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somanyratsinthewalls · 8 months

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Kinktober Special Part 4

Mo’s Kinktober Special

The Crew’s Whore (Part 4) (+18)

Summary: You are the former owner of the Grand Line’s most popular brothel. Your power fighting abilities got the attention of the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. He had asked you to join their crew but what would you bring to the team? Your battle skills were hardly comparable to many of the other Straw Hats… but you actually had a great skill. Your years working as a high end escort had prepared you to become the private plaything for this pirate crew. You joined the Straw Hats as their personal sex toy.

Pairing: Usopp x afab!reader

WC: 3200 ehehehe

TW's: Alcohol consumption, cowgirl, face sitting, oral sex m receiving, blowjob, a little exhibitionism, virginity loss, virgin usopp :( , oral sex f receiving, pet names, begging, submissive usopp :(

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

Chapter 4: The Liar

——

Earlier in the Day…

Zoro, Sanji and Usopp sat side by side on the railing of the deck watching their fishing poles in the water. The stores of meat were getting a little on the low side, and the whole crew knew what a nightmare their captain would be if there was a shortage of food, so it was all hands on deck for fishing duty.

“So I had y/n in the bathroom the other day, it was insane.” Zoro starts after several long minutes of silence and no bites on the hooks.

“Yeah, I KNOW.” Usopp snaps back at the mention of what he walked in on a few days ago.

“Haha oh yeah, I forgot about that.” Zoro chuckled and leaned back on his arm. “Sorry I’m not sorry, you were bound to see it some time. I don’t know why you don’t just have her for yourself for once, you’d understand it then. Oh wait, you’re too chicken shit.”

“Chicken shit? Oh sorry I RESPECT women, and whatever configuration you had her in was NOT respectful.” Usopp shot back at the swordsman.

“Oh yeah? Then why was she cummin’ all over the floor? Seemed pretty respectful to me.” Zoro smirked.

“He has a point, moss head. You obviously have no idea how to truly, romantically, pleasure a woman.” Sanji didn’t even turn his head to insult Zoro.

“At least I’m not in there whimpering and begging! You think you’re quiet? It’s gross, shitcook, be a real man.”

Sanji stood up, abandoning his fishing pole, his right ankle beginning to flame.

“Oh you want to fucking go, asshole?”

Zoro stands up to unsheathe a single sword.

“Anytime, curly fuckface.”

“You guys really suck, man, I hope y’all know that.” Usopp sighed and grabbed his fishing pole to move it to the opposite side of the ship. He plants his pole against the railing as he lets Sanji and Zoro’s yelling fade into the background.

“HEY BROS? I SPECIFICALLY SAID NO DIABLÉ ON THE SHIP! CUT IT OUT!” Franky’s booming voice came from the top deck as he interrupted the idiots’ argument.

Usopp thought about what Zoro said… he wasn’t chicken shit…

— —-

That Same Day, Much Later

This evening aboard the Thousand Sunny, the weather was warm and quite breezy. As per usual there was a large spread for dinner that Sanji had expertly prepared, and the alcohol was certainly flowing. You sat in between Luffy and Usopp, your ear drums basically exploded from the decibel of their laughing and story telling.

“-And if I wasn’t there, that old lady AND her cat would have DIED!” Usopp was regaling the crew with some ridiculous story about a walnut tree that had been set on fire back in Syrup Village. Was it true? Absolutely not. Was he adorable? Of course.

Luffy was laughing his ass off, believing every word.

“Wow Usopp! You’re a real hero! I bet Mr. Snuggles owes you his life!” Luffy said between bouts of laughter.

You giggled before you leaned in and poked the tip of Usopp’s nose, teasingly.

“You’re so cute, you know that?” You chuckled at him.

“I.. uh…” Usopp stuttered out before quieting down, his cheeks flushed a dark red. Luffy, oblivious, picked the conversation up again, telling a story about a cat he accidentally tried to eat during his childhood with the bandits.

After everyone had their fill of food and drink, the crew each returned to their own respective tasks and business. You hung in the galley for awhile, drinking another glass of wine and drying dishes for Sanji. He was always such a good boy for you, why not help him out?

One finishing your task, you gave Sanji a peck on the cheek, to which he fussed and fawned over you briefly, and you grabbed another glass of wine before heading down the stairs towards your room. With airy steps and chardonnay in your hand, you treaded down the hall towards the bedrooms. Before you turned the corner you heard something. A beautiful melody was being played somewhere nearby and it caught your ear. You decided to follow the enchanting sound to the door of the lounge and you pushed it open.

Inside, Brook was playing a gorgeous tune on the piano alone. You smiled seeing him so happy and in his element. You sauntered over to the piano bench and sat down next to the large skeletal man. He notices you next to him and slows his playing to a softer volume.

“Oh beautiful y/n! How nice of you to join me! Any requests?”

“No, this is great. What you’re playing is lovely, please continue.” You sip your wine and close your eyes, enjoying the soft notes from the piano keys. Brook finishes his song and you clap your other hand to the wine glass gently to mimic applause.

“Bravo, Bone Daddy.” You smile. You continue, “You know… I am sorry that you can’t… you know…”

“Oh, don’t worry sweet y/n. It’s quite alright, it’s the thought that counts, right? Yohoohoho!”

“Hmm… I guess you’re right… Here.” You stand up from the piano bench and slide out. You hike your thumbs underneath your short, black pleated skirt. You grab the edge of your pink lace panties and pull them down to your ankles and step out of them. You grab your panties and fold them up nicely. You grab one of Brook’s skeletal hands and place the panties in them and close it up. “Keep em. My treat.” You wink and you turn to walk out of the lounge. As you leave you hear unintelligible thanks spill from Brook’s bony mouth, saying he would cherish them as long as he lived (too bad he was already dead).

You chuckled to yourself as you closed the door to the lounge behind you. You realize your glass was once again empty, so you returned to the galley to fill it. You poured another full glass of wine before heading out to the deck again. It was quiet, but you notice Usopp sitting on the deck fiddling with his slingshot and some sort of supplies from his bag.

“Well hey there,” You holler at him from across the deck and begin to saunter towards him.

“Oh, hey y/n. What are you doing out here?” Usopp doesn’t look up from his project.

“Just hanging out. Though I’d enjoy this nice weather.” You walk towards the railing of the ship and lean forward on it.

“Yeah it is nice out, hey if you go back in for another drink could you grab me a-“ Usopp looks up towards you facing outwards towards the sea. You were leaned over the railing and the wind was blowing your skirt up over your ass. Having taken off your panties, your bare cunt and cheeks were on full display for him.

Usopp instinctively jumped up and moved his body behind yours to cover you. Although there was no one else on the deck, he thought to immediately shelter your most intimate bits from any prying eyes. You felt him behind you and shot up.

“Usopp…” You ask as you turn yourself around to face him, chests almost touching.

“Y/n! What the hell are you doing? You…” He whispers and looks around, “you don’t have any panties on!” He very quietly but very harshly breaths out at you.

You giggle.

“Oh, that? Yeah. Does it bother you, Usopp? You don’t like seeing my pussy on the deck like this?” You tease him as you step closer to him, bringing your breasts to press against his torso.

“No I mean I never said- I mean no! Wait yes I mean yes! Hold on, no, no I don’t dislike it I just-…” His brain was fried as if he just stuck his finger in an electrical socket. He could feel your nipples through your tight crop top.

“Ohhh… so you DO like it?” You purr at him.

“YES obviously, yes it’s great I mean-“ He stutters as you wrap your hands around his neck. You pull him closer to you and you gently press your lips against his to shut up him. He freezes. It took at least a full 30 seconds for him to start kissing you back. Usopp finally gathers the courage to place his hands on your waist as you kiss him deeply. You pull back, holding the side of his face with one hand, looking into his nervous eyes.

“Would you like to take me back to your room, Usopp?” You seductively ask. He blinks blankly at you. He wasn't chicken shit. He grabs your hand and pulls you quickly through the ship to his room.

Closing the door behind you, you wrap your arms around him again, consuming him in another heavy make out session. You could feel his hands on your body shaking.

“Nervous, sweetheart?” You pull back and coo at him.

“Ha, nervous? Nah, no never. I do this all the time! You know I used to have a girlfriend back in Syrup Village, she was basically a princess and she and I-“ You press your finger to his lips.

“We both know that’s bullshit.” You smirk at him. You trace your finger along his lips. “You’ve never touched a woman in your life. Never felt the hot, wet mouth of a woman on your cock. You’ve never tasted the sweet release of a pretty girl on your tongue. You’ve never felt the tight squeeze of a cunt while you’re deep inside of it.”

Usopp whimpers at your filthy words. You snake your left hand in between your bodies to palm him over his overalls.

“Shit- okay fine. You got me. I have no idea what I’m doing. I want to make you feel good but I.. I don’t know how…”

“Then let me show you…” You push his body back towards the bed making him flop onto it. You slunk in between his knees and removed his clothes. You slipped out of your shirt over your head and your skirts down your legs, not needing to remove your panties since you had already gifted them to your Bone Daddy earlier. His cock was so painfully hard already, it bobbed angrily in front of your face as you pulled down his coveralls.

“Are you gonna… what are you gonna do?” Usopp asks you anxiously. “well… nothing you don’t want, okay sweetheart? I was going to take you in my mouth… if that’s alright my sweet boy?” You settle yourself between his thighs and start to stroke his cock slowly.

“Yes… I-I want to be in your mouth please…” He stares intently down at you, hypnotized by your beauty and eagerness.

“Hmm…” You hum as you slowly lave your tongue over the hot mushroom tip of his cock.

“Holy shit y/n-!”

You felt your cunt grow wet at the desperate sounds of pleasure that came from his mouth. You wanted to ruin him so bad. A loud whine escaped Usopp’s mouth as you took his full length down your throat. You brought your right hand up to cup his tight, heavy balls in your palm.

Usopp’s thighs and abs tense as you continue to work him in your mouth and your hands. Nothing but moans and heavy breaths left his lips. He had never felt anything like this before, cursing himself for being too… well chicken shit, to ask for your services before now.

“Y/n wait stop I’m going to-“

You used your left hand to grab his hip and press his body further into you as you took his cock in your mouth so far that your nose met him pelvis. Usopp whined as he released his heavy load down your throat. After several more ropes shot into your mouth, you pulled off Usopp’s dick as he flopped down back on the bed.

“Woah… I kinda get what Sanji’s been talking about now…” Usopp uttered as he stared at the ceiling. You chuckled as you snaked your body up his chest to give him a peck on the nose.

“What can I say? I’m a professional.” You cupped his face in your hand and winked at him. His expression changed.

“Wait… What about you?” Usopp looked up at you with concerned eyes. “Oh sweetie don’t you worry about that!.” You stroked his cheek.

“No… I said I wanted to make you feel good… can you… can you help me? Show me?” He desperately grabbed at your hips, grinding you down onto his cock that was already starting to harden again.

“Hm… If you insist…” You smiled devilishly and sat up on your knees and moved to hover over Usopp’s face, leaving your sopping cunt mere inches above his drooling lips. His eyes bugged wide out of his head, the sight of your gorgeous bare pussy so close to his face was too much for him to handle.

“Do you want to taste it, Usopp?” You teased at him, being barely out of his reach, not sitting down fully just yet.

“Mmm Yes! Yes just sit! Mmm please just sit down I’ll do whatever you want, just use me, please!” His speech was almost slurred due to him trying to reach his tongue out of his mouth to taste you already. You gave into his pleas and fully lowered your body onto his face. A breathy sigh of pleasure escaped your lips as his tongue prodded your weeping hole.

“Mmmprhh so-mrrph good!” Usopp whined out against your sex. He bucked his hips up shamelessly, already fully erect again. You leaned forward to grind your clit against the base of his nose while his tongue fucked your hole. You threw your head back in pleasure and moaned loudly.

“Ohhh, sweetie that’s so good! You’re so perfect for letting me use your pretty face like this. Such a good boy for eating me so well!” You praised him as you continued to ride his face, bringing yourself to orgasm.

“I’m going to cum on your face now, Usopp. You’re going to lay there and take it, right sweetheart?”

“Mhmm! Mhmm” He nodded his head as you finally pushed over the edge. Your slick juices sprayed his face and neck as you cried out. Usopp moaned underneath you as his tongue darted out of your hole to lap up any remaining release from your folds.

You collected yourself and slid your body back down his chest, your pussy dragged a wet trail down his torso as you moved. You hovered over his weeping cock, leaking a puddle of precum onto his toned abdomen.

“Would you like to fuck me now, Usopp?” You looked him square in the eye. He was so drunk on your body and pleasure.

“Yes! Yes, Please, I’d like to fuck you now! Please let me inside of you!” Once again he was begging beneath you. You could definitely get used to his. “Ok sweetheart, you can fuck me now. You’ve done so good.” You coo at him as you line his cock up with your soaked entrance and slide down. He wasn’t as long as Sanji or Zoro, but it was thick and hit your spot just right as you took him to the base inside yourself.

“Fuck-!” Usopp cries out as his hands fly to your hips to ground himself, so lost in the pleasure of your tight cunt.

“Sweetie you fill me up so nice, doing such a good job-“ You moaned out dreamily as you began to grind yourself back and forth on Usopp’s cock.

“Fuck y/n… I can’t… I just gotta…”

All of a sudden Usopp plants his feet and slams his hips up into yours making you almost jolt off his dick in the process. He hit you so deep.

“Usopp!” You cry out in both surprise and pleasure. You shudder forward and lose your balance, hands landing on his firm chest to hold yourself up. Usopp continues to piston his length inside of you at an animalistic pace as you felt that familiar tightness in your belly begin to form again.

“Shit, Usopp I- I think I’m gonna- AH!” He was bouncing you so forcefully on his cock, the soft, shy Usopp you knew was long gone as soon as he sunk balls deep into your filthy cunt. Your body was being tossed in the air with every thrust, your full breasts bouncing lewdly in his face. “Gotta feel you cum again… Fucking do it… Cum on me again…” Usopp growled out at you as he took your right nipple in his teeth. You cried out in pain and pleasure as his grip tightened on your hips, holding you so hard you knew you’d be left with black and blue marks where his fingers were now. You screamed out his name as you let your orgasm wash over your body and you released all over his lower half.

“Y/n, fuck, where should I-?” Usopp gasps out.

“Inside… Need… inside…” You choke out between gasps, your body still recovering from your orgasm.

Usopp groaned loudly as he pulled your hips down so far into his that you felt his cock kiss your cervix harshly. You whined as he shuddered and came deep inside of your still spasming pussy.

His body went limp. You leaned forward while he was still seated within you to place a gentle kiss on the tip of his nose. You tried to as gently as possible remove yourself from his overly sensitive cock. He still groaned as you pulled yourself off of him, feeling his cum drip out of you onto his hip bone in the process. You laid down next to him and wrapped him in your arms. You pulled his down comforter over both of your naked bodies. You scratched his scalp as he nuzzled his face into your shoulder, and he wrapped his arms around your lower back.

“SooOOOooo… What’dya think?” You giggled as you asked him how his first time was, already knowing the answer.

“Y/n it was-“

“GLAD YOU FINALLY GET IT, LOSER!” You both heard Zoro’s drunk, booming voice from outside Usopp’s bedroom door.

“FUCK YOU, ASSHOLE!” Usopp shouted, briefly rising from his resting place in the crook of your neck.

You both laughed. You pecked him on the lips. “Goodnight, Usopp.”

“Goodnight, y/n.”

You both quickly fell asleep in each others arms.

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xxkitty13 · 2 months

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Vampire Au pt. 5

Vampire Law x Human Luffy

Law takes Luffy to pound town ;)

Previous -> Part 4 Next-> Part 6

The first thing Nami did was try to bribe the vampire. The castle was filled with valuable trinkets, decorations and most importantly, gold. The woman was going to have a heart attack at the amount of treasure that filled the place.

“If I see anything missing, I will cut your hands off.”

“Ah!” Nami quickly stood beside Luffy. “Tell him that it wouldn’t hurt if I kept something. He has too many things anyway.”

“These are Torao’s things. It’s not nice to steal.”

She huffed, “Luffy, we’re pirates.” She glanced at the vampire, who glared right into her soul. “Okay on second thought. . . I’ll leave his stuff alone.”

“I’d say that's the best choice Nami. Do you why he became a warlord in the first place?”

Intrigued, the Straw Hats stop to listen. Robin continues, “Becoming a warlord is not easy, one most prove to be a worthy asset to the government, right Jinbe?”— he nods— “Our vampire friend here did just that and do you know what that was?” Everyone shook their heads. "He presented the government a box, filled with one hundred hearts. All fresh and bloody."

