

"You tried so hard to get rid of me. But you forgot something very crucial, sweetness. I'm Handsome motherfucking Jack. And you," Rhys' metal grip released the edge of the counter, flying over to meet his other hand, pinning one of his human fingers back until something soft and delicate snapped. The pain was explosive, making Rhys cry out agony. "You're my special little meat puppet. And I'm gonna have so much fun with you."

"Please-" but Jack used Rhys' right hand to bend back another finger on his left, the fragile bone breaking easily under the mechanical pressure. The pain was just as bad the second time around, and Rhys doubled over, hunched over the cool marble before him as the pain flared and nausea roiled in his gut.

"What should I do to you first, hm? How about we start off by taking that little knife there and forcing you to skin your own dick. When we're all done, I think I'll have you cut out your own heart. See, you gotta start by breaking the ribs, then severing each major artery... When I make you pull it out of your chest, it's still gonna be pumping blood. How sick is that?"

"Rhys...?"

Everything in Rhys stilled, including Jack.

'NOnononono, please- please!'

"Hey, you alright? I thought I heard you shout, can't a girl get some rest around here...?"

"Oh Rhysie..."

The vault hunter's voice was soft and her pace unhurried as she padded over to him. She noticed the spilled coffee across the marble, the puddle leaking off the edge closest to him. "Hey, did you burn yourself?" Her words carried more urgency then before, and she reached out to put a hand on his shoulder. "Rhys, I sleep in a bit and somehow you manage to get into trouble, what am I gonna do with you?"

She hurried over to the sink, running the tap before returning to his side with a cold, damp rag. "Here, let me see where you burned yourself. You know I'm never gonna let you live this down, right? Unbelievable," she groused, but there was no heat in her words, only a teasing lilt to cover the underlying concern. "Rhys, come on, sit up, I can't see anything with you curled over like this."

Rhys opened his mouth to tell her to run, to get away, that Jack was here - but what came out were not his words. "Yeah... Got a real bad burn, sorry! Guess I wasn't paying attention."

His body sat upright, his metal hand covering the broken fingers on his left in such a way that it looked casual. He felt his mouth stretch into a forced smile and he hated it, it felt so superficial - it felt like a mask.

'Please don't hurt her- I'll- Look. Listen Jack, okay? I'll do whatever you want, just leave Fiona alone. Please, please don't hurt her, please, I'll do anything, really, I mean it, please-'

"...Rhys?" Fiona was watching him with curious eyes, sensing something was off, but writing it off as pain from a burn. She glanced over him and noticed flecks of coffee over his clothes and his hands folded on his lap, but nowhere could she see where he was injured. "Where did you get burned? I don't see..."

"Remember when I sat, begging you for my life on my knees? And you stood there, staring down at me like I was nothing?"

"Rhys? Hey-"

Rhys continued to smile even as tears raced down his face. 'Fiona...'

"And I promised you that I would make you suffer for daring to betray me. Well I keep my promises, pumpkin."

"Rhys, if it hurts this bad, let me call an ambulance-"

"Poor, sweet Fiona... She'll never see it coming."

Rhys lifted his mechanical hand up to Fiona's worried face, brushing her messy hair back with a feather-light touch. She was still searching his face with worry pinching her brow, because he was still smiling even with tears streaming from his eyes.

"Fiona... This is for Rhys."

The vault hunter had a moment of pure confusion before her throat was seized by the grip of the cybernetic hand. Her eyes flew open as she grabbed at the metal wrist. Jack let Rhys have his face and voice back, and Rhys immediately told her, "There's a knife by my ECHO - use it!"

Her hand immediately scrambled across the counter, but of course Jack wouldn't let her succeed. Using the grip he had on her neck, he threw her down to the tiled floor, puppeting Rhys' body to straddle her struggling one, pinning her down with his weight. He readjusted his grip as she flailed beneath Rhys, trying to buck him off as she struggled to breathe.

"Fiona, hurt me! Do what you can to get me off, don't let him win! Fight me, please!" he cried desperately, watching through his tears as she writhed helpless underneath him.

Jack's laughter rang in the back of his mind as Fiona tried to find a weakness in his arm, anything she could use to disengage Rhys' robotic limb. But her struggles were weakening as Jack squeezed harder, cutting off her air supply.

"Jack please! Anything, I'll do anything!"

"There's only one thing I want you to do, Rhys."

Fiona's eyes were losing focus and her grip on his arm was weakening, her hands falling slack and dropping off.

"I want you to suffer."

With the last of her strength, she mouthed Rhys' name and he could almost hear the final rasp of her voice over his sobbing.

"Rhys... Rhys...?"

Rhys' eyes snapped open and he looked around wildly. He found Fiona leaning close to him, concern on her features and he immediately scuttled away, the need to put distance between them was instinctive and paramount.

He scurried away from her in such a rush that his hand slipped off of an edge and he went tumbling down the side. He hit the floor and the spike of pain that followed helped clear his thoughts as he scrambled back against the curtains of the floor to ceiling windows. With his heart pounding and sweat slick on his body, he glanced around and took in the messy bed and dark room, and Fiona coming around the corner of the bed to watch him with worried eyes.

