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storytellerofuntoldlegends · 3 years

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an icarus and his sun: chapter 3

A/N: seablings headcanon? seablings headcanon. (i adore jimmy and lizzie's dynamic, they're siblings ur honor. and joel makes a pretty great in-law tbh)

Warnings: arguing, flirting, teasing/banter

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Katherine was extremely serious about the “no weapons” thing. Not a single tool was allowed, not even shovels or hoes. She had everyone place their weapons and tools in specifically marked chests, assuring each of them that they could get them back after the meeting, and that her iron golems would protect them from any threats if they were to arise. Besides, the chests were just at the entrance of her castle, visible from the meeting table. They could easily rush to their weapons if need be. It didn’t mean anyone was less jumpy about it, though. And Jimmy was particularly antsy- Fwhip was practically glowering at the table, and while Sausage looked outwardly cheerful, there was an edge to every word he spoke. Jimmy couldn’t fight the paranoia that one or both of them had snuck weapons to the meeting, and was just waiting for the right moment to strike.

And then there was Scott. There wasn’t anything outwardly shifty about the winged elf, but… there was definitely… something. Jimmy wasn’t sure what it was, but he couldn’t keep his eyes off Scott. He was perfectly poised, as always, every hair in place and wings mantled. There was something elegant and serene about Scott as he listened to Katherine speak with a gentle smile. His gaze was focused on her, and Jimmy tried to search those icy blue eyes for any hint of malice. He found nothing but kindness, and that was what worried him. Surely Scott should be up to something… right? He had seemed so hostile the other day, but then they both apologized to each other… maybe he had nothing to worry about. But then there was that strange, soft yet calculating look he had given Jimmy, like he could finally start seeing the complete picture a puzzle would make. Was that something bad?

Jimmy’s thoughts were interrupted by Scott’s eyes suddenly meeting his, one eyebrow raised. Jimmy tried his best not to jump as he quickly looked away, focusing on Katherine. He could still feel Scott’s eyes on him, and absurdly, Jimmy felt like he was melting. Figures that Scott would have secret laser eyes or something. He wouldn’t even need a weapon, that was his plan all along. Surely that’s why Jimmy felt like he was going to implode, he definitely wasn’t embarrassed. Definitely. Thankfully, Scott’s eyes shifted away as Katherine spoke again.

“Now, there is one very important thing I wanted to discuss at this meeting. I don’t know if any of you have heard, but there are some new empires rising up. I think we should do our best to welcome the new rulers,” Katherine said. For the first time in the whole meeting, Fwhip looked interested. Somehow that scared Jimmy more than when he was grumpy and despondent.

“What would you suggest?” Fwhip asked, voice smooth and suspiciously charming. Jimmy didn’t like his tone one bit, but Katherine seemed to fall for it, beaming at Fwhip’s sudden interest.

“I would like to hold the first ever House Blossom Ball. All rulers will be invited, and it will be held in honor of the two new empires in our lands,” she explained.

“Oh that sounds wonderful!” Gem exclaimed, and excited murmurs of agreement circled through the room. But Jimmy felt uneasy. He did like the idea of a ball, dancing and dressing up fancy with friends sounded fun! But Fwhip’s excitement didn’t sit quite right with him, and there was the other issue of the two new empires. How did they know they could really trust them? Establishing a good relationship was important, yes, but was inviting them in so openly the best idea? Jimmy had tried being so open before, but look where that got him. A war over a disc, and a ravine on the outskirts of his empire. And now whatever was happening between him and Scott. Then suddenly, as if just thinking of him prompted him to speak, Scott brought up one of the very things that Jimmy was worried about.

“What do we know about these empires? Do you think we can trust them?” he asked. The excited murmurs stopped, something uneasy settling in the air instead. Katherine faltered for a moment, but kept her head high.

“The House Blossom Ball will hold the same rule as our meetings now do: no weapons. So unwarranted attacks will not be an issue. And not a lot is known about the other empires… they are just starting out, after all. One of them is in the jungle, and his empire can only be found if you are lost. The other empire seems to have sprouted up from nowhere, but its ruler has come a long way to settle here. In a way, both are lost. As the ten ruling powers in this land, I think it is our duty to welcome them so that they won’t have to be lost anymore,” Katherine said firmly.

“Poetic,” Fwhip said, voice a little overly saccharine for Jimmy’s liking. Katherine seemed a little put off by his tone as well, but didn’t comment on it. A determined frown came to Jimmy’s face. His skepticism be damned, he was going to support Katherine. He turned to her and smiled, reaching out to gently clasp Katherine’s hand, not unlike how she had after the last meeting.

“I agree with you, Katherine. Let’s help them be found,” Jimmy said softly, giving her hand a light squeeze before letting go. Katherine smiled at the touch, seeming grateful that Jimmy backed her up.

“Can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with Jimmy,” Scott said dryly. Jimmy looked to Scott in surprise, expecting more of a fight, some clever retort or thought-out reason for why the ball couldn’t happen.

“Thank you, Scott,” Jimmy said, unable to keep a small smile off of his face. Scott’s nose scrunched up in irritation- and yup, there was the Scott he knew. Always looking at Jimmy with disdain or irritation.

“I was more supporting Katherine here than anything else,” Scott pointed out with a huff.

“But you specifically mentioned me…” Jimmy trailed off with a teasing grin. Scott’s cheeks tinted pink, just ever so slightly- but he still glared at Jimmy in frustration.

“Shut up,” he muttered. Jimmy grinned wider.

“Make me,” he teased, parroting Scott’s words from the last meeting. Sausage gasped, excitedly tapping Pearl’s arm as she shushed him and muttered something about how we had talked about this, Sausage.

“Well… we definitely have two supporters of the ball, any other thoughts?” Katherine asked, not-so-subtly changing the subject.

“I am absolutely in support, it sounds fun!” Gem replied, elbowing Fwhip. He jumped, and nodded in agreement.

“If Scott and Jimmy are going to be there, I definitely want to see what goes down,” Sausage chimed in with a grin. Scott and Jimmy both made an offended sound, but Pearl spoke up before either of them could say anything.

“And it’s a good diplomatic foot forward with the two new empires, Sausage. I think the ball is a lovely idea, Katherine,” Pearl said, offering an apologetic smile to both Scott and Jimmy for Sausage’s comment.

“I’m in too! I’d love a chance to dress all fancy and dance with Joel,” Lizzie added, linking arms with Joel and gazing up at him with a charming smile. Joel blushed a bit, and nodded his agreement as well.

“Well, since it seems like everyone else is going to this dance, guess I’d better show up too,” Pixl said with a nonchalant shrug and a grin. Katherine clapped her hands in excitement.

“Oh wonderful! I think I’ll cut this meeting short then, I have a lot of preparations to take care of, and I will send out the invitations soon!” Katherine said, rising from the table. The other rulers followed her lead, each of them bidding her goodbye before they went to their respective chests to retrieve their weapons and tools.

“I look forward to the ball, Katherine. I’m sure it’ll be a blast,” Fwhip said with a bow of his head and a cocky grin. Katherine beamed in response.

“Thank you! I’m glad to see you’re excited!” she replied, bowing her head to Fwhip as well. Jimmy still wasn’t sure how he felt about Fwhip’s sudden interest at the meeting… but then again Fwhip was only really Jimmy’s enemy. He and Katherine were on good terms, after all. He should trust Katherine’s judgement, even if he didn’t like Fwhip. He did, however, wait until Fwhip left to walk up to Katherine and bid her goodbye.

“See you later, Katherine! I’m excited for the ball, I’m sure with you in charge it will go great!” he said with a grin. Katherine laughed, blushing slightly.

“Aw, thanks Jimmy! And who knows, maybe the ball will not only forge new alliances with the new empires, but will strengthen or fix the bonds of the current ones,” Katherine said, glancing pointedly at Scott, whose back was to them as he looked over his weapons, before she looked back at Jimmy. She smiled not-so-innocently, and Jimmy’s face flushed in embarrassment.

“I- well, I dunno about that. But… maybe. Today’s meeting didn’t go too bad, right?” Jimmy asked with a hopeful smile. Katherine giggled.

“Right! You guys are really turning a corner here, I can feel it!” she chirped. Jimmy laughed, shaking his head.

“Whatever you say, Katherine. I’ll be off now,” Jimmy said, bowing his head.

“Bye!” Katherine replied, bowing her head too and offering a little wave as Jimmy left. He waved back, and was still smiling to himself as he met Joel and Lizzie outside. The two of them had their elytra on, and there was a smug grin on Lizzie’s face that Jimmy didn’t like one bit.

“What’s that smile for?” Jimmy asked with a laugh as he equipped his elytra.

“Oh, I was just thinking about how you couldn’t contribute anything to the first half of the meeting because you were making eyes at a certain elf,” Lizzie said with a teasing lilt.

“I wasn’t ‘making eyes,’ I was making sure that he wasn’t up to anything!” Jimmy spluttered.

“Sure you were,” Lizzie crooned, taking off before Jimmy got a chance to respond. Joel sighed, smiling sympathetically at him before following after Lizzie. Jimmy took off too, the conversation far from over, in his opinion.

Jimmy wasn’t quite fast enough to keep up with Lizzie, but she and Joel waited for him on the dock outside of his house. The three of them had often hung out and chatted on the dock, long before Joel and Lizzie had gotten married or even began courting. Their empires had been much smaller then, but the bond between the three of them hadn’t changed. Which was why Jimmy was (affectionately) furious with Lizzie for implying something about himself and Scott. He sat down beside her, feet dangling over the water.

“Explain yourself, right now,” Jimmy huffed, trying to put on an angry act but couldn’t really keep it up with Lizzie. She smiled far too innocently at him, and okay. Maybe he could manage a frustrated expression pointed at her.

“I mean, she’s got a point. Plus I heard about that uh- scuffle, you two had,” Joel said, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he leaned forward to look past Lizzie at Jimmy.

“Ooh yeah, Katherine did tell us about that. You’d better watch out for those land boys, Jimmy. They’re trouble,” Lizzie said with a mock-concerned tone, but her playful grin gave her away. Joel shifted to look at Lizzie with an offended noise.

“Babe, I’m right here,” he said, near pouting.

“I know what I said. You’re trouble, King of Mezalea,” Lizzie teased.

“Like you’re any better, Ocean Queen,” Joel replied with a laugh. Lizzie giggled, playfully swatting at Joel's arm.

"You may be right, but this is about Jimmy’s troublesome land boy," Lizzie pointed out as she turned back to Jimmy.

"He's not my land boy!" he protested, face heating up slightly.

"Aww, that blush says otherwise!" Lizzie teased.

“He could be your land boy if you weren’t so busy trying to kill each other,” Joel chimed in.

“That’s exactly why he’s never gonna be ‘mine,’ he hates me, and I hate him! There’s nothing else going on!” Jimmy protested.

“Are you sure you two hate each other? You seemed pretty friendly at the meeting today,” Joel pointed out, voice a bit more gentle than the teasing tone it had been before. Jimmy sighed.

“That’s only cause Katherine insisted on us apologizing to each other when we uh. Fought. We’re only playing nice for Katherine’s sake,” Jimmy said sheepishly.

“Uh huh. Or you’re playing nice because you think Scott is pretty,” Lizzie teased, elbowing Jimmy playfully.

“I don’t think he’s pretty! I- I mean objectively he looks nice I guess but it’s more irritating than anything! How can a guy be so perfectly poised and elegant all the time, it’s annoying!” Jimmy spluttered. Joel and Lizzie exchanged amused, bewildered looks before looking back at Jimmy.

“Wow, you really do have it bad for him, huh,” Joel commented with a disbelieving laugh. Jimmy made an offended sound, opening his mouth to retort but was halted by Lizzie patting his arm comfortingly.

“It’s okay Jimmy, I’m sure Scott will come around and see what a sweet swamp boy you are,” she crooned, Jimmy flushing at the childhood nickname Lizzie always used for him.

“You two are impossible, nothing’s going to happen between us! And I’d prefer it that way!” Jimmy shot back with a frown.

“Methinks the cod boy protests too much,” Joel said dryly.

“I’m the Codfather, thank you very much,” Jimmy huffed.

“Hey, maybe if things work out really well, you’ll be a Codhusband,” Lizzie replied with a sly grin. Jimmy buried his face in his hands, trying to hide how bright red he was.

“Stop iiiit,” he whined. Lizzie only laughed, but threw an arm around his shoulders to give a small hug in apology. Joel reached around Lizzie to pat Jimmy’s back, and despite the teasing he had endured from them, Jimmy felt pleasantly warm and comforted all the same. Although to be fair, Joel and Lizzie always playfully teased him. But it would often end like this, the three of them nestled close together on the edge of the dock, watching the sun set over the water.

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violetwolfraven · 3 years

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Write Out Some Colors

@the-gay-trashmouth this is a gift for the newsies filmiversary exchange! You asked for newsbians getting together in any au and I decided to do it in my superpowers/rebellion au!

@newsiesgiftexchange one gift down, one to go!

Ngl I’m super excited to flesh out my take on Sarah’s personality here!

Tw: non-graphic injuries, mentioned abusive parents, war-like elements.

...

Sarah had thought she’d seen it all. A 15-year-old who could pull weapons out of nowhere, a 13-year-old who could see the future, even her own twin revealing out of nowhere that no, her own powers hadn’t been misfiring, he did have powers too and could talk to animals and had never told her.

All three of the kids in their family had powers, which made them illegal, which meant they were on the run with a handful of other kids with powers, whom they’d met through a boy Davey met in jail.

Strangely, that situation had worked out okay, as it turned out Jack Kelly was pretty good at keeping a gang of a couple dozen kids safe, and he didn’t have a problem with adding the Jacobs siblings to the mix.

Davey was probably the least-powerful of them, as he could communicate with animals of all kinds, but that didn’t mean they had to do what he said. Les was the most powerful, able to convince anyone to do anything, and Sarah was squarely in the middle despite technically being the oldest.

Her power was that she could see auras. Read them to know what kind of person she was dealing with, who they cared about, and what their powers were if they had any. Occasionally, she could drain power from an aura to put a person to sleep or even kill them, though a general rule of their gang was that they didn’t kill unless absolutely necessary.

Given the information she learned from auras, Sarah could literally see the tension between certain pairs in the group. She could see when they fell in love and instantly tell what power-levels they were dealing with when they met up with other gangs of powered kids. She’d pretty much seen it all.

Sarah had, however, never seen an aura like the one surrounding a girl she didn’t recognize, who was accompanying Spot and Hotshot on a meeting from Brooklyn.

Bright magenta, a glow of power that flickered and rippled in a sphere around her. Not quite as bright as Spot and Hotshot, but powerful nonetheless.

The girl herself was maybe a year or two older than Sarah, with red curls and brown eyes, a hard gleam in there like most Brooklyn kids. Unlike Manhattan, that gang didn’t have qualms about killing if they had to.

The way her aura moved suggested that she wasn’t especially attached to either of her friends yet. Probably a new kid. And the contained energy of it, the way it didn’t quite disperse into the air like, say... a pyro’s, was similar to Jack’s, like it needed to be consciously manifested by an action like drawing or something.

To say that Sarah was curious was an understatement.

Analytically minded in a way that made her good in fights, she liked knowing all possible variables. And she had no idea what power set they were dealing with, with this girl, so naturally she wanted to find out.

But while Jack was talking to Spot about something the Brooklyn and Manhattan gangs could potentially work together on and Hotshot was hanging out with one of the Guzman twins, Specs was already making friends with the new girl. They seemed to be getting along pretty well.

Sarah was going to go over to join the conversation, but... she wasn’t the most diplomatic in the group.

She was on good terms with Spot, but not great at making friends. And that girl was almost definitely a new kid, so it was probably better for relations between gangs for her not to try too hard to figure her powers out and scare her away.

She didn’t even find out her name until after Brooklyn left, when she asked Specs.

“Her name’s Katherine,” he responded, “Katherine Plumber. Nice enough, I guess, for a Brooklyn kid. She’s 18. A bit of a late bloomer, I guess. Apparently Spot considers her some kinda secret weapon.”

Brooklyn was a powerful gang, so if Katherine Plumber was considered special by their standards, that meant she had to be a serious powerhouse.

But, Specs didn’t know what her powers were. Which was rare because Specs was widely considered so trustworthy that he knew pretty much everything about everyone.

It wasn’t unheard of for one gang to turn on another, so Sarah figured it was safest to find out, which was definitely the only reason why she offered to come the next time Jack went over to Brooklyn to talk to Spot.

Screw Jojo and Albert’s laughter. She was only scoping out a potential threat. Power sets she’d never seen before needed to be planned for.

Specs wasn’t there this time, so Sarah got the chance to talk to the new girl alone.

Katherine Plumber was... really funny. And sarcastic. And she’d discovered her powers later than most and therefore was new to this world, but she was figuring it out quickly. She was smart. A fast learner.

Her aura was even more fascinating up close. The energy had an unexpected chill to it, kind of like mint—definitely similar to Jack’s—and Sarah was very curious because it clearly wasn’t the same power set. Jack’s power of bringing drawings to life was so unique that no one had ever heard of anyone else with the same one.

But Katherine wouldn’t demonstrate hers, although she accepted Sarah’s invitation to go on a scouting mission the next week.

And though staking out an office building was dull and boring, she still wouldn’t demonstrate her powers. Fascinating and frustrating.

It was amazing, how she always found a reason not to show Sarah what she could do. There was always a counter argument, always an excuse. And Sarah had just as many ways to ask for demonstrations, so they were constantly intellectually challenging each other. And they were spending a lot of time together, just because Sarah kept offering and Katherine kept accepting.

“You’s got a crush on her!” Albert teased as he and the others cackled after she explained how she had plans with Katherine again this weekend.

“I do not,” Sarah retorted, “I’m being practical for Manhattan’s future!”

No matter how Albert and Jojo and Les and even Davey laughed, it was only to find out how big of a threat she was in case Brooklyn ever became a rival.

2 missions became 3, became 6, became 10, until Sarah could count 27 excuses she’d made up to see Katherine in 2 months and she still didn’t know what her powers were.

Until Manhattan’s hideout got raided while Katherine happened to be over visiting, and as everyone else scrambled to their defense positions to let the less-powerful and younger members of the gang escape, Sarah saw her whip out that little notebook and pen she always kept in her jacket pocket.

Like over a bog, we need some fog

The thick mist rolled in out of nowhere, and all of Manhattan escaped, following Katherine to Brooklyn’s latest hideout. Spot was willing to let them stay until they found a new place of their own. After all, they were on the same side.

Only after she’d helped Jack conjure replacement bedding and supplies for the stuff they hadn’t had time to save did Katherine sit down with Sarah off to the side and explain exactly what she could do.

“I have to write it in verse for it to happen,” she explained, “Rhymes. That’s why I didn’t notice I could do anything until I was 17.”

She explained that she’d pretended she didn’t have a power at all for almost a year, until her 2 closest friends found out and told her it was too dangerous and she had to run away before her parents found out, because they would inevitably find out if she stayed.

Remembering how her parents had told her and Davey to take Les and run for their own safety when she was 16, Sarah was inclined to agree. Powers had a tendency to come to light eventually, no matter how you tried to hide them.

Katherine was a real powerhouse. She was like Jack—Sarah was right—just slightly to the left. A creator. She had endless potential, and power like hers was bound to show through.

However, some powers were good for hiding, and Kenny and Blink had a place for Manhattan to move into within a week.

Sarah was surprised about how she... wasn’t excited about that, and she told Race as much, figuring he would understand. It was common knowledge, at least among the older kids in Manhattan, that he was closer with Brooklyn than any of them.

Plus, Sarah could see it. She could see the way his aura moved around a certain Brooklyn boy, trailing towards him and tangling pale blue with dark red, like all they wanted was to hold each other close.

It didn’t make her jealous at all, being able to see who was in love with who and that it was requited. It didn’t matter that powered people rarely lived past 21 and Sarah was 16 and unlike many of her friends, she hadn’t found anyone yet. She was happy for him that Race had that.

“I’d like to stay, yeah,” he admitted, “Brooklyn’s... part of my heart’s always gonna be here. But Manhattan’s my home. My family. ‘Sides, Jack and Crutchie needs my help runnin’ things.”

In the end, that conversation was completely unhelpful, because Race’s main reason for leaving was that he was one of the gang’s seconds. Sarah wasn’t a second. She wasn’t staying out of responsibility.

The only responsibility she really had was to Davey and Les, and... did they really need her?

“You wanna stay, don’t you?” Davey guessed randomly the day before Manhattan moved out of Brooklyn’s hideout, “Stay in Brooklyn.”

“With Katherine,” Les added.

This time, neither of them was teasing.

“I’m thinking about it,” Sarah admitted, “I’m not sure if I should.”

To her surprise, Davey shook his head quickly, “No, Sarah. If you wanna stay I think you should stay. Especially if the only thing you’d be coming with Manhattan for’d be me and Les.”

“Yeah, we’ll be fine without ya.”

“Thanks, Les.”

“I mean we’s got Jack, and Crutchie, and all the rest of Manhattan. You don’t have to worry ‘bout us, Sar. You wanna stay with Kat, so you should.”

Sarah was conflicted until the day they actually left, and though her bag was packed, same as the rest of them, she stood at the doorway of the hideout watching her friends leave in small groups to sneak to Manhattan’s new home for an unreasonable amount of time.

Fuck it. She knew where they were going. She could visit. Her brothers got more powerful every day, same as her. She and Les had survived just the two of them for a while before Davey broke out of jail and brought Jack and the gang into their lives. The boys had each other and Jack and the gang. They would be fine without her.

So Sarah stayed, and she was pretty sure Spot and the others knew why. If she didn’t know any better, she could swear the king of Brooklyn was a little jealous that she was free to. It was nice to get to know him better. They’d always gotten along well, but building a real friendship meant they found out how kickass of a pair they could really be.

She wasn’t sure if Katherine knew why she’d stayed. Her aura gave away nothing but surprise.

The only aura Sarah had trouble seeing was her own.

It was a periwinkle color when she cared to stretch her powers to see it, it had barely any glow, and it moved like a kind of fog, spreading out and weaving through others’ energies, a little bit of it always lingering around the people most important to her even more than others’ auras ever did.

Katherine’s aura was so bright that it was even harder than normal to perceive her own.

But no matter how she denied it to her friends and brothers... she could still see traces of periwinkle flickering around and tangling with the magenta.

“So, you decided to stay,” she noted, and Sarah gave up on trying to see what she was feeling about that, because Katherine’s aura had the contained energy of a creator. Like Jack, it was hard to read her because her aura hardly moved at all.

“I did,” Sarah responded, trying to gauge her reaction the old fashioned way; through her face.

Unfortunately, the difference between the two creators was that Jack wore his heart on his sleeve and his emotions in his eyes, and Katherine, of course, was making things difficult. As usual.

“You’re not going to ask me why?” she asked after a couple seconds of silence.

“It’s because we make such a good team, isn’t it?”

“No, it’s because we all know Spot and I would be the ultimate power friendship.”

Katherine laughed, “I can tell you’re kidding, but you’re not wrong.”

Sarah was strongly considering making some clever remark again, but after thinking about it in the loaded silence for a couple seconds...

“What would you say if it was something like that? Us being a good team.”

She definitely wasn’t holding her breath while she waited for her response.

“I’d say we are pretty kickass together,” Katherine answered, “Maybe even more than you and Spot.”

Sarah was obvious about it intentionally when she gave her a once-over, and she saw Katherine smirk mischievously.

“Definitely more than me and Spot.”

“I think I’m gonna like you sticking around.”

Sarah wasn’t sure who moved first, but they both lunged for each other within the space of a couple seconds, hands tangling in hair and lips meeting as a few months worth of tension released with one kiss.

Albert, Jojo, Davey and Les were going to be so annoying when they found out they were right.

Still, Sarah grinned as they pulled apart, “I think I’m gonna like me sticking around, too.”

#newsies #newsbians #sarah jacobs #katherine plumber #davey jacobs #les jacobs #jack kelly #crutchie morris #spot conlon #racetrack higgins #newsie powers/rebellion au #non-graphic injuries tw #war-like elements tw #violet’s writing

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vampiregirl1797 · 4 years

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Hopeless: Epilogue

Klaus Mikaelson x OC

GIF Not Mine

Warnings: this is over 10,000 words, so get some snacks and a hot cup of chocolate!

Click Here For Masterlist

Five years after Evangeline returned from the 15th century.

‘Bekah, really this is completely unnecessary.’ I tried to reason with her, but I wasn’t surprised when my protests seemed to fall on deaf ears.

‘It may not be necessary but that doesn’t mean it’s not happening.’ She winked, turning back to the owner of the cute little clothes store we’d found in the centre of the city. She was compelling her to let us have free run of the store, seeing as clothes were limited and she didn’t want to lose out on the perfect outfit to someone else.

While she did that, I wondered around, absentmindedly looking at the different clothes she had to offer. I had to hand it to her, everything was beautiful and all one of a kind, seeing as she made the clothes herself and only ever made ten of everything. Once they sold, that was it.

‘Find anything?’ I asked Elena when I reached her.

‘Oh my--,’ she cut off with a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart.

‘Sorry.’ I grinned, amused that after so many years of me being a vampire I could still startle her.

She shot me a look, clearly not believing my apology but she waved me off anyway.

‘You know, I’m surprised I can still startle you with your newfound heightened senses.’ I teased.

Elena had become a vampire a few years ago, after she had turned twenty. She had given it a lot of thought beforehand, and was content with her decision when she asked Stefan to turn her so that she could spend an eternity by his side. The younger Salvatore had been hesitant, but after my sister assured him that she had done nothing but think about it since she met him, he followed through with her request.