“Oh. . .” The room became visibly silent, all turning to face the vampire.

“We’re not called the Heart Pirates for no reason,” Shachi laughed, breaking the silence.

Chopper did not take this lightly. “How could you do that to those innocent people!” he exclaimed, hitting the vampire's leg.

Law rolled his eyes at the weird looking creature. “I wouldn’t say they were innocent people. It’s none of your concern," he says with a cold tone.

“L-Luffy, are we really staying with this psycho?” Usopp shivered, holding onto his captain’s legs.

“Torao has his reasons. He wouldn’t do that to just anyone," he stated, not grasping the severity of the situation.

“They were pirates, it's not like their lives matter,” Penguin said.

“Still. . . doctors shouldn’t be that cruel,” Chopper mumbled.

“Huh, who would have thought the little dog is one too. You need to toughen up if you want to proceed in this profession.” The reindeer balled his fists. Law found this amusing and smirked at him. “Am I right?” he snickered.

Robin's expression darkened. "Luffy, are you sure you want to be around this guy?"

"Oi, Torao, that wasn't so nice,"— he climbs over his back— "Sorry guys, but he's not so bad once you get to know him. You should really check out his lab, it's filled with so many things. I even got to see a corpse."

The Straw Hats looked at each other, feeling uncomfortable at his outburst. Each new piece of information is only adding onto the vampire's cruel reputation.

Sanji clears his throat. "Well, how about I make all of us a dinner to ease things up a bit."

Luffy gasps, "Yes! You don't know how much I missed your cooking, Sanji." He leaps over to the cook and weeps. "I'm starved."

"Okay, okay, I get it. Don't worry, I'll whip up a feast in no time."

"A feast huh? I'm interested," Bepo comments.

"You guys have no idea, Sanji is the best chef I know," Luffy voiced.

Law only "tsked" at his proclaimed adoration for Sanji. It is clear that he is not the only one on Luffy's favorite's list. First Zoro and now Sanji. Furthermore, even his crew appears to be riled up. He facepalms.

“What’s wrong cap? Aren’t you trilled?” Penguin said.

“No, I am not.”

“Captain! Let’s throw a celebration, it will be good for us to befriend your mate’s crew,” Bepo said.

“No,” he mumbles.

“Please.” Bepo gave him puppy eyes, in hopes that he would change his mind. Law couldn’t handle the overwhelming cuteness of the bear. He sighed in defeat.

“Everyone! We will throw a celebration for our new alliance!” The bear declares.

“Alliance?!” Law is taken aback at this. “I didn't say anything about an alliance!”

“An alliance sounds fun,” Luffy says.

“Um Luffy, do you know what an alliance means?” Usopp said.

“It means we’re all friends, right?”

His crew looks at him dumbfounded.

“Whatever you say. . . but I guess we have no choice now. You’re mated with the Heart Pirate’s captain,” Nami sighed.

“So, it’s official Torao, we have an alliance!”

Law did not like this; however, his mate seemed happy. “If you say so. . .” He pinched the top of his nose, frowning at the thought of sharing his space with more people.

“Great! Come on guys, I’ll show you around.”

“W-wait, Luffy!” But the straw hat was long gone with his crew. “Shit,” he grumbled, in hopes that nothing would be out of place.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖౨ৎ.𖥔 ݁ ˖-`♡´-.𖥔 ݁ ˖౨ৎ.𖥔 ݁

With the help of Sanji's gourmet meals, the Heart and Straw Hat pirates were already getting along.

"Hey, do vampires eat human food?" Sanji asked, looking over at Law who has not taken a bite out of anything.

"Well, now that you mentioned it. . . I haven't seen him eat. He has only fed from my blood every once in a while,” Luffy mumbled, chewing at his steak.

"Blood. . . what a strange taste. . ." Sanji gathered up the courage to walk over the stooping captain. "I am not satisfied until everyone has eaten."

"Not interested."

This was a shot to the cook's existence. "Tell me, what do you want to be served."

Law eyed him and then glanced at Luffy. "Give me your captain," he says with a cocky smirk.

"That's obscene! I meant something edible!"

"Fine, I'll eat onigiri."

"See, was it really that hard?" he snickered. Law snapped his head away and ignored his comment.

Within a few minutes, Law received his special order and hesitantly took a bite. The taste is unworldly for a simple dish. He is astonished, how can one take a ball of stuffed rice to another level? Law hides his praise and grumbles, eating away at the food. Sanji laughed, knowing his reputation exceeds him.

"Zoro! You're here!" Luffy shouted.

Law turned his head to the swordsman, who yawns as he enters the room. Zoro ignores any contact with the Heart Pirates and sits next to his captain.

"Hey cook, where's the booze?"

"Oi, don't order me around like your slave. Find it yourself!"

Zoro scoffed and leaned back in his chair. He didn’t want to get it himself, but for a taste of alcohol, he'll do anything. But to his luck, a drunken Penguin comes to his rescue.

He hiccups, “Here, we have plenty of vodka.” Penguin stumbles, swaying the bottle over his head.

“Hey, you’re going to drop it.” Zoro grabs the bottle out of his hands. “But thanks,” he simply says.

“N-no prob-blem,” he says through hiccups.

The swordsman was about to drink from the bottle until his attention sways to Luffy. "We should make a toast.”

"A toast?" the straw hat said with a stuffed mouth.

"Why not? We're going to be interacting with the Heart Pirates from here on out, so let's seal the deal."

"Mmm, nah. You know I hate the taste of alcohol."

"A sip won't hurt." Zoro teases, playfully placing the rim of the bottle near his lips.

Luffy shoves the bottle away as Zoro wraps an arm around his neck, trying to make him take a sip. "Ack, that's gross!"

The vampire twitched at the sight. Zoro is all over his mate, he despised it. He looks away, trying to contain his anger, and munches at his onigiri aggressively.

The straw hat pushes Zoro off of him and scowls.

“Come on Luffy, just this one time.”

Luffy squints his eyes at him. “Fine.”

Zoro gives him a grin and gets up from his seat. “Listen up, we all know we started on the wrong foot,”— the pirates stop their conversations and look at the swordsman— “but our captains decided to form a relationship with another. If we want to make our captains happy, we will have to tolerate each other. To that, let’s make a toast for the newly formed alliance.”

“Yes captain, we’ll do anything for you!” Bepo, Penguin, and Shachi cry out.

Law lowered his hat in embarrassment.

Everyone grabbed their drink and raised it up. Luffy reluctantly grabbed the small shot glass that Zoro poured the vodka in. He felt Zoro elbow him and he quickly took the shot.

“Ack.” He spat out, tasting the pungent drink on his tongue.

“Ha, you should’ve seen your face,” Usopp cackled.

“It’s not that bad Luffy. I would say I if I still had a tongue, yo ho ho ho,” Brook joked.

The straw hats and the heart pirates joined in at the laughter. Luffy pouted for a brief moment before Zoro patted his back and reassured his captain. Luffy sighed and laughed with his crew.

Law felt his heart ache. He's never seen Luffy smile or laugh like that before. He is happy, he loves them. Law couldn't bare it anymore; it is clear to him now. He could never compete with them.

Law excluded himself from the party and went out into labyrinth of his home. Luffy noticed this and his smile faded, why would Torao leave all of sudden and not let him know?

Everyone was too distracted to notice that both Law and Luffy left the room.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖౨ৎ.𖥔 ݁ ˖-`♡´-.𖥔 ݁ ˖౨ৎ.𖥔 ݁

Law was finally able to escape the noise in his bedroom. The obnoxious laughter and rosiness were overstimulating, not to mention the tearing screams from the Straw Hats. He's always been a loner, even with his crew. It was not surprising that they were able to assimilate with them nicely. Still, isolating himself felt different this time. He felt like he didn't fit in with the rest, how sad, in his own home.

"Torao?"

The vampire did not expect to hear his voice. "Mugi. . . what are you doing here?" he says alarmed, breaking out of his thoughts.

"I was going to ask you the same thing." Luffy closed the door behind him and sat next to Law. He lays down on the fluffy bedding and turns his gaze at the vampire.

Law stayed silent.

"Come on, let's head back." Luffy's hand reached out to Law's.

His hand stays perfectly still as his lover caressed his thumb. "Parties are not my thing."

"What do you mean? Everyone is having fun down there. You should come join us."

"You go. I'm staying."

"Why?"

"You seem happier with them." His hand now grasps onto Luffy's tightly.

"Torao. . . are you jealous?"

Law turns away. "Tsk, leave me alone.”

Luffy could tell by his mannerisms that it was true. "There's no need to be jealous, they're my friends. You said we are more than just friends. Our thing is different, right?" He sits up and leans his head on his shoulder. Law's body tensed up at his words. Luffy was determined to get an answer. "Tell me, how do you feel?"

For the first time in forever, Law couldn't get a single word out. How he feels? When was the last time he unbottled his true emotions? It was with the human, but what makes so different this time? These feelings are new to him. . . envy, that's a low emotion to have.

"Law." The straw hat sits on his lap, facing him. The vampire avoided eye contact with his mate, not wanting to dig any deeper into his inner thoughts.

Impatient, Luffy grabbed his chin and forcefully made Law face him. He scowled at him, but Luffy maintained a stern look. "You have to tell me. What's bothering you?"

In the heat of the moment, Law snaps at him, "Everything!"— he continues— “I hate how everyone is so drawn to you. The way you’re all able to laugh with one another, that irks me. And the way you look at Zoro. . . what is he to you?”

The human takes a moment to look into the vampire’s redden eyes. He was angry.

“Zoro is my best friend and nothing more. We’ve been through many things together, pushing through death. It is only natural that our bond is strong.”

“Tsk.” The vampire looks at the ground.

“We’ve known each other for a bit Law. But why do I feel so drawn to you? Is it this mark you gave me?” he says touching his nape.

Law was hesitant to speak but sighed. “Vampire mated marks are set by a specific chemical that bonds one another. The chemical adds a pheromone that attaches the bitten mate. . . you could say I’ve wired you to be fond of me,” — he grips the bedsheets— “You wouldn’t be here right now without the pheromone.”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

Law averts his attention to him.

“I really like you, Torao. I do feel the pheromones effects, but that’s not what’s keeping me with you.”

“How come?”

“I’ve never met anyone quite like you. I find you to be very interesting, I want to get to know you. Despite the mark, I am developing deeper feelings for you. My heart flutters every time I stare into your golden eyes, and I want to continue to feel that,” Luffy said, surprised he was able to cohere his confession.

Law blushed heavily. Smitten, he couldn’t bear to lock eyes with the younger man.

“Why are you telling me this? Aren’t you leaving with your crew?”

Luffy didn’t have an answer for this yet. "I-"

“I knew it,” — he barked out— “I should’ve known you would choose them over me!”

"To-"

Law continued to ramble about his insecurities and doesn’t let Luffy speak. He becomes impatient and pins the vampire onto the mattress.

“Bite me.”

“What?” Law says flabbergasted. The red that colored his eyes fade and leave his enlarged golden irises. Luffy's dark eyes say it all and Law swallows in shock.

“I’m yours, right? Then prove it!”

“Do you know what you’re requesting of me. . . right?” his voice dark and raspy. With the sound of their heavy breathing, the vampire finds himself turned on by the position, but the dynamic of having the human on top does not last long.

Luffy gives him a cocky grin. Oh, it's on. Law doesn't hesitate to lunge towards his neck. An intense wave of heat causes Luffy to cry out in pain. The hot red liquid spills out of the two punctures, the vampire quickly drinks the sweet blood. Once he is done, he takes a bite on the other side of his neck. The human tugs on the vampire's hair, holding back his cries.

The pain diminishes as the second bite is less intense, but it doesn't stop there. Law is hungry and will only be satisfied until Luffy is begging for mercy.

Bite after bite, Law marks Luffy’s body, tearing his clothes in the process and leaving the younger man completely nude. He shivers as the cold air creates goosebumps all over his tender skin.

Law doesn’t hesitate to capture his hardened nipple. His warm tongue flickers across the perky bud, not letting any area go untouched. In response to his tongue, Luffy arches his back. His flushed face arouses Law.

“Tell me, what do you want?” he whispers, kissing his restless chest.

The straw hat could barely lift his head to face the vampire. He lets out an inaudible sound as he felt Law’s lips brush down his abdomen. He left a trail of kisses, making sure to provoke his ticklish skin. Luffy felt his core tighten as his lips dangerously approached his groin.

“Torao-” he hitched.

A dark smirk plastered over Law’s face. “There it is,” he chuckled to himself.

He tugs on the hem of his shorts. Slowly, Law begins to pull them down. This was not fast enough for Luffy, he bucks, becoming impatient.

“Calm down or else.” Law squeezed his hips, stopping Luffy. The human wines but obeys.

“Good boy.” Law kissed his bellybutton and continued. He throws the shorts across the room and gropes the small tent of his boxers. “Someone’s a bit excited,” he chuckles. Luffy only bucks up to feel his large hand over his erection.

“Torao~” he wines.

Law enjoyed having Luffy wrapped around his finger. Those pretty doe eyes made his dick twitch in his pants. He wanted nothing more than to see hot tears run down his face. Law continued to grope the hardened member, squeezing it ever so often. Luffy mewls, becoming desperate for more.

“Hurry up!”

The vampire’s eyes redden as his hands wrap around the human’s throat. “You’ll regret that.” In a swift movement, he tears the fabric and flips Luffy on his belly. He uses one hand to pin his head down and without warning, he sticks his finger inside of his needy hole.

“Ah-” Luffy tried to wiggle out of the hold, but the vampire will not let him go.

Law snickers, “I told you.” He slips another finger in and begins to finger him. Luffy arches his back, giving him access his quacking hole. “You like that don’t ya?”— he grins— “I’m sure you can take another.” Three fingers in and the hot cavern is still clenching around his digits. “Shit babe, I can’t wait to feel you.”

“T-then what are you waiting for,” Luffy struggled to say.

“Hm, is that a challenge? Okay then.” Law gladly obliges, pulling his digits out. Luffy felt his hole relax, missing the long fingers that filled him. He wines at the lost.

Pulling his pants down, alongside with his boxers, Law's dick springs out. He pumps himself before aligning his tip over Luffy’s entrance. Just with a little push, he can feel the tense pressure around his sensitive head. He bites his lips, slowly pushing himself inside. Meanwhile, Luffy grips the bedsheets, trying to take his mate’s large member. With no lube, the stretching is painful.

“Torao. . .w-wait,” through huffs, the straw hat tries to adjust to the length. “It hurts.”

“Just relax, it’s almost done.”

Then, it was completely inside. The vampire takes a moment to catch his breath, the clenching insides are too much to bear. Even so, he locks in and holds onto the human's hips for support.

"How are you feeling?" Law could see the pain in his mate's expression, this would not be pleasurable if Luffy was not enjoying it.

"I-I'm fine, y-you can start," he shakily commanded.

Law goes to kiss the top of his ass and takes his position. He retracts carefully and slowly pushes his member back inside. Luffy grabs a pillow for support, trying to relax to ease the penetration. Even with the slow pace, he can feel every part of himself stretch.

Luffy asks himself, why was the process smoother in the previous occasion? Then, he remembers the plug and a wave embarrassment floods his mind. He places the pillow over his head to hide his shame. Law removes the pillow. “We’re not doing that. I want to see your face as I pound you,” he grins.

“W-what?” he squeaks, feeling the member be pushed closer to his g-spot.

“You heard me. I want to see your pretty little face in tears. I’ll make the whole castle hear as I make you mine.”

“Huh?! N-no, my friends are going to find out!” he exclaims.

Law grabbed a fistful of his hair and murmured next to his ear. “I want them to hear their pathetic little captain get fucked to oblivion." If Luffy’s face wasn’t red already, it’s near glowing now. Before he could think about his crew reactions, Law bit his neck once again. Luffy yelped as his tender neck is punctured once again. Tears flow down his redden cheeks as Law tugged on his hair. He brings his head back, allowing access to his sweet skin.

The droplets of blood stain the white bedsheets, each painting a cherry trail down the human's skin. The vampire readily licks each stream, becoming feral at the delicious metallic taste. He cups the human's squishy cheeks, licking his jaw up to his maxilla. "Should I leave more marks on your body?" he grunts, holding back his moans as he fucks him from behind.

An electrifying sensation jolts deep within him, the thought of being bit all of his body enticed Luffy. He could only nod in response, panting at the unruly pace.