It was a dream? No, she looked exactly like that when Jack...

Jack.

Rhys looked down at his mechanical arm and quickly went through the process of separating it from his body. When his metal arm disconnected from its main drive, he unhooked it and tossed it away, watching it tumble across the carpet and further into the darkened room. He shuddered, slinging his tattooed arm over his chest and clutching his now empty right shoulder.

Curling into himself and trying to banish the nightmare from his mind (Fiona's terrified face, her frantic grip-), Rhys concentrated on this reality, trying to ground himself to the truth.

The feel of the soft carpet beneath his bare feet, the silky fabric of the curtain that fell around him like a cloak, and the glass window cold at his back through the sleek material.

He felt Fiona settle down on the floor across from him, and he looked up to see her lean back against the side of the bed, her right leg outstretched towards him. She watched him carefully but said nothing, her jade eyes so arresting in the near-dark. Gradually, he relaxed his posture enough to allow himself to straighten out his legs, his right leg taking place alongside hers.

She nudged his calf with her bare foot gently. "Bad dreams?"

After a moment, he nodded, silent. His features taut with the memory of his unconscious visions. The Pandoran regarded him carefully, before sighing softly to break the silence.

"When...I was a little girl, I used to be afraid of rabbits."

The words seemed to come from out of nowhere, and it took the company man a moment to understand what exactly she was saying. He looked up at her in consideration, his arm still slung over his chest as if to console himself.

Fiona continued on.

"Yeah, can you believe it? I saw them as just, so monstrous when I was a kid. They were so fast, fast enough to catch you if you tried to run. And long ears, so they could hear you coming from a mile away. But the worst of all were their teeth - especially these up front." She pointed to her own mouth before she brought her other leg up to hug it, keeping her right leg stationed next to his. "Those teeth could bite through anything, bones and all. I used to..."

Here she scoffed, a look of embarrassed disbelief crossing her features as she looked down and away from his eyes. "I used to think that one day, I would have to protect Sasha from a rabbit - or, God forbid, rabbits - because she was so small. I was small too but she was just this little thing, couldn't even talk yet. Well, not real words anyway, just you know, baby sounds. Anyway. She was this little nugget," Fiona smiled here, lost in the distant memory of when her only sibling was still infantile. "And I thought that a rabbit was just about her size. It could eat her up in just a few bites. One, two, and she'd be gone. I told myself that I'd never let that happen to her, no matter how scared I was of rabbits. I made a vow and everything, even wrote it on some paper or something. Signed my name, or tried to anyway. Probably just a scribbled mess."

The Pandoran waved it away, bringing herself back to the present as she lifted her eyes and met his. "I had nightmares about them for years, even after Sasha was old enough to start conning on her own. But do you wanna know what the funny thing is?"

Rhys nodded, silent, his features no longer set in despair, but not quite himself just yet.

Fiona grinned, her cheeks heating up in embarrassment. "The last of the rabbits died out about a full decade before I was even born. So... There are no rabbits on Pandora. Not any more."

The corner of his mouth kicked up in the beginnings of an incredulous smile, and Fiona snickered at how ridiculous she used to be. She ran a hand through her bedhead, realized how messy it must look, and proceeded to try and smooth it down somewhat. She glanced up at Rhys to catch him watching her with a tender expression, a soft smile on his face.

Fiona was not good at dealing with emotions - her own and especially not anyone else's. But Rhys was her friend, maybe even her best friend... Maybe even more if she let herself examine just how much he meant to her. So as she watched him, taking in the sweat drying on his pale skin and his wavy hair in disarray, she felt her heart break for him and foolishly wished she could take his pain as her own. Instead, all she could do for now was console him as best she could.

"Do you...wanna talk about it?"

He glanced off to the side, avoiding her gaze and remaining non-verbal, and so she took that to mean no. Eventually he dragged his eyes back over to her, before bypassing her and zeroing in on his artificial limb.

"Can you-" His voice was rough, so he cleared his throat and tried again. "Can you get my arm for me?"

She pushed herself up and walked over to his mechanical arm, bending down to pick it up. She was a bit surprised at how heavy it was, then remembered struggling to boost Rhys up and a stray comment from him about his arm contributing to his weight. She stood and made it back to him, lowering herself down by his side. She offered his arm to him when he made no move to take it.

"Turn it over, to the other side."

She figured he was trying to teach her how to reattach his arm, probably because he would have a hard time doing it with one hand. (She didn't ask why he removed it so violently in the first place.) So she turned it over like he suggested, until he told her to stop. His arm sat in her lap, the open connector on his shoulder joint facing up. She could see prongs and recesses, areas where his main body could easily slot into. She never understood his cybernetic enhancements but he seemed happy with them, so she never questioned how it all worked.

"There's a concealed button just under the rim of the shoulder joint, can you see it?"

Fiona peered over the silvery finish of his arm, checking closely around the rim like he said. She found a rectangular piece that was small enough to be easily overlooked. "This?" She pointed at it with a turquoise tipped nail.