‘Well I was too busy wondering if this top would look cute on me.’ She protested, holding up a white and baby pink lace crop top.

‘It would not.’ Bekah interjected, sliding up next to me and holding out a similar style crop top but in red, ‘this colour suits your skin tone better.’

‘Thank you, Bekah.’ Elena smiled gratefully and put the reject back on the rack before adding the new addition to her basket.

I smirked in amusement when I realised that Elena had already gathered enough to fill half her basket, while Bekah had enough to warrant moving onto a third while I had nothing.

Bekah seemed to notice that too, ‘why haven’t you got anything in your basket yet? We only have another hour until we need to be back for dinner and the barbecue is tomorrow!’

‘I know,’ I sighed, running a hand through my hair, ‘I’ve never been good at picking out clothes for myself Bekah. I hate shopping.’

Elena and Bekah gasped dramatically, as if this was news to them, which of course it wasn’t. I rolled my eyes at their dramatics, but a small smile still found its way to my lips.

‘Well that’s easy enough. I’ll pick something for you.’ Bekah smiled, already wondering off to the back wall—I imagined she already had something in mind.

A few years ago, I would’ve tried to stop her, but I knew that she would only pick something that would compliment my figure and my personal tastes. She had a gift when it came to styling people, in any other time she could’ve been an amazing personal shopper. But then again, owning her own clothing line seemed more Bekah’s style.

‘So when are Stefan and Damon getting in?’ I asked, following Elena around while she browsed through the other options.

‘Tonight after dinner, which sucks but we can all probably watch a movie together.’ Elena replied, the excitement at the prospect of seeing her love leaking into her voice.

‘True, though it is Kol’s turn to pick this month. Probably means we’re gonna be stuck watching some gory horror movie.’ I rolled my eyes fondly—the younger Mikaelson loved watching scary movies to mock and point holes in the stories.

‘Better than Elijah’s documentary obsession.’ Elena joked. She wasn’t wrong, though. Elijah was fascinated with watching documentaries on anything—the last time it had been his pick, we sat through a two hour movie on how cans were made.

‘No arguments here.’ Bekah laughed, adding an armful of clothes to my basket.

I knew there was more than one outfit choice there, but I also knew better than to argue—she liked to add options for me to choose from, plus anything I didn’t want to wear tomorrow I could just wear some other time.

‘Thanks, Bekah.’ I smiled offering her a side hug, ‘you’re a godsend.’

Bekah snorted, commenting on the fact that no one had ever called her that in a thousand years. She offered me a kind smile though and I knew she was grateful for the compliment.

‘Well if everyone’s finished, I’m craving something sweet.’ Elena mused.

‘I know just the place.’ Bekah smirked; I could already feel my mouth watering at the prospect of pastries.

‘So, how’s being newly married?’ Bekah asked my sister just as I’d taken a huge bit of one of the beignets from the centre of the table.

My eyes closed in pleasure and I couldn’t help the small moan that formed at the back of my throat from the taste. Heaven.

‘Great.’ Elena’s expression visibly lit up, as it always did when she spoke of her relationship with the younger Salvatore, ‘we’re actually thinking about moving to New Orleans permanently. Stefan wants to talk to you guys about it first, just to make sure it’s alright, but hopefully there won’t be an issue. I’m ready to move on from Mystic Falls, and I want to be closer to my second family, seeing as the only ones really left back home are me, Stefan, Damon and Bonnie.’

It was true; Jeremy and a few of his friends from school had decided to travel the world before committing to a college, and Jenna had moved back to Denver after Jeremy had graduated. The old house was currently being rented out by Jenna being as none of us had the heart to put it up for sale.

‘I don’t think that will be a problem, Elena you’re family.’ I assured her with a smile, honestly the thought of her moving to the city filled me with joy, ‘the Mikaelson’s love you like a sister, and Stefan and Nik have the biggest bromance going on, there should be zero issues.’

‘She’s right, Lena.’ Bekah assured her, her blue eyes sparkling with excitement—I imagined mine looked the same. The prospect of us all living in the same city all the time was just too wonderful to comprehend. Usually we had to made do with one weekend a month—that was the mandatory minimum for the whole family to meet up, no matter where they were in the world they had to be back for family weekend. Though to be fair, Elena, Stefan and Damon were the only ones who didn’t live in the city permanently, so that rule only really applied to them.

‘Do you think Bonnie will come to the barbecue?’ I wondered, sipping my caramel latte as I waited for an answer.

Bonnie was a somewhat touchy subject for the group. When I’d gathered the courage and will to go back to Mystic Falls to tell my family the truth about what had happened, Bonnie and Katherine were the only two who had an issue. Bonnie because she believed I’d defied the balance of nature by helping break a curse that had been in place for so long, and Katherine because she’d lost five hundred years bound to paranoia and fear.

It had taken some time, but eventually Bonnie realised that if the curse shouldn’t have been broken, the means to break it wouldn’t have existed. Katherine was more stubborn and even attempted to gather enough firepower from witches, vampires and werewolves to take Klaus and Elijah down. Of course, when they found out whom she wanted them to go up against they immediately backed out, a few even coming to New Orleans to warn the Mikaelsons of the potential threat—they didn’t want to go up against the strongest supernatural army in the world. Which was of course what the Mikaelson’s had built in New Orleans. It was the place that any species could come and live with different supernatural creatures in harmony. They did such a good job ruling it, fairly and with a genuine care for each and every person, that the loyalty they earned from each member of the city was unwavering. That was something Katherine hadn’t realised, until it was too late.

Klaus and Elijah had sent a few werewolves and vampires for her to “recruit.” Of course, it had been a ploy to lure her to New Orleans and once they had her, they gave her three options:

- Give up her ploy for revenge and start living her immortal life without a thirst for repentance

- Let herself be compelled to once again forget why she wanted vengeance

- Or die.

Her rage had inevitably made the decision for her. After she had been given her options, I had returned to the compound after meeting Cami for a drink at Rousseau’s. My appearance reminded her of her hatred and she’d attempted to attack me immediately, before she could however Elijah had removed her heart while Klaus had flashed to my side, prepared to aid me should I need it. We had both stared at the elder Mikaelson in shock, but he simply dropped her heart and ordered for her body to be burned to ash.

I still remembered the conversation I’d had with him that night.

A few months after Evangeline returned from the 15th century.

I took a deep breath, trying to build up the courage to knock on his door, but I found myself shuffling from foot to foot. I was just about to bolt and return to bed with Nik when the door opened of its own accord.

‘Evangeline, is there something I can help you with?’ Elijah’s calm voice tampered a little of my anxiety, as did the absence of anger or sorrow in his eyes. But I didn’t let that fool me completely—I knew just as well as anyone that he was the best at withholding emotions from those closest to him.

‘I- I just wanted to apologise.’ I said, clearing my throat as my voice broke.

‘Whatever for?’ he gestured for me to enter his bedroom and I took a seat on one of the armchairs he had opposite his bed. Elijah himself perched himself on the foot of his bed, rolling his shirtsleeves up to his elbows as he awaited my response.

‘For Katherine. I know you cared for her once, and it’s my fault that nothing happened with her.’ I murmured, suddenly finding myself enamoured with the sleeves of the Henley that I was wearing that happened to belong to my hybrid.

‘If I ever cared for Katarina, it was because she reminded me of another life.’ Elijah said, the softness of his voice caused me to look up to him, ‘she reminded me of a time where my biggest worry was competing with my brother to win the affections of a woman who looked a lot like her.’

‘Tatia.’ I said, familiar with the story.

‘Indeed. When we were human my biggest concerns were trying to win Tatia’s hand in marriage, and protecting my siblings from our brute of a father. Katarina reminded me of that, and as a result caused me to yearn for that simplicity.’

I nodded, somewhat understanding.

‘Of course, that changed when I realised that Niklaus was finding his humanity, due to a mysterious girl from the future.’ Elijah smiled knowingly at me, and I couldn’t help but look down, grateful that I couldn’t blush, ‘you see Evangeline, your appearance in our lives made me yearn for my life in the present. It made me yearn for a time that we could all sit down together as a family and be happy. Happier than we ever were when we lived in that small village in Mystic Falls over a thousand years ago. For the first time in a long time, I was excited by what the future would bring, rather than being consumed with dread over the prospect of witnessing my family commit heinous acts before my very eyes. You saved this family. And for Katarina to come along and try to inadvertently tear that apart, well you know by now… no one hurts my family and lives. And you, Evangeline are just as much a part of this family as I am.’

I knew that my cheeks were wet with tears but I didn’t care. In a flash I was hugging Elijah and unconsciously soaking his shirt with tears. He hugged me back and I found myself grateful and lucky to have been accepted into the Mikaelson family.

‘Thank you, Elijah.’ I murmured against his chest.

‘Always and forever, sister.’ He murmured back, placing a chaste kiss to the top of my head.

Back to five years after Evangeline returned from the 15th century.

That had been a few months after I returned from the past, and Elijah and I had only grown closer. He was like the big brother I had always wanted, and being accepted into the fold meant that I was also gifted with the huge family I’d always yearned for. I was immensely grateful, being as I’d given up on the idea of a big family when I’d been turned into a vampire. I was lucky, and a day didn’t go by where I wasn’t reminded of that.

‘No. She’s accepted everything and I know she understands, but she doesn’t want to be a part of it.’ Elena said, her bright expression dimming considerably at the reminder of her absent ex-best friend.

‘I’m sorry sweetie.’ I murmured, squeezing her hand comfortingly.

‘It’s okay. It’s her life to live, and she doesn’t want to live it immersed in the supernatural world like we do. That’s her choice and she’s well within her rights to make it.’ Elena murmured, her eyes conveying the sincerity behind her words.

It sucked, of course it did, but Elena was right. Bonnie was living her life like she wanted to—without vampires, hybrids and werewolves. Elena and I still loved her, but we knew it was just a part of life; some people are only meant to be in your life for a certain amount of time before you drift apart and they leave you with the memories you created together.

‘Aren’t you ever going to tire of painting me?’ I murmured, partially amused and fond from where I leaned against the doorframe.

After lunch with my sisters, I’d returned to the compound and after placing my newly acquired clothes into our room, I went to find him. Where I found him wasn’t a surprise; he was in his art studio painting yet another portrait of me. My heart fluttered every time I saw him taking the time to put me onto another canvas; I’d been so overcome with love when he’d shown me the ones he’d painted in my absence that I’d been reduced to a puddle of tears. Nik still had yet to let me hear the end of that.

‘How could one ever tire of capturing such beauty?’ he grinned, his eyes sparkling with adoration as he turned to face me. In a flash I was at his side, my arm wound around his waist as I placed a chaste yet passionate kiss to his lips.

‘How was your day?’ he asked, pulling me against his chest and winding his arms around my waist.

‘Fine. Bekah picked out some clothes for me to wear tomorrow.’ I told him, my hands resting against his chest and my head against his shoulder.

He chuckled, ‘I don’t know why you go; you hate shopping.’

I hummed in agreement before adding, ‘but I love spending time with my sisters.’

‘Forgive me, I find it hard to imagine why anyone would enjoy Bekah’s company.’ He deadpanned, but broke out into a laugh when I lightly slapped his shoulder in reprimand.

‘Elena mentioned that her and Stefan were thinking of moving here.’ I grinned, my hands moving to his shoulders as I leaned back to meet his gaze.

‘Is that so?’ he said, his hands falling to my hips as a smile formed on his at the sight of my happiness.

I nodded, ‘she mentioned Stefan wanted to run it by you all first, but it you’re okay with it then they’re gonna come.’

‘Why would we have a problem?’ he mused, his eyes dancing with mirth.

‘I think it’s Stefan’s idea to be honest. Just to make sure they’re not stepping on any toes.’ I shrugged, not really understanding the need for permission myself.

‘Well I’d never deny them residence here and I doubt anyone else would either, lest they incur your wrath.’ He teased, grinning when I playfully glared at him.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ I said innocently.

It was true, of course. Over my time with the Mikaelson’s I’d gained a reputation. My temper was known to rival Nik’s when someone threatened or hurt my family. I’d always been protective, and that instinct had only become heightened when I’d become a vampire. And now I had a family that ruled New Orleans, we were bound to attract trouble, which led to my protective instincts rearing their head more often than I was used to. The Mikaelson’s, Nik especially, thought my ability to go from calm to a force that the devil himself would be intimidated by was hilarious. But I couldn’t help it. And I was happy to have found a family that understood and even rivalled my over protective tendencies. I thought back to the first time we’d incurred a threat after Katherine.

A year after Evangeline returned from the 15th century.

I woke up to the sun shining on my face, which wasn’t unusual seeing as Nik and I had a habit of forgetting to close the drapes. I smiled when I felt his arms still wrapped around me, his warmth seeping through the shirt of his I was wearing. I rolled over to face him and was unsurprised to see his eyes already open; it was rare that I awoke before him, but even though he woke before me most days, he preferred to stay and hold me until I woke up before he even thought of getting out of bed. I’d asked him about it before and he’d admitted to taking the time to bask in the gratitude he felt for finally being able to wake up with me in his arms. I’d held him tight after that.

‘Good morning my love.’ His voice was husky with sleep, and I couldn’t help the small shiver of desire that shot down my spine.

‘Good morning my hybrid.’ I murmured back, placing a kiss to his cheek, a wave of adoration washing over me at his bashful smile that always followed me calling him that.

That became my nickname for him not long after I found him again and he was able to finally reveal that he had broken his curse. At first, the reception had varied from fear to acceptance. Unfortunately the latter opinion was rare; Elena and everyone from back home had accepted it fairly quickly, though I assumed that Elena not needing to die for the curse to be broken was the main reason for that. It took a while for the factions of New Orleans to realise that Klaus being part werewolf as well as vampire made no difference to who he was as a ruler. When they did, the criticism, fear and disgust had dissipated. Though Nik liked to joke that my attitude towards those who criticised him was the main reason for that. I’d started calling him “My Hybrid” because I wanted him to know he had no reason to be ashamed of who he was, and to remind him that I loved every single part of him.

‘Do we have any plans today?’ I wondered, nuzzling into his neck, his scent keeping me in a state of contentedness. My eyes were starting to flutter shut again, and I found myself not wanting to fight it.

‘Actually, Sophie has contacted Elijah and informed us of a potential threat coming to New Orleans.’ Nik murmured, his lips against my hair.

‘Hmmm.’ I said, not really processing his words and placing a kiss onto the side of his neck.

He chuckled kissing my hair and pulling me tighter against him, ‘I should tell you of all potential threats after you’ve just woken up my love.’

‘Hmmm.’ I sighed as his hand starting to move back and forth across my lower back.

I thought I heard him chuckle again and it made me smile as I fell into unconsciousness.

Kol and Bekah were doubled over in laughter where we were gathered in the courtyard of the compound. Klaus was laughing a lot less rambunctiously, while Elijah was a lot more reserved, though his amusement was still obvious on his expression.

‘I don’t bloody believe this.’ I muttered, shaking my head in exasperation, ‘are you having me on?’

‘No my love, we’re not.’ Nik’s dimpled smile eased my embarrassment a little, ‘I told you of the threat three days ago after you woke up. You must have still been half asleep.’

‘That’s cheating!’ I complained, slapping his shoulder, ‘you should’ve told me again when I was actually awake.’

‘Technically you were conscious.’ Kol pointed out, seeming to have recovered enough to add a comment.

‘Obviously not enough.’ I rolled my eyes and ran a hand through my hair, ‘now tell me about this threat.’

‘The De Martials are on their way to New Orleans.’ Elijah said solemnly and I nodded, familiar with the story.

The elder Mikaelson had informed Niklaus over what he had done a few centuries after I’d returned to the future, and Nik had told me a few months ago. Nik had definitely been furious but his rage had subsided when he realised why his elder brother had done what he’d done. It had been around that time that Nik had told his siblings the truth about what happened to their mother. The reactions to that news had varied. Kol hadn’t had much of one, Elijah had already known but Bekah had taken it the hardest. But after some time, she came to forgive him.

‘So they want revenge for the time they spent pretending to be you and leading Mikael astray.’ I summarised, the wheels in my head turning.

‘I’d imagine so.’ Bekah mused, coming to sit by me on the sofa and stretching her legs out over my lap. Kol came to sit on the other side of me and rolled his eyes at the intrusion of Bekah’s legs on his lap as well, but he didn’t protest.

‘Do you think Aurora might have other motivations?’ I asked, internally wincing at the insecurity in my voice.

‘If that psychotic bitch comes anywhere near you darling, I can assure you she will be torn limb from limb.’ Kol patted my shoulder for reassurance.

‘That’s not what I’m worried about.’ I rolled my eyes and then frowned, ‘why would she be interested in me? I doubt she even knows who I am.’

‘Over the years you were not with us, we were subtle and discrete over your existence, but evidently rumours did get out about you.’ Elijah explained, smiling at my wide eyes, ‘your name along with your importance to this family made you somewhat of a legend. Though, no one knew why, or even knew of anyone by the name of Evangeline, so it’s often been dismissed as a rumour.’

‘Until now.’ Nik murmured, his eyes on me and shining with concern.

‘And Aurora always was the jealous type.’ Bekah sneered.

‘I don’t care about me.’ I muttered; my only concern was with my family, ‘you’re basically invincible. If they’re coming for revenge now after all this time, that must mean they have a plan, one that they’re confident will work.’

‘We’ve faced many people over our thousand years, all of which intended to end us all, and yet we’re still here.’ Elijah murmured, smiling in assurance, ‘I assure you, this time will be no different.’

I wished I had his confidence, but I had a bad feeling about this and Nik must have sensed it because he held his hand out to me from where he was sat on the armchair. I shifted Bekah’s legs off me and moved to sit on his lap. His scent soothed my nerves like a balm—I’d always be grateful for how safe Nik’s arms made me feel. Especially in that moment because the absence of anxiety allowed me to think clearly and I had a plan.

Nik: They’re here. Aurora left a body surrounded by lavender and a scavenger hunt for me to follow.

Kol: Tristan has made himself known; he’s already got the strix out looking for vampires descended from Elijah.

Elijah: The witches are preforming the spell now.

Me: Lucien has just walked into Rousseau’s.

Bekah: This is an insane plan; I just want that on the record.

Nik: Now is not the time. Focus.

Me: If anything bad happens, I just want you to know I love you all.

I slid my phone into the back pocket of my high-waisted jeans, subtly watching Lucien from where I sat at the bar, while Bekah was blending in with the crowd thanks to a glamour spell a witch had placed on her. My hair was down and wavy, cutting off at the bottom of my spine and offering me some comfort as it covered up the most of my back. The crop top had been Bekah’s idea, it was white, lacy and entirely too revealing but I was looking to gain the attention of Lucien.

A small smile formed on my lips as I noticed a family of tourists sitting by the window, a mother and father sat across from their twin daughters. They were all laughing and talking, enjoying their meal together. I felt a small wave of homesickness wash over me in that moment. I hadn’t seen my family in almost a year—not since I’d told them the truth about everything. We were still in touch, but I hadn’t seen them in the flesh for ten months, and I realised in that moment that I missed them. It wasn’t as bad as it could be, as I was already surrounded by family, but I found myself wondering if Elena, Jeremy and Jenna would be up for a weekend visit. Though it would be difficult to organise now; Elena was coming up to the end of senior year, Jeremy near the end of Junior, and Jenna was in the middle of writing her thesis. Though I’d heard from Elena that she was thinking of moving back to Denver after Jeremy was done with school. As the youngest Gilbert had already mentioned his desire to travel after he graduated, and with Elena potentially going to collage, Jenna would be in Mystic Falls all by herself. It wouldn’t be the same not having Jenna back home, but I understood her desire to move away being as the life she had before our parents died was in Denver.

‘Hello there darling.’ An arrogant sounding voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked to my right to see just the man I was looking for, now occupying the empty seat beside me.

‘Hello.’ I forced a smile and hoped the disgust didn’t show on my face. He was sitting far too close and his scent was overwhelming me. He smelled like he’d bathed in cologne and whiskey, it was so bad that I had to make due with breathing through my mouth. A pang of longing to be encased in my Hybrid’s scent overwhelmed me, but I forced myself to focus.

‘Now what’s a pretty thing like you doing in a place like this?’ He smirked, his breath fanning over my face. If I were still capable of vomiting, I would have in that moment.

‘You’ll have to be more specific. In this bar or in this city?’ I was being evasive, but I couldn’t help it.

‘This city, of course.’ He said, taking a sip of the drink in his hand.

‘I like it here.’ I shrugged, downing the shot of tequila Cami placed in front of me. Apparently seeming uninterested was a sure way to garner his attention, which was exactly what was needed. I leaned forward over the bar to grab the bottle of liquor that Cami had purposefully left within reach.

‘I’m starting to as well’ I rolled my eyes when I realised he was checking out my ass and when I fell back into my seat his eyes trailed over my chest. I fought the urge to cross my arms to try and cover up as I poured myself another shot.

‘How would you feel about coming back to my place later?’ he asked, his fingers trailing up and down my arm. I assume he mistook my shiver of disgust as pleasure, because his hand moved to my back, trailing up and down my spine and lightly tugging my hair.

Quick as a flash I held his wrist in mine, before he could react I snapped it like a twig, ‘I think I’d rather set myself on fire.’

‘You’re feisty I like that.’ He bit out as he reset his wrist with a click.

‘I’m leaving now.’ I huffed placing a hundred on the bar to cover my drinks and tip.

I shot Bekah a reassuring look before I left. I didn’t have to turn around to know he was following me; his pungent scent assured me he was.

It shouldn’t have been so simple, but it was. I led him into a trap; witches bought him to his knees while I turned and snapped his neck. After that, he was trapped in a basement with chains and boundary spells, where he would be bled out until the vervain was out of his system. Which shouldn’t take long for how fast the selected vampires were working on him. One down. Two to go.

‘Nik?’ I called out as I entered the compound—he should have been back by now and I’ll admit the fact he wasn’t had me feeling both worried and insecure.

I was about to call him when the scent hit my nose—blood. Most importantly Nik’s blood. I followed it to his art studio—he was in the centre of the room a circle of salt hinting at the boundary spell that was around him. He was shirtless and the dried blood on his torso hinted at how much he had lost. Despite the overwhelming urge to go to him, I forced myself to focus, someone had obviously done this to him, but where were they? I didn’t have to look far. She had her back to me, which hinted at her arrogance—she clearly didn’t perceive me to be a threat. She was staring at one of the portraits Nik had painted of me and hung along the back wall. Her fingers were pressed against the canvas gently at first, and in the blink of an eye her fingers tore through with such force she created a hole in the brickwork. That was when she turned to face me. Her eyes is what stood out to me at first, they were a striking green, seeming to shine brighter due to the red curly hair that draped around her shoulders and down her back. She was dressed in a short and low cut black dress; clearly she’d been intending to impress my Hybrid.

‘Aurora I presume.’ I said, unable to keep the venom from my voice.

‘You’ve heard of me?’ she seemed to preen with the knowledge.

‘Yes, when Nik was recounting his psychotic exes you were the first name out of his mouth.’ I smiled, inwardly cheering when her expression transformed into fury.

‘I cannot understand what he possibly sees in you.’ She sneered, walking around me like a shark circling its prey.

‘That makes two of us,’ I shrugged.

‘I’ll admit I’m disappointed. I expected more fire.’ She said, coming to stand in front of me again, and that was when she revealed a stake, ‘white oak seems a waste on you, but it’ll kill you just the same and to be honest, I rather enjoy the poetry of Nik waking up to see you dead beside him. The pathetic abomination will be so overcome with grief that he’ll be powerless to falling into my awaiting arms. As soon as that happens, I’ll be able to easily convince him to dagger his other pathetic siblings and we’ll live happily ever after as King and Queen of New Orleans.’

My eyes flashed and before she could comprehend it, the stake clattered to the floor as the snap her wrist made when I twisted it behind her back echoed throughout the room.

‘How dare you.’ I growled, unbelievably enraged, picking the stake myself and plunging it into her stomach. She fell to her knees with a cry of pain, her hands moving to the wound when I yanked the wood out.

‘How dare you come into this city and threaten my family. How dare you call my Hybrid an abomination? The way I see it, the only abominable creature in this room is you, you psychotic, ignorant, pretentious bitch.’ I snarled, too far-gone in my fury to notice my Hybrid stirring behind me.

‘This isn’t your family.’ She protested, albeit a little weekly as I drove the stake through her chest, a mere inch from her heart.

‘Yes it is. I love each and every one of the Mikaelson’s, and I’d be damned if I let you threaten one of them, but all of them, including the man I love more than anything? Well you just signed your death certificate.’ With that, my hand punctured her chest cavity, clenching around her heart and tearing it out. I watched with relief and satisfaction as her corpse turned grey, before dropping the organ to the ground.

I pulled my phone out of my back pocket to send a text to the group chat; pleased to see everyone else had achieved their goals without a hitch.

Me: Need a witch back at the compound. Aurora has Nik trapped with a boundary spell.

Elijah: Will bring Sophie now.

Me: Thanks, Lijah. Glad everyone else is okay.

Elijah had been with the witches to lure those of his sire line and trap them. Those who already resided in the quarter had been given a remedy that granted them immunity while the spell was being cast. When the strix arrived they would be given the chance to leave Tristan’s leadership or risk death. Tristan himself was trapped much like Lucien in a separate space secured with chains and witchcraft, which is where he would remain until the vervain had been drained and his plan had been compelled out of him. Either way, after that was discovered they would both be dead. The same had been planned for Aurora… before I’d gone AWOL.