Law sinks his teeth over his right shoulder and proceeds to leave bite marks down his arm. Even though the puncturing of his skin burned, the pain turned him on. Bite after bite and thrust after thrust, Luffy's body was on fire. His limbs become numb, only feeling Law's dick hit is g-spot rapidly.

"Oh fuck-" he gasps out.

As his body goes limp, Law pulls out quickly and changes to the missionary position. He grabs Luffy's hands and pins them over his head. His forehead rests against his, locking eyes with one another. Law could no longer hold back his moans, the view of his mate underneath him was out of this world. "Shit, I fucking I love you," he rasps over his ear.

Each hip thrust is sloppier than the next, harder and faster. Both are no longer care if their friends were listening on the other side of the door. Law lets himself fall on Luffy's body, still maintaining his tempo. He nibbles on his earlobe, sucking on it slightly. "Say that you're mine." Lost in his own world, Luffy doesn't register his words. Law's hand slither to this throat and tightens it. "Say it," he demands.

Luffy swallows hard. "I'm yours!"

In that very moment, Law goes berserk. Pounding all his might to reach his orgasm.

He gives one last bite to the human, right at his jugular. His blood spumes out from the pierced skin. Luffy screams from pain and pleasure, as he is sucked dry. The gush of the delicious liquid is the final nail to his climax and with one last thrust, he shoots his load inside of his mate. Depleted, Law is barely able to ride out his orgasm, letting his cum drip out of Luffy's abused hole. Luffy cums soon after and goes completely limp.

"Are you okay?" Law gently cleans the fresh wound on his neck, lapping his tongue over the bite mark.

Luffy sluggishly wraps his arms around Law. "Mmm, yeah. . ."

Law carefully rolls them to their sides, bringing Luffy against his chest. He grabs his arm and looks at the trail of teeth imprints on his skin.

"Did I go overboard?"

"Just a bit," he giggles.

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself. I just hope your crew doesn't think I actually tried to eat you."

"Dummy, you did."

"Oh- right. . ." Embarrassed, Law runs his hand over his hair. "Whatever, who are they to tell me what to do." His lips press against each bite mark, making Luffy wince.

"Hey, they're sensitive."

Law laughs at his remark. He goes to snuggle against the crook of his neck, taking a deep whiff of his mate's scent. The smell is intoxicating. He moves his head back to face Luffy and cups his cheek.

"I do want to apologize. I let my emotions get the best of me, I'm sorry," his voice sincere.

Luffy's eyes soften. "You were an asshole for what you did, but I don't hold grudges. I'm glad you did come for your senses."

"Yes, I know. . . I do have one more question. . ."

"And what is that?"

"Are you planning to depart with your crew soon?"

"Look Torao, the sea is what I live for. You can't take that away from me."

"Oh, I understand. . ."

"But. . . what about you? You're a pirate, we are meant to be out at sea. Why don't you join me, we already made an alliance after all?"

"Join your crew? Do you really think I'll serve under you?"

He cackles, "That would be nice, but I know you wouldn't except. Though, I was thinking something else. . . why don't we sail together as co-captains?"

"Co-captains? I don't think either of our crew will listen to each other."

"Probably not, but that way we can keep our titles as captains and be together. Think about it."

Law sighs, "I'll think about it."

Luffy grins and gives him a large smooch on his lips.

He smiles at him softly and adjust their positions to cuddle. "For now, let’s sleep. I am exhausted."

"Sleep? Since when do you sleep?" His mate tilts his head in confusion.

He rolls his eyes. "Tsk, we’ve slept in the same bed before. Now, no more questions, you’ve drained me."

Luffy snickers as Law pulls a blanket over them. They drift to sleep, unaware of their crewmates flushed faces over the loud commotion upstairs.

“Uh guys, that wasn’t a hallucination right?” Penguin slurred out.

Robin, who is covering Chopper’s ears, shakes her head. “I’m afraid not.”

#one piece #monkey d. luffy #trafalgar law #lulaw #laluw #vampire law #law x luffy

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nanivinsmoke · 2 years

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I saw that your request is open again 🥰🥰

May I request luffy with a female magical s/o that are just playing together with her magic and the others just adore it but in a fight against a strong opponent they combine their plays into a powerful attack that sends their enemy flying in one go?

Maybe afterwards high five with a bright smile? The others being shocked?

Thank you in advance

oooh i love this, this is different! I got you, enjoy. I couldn’t think of a cool name for their attack so I left that part up to those who are reading it

Magik | Luffy x Magical fem! Reader

click below to read more ↓

‘So cool!’

‘Do it again!’

‘Can you summon cotton candy?!’

‘Can you make hot babes in bikinis?’ The woman laughed at her comrades and their requests, while she showed them her powers for the first time. She was scared that they would judge her at first, so she kept them hidden. But, that was before she got to know them and her boyfriend, the captain of this pirate crew. ‘Stop asking her to dumb things, she used magic doesn’t mean she’s a magician’ The swordsman said, causing a fight to break out.

‘Moss head!’

‘Stupid Zoro!’

‘Stupid swordsman!’ She chuckled and watched as the group of boys fight each other. ‘Hey Y/N, I’ve never seen those type of powers before. Are they like a devil fruit?’ The orange haired navigator asked, approaching the woman. She shook her head ‘no’ and smiled. ‘I guess I should tell you guys more’ The boys finally stopped fighting and the rest of the straw hats gathered around, ready to hear their friend’s story.

‘I was born on an island, an island where magic is heavily studied and believed in. My ancestor, the original leader of my clan, was the first one to have magic powers. He had met this woman whom he had fell in love with, and she was the first one to know magic. She taught him everything about maintaining his mana and all types of magic, soon he was able use magic. They passed it on from generation to generation, but the world government soon began to hear about it’ She stopped when she heard a loud crackle in the distance, followed by a loud boom.

‘Canons?! Someone’s firing canons’ she announced, alerting her crew. They all began to look around the ship, when the cyborg spotted them. ‘They’re on our right and theirs a marine ship behind. I’ll turn us around with a coop de—or you could just do that’ The cyborg was cut off as their captain and their paleontologist made their way to the ship.

‘No wonder those two love each other, they’re just alike. Alright straw-hats, let’s go back those two up!’ The navigator shouted, the rest of the crew getting ready for battle. On the opposite side of the sea, the two were getting rid of the pirates that fired at their ship. ‘What the hell are you?’ One of the male pirates screamed in fear as the woman picked him up with her magic. ‘Your worst nightmare’ And with that she tossed them into the ocean.

‘Take down the straw hat pirates! We’ll take the captain and the witch, we’re gonna collect their bounties!’ A man stood above on the very top deck, riling up the crew. ‘That must be the captain, you want him all for yourself?’ She asked, even though she knew the answer. He smirked and used his devil fruit to stretch his arms to the top, but he made sure to give his woman a kiss on the cheek.

‘Was that your little boyfriend? Maybe we should kill him in front of you’ One of the pirates said, with two others laughing behind him. Her eyebrows rose and body temperature increased. ‘What did you just say?’ Her eyes were now blank, she was pissed. ‘You heard—‘ He was cut off as her magic made him explode into pieces, putting fear in them. Just as she was about to approach them, a loud crashing noise grabbed her attention, along with the figure of her boyfriend. ‘Luffy!’

Running over to him, she helped him to his feet, but he could barely stand. ‘He has a water devil fruit, no fair’ This wasn’t good, a devil fruit user wouldn’t be able to fight against someone with water. That’s when an idea popped into her head, she whispered in his ear and he perked up. ‘Alright, let’s go kick his ass and sink this ship!’ Luffy yelled, warning that infamous smirk once again.

As they raced towards the top of the ship, the rest of straw-hats were helping clear out the obstacles. The captain of the ship cackled as he watched the straw-hat make his way back up to him, ‘Aren’t you hardheaded one? I’ll just make sure you drown this time’

‘Not on my watch! Ready Lu?’ He nodded in response, the both of them using armament hardening on their fists. Y/N quickly enhanced their attack with her magic; temporarily nullifying his weakness to water. Hopping in the air, they both eyed their opponent, a smirk plastered on both of their faces. ‘Rubber-Rubber, ____ punch!’ They yelled in unison, punching the captain through the floors of his ship, down to the oceans floor.

‘No way?!’

‘That was awesome!’

‘Leave it to those two, always making a battle seem so cool’ The straw hats commented, as they watched the two finally land back on their ship. ‘That was so cool! Let’s do it again’ He smiled brightly, giving her high five, earning a chuckle from her.

‘Yeah, let’s do it again’

#one piece #nico robin #one piece strawhats #monkey d. luffy #mugiwarapirates #nami #sanjionepiece #one piece brook #one piece franky #one piece usopp #roronoa zoro #one piece luffy #luffytaro #luffy x y/n #luffy fluff #luffy x reader #straw hat luffy #one piece x reader #one piece zoro

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twodragonsflying · 3 years

Text

Star Wars Characters at Disney World

Clone Wars Era Friends

Anakin and Padmé bring their kids to Disney world on a family vacation. Padmé is the type of mom that has their days planned out perfectly and Anakin just goes along with it. He does almost get into a few fights with people who cut in line but Padmé is able to calm him down.

Assuming this is a situation where the characters were plucked out of their own alternate reality and put into an alternate reality of ours, They have to keep him as far away from the Star Wars parts as possible or else he would pick fights with Kylo Ren and Darth Vader. Because him and his family turn to the Darkside? That’s crazy why would these people accuse him of that? (No that doesn’t make sense, but it’s funny.)

Luke and Leia probably argue on where they want to go and what they want to do. Luke is more interested in meeting characters where is Leia is more interested in riding rides but Padmé works it out for the both of them.

Anakin and Padmé definitely wear those matching bride and groom Mickey and Minnie ears at some point cause that’s adorable and of course they would.

Of course, I have not yet mentioned that Ahsoka, Rex, Cody, and Obi-Wan joined them on this trip. For the most part they’re in their own little group because big groups tend to make things more complicated. Sometimes they hand the kids off to each other.

Ahsoka wants to ride the biggest rides there are and Rex goes with her even though there are different things he’d like to do. It’s more about spending time with family to him.

Obi-Wan would have a lot of fun at the epcot wine and food festival. Makes sense, considering he’s had to deal with Anakin for half his life. Cody is just there to supervise him and everyone else.

Anakin and Ahsoka do join up one day to be absolute nightmares together. They don’t get kicked out of the park, but that’s not to say they didn’t come close.

BobaVader

(Set in an alternate universe from the first one lol)

Vader and Boba go together to get away. Darth Vader of course is unable to wear anything other than his suit. So through Disney World you see this big cyborg with a breathing problem wearing Ahsoka themed Minnie Mouse ears holding hands with a fairly normal, but also weirdly familiar looking guy. They are of course accompanied by two stormtroopers.

Vader just wants to ride the dumbos and the haunted mansion. Boba Fett wants to ride space mountain until he passes out. They work it out.

Vader also really really enjoys talking to the princesses. They’re just so nice and non-judgmental. Like he knows that’s their job, but it’s a breath of fresh air.

They have a good time, Boba has the foresight to keep a Vader as far away from it’s a small world as possible

Thranto

(this one could be set in either of the above universe is and it’s funny either way.)

Thrawn is the most annoying person at Disney World. He walks through the entire park, goes through every single one of the cues for every single one of the rides and character meet and greets and shows. And the entire time he’s there just looks at tiny details and evaluates the art. He also has very in-depth lectures or discussions that keep the cast members, both character actors and otherwise, very confused. There comes a point where Eli is genuinely starting to worry that Thrawn is preparing a preemptive strike against Disney.

“Oh don’t worry Eli I’m simply interested in all of the little details that go into making this “the most magical place on Earth” as they say.”

“Normally when you care about small details like that it means that you’re going to declare war against them.”

“Nonsense, why would I declare war against Disney World?”

“WHY WOULD YOU BE HAPPY WHEN SMALL WORLD BREAKS DOWN WITH YOU ON IT?!?!”

Oh yeah, about that. When they were on it’s a small world it broke down. And Thrawn enjoyed that like a crazy person. Eli was trying very hard to ram his head into Thrawn’s shoulder the entire time.

But for the most part it was pretty fun. Thrawn had the best time at galaxy’s edge. After all, he had been to black spire outpost before and the detail that they put into the park made it look exactly like the real thing. It was just like being back there without the hostility. And he tried to have a deep and intellectual conversation with Kylo Ren but quickly realized that that wasn’t going to work out. (Actually truth be told I’m pretty sure he freaked out the cast member because he figured out personal details about him that he shouldn’t have been able to figure out)

Depending on the universe, either Anakin or Vader is there at the same time. If it’s a Anakin, they stop and talk for a while and grab lunch together. If it’s Vader they pretend they do not see.

DinLuke and Family

(Set in an entirely different universe.)

Luke has Disney bounds and bucket hats galore. The entire family does actually because he got them all matching bucket hats. Han pouts about that. Ben looses his.

Grogu is very spoiled. He has his little ears sticking out the sides of the hat. He gets snacks all over the parks. And just imagine with me for a second him in a stroller. And if he’s not in the stroller he’s chasing the ducks around. The Princesses adore him so much, who wouldn’t. They are essentially that little picture perfect family going to Disney World.

And then there’s Han, Chewie, Leia, and Ben. Leia is also very organized but Han and Chewie sneak away from her several times, sometimes they bring the kid, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they bring the kid and then pass him off to Din and Luke. When that happens, Luke calls Leia immediately to make sure she knows where her child is.

Leia, when not stressed out about her unruly child and Ben, has diplomatic conversations with the princesses.

Ben has fun no matter who he’s with. He loves the Pirates of the Caribbean and Jungle cruise. He was very upset to find out that he was too short to ride Space Mountain. But he was able to ride mission space and soarin’, those are fun. When he and Grogu are together they terrorize all those who come in contact with them.

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kybee1497 · 3 years

Text

Julie likes to borrow people’s clothes as a comfort thing. A visual, sensory, physical reminder that she’s loved and she has a little piece of that person with her sometimes. It helps her feel more grounded and present and it helps when she has bad days.

Before her mom died, it was less about comfort and a little more about being one of her love languages.

She was only friends with Flynn for four months before she ‘stole’ Flynn’s monster slippers for a few days. Now it’s a standard part of their Christmas presents to each other. They get a new pair of slippers and wear them once or twice before swapping for the new year.

Before things went down with Carrie, the three of them had clothes stashed at each other’s houses and weren’t shy about wearing whatever they grabbed first. Julie came to school once when she was 12 wearing Flynn’s cheetah print hat, Carries pink sweatshirt, and her own jeans she’d doodled on.

She borrowed her dads shirts for playing pirate queen when she was little.

But after her mom died it became a little more about keeping the people she loved closer to her. A reminder that they were there and loved her and everything was okay. And she wears her moms clothes sometimes to help her feel a bit closer. Her mom was gone but sometimes, when julie pulled a sweater out from the back of the closet, it still smelled like her moms perfume, and when she wrapped herself up in the warm, soft material it almost felt like being wrapped in her moms arms when she was small. For just a minute, it’s like having her back again. Then the feeling fades and Julies left with a time worn sweater with its fading scent, and it’s still enough, for now. It’s not the same, not at all, but it makes it a little bit easier to get through the day when all she wants to do is crawl back into bed with her head under the pillow and forget the world for the day.

She wears one of Carlos’s hats the entire week he’s gone at baseball camp the first summer after her mom died, reminding herself that it’s fine, and Carlos is fine, and he’ll be home in a week, and everything will be fine.

We already see in canon that she wears a lot of her moms clothes for performances because it helps her to feel closer to her mom. You can’t tell me julie wouldn’t have her own. Eventually she stops wearing her moms clothes for everyday activities, but even years down the road, Julie still incorporates something of her moms into each performance outfit. A dahlia pin, a necklace, a belt, etc.

Slowly as Julie heals and grows, borrowing clothes slowly regains some of the playfullness and affection it had before. It’s still got some of the needing an anchor bit that it had before but it’s not the only thing keeping her afloat anymore.

The first summer after Julie and the Phantoms was formed. Julies summer wardrobe consisted half of her own clothes and half Luke’s cut off shirts because “It’s really fucking hot outside Luke and these are more comfortable than anything else I own.” Luke just about dies a second time the first time he pops into Julie’s room while she’s laying across the foot of her bed, scribbling in her song book, and he sees that she’s wearing a pair of cut offs and his Rush shirt. You would think after the first few times he would be used to it but the boys brain glitches every time. Flynn thinks it’s hilarious.