"Yeah, remember where that is. Now turn the upper half of the arm again, so the top is facing up."

She twisted the heavy metal in her lap until his arm bent at the elbow and his upper arm was vertical. His lifeless robotic hand was now splayed over her bare thigh, palm cool against her skin, and she was trying very hard to Not Think About It.

"Beneath the largest metal plate, there's a small depression hidden underneath that you should be able to slide your fingers into. Try it."

The vault hunter did as instructed, feeling carefully along the edge of the largest plate, before trying to fit her fingers underneath its edge. After a moment where nothing was giving, she was finally able to press her fingertips inside a set of indentations that seemed like they were meant for fingertips to occupy.

"What do you feel?"

"It's this sort of slot? Like a slot for each individual finger."

"Okay, good. Now keep your fingers in there and press the button you found earlier."

Reaching around with her other hand, Fiona pressed the button and felt very briefly a shift against her fingers. She tilted her head as Rhys said, "Now press and hold the button."

She did as instructed and this time the shift against her fingers held, but she didn't understand the importance to any of this. "Okay, what now? What is the point to all this?"

"I wanted you to know how to take my arm off in case... In case you ever need it. For, whatever reason."

She frowned in confusion as he reached out and took ahold of his cybernetic arm, slotting it against his open connector and quite easily securing his arm back into his shoulder socket.

He held his arm out towards her again. "Try to disarm me."

Fiona wanted to ask questions, but the tight look in his eyes had returned. So she reached around where metal met flesh and found the concealed button on the underside of his arm. She slipped her fingers underneath the plate, pressed and held the button, and gently pulled. The full weight of his mechanical arm disconnected and sat in her hands, once again separate from his body.

Rhys let out a deep sigh, some relief seeming to ease the tension in his face and body. "Good. Good... We'll have to practice some more, to see how fast you can remove it. Just in case."

"Hey, this is interesting and all, but do you think that maybe we can save that for later? It's like four in the morning right now. And you might run on overly sweet coffee but that's not quite the same for me."

"Oh, yeah, uhm-" he blinked rapidly, seeming to come back from wherever his thoughts had taken him. "You're right, you're right, it is pretty late... I'm- I'm sorry..."

"Hey..." Fiona reached out, taking his clammy left hand into her own and giving him a reassuring squeeze. "Nothing to apologize for. But we should get some more rest while we can."

She smiled softly at him, and the gentle expression over her features made him want to reach up and touch her in reverence. But as his mechanical hand neared her face, he flinched, and quickly lowered his hand, withdrawing the other one from her hold. It struck the Pandoran as odd, but she could glean enough from his reactions to have an idea of what his nightmare had included. Deciding that she'd have to be the one to take action, she pushed herself up and offered a hand down to help him up.

He hesitated for a long moment, before gingerly taking her hand in his robotic one. He quickly righted himself and his grip was gone from hers faster than a quick shot, and she tried not to let it affect her feelings.

He reached over and once again detached his right arm, striding across the room to settle it on top of the mostly cluttered desk. Its muted metallic gleam sat above various papers and diagrams, the sleek shape of it acting as an overly expensive paperweight. He turned back to face her, his expression slightly sheepish as he said, "I'll leave it here for a bit, just in case..."

Fiona didn't want to prod him when he was still obviously skittish, so she simply inclined her head and shifted to face the mattress. She began righting the sheets, fluffing the pillows before setting everything back in its place. Without looking back at him, she crawled in under the covers and nestled down on her side of the bed. She stretched and let out an exaggerated yawn as a way to dispel the awkward vibes coming from Rhys.

After a moment, he joined her, slipping under the covers and laying on back, his body stiff with a tension he couldn't shake. Sighing, the vault hunter rolled over onto her back, reaching over the pillow the separated her from her bedfellow, her searching fingers coming into contact with his tattooed forearm. She heard him hold his breath in suspense, but as her seeking touch trailed down his arm, he hesitantly allowed his arm to turn towards her skimming fingertips. She reached the back of his hand, the ridges of his knuckles prominent against the curious touch of her fingers. She shifted her hand and slipped her palm against his, slotting her fingers in the spaces between his own. Instinctively, he clutched at her, holding her hand securely with his.

"Don't you ever mention this to anyone," she spoke into the dark, and though it was a threat of sorts, its severity was lost in the gentle swip of her thumb over the back of his hand.

"Mhmm," he hummed, a tender smile stretching across his face.

"I mean it, Rhys."

"Yeah, I know." He closed his eyes and let himself concentrate on the way her hand fit into his perfectly. He heard her light scoff, and he squeezed her firmly in his grip. She responded by squeezing back.

Rhys allowed himself to push away the remnants of his nightmare, wanting to fully indulge in the comfort Fiona was willing to provide (even if she would deny it in the daylight hours). She kept a snug hold on his hand throughout the night, and her touch was his anchor as sleep eventually took over him again.

When his subconscious shifted and he dreamed again, all he could recall was Fiona's grip on his hand leading him somewhere safe.