‘Evangeline.’ I jumped a mile at the sound of his voice, having not heard him come around. When I faced him I was surprised by the intense expression on his face.

‘Are you okay?’ I asked, my fingers pressing against the boundary in vein as I tried to reach him.

‘I’m fine. A little hungry, but otherwise I’ll live. I managed to secure the location of the white oak from her mind before she incapacitated me.’ He smiled softly, ‘I already sent the location to Kol, I’m sure he’s taken care of it by now.’

‘Then why do you look so… astounded?’ I wondered.

‘Because watching you defend our family, and defend me has got to have been one of the most erotic things I’ve ever seen.’ He told me honestly.

I blinked in surprise before letting out a laugh, him joining me. Though I knew he was being sincere due to the lust in his eyes, which seemed to grow as his eyes roamed over my outfit.

‘I’ll take it your part of the plan was successful?’ he wondered.

‘Yes, though I feel like I need to scrub every inch of my body. Lucien is a pig.’ I informed him honestly. There were no secrets between us.

‘What did he do?’ Nik growled, his eyes flashing protectively.

‘He touched my arm and back, pulled on my hair and leaned way too close. Not terrible when you say it aloud but he made me feel really uncomfortable. But it doesn’t matter now.’ I waved it off, ‘once he’s had the vervain drained from his system and whatever plan they had in place is revealed he’s dead. At the rate they were draining him, I can’t imagine it would take long.’

This seemed to soothe him somewhat, but I could see him itching to hold me, his wolf needing to make sure I was indeed okay. Thankfully in that moment, Elijah walked through the door, Sophie following closely behind him. The elder Mikaelson raised a brow at the dead De Martial on the floor in confusion, looking over and pursing his lips in amusement when I hid my bloodied hand and the stake behind my back.

‘I don’t remember killing her being a part of the plan,’ Elijah commented as Sophie got to work.

‘I know. My temper might have gotten the best of me.’ I winced like a child about to be reprimanded by their parents.

‘She defended us brother. Aurora intended to kill her and use my grief to manipulate me to dagger you all and allow her to rule beside me.’ Nik explained, amused by my timid behaviour.

‘I couldn’t help it. I’m protective of my family, and of Nik, she threatened all of that.’ I pursed my lips, glancing down to her body, ‘she was one crazy bitch.’

Nik laughed loudly and the sound bought a smile to my lips, relieved that at least he wasn’t pissed at me for messing with the plan. A glance at Elijah and the amusement on his expression assured me he wasn’t all that mad either. I felt the tension in my shoulders ease.

‘She had white oak though,’ I revealed the stake and handed it to the older Original, ‘Nik sent Kol to collect the rest.’

Elijah nodded, some tension easing from his expression. In that moment Kol entered the room, grinning so widely I was surprised when his face didn’t split in half.

‘The white oak is gone. Apparently they gathered it from the wood made to construct a bridge and sign in Mystic Falls. Ironic, but alas I has all burned to ash.’ He said, practically bouncing with happiness at his success.

‘Excellent. Well done brother.’ Nik said, his expression conveying the sincerity behind his words. Kol’s expression softened under Nik’s praise and I couldn’t help but smile at the strong bonds they all now shared—My Hybrid had told me of Kol’s feeling of being left out of the family and so moments like this reminded me of how much they’d all overcome.

Kol nodded, a soft smile aimed at his older brother before he accepted a hug from Elijah and then me. When I pulled away, he frowned at the dried blood on my hand and forearm.

‘Don’t ask.’ I said before he could inquire.

Kol looked over to Nik who grinned and nodded in answer to his silent question: he would tell him later.

‘It’s all done.’ Sophie announced, but before she could even get up from the floor I found myself surrounded by Nik’s warmth and his scent.

All of the tension eased of my body, and I felt Nik relax too as his face nuzzled into my neck and took in my scent, now assured that I was in fact okay.

‘You two are too cute.’ Bekah commented, I noted that she had her own voice back, which meant the glamour had been removed, but I didn’t lift my head to look.

I hummed in contentment as Nik’s hand moved back and forth at the bottom of my spine, while his other hand rested at the centre of my back, his thumb moving back and forth comfortingly. The warmth his arms and hands emitted would never fail to make me feel safe and home. One of my hands were moving through the curls on his head, while the other rested against his chest, playing with the collection of necklaces that laid there. I was so contented and relaxed that I almost forgot where we were and what had happened when—

‘Why is Aurora dead?’ Bekah asked.

Nik laughed and I hid my face in his chest, embarrassed and already aware that I would never live this down.

Back to Five years after Evangeline returned from the 15th century.

‘Come on, Kol!’ Bekah complained from one of the love seats—Nik and I occupied the other.

‘It’s my choice, Bekah. You think I wanted to watch that god-awful romance movie you picked last month? No. But did I complain?’ his question was intended to be rhetorical but I answered anyway.

‘Excessively.’ I deadpanned, chuckling with the others.

‘Well—I didn’t complain as much as I wanted to.’ He said, as if that were a solid argument. I rolled my eyes and settled further into Nik’s side, my head resting on his chest. His arm was wrapped around me and he was tracing random patterns on my arm. I sighed in contentment, knowing that if he kept that up with how warm and relaxed I was, I wouldn’t see ten minutes of this movie.

‘Then Bekah can complain just shy of how much she wants to, and you’ll have to take it.’ Marcel pointed out, laughing at Kol’s affronted expression.

‘Can we just get this over with? The sooner it’s on, the sooner it can be over.’ Elena mumbled, a blanket wrapped around her, that and her husband’s arms around her providing her with protection from the zombies that Kol was subjecting us to. She was sat on the far end of the couch, Stefan to her right, Kol to his right and Damon on the other side of him. Bekah and Marcel were sat on the armchair; the female Mikaelson basically sat on her husband’s lap.

‘Come on, you’re a vampire. If zombies were running around in this world, they’d be no match for any of us.’ Damon smirked smugly from his seat next to Kol.

‘You don’t know that. What if a zombie bite affected us? If we also became zombie’s I’d hate to spend an eternity like that.’ Elena argued, pointing to the zombie that was now on the screen.

Instead of arguing, Damon shushed her, reaching for a handful of popcorn where the ridiculously huge bowl rested on Kol’s lap. I busied myself with the chocolate Eminem’s I’d commandeered, occasionally feeding some to Nik as I munched away.

I reached over to the arm of the chair for one of the blood bags we’d bought over to sustain us through the movie. I opened the cap and drank a few sips before offering some to my Hybrid, when he was finished I recapped it and placed it back where I’d grabbed it. I sighed softly, not interested in the movie in the slightest. But I knew this was the whole point of movie night, it wasn’t simply to watch; it was an opportunity to spend time together. Glancing around I noticed that Bekah and Nik were also unimpressed, Elena was terrified, while Kol, Damon, Marcel were overly amused by what passed as a horror movie.

I shifted in Nik’s arms so my head now rested on his shoulder, I faced his neck, not bothering any further with the terrible acting on the screen and started to play with the collection of necklaces around his throat. A small smile always formed on my face when my fingers connected with the only metallic one he wore—the locket I’d given him all those centuries ago. He’d tried to return it to me, but I insisted he wore it, liking that a part of me was always with him on the rare occasions I couldn’t be. In return he’d gifted me with his necklace that bore the Mikaelson crest. It had originally hung from a leather cord but he’d had it transferred to a silver chain and I wore it around my neck, happy to have something that reminded me of him for always.

‘Bored there my love?’ He murmured, to quiet to be heard by anyone else over the T.V.

‘While I’m in your arms? Never.’ I grinned as his chuckle, placing a kiss to his pulse point.

‘Do you ever think about getting married?’ Nik asked and I blinked at the question.

I leaned up, my hands resting against his face so I could take in his expression. He looked curious, yet slightly nervous.

‘I used to all the time when I was human. Had my perfect wedding all planned out. But it was something I gave up on when I became a vampire.’ I told him honestly.

‘Why?’ he wondered, reaching up to brush some hair behind my ear.

‘Because I couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to spend an eternity with me. I could barely imagine sixty years, but forever? It just seemed impossible.’ I murmured.

‘What about now?’ he seemed tentative, which was rare for him and I couldn’t help but instinctively move a hand to his hair, knowing that it soothed him.

‘Is that your way of proposing?’ I teased, trying to ease his nerves.

He grinned, leaning up and pecking my lips before falling back to the love seat, ‘I’ve been thinking about it for a while now.’

The sincerity in his expression caught me off guard, but my surprise quickly faded to delight, ‘really?’

He nodded, relieved by my excitement, ‘I even have a ring. I was planning on a romantic dinner with just the two of us, ending with me asking you.’

‘That sounds like quite the proposal.’ I commented, my hand gently moving back and forth against his jaw, ‘why mention it now?’

‘My love, patience has never been my strength. I’ve waited so long to have you back in my arms and I can’t keep putting off making you mine because I’m waiting for a perfect moment. Every moment with you is more perfect than I ever could have imagined, and certainly more perfect than I deserve. I love you Evangeline, with everything that I am. Spend an eternity with me. Marry me.’ He said, softly wiping away the tears that had fallen down my cheeks.

‘Okay,’ I was sure my tears didn’t dampen the pure happiness that I could feel radiating from my face. Nik captured my lips, kissing me with a softness and tenderness that made my heart flutter in my chest.

‘I love you.’ I told him, my voice barely above a whisper, but his soft smile assured me that he’d heard me.

‘I love you too.’ He replied as I settled against his chest again.

I drifted off to sleep there, surrounded by our oblivious family and in the arms of the man I loved.

Five years and six months after Evangeline returned from the 15th century.

‘You look beautiful.’ Jenna said, dabbing away the tears in her eyes with a tissue.

I smiled at her from where I was sat, getting my hair curled by one of the professionals Bekah had hired for all of us.

‘Thank you Aunt Jenna.’ I winked.

‘If you’re this emotional now, you’re gonna be done for when she puts on the dress.’ Elena teased, winding an arm around Jenna’s waist.

They had all gotten ready before me so they (mainly Bekah) could assure everything else was going to plan everywhere else. The female Mikaelson was currently checking on the boys and making sure they were finished, honestly I was so grateful for her. If it hadn’t been for her input, I doubt we could’ve pulled off the wedding I’d been dreaming of since I was a little girl.

‘I know, I just keep thinking about your Mom and Dad and how proud they would be right now.’ She said, barely squeezing out her words before the tears started streaming again.

‘They are here, Jenna. Maybe not in body but definitely in spirit.’ Elena assured both our aunt and I. I offered her a grateful smile, my eyes flicking over to my bouquet of red and white roses I would be holding while walking down the isle—my mom and dad’s favourite flowers. It had been Nik’s idea and I’d loved it.

‘You’re right.’ Our emotional aunt nodded, seeming to steel herself as she dabbed her eyes one last time before securing her tissue in her bra. Elena and I shared an amused glance.

‘You both look beautiful by the way.’ I complimented them.

I had chosen Elena as my maid of honour, with Bekah and Jenna being bridesmaids. Each wore a deep purple A-line styled dress made of chiffon material. This colour matched the ties of the groomsman, aside from Nik’s—his would be white. The dress cut off just below the knee, revealing the black platform shoes each of them wore. I had encouraged them to choose how they wanted to wear their own hair and was surprised when they’d all agreed on one hairstyle for them all. Their hair had been curled, with the front being pinned back to the backs of their heads with a jewelled clip that matched the deep purple of their dresses. They looked stunning.

‘Not as beautiful as you’re going to look.’ Bekah commented as she re-entered the room, looking moderately relieved.

‘What’s up?’ Lena asked.

‘Nik’s pacing a hole in the floor from his room. It amazes me how quickly his paranoia grows the longer he’s separated from you.’ She shook her head in amazement, moving over to the mirror to unzip my dress.

‘Well maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if someone hadn’t made us sleep apart last night.’ I muttered, already reaching for my phone.

‘It’s bad luck to see the groom before the wedding!’ Bekah protested, frowning when she saw me walking towards the bathroom, ‘what are you doing? You need to put your dress on, the ceremony starts in ten minutes!’

‘I’ll be two, I promise.’ I smiled reassuringly and closed the door behind me, finding Nik’s contact and clicking it before bringing it to my ear.

It rung once before he answered, ‘Evangeline.’ He murmured; his voice already sounding a little more relaxed.

‘Hello my gorgeous Hybrid and soon to be husband.’ I answered brightly, smiling at the sound of his chuckle, ‘what’s this I hear about you being paranoid?’

‘It’s nothing, my love. Just my self depreciating voice rearing it’s ugly head and telling me that I don’t deserve you.’ He said, his voice more sombre now.

‘Nik, you are the strongest, sweetest, smartest, funniest, sexiest and most talented man I’ve ever known. So you tell that voice inside your head to shove it because you’re an amazing man and I promise to keep reminding you of that fact for eternity.’

‘Thank you, my love. You always know what to say,’ he said, his voice soft.

‘You’re welcome, we all need reassurance sometimes, and that’s nothing to be ashamed of.’ My voice was as gentle as his.

‘I can’t wait to marry you.’ I could sense his smile on the other side of the phone.

‘Right back at you my Hybrid.’ I grinned, ‘speaking of I should put my dress on before Bekah has an aneurism. I’ll see you soon.’

‘That you will, my love.’

I hung up the phone and exited the bathroom, handing my phone to Jenna while Bekah and Elena helped me step into my dress. I had surprised everyone with my determination to choose my own wedding attire, which was fair seeing as any other clothing trip ended with me leaving it to Bekah. But I’d had a very specific dress in mind for my wedding day and I was overjoyed with the end result. It was a ball gown dress with a three-foot train; the bodice had a lace overlay that extended on sheer material to my arms. There were hundreds of diamonds scattered all over that twinkled when they caught the light just right. The veil that was clipped into my hair was also decorated with lace and hung all the way down to the floor. I was wearing my Mikaelson necklace, which I’d been sure to pull from underneath my dress, displaying the crest proudly where it rested on my chest. My hair was curled; the front pinned back similarly to the girls’ but mine was secured with the clip of my veil. My made up was natural; my lips painted with a deep red lip stain that matched the roses I’d be carrying perfectly.

‘You look radiant.’ Bekah said, tears forming in her own eyes.

‘Don’t, you’re gonna make me cry.’ I warned.

‘We can’t have that, you’ll ruin your make up and you look perfect.’ Elena nudged Bekah playfully.

A knock on the door broke us out of our conversation; Elena answered the door to reveal Elijah. His expression became soft when he saw me, his own eyes glassing over as emotion overcame him.

‘Sister, you look… wonderful.’ He murmured.

I hugged him, ‘thank you Lijah.’

‘Well, it’s time.’ Bekah announced, shooing the other bridesmaids out of the room, ‘remember walk down the isle when you hear the wedding march.’

‘We know Bekah.’ I chuckled, my arm linking through Elijah’s as we followed them.

I had asked him to walk me down the isle because I couldn’t imagine anyone else doing it. Elijah had become the best big brother I could have ever hoped for, and it seemed wrong to be given away by anyone else. Of course, Nik had also asked him to be best man, so after he’d delivered me to the end of the isle, he would take his place in between Nik and Kol. I took a deep breath as we reached the entrance to the ballroom; we were getting married at a house Nik had built in Mystic Falls long before I had even been born. He wanted to have a house where we could live when I wanted to visit my home, and a place that he could stay in to reminisce about the village he’d lived in when he was human. He’d built this house on top of the same place he’d resided all those years ago. When he’d told me that, it seemed to be the perfect location; the town where I’d grown up, where my parents were born and buried, and the village he’d spent time with his family before they’d become vampires. It held a lot of nostalgia and meaning for the both of us, and I knew then that this is where we could become husband and wife.

‘Are you ready, sister?’ Elijah murmured, turning to me as the march started.

I nodded, unable to keep the smile off my face as I followed Elijah’s lead down the isle. I’ve never felt more love and happiness than I did in that moment, surrounded by those I loved, and the man I loved more than anything. Those invited had been kept to a bare minimum. Nik had most of his friends as groomsmen: Marcel, Stefan, Kol and Elijah were all stood up there with him, while on my side stood Jenna, Bekah and Elena. Other than that, Damon, Jeremy, April (he’d asked to bring her as his guest), Sophie, Josh, Cami, Finn and Freya all sat in white wooden chairs as the audience.

Freya had been a surprise to the Mikaelson’s not long after Nik had proposed. She’d popped up explaining that their aunt Dahlia had kidnapped her and cursed to spend a hundred years sleeping to every year of life. That had been a close fight that involved another time travel spell for Esther’s blood and a few other ingredients, but we defeated her and Freya was free and connecting with the family she’d yearned to know for centuries. Finn was a different story. He’d been undaggered after Nik had tracked down Sage, who’d been his long lost love nine centuries ago. After their reunion, they’d departed and we hadn’t heard a word from him until Freya popped up and he came to the compound to visit her. Even during those visits he’d only really spoken to his eldest sister. Still, we’d extended a wedding invitation to him seeing as he was technically family. But I’ll admit I was stunned by his attendance; I suspected Freya had something to do with it. Though I was unsurprised that Sage hadn’t come; her and Nik had apparently never gotten along.

After my eyes had quickly glanced over those present they fell and remained on the most important one of all. My Hybrid was positively beaming with happiness, the same kind that I was sure he could see on my face. The kind of elation that you felt at the prospect of marrying your best friend, your confidant, your lover… your person. His gorgeous blue eyes were glassed over as he fought to hold back his tears, I want as strong however, my tears having long fallen onto my cheeks. Bekah would have a fit, but I didn’t care. Elijah took my hand and placed it in Nik’s and just like that, I was home. My fingers entwined with his as we faced the man we’d chosen to officiate our marriage.

‘We are gathered here today to join this man and this woman in matrimony.’ I couldn’t help but tune out what he was saying, too lost in Nik’s eyes to worry about anything else.

‘I believe you have written your own vows?’ I startled at the question, and nodded.

‘Nik, before I met you, I had given up on the idea of marriage, of finding someone to spend the rest of my life with. When I was human, it seemed plausible, as sixty years doesn’t seem as daunting as an eternity. But suddenly faced with the prospect of forever, I couldn’t imagine finding anyone who would love me enough to want to be tied with me for eternity. Then I met you. We might have first gotten of on the wrong foot,’ we all shared a chuckle at that, ‘but I fell in love with you so fast that it scared me. I’d never felt so much so fast before, but before I could get too lost in my own insecurities, you told me that you loved me too. Not with words at first, but in the way you protected me, the way that you touched me and the way that you looked at me. From that moment all those years ago, I couldn’t picture a future without you in it, and now I can’t wait to spend eternity with you as your wife.’ I gently wiped away the tears that had fallen onto his cheeks before grasping his hands in mine again.

‘Evangeline, I’ve been on this earth for a long time, and for a majority of it I was a man I’m not proud of. As a human, I was berated and beaten for no reason other than my father’s unexplainable hatred of me. When I became a vampire and my werewolf side was revealed, I was more of an outsider then I had ever been. I learned to be ashamed of who I was, because that is what my mother inadvertently told me when she cursed my werewolf side into dormancy. This created a man whose insecurity and fear manifested itself as anger and aggression. I believed I didn’t deserve to be loved by anyone. I became a monster, pushing away those closest to me until I believed they hated me too. I belittled anyone who showed emotion, when deep down I envied them for being brave enough to love, to adore, to laugh, and to be happy. I spent centuries taking the fate of my sibling’s into my own hands, because while I knew they hated me, I loved them and I couldn’t tamper my protective instincts when it came to their safety. They perceived it was out of spite or superiority and I let them believe it because it was easier to accept their hate than their love. But then I met you. You came into my life and within two minutes you’d already, albeit unwillingly, revealed your plans to kill me.’ I chuckled with him, my tears falling steadily down my face, ‘but despite the obvious threat, I couldn’t bring myself to hurt you. When you offered a plan to help me I was grateful that it meant I didn’t have to come up with an excuse myself. Your light, your kindness to a man who you only knew to cause you pain drew me in. You bought out my humanity without effort and I found myself overcome with my love for you, with my protectiveness and adoration. You accepted me for who I was, you made accepting your love and returning it effortless. You made me realise that I deserved to be loved.’ He took a breath, gently wiping the tears from my cheeks and smiling when I leaned into his touch. ‘I vow that for the rest of eternity, you will never doubt how much I love you, Evangeline.’

My hands squeezed his gently as we shared a smile.

‘The rings?’ The officiate asked.

I turned and took Nik’s ring from Elena, while Nik retrieved mine from Elijah.

After we exchanged ‘I do’s,’ Nik pulled me in for a passionate kiss and just like that, we were married. The idea of an eternity with one person may have scared me once. But that was before Nik. That was before I’d met the one person in the world who seemed to understand me better than I understood myself. He was my rock, my Hybrid, and as long as he was by my side the prospect of forever was anything but daunting.

#klaus mikaelson #klaus mikaelson imagine #Klaus Mikaelson x OC #the originals #the vampire diaries

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retvenkos · 4 years

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“you’re a hopeless romantic, at heart.”

SO HERE WE ARE, IMAGINING WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE TO BE A NEWSIE AND TO HAVE A NOT-SO-SECRET CRUSH ON THE ONE AND ONLY SARAH JACOBS...

you were friends with davey.

and the more you thought about it, the more you realized that this was all his fault.

he was the one who introduced sarah to the newsies one day, after the strike.

he had gone back to school, by then, his father having healed up a little, but even so he still came around to sell on the weekends or do the evening papers

according to him, sarah was insistent on meeting les and his friends, and there was really no way out of it

later, when you would try to use the same excuse of ‘no way out of it’ to justify your crush, he would eat his words

what struck you about sarah was how kind she could be

not many people decided to hang around poor, dirty newsies

katherine did, sure, but there was always a divide between her and the rest of you. she had more and she knew it, and as nice as she could be, there would always be something between you.

it was the product of growing up with such wealth, you assumed

sarah, on the other hand, was too different from you

oh, she had more, and there was always pity in her gaze when she saw just how young some of you were (”they’re younger than les was, when he first started.” “we all start that young.”), but there was never a divide. she never saw herself as being any better than you.

and she was always willing to give - whatever she had, it was to share.

and if you would refuse, she’d insist, putting it in your hands and closing hers on top.

and then she’d smile.

and it would take your breath away.

it only took two meetings for you to fall head over heels, and the more you saw of her, the worse it got.

but you didn’t avoid her. no, you couldn’t.

you seemed to be drawn to her. where ever she was, you somehow ended up there as though you knew to meet her, all along

the two of you became good friends that way

at first it was jokes that you both seemed to be following the other. then she proposed that perhaps it was destiny pushing you together.

and you had never been one for romantic notions before (”romance isn’t something a newsie like me can afford”), but when she said it it felt right.

soon, the two of you saw each other so much, davey would ask you if he ever didn’t know where to find his sister

being the oblivious child he is, he never stopped to think it odd that the two of you were so close

les did, tho, and that’s when all hell broke loose

this boy - who still had to stand on a stack on newspapers to look you in the eye (davey joked that he was cursed to be short forever) - was relentless in his teasing

he always seemed to find you when you were daydreaming or thinking all romantic like, and he would fix you with the most mischievous smirk you had ever seen

“thinking about someone, (n/n)?”

and he absolutely gave everyone the worst nicknames that made eyes roll out of their sockets

and you would just shoot back, teasing him about his own girl

it was a hit or miss tactic, tho, he seemed to move on from girls fairly often, without ever having approached them.

“the day you talk to sarah, i’ll consider speaking to someone, too.”

“you’re gonna be single forever, then, buddy.”

“isn’t that a bit of an insult to yourself?”

he would also make vague comments about it when davey or sarah was around

you wanted to bury yourself alive.

to davey’s credit, he did finally realize what was going on

all thanks to les, of course

and when the two of them ganged up on you, it was worse than you ever believed it could be

davey thought your feelings were “very cute” and supported it tenfold.

you were far better than anyone else sarah had ever had eyes for

the only good thing that came from davey knowing was that he was actually helpful when it came to figuring out sarah, thank god

he told you that she definitely had a crush on you, too, and even told you how he could tell

when sarah found out, she hit him with his own laundry

the jacobs are a very endearing family, can’t you tell?

so when you were out selling papers on a street corner and sarah walked by, you decided that today was going to be the day

of course, you indulged her in conversation about what books she had read recently, and what sewing project she was working on

it was something for you, but she pretended like it was for davey or les

and she asked you about what you had been up to and if race had ever given you back your hat after you had gambled it to him

the answer was no, he didn’t even have your hat - you had sold it so that you could get something for sarah for her birthday a month back and hadn’t had the heart to let her know why your head was bare ever since.

and once you had sold your final paper, you offered to walk her home, as always

she gives you her arm and as the two of you walk you try to build up the courage to tell her, but your words keep sticking in your throat.

and when you get to her door, you want to tell her so bad but you just can’t bring yourself to do it

so instead, you tell her the truth about your missing hat

“you didn’t have to do that, (y/n).”

“i know, but i wanted to.”

“well, i have something to tell you, too...”

and she divulges that the sewing project she’s been working on has been making you a new hat - you didn’t look quite right without one

and you thank her, at a loss for words

the two of you stand there, close to one another but not saying a word for a moment or two, right as davey comes around the corner with les in tow

“did you tell her?”

davey has an excited smile on his face, and you freeze

“about the hat?”

“the hat? no! about his crush—”

davey slaps a hand over les’ mouth, but it’s too late

the cat is out of the metaphorical bag

and so you tell her

and your nervous and you stutter, but as a smile grows on her face, you realize that davey was right, and she likes you, too

AND FLUFF ENSUES.