She falls asleep in the studio one night and walks up warm and content with Reggie’s leather jacket draped over her. The boys are out for the morning and she’s running late so she slips her hands in the sleeves and wears it to school for the day. Luke trips over the air when she walks in that afternoon wearing it because Julie and leather jacket and pretty and adorable. He doesn’t even clock that it’s Reggie’s until Julie is handing it back at the end of the night with a soft smile and a thank you.

Julie wouldn’t dare to borrow Alex’s fanny pack, it’s sacred. No ones really sure exactly what he keeps in there but he always has exactly what they need. Reggie’s convinced it’s magic and Julie almost agrees, but Alex’s pink sweatshirt on the other hand, that’s fair game. It’s softer and cozier than it looks and it becomes julies new favorite thing. Alex is fine with it. Sometimes he grumbles about being cold but he just curls into Willie instead and always cuts her off when she offers it back.

Flynn won’t say it out loud but sometimes she buys clothes that are more Julies style than her own because Julie hates buying new clothes but she loves borrowing (and keeping) them and Julie needs some new, cute clothes in her wardrobe because while her boys may be cute, none of them have good fashion sense. Except for maybe Alex, but his style is more 90’s gay icon which is incredible but not really Julies thing. So flynn gets a new sweater or a dress and wears it a few times, maybe leaves it out when julie comes over or throws an extra jacket in her backpack on days that she knows julie was up late writing with Luke and would likely forget her lunch, a text book and at least a jacket on her mad dash out the door. It’s what Flynn called working the system. Julie got to show her affection and cute clothes, and Flynn got to play stylist. It was the best of both worlds.

A year later, when Carrie wants to talk and apologizes, when they slowly work their way back into a friendship. Julie fishes one of the triple threat shirts she had stashed in the back of her closet that she liked to forget she kept and pulls it on under a hoodie before school that day. Thankfully they’d messed up when they were ordering the shirts and ordered adult sizing instead of youth. So it fit perfectly at 17 where they’d been night shirts at 8. Interestingly enough, Carries also wearing a sweatshirt that day and Julie catches a glimpse the familiar lettering of -antoms on the back of the shirt underneath when they’re changing for PE. The day they both wore something that reminded them of the other without talking about it or showing it off, was the day the tentative part of tentative friendship was finally removed. There’s still some days where old hurts ache a bit more than usual because even small wounds leave scars, and some of the wounds were far from small. Sometimes Carrie starts to mention rose and Julie flinches. Just a bit, it wouldn’t even be super noticeable if they hadn’t known each other that well, if carrie hadn’t spent a year watching Julie flinch every time she opened her mouth. Carrie hates a lot of things about herself, but that one, that one was by far the worst. Not everything can be forgiven, but they can move forward and sometimes that’s enough.

Idk this got super long and idk if it makes sense anymore and I’m too lazy to edit it but JULIE MOLINA IS A CLOTHES THIEF and I love that for her. Also I might fuck around and flesh this out into a fic later when I’m not so slammed with wips.

#jatp #julie and the phantoms #julie molina #rose molina #jatp hc #the molina family #luke patterson #julie and the himbos #alex mercer #jukebox #reggie peters #willex #flynn taylor #carrie wilson #jatp headcanon #kiwi makes shit up

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winterscaptain · 3 years

Text

players.

Aaron Hotchner x Gender Neutral Reader a joyful future fic

a/n: it's loving haley hotchner hours!! hope you enjoy :) as always, let me know what you think!

words: 1.3k warnings: none

summary: “what is that unforgettable line?” - samuel beckett. au!november 2008

masterlist | a joyful future masterlist | ajf faq | taglist | what do you want to see next?

“Has Aaron ever told you how we met?”

“I know you two met in high school, but that’s about the extent of it.”

Haley laughs and puts her drink down. “You’re in for a real treat, then. Come with me.”

It’s one of those afternoons in which Aaron’s taken Jack to go have some fun for a little while, leaving you and Haley at the house. It’s been nice to rest while your shoulder slowly knits together again, nice to chat and channel surf. Really, it’s been nice to have a friend at all.

She leads you to the garage, where built-ins support stacked boxes all the way to the rafters. There’s so much stuff. A few boxes are on the floor, packed with a few George Washington University sweatshirts, a law textbook, and a few framed photos of Jack.

You’d hazard a guess that’s close to the last box Aaron has here.

Haley bypasses it in favor of a more aged box on the back. She becomes you over and unearths it, opening it. You are by no means prepared for what awaits you.

The box is full of faded framed photos and stacked scrapbooks, some with Haley’s handwriting on the front and others with typeset. Haley pulls one scrapbook in particular, the pages warped with age and stuffed with various momentos.

“This is the first one I ever made, starting the spring of my freshman year of high school. Aaron shows up…” She flips through the pages. They crackle under her fingers. “...here.”

She turns the book and you take it in your hand, balancing the bottom while she bears the weight. As always, her thoughtful conscientiousness almost brings a smile to your face.

In the scrapbook, little polaroids litter one side, while the other has a playbill cover. A “Players” page is pasted in, with two names left uncovered by doodles.

Haley Renee Brooks

Aaron Hotchner

One of the photos catches your eye. “Is that…?”

“Aaron in tights and a pirate hat? Yes.”

This is gold.

You bring the book closer to you and flip through it carefully with Haley’s help, finding more evidence of Aaron’s brief stint as a thespian. He’s undeniably adorable as a teenager. He looks different, of course, but between the hair and the eyes -

And that smile

You recognize the man you’ve come to know.

Haley, of course, is also adorable. The mid-eighties look cute on her. She looks mostly the same as she does now. Her jawline is more defined, the beginnings of smile lines starting to form around her eyes and mouth, but those are only indicators of the twenty-five years between the photo and the woman before you.

“If you tell him I showed you this, no I didn’t.”

You laugh, passing the book back to her. “Scout’s Honor. Total silence. I will, however, require copies of these for blackmail purposes.”

She rolls her eyes. “Over my dead body, darling.”

You look around for a moment before asking. “So… what exactly does that have to do with how you met?”

“I prefer the way he tells it,” she says, “because when I tell it I look like I’m padding my ego, but…”

Her blue eyes wander as she tells you about the boy who landed in the wrong classroom on August 20th, 1985 at 2:13pm, as if she’s seeing it as she’s telling the story. Maybe she is.

The nameless senior was tall, lanky, and looked rather brittle. He hadn’t grown into his limbs yet and there’s a hawkish look in his eye. He met Haley’s curious gaze. She smiled at him.

It’s only a moment before the boy leaves for the right classroom.

“He had the building number wrong. It’s no surprise, really. Our schedules were copied by hand, as copy machines were expensive. The guidance counselor’s handwriting was nearly illegible, but it sealed our fates.”

She goes on to tell you that the boy came back the next day, enrolled in the class for the duration of the semester.

“He then, bravely, became the worst third pirate in the history of theatre just to impress me.” She pauses, a little pensive. “He told me a couple of years ago that the day came into the wrong classroom was the same day he knew he was going to marry me.”

The admission brings a flush to her cheeks and a fond smile to her lips. You can see the affection written all over her as she recalls the memory. She shakes her head and puts the scrapbook back, closing the box and leading you out of the garage.

“We started dating when the show closed. It was silly, of course, and very high school, as relationships went. We only kept going because he was so close for college - just over the bridge into the district.”

You follow her back into the house. “Did you guys ever break up?”

She snorts. “All the time.”

That makes you laugh. You can hardly picture it.

“I’m sure you can imagine how rational and reasonable I was at sixteen,” she says, her voice full of jest. “I put him through hell, but Aaron was always impossibly patient with me, even and especially when I didn’t deserve it.”

“Really?”

“Really. I know he’s probably...not that way at work, but even through all of this -” she gestures vaguely to the air around you and you know she means the divorce. “- he’s always been that way with me.”

You’ve seen Hotch at home now more than a few times and it’s been illuminating to see the changes in him as he crosses the threshold. Reconciling those differences in him, knowing Haley better, it all paints a layered, detailed portrait of someone you already care about.

Haley catches your attention again when she speaks. “I’m glad he has people watching out for him.” There’s a strange, almost sad, smile on her face. “He gets lonely.”

+++

When Aaron pulls up in the driveway, you and Haley are stuck watching whatever movie you landed on when you got to talking, too attached to give it up.

The door opens and Aaron sets Jack on his feet, helping him with the tiny zipper on his coat before attending to his own.

“How was your day, boys?” Haley gets up and goes to the kitchen, where you know a little tupperware full of cut fruit waits for Jack.

You offer him a little wave as he catches sight of you and processes your presence. Hey.

“Well,” he says. “How was your day, Jack? Want to tell Mom about it?”

The pass-off is funny to you, but you suspect Aaron doesn’t want to oversell it.

“So fun!” He runs and jumps onto the couch as Haley rounds the corner.

Her eyes are bright, animated, when she asks, “What did you and Daddy do?” She sits next to her son, her feet pulled under her as she leans on the back of the couch.

As Jack relays the events of the afternoon, there’s an odd moment when Aaron catches himself. He reaches down to ruffle Haley’s hair, but freezes with his hand outstretched. You can see the wheels turning in his head and you almost feel bad for catching him at all.

HIs hand closes and he shoves it into his pocket before he sits down in the armchair beside your end of the couch with a sigh. You pretend to be completely focused on Jack, so as to not embarrass him.

“So,” he asks you. You turn. “How was your day?”

There’s a moment where you share a little look, maybe even a laugh.

“Good. My day was good.”

“Good.”

+++

tagging: @missdowntonabbey @criminalsmarts @qvid-pro-qvo @hurricanejjareau @prentisswrites @forgottenword @deagibs @ssahotchnerr @unicorn-bitch @capricorngf @duchesschameleon @mrs-dr-reid @teamhappyme @averyhotchner @reidingmelodies @ambicaos @kelstark @genevievedarcygranger @mandylove1000 @starsandasteroids @pan-pride-12 @popped-weasels @iconicc @mooneylupinblack @ssworldofsw @abschaffer2 @ellyhotchner @rousethemouse @reidtomestyles @dreamsonthewall @willlemonheadsupremacy @infinity1321 @itsalwaysb33nyou @hqtchner @hotch-meeeeeuppppp @mac99martin @ssahotchner99 @jhiddles03 @nuvoleincielo @rqgnarok @reidyoulikeabook @schlooper @ssagube @lexieshuntingsstuff @ohhersheybars @marvelousmsmaggie @whosscruffylooking @teachingpanda @panhoeofmanyfandoms @anxious-enby @yougottalovefandoms @saspencereid @insideafictionaluniverse @lumoshotch @chvngbin�� @mxrcury-styles @enchantingwastelandexpert @hotchsflower @hotchslatte @joanofarkansass @luciilferss @quillvine @ssaic-jareau @ssareidbby @writefasttalkevenfaster @yougottalovefandoms @this-broken-band-girl @pinkdiamond1016 @suranne-doesstuff

#aaron hotchner x reader #hotch x reader #aaron hotchner imagine #criminal minds imagine #criminal minds x reader #criminal minds fanfiction #aaron hotchner #criminal minds #tali talks cm #tali writes fanfiction #a joyful future #a joyful future fanfic

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lemonmeringuecry · 3 years

Text

The Cubs at Disneyland

Hi, so I've been trying to do this for awhile (ever since I drew Lo in a Mickey Mouse hoodie) but when the queen herself, miss Hazel, said she needs them to go to Disney... well I wrote this. And drew it. Because I'm me.

So anyway, here's the drawing and below is the fic

Tw for a couple mentions of food but I think that's it

Credit for everything @lumosinlove

Leo bounced a bit on the balls of his feet, goofy smile at full force while he waited to board the plane. He had grown up going to Disney World with his family. Living in Louisiana, Florida wasn’t too far away, and Eloise and Wyatt Knut didn’t let being adults stop them from enjoying the magic of Disney. When Leo was born, his parents were beyond excited about the prospect of going as a family, getting mickey ears, collecting pins, and making memories.

The first time he went, Leo was five, his favorite Disney movie was the lion king, and an expression of pure joy was permanent in his pale, blue eyes. Over the four days they were in the parks he got to go on rides, eat themed sweets, and meet his favorite characters.

After that first trip, Eloise started a scrap book. The book, titled ‘Disney World 2006’, was soon filled with pictures of Leo at the entrance gate, Leo with pineapple dole whip halfway to his mouth, and countless of all three of them taken by the photographers.

A favorite picture of Eloise’s was near the back, this one of her son with Simba. When Leo had spotted the cast member dressed as his favorite character, he all but threw himself at the lion costume clad employee. Leo’s mama had taken many pictures of the two lion cubs together and they were beyond adorable.

There are more scrap books from 2008, 2011, 2014, and 2017. Throughout the years of pictures Leo never looks less than ecstatic. Even though New Orleans will forever remain his favorite place in the world, Disney is a close second to home, which is why this trip with his boys is such a big deal for him.

The Lions are currently on a short break in the season after their game against the Coyotes and the cubs are going to spend a few days at Disneyland in Anaheim.

Finn reaches forward to grab Leo’s hand who is standing in line in front of him.

“Sunshine, are you excited?” He asks. Leo tilts his head around to look at his boyfriend and nods eagerly.

“We’ll take that as a yes,” logan chuckles sleepily from behind Finn where he is standing with his head resting on the red head’s back. Evidently waking up at 6:00 in the morning to drive to the airport wasn’t ideal for him.

Leo lets out a low, impatient groan, still bouncing, “I need to be there like right now. Can’t we get on the plane already?”.

“We haven’t even been waiting that long. I think they’re about to call our section though, Peanut,” Finn answers him, trying not to let his amusement show too much.

A crinkly noise cuts off Leo’s response, “Now boarding rows 1-10,” a voice says from over the loudspeaker. Leo stands up straighter and turns to his boyfriends, “that’s us!”

“I know Nutter-Butter, go on, let’s get you to Disney!” Finn says as he pats Leo’s butt lightly, moving him forward, onto the jet bridge.

The boys get settled into their seats, Finn by the window, Logan in the middle for maximum cuddles, and Leo on the aisle for the leg room. For the first half of the flight Logan sleeps while Finn and Leo share a movie, but all three boys are wide awake by the time the flight attendants come around with drinks for the second time. The rest of the flight is spent chatting about practices coming up after the break, things they need for the apartment, and what they are going to do first upon arriving.

Once getting off the plane in California, they take the shuttle from John Wayne Airport to the Disneyland hotels. They are staying in the Adventure Land tower, closest to the park. By this point all three boys are buzzing with the infectious happiness of Disney. After unpacking and getting settled into their hotel room, the cubs proceed with their plans of shopping and getting dinner in Downtown Disney. First thing on the agenda is to procure mouse ears. Logan, Finn, and Leo make their way to World of Disney in order to find the widest selection of ears. Leo has a collection of his own ears at home, including his favorite pride Minnie ears, but for this trip he wants to get new ones along with Logan and Finn. Leo and Finn decide on classic Mickey ear hats, while Logan picks out Minnie ears with a lavender bow. They all get sweatshirts too, as is custom.

After a pleasant evening of enjoying the atmosphere and getting dinner at Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen (Leo’s offense towards their attempt at Cajun cuisine is only partially a joke), they call it night. They head back to the hotel, brush their teeth, put on pajamas, and cuddle up in bed. After a busy day the three boys quickly fall asleep, full of anticipation for the day ahead.

Something you should know about Leo is that when it comes to Disney, he is hard core. Their first morning there is an early entry in Disneyland park.

“Rise and shine, party people!” Leo calls as he entera the main part of the hotel room from the bathroom. Logan and Finn are just now waking up, but they aren’t remotely tired. The pure excitement radiating off their boyfriend is contagious as well as the promise of a day of fun.

“Butter baby, how long have you been up?” Finn’s question is alarmed yet distinctly amused.

“Since 5:30,” Leo responds off-handedly. Logan and Finn share a look, then turn it on Leo. Undeterred, Leo spins slowly in a circle in order to show off his carefully constructed outfit. He is wearing his favorite light wash Levi’s, paired with the crewneck he bought yesterday (light gray with vintage looking Mickey & friends). Underneath his sweatshirt he is wearing his Pizza Planet t-shirt, ready for when it gets hot later. Leo’s outfit is accessorized with his new Mickey ear hat, white air Jordan 1’s, and his Tinker Bell lanyard filled with pins from over the years.