©rin-bellatrix 2023

☆ borderlands masterlist ⋆ main masterlist ☆

[violetrainbow412-blog]

Horror movies [A.C]

Adrian Chase x reader

Word count: 1.6k

A/N: I've been writing this for like a week and it's not even that good, it was just something I came up with the other night. I hope you like it. (It is not corrected at all, an apology if you see a mistake)

You sighed, giving perhaps the thousandth turn on the mattress in the room. Once a week, you and the team would get together at Leota's house to watch a movie. It had become a kind of tradition and you always stayed there because it had enough rooms for all of you and also because it had a huge television. Sometimes you slept in the living room and other times in a room (like now) but it was still great to share time with your friends. Although now you hated a little to have accepted.

It turns out that, to avoid arguments, each week a member of the team chose which movie you would see. You always chose musicals, Chris chose action movies, Economos chose westerns, Leota and Keeya romantic comedies and your sweet Adrian chose cartoons (more than once you had to watch anything from Shrek to princess stories), and when Emilia chose it was always genres unpredictable. And that day, he put on the most horrible horror movie you've ever seen in your fucking life.

That is to say, during the missions you saw blood and deaths in enormous quantities, but for some reason that movie with the monster that stalked the houses and lived under the beds had made a special impact on you. You were insensitive but you were still completely scared.

So you had tried to sleep to get rid of those thoughts, but you were scared to think that at any moment claws would come out and caress your feet. In addition, it was raining outside and as if that were not enough, it also made you want to go to the bathroom at that precise moment. The bathroom wasn't far, but you knew the dark path would seem forever tonight.

Your bare feet touched the icy wood and a shiver ran through you. You knew that in those horror movies they never turned on the lights and it was a fatal mistake, but you couldn't help but do it anyway because you knew that if someone woke up because of you, you would have problems.

Your bedroom door creaked as you stepped out into the hallway and tried to breathe as normally as possible, telling yourself that nothing in that movie was real and no one could attack you. Although of course, it was one thing to say it and another thing to believe it. Still, you took a couple of steps, looking at the door that would lead you to the bathroom, and sighed when you were almost there, feeling suddenly safe from almost touching the handle. Well, that is until you felt you collide with something, almost letting out a terrified scream when it pointed a sharp knife right at your neck.

“Y/N?” you listened, a voice quite familiar to you.

“Adrian! What the hell?" you screamed. You felt the knife move away from your skin and when your eyes adjusted you could see that he was wearing an old shirt and boxy print pants, all in shades of blue like the ones in his Vigilante outfit.

“Oh my God…you scared me”

"I scared you?! You're the one who almost stabbed me!"

"Because I thought you were that horrible fucking monster!" he claimed you. Maybe if you hadn't been so scared, you would have teased him "I just wanted to go to the bathroom"

“So am I” you snorted. You weren't very proud of how you felt, but at least you were calm that you weren't the only one. Although well, come to think of it Adrian had always been a fucking nut and you didn't think how good it was that you shared those feelings.

You were silent for a few seconds and then he spoke in a whisper again.

“Do you want to go in first? I can take care of the door and then you can take care of me, okay?” he asked nicely. You nodded and followed his suggestion, feeling less scared as you heard him urinate and leaned against the door. You knew it was complete stupidity to be terrified, but you couldn't help it.

“Fuck” you hissed when he opened the door and you almost fell against his chest.

"Sorry," he laughed. He seemed in a better mood and thanks to the dim lighting in the bathroom you could see his disheveled hair and his beautiful little narrowed eyes. He was so cute, it wasn't the first time you thought about it.

"Are you scared about the movie?" you asked. Adrian smiled slightly embarrassed.

"Something like that," he replied. You still felt unprotected in the hallway and took a short step to enter the bathroom with him. Seeing that you didn't say anything, he continued, "Well, I'm actually scared as shit, to be honest."

“I know, I fucking hate horror movies. I'd rather watch your cartoons."

"Hey!" he groaned, with a small smile, making you smile too "I can assume that you're scared too?"

"No" you lied. But your tone of voice was obvious and you knew it when he raised an eyebrow at you “Anyway, we have to go to sleep now. It's late,” you exclaimed, walking back out into the hallway for him to join you. When you were forced to turn off the light in the bathroom you felt unprotected again "Rest, Ady"

“You too” you heard him say. You walked a little towards your room and he walked in the opposite direction, but almost as if you had read his mind, you turned at the same time.

"I don't want to sleep alone" he spoke first.

"Neither do I"

"And what do you suggest?"

"We can sleep together" you exclaimed, as he walked back towards you "I'd feel less bad if I had company"

"Do you want to sleep with me?"

“I don't want to sleep with you, I don't want to sleep alone. It's different” you clarified, with a mocking tone. He seemed to think about it for a second and the room fell silent, except for the sound of rain. Then he took a couple of steps forward and grabbed your hand, taking you by surprise, as he pulled you into the room. Once there he flopped down against the bed, grabbing most of the blanket Leota had left "Oh no!" you screeched, reaching over to try and take it off. "Get yours."

“You can share. Don't be mean to me."