#newsies #newsies musical #newsies 1992 #sarah jacobs #x reader #reader insert #imagine #would include #headcanons #fluff #crush #davey jacobs #les jacobs

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daphnefms · 4 years

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hi and hello ! i’m t and i’m so excited to be introducing u to my little daphne … we love to hate her and we can’t help but love her. she and i will both just be tryin’ our best out here honestly so feel free to like this or hmu if u’d like to plot, i’ve got a few ideas kickin’ at the bottom of this post but i’m also more than happy to fill out one of urs if u’d prefer it ! without further ado, hit that read more to learn a lil bit about america’s sweetheart and behind the scenes terror daphne santos

oh my god ! @daphnesantos just liked my tweet ! you know , they’re the actress with 13.2m of followers ? i can’t believe they noticed me . seriously ? you’ve never heard of them ? what … are you living under a rock ? they’re daphne santos , and they’re twenty two years old . i’ve never met them , but the tabloids all say that they’re gregarious and altruistic . it’s kind of sad , though . ever since they moved to downtown los angeles from stowe, vermont, they’ve become really irascible and mendacious . some say that wrath has become them . i’m not sure if i believe that . there’s more than what meets the eye , right ? they’re more than just at wide and empty eyes, screaming into a pillow searching for release, & tear stained cheeks after spending another night alone in a hotel room, i know it ! ( kelsey merritt , cis female , she/her ) .

name - daphne marisol santos

birthday - october 23rd ( twenty two years old )

birthplace / hometown - stowe, vermont

profession - actress

movies - lady macbeth, 2017 ( katherine ), midsommar, 2019 ( dani ), little women, 2019 ( amy marsh ), etc

labels - the amaranth, the babydoll, the blackhole, the charlatan, the hellion, the paradox

positive traits - gregarious, altruistic, charming, articulate

negative traits - irascible, calculating, mendacious, haughty

likes - sun showers, crowded parties, prolonged eye contact, cool summer nights, sleeping on satin sheets, the moment before stepping out of the car for a red carpet event, ornate and gaudy accessories, classical music dominated by the string section, reaffirming compliments, being told she is not a bad person, waking up early for a day of work, renaissance art

dislikes - sleeping alone, being underestimated, appearing weak in public, losing attention to someone else, sitting still for too long, intense humidity, bad reviews, stumbling over her words, stepping on cracks in the pavement, people seeing her cry, talk show interviews

biography

daphne was born in the ‘ ski capital of the east ’ stowe, vermont. a town of just over four thousand people, the expectation of her excelling in an acting career was almost non-existent. but she was certain of her talent and she knew there was only one thing she wanted from life, so she moved to LA fresh out of high school and got to work with small jobs, slowly building up to her first truly big break with lady macbeth

after that she began her rise to real stardom, filming midsommar and little women and racking up nominations for a variety of awards, including the academy award for best supporting actress. that being said, she’s won few of the awards she was nominated for, always a bridesmaid never a bride or whatever, and that’s weighed on her pretty heavily.

all she can see is this conception of being the best, being beloved, and a lot of that lies in producing exceptional work and perfecting a public persona that makes her the height of elegance and someone it is impossible not to be a fan of

big ol’ fake right here, she never really lets anyone see the real her, the girl who snorts when she laughs and and panics before every interview, and she tries not to keep anyone too close because it’s just another opportunity for scandal

so that’s some intense pressure, which leads to the explanation of her sin - wrath. daphne’s prone to fits of rage, tantrums when she’s alone in her hotel room, rambled rants in the makeup chair between takes, profuse apologies afterwards. she’ll smile in front of the cameras and make you regret it in private, i promise you.

she’s not afraid to use people for her own benefit, but she has this way about her that makes you feel semi-grateful you even got the opportunity to be apart of her larger plan

hasn’t kept close contact with her parents since moving, they weren’t in love with the idea and she was not going to allow herself to be held back. she justifies ignoring their calls by saying she’s cutting out negative energy

has been trying her best for so long, doesn’t remember what it’s like to feel normal, just has a bunch of pent up aggression and sadness but it’s fine she’s fine

wanted connections

someone she’s known since the beginning of her career, maybe they used to work on smaller projects together or go to the same auditions while they were starting up, but maybe there’s a lil bit of a connection there bc they knew/liked one another before the fame and now they just vibe together

imagine the potential of two people who bother each other so much and then eventually start to see the good in one another but it’s complicated but hey we’re both on this elevator so why not kiss but then the door opens and it’s ur floor and i don’t get off and we don’t see each other for a week and when we do we pretend it didn’t happen bc we just started being friends and then who knows ... just a thought

exes ? maybe they were in love maybe it was just pr idk

surrogate family ! since her parents are cut off she does need someone to love and care for her a lil bit and also to reciprocate that with she’s not completely heartless

enemies / rivals, someone who’s constantly trying to best her and with whom she is trying to do the same

publicity friendship maybe ? they hangout on occasion bc they know their fans are obsessed w them being friends and love a good photo op but lowkey dont like each other

that’s all i have but hey .. we’ll figure smth out if u don’t like those

#ooc.#7sins:intro

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stealing-jasons-job · 4 years

Text

10 Questions Tag Game

Rules: Answer 10 15 questions, ask 10, and tag 10 people however many people your heart desires to answer them.

Tagged by the amazing @burninghoneyatdusk, @nakey-cats-take-bathsss, and @bookwormforalways, so you guys are getting 15 answers from me. 🥰

I apologize in advance for getting deep on main. lol

1. Do you believe in soulmates/true love?

I don’t believe in soulmates, but I do believe in true love.

Is there one person we’re fated to be with forever and ever? No, I don’t think so. As much as I love soulmate AUs and the idea of there being one person you know you’ll click with no matter what... I just don’t think it’s realistic.

Instead, I think that there are lots of people you’re compatible with. And some people get lucky and meet a person they are compatible with at a time when both of them are ready to commit and build a life together. When that happens, you’re building a relationship and partnership that I believe turns into true love over time.

2. What’s your happy place?

This is hard because I have a lot of happy places, but I think my number one happy place is my high school’s softball field. I’ve spent hundreds of hours on that field over my lifetime, and I miss it a lot now that I’m grown and moved away from home. Playing softball, being on the pitcher’s mound, was always where I just felt the most myself. I was 100% in my element, surrounded by some of my closest friends I’d known since I was 8 years old when we all played on the same tournament team. Worries about my body, all the bullshit with my dad, friend drama, boy drama, anxieties about the future... none of it could touch me when I was inside the fence of that field practicing or playing. 🥎

3. If you could befriend one fictional character (book/show/movie) who would it be and why?

Part of me wants to say Bellamy Blake because I would marry that man (sorry, Clarke). lol But I think realistically, I’m going to go with Olivia Pope because powerful friends are helpful and she’s a badass I’d like to have in my corner.

4. Song lyrics that apply to your current mental state/state of your life rn:

The song Lady Like by Ingrid Andress is my anthem rn. I relate to the entire song so much, but here’s the pre-chorus/chorus:

“Controversial, so outspoken

I've been told I'm not ladylike

But I'm a lady, like whoa

I could bring you to your knees and

Get you kicked out the Garden of Eden

Untamable, unframeable, Mona Lisa, oh

Kiss you like a whiskey fire

Turn around, leave your heart in a riot

Lipstick in a cigarette pack on the dash

I'm a lady like that

I'm a lady like that”

5. What’s something that helps you stay positive even when things get hard?

Writing. It’s my passion, and I love crafting stories. It’s a way to escape — create a new world for me to live in or insert myself into a world I wish I could visit. But it’s also a good way to give myself perspective. My stress about work is smaller when I’m writing about characters trying to prevent the apocalypse. The current shit show that is... well, the whole world, is something I feel I can make a positive impact in when I’m writing about characters fighting a government conspiracy.

6. What’s a memory you wish that you could go back in time to and relive?

This is so random, but one time in high school my group of friends did a big scavenger hunt. Each team made their own list of riddles for the other team to solve and then photograph within the city limits of our small town. After we got done, we went to our high school football field and broke into the press box to screw around with the PA system. Afterward, we just walked around for a while, laid down under the traffic light in the middle of the road (it was like 3 AM at this point on a backroad, so no cars). It was such a wholesome night. lol Just 7 teenagers screwing around and having fun — not a single care in the world. I was in that weird, flirty stage with one of my guy friends. I had a softball game against our school rival coming up that I was excited for. Life was simple. I’d go back and relive that night in a heartbeat.

7. If you could talk to your 13 year old self, what would you tell her/advice would you give her?

Being vulnerable isn’t the end of the world, and your worth is not conditional on your strength or usefulness.

**Potenital TW**

My dad was verbally and emotionally abusive my entire childhood (still is, I just am better equipped to handle it as an adult that doesn’t live in the same state). I grew up thinking that love was conditional and all vulnerabilities would be exploited for someone else’s gain. That any weakness shown would be used to hurt me. That makes it really hard for me to open up to people (for example, I would not be telling you guys this story if we were sitting in the same room rather than me typing it out on screen — and it’s still giving me anxiety to share), and it makes it really hard for me to form deep attachments and friendships since those typically hinge on sharing parts of yourself and being vulnerable with someone else.

Maybe it wouldn’t have helped, but maybe if I could go back and tell myself during those formidable years that none of that is true... who knows how things could be different, how I could be different.

Anyway, sorry about that sob story. Moving on.

8. What’s your favorite quote of all time? Why?

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.” ― Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Because this logic can be applied to almost everything: Confidence isn’t the absence of insecurity, but rather the understanding that you have worth despite them. Goodness isn’t the absence of badness or darkness, but rather the conscious decision to reject those impulses to be better. Love isn’t to see an absence of flaws or irritation, but to respect and appreciate someone in part because of them.

Plus, Princess Diaries I and II remain two of my favorite movies, which is where I first heard this quote. 👑

9. What is the quality you value most in a friend?

Being genuine. As mentioned above, the trust and emotional intimacy issues are real with me. lol But if I know you are a genuine person who’s going to shoot me straight and be upfront about what you’re thinking, feeling, etc. then it’s easier for me to let you in. It may take time, but it’ll happen eventually.

10. If the pandemic magically ended today, how would you spend tomorrow?

On a plane. To somewhere with new people, crowded spaces, restaurants galore. Hong Kong, maybe. Or Tokyo. 🏙️

11. If you could go back in time and live in any era & location, and face no danger, where would you choose?

Vikings. God, I would have thrived in a Nordic society. Women’s rights were paramount, being strong and tough as a woman was celebrated, sword fighting and archery and rowing were important skills, they lived in cold places (I like winter), there’s a possibility I could have trained a dragon. Like, I’d miss some modern technology, but I’d live. lol

12. What heroine of a movie, book, tv show, story, or history do you relate to most?

Honestly? Clarke Griffin. Bossy + has zero chill + occasionally says somethign v sassy + afraid of being vulnerable + refusal to show any weakness + doesn’t talk about her feelings + in love with Bellamy Blake + rocks the black leather aesthetic + wants to save the world but makes questionable decisions to do so? ✅✅✅

13. Without saying who the person is, what is a question you wish you could ask someone but can’t?

What the actual fuck do you think are you doing?

(I’d actually like to ask this to two people, and I bet all of you can guess the two people right away lololol)

14. In one sentence, what are you personally struggling with right now?

Figuring out where I fit into the world.

15. What’s a book/article/story that brought you joy/comfort/healing that you wish others would read?

How to Walk Away by Katherine Center.

It’s a beautiful book that taught me a lot about self-worth, throwing out your life playbook (because it never goes according to plan), and thriving where you’re planted rather than lamenting the fact that you aren’t in a different garden.

12/10 recommend! (Her other books are also amazing.)

My questions for you...

(Stealing some from others because they were good!)

1. What album/playlist do you listen to when you’re in need of some inspiration/motivation?

2. If money wasn’t an object, what would you want to do with your life?

3. What’s your happiest memory?

4. What’s something that helps you stay positive even when things get hard?

5. What’s a book/movie/tv show that you turn to when you’re feeling down and need comfort?

6. Do you believe in soulmates?

7. If you could be anywhere in the world tomorrow (pretending COVID-19 doesn’t exist), where would you be and why?

8. How do you define success?

9. What’s your favorite quote of all time, and why?

10. If there’s anyone in the world you could spend the day with (fictional, historical, someone you know, anyone at all), who would it be and why?

#tag games #it's a long one lol #about me #personal #changingthefairy-tale

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clansayeed · 4 years

Text

Bound by Destiny ― Chapter 3: The Evidence

PAIRING: Kamilah Sayeed x MC (Nadya Al Jamil) RATING: Mature

⥼ MASTERLIST ⥽

⥼ Bound by Destiny ⥽

Nadya Al Jamil (MC) has been struggling from the day she moved to Manhattan, but her new job as assistant to the mysterious CEO of Raines Corp was supposed to turn her luck around. Until she finds herself caught in the middle of a war involving the Council of Vampires who secretly run the city. An evil from the birth of Vampire-kind stirs beneath, feeding on the conflict, and finds Nadya bound to a destiny she never asked for.

Bound by Destiny and the rest of the Oblivion Bound series is an ongoing dramatic retelling project of the Bloodbound series and spin-off, Nightbound. Find out more [HERE].

⥼ Chapter Summary ⥽

Everyone said nothing good would ever come of falling into an online video rabbit hole. Unfortunately for Nadya they were right.

[READ IT ON AO3]

She doesn’t see hide nor hair of Katherine in the days following the Gallery, and can’t help but suspect that’s kind of the point. Adrian doesn’t mention her name, her presence, or the fact that he essentially ditched Nadya at an event full of strangers to conclude whatever business he and Kamilah had with her.

He does make it up to his secretary just as he said. When he picks her up Monday evening there’s a sample box of gourmet cronuts from a news-featured local bakery with a reservation line as long as the one to get a photo on the bridge where King Anton proposed to Princess Caoimhe. Before she can message Adrian what he wants for dinner on Wednesday there’s an email from security downstairs about a food delivery — which just so happens to be from one of the best Brazilian steakhouses in the city. And just when she doesn’t think he could be any more impressive (or desperate for forgiveness) he sends her off Friday near-dawn with front-row tickets for her and Lily to Saturday’s evening performance of On Summit Blackspine.

“No — nope, no freakin’ way.”

With his hands in his pockets Adrian is like a wall of generosity. He simply won’t take it back. “I insist. You two were looking at tickets anyway, right?”

“Well, yeah,” she splutters, acts like she has no idea how to hold two small pieces of paper, “but we were looking at tickets, like, a year from now, and… way way up in the nosebleeds!”

Adrian completely disregards her protests; even when they start to venture into ‘why were you listening to my lunch break phone call’ territory. He doesn’t seem somber — like he’s genuinely repaying some sort of debt — at all. In fact she’s never seen anyone look so excited about something they won’t be partaking in.

He joins her in the elevator ride down but doesn’t have any of his usual things. He’s staying late but won’t hear a word of her offering to keep him company.

Before the revolving door separates them Nadya plucks up her courage and turns on her heel to look Adrian in the eyes. He startles back, but his composure is never more than a hair’s breadth away.

“You know you don’t have to do anything, right?” It’s as sincere as she can make it; any more emotion between them and she might as well be bawling into his tie.

“What do you mean?”

She groans in protest. “Adrian, you know exactly what I mean. All this stuff —” her gesture is open, vague, but he’s a smart guy, “— and whatever you have in mind about making it up to me. You don’t have to do any of it. Please tell me you understand that. I mean it. I need to hear you, like, verbally say it.”

He laughs in that familiar kind way of his; even puts on a squared jaw and teasingly stern frown when she swats his arm.

“I understand, Nadya, I do. But I can’t help it. I left you on your own most of the night, and didn’t even tell you when I was leaving. Just let me do this, please?”

Eventually his kicked-puppy eyes break her resolve, but only just. “Fine. But this is it, Raines. No more apology gifts.”

“Alright, alright! No more. Though returning the Maserati might be an issue…”

Nadya’s heart falls into the pit of her stomach. “The wha —” But Adrian’s awful at hiding his smile, even worse at hiding the shit-eating grin it grows into, and though he could probably dead-lift her without a second thought she hopes the numerous smacks she wails on his arms do some kind of damage.

He waves her off, calls out “Tell me all about it Monday!” and she’s the one left watching him retreat back into the building.

While riding the subway Nadya’s thoughts wander — and not for the first time either — to whether or not other Manhattan secretaries had such eccentric bosses. Doubtful.

There isn’t time the next night to think about Adrian’s oddities — all thanks to Lily. If she spent the whole evening worrying about work and why her boss was so nice it was a guarantee that her roommate would use any physical force necessary to snap her out of it.

“I can’t believe you had all day to catch up and you spent it rewatching AME!”

While they certainly aren’t dressed up to rival those she’d seen at the Gallery, Nadya and Lily are still the best-dressed things to grace the subway in a long time. Nadya had been ready to call a rideshare until Lily so graciously reminded her how expensive drinks and snacks were likely to be at the show — and they already had subway passes.

“The stage show debuted last year,” Nadya argues defensively, “it’s not like they’re gonna edit the script for every new episode that airs.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I’m pretty sure.”

They compare notes of knowledge and trade fan-theories on the ride; every time Lily riles herself up over the book plots Nadya has to pat her shoulder and remind her to use her subway voice. It may have been way too much for Adrian to spend on someone who managed his datebook but she couldn’t deny how much she missed hanging out with her best friend.

“Check it out,” Lily whispers in her ear, and Nadya turns her attention away from the seating chart above the door to the sight of Lily’s dress shirt unbuttoned and spread Superman-style; revealing her collector’s edition The Crown and the Flame book-cover tee; a memory from their first Christmas together.

It sends them both into fits of giggles — the attendees around them may be averse to laughter and joy but they certainly were not. The doors open soon after and they take their seats — smack dab in the middle of the front row.

The lights dim, the curtains part, and all the reviews Nadya read about how ‘difficult and underwhelming it was to bring something filmed on-location and with tons of CGI to the stage’ can go shove it because the Five Kingdoms are beautiful.

Lily steals her phone Monday afternoon for a quick text. Nadya doesn’t think much of it — they’ve lived together long enough with little boundary — until she’s about to go down and wait for Adrian on the curb but instead he’s blocking her path in the doorway.

“Uh…?” The confusion doesn’t last long — not when Lily practically assaults Adrian with one of her signature bone-crushing, spine-deforming, lung-shrinking hugs. She praises a litany of gracious thanks so fast she’s out of breath before Nadya can pull her off.

To Adrian’s credit he’s not phased in the slightest — back again with that silly grin. “Well that solves my mystery,” presenting his phone screen to them both, “because when I saw how the text was signed I thought you confused me for someone else.”

When she takes the phone and spots the ‘xoxo’ signed at the bottom of Lily’s request for Adrian to meet her at the door, Nadya’s cheeks burn scarlet.

“I’m gonna kill you.”

“I figured.” Though Lily doesn’t seem ashamed in the slightest. “I just wanted to thank him in person. I had the chance, so I took it.”

“I take it that means the show lived up to the hype?” Adrian looks between them eagerly; and even Nadya relents and nods.

“It was amazing.”

“They had a full. sized. dragon puppet. Of course it was amazing!”

They’re running an hour late — Adrian insists it wasn’t any trouble but when Lily’s highlights became ‘recounting the show scene-for-scene’ Nadya had to get them out — but even the CEO’s reassurance falters when the elevator door opens to Nicole standing tersely in front of his office door.

All these months and she still doesn’t understand the dynamic between Nicole and Adrian. He’s her boss, both their boss, yet sometimes it feels like Nicole is the one ordering him around, keeping him on task — a feeling curiously accompanied by her presence in the general vicinity.

Today is no different. Her frown turns into barely-expressed rage as she looks between them. If she held her files any tighter there might be nail-shaped punctures in the paper.

“You’re late.” Nicole gives a terse click of her tongue and strides between them — parts them physically — towards the waiting elevator.

Adrian glances at his watch. “Not by much. It’s not as though Lester is clamoring to see me.”

“A certain degree of professionalism is required when handling… delicate matters such as these.”

While they argue, Nadya starts slowly inching towards her desk. Tries to make as little noise as possible as she lowers her purse down and starts taking out her work. Either it works or she’s suddenly magic because they continue to bicker on as though they’re alone up in his office.

“I don’t know anyone in the world who would call Lester Castellanos delicate, Nicole.”

The elevator door tries to close behind her but her heel wedges in the gap and forces it open. It feels like a metaphor to Nadya.

“You know very well that’s not what I mean.”

Adrian raises an eyebrow. “Then what do you mean?”

There’s no questioning the spiteful look Nicole flashes behind him. Gaze pinned straight on Nadya with a crinkle in her otherwise perfect mask of stone-cold witch.

“Not here. Downstairs.”

She’s a little more than half surprised that Adrian doesn’t pull the cinematic-cliche ‘anything you need to say, you can say in front of Nadya’ line. But it wasn’t a full surprise — there were just some things she wasn’t privy to yet. The fact that she knew as much as she did with less than a year under her belt was astonishing to say the least.

Instead, Adrian casts half a look over his shoulder. His eyes not quite meeting hers.

“Very well.”

Then they’re both standing in the elevator — Nadya watching it close from the other side.

It’s either a trick of the LEDs or Adrian looks apologetic before the door shuts with a soft ding.

Lunch — the midnight version of it — rolls around and Nadya tries not to seem so obvious in how she sneaks glances at the lift. Hoping, willing it to open. It’s almost maddening. Almost; until she replays the pair’s confrontation for the umpteenth time in her head and catches something she missed before.

Her fingers fly across her keyboard; pb&j abandoned in front of her.

Lester. She knows that name; can still hear it in Adrian’s voice clear as day.

“What have you contributed, Lester?”

The browser isn’t even finished loading her results when the unease settles in. What was once a tightly-wound ball of panic that kept her from even looking in Adrian’s direction had dulled, yes, but somehow that just made things worse. There had been a chunk of time in which she really considered Adrian might be involved with killers; or that he may very well be one himself. His charm wasn’t the only thing that disarmed her — because Adrian’s charm didn’t have the same luster it did when she first started working for him.

Nadya remembers the smile he gave her as he reassured Nadya over her interview jitters. It was something easy, practiced. It was easier to fake something around someone you didn’t know — that’s how she’s lied her way through the confidence to report directly to such an important member of the industry. Now — things changed; well hadn’t they? From daily drives to silly quips hiding behind a chocolate fountain. They’d grown close.

Somehow she hopes that means it’s harder for him to lie to her. It’s certainly harder for her to see him as a murderer. Kamilah Sayeed, on the other hand…

Lester Castellanos looks exactly like a man named Lester. Either his mother was psychic or he decided to grow into a name that oozed lecherous intent. Right off the bat a few clicks here and there on her screen outline his meat-packing company (along with several FDA violations and one unionizing strike three years ago) and how his ‘father’ ran it before he took over after Y2K. Only there aren’t any photos of Mister Castellanos with his father… or without him, actually. Plenty of local news rags have snapshots of him with a pretty (paid) girl on each arm; coming out of a Lacroix spring debut, donating to Senator Vega’s reelection campaign, having some small branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art named after him for his generosity.

Nadya’s so close to giving up — to associating Adrian and Lester as businessmen of the same tycoon-ishness — when a grainy streaming rabbit hole catches her eye. Not that she’d ever admit she was looking so intently but that maroon pantsuit? Hard not to recognize.

Probably doesn’t help that she’s had more than a few dreams about it…

It’s been ages since she’s watched anything that wasn’t taken on some form of camera phone. But the date stamp in the corner and the slight lag between audio and visual definitely mark this as a remnant of the bygone VHS-era. Probably when Lester was inducted in as CEO of his company.

There. She spends what feels like hours pausing, rewinding, dragging the player to a specific spot and having to time her two-fingered assault on the keyboard just so but the victory is sweeter than she could have imagined.

Behind Lester’s flouncy gestures for some speech about bringing ‘old industry’ back to Manhattan — the flicker of maroon. And beside Kamilah’s pixelated waves of dark hair stands a figure two heads taller and with cheekbones definitely made to exist in the time of high-definition photography; distinctive even from a distance.

Adrian’s grainy figure leans down and whispers something in Kamilah’s distorted confidence. Maybe she laughs; maybe she frowns. She doesn’t look away from Lester’s speech.

And in the corner: [03 JULY, 2001]

An uncharacteristic calm falls over her. Maybe she’s done enough freaking out for the day — or over Adrian Raines, for that matter — and she’s numb to new information. She deletes her browser history — doesn’t think it’ll do much good if anyone really wanted to see what she was looking at — and clocks back in. Loses herself in the work. For once in Nadya’s life the mindless, soul-sucking tedium of an office job is a good thing. Doesn’t really need much brain power, makes it so she doesn’t pay attention when the lift door dings and Adrian returns from his meeting with a slump in his shoulders.

That is until he looks over her shoulder.

“You’re already working on the MacCombe spreads?” He sounds surprised.

“I finished all those return calls—here —” she hands him three neon-pink post-its with different names and dates scribbled on them, “— don’t worry about memorizing them; I’ve updated your datebook with the appointments. Though this one, Volenti, is a lunch at some rooftop Italian place, so I’d avoid the morning coffee.”

She expects him to pay it all little mind. After all, this is what he’s paying her for: clerical nonsense, not to be his friend and a pesky detective on the side.

But Adrian’s all about subverting expectations; plucks the note from her fingers and frowns at the time.

“I can’t make it that day. I’m booked up all afternoon.”