“These things take time! Now y’all go get dressed, we have to be in line by 6:45,” Leo says. With that both Finn and Logan get out of bed and into their clothes in record time. On their way out of the room, they pick up their ears and backpacks from the desk by the TV.

After a brief stop at the Starbucks in Downtown Disney, the boys make it into the que of people lining up at the entrance gate. Once 7:00 hits, the lines start to move into the park. As Logan, Finn, and Leo enter, they gaze around in awe. At the end of Mainstreet sits Sleeping Beauty’s castle, tall and glorious. They walk hand in hand down the lane of colorful, old fashioned buildings, chatting excitedly about what to do first.

“Alright babes, what’s up on the agenda?” Finn asks.

“I don’t even know the options, what do you say Le?” Logan continues.

They end up heading over to Tomorrow Land first. They go on Star Tours and Space Mountain while the lines are short, then bounce around Fantasy land as they make their way across the park. Around 8:30 all three boys start to get hungry so they grab a bag or two of beignets from New Orleans Square. After breakfast, they hit their favorites in Adventure land (Finn fucking loves Indiana Jones), Frontier Land (Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is a fan favorite), and New Orleans Square (Logan might not stop singing ‘Yo Ho a Pirate’s Life for Me’ for weeks).

Around noon the cubs exit Disneyland Park and walk across to California Adventure. After lunch at Wine Country Trattoria the boys bop around Cars Land, Hollywood Land, Pacific Warf and Grizzly Peak. The lines are a lot longer now that it’s afternoon, so they take it in stride and spend their waiting time talking, cuddling, and playing games. They end up going on almost every ride as well as hitting the extra good ones twice like Incredicoaster and Guardians of the Galaxy (still a fan-fucking-tastic ride but Leo misses the Twilight Zone theme).

By the time they finish up in California Adventure for the day, it’s almost time for Fantasmic, and Leo has yet to tell his boys that he got them reserved seats. The cubs meander back to Disneyland but when they start to near Frontier Land Finn picks up the pace.

“Sweetheart, what’s the hurry?” Leo asks with a knowing smile.

“I wanna get good seats for Fantasmic, I haven’t seen it since I was little!” Finn replies.

“Orgasmic? I like the sound of that,” Logan slides in with a smirk.

“Baby, no!” His boyfriends exclaim at the same time. Logan giggles which gets Leo and Finn laughing as well.

“And Finn, I got us seat reservations for the show so no need to rush,” Leo tells him. Finn’s response is to jump on Leo with a fierce hug and a drawn out “Yay,”.

The cubs enjoy the water show immensely, all snuggled up and bundled in sweatshirts once again to fend off the cool evening air. They point out little details to each other with intertwined hands and gasp aloud at the pretty fireworks. Once Fantasmic is over they do a few more rides, then head back to the hotel, sleepy after a full day. The boys fall asleep quickly again, ready to do it all again the next day.

#my art #writing #lumosinlove #o'knutzy #leo knut #finn o'hara #logan tremblay #disneyland #coast to coast #sweater weather #harry potter fanart #lumosinlove fanart #fanart

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the-bau-quinjet · 3 years

Text

You Belong With Me

Chapter 5 of In Breakable Heaven!!

Summary: Penelope has a Halloween party!

Warnings: none

Word Count: ~3100

You woke up slowly, not realizing you were on the couch with another human. As usual, you tried to roll over and go back to sleep, but instead of landing on the other side of your bed you land squarely on the floor between your couch and coffee table. Spencer shifted on the couch to look down at you as the two of you burst into laughter.

“Are you okay?” He struggled to get the words out through the laughter.

“Yeah. Yeah I’m fine.” Finally managing to stand up, you grab the trash from the night before and throw it out. Spencer grabs the dishes from behind you and loads them into the dishwasher. You are about to offer Spencer some breakfast when he breaks the silence.

“I should probably get going, but, uh, I can’t find my phone.” You can’t help but smile at the dejected look on his face.

“It probably sunk into the couch, here” you hand him your phone “You can call it while I look under the cushions.” He takes your advice, dialing his phone and holding yours up to his ear.

“It’s ringing.” You can hear it begin to vibrate as you remove cushions from the couch. “Got it!” You hold the phone up victoriously, answering the call. “Hello Doctor. What can I do for you?” You can’t help but tease him a little. He hangs up your phone, trading it for his.

“Thank you. I really do have to go, but I’m really glad I got to see you again.” “Me too. I mean, I don’t have to go. I live here. I just meant I’m really happy I got to see you again too. And now you have my phone number, so we can talk more!” You force yourself to stop rambling before you say something even more embarrassing.

He just grins at you, glad to not be the one rambling for once, and waves goodbye as he says “I’m looking forward to it.”

Around 4 PM a couple days later, you get a text from Spencer. You two had been texting pretty consistently since he left your apartment. But this text feels like a birthday gift from up above when you read the five simple words. Not that you would tell him today is your birthday. That would be weird to just randomly bring up.

From Spencer: “Are you busy right now?”

To Spencer: “Nope. I just got back from the bookstore.”

It takes what feels like eternity for him to respond. Unbeknownst to you, he is pacing his apartment, working up the nerve to press send.

From Spencer: “Do you want go see a movie? There’s a new Scream that just started in theaters and since Halloween is right around the corner, I thought it might be fun.”

You can’t help but squeal a little when you read and reread the message.

To Spencer: “I would love to! I love Halloween.”

From Spencer: “Great, I can pick you up at 5?”

To Spencer: “See you then”

You instantly drop what you were working on to get ready. You have to pick out something to wear that says you’re interested but isn’t too much for going to see a movie. You decide on a pair of dark wash jeans, black combat boots, and a light sweater that ties in the back. It’s cute, comfy, and very fall. Just as you finish your mascara, you hear a knock on your door. You grab your purse and swing it open to find Spencer standing there in a black button up, dark jeans, a maroon cardigan, and of course, black converse. He looks incredible. You can feel the blush on your cheeks as he looks at you. “Ready to go?”

“Yep, just let me grab my keys.” And with that, the two of you are walking back down to his car. You arrive to the theater 15 minutes before the movie, the perfect amount of time to get some snacks! You insist on buying the popcorn and sweet treats since he bought the tickets. You make your way into the theater and see it’s mostly empty except for a few people in the back. You find two seats in the middle and sit down. You’re honestly a little nervous because even though you love scary movies and haunted houses, you still get freaked out pretty easily. The scare is why you love it, but also why you’re nervous.

“Are you okay?” Spencer’s question cuts off your train of thought.

You decide to answer honestly “yeah, I love scary movies. I just… get scared… Wow that was stupid.” You can feel the blush creeping up again as you try to come up with a better way of describing it.

“That’s not stupid at all. It’s really all because of adrenaline and other fear induced hormones. It is common for people to seek out adrenaline inducing situations because the brain itself won’t determine how much danger you are in. It only recognizes the fear and produces adrenaline to combat it.” You inadvertently cut him off when you hug him, muttering a quiet thank you. He’s too distracted by the scent of your perfume to continue on about adrenaline.

Ten minutes in and the movie hasn’t been that bad yet. You can’t tell if you’re disappointed or glad you aren’t screaming like crazy. Just as you let your guard down, there’s a jump scare that has you grabbing Spencer’s arm for safety. He laughs, seemingly unfazed by the cheap scare, and shifts so he is holding your hand. “Just squeeze my hand when you’re scared” he whispers in your ear. You feel the butterflies again as you nod at him. You squeeze his hand on and off throughout the rest of the movie, blushing when his thumb starts to rub circles on your hand.

When the movie is over, the two of you decide to go across the street to a diner for some real dinner. You are right in the middle of eating breakfast for the third time that day when both your phones go off. Glancing down, you see a text from Penelope.

From PG: “Y/N!! I am having an impromptu Halloween party and I do not want to hear it that you are too busy. Get your butt over here by 9!!”

To PG: “You got it! Costume?”

From PG: “Of course! I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

You look up at Spencer “Penelope’s party?” You immediately try to think of a costume you can pull together from what you’ve got at home. It’s already October 27th, but you hadn’t planned a costume yet.

“Yep, I guess I have to go find a costume.” Spencer replies, running his hands through his hair.

“Same here. I have no idea what I’m going to wear.”

“I can drop you back at your apartment if you want? So you can get ready.” You sigh, he is obviously right but you were hoping the night would last a little longer.

“That would be great, thank you.” At least you know you’ll see him soon.

Getting ready goes a lot easier than you anticipated. You pull together a young, country Taylor Swift costume with denim cutoff shorts, cowboy boots, a cowboy hat, a navy tank top, and a matching flannel. You decide to grab your acoustic guitar just to add to the look. It’ll work. You finish your makeup and leave in a hurry. Penelope is not one to be kept waiting.

You get to Penelope’s apartment at 9:02. “What took so long? I thought you would be right over after I texted.” She scolded as she opened the door.

“I wasn’t home, so I had to go home and throw together a costume” you laugh as she looks you up and down, doing a little twirl. She looks you in the eye before confirming your costume “Country Taylor Swift, not bad.”

“Why thank you! Might I add you make an incredible vampire!” You say, lifting your hat off your head. Penelope just rolls her eyes and opens the door wider for you to come in. You immediately spot the rest of the team as other the other guests. Emily, Derek, JJ – who brought Will - Hotch, and Rossi. You didn’t know them all that well, but apparently you made a good impression since you were invited back. You aren’t sure if Spencer has told them anything about the two of you hanging out, so you decide not to say anything either. Instead, you admire everyone’s costumes.

Emily is dressed as Black Widow in a tight all leather getup. Derek matches Penelope’s vampire costume, something you are sure she made him wear. JJ and Will make an adorable Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl. You are still trying to figure out Hotch and Rossi’s costumes when you hear them arguing. “I am very clearly a chef. Look at my hat.” Rossi says as he emphatically points to his head.

“And I am from Men in Black.” Hotch declares. You are sure he is glaring from behind those sunglasses. They all turn and greet you when you get close enough.

“Who are you dressed as?” Derek asks as he looks you up and down.

“She’s clearly a young TS. The only thing missing is the signature curly blonde hair.” JJ looks shocked that Derek couldn’t put that together.

“Ooh, since you’re dressed as a singer, you have to go first in karaoke. We can’t start until everyone is here though. Penelope’s rules.” Emily declares.

“I guess I need a drink then!” You laugh as you head to the kitchen. You pour yourself a glass of white wine, not understanding how anyone can enjoy the vinegar like taste of the red, and walk back into the living room.

You immediately spotted Spencer. He was wearing a loose white button up with puffy sleeves, a black vest, black jeans, and he had a red bandana tied around his head. Plus, he was carrying a prop sword. The converse didn’t really match, but you could still figure out the look. He was the dorkiest pirate you have ever seen and you loved it. Derek was giving him a hard time, but before you could do anything Emily was pulling you over to the karaoke machine.

“It’s time to start karaoke!!” She was clearly a little tipsy, but you did not feel nearly drunk enough to sing in front of these people. You downed your wine, earning some whistles, and put the glass on the coffee table.

“Emily! I have no idea what to sing.” You tried to protest.

“Nonsense, you can sing a Taylor Swift song.” JJ chimed in “Something from an old album since your dressed country!”

Emily immediately started a song before you could protest anymore and you were singing almost immediately.

You’re on the phone with your girlfriend, she’s upset.

‘At least it’s an easy song to perform’ you thought to yourself, having done it what felt like a million times. But they don’t know that. Before you knew it, the girls were all singing the end of the song with you.

Have you ever thought just maybe, you belong with me? You belong with me.

You chanced a glance at Spencer as you finished the song. You refused to look at him before that, knowing he would make you too nervous. Before you had a chance to comprehend the look on his face, Derek inadvertently interrupted the moment “Y/N you’ve been holding out on us. That was great!” He said. The others joined in on the praise as you turned red. You managed to squeak out a “thanks” before retreating to fill your wine glass. Spencer met you in the kitchen.

“That really was an amazing performance. You should consider switching careers.” You laughed at his comment, it was pretty comical considering your side hobby. “No really. You would be amazing.”

You turned even redder with the compliment. “Thanks Doc, I appreciate the confidence boost.” You almost told him then and there, but ultimately you were being called back to the living room to hear Rossi sing Bon Jovi.

The night continued much the same until Penelope broke off into the kitchen. You were going to follow her, but Rossi pulled you back into a conversation and you missed the chance. Soon enough she was returning with a huge birthday cake. At first, you were shocked. Then you realized she was the Penelope Garcia. Figuring out someone’s birthday is child’s play to her.

Then you were shocked again, because everyone was singing to Spencer. Apparently it was after midnight and his birthday is October 28th.

Once everyone has a piece of cake, you walk up to Spencer hitting him on the arm, “Why didn’t you tell me today is your birthday?”

He deflects the question easily. “Today only just started, so I really didn’t have time. Plus you haven’t told me when your birthday is.”

You instantly freeze at that. You can’t possible tell him your birthday was yesterday. That would be so awkward. He immediately senses the tensions and asks “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

You practically run out of the room calling “yep I’m fine, all good, 100% a-o-kay.”

Spencer, confused by your quick exit, decided to look at your license to figure out your birthday. Maybe he could surprise you with something. Realization dawned on his features as he read the date, seeing that your birthday was yesterday.

You were relieved when Spencer didn’t chase after you to figure out exactly why you practically sprinted away from the conversation. You decided to just enjoy the rest of the party.

Around 2 AM everyone was heading out. You hung back a little since Spencer hadn’t left yet, hoping you’d be able to walk out with him. God, you feel like a teenager again. Secretly crushing on a guy who clearly only likes you as a friend. Ugh.

“Y/N!” You break out of your pitying thoughts to see Penelope and Spencer standing in front of you. Great. How long were you just staring at the ground? “You okay?” Penelope asks, looking at you with clear concern.

“Yeah, I’m just tired. You threw quite the party!” You tried to joke to clear the air. “Thanks for inviting me, Pen.” You hugged her as you looked around for your purse, grabbing it off the chair. Spencer has been staring at you with a contemplative look on his face during the whole encounter.

“I’ll see you soon, right?” You looked back as you opened the door. “Of course, my lovely!” Penelope smiled as you and Spencer left, him calling a quick goodbye as he walked out after you. You didn’t say anything until you noticed Spencer was walking towards your apartment with you.

“What are you doing?” Ugh, real subtle. What kind of a question is that?

“Walking you home. It’s my birthday, you can’t say no.” You rolled your eyes at his playful tone, but there was something serious in his eyes. “Why didn’t you say your birthday was yesterday? We could have celebrated!” He seemed genuinely confused.

“I don’t know. I guess I’ve never been the kind of person who does well with all that attention. My birthday was never a huge deal growing up, so I haven’t really made a big deal out of it now. Pen wanted a Halloween party, not a birthday party. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.” You couldn’t make eye contact with him. You’ve never really talked about these insecurities with anyone.

“First of all, she clearly didn’t mind having a party for both because she had a birthday cake for me. I am completely sure that she would have decorated it for both of us had she known. Second, you deserve to have people make a big deal. You are an incredible person, Y/N. You are extraordinarily kind, selfless, and beautiful.” He pauses for a second before pulling something out of his bag. “I didn’t know your birthday was even in October, but I bought these a few days ago. I was going to give them to you after the movie, but then Garcia called and we split up. If you don’t like them I can take them back I just thought since you twist your earrings around so much, maybe they were bothering you and maybe a new pair would help. Penelope actually helped me pick them out, although she doesn’t know that. She just mentioned how she thought you would like them when we were at the farmer’s market.”

Tears sprung to your eyes as you realized how much thought he must’ve put into this. You couldn’t help but throw yourself into a hug whispering “thank you, Spence. That is so thoughtful.” He rubbed your back until you stepped back from the hug. You opened the box to find a pair of dainty white gold earrings. One was a moon and the other a star. “They are beautiful.” You whispered into his ear as you pulled him in for another hug.

Stepping back again, the two of you made your way to your apartment. Upon arrival, you confessed, “I actually have something for you too. It’s upstairs though, so you have to come inside.” He smiled as you pulled him into your building.

“I obviously didn’t know your birthday is today, but you told me about breaking your watch and when I saw this in the store window I thought of you and it just looked perfect.” You watched as he slowly opened the watch box, pulling out a simple brown leather band with a white watch face surrounded by a silver casing. It honestly screamed Dr. Spencer Reid. The watch face isn’t too modern and the leather band matches his satchel.