"It's my blanket"

"If you don't share, I can go, and then neither of us can sleep, how about that?" he asked, watching you from below. You took a deep breath, trying to calm down, and then slid into the free space of the bed, grumbling a little at the invasion you were experiencing. Although the truth, it was better than fearing a monster that didn’t exist.

You felt how part of the blanket-covered you and suddenly you got nervous. You hadn't realized that Adrian was inches from you and that you were about to sleep together. Damn, you were going to sleep with Adrian, that idiot who drove you crazy but also gave you butterflies in your stomach every time he smiled.

“I wonder if ghosts and monsters have an unwritten rule not to attack people covered by a blanket. You know, let this act as some kind of barrier."

"Shut up and go to sleep, Adrian" you laughed. You weren't serious, he knew, but still, he didn't want to ramble on about it. You were on your back and suddenly you felt his body moving closer, his back bumping into yours.

The rain was still pouring down outside and the sound wasn't too unpleasant, but as your eyes were closing you heard thunder crashing in the sky and you jumped in place, taking the first thing you came across with your hand. Interestingly, that was Adrian's hand.

"Damn!" he yelled, also a bit startled "Stupid fucking filthy rain!"

"It’s okay" you laughed. You still hadn't let go of his hand and it was a nice feeling. Apparently he felt the same, because he still had his back to him and slid his hand a little further until he held you properly.

And you decided to take advantage of that opportunity because… hell, if not then when would you do it then?

You turned a little and wrapped your arm around his delicate waist, making him tense, while your head rested on the upper part of his back.

"Hey, are you trying to seduce me or something?" you heard him ask and as you rolled your eyes you tried to pull your hand away, but he held you firmly. Before you could reply, he turned around and came face to face with you.

“Don't try anything”

"I just want to see you," he laughed. Suddenly you felt his arm wrapping around your waist, in the same way, to hold you tenderly "Sleep peacefully, I'm going to protect you"

“You were the one who came here because you were scared”

“Well, now I'm not anymore, okay? Shut up and go to sleep,” he snorted, closing his eyes and settling back on the pillow. The space between you was warm and suddenly you had forgotten why he was there in the first place. You weren't so afraid now thanks to his arm pressed against your body and the feel of his breath so close to yours. Without being able to help it, you stretched a little until you reached his nose and left a soft kiss before speaking.

"Rest, my hero"

He didn't open his eyes, but you saw an obvious smile forming on his lips.

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[bumbleklee]

when you’re sick

masterlist | 1k prompt masterlist | discord server | kofi

★ gonna work on the rest of the requests tomorrow but im sick as a dog </3

★ ft diluc, kaeya, childe and zhongli

★ cw: sickness, mentions of puking, sneezing, the whole ordeal + you're pregnant in kaeya's lol

diluc

when you're sick, diluc doesn't want to leave you alone

he's afraid you'll get a 106 degree fever and pass out or get up but be too weak and fall down somewhere

but he had a business to run and, really, you just had a cold

after convincing diluc that you would be fine for a few hours, he reluctantly left with promises to bring you home soup

After Diluc left for the day, you aimlessly wandered around the winery. You eventually curled up in the armchair that Diluc usually inhabited and pulled your legs into your chest. You had forgotten how annoying common colds were.

Your throat felt like it was on fire and anytime you sniffled, your chest heaved along with it. Not to mention the aching headache and constant back and forth between being too hot or too cold. You leaned your head against the couch and only came back to reality when you heard the front door open and close.

"I'm back," Diluc called out softly. You heard a bag rustling and alerted Diluc of your presence in the living room, your voice hoarse and raspy. He poked his head around the corner, "Feeling any better?"

"Not really," You groaned. Diluc walked over to you and leaned down for a kiss but you dodged his lips. "I don't want you getting sick!"

You swore Diluc pouted. "But we sleep in the same bed," He said quietly. You shook your head firmly. "Fine, fine. I brought you soup."

Diluc placed the soup on the coffee table and squeezed himself next to you on the armchair. You wanted to make another comment about keeping him healthy but decided against it, needing nothing more than the feeling of your husband right now.

kaeya

(reader is written as female but can be afab)

when you became pregnant, the elders in town said you were going to love pregnancy but right now, you hated it

your body was getting used to so many changes and it didn't know how to react

when you weren't overcome with fatigue, you were throwing up and when you weren't throwing up, you were in pain

It was early in the morning when you bolted up from bed to let out the contents from last night's dinner into the toilet. After throwing up, you sat back and wiped your mouth. You had read so many pregnancy books the last few weeks and many of them said sickness like this would stop once you entered your second trimester but you were already halfway through and you were still miserable.

After rinsing your mouth, you shakily stood up and climbed back into bed with your husband. He rolled onto his side and tucked a blanket back under your chin.

"We're never having another baby," You grumbled, curling into Kaeya's chest to try and alleviate the tension in your pelvis.

Kaeya laughed quietly but had a frown on his face, "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," You sighed, "My body just doesn't like being pregnant, I guess."

Being five months along meant your baby was growing rapidly. Besides being constantly sick, your body was beginning to physically change and, Archons, it hurt. Your pelvis felt like it was being split in half sometimes and your back was already aching.