Nadya quickly pulls up both his digital datebook and brushes aside an open folder to the desk calendar she has color-coded to the nines. Even Adrian’s eyes widen at the sheer mess of her incoherent organization.

“Uh, no you’re not?” Which isn’t so much questioning her boss as questioning her own appointment-making skills.

“I am. Tell Mrs. Volenti she’ll need to change it to a dinner reservation.”

“Well maybe we can squeeze—”

“Nadya.”

She looks at his face for the first time since he returned. When Adrian realized ‘professional personal space’ wasn’t really her forte — a habit picked up from living in close quarters with Lily, no doubt — he started testing his own waters until it wasn’t uncommon for both of them to just reach over one another without a second thought.

He takes up that personal bubble, now; towers over her in a way that makes Nadya shrink back in her chair slightly.

She’s never heard that sort of tone from him before. Harsh, cold, almost mean. Nadya shivers.

The hard look in Adrian’s eyes softens instantly. His tone stays firm.

“Change it to a dinner reservation. And book me up for office calls that day.” Then, as if their friendship is an afterthought; “Thank you.”

His office door closes behind him absolutely silent — she can just imagine him being as delicate as possible with the creaky old wood.

Nadya takes a few minutes to collect herself in her personal bathroom. She emerges, still counting down from one hundred, and grabs the note with Volenti’s number to reschedule.

“BOOM! HEADSHOT!”

Nadya looks down at her pint of ice cream with a grimace. No matter what the commercials said, they were liars: lactose-free ice cream was a crime against humanity.

“Did you see that? I’m pretty sure I couldn’t replicate that move if I tried.” Lily talks half to herself half to her one-person audience as she studies the controller in her hands. She brings it close and strokes her thumb over the joystick.

“Tell me your secrets… please?”

The controller vibrates — makes Lily scream in response. Then a horde of zombies swarms in on her character on the television screen and she scrambles to return to diligent gamer-mode.

Maybe time passes, or maybe Lily suddenly has the ability to teleport. Both options are equally likely as one minute Nadya successfully tunes out the groaning roar of digital catastrophe and the next Lily’s plucking the barren spoon from dangling awkwardly in her mouth.

“Hello? Ground control to Al Jamil; can you read me, Al Jamil?”

It takes Nadya a moment to blink away a sluggishness she didn’t know she had.

“You say something, Lil’?”

“I mean,” she seriously thinks it over, “nothing more than my usual gaming banter — which is still worthy of an epic quote-book. How was your trip to Planet of the Mush-Brains?”

Crouched in front of Nadya’s armchair, Lily steals a bite of melty ice cream — cringes at the lie that is ‘lactose-free’ maple pecan but forces herself to swallow it.

There’s a quip about the squishy mess that would be planet Mush-Brain on the tip of Nadya’s tongue. Instead she looks down at her half-reflection in her roommate’s smudged glasses and erupts in gooseflesh.

“Can I ask you something weird?”

“Weird on a scale of…?”

“Weird.” Nadya confirms. Lily grins.

“You fuckin’ bet.”

There’s a pause where she breathes in deep, tries to process the words about to come out of her mouth, and she goes for it.

“Do you believe in vampires?”

They’ve lived together long enough now to go through all the theories, discussions, and conversations generally reserved for the butt-crack of dawn or when midnight seems to stretch on forever. They’ve bought matching sleeping bags and sometimes have camping nights in the living room (though Lily is forever banned from buying candles — because sometimes ‘the aesthetic’ just isn’t worth possibly burning down an entire apartment building); laid head-meet-toes for hours and talked about the things that made them who they were; what they dreamed about, their genie wishes, and the things unproven that they still believed in anyway.

Vampires included.

Lily props her chin on Nadya’s knee and blinks slowly. She reminds Nadya of a cat sometimes.

“Sure,” she shrugs, “I guess. Are you talking about that video that went viral about that Norwegian metal band that said they drink each other’s blood before gigs?”

Nadya blanches. Some things should just never be said with a straight face. “No! What?! Who—where do you find these things?”

"The internet.”

“Right — I mean — no. Not Norwegians. Like… actual vampires.”

It’s stupid; ludicrous even. It’s not something she’s even going to go through the process of explaining out loud because some things even Lily might find absolutely bonkers. And she once went on a date with a Flat-Earther.

Maybe her roommate’s actually taking her seriously because she takes a long pause before answering.

“Sure, I guess. Depends on what kind.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, what lore are we talking? And also, is this a sleeping bag situation?”

Nadya wants to say yes. She wants them to push the coffee table aside and lay down together so she can vent every crazy idea she’s processing — and then some. But the room looks lighter than it did a few minutes ago and when she glances at the stove clock her heart sinks. 06:08 glaring at her in bright ugly red. Lily ‘Freakin’ Superhuman’ Spencer is no stranger to pulling all-nighters before work but Nadya has a feeling if she unloads now it might tempt her roomie to call out to stay by her side.

And while the company would be nice there was one thing she liked just a little bit more: being able to make rent.

“Nah,” she’s not convincing anyone, least of all her best friend, when she waves it off and jostles Lily onto her rear end by standing, “I was just thinking weird things.”

But now Lily’s caught the scent. Leans in sans personal-bubble as Nadya puts the melted ice cream away.

“What kinda weird things? When did you start thinking them? Who made you think weird things?”

“It’s nothing, Lil’.”

“Obviously not.”

“And you’re suddenly Sherlock Holmes…?”

“I talked to my controller, Nadi’. And you didn’t stop me.”

“Well as long as you weren’t tonguing the joystick.”

“Ew,” Lily recoils, “you know I don’t do sticks. Stop changing the subject!”

But it was just enough to get Nadya time to slip out from under the gaze of nerd-glasses scrutiny; she’s already closing her bedroom door. Lily never could resist a lesbian quip.

“Good luck at work!” She calls, and leans against her door with a heavy sigh. Nothing’s stopping Lily from knocking until she answers, or more frighteningly; nothing’s stopping her from breaking into a rendition of the song from Frozen.

But Lily respects her space. She’s just crawled into bed when she hears a call of “See ya!” and the front door slamming shut.

She texts Adrian half an hour later calling in sick. She gets sick time, right? Of course he answers when she’s on the cusp of real sleep.

[TEXT]: Are you alright?? -Adrian

[TEXT]: yeah Lil gave me her cold. sorry. can I do it like this or do I have to call hr? [TEXT]: please don’t say I gotta call nicole

[TEXT]: No this is fine. I’m sure I can survive one day. -Adrian [TEXT]: Actually take a long weekend. See you Monday. Feel better.

It’s more than she asked for so why does something uncomfortable settle in her gut? She stares at the text chain, squints until her eyes begin to blur the words, and then it hits her.

No ‘Sincerely, Adrian.’ Whatever he’s doing this early (which, honestly she’s surprised since everyone has to sleep sometime but not him, apparently) has him occupied enough not to be, well, himself. And there’s a part of Nadya that feels like if she sends him a message asking about it he might very well respond. Her fingers hover over the buttons on screen long enough for her hand to prickle with pins and needles.

She turns off the ringer, tucks the device under her pillow, and forces herself to sleep.

They are grown-ups, thank you very much. They have grown-up jobs and grown-up bills and grown-up credit cards and checking accounts and monthly interest fees. And while most of grown-up life sucked a big one, having jobs that only operated during the business week was a small perk in a sea of ‘wait, I didn’t ask for this.’

Lily doesn’t bring up the ‘V’ word all weekend. They aren’t best friends for nothing — Nadya’s way ahead of her and knows when the questions itch on the tip of her tongue. Doesn’t help that Lily’s magically, totally spontaneously decided to bring out her old copy of ‘Blood Suckers 3: Fast-Forward’ to brush up on her apparently rusty vampire-cyborg slaying abilities.

With a grocery-store pizza crisping in the oven and the tinny sounds of the cybernetically-enhanced undead wailing their deaths throughout the entire apartment things feel… normal. They feel like they used to. Before Adrian, before Raines Corp., before her internet browsing history was shamefully filled with the beginnings of research into the possibility that the creepy spookies might be legit.

There’s only one job that has followed the pair of them into grown-up life: knowing how to take care of each other. They were a bit rusty — but still got the stuff.

Lily’s eyes are glued to the screen, thumbs twitching on the joystick and slamming into buttons because hitting them harder made the little in-game avatar attack faster—obviously. Nadya can’t stop watching in amusement as she scoots, inch by inch, towards the edge of the couch in anticipation for this level’s boss battle.

“Die cyborg scum! For a third and final time!”

Any harder and she might actually break the triangle button. But Nadya doesn’t get time to warn her — not with the sudden shrill screech of the smoke detector.

“The pizza!” She’s up in a flash — yanks the pie way from the heat where it falls lamely on the floor and spews blackened bits all over the tile. The alarm chirps on out of spite.

Nadya waves a dish towel at the collecting smoke — god she really loves Lily to death but the fact that she’s the only one picking herself up to do anything is frustrating to say the least.

“Lil’! Open the windows! Please?!”

It’s enough to pull her roommate out of the distant and horrible year of 5048; then a mad dash to unlatch the fire escape window. Winter forces in like that time Lily thought they could rent out their couch space to gap-year European students. She’s chilly but effective in sucking the smoky air outside. Snowflakes flutter in but vanish on contact with the decades-old carpeting.

Above them; the sudden THUD THUD THU-UD of unfortunately all-too-familiar workboots. Then a shrill voice cuts through the aged plaster holding their building together by a thread.

“What’s that awful noise?! Marty, stop stomping you fucking idiot! I’m tryna watch my show here!”

“It’s those dykes downstairs!” Marty’s delightful holler suddenly grows sharp — echoes from his open window to theirs, “CUT THAT SHIT OUT! You ain’t takin’ us to Hell with you!”

Like a holy sign the detector ceases; angry red blinking slowing down into green, false-alarm peace.

Lily glares at the white plastic in contempt. “Rude neighbors I can live with — but a homophobic smoke detector? Nu-uh. Where’s my bat?”

While Nadya tries to dissuade her from beating them into a replacement fine Marty resumes his best lumberjack impression above them. The hazards of living somewhere with rent security.

The bat may have just been a comic-con prop but there’s nothing comical about the slew of rusty nails sticking out of the business end at odd angles. It takes a solid chunk of time to talk her down, talk her into unleashing her aggression back on Lestat-meets-the-Terminator.

After a bit of sleuthing — and with pizza crust char smeared on her cheek — Nadya holds out the culprit with all the conviction Law and Order could teach: a chunk of the plastic wrapping melted into a gloss on top of a pepperoni.

“I’ll have to call the store in the morning.”

Lily snarls at her game with new vigor. “Why?”

“Because — we caught it. What if there’s a bad batch?”

“I mean, maybe. But you don’t know that.”

“Neither do they unless I say something.”

“So…” Hunger stakes both Lily and her boss battle; ‘PAUSED’ flashing on the screen in bright blocky letters while Lily pushes up her glasses, “no pizza?”

The air hurts her face. Why did she willingly choose to live in a place where the air hurts her face?

There’s definitely an open pizza joint a few blocks over — you don’t have enough money to geomap the entire world and lie about late-night pizza — but not only are people like Nadya one of the reasons food delivery services were invented, she’s just not as familiar with her neighborhood as she once was. At the moment she blames Adrian for that.

“Stupid ritzy lunch deliveries,” she mutters, keeps her lips moving and tries not to lick them and ohp—there it goes, now her lips feel like she’s well on her way to frostbite, “stupid fancy dinner hotels, stupid employee-only rooftop restaurant, stupid DiGeronimo’s plastic-riddled pizzas of death.”

She’s glad there’s no one around to listen to her muttered tirade. Some things a woman just has to complain about alone.

“Why am I the one out here anyway?” she asks no one in particular — the snowflakes picking up speed around her, maybe, “I can’t even eat the darn pizza! — Then again I was totally gonna eat the pizza. Hey, universe, if you’re listening, I was gonna eat the pizza. I was gonna be punished enough. So like… let up on the ice age, will ya?”

The universe doesn’t let up on the ice age. If anything it feels like the snow drift is picking up speed. Flakes turn to fat droplets on her glasses that distort the world around her. Cupping her hands over her mouth does no good — can’t exactly see with fog over her lenses.

Huddled under the drooping awning of a closed bodega, her shaking hands fumble around for her phone and the map. “Nooo… how did I end up on the wrong side of the friggin’ park?!”

Lily will wait for her cheesy delight, she decides — kicks the sticky snow from her boots and trudges across the street towards the park entrance, she will wait until I’ve regained feeling in all ten fingers and all ten toes and not a minute before.

It’s all very Every Crime Serial Ever. Literally, Nadya swears she’s seen at least a dozen winter-themed episodes start with a young woman taking a shortcut in a dark park. But there’s more on the line than empty stomachs and another night of instant ramen now. Now; it’s a point of pride. It’s about making it out into the storm and returning, victorious, from the highest peak with tales of wonder and mystery.

So she keeps to the snowed-over pathways even when the cold wet starts to seep into her thick fuzzy socks — keeps under the glow of lamp posts the city abandoned a long time ago where she can find them. Distracts herself with thoughts of delicious melty cheese and sneaking a few mushrooms onto Lily’s side before she gets back to the apartment — and wonders if the delivery driver might take pity on her poor frozen soul and drive her back to her block rather than making her return with a pizza-sicle.

That’s the problem with expecting something bad to happen, though. When you expect it you do everything in your power to not think about it — to not run around freaking out over every fallen leaf and garbage-diving raccoon. There’s definitely a difference between using smart caution and just straight up stamping down every bad feeling rolling around in your gut.

Nadya, unfortunately, is prone to the latter. Years of jeers and teasing and being called irrational will do their damage eventually — and for her they come together as the knowledge that she shouldn’t be doing what she’s doing but not enough wisdom to turn back.

There’s a loud crash. Nadya screams loud enough to warm up her insides. Her keys held tightly between each knuckle in self-defense on one hand and phone ready to emergency dial with the other. Fear creeps in at the edges of her vision; makes the darkness outside the safety of the lamp’s light appear alive, undulating, thriving off her terror.

In the dark void between one lamppost and the next a hollow metal creaking grows closer—closer—closer—and she’ll never tell a living soul (that’s a lie, she’ll probably tell Lily when she stops having nightmares over this mess) but she might have accidentally unclenched her legs a little too quickly as an upended garbage can rolls a path through the fresh snow with the contents painting a trail behind.

I’m a good citizen, dang it, but I wanna keep my fingers. Because what horror movie starts with the victim being ripped to shreds while she’s saving the environment during a polar vortex?

The distant Lily-adjacent voice in the back of her head quips something like “holiday horror movies, duh!” but it’s too quiet — too soft over the sudden primal roar that carries on every gust of winter wind.

She’s cold. She’s afraid. There’s the strangest taste of almonds on the back of her tongue?

Then everything is warm and dark. She briefly considers crawling out of bed to have Lily remind her to pack a lunch in the morning.

Instead she welcomes sleep.

#playchoices #bloodbound #kamilah x mc #kamilah sayeed #adrian raines #lily spencer #mc: nadya al jamil #nicole anderson #; my fics #oblv: bound by destiny #oblv: new chapter

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the-quiet-winds · 5 years

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Make a Move Just to Stay in the Game (part four)

and...we’re back with part four. i do love this part a lot, even though @ichlugebulletsandcornnuts and i went pretty deep into it. that makes it better, i suppose?

[part one] - [part two] - [part three]

[Part 4: The Sun Must Set to Rise]

from that moment on, katherine barely spends a single moment alone, not that she’d want to. she and parr work long hours, pouring over books and their own works until katherine can read aloud passages in latin, complete division and quadratics without a second thought, and accurately and thoroughly describe various trade routes.

one day, about a month after her arrival, parr dismisses katherine early, under the guise of ‘needing to speak with her majesty.’

a small part of katherine is immediately worried. that serious tone...did she do something wrong? did parr finally realize she was uneducated and she needed a different tutor?

katherine, worried and unhappy, retreats to the small lakeside in the woods alone.

parr, meanwhile, meets jane for tea. “good afternoon, your majesty,” she greets. “i would just like to discuss katherine’s progress, if you don’t mind.”

“of course,” jane smiles. “i’m always delighted to hear about kat’s progress in her education.” she picks up the teapot. “tea?” she asks. it’s unconventional for the queen to be pouring drinks for anyone else, but jane has never been one to be overly concerned about the divide between employee and queen. parr nods warmly.

“that would be lovely, your majesty.” she takes the proffered teacup and adds one spoonful of sugar along with the tiniest splash of milk. jane fixes her own drink and takes a sip.

“so, how has katherine been getting along?”

“i haven’t taught many students in my time, unfortunately,” parr begins, “and very few of them have been girls.” she sips her tea. “lady katherine, however, is probably one of, if not the brightest pupil i’ve ever taken on!”

jane’s heart swells with those words. “i’m very glad to hear that,” she says, grinning broadly. “i had high hopes with you, lady parr, and i must say you’ve lived up to every one of them.”

parr smiles and laughs, waving off the praise. “a teacher is only as good as her student.”

they sit in companionable silence for a moment, before parr speaks again. “perhaps we should bring lady katherine in? i would like to discuss our plans moving forward, if that’s alright.”

“that sounds like a good idea,” jane smiles. she stands and opens the door, calling out into the chambers. “katherine? are you there, love?” there’s no response and jane shrugs slightly, turning back to parr. “i imagine she’s gone for a stroll, and if I know my ward she’s either visiting the hounds or she’s gone for a walk by the lake.” katherine often went there, jane knew, when she wanted to think or just take a moment away from the castle. “would you care to take a walk with me to fetch her? it’s an unseasonably lovely day, after all,” jane says to parr, who smiles and nods.

“i would be delighted, your majesty.”

they walk slowly, talking companionably about a myriad of small topics, but mainly always coming back to katherine and her education.

finally they reach the lake, and there’s katherine, sitting primly on one of the rocks, not facing them.

she hears them approach, though, but doesn’t turn around. she stiffens slightly, waiting for the impending blow.

“you’re doing wonderfully, kat,” jane says, knowing exactly what her daughter was thinking when she hunched her shoulders. “absolutely brilliant, love.”

katherine’s shoulders relax ever so slightly, but there’s still a part of her that’s waiting for a caveat. she doesn’t speak, waiting for it to come, but it doesn’t. what happens instead is that parr starts to speak.

“i told her majesty about the excellent progress you’re making, lady katherine. she’s very proud of you.” she glances at jane, then back at katherine. “in fact, we’re both very proud of you.”

katherine shifts slightly, half-turning around. her face is uncertain, but when she sees the genuine expressions on both jane and parr’s faces she breaks out into a tiny smile. “thank you,” she says quietly.

jane steps over and pulls katherine to her feet, swaying them around on the sand. “soon, you’ll be more qualified to run this country than i, my love,” jane laughs.

katherine can’t help but smile a little wider at that.

“you are making leaps and bounds, lady katherine,” parr adds. “i see very bright things ahead of you.”

katherine looks at her. “please, just call me katherine. formalities are dumb,” she adds with a slight giggle.

parr grins. “very well then, katherine. i actually wanted to talk to you about your studies. you’ve made such brilliant progress in all your topics, but I’ve noticed you’re especially good at latin, and I believe this will extend to other languages as well. I wanted to know, katherine, if you’d be interested in learning an additional language. i can speak several languages,” she hastily adds, “so if you chose one of them then we’d have no need to get you any additional tutors.”

katherine’s face immediately lights up, not only at the prospect of learning more languages, but also doing so without parr having to bring in anyone else.

her eyes flit to jane, as if asking for permission. jane simply smiles lightly back, running a hand down katherine’s arm.

“i would enjoy that, yes,” she says politely, trying to mask her excitement, but the facade breaks the next moment. she smiles brightly, before breaking away from jane and capturing parr in a hug.

parr is taken aback by the sudden hug from her student, but after a few seconds she laughs lightly and hugs katherine back.

“excellent,” she smiles. “i’ll start planning some lessons, then - maybe french or italian?” she pulls away from the hug to look at katherine. “and if you do well at that language, which i’m sure you will, then we could think about including the other too. how does that sound?”

katherine grins brilliantly. “it sounds amazing. thank you.”

parr smiles again. “i’ll head back and start gathering what i need. you’ll be blowing through this all in no time, i believe!” she gives a quick bow to the queen and sets off back towards the castle, leaving jane and katherine alone.

jane takes both of katherine’s hands and frowns slightly. she knows she felt like she hasn’t seen katherine in ages but... those calluses were definitely new. had they been so distant lately she hadn’t noticed?

jane continues to study katherine, who was too busy looking at where parr retreated into the tree cover and then the water to notice. had her hair lightened slightly?

jane feels a pull in her chest: her girl was growing up, changing and getting even better every day, and jane hadn’t even noticed until today.

with each passing second jane notices another way in which katherine has changed. the sleeves of her dress were just the tiniest bit too short now, her height a fraction of an inch taller than it had been last month, her face was slowly losing its babyish roundness and becoming more defined, although she still had a way to go. it’s a conflicting, bittersweet feeling; jane loves that katherine is thriving, but it feels all too fast. she hopes that katherine will still want her care in a few year’s time, will still need her mother’s love, even as she’ll stand confident and strong by herself as a bright, witty, educated young woman.

katherine feels eyes on her and turns slightly.

jane is studying her, scrutinizing, almost. there’s a crease above her eyebrows, one that katherine learned meant tears were imminent.

what had she done wrong?

“mum?” she waves a hand in front of jane’s focused eyes, but there’s no change in the intensity of her gaze. katherine feels absolutely minuscule under her stare.

“mum?” she calls again, voice wobbly. “mum what it is?”

jane blinks suddenly, as if snapping back to reality, and she offers katherine a weak smile. “nothing, love,” she says, but her voice cracks halfway through. katherine searches for explanation in jane’s eyes but finds nothing but further worry.

“mum, you’re scaring me,” she says quietly. “did i do something wrong?” that seems to get through to jane and she sighs.

“no, kitty-kat. you’ve done everything perfect, love. your mum’s just being silly, is all.”

katherine’s shoulders slump at the weak explanation, and jane’s heart drops even more.

“i’ve just been thinking, love, about the future.”

katherine’s eyes widen dramatically. she doesn’t entirely know the context of jane’s thoughts, but she instantly feels nervous about what that could mean.

“what about, mum?” she timidly asks, terrified to hear the answer.

“you, love.” jane, even through her teary haze, puts both her hands on katherine’s cheeks. “how fast you’re growing up.”

katherine suddenly panics, knocking away jane’s hands as she takes a step backwards. “you aren’t gonna get rid of me, are you?” she asks, fear rising in her voice.

“love, no, of course not!” jane says immediately, eyes concerned and with panic of their own within them. “you can stay for as long as you want to, and that means forever if that’s what you’d like. i promise, kat, i’m not going to send you anywhere.”

“but- if i’m grown up-” katherine’s breathing is rapid and shallow, and jane takes her hands gently, trying to get katherine to focus on her. “you’re not quite grown yet, love, you’re still young. but even if you were, you’re still my girl. i’ll never send you away even when you’re grown up. i promise, kat.”

katherine is still scared; the thought of a life without jane in it, back with cruel men and lackluster authority figures is too much to bear.

"katherine?" jane asks hesitantly. "kitty-kat, i swear that you will never be alone as long as i am alive, do you hear me? no one will separate us, and i will never, ever make you leave." jane takes a step back. "i'd be perfectly content if you never wanted to leave." she comes back towards katherine, taking both of the girl's hands in her own. "whatever you decide to do with your life, i will support you, okay love?"

katherine stares into jane’s honest, loving eyes and she can’t help but sniffle, before throwing herself into jane’s arms. “swear you won’t make me go,” she chokes out, and jane’s hand begins rubbing her back gently in the familiar soothing motion. she’s aware of how childish and pathetic her voice sounds, but right now she doesn’t care.

“i swear,” jane says softly. “even if you want to stay until you’re a hundred years old, i’ll be happy with that. every day i get to spend with you is a blessing, kat, and that won’t change just because you get older.”

katherine burrows into jane's arms, knowing in her mind that she would be content to never leave the loving embrace or the woman providing it.

"you're the blessing, mum," katherine whispers. "i don't want to grow up if that means leaving you."

jane hushes her gently, sweeping a hand through her hair. "you never have to leave, love, not if you don't want to. we'll travel europe together some day, yeah? we'll do so much together you won't be able to wait to get rid of me," jane answers with a quiet chuckle. katherine's arms tighten around her waist. "i never want to get rid of you," the girl mumbles into jane's shoulder.

jane smiles softly at that. everything she said was true, and she hopes it’ll be true of katherine too. she’d be thrilled to spend her whole life with katherine. a thought strikes her, of katherine, now a young woman, of edward, a sweet young boy who adores his big sister, and jane herself, travelling to visit every court in europe. katherine can speak almost every language and chats happily away to a french princess, while little edward chips in every now and then to practice his own french. she can’t help but well up slightly at the thought of such a perfect future and she holds katherine even closer.

katherine herself has a similar train of thought. edward is still just a baby, but when he's a bit older she imagines she'll be 'kitty' until the boy is old enough to say her name fully, and even then she'll be 'kat.' she imagines teaching the boy manners at mum's side, helping him navigate the busy life of royalty, and even being a secret confident for all the little boy's gossip. she also envisions time spent with jane - from book sessions to outings around the castle and beyond, and late nights spent lounging by the fire because neither has the energy nor desire to go back to their room.

yes, she decides, a long, happy life with jane is really all she wants.

"parr will be wondering where you are," jane says quietly, interrupting the moment.