“Y/N, it’s perfect. Thank you.” He closed the box, hugging you to say thank you. Looking into his eyes, you realized with 100% certainty you are falling for Dr. Spencer Reid. “Let’s go to sleep” is all you can say in response. You pull him into the bed and snuggle as close as you dare, too afraid to say anything else when you don’t know how he feels. The two of you drift into a restful sleep, not even bothering to change from your costumes.

You wake up due to the muffled voice of Spencer in the kitchen. You can smell the coffee, so you quickly change into some pajamas before walking out to join him. He glances at you apologetically while you pour the coffee into two mugs, adding equal amounts of sugar to both.

As soon as he hangs up, he’s hugging you goodbye. “I’m so sorry, we have a case. We are supposed to be at the jet in 30 minutes.”

“Don’t worry about it Doc. Go save the world.” You decide to listen to Superman on repeat for an hour while you clean.

tag list:

@mac99martin @goldeng1rl8 @eevee0722 @l0ve-0f-my-life @haylaansmi @dinonuggets15 @laurakirsten0502 @green-intervention @burnin-passion @takeyourleap-of-faith @secretpickleprofessordean @awkwardnesshabitat

#spencer reid x reader #spencer reid #spencer reid fluff #spencer reid x you #criminal minds x reader #Criminal Minds

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sassycassie-s-writing · 3 years

Text

My Favorite Smile

By: SassyShoulderAngel319

Fandom/Character(s): DC/BatFam - Jason Todd/Red Hood

Rating: PG-11/T- (this one has a couple ✨swear words✨ in it lol. I don’t usually write them out, but sometimes you just gotta say what you mean)

Original Idea: X (Obsessed with this channel right now)

Notes: (Masterlist)(By Character)(About Me) 2,182 words... it’s a longer one again. I casually wrote this in, like, two hours. @welovegroot @jason-redhood @jason-todd-squad

^^^^^

Holding his coffee and croissant, Jason looked around the crowded café for a place to sit. Every table was occupied by at least one person, and the rules of personal space in public said the couches were full, with one person sitting on either end.

His eyes fell on a table with a single occupant.

His heart stuttered to a stop. Wait… is that her? Damn, she looks good this time. He scoffed at himself. Who am I kidding? She looks good every time. Should I talk to her? Should I tell her? She didn’t believe me last time… and I don’t know if I can stand another lifetime without her… but last life we didn’t meet till I was almost fifty. I really wasn’t expecting to find her this early.

He straightened up and strode over to her table. “Excuse me, is it alright if I sit here? The café’s pretty crowded and the other tables are full.”

She looked up and Jason’s brain stopped working as she met his eyes. She was just as incredible as she always was. Thousands upon thousands of years, and he still never got over how beautiful she was. “Sure, go ahead,” she said with a smile before going back to her phone.

—

“I’m Jason, by the way,” the man said, sitting down.

I glanced back up and gave him my name in return.

He smiled. He had a handsome smile. Just looking at him… something tugged in the back of my mind. “That’s a pretty name,” he said.

My ears warmed and I looked away. “Thanks,” I muttered. I looked back at him. “Sorry if this sounds… weird—but have we met before?” I cringed but smiled. If we had…oh it’d be so embarrassing if I’d forgotten him. And a man as handsome as him—how could I have forgotten?

But a look of delight crossed his face, before being replaced by one of neutrality. “Not in this lifetime,” he replied.

“Kind of an odd way to word it,” I remarked before I could overthink whether that sounded really rude or not.

Jason’s ears turned red. “Well… yeah I guess so. Sorry.” He looked down at his coffee cup and croissant and chose to take a sip of his drink. After swallowing, he looked back up at me. “This is probably gonna sound really creepy, but please just hear me out for a few minutes. Do you believe in soulmates?”

I reached up and scratched an itch just behind my ear. “I mean… kind of? I think maybe they exist for some people, and other people could be matched equally well with multiple potential partners,” I said.

His shoulders slouched with a sigh of what might have been relief. “Thank goodness,” he said. He met my eyes. “Because… we’re soulmates. You and I. Sometimes—very rarely—two people are so destined to be together, that they’re reborn over and over to stay together throughout thousands of years’ worth of lifetimes. Sometimes we both remember, sometimes only one of us does. I don’t think there’s ever been a lifetime where neither of us remember. Besides the first, I guess. Back when we didn’t know we’d be reborn. We never look the same twice—different bodies, different backgrounds. But we always have the same soul.”

A reasonable person would have thought he was making up a really long, bad pickup line. But I stared at him with rapt attention. Like some missing puzzle piece I’d been looking for my entire life fell into place. It just sounded… right.

“How do we find each other, if we look different every time?”

He took a deep breath. “Well… when one or both of us remember, we can… kind of sense it? Kind of see it? Like, right now, I see you, but I also see every face of yours that I’ve seen across every lifetime.” He cleared his throat. “Sometimes we don’t. Find each other, I mean. The distance between where we’re born or the timing of our rebirths keep us apart. But there’s only been… three of those, if I remember right.” He laughed. “So glad you believed me this time. It would have sucked if you got a restraining order—because those are a thing now—and I had to spend this life without you.”

I leaned forward, shoving my phone in my pocket. “Tell me more,” I said.

“Where do you want me to start?”

“Um… I don’t know. The beginning? Our first life?”

He nodded. “Ancient Greece,” he said. “Like, really early in Ancient Greece’s history. The gods blessed us. Bound our souls for eternity. Your hair is actually the same color now as it was back then. Kind of a… nostalgic favorite of mine. You’re absolutely stunning every time I see you, but I have some favorites. You do too.”

I snickered. “Oh really? Like what?”

“Well… I always think you’re adorable with dimples or freckles. Green eyes are a favorite of mine too. And your current hair color is my favorite. There were also a few times where you were a little taller than me. Those were nice. You’re most comfortable to hug that way. But, without fail, every single lifetime I see your smile and I think, ‘That one. That one’s my new favorite.’” He chuckled. “As for you, you’ve told me that you like me best with brown eyes—even though you don’t like brown eyes normally. Um… you also like it when my hair is curly.” He gestured to his black hair, slightly curled, with two white curls arcing down the center of his forehead. “You told me… seven lifetimes ago? That you like me best with piercings and tattoos, but when I brought it up last lifetime you said even when I have them I still look like, and I quote, a ‘giant nerd.’”

We both laughed. Jason sighed and shook his head.

“Then again, you said that was your favorite during our pirate lifetime. And I can also say hot damn you looked good with tattoos and a big hat.”

I gasped out a laugh. “We were pirates?”

He laughed too. “Yeah. Well, you were. To start with, anyway. You and your crew were visiting my town and you, absolutely drunk, stumbled into my house. I was a carpenter that time. Thank the gods we both remembered that lifetime or I probably would have shot you. You spent half the night drunkenly blathering about how much you hated my hair when it was long the way it was and that you’d cut it off if I didn’t. The next morning, when you’d sobered up, you apologized. And I’d said it was fine. And… you asked me to come with you. I’ve spent dozens of lifetimes endlessly in love with you. So, like the lovesick fool I am and was, I said yes.

“It… was not a long lifetime. Pirates rarely made it to old age. We were both killed when a Royal Navy ship attacked us. I went down first. You told me in our next lifetime that you single-handedly killed half of that crew’s sailors in revenge even though you knew you’d see me again—because you’d been having so much fun that life and they ruined it. Eventually their captain killed you himself.” He took a bite of his croissant.

It was certainly a lot to take in. But everything he said was so vivid… I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination coming up with the images or… memories that had merely been locked away somewhere deep inside. The sea. The deck of a ship. An octopus tattoo on my left forearm, tentacles reaching to the back of my hand, a similar one on his tanned, scarred neck. Curly auburn hair, a scruffy beard. Brown leather coat and blood under his nails. Pierced ear and eyebrow. A tattoo of a mermaid with a face and wild hair that I knew must have been mine on his right thigh as we found alone time together in my cabin—a pile of leather clothes in a heap on the floor, topped by a big hat with a big feather.

I met his eyes again. “Tell me about another one.”

He smiled. “Well… there was another time I was a soldier. You remembered. I didn’t. I passed through your town on my way to report for duty, and the weather got bad. Your family owned a tavern that doubled as an inn. So, that was where I stayed. You didn’t tell me. I fell in love with you anyway. You would tell me stories and sing for me and make me food in private. When the weather improved, I went off to war and, miraculously, I survived. Even though I spent most of my time that fight thinking about you. I came back to your inn and asked you to marry me. You said yes. We were married soon after. I had to leave a lot. Fighting battles I didn’t care about. Eventually, I came home injured and dying. You held my hand and promised you’d see me soon. I thought you meant heaven or just said it to comfort me. You never told me we were endlessly-reborn soulmates.

“When I was about fifteen my next lifetime, all my memories came back. We both remembered that time, actually. When we ran into each other again we got into such a big argument about you not telling me. Literally picked up right where we left off. Two twenty-year-olds bickering like the old married couple we were. The life after I don’t remember is always a bit of a wild ride as all my memories come back. I imagine it’s similar for you. It’ll be similar for you.”

He reached across the table and took my hand. I squeezed his fingers. Our hands fit together perfectly. I wondered why I’d told him I liked him best with brown eyes when his blue eyes were absolutely gorgeous. “So… what now?” I asked.

He made a face. “Beginnings are always hard when one of us doesn’t remember. Because I have thousands of years of love for you, and you don’t even know me.” His fingers tightened around mine. “I’d like to take you out on a date, if you’ll let me.”

“Does it count as a first date?”

He smiled. It was a sad smile. “It can. It does for this life.”

“Have we… ever had children? Together?”

Jason regarded me thoughtfully. “We have,” he said. “But our bloodlines never last long. Usually we’re lucky to get great-grandchildren. We’re blessed to be together forever, but our families die off quickly. You speculated once that it’s the blessing’s attempt to make sure we’re not reborn into our own bloodline.”

“So we have no living descendants.”

“No. It’d be a little weird if we did. Like ‘Hey, kiddo, you’re our great-great-great-grandson! I know we’re younger than you but trust us!’” Jason laughed.

I could get drunk on that laugh. “I’d… I’d like to go on that date.”

He looked elated—and relieved. “Me too. I’d like to get to know you again.” He glanced around the crowded café. “What do you say we get out of here and go somewhere quiet and I can tell you more stories about our lives? You’ve always been the far superior storyteller, but I learned from the best.”

I smiled. “Yeah. Let’s get out of here. I want to hear everything.”

He helped me to my feet. I gathered my jacket, cup, and phone. “Great. I can’t wait to tell you about the time I was a magician.”

I giggled. “My place or yours?”

“Mine. I have a memento from our most recent past life that I tracked down. I’d like you to have it.”

“What is it?”

Jason didn’t answer immediately. Just held my hand as we left the café. Gotham’s overcast autumn sky was chilly. “I… I want it to be a surprise but I’m also too excited to tell you.” He bit his lower lip, staring at me. “Gah. Fine. It’s your wedding ring. I found it at an antique shop not far from where our oldest niece lived. We didn’t have any kids, last life. We didn’t meet till I was forty-nine and you were forty-three. We both decided it was too late for kids. But I had a few nieces and nephews. Our oldest niece was in charge of our estate. We died in the eighties. But I found your ring. You can use it again, eventually, if you want. Or we can get you a new one.” His face reddened. “I don’t mean to presume. But I don’t know if I can live without you this lifetime after having you for such a short time last life.”

I squeezed his hand. “Let’s try that first date first. I feel this pull toward you I can’t explain, but we’ll build up to the soulmate thing. Okay?” I smiled at him.

—

Jason couldn’t help but stare at her. Those eyes, that stunning face. This one, he thought. This smile is my favorite.

#My Favorite Smile #Jason Todd #jason todd imagine #jason todd fanfiction #Red Hood #red hood imagine #red hood fanfiction #DC #DC imagine #dc fanfiction #BatFam #batfam imagine #batfam fanfiction

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waxscoralpants · 4 years

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fav Temeraire moments (human edition)

I am wide awake despite having gone to bed and also Karm has now read enough of the books that I can talk about it without spoilers for the most part so here we go

I mean, it’s the most iconic moment right. All that angst at the beginning about having a dragon is resolved and Laurence says “my dear, I would rather have you than any ship in the navy” and we all clutched our hearts and died

I would pay money to read Laurence and Jane’s first meeting from Jane’s perspective. I can only imagine Jane see’s his adorable genteel blustering and thinks about all sorts of ways to make him embarrassed. Legendary FWBs

Laurence meets Tharkay’s high school sweetheart who he is too poor to marry :( but then they go on a secret nighttime mission!

Heartfelt Tharkay/Laurence conversation number one. I just want to know you’re okay, bro, just tell me when you’re running off so I don’t worry, love you bro

Tharkay does tell Laurence he’s leaving and Laurence is like okay :( I will miss you and then later Tharkay comes back with TWENTY DRAGONS and is like uh.... just thought they might help. Like, what, doesn’t he have anything else to do

Catherine tells The Boys that she is with child. Laurence looks around the room and wonders which of their fellow captains she fell into bed with. Ah well. Propriety dictates we will never know. I must suffer this mystery in silence. “Well that sucks, Catherine, whom the fuck’s is it?” immediately pipes in someone else

Same conversation someone eludes to Jane and Laurence’s antics and comments that Jane must be taking precautions. The purpose of several bizarre rituals of Jane’s suddenly becomes clear to Laurence who AGAIN was just too polite to ever ask

Laurence thinks about what he wants in life. And really, being in the Navy did rather suit him. He likes the adventure of serving in the military but also the idea of having a settled home to come back to. And, despite everything, he really does enjoy high society. And Jane is great and brave and interesting and fantastic and Jane, won’t you marry me? Jane laughs and says, well no, my dear, but thank you for asking. Laurence immediately goes and commits treason.

Tharkay meets Laurence’s high school sweetheart who he is too criminal to marry :( but then they go on a secret nighttime mission!

Tharkay, bemused that Laurence doesn’t understand why Edith’s husband is acting all weird is like, “it’s because you’re the coolest man ever. We’re all either jealous or pining how do you not know this”

Heartfelt Tharkay/Laurence conversation number ? Tharkay: Bro, you don’t have to do terrible things just because nobody respects you anymore. Laurence: :’(

Having assumed none of his friends will ever want to speak with him again, Laurence consoles himself that if Tharkay is willing to sail on the same ship with me for months, he must not absolutely hate me completely and ignores all the ways Tharkay continues to purposefully maneuver himself into Laurence’s life

IDK if this one stood out to anyone else, maybe I was just oblivious, but on said ship it cuts to a scene where the two of them are playing cards and Laurence refers to Tharkay by his first name and I nearly spit out what I was eating because I knew they were friends but not like, friends friends

Tharkay asks Laurence if maybe he wouldn’t be happier being a pirate. It is not clear to Laurence that maybe just maybe Tharkay would join him? Maybe? if it was on offer. No homo

Hammond (I love Hammond) is running from a scary monster and falls to the ground. He hears a deep powerful voice sternly tell the monster to fuck off and looks up. We, the reader, experience the book equivalent of a shot that pans up a character to dramatically reveal their sexy yet intimidating self. Practical boots, worn faded clothing, rough beard, kind blue eyes, tanned skin, calloused hands, a rifle, and a big hat. Hammond takes a moment to realize wait, this is William Laurence. I take a moment to realize wait, William Laurence is hot??????

GRANBY IS GAY, Y’ALL (If you reread the books now, you will catch many moments of Granby and Little walking into scenes together, other characters mentioning they saw them together a moment ago, or passing each other food. I love them)

After months of not remembering anything from the past ten-ish years, Laurence happens across Tharkay and is like “Oh wait, yeah this guy is awesome how could I forget him” and remembers everything

Can’t say anything from the last book! Because Karm hasn’t read it but oof there are some moments. Also I’m leaving out entire amazing characters and all the dragons but there’s just so much! good stuff! in there!

#temeraire #william laurence #tenzing tharkay #jane rolland #john granby #catherine harcourt

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felassan · 3 years

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Dragon Age Library Edition Volume 1 annotations & additional pages/art compilation

Dragon Age Library Edition Volume 1 is a hardcover collection of some pre-existing Dragon Age comics that was released in 2014. It comprises of all issues of The Silent Grove, Those Who Speak and Until We Sleep. In places, it includes additional annotations/commentaries by the illustrators and authors, as well as a few additional pages with additional art. iirc these additional annotations and pages/art aren’t featured or available anywhere else (in the franchise I mean; other people have probably put them online at some point I’m sure).