"I'm worried about you," Kaeya whispered, brushing a lock of sweaty hair off your forehead. You made a noise of acknowledgment and closed your eyes, hearing Kaeya's heart against your ear. "Do you want to see if Barbara can help tomorrow?"

"We'll see how I'm feeling," You said, exhaustion rolling over your body. Kaeya nodded and pressed a quick kiss to your temple. "I love you."

"I love you too," Kaeya said, "It'll all be over soon and we'll have a little baby to forget about the pain."

childe

you should have prepared yourself better for a month-long trip to snezhnaya

instead, you packed poorly and forgot half of the layers you were supposed to bring

so it really wasn't a surprise when you were bedridden with pneumonia a week into the trip

Childe knew something was wrong when you started complaining about difficulty breathing. You tried to stifle your coughs and blamed your shivers on the coldness but Childe knew better.

When you coughed up blood, he instantly knew something was very wrong and hired a healer to come by and check you out.

You were diagnosed with pneumonia and were immediately put on bedrest and given some medication. Childe stayed by your side the entire time and even though you tried to convince him to go and spend time with his siblings, he wouldn't.

When you slept at night, Childe stayed awake to hold your hand and when you were awake during the day, Childe napped next to you. When you had horrible coughing fits, throwing up mucus and blood onto your lap, Childe rubbed your back and cleaned you up.

Until you got better, Childe would be there.

zhongli

when you began to have stomach aches, you played it off as a little bug you caught

but zhongli knew you better than that, knew your body better, and when you collapsed on the kitchen floor into a fetal position, he had no doubts something was severely wrong

within minutes, you were in baizhu's infirmary with a kidney infection

"How are you feeling?" Zhongli asked quietly as he stepped behind the curtain and sat down on the edge of your bed. Your complexion was so pale, so lifeless, and it really scared him. 

“Like someone is twisting a knife around my gut,” You groaned. Baizhu had given you pain killers but they were hardly helping. You seriously thought that if you moved an inch, you would throw up everywhere. 

Zhongli rubbed your knee comfortingly and smiled sympathetically at you. “Let me know if you need anything,” He said. “Do you want me to stay or go?”

“Stay,” You muttered, “Please, stay.” 

“Of course, Darling.” Zhongli moved so he was beside you, his back against the headboard. You moved your head onto his lap, groaning for a moment, before closing your eyes. Zhongli’s hands tangled in your hair and soon a fevered slumber began to take over. “I love you...”

“I love you, too. You’re going to be just fine,” 

[bcdwhcre]

OMG!! Ok so reader joins the elite squad (post-annie titan), and Levi asks Eren or Mikasa to wake them up, but everyone REFUSES to because reader is worse than Levi in the morning. Ok so Levi goes in to wake her up himself, and at first he thinks she looks peaceful, but when he goes to shake her she grabs his wrist and forces herself on top of him in the bed and then shes like UHHH SORRY CAPTIAN

“Wake Up Call,” Levi x Reader

Summary: everyone being scared to wake you up in the morning so Levi is left to do it.

Warnings: none

.

.

.

It had been going on for weeks, your friends would constantly bicker and make fun of the way you were grumpy in the morning.

You’ll admit that you’re not a morning person but you weren’t all that bad, you just assumed they were being dramatic and were looking for reasons to push your buttons.

But as time went by, Levi forcing different people to wake you up in the early morning for training turned into a complete circus.

First it was Eren, he walked in your small room and watched you sleep on the bed. You looked peaceful and he assumed it was be pretty easy to just shake you awake and make you get ready for the day but he was wrong.

When his hand went down to place on your arm and gently shake you while calling your name, you were quick to activate defensive mode and grab his arm before twisting it.

“Hey, Y/N!” Eren shouted, making your eyes go wide and instantly let go of his arm.

“I’m so sorry.” You quickly said, soon a small laugh had started to leave your lips at the look of terror on his face.

After that Jean had came to wake you up but you had given him the finger and rolled over to sleep again but he wasn’t going to take no for an answer, especially since Levi would curse at him for not being successful with dragging you out of bed.

So he continue to shake you, even got on your bed to jump on it before you grabbed his feet and yanked him so he fell on his back.

“Ouch! Jesus Christ, is it that hard to get up?” He complained, yanking the blankets off your body and left your room with them, leaving you too cold to sleep.

Soon after that it was a cycle that was never ending until your friends had refused to wake you up in the morning. They rather deal with Levi’s temper than to deal with your morning attitude.

But Levi wasn’t going to back down and let you have a peaceful sleep, you needed to learn how to get up in the morning to train like the others.

It made him insanely frustrated to bicker with his scouts about who is going to wake you up next and the fact he lost and has to walk in your room to wake you up, he was going to make sure it didn’t turn out pretty.

You were obviously a great scout and a great person to work with, that’s what he thinks at least but the way you loved your sleep more than your job and would do anything for a nap, it irritated him and he tried for months, even a year to snap you out of this phase but it never worked.