“yeah...” katherine sighs. she pulls back from the hug slightly and looks up at jane, slightly shyly. “do you think she’d let you sit in on the lesson? only if you wanted to, of course,” she adds hastily. “i just... thought it might be nice for you to see how i’m doing.” her tone makes it sound more like a question than a statement, but jane gives her a warm smile.

“i’d love that, kat. i can’t promise i’ll understand everything; you’re much cleverer than I am, sweetheart, but i’d love to see you learn.”

they begin the slow trek back to the castle, jane's arm tightly gripping katherine's waist.

"you know," jane starts thoughtfully, "i never got much of a formal education myself."

katherine is caught off guard by the revelation. "really?"

jane nods. "i learned to read and write, obviously, but my education was steered more towards 'ladylike' things. keeping the house, needlepoint, things like that." she turns to look at katherine and smiles. "i'm so proud of you for wanting to get a higher education, love, and i know you're going to do wonderful things."

katherine blushes at the praise but smiles. "thanks mum."

when they return to the palace, they find parr in one of the study rooms, books stacked high on the desks.

parr is more than delighted to let jane sit in and observe. jane, however, quickly finds herself both confused and entranced as katherine reads aloud passages in latin, aimlessly wandering the room as she does so.

parr seems to notice this, and after perhaps an hour she suggests something.

“katherine,” she says, “an excellent job with that translation.” katherine beams with quiet pride and jane gives her an encouraging smile. “now,” parr continues, “this exercise should help reinforce the grammar lessons i’ve taught you. could you please explain to her majesty, if she is willing to take part, of course,” she looks over at jane, “how you conjugate latin verbs in the present, imperfect and perfect tenses?” when both mother and daughter look at her questioningly she elaborates. “teaching is an excellent way of making sure you truly understand something, especially teaching to somebody who is unfamiliar with the subject. I mean no offence, your highness, but I am correct in saying that you’ve had no formal latin training, correct?” from anybody else this last sentence may have seemed patronising, but from parr it was a simple question with no loaded meaning behind it.

jane shakes her head solemnly. "i cannot say that i have."

parr doesn't look fazed by her response. "well, katherine, it looks like you have your work cut out for you," she says lightly.

katherine smiles brightly and bounces over to the couch where jane sits, getting comfortable facing her and launching into the explanation, only stopping to find a particular note in her book or grab one of parr's texts.

the tutor listens carefully, ready to adjust any errors or aid katherine in her explanation, but she doesn't need to do either. after a half hour, jane can somewhat confidently conjugate verbs she doesn't know the meaning of. katherine can't stop beaming in excitement, and it warms jane's heart to see her so delighted at jane sharing in something that was becoming a passion of hers.

jane can't see the future, but she knows that it won't be the first time that katherine is teaching her something about another language, and she just can't wait.

at the end of the day, parr gathers her papers and books together in a neat pile and smiles at both jane and katherine. “i will see you tomorrow, katherine. your majesty.” she starts to bow but katherine cuts her off slightly over excitedly.

“parr, we haven’t done ‘What I Learned Today’ yet!”

‘What I Learned Today’, jane later learns, was a tradition at the end of each day of study where parr would get katherine to summarise the contents of the day’s learning. it was a technique parr usually used for younger children, but katherine had taken to the idea and parr decided it couldn’t hurt. parr smiles at katherine.

“go ahead then, katherine. what have you learned today?”

“i learned how to understand Cicero’s style of writing, and some new vocabulary words, and what happened in the hundred years’ war,” katherine lists. then she smiles, slightly mischievously. “and i also learned that i have the best mum ever, and the best tutor ever too.”

jane smirks and approaches katherine from behind, pulling her into a bear hug. "i hoped you had already known that one, love," she laughs. she can't help but to lightly tickle katherine's sides, and the girl nearly falls over herself to escape the grasp.

parr, meanwhile, has been struck silent. such high praise from princess katherine herself was something that parr didn't think could ever come. "i'm very glad you are enjoying my lessons, katherine," she says plainly once katherine worms her way out of jane's arms, panting heavily but smiling brightly. parr senses the genuine affection in katherine's words, partnered with her cheerful smile, and parr can't help but grin herself. "i look forward to our forays into french." she pauses, then smirks. "j'ai le sentiment que vous allez être l'étudiant le plus brillant que j'ai jamais eu."

katherine wrinkles her nose. "what does that mean?"

parr grins again. "you'll see."

#six the musical #six musical #jane seymour #katherine howard #catherine parr #julie and jess write #make a move just to stay in the game #hold onto me you're all i have

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storytellerofuntoldlegends · 3 years

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an icarus and his sun: chapter 1

A/N: i am Very Very excited for this enemies to lovers au, and also just a quick message that this is about their characters! some characters might seem more villainous than they actually are (even on the smp) and scott and jimmy will absolutely end up being in a romantic relationship (even if it might take a while for them to get there >:)). also, i planned this fic before xornoth was introduced and before sausage started the assassin's guild thing, so if you were hoping for either of those things in this fic, i'm sorry to say that they will not be featured here! (xornoth may be hinted at though, no promises!) pls talk to me in the reblogs i am lonely /hj

Warnings: arguing, flirting, teasing/banter, threats of violence

AO3 Link - Tumblr Masterpost

Jimmy liked Katherine, he really did! She was one of his first allies, and even though she could come off as a little intense for the ruler of a flower forest, Jimmy really valued her friendship. However, her insistence on staying neutral… it bothered Jimmy. Or really, what bothered Jimmy was the fact that she insisted on having “House Blossom Alliance” meetings at her castle. And specifically, it was who was at these meetings that bothered Jimmy. Sure, there was Joel, Lizzie, and Pixl, three of Jimmy’s own allies, but the rest of the group wasn’t exactly on the best terms with him. Gem and Pearl were alright, he supposed, but Fwhip and Sausage were absolutely terrible. And then there was Scott. There wasn’t anything outwardly bad about the winged elf ruler, but he just got on Jimmy’s nerves. He was just irritating, with his stupid “better-than-you” attitude, stupid smug grin, stupid perfect hair- he was just… stupid. Well, not really. Scott was actually really clever. But he always flaunted when he was right about something, which frankly was often. But he didn’t have to be so smug every time Jimmy was wrong about something.

“Jimmy, what do you know about defensive mob strategy? You can’t even keep people out of your empire,” Scott scoffed, as Jimmy was attempting to offer some advice on how to keep a base safe from monsters. Jimmy glared at the winged elf sitting across from him.

“Because I like to try and keep my empire welcoming, instead of being all high and mighty in the mountains,” Jimmy shot back. Scott rolled his eyes.

“More welcome to attack, Jimmy. How many times have you and Sausage squabbled over something inconsequential?” Scott asked dryly, getting an offended “hey!” from Sausage that he ignored, focusing only on Jimmy.

“Well… okay so maybe I’m not that great at defending against people, but mobs I can handle! They’re predictable, people aren’t,” Jimmy huffed. Scott smirked at Jimmy, and there it was- that smug expression when Jimmy was proven wrong about something.

“Maybe some people aren’t… but you sure are. I knew you’d get all riled up if I started pressing,” Scott taunted. Jimmy shot up from his chair, hand slamming down on the table as he glared at Scott and ignored the concerned voices of his allies.

“I haven’t even begun to be ‘riled up,’ Scott,” Jimmy fumed, hand lightly resting on the hilt of his sword. Scott calmly rose from his seat, still smirking and looking like he was enjoying this far too much.

“What, you gonna fight me, fish boy?” Scott crooned, hand resting on the hilt of his own weapon.

“Maybe I will,” Jimmy growled, and Scott’s smirk grew into a grin.

“Oh, you are getting more riled up… can’t say I’m not enjoying the view,” Scott said in a near purr. Jimmy’s face grew warm as he gritted his teeth and tightened his hand on the hilt of his sword. Scott didn’t look nervous at all, only mildly intrigued, like Jimmy was a puzzle he was seconds away from solving.

“That’s enough!” Katherine shouted, jumping up from her seat at the head of the table and looking at the two of them with a disapproving glare. Scott and Jimmy instantly looked a little embarrassed, both finally remembering that they were in a room full of other rulers, and that it was supposed to be a peaceful meeting as they exchanged various tactics and information on trading.

“C’mon man, it’s not worth it,” Pixl murmured, gently tugging on Jimmy’s arm. Jimmy glared at Scott one last time before he sat back down. Scott looked entirely too pleased as he sat back down gracefully- how did someone even do that, sit down so fluidly like it was a part of a dance?!- and smiled far too innocently at Katherine. She was not having it, frowning with disapproval at both Scott and Jimmy until Scott sheepishly looked down at the table. Katherine sighed, seeming semi-satisfied as she sat back down.

“I think I’m gonna have to implement a rule about weapons at the next meeting… now don’t you two have something to say to each other?” Katherine said expectantly. Scott and Jimmy both looked at Katherine with confused expressions.

“Haven’t they said enough to each other?” Fwhip asked, sounding bored as he leaned back in his chair. Katherine rolled her eyes at Fwhip, and looked back at Scott and Jimmy.

“What I meant is that these two owe each other an apology,” Katherine said pointedly.

“What have I got to apologize for?! Scott started it!” Jimmy protested.

“It’s not my fault Jimmy’s easy to get all hot and bothered,” Scott said with an air of indifference, but the smirk directed at Jimmy told a different story. Jimmy’s face burned again.

“You stop that,” Jimmy scowled.

“Make me,” Scott replied smoothly.

“I’m confused, are they flirting or fighting now?” Sausage whispered far too loudly to Pearl. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head at Sausage.

“We’re not flirting!” Jimmy protested.

“Yeah, I can do way better than Jimmy,” Scott scoffed.

“Wha- hey! What’s that supposed to mean? I am a catch, thank you very much,” Jimmy huffed, crossing his arms.

“Oh, so you want to be flirting now?” Scott crooned with a smirk.

“What?! No! You’re infuriating,” Jimmy shouted.

“Funny, I was going to say the same thing about you,” Scott shot back smoothly. Jimmy opened his mouth to reply, but was halted by a frustrated groan from Katherine.

“You know what? Fine! I declare this meeting adjourned. Everyone out! See you next week,” Katherine exclaimed with a sigh.

“Finally,” Fwhip muttered, getting up from the table first and striding out of the castle. Gem shook her head at his retreating figure, and turned to Katherine with an apologetic smile.

“What he means is thank you for inviting us to the meeting. I look forward to next week- and I’m sure Fwhip does too!” she said, gently patting Katherine’s hand before getting up and following after Fwhip. Pearl and Sausage were the next two to leave, thanking Katherine for inviting them as well. Then finally Scott left, simply bowing his head in respect to Katherine, but smirking at Jimmy before he took off.

“I hate that guy,” Jimmy muttered as he watched Scott fly away.

“I think you’ve made that clear, Jimmy. You’ve gotta stop picking fights you can’t win,” Katherine admonished with a sigh.

“I could have taken him!” Jimmy protested.

“And even if you couldn’t have, I would have avenged you,” Joel added. Lizzie and Pixl nodded in agreement, while Katherine buried her face in her hands.

“Peaceful! These meetings are supposed to be peaceful! I am definitely going to have people leave their weapons at the door at the next meeting,” she sighed, bringing her face up from her hands to lean back in her chair. Jimmy frowned, feeling a bit bad.

“I- sorry, Katherine. I shouldn’t have let Scott get under my skin so easily. I promise next meeting I won’t make a big fuss out of nothing,” Jimmy said solemnly, looking to Katherine with an apologetic smile. She smiled back, but it was a little strained and exasperated.

“It’s alright, Jimmy. Honestly Scott is just as much to blame as you are here. I just wished you two would have apologized to each other- you apologized to me just fine!” Katherine pointed out, her smile turning more bright and encouraging. Jimmy frowned, nose wrinkling slightly.

“Yeah, because I like you,” Jimmy huffed. Katherine giggled, leaning forward in her chair to clasp her hand over Jimmy’s and give it a light squeeze.

“That’s very sweet, but sometimes you’ve gotta apologize to people you don’t like, Jimmy,” Katherine said pointedly.

“From the way they were talking at the meeting, ‘like’ might be too weak of a word,” Pixl commented dryly. Joel poorly hid a laugh behind a cough, while Lizzie elbowed him while trying to hide her own amused smile.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Jimmy asked indignantly. Pixl looked at him blankly, raising an eyebrow.

“You told him that you were a catch, dude. How else are we supposed to interpret that?” Pixl replied with a laugh. Jimmy’s face flushed for what felt like the twentieth time that day.

“I wasn’t thinking straight!” Jimmy protested.

“Clearly,” Lizzie teased with a grin, no longer trying to hide it. The table erupted into laughter, and Jimmy couldn’t help but laugh too, even if it was at his own expense, and even if his friends were wrong. He was not interested in Scott in that way in the slightest, thank you very much. Their argumentative banter just got a little… carried away, that’s all. And he wasn’t saying he was a catch so that Scott would think so… he just had confidence in himself! And Scott was trying to wear down that confidence, Jimmy was just proving him wrong! At least, that’s what Jimmy told himself.

“So this is how the betrayal begins- first you fabricate an attraction to someone I despise-” Jimmy cut off his dramatic monologue with his own laughter, only causing the group to laugh louder.

“We’ll set you up with Sausage next,” Pixl said with a laugh.

“Now that is the ultimate betrayal,” Jimmy said with a shudder, grinning at Pixl all the while.

“Stop it, stop it- no one is betraying anyone! I’ll keel over from laughter with these backstabbing plans at this rate,” Katherine said, wiping at her eyes as the last of her laughs subsided.

“Alright, alright, if you insist. I should get going anyway, I’ve got a long trip back to Pixandria,” Pixl said, standing from the table.

“Safe travels! See you next week!” Katherine said with a wave. Jimmy and the others said their goodbyes, and with a nod and a smile Pixl equipped his elytra and walked out of the castle to fly off.

“Guess we should leave too, I’m sure you’ve got things to be working on,” Joel said, standing up from the table. Lizzie and Jimmy followed his lead. The three of them would often journey back to their empires together, seeing as they were all in fairly close range to each other. Katherine rose from the table with a sigh.

“Yeah, I’ve got some things to sort out. I’ll see you three next week- and I’m serious about the ‘leaving the weapons at the door’ rule,” she said, looking at each of them pointedly.

“Oh I’ll make sure these two follow through with that!” Lizzie said brightly.

“I was talking about you too, Lizzie,” Katherine said flatly. Lizzie placed a hand over her heart in mock offense.

“Me?! Oh please, next to these two I’m downright peaceful! Now we really must be going, nice seeing you!” Lizzie said far too innocently, grabbing both Joel and Jimmy by their arms and all but dragging them out of the castle.

“Oh uh, bye then! I guess,” Jimmy said with a lopsided grin and a wave from his free hand. Katherine shook her head fondly, waving goodbye back. The three of them made their way outside with only some minor grumbling from Joel about how he could walk, Lizzie. She only patted his cheek with a smile before equipping her elytra, Joel and Jimmy doing the same. And as the three allies took off into the skies and off to their own empires, Jimmy’s thoughts couldn’t help but wander back to Scott. Maybe he should try and patch things up, like Katherine suggested? He was a very good ally of Katherine’s as well- they were even planning a plushie business together! And he didn’t want Katherine to be stuck between another conflict again, like she had for all of his issues with Sausage. But how exactly Jimmy was going to fix things with Scott, he wasn’t sure. The winged elf was stubborn, and frankly so was Jimmy. It was unlikely either of them were going to give in or come to any sort of compromise. At the very least, Jimmy just hoped he could keep their arguments to just that- arguments. He couldn’t afford another war.

MCYT Fic Taglist (lmk if you want to be added/removed! And if you just want to specifically be tagged in this fic, I am open to making a specific taglist for it!): @corazon10000 @damiensaidno @franticfandomfanatic @gattonero17 @hetapeep41 @space-ace123

#empires smp #scott smajor #jimmy solidarity #katherine elizabeth #ldshadowlady #smallishbeans #pixlriffs #pearlescentmoon #mythicalsausage #geminitay #fwhip #flower husbands #seablings #empires smp fic #mcyt #aiahs #sage writes

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livesincerely · 4 years

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[Bits & Bobs] take a shot (but how's your aim?)

For the life of him, Jack can’t figure out how the situation went south so quickly.

Tucked underneath his arm, Maggie pushes a bit of corn nervously around her plate and says, “So, how do you all know Jack?”

It’s her fourth attempt at starting a conversation, and it goes about as well as all the others have. The boys remain silent, throwing each other side-along looks or ducking their heads towards the table; Racetrack goes as far as to let out a dismissive snort.

Thoroughly fed up, Jack aims a kick under the table at Albert, who’s closest. Albert grits his teeth but he still doesn’t answer. Jack kicks him again, even harder.

“We’s all Newsies,” Al says shortly. “So we live together and we work together.”

Maggie latches onto this barren statement like a life line.

“And what’s being a Newsie like?” she asks eagerly. “It must be exciting, getting to roam the city, meeting different people everyday—“

“It ain’t exactly fun and games,” Racetrack scornfully interrupts. “It’s workin’ in the sun all day and gettin’ spat at and havin’ta fight for weeks justa get treated decent by folks who should know bett’r.”

“Oh,” Maggie says. “Of course. The strike.” She takes a breath and determinedly continues, “Yeah, it was incredible! The work you all did—you inspired so many people! How did you manage to keep protesting? It must of been really difficult—“

“I thought ya said ya worked at The World?” Racetrack says, cutting Maggie off again. “You must not be payin’ enough attention—it was front page news.”

“Race,” Jack says in warning.

“I’m just sayin’, it was right there in black and white.”

“Racetrack, I swear to god—“

It’s Davey that saves the day. “So, Maggie,” he forcefully interjects, a smile plastered woodenly across his face. “Tell us a little more about yourself.”

Maggie blinks at the sudden friendliness after a half hour of painful silence and cutting remarks. Tentatively she answers, “I’m one of the type setters in the inking office. It’s a good position—they need girls with small fingers to adjust some of the fiddly bits on the different machines.”

Davey nods. “You must be good with your hands,” he offers. “Is that a knitting project, there in your bag?”

Maggie looks startled, then pleased at change in topic. “Oh, yes! I’m working on a scarf for my Grandmother.”

“Ain’t it a little hot for a scarf?” Romeo comments, to no one in particular.

“But it’s never too early to get started,” Davey firmly redirects before things can turn sour. “You know, Buttons here is really into crafts and such.”—Buttons glances up, clearly surprised at being thrown into the conversation—“I’m sure he’d love to hear more about it.”

Buttons mutters something under his breath, too quiet for Jack to make out. Then it looks like Davey pinches him just under the armpit.

“...What kinda needles are you using?” Buttons reluctantly asks.

Maggie answers, her enthusiasm starting to grow as the conversation continues more or less smoothly, and Buttons expression turns grudgingly interested.

Jack attempts to throw Davey a grateful smile but can’t quite catch his eye for some reason. He makes a mental note to do something nice for him, as a thanks for not being a complete ass like everyone else.

Speaking of everyone else, Jack uses the moment of calm to look around at the others.

It’s a sea of dissatisfaction: Albert’s wearing a sullen frown, Racetrack’s got his arms crossed over his chest, Specs is doing that thing where he keeps cleaning and re-cleaning his glasses, Crutchie keeps glancing at him like he’s lost his damn mind— what the hell is wrong with everyone? Even Katherine seems to be in a bad mood, though she’s doing a slightly better job at hiding it, lips pursed and fingers drumming against the table’s edge.

Jack’s still trying to figure it all out when the sound of his name catches his attention.

“—I’ll have to see about making something for Jackie too,” Maggie is saying, and she tugs playfully at Jack’s collar. “Maybe some fingerless gloves, so he can wear them while he draws.”

“Aw, you don’t gotta go outta your way for me, Mags,” Jack says.

“It’s not going out of my way,” Maggie says. “I want to do something nice for my boyfriend.”

She leans up a kisses him, a sweet little peck on the lips.

There’s a clatter and the screech of silverware scraping against ceramic. Jack pulls away just in time to watch Davey jump to his feet—it looks like he’s upended his plate all down his front.

“Excuse me,” Davey mumbles to the floor. “I just, I gotta—“ He makes a beeline towards the bathrooms.

Jack leans forward in his chair, his weight shifting to the balls of his feet. Racetrack shoots him a truly venomous look and Jack falls back into his seat before he’d really even begun to stand.

“I’ll go help him,” Racetrack declares, then darts up to follow Davey.

“Is everything alright?” Maggie asks uncertainly.

“I’m sure Racetrack’s got it handled,” Jack says, though he’s not too sure himself.

Without Davey to facilitate, the conversation stutters and stalls. Maggie hesitantly asks Katherine about her latest article; Katherine has the decency to answer her, though her expression is still incredibly pinched around the edges.

Jack lingers for a few minutes, knee bouncing the entire time. He says, “I’m gonna see about gettin’ another glass of water,” then gets up before anyone can stop him. He heads towards the front counter, glances behind him to see if anyone’s watching, then sneaks over to the bathroom.

He lifts a hand to knock, opens his mouth to say, “Are you doin’ alright in there?” but the sound of Racetrack’s voice makes him pause.

“—it’s gotta be hard on ya.”

“Of course it’s fucking hard,” Davey replies, and Jack’s shocked at the bitterness in his tone. “But you guys aren’t making it any easier.”

Racetrack again, low and soothing. “We just want ya to know we got your back.”

Davey laughs. It’s not a happy sound. “That wasn’t having my back, Race, that was making me do all the work when I’m the one who shouldn’t have to!”

Silence. Jack cranes his head even closer, ears straining to hear.

“Davey,” Racetrack starts, and there’s a world of apology in his voice. “Davey you gotta know, if I’da known, if any of us had any clue, we never woulda—“

“I know, Race.” Davey says quietly. “I know, it’s not your fault. It’s not anyone’s fault. We were just... wrong, I guess.”

There’s a sound like a sob, then Davey’s voice comes again, quivering and wet. “I just feel like such an idiot—“

“Oh, Davey.”

#newsies #javid #jack kelly #davey jacobs #*the writing desk #*editor's note #bits & bobs #take a shot fic #I genuinely might have the full first chapter of this out tonight or tomorrow #thereby rendering this b&b moot #but i wanted to get this out now just in case that doesn't happen #the title is a work in progress bc im bad at them

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the-canary · 6 years

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Wednesdays - L.T (2/10)

Summary: Only you had the balls to deal with his outrageous order on that day. You just didn’t know how bad it would get. (Barista!Reader/Lance Tucker).

A/N: I am still trying to grasp Lance’s character, so I am sorry that it sucks but thank you for taking the the time to read it. If anyone wants a taglist or to be added, let me know!

Feedback is always appreciated.

“The old man isn’t serious, right?” Madison asks in disbelief, as she goes from looking at the proposal sitting in her large desk to the man sitting across from her. The blond shrugs, unsure of what to say either.

“He really thinks the kid has turned a new leaf,” George explains, as he simply repeats what the old man --the owner and lead partner in the company-- had told him a day before, “Stan did always have a soft spot for him.”

“I know that, but really after the leaked tape, after the whole pregnancy incident,” Madison could go on with the lists of notorious scandals that their poor P.R department had gone through hell over in the name of Lance Tucker, because as much as his name had been worth once -- it had been dragged to the mud too many times before until they had cut times with him a few years ago.

It didn’t help that the whole gymnastics world was still shaking in the aftermath of several other scandals as well. However, Stan had always managed to see the good in people and was often ahead of the curve in somethings.

“He seems to have turned a new leaf,” George keeps playing devil’s advocate, much to her annoyance, “Steady business in a couple of states, plus no recent troubles with the media or no new baby mama either.”

“Why would he need us then?” Madison can’t help but ask, as George smiles just a bit -- he knows he is close to trapping her if she is that curious.

“To show off his new talent, those kids in his schools,” he explains as Madison nods, “He knows well enough how this type of world works. One good win or one tape that goes viral and everyone is gonna want a piece of that kid and their coach. A sad way to relieve his own 15 minutes of fame.”

“That’s kind of pathetic, no?” she responds as George shrugs once more with a chuckle at how she could change her opinion so quickly.

“Why should it matter to us? We’re getting paid for it,” he states leaning a bit more into his seat, “And your little prodigy could use some real world experience. Why not with grade A douchebag Lance Tucker?”

“I wouldn’t want to let her suffer through all that, but you do have a point.”

“Always do.”

Aside from Mondays, Wednesday slowly becomes your least favorite day of the week after the shift change. Instead of sleeping in like your normally would have done once, you end up walking up near 9am to make you get into work just in time for your shift to starts. It leads into the early evening, where you grab a bite to eat before heading to your evening class on the other side of town. A three hour class, the never ending traffic followed by readings and work prep for your other part time job mean you didn’t go to sleep until around 1am.

It was a difficult sort of thing, but getting your Masters was the goal and it was something you were going to give up, as you hold back a yawn --the lunchtime rush had been slower than usual-- as the clock strikes 12:20pm. It was only your second week talking Serena’s shift but you knew what was coming through that door at any moment.

You hear the door like clockwork as you are working a dirty chai, only to notice bright red blinding your vision as the sunlight hits it in just the right way. Tracksuit douchebag.

“Unsweetened Pineapple Kona Pop Brewed Tea,” you look at Micah with a frown, as she justs shrugs. Both of you knew he might pull the shit he did last week, but there was nothing you could really do about as you went about making the drink. You didn’t know if the man had weird tastes or if he was just trying to prove some type of strange point -- you weren’t his preferred barista.

“Grande Chai with a Shot of Espresso for Meghan,” you yell out as the petite dark-haired college student, a frequent customer, grabbed her drink and headed back to her table, “Grande Unsweetened Pineapple Kona Pop Brewed Tea for Lance.”