From what I can see at least, Library Edition Volume 1 is no longer in print, and as such listings for it on resale sites etc are.. price-inflated & prohibitively expensive (~£100+, which I’m sure we can all agree is just not reasonable or accessible to most people). Due to this, I’ve compiled the additional annotations and pages here in this post. Thank you and credit to @artevalentinapaz, who kindly shared the material with me. This post has been made with their permission. The rest of this post is under a cut due to length.

These commentaries are in the context of The Silent Grove, Those Who Speak and Until We Sleep. If you notice any errors or annotations missing, or need anything clarified, just let me know. I think the annotations are in chronological order. In places I elaborated in square brackets to help explain which part of the comics an annotation is referring to. A note before you proceed further: some of the topics referenced in the annotations/additional pages are heavy or uncomfortable. The quotes here are word-for-word transcriptions of dev/creator commentaries, not my personal opinions or phrasings.

(Also, I do recommend always supporting comic creators by purchasing their comics legitimately. I own each issue of these comics having bought other editions of them all legitimately. The reason I put this post together is because this specific Library Edition volume has been discontinued and the consequently-inflated cost is so high, rendering the additional material inaccessible to most.)

-----

The Silent Grove annotations

Illustrator Chad Hardin: “I used to be an environmental artist for video games, so I built a 3-D model of Antiva City using the program Silo. Many of the buildings are simple cubes, but a few are more detailed. Overall, I spent the better part of a day building it, but I used it again and again throughout The Silent Grove to maintain continuity in the backgrounds.”

Script Writer Alexander Freed: “Even working with David Gaider, it took me several drafts to find Alistair’s voice. His narrative had to convey his humor and self-doubt from Dragon Age: Origins while suggesting a newfound weariness earned during his years on the throne. For readers familiar with the character, he needed to seem like a changed Alistair - but Alistair nonetheless.”

Chad Hardin: “If you read a lot of comics, you might wonder why the majority of the heroes wear skin-tight suits. Well, I can tell you: they are easy and quick to draw. In video games, you build the model once and then animate it, so details don’t slow you down. In comics, everything has to be rendered by hand. Varric and Alistair’s outfits were quite detailed. It took me a long time to get used to them, and even longer to memorize the designs until drawing them was second nature - Varric’s knee armor in particular! Oy vey!”

David Gaider: “One of my favorite scenes in the entire series [when Varric and Isabela are disarming traps and picking locks together while Alistair looks on]. Isabela and Varric, doing what rogues do. I had a suggestion for how to put it together, but Alex managed to make it fit and did a great job with it.”

Chad Hardin: “I never used to keep any of the artwork I created for comics. I would just hand the pages over to my agent to sell. This page [when Alistair, Varric and Isabela are in a tavern together, with hookah in the foreground] I kept for myself. I love the hookah-smoking elves in the second panel and Isabela’s face in the last panel. I rendered the first four chapters of The Silent Grove in grayscale using ink washes, gouache and Copie markers.”

David Gaider: “For a little while, Varric [in these comic stories] was supposed to be Zevran from Dragon Age: Origins, which would have made sense, Zevran being Antivan and all. I know that some fans would have loved to see him, but the dynamics of the group just didn’t work as well. Then a planned cameo later had to be cut for space. Ah well, Zev, another time.”

Alexander Freed: “Isabela at her most dangerous [climbing up the side of the cliff]. This scene - featuring a scantily clad, dripping-wet woman who tends to flaunt her sexuality - could easily have come across as exploitative, but Chad did a lovely drop portraying Isabela as purely focused and deadly.”

Chad Hardin: “Isabela rising out of the water and scaling the cliff with the knife in her mouth is one of my favorite parts of The Silent Grove. It is one of those moments where the writing really inspired the art. Hats off to Alex and David. This is another page I kept for myself.”

Colorist Michael Atiyeh: “This is one of my favorite Dragon Age pages. Chad is such an amazing artist; I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with him.”

Chad Hardin: “I love that this page [when a guard spots Varric and shouts ‘Intruder!’] made it in uncensored. So many times in comics, I draw something and some stuffy lawyers come out of the woodwork and tell me to tone it down. Dark Horse and BioWare always let me have fun, and this turned out to be one of my favorite pages with Varric and Bianca. Any guesses to which word he is mouthing in the second panel?”

Alexander Freed: “Note the simple decency of Alistair as he gives his cloak, without comment, to Isabela. For all his flaws, he’s genuinely kind at heart - a rare enough trait in Isabela’s world that I think it’s much of what she values in him.”

Chad Hardin: “I love the opening panel to this chapter [the opening panels to Chapter 3, when the team are on a ship at sea]. It’s the image I use on the homepage of my website. This page was a gift to my cousin Wendy, who loves pirates. Seascapes with sailing ships might be clichéd in fine art, but for me it was a first.”

David Gaider: “I wanted to have this story center on the group travelling to a Witch of the Wilds other than Flemeth, and originally I had set it somewhere else - until I remembered a Codex entry from Dragon: Age Origins that offhandedly mentioned a witch in the Tellari Swamps. Brilliant! It’d look like I planned it all along. I didn’t.”

Michael Atiyeh: “I love opportunities where I can show a change in the time of day as you move from panel to panel [when the ship heads towards and the team arrive in the Tellari Swamps]. I feel the palette of each panel is very distinct and beautiful.”

Alexander Freed: “Why did Alistair choose two people he barely knows to be his companions on this quest? We never make this explicit, but of course Varric is on the right track. Alistair wants to surround himself with people who don’t know him and won’t judge him, yet it’s Alistair’s idealism that Isabela and Varric work to preserve.”

Chad Hardin: “Another page where the writing inspired the art [when the group suddenly encounter a dragon]. I love the dragon bursting onto the scene and Isabela’s stare. Some writers will try to cram six or seven panels on a page like this and the pacing just doesn’t allow the artist to give each moment the right punch. Can you imagine if the first panel was crammed into a single square inch?”

Chad Hardin: “Yavana was one of the only characters that we did no preliminary sketches for. I don’t know how that happened, but thankfully it worked out.”

David Gaider: “I love how Yavana looks like a cross between Flemeth and Morrigan. Flemmigan? She’s totally Chad’s design, and it’s great. Typical for these witches, she never says things straight. In my mind, this Alistair is the one who did the Dark Ritual in Dragon Age: Origins - and I was half-tempted to have him lose his cool in this first scene [opening panels of Chapter 4] with her. Too early, though.”

Alexander Freed: “Through this whole sequence [the page when Varric aims Bianca at Yavana], Yavana is dropping cryptic hints and Alistair is refusing to play along. He’s met Flemeth and Morrigan - he knows Yavana won’t give him a straight answer, and he won’t give her the satisfaction of asking needlessly.”

Michael Atiyeh: “Sometimes it’s the little things on a page that spark my interest. Here [when the team navigate vines and mud to get to the temple], the sunset panel came out great and the mud looks really thick and gooey. It’s fun to focus on these details and make them stand out.”

Chad Hardin: “I hated drawing this scene [when Isabela gets kicked] where Isabela gets the boot to the face. Call me old fashioned, but I was raised to believe that only a coward would ever hit a woman (even a battle-hardened pirate adventurer). I draw at home, and my girls often watch me work in my studio. This was a page I didn’t want them watching me draw. I do like, though, that Isabela gets up, yanks the arrow out, and then soldiers on (and later extracts brutal revenge).”

Michael Atiyeh: “Poor Isabela. It seems I gave her more bruises and black eyes than any of the other characters. [when Isabela is yanking the arrow out]”

Chad Hardin: “It’s always interesting to go back and look at artwork because it reminds me of what was going on in my life at the time. I inked this page [opening panels of Chapter 5] at a ‘draw night’ session at an anime convention in St. George, Utah. I was one of the special guests, but I missed the first day because I was at my grandfather’s funeral in Las Vegas, Nevada. Seeing this page brought back those memories.”

David Gaider: “‘Bianca says hello.’ [quoting the panels being referenced] I adore Varric. I was tempted to have him narrate the entire series [in reference to these three comics], but then again I liked the idea of having each series center on one of the trio’s viewpoints. This book belongs to Alistair, but that doesn’t stop Varric from getting all the best lines.”

Alexander Freed: “Claudio, of course, is not a terribly sympathetic figure. But I wanted to emphasize that he takes this fight as personally as Isabela - he sincerely loved Luis and blames Isabela for the man’s death. I think it’s important to give every character, even the most loathsome, some dignity. [when Isabela and Claudio are fighting]”

Chad Hardin: “Payback! Here is where Isabela extracts her revenge on Claudio [when Isabela stabs Claudio]. I never enjoyed killing off a character so much. I particularly enjoyed putting the look of shock in his eyes. He had it coming. There is something satisfying about killing a ‘made man’.”

Chad Hardin: “Every now and then when drawing comics, I wish I could animate some panels and watch them as a cartoon. It would be great to see this sequence [when Yavana catches Claudio’s soul] in full motion as Yavana snatches Claudio’s soul, makes it reenter his corpse and then extracts information from him until he bursts into flame. It was a very Hellboy-ish moment. I enjoyed the movie that played in my mind while drawing this scene. Hope everyone liked the result.”

Chad Hardin: “As I mentioned on page 17, I rendered the first four chapters in grayscale, which made the black-and-white art look great, but had a neutralizing effect when it came to colors. By the time I drew chapter 4, I had seen the effect it was having and decided to stop using the grayscale so the colors would pop. When I saw this page [when Alistair says to Yavana ‘And we helped you find it’] in print, it confirmed to me that I made the right decision. I honestly feel this art was the best of The Silent Grove.”

Chad Hardin: “I practically painted these pages [when Yavana says ‘It is permitted. Tonight and only tonight’] in thumbnails hoping it would help me choose how to render them in ink. It is so hard trying to figure out how to get a full range of value out of just black and white. There are some artists and inkers that make this look easy. Mark Schultz comes to mind. Michael saved my bacon. Colorists really do so much work when it comes to rendering; this page came out awesome because of him.”

David Gaider: “Here we reveal the existence of Great Dragons (as opposed to High Dragons), and also that Yavana was the source of the return of dragons to Thedas after their departure for so many centuries. But why? There’s the rub, and not even Alistair can trust that she’s telling him the truth.”

David Gaider: “Here’s the controversial scene [Alistair killing Yavana]. I think some fans don’t like that Alistair did this, and have said they consider it out of character. I don’t. From his perspective, Flemeth and her daughters have been toying with the world for reasons that can’t be trusted. They dragged Maric away from his family, from him. One might think his judgement foolish, but considering what Alistair was capable of deciding even back in Dragon Age: Origins, it’s certainly not out of character.”

Chad Hardin: “[same scene as above] This was a controversial page, and there were a lot of people who thought it was out of character for Alistair to kill Yavana (I didn’t see it coming - I mean, you just don’t kill a Witch of the Wild), but here is the thing: this page is Alistair acting as a king. Yavana has been manipulating him, trying to play him like a pawn, and he just can’t allow that. There’s too much at stake, for himself and for his subjects.”

Alexander Freed: “The end? An end, at least [the trio walking off into the distance]. The series needed a note of closure while leading into Those Who Speak (which wouldn’t arrive until many months later). David tweaked the ending in the outline several times, and I did my best to balance resolving Alistair’s emotional journey without resolving the quest. It’s not as clean as I’d have liked, but fortunately, now it’s all in one volume...”

Those Who Speak annotations

Alexander Freed: “Capturing Isabela’s narrative voice was much easier for me than capturing Alistair’s - partly because I’d already written The Silent Grove, and partly because of my own writing proclivities. Rereading now, I wonder if I laid on the (mild) profanity a bit too thick. I’ll leave you to judge.”

David Gaider: “I like the additional detail Alex and Chad put in, letting us see more of Qarinus and more of Isabela’s crew. Alex wanted to give her crew more of a presence, and let her first mate have some face time, so they weren’t just parts of the scenery. Good call on his part.”

David Gaider: “I’m really fond of the formal getups Chad made for the party. Isabela’s actually comes from a concept we didn’t use from the cancelled Dragon Age 2 expansion, if I remember right. And Maevaris came from me asking for ‘someone who looks like Mae West’ - with the wonderful outfit all Chad’s doing.

Chad Hardin: “Maevaris. I love Mae. When David and Dragon Age art director Matthew Goldman spoke to me about designing Mae, they wanted her to be fully female with the exception of her biology. They told me to think ‘Mae West’. Well, when I think of Mae West, I think of her... womanly shape. So, drawing Maevaris was always walking a fine line between portraying Mae’s identity and her biology. The process endeared her to me.”

Michael Atiyeh: “Just like in The Silent Grove, we are introduced to another gentleman from Isabela’s past [when the team meet Lord Devon and Isabela threatens him]. As was the case with Claudio, he will meet his fate at her hands.”

Chad Hardin: “When I was drawing Titus, my kids asked me why I was drawing ‘angry Jesus’ or ‘evil Jesus’. I can’t remember which term they used exactly, but it made me chuckle. I was going for a mix of Rapustin and Joe Stalin, but ‘evil Jesus’ would do.”

David Gaider: “I’m not sure it’s apparent here [when Alistair says ‘I’d really rather not’], but Alistair was supposed to be using one of his Templar powers on Titus (that’s why Titus recognizes what he is on the next page) and disrupting his magic.”

Alexander Freed: “Isabela is witty and charming enough that it can be easy to forget that she’s not, in fact, a nice person. Even after finishing the outline, David was concerned about making her too unsympathetic - but I loved his approach in this series. The dark deeds Isabela commits - this murder included [Isabela killing Lord Devon] - are what make her guilt tangible and no easy matter to overcome.”

Alexander Freed: “I thought the notions of Isabela’s pride in her captaincy and dedication to her crew were some of the most interesting aspects of her character in David’s story. In scenes here [when Isabela is on her ship saying ‘Keep them focused and keep them sober’] and elsewhere, I did my best to emphasize their place at the core of Isabela’s world.”

Chad Hardin: “Most of the time I draw from imagination, but because of the complexity of this page [Qunari trying to board Isabela’s ship] I decided it would work better if I had photo reference. On this page are my nephews Jared (Varric) and Adam, my niece Melissa, my kids Erica, Tasey Michaela (Isabela) and Chad (Alistair), my friend’s daughter Amy, my wife Joy, and the neighborhood kids as Isabela’s pirate crew. (The crew member mooning the Qunari is out of my ol’ noodle.) I paid their modelling fee in pizza and root beer. Also, I had originally drawn cannons on Isabela’s ship, so if there are parts of it that look slightly wonky, chances are there was a cannon there.”

David Gaider: “Ever since the BioWare artists finally did a concept for female Qunari, I’ve been itching to include one in the game. It’s always slipped through my fingers, so I was going to be damned if I’d have a Qunari plot in a comic - without the same technical limitations - and not have one present.

Chad Hardin: “I had no idea this was the first time anyone outside of BioWare had seen a female Qunari.”

Michael Atiyeh: “I really like the lighting in this sequence [Isabela in her cell thinking ‘I haven’t eaten in days’], especially the strong white light and the characters in shadow.”

David Gaider: “The entire sequence of Rasaan interrogating Isabela was something I plotted out in detail when this series began. Here they discuss names - something treated in a manner peculiar to the Qunari, considering how much importance they apply to what things are called (and not called), because it forms the core of their identity. Isabela brushes it off, but as we find out later it’s also at the core of her identity. I liked that parallel.”

Alexander Freed: “To balance out the relatively static talking pages elsewhere in the issue, I hoped to make the interrogation and flashback sequences beautiful and full of information. I proposed an approach to Chad, and he wisely reshaped it into what you see here [the page with the scene where Isabela says ‘I’ve made a lot of stupid mistakes’]. Anything that succeeds on these pages should be credited to him; anything that fails is my fault.”

Chad Hardin: “Probably the most challenging spread I have ever done. My friend Stacie Pitt was the model for Isabela on this page, and my wife Joy was Rasaan. I saved these pages [around the scene when Rasaan says ‘Mistakes can be corrected’] for myself.”

David Gaider: “Sten from Dragon Age: Origins becoming the new Arishok of the Qunari was something we'd planned even during Dragon Age 2. This was a great opportunity to show that, and also to show that Sten didn’t acquire horns even despite the makeover the Qunari received in DA2. Hornless Qunari are considered special, and Sten is no exception.”

Michael Atiyeh: “I think that David, Alex and Chad handled Isabela’s flashback [to when she was sold by her mother] in an interesting way, and it created a nice flow to the story.”