He grunted under his breath, walking inside your dark room as you slept peacefully on your bed. He furrowed his eyebrows as he walked over to the window and pushed open the curtains, letting some light come through.

“Y/N.” He simply said, glancing over at you and of course you were still passed out on the bed.

The side of your face was squished against the pillow, lips parted slightly and soft breaths leaving your lips while the blankets were tucked securely around you as you laid there curled up like a baby.

He’ll admit you look cute and peaceful but you needed to get up, he can’t just leave you here while everyone else trained.

“Great.” He mumbled to himself, moving his feet towards your bed as the boots on his feet clicked against the wooden floors.

He was growing impatient with you, it was like he was taking care of a child and he hated that. He stood in front of your bed, his hand moving down to rest on your back and somewhat shake you awake.

He didn’t want to be harsh but he was also annoyed that you were still sleeping through all of this, he hated to be kept waiting and you have everyone including him waiting for you- you always did when there was early morning training.

He continued to shake you, getting a little more rough once he noticed you weren’t budging. Were you dead? He couldn’t believe someone could sleep like this, be such a heavy sleeper and manage to sleep like a baby.

Levi sighed, grabbing the blankets and pulling them off you. He yanked the pillow from underneath your head and dropped it down on your head with a bit of force but careful enough to not completely hurt you.

Soon he reached down to shake you again, this time you went into defensive mode again. Your hand grabbed his arm and pulled him down on the bed, flipping yourself to go on top of him and used the small knife you hid by your bed to press against his throat.

Once your eyes had adjusted, you met eyes with Levi. He was stunned, his eyes wide and yours grew wide too. Soon your face was completely red and flustered when you noticed the position you were in.

“Oh my god, I’m sorry Captain.” You were quick to get off of him and hide the small knife behind your back as you watched him get up.

He stared at you, eyebrows raised in amusement. He now understood why everyone was so scared to wake you up in the morning. He didn’t know you had all that in you and was impressed that even half asleep, you can somehow manage to defend yourself if necessary.

As he looked over your current state, you face flustered and red- he couldn’t help but chuckle and fix his jacket before returning back to his usual cold stare.

“Do that again and you’ll be running laps, get ready and meet us outside.” He said plainly, trying to hide the small chuckles that wanted to leave his mouth as he walked towards your door.

“Right, sorry again.” You said, cursing under your breath to yourself at how much of an idiot you can be and he heard it.

His head turned to look at you, he rolled his eyes and stood in the doorway as you continued to mumble small curse words under your breath until he cleared his throat to get your attention.

“What was that?” He asked, he was entertained by the small show you had given and he was edging to tease you even more about the events that had just happened.

“Nothing! I’ll be out there in a minute.” You scrambled around your room to grab your uniform and as you were about to take off your pajamas, you noticed Levi still standing there and met eyes with him.

“Is there anything else, Captain?”

“Oh, right.” He nodded, turning to leave the room but had stood there just for a moment, the small smirk hidden from your view.

“If you wanted me in a position like that, all you had to do was ask.” He said playfully, making your cheeks turn a darker shade than it was before, soon he had left your room and left you to get ready for training.

But you were too busy overthinking it and thinking about how you managed to tackle your own Captain down and practically sit on top of him with a knife pressed against his throat. You were terrified of the training he would put you through today just by doing that to him.

Deep inside your mind, though, you somewhat enjoyed the little show and so did Levi.

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.

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Pretty short but I thought it was a good length.

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[lokigonnakmsforbucky]

Blood Lust

Chapter 7

   Days had passed since we arrived at the safe house, and I couldn't tell where exactly we were. Except that wherever we were was in the middle of absolute nowhere. The only thing as far as I could see was trees. 

It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't fear what was next. 

Peggy and Steve haven't contacted us since they left us here, I fear something may have happened to them. I'm afraid that Hydra may have taken them. I just have to keep my hope more potent than fear, I have to hope they are okay. They found my father, they have found Tony and Wanda. I hope they have, No... I have to believe that they got them safe. 

What made the days here even worse was that Bucky was not speaking a word to me, no matter the ways I try to speak to him. Try to get his attention, it was worthless. It was quiet throughout the house for days. Bucky barely slept the past few days, and when he did he would sleep on the floor beside the bed. He wouldn't sleep peacefully... whenever I was around I could hear him shuffling around and whispering words such as, "No" and "Stop". Over and over, like in the dream, he was reliving a nightmare over and over. 

When I heard him struggling all I wanted to do was to help. Wake him up, tell him everything is alright, and comfort him. But, I already know what would happen if I even tried. He would simply shrug me off or tell me everything is alright and I need to go rest and leave him alone. 

Bucky also has hardly eaten any while we have been here, which has made me worry. Yes, he has eaten bread and even has made me food here and there, but he hasn't eaten what he eats... well, drinks. He hasn't drank any blood ever since we were still at his home, that has worried me the most ever since I have no idea what happens to a vampire if they haven't eaten anything in days. Yes, I am assuming food may sustain his hunger but what is gonna happen if he can't hold it together any longer. Would he run off? Would he attack me when I cannot defend myself?