He gets up from his own table, none of his students were in the store today preferring to check out the Jamba Juice down the street, as he grabs the cup and the straw. You try your best to smile, but by the twitch of his perfect eyebrows --like with the Strawberry Banana smoothie last week-- something was wrong with it.

You know what comes next, as he states: “It taste like is had sugar, remake it again.”

“Yes, right away,” you sign out through clench teeth, as he simply smirks because you’re the one that is going to get in trouble is you fight with a customer, especially with an actual manager in the back today.

You remake it once, twice before he seems to be satisfied. He calls out to Micah for her to have a good day and leaves the Starbucks without another word as you proceed to work on another order, though angrier than before.

“Fucking jerkface,” you can’t help but mumble to yourself as Micha laughs.

“Do you even know who that is?” Micha scoffs good-naturedly at you lack of celebrity knowledge, but unlike her you barely knew how to work the video on Instagram, much less even know what Snapchat was, “The guy you have been giving the stink eye for the past three weeks.”

“Nope,” you pop the the last syllable in the end in annoyance.

“Lance Tucker,” she states with a hand on her hip, as you don’t seem to connect that name with anything of the top of your head, “Gold and Silver medalist. The god of gymnastics.”

“People who watch the Olympics obviously have too much free time,” you can’t help but remark as you throw the returned tea into the trash can and sigh. Micha frowns as if you have offended her in some way, but unlike her a celebrity from a few years ago didn’t really grab your interest. She doesn’t say anything else due to a new customer coming in

The sour mood this has put you in doesn’t leave you for the rest of the day, as your shift ends and instead of getting your usual protein box and favorite beverage you go down the street two more blocks and grab a wrap and iced tea from that organic food diner.

The thought of the dinner, then looking at the Jamba Juice that is one the right and the Macchiato further down than that made you pause, as the asshole popped into your head for the second time today.

Why if there were so many healthy options near the area did he fucking decide to go to Starbucks?

How stupid was he?

It’s 3pm when Lance is able to take a small break just before his after school kids come in for practice. He had been running a fewer hours of sleep today since his renewed proposal between himself and his old agency was being looked though. It wasn’t like Lance himself needed the publicity, but some of his kids --especially one girl in Houston-- was grabbing the attention for the USA team and he was slightly protective of her.

No, not in that Maggie Townsend way from a few years back, which had ended up destroying most of his career, but in an older brother or even father figure sort off especially when he knew Katherine’s mother wasn’t the most easiest of people to deal with.

So, he waited for a call or email back from them all day. They had said by noon and when nothing had transpired, he had been freaking out on his wave to the Starbucks. He was craving sugar, but he knew it wasn’t the best option for now, even on his cheat day.

And while he might not have had the best attitude, Lance was grateful towards that damn annoying barista for giving him some high quality stuff, even when he knew it didn’t have any sugar in it. He was just being an asshole about, but the customer was always, right no?

He was downing the last bit of his tea when his phone rings -- a new email. Lance jumps from his ergonomically correct chair and quickly taps in his passcode. The email is from a Madison Castro.

Mr. Tucker,

We have reviewed your initial proposal and would like to set up a meeting with you in regards to the PR team you would be working with and contract specifications.

Please answer back with your earlier availability possible.

Thank you, Madison Castro.

Senior Vice-President Lee and Assoc.

Lance can’t help but get up and scream in excitement, promising himself that he needs another drink next Wednesday as the old school hip-hop starts blaring in his small office.

#lance tucker #lance tucker au #lance tucker fanfiction #lance x reader #lance tucker x reader #lance tucker fic #lance tucker fluff #the bronze #the bronze fanfiction #series: Wednesday #fabiola trying to write

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1dffexchange · 6 years

Photo

Great Unexpectations

To: Inm @in-madhouses

From: E @unofficialxstyles

Summary: Alana Bosworth thinks Dickens is overrated. That and the fact that there was no such thing as too much coffee.

Niall Horan begs to differ.

A tale of two different people, one coffeeshop and a how things never go the way we expect them to.

There probably was no such thing as too much coffee.

Sure, everyone talked about the effects of overdosing on caffeine-among which was infertility, by the way, but nobody actually cared. Coffee was a nectar of the Gods.

And sometimes, Alana Bosworth did think she was God.

Or at the very least maybe a distant, distant, distant relative of the heavenly being.

Afterall, she was able to (read: nearly) finish a ten thousand word assignment in one sitting a day before the submission deadline. If that was not a testament to her powers then perhaps, drinking a total of no less than six cups of coffee was.

Still, as Alana threw her body against the smooth wooden counter that overlooked a quiet, deserted street, she could not help but to second guess her coffee addiction. She hated to admit it but six cups did seem like a bit much.

So she did what any sane person would do in her shoes-she reached for her phone and punched in some numbers. The person on the other end of the line picked up after three rings, specifically, but what was supposed to be cordial greeting was instead replaced with muffled screaming and a loud thud.

Ouch.

“Henry…Henry I told you…no, no,” the voice at the other end of the line sounded distressed but Alana merely waited it out. “Honey, please. Okay, okay, fine, eat the cake,” There was another muffled scream, random shuffling and then, at long last, a proper, “Hello,”

“Hello to you, too, Kat,” Alana responded brightly, adjusting herself so that she was seated upright once more.

“Alan? Hi,” came the response. Unlike before, Katherine Bosworth-Ferguson sounded a little more excited this time. “How are you? You haven’t called in like two weeks. Mum was getting worried, you know. She keeps thinking you’re passed out drunk in a London pub or something and one of these days she’d be getting a call to let her know that you’re dead,”

Alana cringed.

First of all, pubs were never her thing.

Second of all, she did wish her mother had more faith in her.

“You guys actually give me far less credit than I deserve, Kat. You know I could bust ass if need be,” Alana replied, waving her hand in a dismissive gesture. There came a sound at the other end of the line once more, a little croak that indicated Kat already had a counter argument fully ready to launch but Alana quickly cut her off. There were more pressing matters at hand.

“Hey, listen I know it’s late I was just calling to see if you maybe knew how much coffee is like too much coffee? As in a lethal amount?” Alana questioned.

Three beats of silence passed.

Birds chirped.

Henry dropped his fork on his now empty chocolate cake plate.

“You….called me….to…ask about…coffee,”

“I’m figuring if there’s anyone who’d know about such things, it’d be a nurse and you’re a nurse so,”

“Exactly what time is it there,”

The question prompted Alana to glance at the watch she had on. “A little after 12.....oh,” The redhead sheepishly smiled, even though her older sister could not witness her slight embarrassment. “It’s early there,”

If eyerolls could be heard, she was pretty sure she heard Katherine’s tumble to the back of her head.

“You should be going to sleep,” was all Katherine said.

The screaming resumed.

“Listen, Alana, I would love to catch up but Henry is now covered in chocolate cake and heaven knows what else so I should really go. Henry…Henry no,” Once again, Katherine sounded livid. “But to quickly answer your question, caffeine has side effects so don’t drink too much of it. It does increase memory, though so if you’re into entering the spelling bee or something, coffee is your best bet. Text me…later, or call me at a better time…maybe text before you do…I have to go. Henryyyyyy,”

With that, the line went dead.

Sisters before misters, they always said.

Unless of course one had a sister with a robust three year old keen on destroying everything he touches.

Then maybe it was time to get a mister.

Or maybe not. Those were always a problem, too.

Knowing she’d get nowhere that night with her burning questions about coffee, Alana pursed her lips, threw her phone into her bag and then resumed her position slumped against the counter. She closed her eyes for all of seven seconds.

“Uhm, miss,”

Good things never did last, of course.

Alana opened one eye and was met with a tall, blonde man looking at her with an odd mixture of curiosity, politeness and a hint of irritation.

She opened the other eye and sat up. He pointed at the clock on the wall.

“We’re closed. We actually closed fifteen minutes ago and….you have to go,” his accent was think but his tone, albeit a little understandably impatient, was apologetic.

Alana nodded her head in understanding and stood up, mumbling her own apology. “Didn’t see the time. Life gets like that when you have to finish a damn assignment on three hours of sleep after finishing one the day before. Life sucks and especially so before Christmas break,”

Alana began packing her bag, throwing a stack of notes and her laptop into her carry on before stacking four empty coffee cups neatly and handing it over to the barista. She knew he was the barista because he was a familiar face-he had been making her coffee over the last year with no less enthusiasm than an energizer bunny each time.

He did not prepare her coffee consistently, of course, but he was there often enough to know her coffee order before she even got a word out and to sometimes use his staff discount.

When the weather was extra nice, they’d even engage in small talk.

His name was Niall.

“Tell me about it,” Niall replied cordially. “I’m this close to being dead but you know…extra cash always helps; especially around Christmas. And they say a bachelor’s will get you far in life….They never mentioned the need to get through this phase, first,”

Alana snorted, then nodded in understanding. “Yeah. Bachelor’s? More like Bache’s gonna kill me,”

Niall, much to his credit, had the courtesy to chuckle lightly at what Alana already knew was a failed attempt at a joke. He held the coffee cups in a silent gesture of goodbye.

“I… should go clean up. Goodnight,”

“Goodnight,”

She watched Niall disappear behind the double doors that led to the kitchen before heaving a sigh. The young woman grabbed her coat and began her trek back to her dorm room-just two blocks down from Barney’s Coffee & Cakes.

Replaying the few words that she and Niall had exchanged earlier, the reminder of Christmas approaching made her smile in nostalgia. With the most awaited holiday just two weeks away, despite her excitement of spending it abroad for the first time in her life, she did at times wish she had chosen to spend it with her family. She could already picture Katherine, Joshua and Henry taking a photos with the Christmas tree at her parent’s house, her father in his ugly Christmas sweater insisting everyone taste the turkey he’d already perfected the recipe for and just staying up with her mother on Christmas night, talking about all the things they were thankful for in the last year.

The mental image made her miss her family a little bit more but she comforted herself with the fact that she was about to experience something different, this time with friends she had made over the last year, which made the anxiety dissipate a little.

By the time she had reached her front door and turned the key into the lock, Alana was, once again, affirmed over the decision of staying in London for Christmas instead of heading back to Los Angeles a week early.

That is, until she opened the door to a sight straight out a porn production.

“Holy Jesus,”

The curse that left Alana’s mouth broke the obvious sex laden trance two of her friends were in and they immediately broke apart while having the decency to actually look guilty. She rolled her eyes and threw her hands up in the air, making her way towards the kitchen.

“I thought you weren’t coming home,” It was Soo Young-Soo to everyone else-who spoke first. She got up from her position on the sofa and trotted towards Alana. The latter thanked the heavens Soo still had her t-shirt on.

“And what gave you the idea?” Alana poured herself a glass of water.

“I don’t know. You might have decided that someone at the coffeeshop was worth getting laid with. You spend like…all your time there,” Soo commented, positioning herself next to Alana against the kitchen counter.

“Not all-”

“All,” Zayn, Soo’s boyfriend, volunteered. Upon careful inspection when her attention was turned to him, she noted that he too was still fully clad. “Would it kill you to live a little, Alan?”

“I only go there when I need to complete an assignment,”

“That doesn’t mean being there all the time?” Soo poked Alana’s arm, earning a protest from the latter. “Honestly, Alan….you’re beautiful and you’re funny sometimes. Talk to people. So what if you don’t meet deadlines? Not making it for one assignment wouldn’t kill your grades,”

Alana offered Soo a stare that could rival Medusa’s.

“You forget that I’m here on exchange and my grades do matter because my records are going to be sent back to UCLA and I want to graduate when I get back or my year in London will come to moot,”

“Your year in London is already moot,” Zayn argues. “You came to London a boring bug and you’re leaving London…a boring bug,”

She loved Zayn-adored him, really-but sometimes, he had the emotional quotient of a pig.

In an attempt to defend herself and to prove a point of sorts, Alana crossed the space between them and smacked Zayn squarely on the head. There were times where she hated his truthful and wise moments-even if they were….truthful and wise.

“I’m not boring. I party with you guys,” Alana defended herself.

Zayn chortled.

Soo grunted in apparent disagreement.

Alana looked between them both.

“Look, Alan, there’s nothing wrong with being a homebody and considering game night a party but really, let loose a little,” Zayn advised. “Like Soo said…you’re young and beautiful. And maybe call yourself Lana instead of Alan,”

“What’s wrong with Alan? I like Alan and everyone calls me that,” Alana scrunched her face up. “It’s much more unique than an Alana being called Lana,”

Logic, duh.

“Yeah,” Zayn stifled a yawn. “But being an Alan won’t get you laid as often,”

“You’re very misogynistic you know. You’re lucky I love you or I’d have put a lock on our door a long time ago,”

This time, Soo laughed from where she was in the kitchen and Alana cracked a smile.

Of all the things that had happened in the last year-which really was not much- she was most thankful for having Soo as a roommate and then, by default, meeting and becoming friends with Zayn. Unlike her, they were both students with King’s College and were her first friends. It was Soo who brought her on a ‘Locals Only London’ tour on her first week here and Zayn who invited her to his birthday party-where she met a few other friends she had grown to appreciate.

In turn, it was one of her outer circle of friends who had introduced her to Barney’s-which quickly became her sanctuary. It was less popular than the other coffeeshops in the area because it was a little rundown-with some scratched out tables and rickety chairs-but somehow, Alana thought those very features held true the coffeeshop aesthetics and were ones that made the place all the more cosy.

Plus, Zayn and Soo did occasionally get up to no good in the room so to Barney’s was a quick escape plan.

“Life’s not all about getting laid though is it,” Alana finally replied, sitting herself proper next to Zayn. Soo soon joined her other side. “Anyway, getting laid thoughts aside…are we still doing the Christmas gift exchange thing with Harry and Jen?”

It was the highlight of Alana’s Christmas abroad.

At the mention of this, surprisingly, the previously playful air around them tensed a little and Alana did not miss the look Soo and Zayn shared. Instantly, it sent warning bells ringing in her head. When they had talked about Christmas plans a month ago, it was Soo who suggested they had a small gathering in a nearby bar-just having drinks and hosting a gift exchange. Alana had jumped on the idea, thinking it was a perfect way to celebrate the holiday.

“About that….” Soo broke the silence, biting her lip as if not liking her next words, either. “Zayn’s parents invited us down to Braford for the holidays and we…kinda agreed. It was totally last minute, we didn’t know,”

“Harry and Jen will still be here,” Zayn offered.

Alana felt her heart clench but she quickly gathered herself and smiled. Holidays were family time, too, and she could not be selfish about things like these. Besides, Zayn and Soo had done so much for her-she could not expect them to stay back against their will, too.

“I’m not as close to them but…it’s okay. We’ll manage. You guys go, have fun,” Alana assured them. “Say hi to your siblings for me, Zayn. Would love to meet them someday,”

Zayn ruffled the top of her head.

“Will do, Lana,”

Alana groaned. “It’s Alan,”

Soo hugged them both.

---

Christmas eve in London was like one of those postcards on a window display one saw whilst walking along the streets heading to the Tower Bridge. It was snowing lightly, bright lights lit up the street and there were muffled noises of celebration going around campus. Alana jammed her hands inside her pockets, soaking in the sights as she headed to Barney’s. It was two hours till Christmas and she did not feel like spending Christmas eve alone so she had decided to head to her favourite hangout instead.

Soo and Zayn had left for Bradford three days before. An unusually teary Soo apologised profusely for pulling out the plug on their holiday plans and it took a firm hearted Zayn to pull her away and multiple assurances from Alana that they’d see each other before Alana went back to the States before Soo would let her go. Alana gave them both their little gifts-a bottle of Soju and pair of concert tickets for Soo and a thrifted leather jacket for Zayn which proclaimed his undying love for Guns and Roses, embroidered at the back-before bidding temporary goodbye.

That Christmas eve, Harry, Jen and her had met up at the pub as planned, sharing a few drinks before doing the exchange. At Harry’s invitation to attend a Christmas eve countdown party afterwards, Alana had decline, using the excuse that she was a little bit tired. In truth, however, Alana had no interest in spending time with people she barely knew.

She was certain she would have listed the benefits of coffee to an unsuspecting stranger and branded herself a weirdo for life and she would very much like her Christmas eve to be pleasant.

Even if Jen did stay true to her teasing promises and gave Alana an ugly sweater for Christmas.

Finally arriving at Barney’s, Alana was unsurprised to find that it was even emptier than it was before. Despite the wooden walls being decorated with proclamations of a “Merry Christmas” and a few miserable Christmas cards, Alana doubted anyone would want to ring in Christmas drinking coffee. The young woman walked up to the counter, ordered herself a latte then sat herself by the usual spot, by the window, as she awaited for her coffee to cool down.

As she stared out the window and watched people heading towards their Christmas plans, Alana could not help but to admit that she’d miss Barney’s as much as she’d miss Soo and Zayn. Barney’s had seen her through late nights, early mornings and days where she just needed to treasure her aloneness. Somehow, the wooden walls has seen her grow over the last year-the unusually quiet girl had taken a leap of faith, going to another country for an entire year, alone, merely to pursue the unknown. It was a walking cliché but hell, it was Christmas eve.

Heaving out a breath, Alana pulled her knees up to her chest and took out the book she had been attempting to read over the last week. One of her classmates, while in conversation about the best literary classics of all times, found herself in genuine disbelief when she realised that Alana had not yet read Great Expectations. Alana had defended herself, letting her classmate know she had attempted it before but just never properly understood it and had given up. She was presented the book a day later by the very same classmate with the promise that she would read it over the Christmas break.

Her second attempt, so far, was a failure. She was at page twenty seven when she closed the book, pushing it across the table in mild frustration.

“Not a fan of Dickens?”

It was Niall.

Alana looked up to find him looking at her in ill-disguised amusement.

“I just don’t think it’s as much a classic as its touted to be. Or maybe I just don’t understand it,”

“You think Great Expectations is sub-par?” Niall had the audacity to look surprised now. He perched his bucket of collected mugs against his hips, eyebrows raised.

Alana made a face, then chuckled.

“Wait here,”

Before Alana could protest or question the semi-stranger before her, Niall disappeared behind the double doors. When he re-emerged, he spoke in hushed tones to the other barista, gesturing towards her. With a firm nod from the other, Niall undid his apron and quickly joined Alana, sitting across from her.

He would have been skiving had it not been for the fact that the only customer was her.

“Care to tell me what this is about?” Alana’s asked. She leaned back in her chair, then folded her arms across her chest.

“I’m here to tell you what you missed out with Dickens,”

Niall’s grin was smug.

“Right…because what I really need on Christmas eve is a lecture about the great Charles Dickens,” Alana mocked, looking pointedly towards the book.

Niall seemed to contemplate his response and in those moments, Alana dared a glance at him. Only then did she fully register that his eyes were a deep blue and that he had a slightly dented chin. His hair, while mostly blonde, had highlights of auburn in them.

Strange how she had seen him throughout the year and only then noticed the most obvious details.

“About that…why are you here on Christmas eve?” Niall’s sudden change in topic caught Alana off guard, causing her to frown. Her response prompted Niall to shoot his arms up in defence and after laughing lightly, added. “I mean, I’m sure you have better Christmas plans than coming here to get drunk on coffee,”

“I don’t get drunk on coffee,”

“Well, with a six cup black coffee record, you might as well have,”

“I’ve had ten once back home,”

“And….where is home?”

The question, although catching Alana off guard, caused her to grin. “Smooth one-if that’s your way of finding out where I live,” Alana pursed her lips, reaching for her coffee. “Home is Los Angeles. Only here for exchange…which officially ends in a week,”

Sometimes, when Alana got nervous, she tended to give more than she cared to admit.

“That’s…pretty far from here. No plans tonight?”

Alana shook her head no, then added. “My grand total of two friends decided to love it up back in his hometown so I’m left with a barely friends Christmas secret Santa thing and Dickens in a coffeeshop,”

Yup, she was definitely nervous.

Instead of appearing sorry for her, however, Niall shrugged.

“Sounds a whole lot better than working on Christmas eve,” his voice was laced with an undertone of sadness and that alone, somehow, made Alana sit up a little bit straighter.

“Well, you have your barista buddy if it counts for anything…and an equally lonely customer,”

As if to proof a point, Alana raised her cup in a quiet toast before sipping her drink.

“Jack’s about to knock off; he has a party to get to…but you’re more than welcomed to stay,” Niall stood up then and jammed his hands into his pockets. “I uh…better go clean up. We close at twelve so don’t make me chase you out…again,”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Alana joked.

“Hopefully it wouldn’t be the last, either,”

The laughter that escaped Alana’s lips carried through the now empty space, She chose to sit back and do nothing for a while, watching as mere minutes later, Jack emerged from behind the counter, waving at Niall as he approached the front door. He noticed Alana during these moments and with an enthusiastic “Merry Christmas”, was on his way.

Perhaps, in all of England, her Christmas was the most boring.

In the two hours that followed, Alana alternated between attempting Dickens and checking her phone-though she spent more time doing the second. The group chats she was in were filled with Christmas greetings and updates, the most active being one of her family and her close friends back home. Both groups seemed to be preparing for Christmas in full swing. Her father was roasting the turkey, as usual, and her friends were already calling dibs on what they’d be bringing to the party at Carlos’. Alana felt a pang of sadness wash over her but as quickly as it came, she halted her thoughts by reaching for Dickens, focusing now on Pip and his journey on Christmas eve.

Perhaps, in some greater metaphor of sorts, Dickens on Christmas did seem appropriate.

“Looks like I am going to chase you out,” Niall’s sudden interruption brought her out of her semi-reverie in nineteenth century England.

“Is it twelve already?” Alana looked at the clock to find that they were exactly five minutes away.

“Not yet but I wanna wish you Merry Christmas instead of chasing you out right at midnight. That would be very Fairy Godmother of me,”

“Indeed,” was all Alana said before standing up, packing her bag and then swinging it over her shoulder.

“Did you get anywhere with Dickens?”

“First base, if I’m lucky. But I think it’s more of a cordial friendship at this point,” When the response was met with a puzzled look from Niall, Alana giggled. “We’re at page forty and I am still not impressed,”

Niall did the unthinkable then.

“Come over to my place then…tomorrow…not tonight…because I have to clean up and it’s…not appropriate, anyway,”

Alana blinked.

Twice.

In slow motion.

“I mean…if you want to. I did a review on Dickens last semester and maybe it’d be easier for you to understand and appreciate it and also….I kinda don’t want to spend Christmas alone,”

As if to confirm her suspicion, Alana asked. “You’re asking me out?”

“No…yes…I mean…we’ve known each other almost the year right so that makes us friends and we’re just…hanging out on Christmas and I have gingerbread cookies and we could talk Dickens or not and you can say no-”

The rest of Niall’s words blurred into the background and in its place was Zayn’s voice telling her she needed to live a little and live a life outside Barney’s that was less calculated. Leaps of faith were never her thing but perhaps, there was no harm in this one-especially since she knew deep down, she had nothing to lose. It was a tiny gathering between friends and if she had to put it in her own words and her own terms, it was kind of like a Christmas study date.

“-and of course I have boardgames and-”

“Okay,” Alana answered at last. “I’m pretty sure we’d get nowhere with Dickens but I do love gingerbread cookies,”

Niall held in his response for a moment after the agreement was forged, unable to belief that his spontaneous idea of asking a fellow lone soul to spend Christmas together would bear fruit.

“Yeah…yeah okay,” Niall finally found his words but unconsciously scratched the back of his neck in sudden shyness. “I’ll go get my phone and then text you my address,”

While Niall went to get his phone, Alana quickly reached for hers and with rapid speed and an equally quick heart rate, ignored the multiple texts she received to send a message to Soo.

“Got asked out on an almost date for Christmas. Merry Christmas to you and Z!!!!!!!!! xxxxxx”

Just as she hit send, Niall emerged once more and handed his phone to her so she could type in her number. A knowing smile formed on her lips, however, when the name space was filled with the name “Karen”.

“Uhmm…my name is actually Alan. Short for Alana. Alana Bosworth,”

Niall looked puzzled. “What do you mean….?”

“I mean….” Alana paused and licked her lips, unable to hold in a laugh that eventually escaped her lips. She held his phone up. “I mean my name is Alana not Karen. You might have misheard me saying Alan…everyone calls me Alan…. and assumed my name was Karen and wrote it down by mistake. You’ve been writing it wrong the whole year,”

It was Niall’s turn to blink twice. In slow motion.

“What do you mean I’ve been writing your name wrong for a year?” Niall turned pale, his eyes reflecting obvious embarrassment. “Why have you never corrected me?”

“Because,” Alana was laughing without inhibitions now and gave herself a few moments to gather herself. “….Because you only asked once and I thought I could correct you the next time I saw you but you never asked for my name again so I’m….Karen,”

Niall ran a hand through his hair, opening his mouth as if to say something before quickly deciding against it. “You mean I’ve mistaken you for a Karen the whole year,”

Alana nodded in mock seriousness, the nudged her new friend. “It’s okay…no big,”

Typing her phone number in then, she gave herself a missed call before handing the phone back to Niall who looked a little less shocked than he was before but still clearly beating himself up over getting someone else’s name wrong for a whole year.

“Relax, Niall. It’s okay, really. At least now you know, right?” Alana assured him. “Text me your address tomorrow and we’ll meet up,”

Niall nodded his head robotically.

“Okay,” Alana was still amused as she backed away and towards the door. “Goodnight, Niall…and Merry Christmas,”

“Good….goodnight, Kar….Alan. See you tomorrow. Merry Christmas,”

Niall blew out a breath of utter shock as he watched Alana leave. When he finally fully recovered, he dialled a number on the phone. The other person picked up almost instantly.

“Hey…yeah buddy…Merry Christmas to you too. Listen, you wouldn’t belief what happened, Zayn….”

#1dff #exchanges

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trossy20 · 6 years

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1/24/2019 Millbrae, CA

So I’ve made it! Here we are in CA. West coast is truly the best coast (and yes my boo CO, that includes you too). Currently I’m in the backyard of the house (Airbnb hostel-like place) under their mini gazebo/patio thing. It was cold last night, so the chairs are all dewy, encouraging me to take a sit on the pavement. It’s not particularly warm, but the sun is out and doing it’s thing just right. It’s 0940ish; I woke up around 0900, having gone to bed close to 0100 watching Californication and Big Mouth which, no Matt, it’s not funnier while you’re stoned. I did a double last night at Marvelous Performance, but that would’ve been more impressive at Terra Nova because at this gym, I’m currently partaking in the Fundamentals level. It felt great yesterday though to have done their crossfit-level workout afterward. I’m excited for tonight, which will be another double: fundamentals strength first, HIIT class after. I’m especially excited though, for this thing they’re advertising (and I can’t seem to find any other info on it than what Matt ((one of the coaches)) told me) called something like 6-weeks to Best Self. I met a dude last night who was cool enough to just walk up to me randomly and introduce himself. I liked his energy and he was a similar height, but built! He’s been a member for a year and said he started with the 6 week thing too-- said it’s worth it especially for the nutritional/educational piece. :3 so i gotta get on registering. Imma ask more tonight. There’s an orange and lemon tree back here, with fruit but a bit too early to pick. According to the other residents, there’s also a cherry and apple tree. Our neighbors have persimmons (my like new fav fruit) and figs! Amazing. This place is a little house, longer in length than width, with about 6 bedrooms. Each bedroom has bunkbeds and from what I understand, there’s a single private room? It works though! Yknow, if you’re not OCD about things/not super bugged by messy people… A team comes to clean supposedly twice a week, but the residents report it’s been more so once a week, which isn’t cool because we’re past half capacity. Still, it works. 3 or 4 fridges in total, a kitchen, living room, tiny dining room, a basement with another tv and computers which I can’t figure out if they belong to anyone in particular or not. 3 guitars or more (mine included). A piano. Plenty of bikes (supposedly one is communal, but every one that brought their own bike is willing to share. A poor excuse for a workout bench but it can work. Communal/free laundry soap (feels weird to smell different). And a solid group of misfits. The coffee here is free (As even indicated by a little sign someone made) and there’s nearly always a fresh pot on. I shared a lot of my mush yesterday which is fine because I’m getting help paying for it anyway ty Katherine, and people are getting hooked but now it’s not even gonna last 24H x). Gotta make more today… So being here: It’s been a little disorienting to find my feelings. Today’s the first day that I’m taking a bit of time to create the space. My last day off was a bit of that, but I was so excited and distracted by my mini adventure to Sprouts that I didn’t make a lot of headway for what’s going on up there. I was starting to wonder if there’s much going on at all, just because everything is new and engaging and something’s always happening (even if it’s just netflix or someone playing video games). It’s all too easy to just let the days roll by. I checked in** on Jan 6th, was it? (**got to millbrae a day earlier and Ren gave me crap later for having us sleep in the car and not Elo/Peter’s place hehe). I wonder too, if it was too quick of a transition. I’m slowly allowing the format of my exploration to change. CO was all about meeting people via apps, but here I’ve already fallen into a group and met people way more easily in person ie Marvelous Performace, a friend of a friend, or even work/fellow travelers. As the experience pans out, I’m at least aware that allowing this format to be different is growth in itself. It makes me wonder how the next place might feel. I’ve also started to wonder about extending here… but that remains to be seen. (Been toying with the idea of WA next). There’s a crow that’s been vocal this morning, little finches chirping at a quicker pace, and another bird I don’t recognize all seemingly celebrating the quiet, warm morning. I’ve notifed just now my nose is a tiny bit stuffy, but I can still smell the sweet baked/fried goodies from whatever bakery nearby. It carries in the wind to pretty impressive distances, but I think we’re close by. My laundry is going so I’m feeling extra productive/not worried about how I should be adventuring right now instead because I need to stick around to move it over/start the next load, and that made me wonder something new: I don’t feel … inquieto. I think that translates to anxious/restless. I always think it’s appropriate to say “be still, my heart,” if one is feeling inquieto, so I guess the translation fits. Still, i think those english words are a bit deceiving. Inquieto in ronnie world is yes, both of those, but fueled by a FOMA type of energy. I’m very aware of my emotional habit of needing to feel productive/busy all the time or else I’ll begin to feel depressed (something to examine later, though I don’t think it’s necessarily unhealthy of a thing. Bagh, but who knows what I’m hiding now), but (rounding back to the Something New) I think that energy is more at peace here, and that’s what’s mainly throwing me off. “Ronnie, what do you want..?” Uhh… Idk! We can always walk to Trader Joe’s or hop on the bus or train somewhere or read.. “Shouldn’t we be out meeting people? Meetups? Destinations? Missions?” Hm. I mean I guess but I rather just ride the bus or train :3 So maybe my social quota is filled already with these rascals. I expressed to Tracy that I was a little worried I’m not worried about it (am I asexual?), when she asked if there were any new love interests. She assured me that that’s totally normal-- we go through phases of course. She went through a 2 year stretch of not even giving that thought because life was just busy. She was doing her, and that was okay. That resonates with me. I guess I have this perception that around my age, everyone should be out socializing/meeting people/flirting/hooking up/getting trashed… but cmon ronnie, was that ever really you? I do find that fun occasionally, but it’s like I’m super happy to be settling more into my grandpa-like tendencies. I think the 8hr shifts have a lot to do with it too: the life I have within these contracts is probably hugely dictated by the shift I signed up for. These 8hr-ers encourage my grandpa trends, encourage a routine, encourage my days off to be restful and adventurous in MY way. In comparison, CO was 12hr-ers, nights, but took up about 4 days a week of my life. The rest of the days? I guess just chillin with Ren XD but it’s still different. Not in a bad way! Maybe I should look into more introspective prompts. Mainly I just try to gauge the degree of my inner FOMA, or trans-dom x) “*knocks on the mental door* Hey, Ronnie? You okay? You wanna do anything in particular?” -I’m good! “*narrow-eyed look* don’t be so quick to respond now, member?” -I know, but really! We could maybe paddleboard-- it’s supposed to be 60 deg today but if we don’t totally cool because that’s a lot of work opening the basement garage and all. Member, we gotta make more food at some point. *shrugs* meetup for ideas? But yeah, no FOMA :3 “Okay.. how you feeling bout dysphoria?” -Decent. I know we’ll have our class tonight. Should probs take a progress photo and that whole 6 week thing.. :) “Worm, cool. I’m thirsty.” It’s restaurant week! Maybe I’ll text that dude and his fiance to join us :3 1040 now, gonna check my laundry, skim meetups, and look into another pair of shoes because I destroyed the active ones……..

#jan2018 #CA2018 #millbrae

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rainforest-rosegold · 7 years

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Making the Grade

Prompt found here

Read it on AO3!

“Dude, why did you even sign up for AP Biology in the first place?”

“Because I was a lovesick fool!” Lance moaned melodramatically.

“Wait, wait, back up.” Hunk looked confused, and Lance realized belatedly that he had never mentioned his real reason for taking the class to his best friend. “Lovesick? What does love have to do with biology?”

Lance resisted the urge to make a crude joke, as his plight was serious. “Never mind that now, I’m barely scraping a D! Hunk, I need your help!”

Hunk shrugged helplessly. “You know I’m more of a physics guy. But seriously, are you in love with some genius? Is that why you took AP Bio?”

Lance’s lack of a response was apparently telling enough for Hunk. He let a whoop of delight. “I knew it! It’s Allura, isn’t it? Tell me it’s Allura.” Allura was Lance’s vice president in the Voltron High School Student Council, and many of their fellow seniors shipped them.

Lance shook his head. “We’re not having this conversation. I need to figure out how to get my grade up by the end of the term, which I might remind you is in three days!”

“Well, whichever vice president has captured your heart, maybe ahe’ll be able to help you get that grade up.” Hunk waggled his eyebrows.

“Hunk, you absolute genius!” Lance hugged his friend. “Of course Pidge will be able to help!”

“Pidge? As in, Pidge Holt? You mean the super short girl who skipped a grade and never talks to anyone?”

Lance could have kicked himself. “Nobody was supposed to find out about that.”

“Why not?” Hunk was laughing now. “Loverboy Lance, heartthrob of Voltron High, falling in love with the one girl who isn’t falling over her own feet to date him -- it sounds like the plot of a Disney Channel show!”

“Oh, shut up,” Lance grumbled.

To Katherine Holt Subject Research project help?

Hey, Pidge. This is Lance McClain, from AP Bio (and, you know, the student council and stuff). So, I was wondering if you’d maybe possibly be willing to help me with the research project that’s due the day after tomorrow… which I may or may not have procrastinated starting until just now… Thanks, Lance <3

Click.

Message sent.

As soon as he sent the email, Lance was filled with apprehension. There was no way Pidge wouldn’t judge him -- what a great way to win a girl’s affections, Loverboy, he mocked himself. He wondered if leaving the heart next to his name had been too much, even though it was sort of his signature thing.

He didn’t have long to overthink things. Pidge must have been sitting at her computer when the email arrived, because she emailed him back right away.

To Lance McClain Subject RE: Research project help?

Meet me in the library tomorrow after school. --Pidge

Lance did a silent victory dance.

Pidge’s gaze flicked between the library door and the clock, pausing every once in a while to glare at the obnoxiously loud sophomore girls occupying the table adjacent her own. It had been nearly twenty minutes since the end of school, and she was beginning to wonder if Lance had just been messing with her.

Shouldn’t have gotten your hopes up, she chided herself. That the ultra-popular student council president everyone seemed in love with would give her the time of day was laughable at best. More than likely, he was having a good laugh about his clever prank with the idiots on the student council or a bunch of airheaded girls like the ones prattling away near Pidge.

Twenty-five minutes passed. Then thirty. The librarian began giving Pidge dirty looks. The sophomore girls got up and left in a perfume-scented pack. Pidge had just decided to do the same, minus the perfume and the pack, when the door creaked open, and there he was.

When Lance McClain entered a room, the room knew it. The door would slam open, and he would positively explode in with no end of pick-up lines, dazzling smiles, saucy winks, and finger guns. A trumpet fanfare and confetti cannon would not seem out of place.

Which is why the first words out of Pidge’s mouth were “Who are you and what have you done with Lance?” Though he shared Lance’s features, the impostor seemed nervous and unsure of himself, hastily shutting the door behind himself the moment he was through and approaching Pidge hesitantly.

“Loverboy Lance is unavailable,” said Lance. “Today you get to deal with failing-bio-Lance.” Pidge caught a hint of red in his cheeks as he sat down next to her, dragging his textbook and binder out of his bag.

“Why me?” The question slipped out before she could stop it, and Pidge cursed her lack of a brain-to-mouth filter.

Lance blinked at her. “I dunno, maybe because you’re hands down the smartest person in our grade? And there’s also… well, never mind.”

“What?”

“It’s nothing.”

Pidge shrugged. “If you say so.” She made a mental note to ask him about it later. “So, what do you have so far?”

Lance dramatically flipped open his binder. “Absolutely nothing!”

“So… you’ll need a lot of help, yeah?”

“It could take hours. Are you sure you’re okay to help me with this? I mean, I could always--”

“It’s fine,” Pidge hurried to reassure him.

At that point, the librarian approached their table. “I need to lock up, so you two need to take this somewhere else.”

Pidge gave him a distracted nod and turned back to Lance. “You’d be welcome to come to my house for a while.”

Lance put up a hand to rub the back of his neck, his face cracking into a smile. “Sounds great.”

“Down, Rover.” Pidge stroked her overenthusiastic dog’s ears as he dropped back onto all fours, panting with excitement. “Lance, this is my dog, Rover. Rover, meet Lance.”

Lance followed Pidge through her front door and stooped to pet Rover. “I’ve never actually met a dog named Rover, despite the stereotype.”

“Well, his full name is Moon Rover Alpha-K-9, but we call him Rover for short,” Pidge explained as Moon Rover Alpha-K-9 slobbered all over Lance.

“That you, Pidge?” called Matt from somewhere deep within the house, most likely his room.

“Yep,” Pidge called back. “And I’m going to be helping a friend with his homework, so stay out of my room for a while.”

With a loud clatter, Matt materialized next to her, slightly out of breath. “A friend, you say?” He scrutinized Lance. “What’s your name? I’m Matt.”

“Name’s Lance. Nice to meet you.” Lance held out a hand to shake.

“Wait, Lance?” Matt’s eyes widened, and a hard knot of dread coalesced in Pidge’s stomach. “As in, Lance Lance? Lance McClain? I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Wait, you have?” Lance glanced between Pidge and Matt.

“No, he hasn’t,” Pidge corrected, glaring daggers at her brother.

Matt cheerfully ignored her. “Well, I’ll just let the two of you get on with your homework.” He winked at them before vanishing back into his room.

“What was that all about?” Lance asked as soon as Matt was out of earshot.

Pidge felt as though her face was aflame. “Nothing.”

Lance stared at the screen of Pidge’s computer. “I’m never going to finish this,” he lamented.

“Maybe we should take a break,” Pidge suggested gently.

“This paper is due tomorrow!” Lance protested.

“Yes.” Pidge sounded exasperated. “But the more you psych yourself out and overwork yourself, the longer this is going to take!”

“Fine.” Lance stood and stretched until his back popped, then sat down on Pidge’s bed.

She plopped herself down next to him. “So, um… earlier, you mentioned a reason for wanting my help in particular.”

“Yeah…” Lance sensed a minefield ahead. “I already told you, you’re the smartest person in our class. I think you know that.”

“You mentioned another reason,” Pidge insisted.

“I did, didn’t I? Heh…”

“So what was it?”

“I… er… mayormaynothaveahugecrushonyou.” Lance couldn’t meet her eyes.

“Oh.” Her tone was completely neutral, and when Lance glanced up at her face, it was carefully composed to reveal no emotion.

“So… yeahhh. That’s a thing.” This is so awkward.

“Hmm.” Pidge crossed her arms. “I have an idea about your research project.”

“What’s that?” Lance leaped at the opportunity to change the subject.

“I’ll give you a kiss if you get an A on it.”

One week later saw the beginning of the second term and the release of students’ report cards. Lance found that he had managed to scrape a C in AP Biology, but the report card gave only his overall grade. After class that day, he lingered to talk to Mr. Harris.

“What do you need?” his teacher asked, looking a little annoyed but mostly exhausted.

“What did I get on my research paper?” Lance blurted.

In response, Mr. Harris dug through a pile of papers on his desk. “Here. I was going to hand them back tomorrow, but you can have yours now.”

Lance’s eyes immediately flicked to the top of the page. 81% was written in red pen and circled, and his heart sank. “Mr. Harris, what letter grade is an eighty-one?”

“B minus,” Mr. Harris replied distractedly. “Why?”

“No reason.” Lance turned and left the room, only to find Pidge waiting for him outside.

“Did you find out how you did?” she asked eagerly.

Lance nodded listlessly. “I got a B minus. I guess that means no kiss?”

“Not for the grade, no,” Pidge agreed, and by her smile, Lance figured she was just as glad he hadn’t gotten an A.

He began to walk away and was startled when she followed him, keeping pace beside him. “Where are you going?”

“Lunch.” Lance increased his pace, but Pidge grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop.

“Look at me.” Reluctantly, he obliged. She was still smirking at him. “You didn’t get an A, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still want to kiss you.”

Before Lance knew what was happening, Pidge’s lips were on his, and despite the uninspiring setting and their fellow students catcalling, Lance gave his first kiss an A plus.

#anonymous #plance #night writes #high school au #21st century au #prompt #send me prompts #vld

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fanficimagery · 7 years

Text

For neonxxlights on Quotev: Y/n was best friends with Damon but when he turned into a vampire he didn't want to hurt her so he left unknown that she would later turn. Meet years and years later.

Damon X Reader (Long Lost Besties)

1864

Everything was chaos.

Some time in the middle of the night you had woken to screaming, crying and gun fire. Mama had been watching from the front window as she watched everything unfold and Papa had run into the house, eyes wide and face pale as he told the both of you to stay put and not invite anyone into the house.

And then when things had calmed down, it was Papa who had broken the news to you that Damon and Stefan Salvatore were dead. You were heartbroken for Stefan, or Baby Sal as you had taken to calling him, but were confused about Damon's untimely death. On one hand, you hurt for the loss of your best friend, but on the other you were uninterested in the news which greatly surprised your parents because they knew how close you and Damon had been.

Days passed and life returned to normal, and then you had the shock of your life.

Damon, alive and well, sought you out one night. You were angry and confused for being lied to, but a sense of peace overcame you after Damon told you he had to leave. You were to forget his existence, believe he was truly dead, and have a long and happy life. He wished you happiness and after being instructed to close your eyes, you felt the press of lips to your forehead. And when you opened your eyes, you were alone with no memory of what had taken place in the last couple of minutes.

Present 2017

Being back in Mystic Falls is.. different. You haven't been back here since 1867 and though much has changed, your memory hasn't. There are some places you can't even visit, the two most important places being where your house once stood and the Salvatore home.

But Mystic Grill is new territory and you have no problem being in the bar and grill.

The low-lit establishment is packed with customers, especially those there to see Daylighters perform. Daylighters consists of you and a struggling piano player you found in a train station, and with little compulsion you had the perfect human companion for your sudden interest in the music industry. But since you're a vampire, touring is completely out of the question because of all the exposure and eventual attention you would gather. So with that in mind, the two of you happily play only in bars and clubs, and intimate settings.

The stage is already set and as you start walking towards it, you smile and wave at the few who recognize you for who you are. Zachary, your piano player, spots you and taps the Grill's manager on the shoulder to let him know you're ready.

Matt spots you and steps up to the mic. "Ladies and gentlemen, if I can please have your attention." He pauses just long enough until he as the attention of those sitting close to the stage. "As you know, Mystic Grill started having Open Mic Night about two months ago and today we have some very special guests with us, so please give a round of applause for the Daylighters!"

Smiling at the applause and wolf-whistles, you finally climb on stage and briefly hug Matt before he walks off. Stepping up to the mic and dropping it to your level, you say, "Thank you. My friend Zachary and I have been touring off of our own money, so it's still quite a shock to see some familiar faces following us around to listen to our music." A couple of teenage-looking kids whoop from the crowd and you laugh along with those amused at their antics. "I, um, I have some new material I wanted to share you with you tonight. This first song is about coming to feel empathy for someone else even if they hurt you or scare you. It's a song about learning to be proud of the person you are even during low moments when you feel alone. It's also about hoping everyone, even someone who hurt you, can heal.* It's a little different than what I usually sing, not too different, but it's pretty emotional for me and I hope- I hope you enjoy."

There's a tall stool that you drag up to the mic stand o take a seat on and you have to adjust the height of the stand yet again. Once situated you glance over your shoulder at Zachary and give him a nod. His fingers start to move over the black and white keys, and you close your eyes when the melody resonates around the building.

♪♫Well, you almost had me fooled. Told me that I was nothing without you. Oh, but after everything you've done I can thank you for how strong I have become♪♫

The lyrics bring back some painful memories, but after all this time you're finally ready to let go. You've got a long life ahead of you and holding such grudges as a vampire is not healthy for you or for those around you.

♪♫'Cause you brought the flames and you put me through hell. I had to learn how to fight for myself. And we both know all the truth I could tell. I'll just say this is I wish you farewell♪♫

The words pour from your mouth with ease and you can feel the emotion welling in the crowd. Apparently the words resonate with some of those in attendance and you have to bite back a smile at the fact that your song is a success.

♪♫I'm proud of who I am. No more monsters, I can breathe again. And you said that I was done. Well, you were wrong and now the best is yet to come. 'Cause I can make it on my own. And I don't need you, I found a strength I've never known. I'll bring thunder, I'll bring rain, oh-oh. When I'm finished, they won't even know your name♪♫

The music gets a little faster and a lot more emotional. You unhook the mic from it's stand, standing up and pouring everything you have into the song. You pace along the edge of the stage and make eye contact with those you can. Though as you're singing you think you see a very familiar face at the bar that you haven't seen in over a hundred years. You have to try your hardest to keep your voice from cracking, especially on one particular note that gets some of the audience in an excited tizzy.

♪♫I hope you're somewhere prayin', prayin'. I hope your soul is changin', changin'. I hope you find your peace. Falling on your knees, prayin'♪♫

After playing an hour and a half set, you and Zachary give a bow. Zachary stays around to eat a dinner plate Matt had brought up for him and you merely ask for a tray of fries as you keep your eyes peeled for someone in particular. Very few people approach you to ask for pictures and you happily oblige, but soon enough it all becomes a little much. Matt notices and offers you a drink from behind the bar, he then gesturing to the back exit in case you need some fresh air.

You take him up on the offer and after making sure no one is watching you, you make your way outside through the back door. Pulling up your hood, you shove your hands in your pockets and walk around to the front. You walk a ways away from Mystic Grill, and heads towards Town Square to clear your mind.

You manage to walk around for a little while, texting Zachary that you're fine before coming to a stop beneath the illuminated clock tower. You only have a few more moments of peace before approaching footsteps make you tense.

"Excuse me?" A feminine voice calls out.

As you turn around, you see a female dragging a very reluctant and over-dramatic male towards you. Seeing her smiling face and his mock-annoyed one you freeze, and you have to bite the inside of your cheek to keep from hissing. Because walking towards you appears to be none other than Katherine Pierce and Damon Salvatore.

You're angry and hurt and confused, but you paste on a false smile as Damon finally looks at you. You see him stumble and freeze as his eyes widen, and you mentally cheer. But Katherine's reaction- that one finally sinks in and confuses the hell out of you. It's like she's actually happy to see you.

"Hi!" She greets. "I was watching your set back at the Grill and wanted to get a picture with you, but you kind of disappeared. And I'm really sorry to bother you, but can my boyfriend snap a quick pic of us?"

"Sure." Looking at Damon, the alien!Katherine looks at him too.

She frowns at his reaction. "..Damon?"

"Hmm?"

"You okay?"

He snaps out of it, a slow smirk forming. "Yeah." Then he looks straight at you, his gaze and smirk turning into something rather fond that makes your chest ache. "Sorry for staring. You just- you remind me of someone. What was your name again?"

He's obviously fishing for information and the corner of your lips curl into a grin. You never could play Damon no matter how hard you tried. He always figured you out straight away. "Silly Sal, I was so sure you would have blurted it out the second you saw me." His eyes widen yet again and his girlfriend takes a step away from you.

"Y/N?" You nod and before another word is said, you throw yourself at your long lost best friend and wrap him up in a hug. Your emotions finally get the best of you, tears leaking from your eyes as you chuckle when he squeezes you in return. "But.. how? When?"

Taking a step back from him, you shrug. "1867. Some vampire braved Mystic Falls to get some revenge for one of his friends. I fled as soon as he forced me to complete the transition with mama's blood." Damon's jaw clenches and you see anger flare in his blue eyes. You can't stare at him any longer, so you turn to his companion and try not to attack her. Instead, you merely raise an eyebrow at her. "I gotta say, Katherine, I never thought I'd see the day. You're way more subdued than I remember."

"I- I'm not Katherine." She stammers. "I'm Elena Gilbert. Unfortunate doppelganger."

This time your eyes widen and as you look at Damon who gives you a nod of confirmation, you breathe out a long breath and offer a sheepish smile. "Sorry. Katherine's not my favorite person. I could forgive the asshole who turned me and left me to fend for myself, but I never could forgive her." Elena shrugs it off as no big deal.

"How do you know Katherine?" Damon then wonders.

"She compelled me away from you." Looking at Damon, you see his jaw go slack in shock. "She didn't like that we hung out or the fact that our parents cooed over how cute we were," you say as you roll your eyes. "She got jealous, so she made me slowly distance myself from you so you wouldn't be suspicious."

"Goddammit," Damon snarls.

"Whoa. Hey." Elena interferes while glancing around at those still milling about town. "Calm down. She's dead and Y/N is alive."

"Dead?" You perk up. "Truly?"

"Yes." Elena turns to you, stepping to Damon's side and taking his hand within her own. You smile at her calming gesture.

"So.. if you've been alive all this time, why didn't you look for me?" Damon asks.

You sigh. "I did. Mostly out of anger, at first. Which, by the way, thanks for compelling me, you dick!" You reach forward and punch him in the shoulder, smiling at his grunt of pain. "I found a few leads, but everything went cold in 1953."

"Yeah. I ran into some trouble then. Long story."

"Figured." Silence falls between the three of you, but your throat starts to burn. "So since my next gig isn't until next week, I say we catch up. Do you know any places I can get a bite to.. eat?"

You flash a fangy grin and as Damon chuckles, Elena shakes her head in amusement. "Oh god. There's two of you!"

Author's Note: Before Y/N starts singing, there's a part of her speech that's in bold letters. That bold part is from an article which Kesha was talking about her new song "Praying", the same song I used for this Imagine.

I don't mean to offend anyone, so please don't think I'm in any way mocking Kesha or the reasoning behind her song. I'm very much in love with it and think you should give it a listen if you haven't yet.

#imagine #damon salvatore #damon x reader #damon salvatore imagine #the vampire diaries #tvd #fanficimagery

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