No. I cannot think like that, Bucky wouldn't hurt me. He hasn't even been acting like he was needing any blood. But, what happens if he breaks. I am the closest blood source here... 

I get up from my chair and walk into the kitchen, opening the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water. I cannot think like this, Bucky won't hurt me. He said he wouldn't. 

I heard a door open and a low groan. Bucky finally woke up, he was fully dressed with his leather jacket, blue jeans, and a white t-shirt under the jacket. The only thing that wasn't fixed was his long hair. His hair was usually pulled back but today it was down and frizzled. 

"Good Morning," I say with a small smile, hoping for Bucky to just talk one word. Or at least give me some reaction, even a small reaction would suffice.

"Morning." His scruffy voice feels the room, the first time I would actually hear his voice without it being him asleep or me just imagining it in my mind. I can actually admit that I missed hearing his voice. 

Bucky, went to the door and slipped his combat boots on, and walked back into the kitchen to grab a kitchen knife, "Uh... Bucky why are you grabbing a knife?"

He looked at me and back at the knife before putting it in the belt that he was wearing, "I am going out for a little while. I need to hunt before I tear myself apart for not hunting earlier. The knife allows me to not bite it. Because that's disgusting and I hate feeling like... like a monster." Bucky's face changed from emotionless to a disturbed and sad face. "I will be back in an hour. Just keep the windows covered and the doors locked, and do not go outside no matter what. I will tell you it's me when I get back."

"Wait. So, you hardly speak to me in days, and now your just gonna leave?" I blurted out before thinking, I was frustrated. I have all the right to be. If you were gonna tell me last week that in a week from now I would be married off to a vampire, James Buchanan Barnes to be exact, AND was in the middle of a war. I would tell you that you are out of your dammed mind but here I am. "Look, I understand you need to eat but can you please just talk to me? I just want to know that I am not alone here, okay?  But, yeah I won't go near windows or open the door unless I know it's you. If I do this, will you promise to just try to talk to me?"

Bucky kept his focus on me, his breaths were loud and fast. Like he was impatient, but he nodded his head "Yeah... I promise. Just don't do anything until I get back." After that one sentence, Bucky walked out the door. 

At least I got my point across to him, hopefully later tonight everything here may be a little easier. 

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Bucky's POV

My head is pounding... nothing like before. I can feel everything, I can feel my whole body tense up when I am around her, I could feel my heart beating out of my chest so much it hurts. I hear her breathing, her footsteps all throughout the house. I knew everything would go downhill as soon as we got in this house. I had the bright idea of not drinking any blood on the day when we got "married". 

I also was just dumb enough to not have any blood bags in the refrigerator here.

I thought I could withstand being in that house with her... stay away from her until Steve or Peggy showed. I thought I could have fought the urge to drink her blood if I could. But, I couldn't stand being there any longer. I can't show her I am a monster. So, I did the most logical thing I could have thought of, I left to go hunt for food. 

Of course, I wasn't too far away from her, I could run back anytime or if she yelled. 

I walked the woods slowly, scanning every tree and the ground for anything that remotely looked like tracks. 

I would be happy with anything. Deer, Squirrel, rabbit, anything that could quench my thirst. 

I walked towards a stream when I finally see two deer taking a drink. I slowly approach the deer, drawing the kitchen knife out. I should have brought my actual knife for this but this would be fine. 

The deer didn't see me, not yet. 

I through my knife at the deer, and the knife lodged itself in its chest. Killing it instantly, I walk towards the decreased deer and kneel down. "I am sorry... I just need to eat." I took my knife out and brought my mouth towards the wound and slowly started to suck all the blood I could. 

Instantly I could feel my head begin to clear, my ears no longer ringing and my breathing normal.  

I just hated feeling like a monster after.  

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Your POV

Bucky finally came back after two hours, he came back looking less sickly and better alive. I was washing the dishes and he looked at me. He smiled his usual smile the only difference was there was a red spot near the corner of his mouth. 

"Uh... I think you got blood on the corner of your mouth." I pointed at the spot for Bucky and he wiped it off. 

I don't think I would ever get used to that. The blood. 

"Yeah....um, I am really sorry for the past few days. I wasn't feeling good and I didn't want to hurt you in any way."  Bucky spoke and sat in the chair beside the sink. The chair I placed so when I wanted a break from cooking I would sit there and think back on how life was before all of this happened. 

"It's okay, I should have figured it out that you got hungry. I just didn't know that it would affect you this much. I thought eating regular food would help. " I replied back to Bucky turning the sink off and facing him. He looks at me and takes his jacket off, "Eating regular food does but it just doesn't help much." 

So, eating food does help his cravings. That's good to know for next time. If there would be a next time at least. 

"Bucky can I ask you something and you won't get mad?" He gives me a shrug, "You know you can ask me anything."

I take a deep breath, "It's about your nightmares... What happened to you? What did they do to you?" Bucky looks at me and back at his arm. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I just want to understand." I take a step away to go to the room, but before I could walk past Bucky I could feel a gentle grasp on my arm.

"You deserve to know... You deserve to know why I am the Winter Soldier."

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