David Gaider: “This was a controversial scene [what happened to the slaves Isabela was transporting], the end result of a lot of discussions between me and Isabela’s original writer on the team, and it went through a lot of revisions over that time. It needed to fit with the story Isabela told the player in DA2, but fill in the blanks of what she didn’t tell. We didn’t want Isabela to be someone who became who she is because she was ‘broken’ but instead as a result of her own actions - yet also not be completely beyond redemption.”

Chad Hardin: “These were hard pages [as above] to draw. It was difficult knowing that events such as this are part of human history, such as the Zong massacre in 1781, where the British courts ordered the insurers to reimburse the crew of the Zong for financial losses caused by throwing slaves overboard when faced with a lack of water. Horrifying beyond words.”

Michael Atiyeh: “Here, Isabela visits here crew, and I wanted to play up that she was in the light and they were in a dark cell. The light streaming through the bars gave me the opportunity to highlight Brand, who also had dialogue in the scene.”

Alexander Freed: “I struggled to find a way for Varric to contribute to victory without distracting from Alistair and Sten’s big fight. I’m happy with the solution: a brazen lie seemed appropriate to the character without taking away from the main show.”

David Gaider: “I believe my original plan had Isabela’s and Alistair’s fight scenes happening separately, but I like how Alex intertwined them in the script and I especially like how this ends up highlighting the differences between their characters when their fights are resolved. Isabela is defiant, revealing her name not because Rasaan demands it but because it’s her choice. In both cases, mercy is strength.”

Michael Atiyeh: “The brush I created for the clouds really gave them a nice watercolor effect here [on the deck of the ship, Sten calling Alistair ‘kadan’]. That brush has become a staple in my toolbox.”

Alexander Freed: “With the strong theme of names running through these issues, I liked the notion that Isabela had outgrown being, well, ‘Isabela’. When her name comes up in Until We Sleep, it’s largely played with ambiguity.”

Until We Sleep annotations

Alexander Freed: “The story of ‘Arthur’ is one of my favorite minor sequences [Varric infiltrating and fighting his way into the fortress]. It tells us something about Varric and it delivers plot information - and it’s also a reminder that our heroes kill an awful lot of people during these series and cope with it in their own ways. In general, writing Varric let me skirt the edge of metacommentary, which I greatly enjoyed.”

David Gaider: “Varric, as always, is my ‘voice of the narrator’. Here he’s expressing some of my own amusement at Alistair’s growing list of peculiarities [‘Your majesty is quite the special snowflake’]. To think, back at the beginning of Dragon Age: Origins he was just the player’s goofy sidekick who grew up in a barn.”

Michael Atiyeh: “By the third series, Until We Sleep, I really started to have a complete feel for what I wanted the final art to look like. As an artist, it’s important to continue to evolve and grow. The close-up of Sten’s face [same page as above] is a perfect example of how I wanted the rendering on the characters to look.”

Alexander Freed: “David’s outline called for a short, somber reveal of the Calenhad story by Sten. Fueled by my desire to avoid ‘talking heads’ sequences, I scripted it as a full-on storytelling flashback. David made sure the history worked (at least from the Qunari point of view), and Chad did a beautiful job handling it in a mere two pages.”

David Gaider: “Blood is important in Dragon Age, as a theme. Here we tie in the dragon blood that was mentioned all the way back in The Silent Grove and explain what it means at last. I was a bit hesitant to tarnish the legend of Calenhad the Great in this way, but I comfort myself with the knowledge this tale is but a viewpoint and not necessarily the entire truth.”

Michael Atiyeh: “Titus melting the attacker is a great example of classic comicbook storytelling and exactly what made me fall in love with the medium.”

David Gaider: “I was really happy with how Chad handled the reveal of Mae as transgender [the scene with Mae in the cell]. My worry was that Varric finding her disrobed might be potentially titillating, but I think he handled it nicely. I only wish there was more time to have Mae properly respond to being exposed in this manner, even to a friend.”

Chad Hardin: “I originally drew Mae as female [same scene as above], then changed her anatomy, so the psychological violation and humiliation she felt would be the focus. Hope that came across.”

Chad Hardin: “When in doubt, have Bianca shoot it [Varric shooting the artifact].”

David Gaider: “This scene [Varric and Bianca the dwarf] with Varric was one I wanted to do for a very long time. We’ve hinted that Varric’s crossbow was named after a real person, someone he never wants to talk about. Now I finally had the chance to show why.”

Chad Hardin: “Of all my Dragon Age pages, this scene was hands down my favorite, because Varric is my favorite. It was awesome to get to draw Bianca in her dwarven form. These scenes give you a glimpse of the love Varric and Bianca shared. It doesn’t tell you the whole story, but you can assume plenty from what is shown. You get to see Varric mostly naked (you’re welcome), but most of all you witness Varric’s heartbreak. I felt privileged to draw it. I got so obsessed with drawing this page I did an entire watercolor painting based on the last panel [Varric gets up to leave, ‘This isn’t right’ - ? or perhaps the scene where he opens the door to leave].”

Alexander Freed: “Unreliable narrators are always tricky - done wrong, they can just confuse the reader. But I’m fairly happy with Varric’s lies throughout this series, most of which are used to downplay the emotional cost of events rather than whitewash the events themselves.”

Michael Atiyeh: “This palette worked perfectly [Varric standing in front of the doorway/portal in the Fade proper], but I can’t take all the credit because BioWare provided reference for the Fade. I added the hot orange energy for the doorway, which looks great with the sickly green sky.”

David Gaider: “This scene [Isabela’s Fade nightmare] was actually inspired by a fan named Allegra who did a cosplay as a Qunari version of Isabela. I knew I wanted something like this for Isabela’s Fade section of the comic, but it didn’t really solidify until I saw the cosplay.”

Chad Hardin: “Isabela is more affected by her encounter with Rasaan than we were led to believe. A portent of things to come?”

Michael Atiyeh: “I love this shot of Mae in the fourth panel [on the page where Isabela is affected by vines]. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention what a great character she is in the series, and Chad captures her beautifully in this shot.”

Alexander Freed: “I saw this issue as a sort of downbeat victory lap. Over the course of the previous series, our protagonists largely came to terms with the inner demons the Fade confronts them with here. The fact they’ve come so far lets them win this last battle... but they still have scars that will never completely disappear.”

David Gaider: “Maric was in the first two novels I wrote for Dragon Age. Seeing Chad’s rendering of him as a regal, grown-up version of Alistair made me incredibly nostalgic. Some characters you just never let go of.”

Alexander Freed: “I feel Varric’s lines (‘tell yourself the stories you need to tell’ but ‘never live your own lies’) are the natural endpoint of all the exchanges he’s had with Alistair, starting from the end of Chapter 1 of The Silent Grove. And of course it plays off the story of ‘Arthur’, as well.’’

Chad Hardin: “I’m happy with the way Titus came off in these pages [Titus attacking and saying ‘The last magisters of Tevinter were so close’]. He looks threatening and powerful when fighting Alistair, Isabela and Varric, but genuinely confused by his inability to defeat Maric. Bye-bye, evil Jesus.”

Alexander Freed: “I can’t help but feel for Titus. He was unthinkably corrupt, but I see him as genuinely motivated by Tevinter’s glory. (The fact Alistair reads zealous ideology as a lust for power says a lot about both characters.)”

Michael Atiyeh: “I love the seamless transition of color from Titus’ magic to the dragon breath and then back into the orange remnants of his magic in the smoke. This was a really fun panel to color [Titus saying ‘Die by what wrought you’].”

David Gaider: “‘You are not the dreamer here. I am.’ I always have a scene or a line that’s in my head when I begin a tale, and this line of Maric’s was one I wanted all the way back when I started working on The Silent Grove.”

Chad Hardin: “I love this page [Maric and Alistair clasping hands]; Mike’s colors are spot on. We get to see all our heroes in an ideal state for the last time. This is the last Dragon Age page I saved for myself.”

David Gaider: “This scene kills me [Alistair destroying the Magrallen]. I knew it needed to happen; I knew I wanted it to happen even back when I began the story. Alistair lets Maric remain in the Fade rather than dragging him back to a world which has moved on. Alistair’s ready to move on, but forcing him to give up that hope... it makes me feel like a bad person.”

Chad Hardin: “Heartbreak for Alistair as he realizes that once again, as a king, he must kill: this time, his own father (granted, the Magrallen did most of the work). I really like how Maric crumbles away in the end. This was my last page, and the emotions on the page and in my studio were very final. Altogether, this was a year of my life in the making. On my last page, I wrote a thank you to everyone involved, the crew at Dark Horse and the crew at BioWare. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them again. It was a thrill. Finally, a huge thank-you to the Dragon Age fan community, whose support was overwhelmingly awesome.”

Michael Atiyeh: “As the story came to an end, I knew I was going to miss these characters. Writing these annotations reinforces the fact that I hope to work with this great creative team again one day. Many thanks to Dark Horse and BioWare for the opportunity to work on Dragon Age.”

Alexander Freed: “The tension between the art and the narration on this page [the one with Alistair sitting on his throne while nobles argue] is something you can only pull off in comics. Neither tells the full, bittersweet story alone. Similarly, these issues wouldn’t have been possible without everyone on the team; thanks to David, Chad, Michael, and everyone I lack space to list!”

Additional pages / art

Library Edition Volume 1 also came with some additional pages, with additional art and commentary. These are as follows (I’m including them for the sake of completion, click the links to see):

1. Alistair and dragon concepts

2. Rasaan and Maevaris concepts

3. Sten, Titus and Yavana concepts

4. A series of cover pages 1

5. A series of cover pages 2

In case anyone has trouble reading the notes that accompany these images, I’ve transcribed them below:

1. Dragon Age Sketch Book

Alistair Concept

Dragon Age / Dark Horse

Chad Hardin: “The headshot of Alistair is from a finished sketch with a rejected armor design. In order to save time, the redrawing was completed on the computer, where tweaks and changes are quick and easy, if somewhat less glorious.”

[Dragon] Head #1 / Head #2

Chad Hardin: “Everyone liked this dragon sketch so much that Dark Horse printed it for signings at conventions. You can see I did multiple proposals for the dragon’s head. It was more effective than drawing the body over and over.”

2. [arrow pointing to Mae’s sleeve] concealed [I think that’s what it says anyway] daggers / shurikens?

Chad Hardin: “When designing Rasaan and Maevaris, I wasn’t exactly sure how their roles would play out in the series. Maevaris’ outfit was inspired by brothel madams of the Wild West. I thought it would be cool to have some weapons concealed in the formal wear. These never came into play in the series, but they were there in my mind.”

3. Chad Hardin: “Although we only see Titus in his battle garb in one issue, I really liked the design of his armor. The sketch of Yavana was done on the fly and served as both a rough preliminary sketch and as a panel layout. You have to work hard and smart in comics to keep up with the deadlines.”

4. Cover Artist Anthony Palumbo: “This was my first assignment for Dark Horse, and I was both excited and nervous. I drew pencil sketches of the main characters, scanned them and played with different arrangements, poses and color schemes in Photoshop.”

5. Anthony Palumbo: “Fellow illustrator Winona Nelson helped me by sitting for photo reference. I created the mock-jewelry with gold-painted Sculpey. That’s a quick photo of my own gaping maw, to help with the image of Varric.”

#dragon age #bioware #video games #artevalentinapaz #alistair theirin #fav warden #morrigan #queen of my heart #long post #longpost

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inkedstarlight · 4 years

Text

Elriel: Halloween Edition

Summary: Azriel and his son go trick-or-treating and stop by Elain's house. They have an adorable encounter. Later that night, Elain goes to Feyre's house for the Halloween party she's throwing and meets her boyfriend, Rhys. Rhysand's brothers also come to the party and Elain runs into Azriel yet again. Let the romance ensue. Basically just a shit ton of fluff. Note: Read it here on AO3!

There was nothing Elain Archeron loved more than giving candy out to little kids on Halloween. Which is why she was currently sitting on her living room couch in her costume, the bowl of candy in her lap as she patiently waited for the first trick-or-treater to come.

It was the first Halloween that she’ll have spent in her new house. She’d recently moved from her studio apartment to a small, two-bedroom house just outside the city. After being promoted from teacher to principal at the elementary school she’d worked at for more than five years, Elain figured a little change was in order.

Unfortunately, the new neighborhood was a bit further from her sisters than her apartment had been. They both lived in the city, Feyre taught painting lessons at the local art store while Nesta worked as a software developer at a start-up tech company. Feyre had also recently moved; her boyfriend of only seven months, Rhysand, asked her to move in with him. Elain hadn't yet met him but from what Feyre had told her, he seemed like he treated her sister really well. But Elain would be the judge of that.

Well, more like Nesta would be the judge of that. Elain was certain that her older sister was going to interrogate the poor man until she's squeezed out his darkest secrets. Nesta had a... unique way with people. Unconventional, but it'd been effective thus far.

Tonight was particularly exciting because the couple was hosting a small Halloween bash at their place. Elain had been bugging Feyre for weeks to properly introduce Rhysand to her and Nesta. Their schedules very rarely matched up.

The doorbell rang, pulling Elain from her thoughts and back to the present. She glanced at the clock. It was four-thirty in the evening. The sun still shone bright in the sky.

She grinned to herself. Let the trick or treating commence.

Jumping up from where she sat, Elain excitedly made her way to the front of the house. She swung the door open. What she saw on her porch melted her damn heart.

A little boy, no older than six, was dressed as a firefighter. He had a tiny hard hat on his head, his chocolate hair curling out from underneath. A dalmatian stuffed animal was tucked under his arm, his other hand clutching a jack-o-lantern bucket for candy. His eyelashes were impossibly long as he looked up at her with wide eyes and a goofy smile. It was contagious.

Elain also noticed that he was alone, no adult in sight.

“Trick or treat!” the boy greeted her.

“Happy Halloween!” Elain replied with a giggle. She put her bowl of candy on the ground to kneel in front of him. She looked around. “Is someone with you?”

“Yeah,” the kid sighed like he just got out of a stressful work meeting. Elain inwardly smiled. “My daddy. But he kept talking and talking about why he thought Mounds was his favorite candy, even though it’s obviously the worst.”

The boy stopped to look at her as if waiting for her to agree. Elain nodded her head vigorously. Naturally.

“He was just talking so much,” the little boy continued. He gestured for Elain to come closer before whisper-shouting, “You know, I really think he needs a girl in his life –”

“TOBIAS!” a strong, male voice called out.

“Uh-oh,” the boy, Tobias, muttered under his breath. He looked up at Elain with pleading eyes. “Don’t let me get in trouble.”

Elain suppressed her laugh and nodded at him. “Your secret is safe with me.”

Tobias held out his pinky finger. "Pinky promise?"

"Pinky promise," Elain swore. Gods, this kid was a gem.

Elain watched as a man approached her yard. His face was twisted with frustration, presumably because his son ran away, but he was… beautiful. Elain sucked in a breath as she ran her eyes up and down his body. He was wearing a loose white shirt, slightly sheer, that had a very deep V. The sleeves were cut off messily and he wore a fake sword on his hip. He was a pirate. A sexy pirate. But it was definitely a costume that wasn't advertised as 'sexy.' No, it was the man wearing it that made it sexy. And to make it even better, he looked as if he’d thrown it on last minute when his son reminded him it was Halloween.

The man stopped in front of Tobias. He crossed his arms, paying no mind to Elain.

“You’re in big trouble."

“But –”

“We’ve talked about this, Tobias. You can’t just run away from someone when you get bored.”

Now Elain really had to hold in her laugh. She covered it with a cough.

That's when Tobias’s father realized they had an audience. He directed his authoritative stare to Elain, and his hazel eyes immediately softened. She did her best to not fidget as his eyes ran over her. He must have seen the humor on her face because his lips twitched upward.

Fucking adorable.

“Sorry about my son,” he said sincerely, shooting a glare at an oblivious Tobias from the corner of his eye. “I’m Azriel. And you are?”

“Elain," she told him with a shy smile.

“Elain,” he echoed, testing it out on his tongue. Shivers ran down Elain’s arms. His voice was like velvet. She could listen to him repeat her name over and over again for hours.

Stop being so creepy.

“You, uh –” Azriel stumbled over his words awkwardly as he tried to find the words. “I love your costume.”

Elain blushed appreciatively. But before she could thank him, Tobias groaned.

“C’mon, Daddy, that was so lame. Get her phone number or something.”

Elain clapped a hand over her mouth, shoulders shaking as she nearly lost it. It was Azriel’s turn to blush this time.

“Tobs, now’s not the time –”

“But she’s so pretty and nice! I already love her,” he pouted up at his father.

Azriel mumbled incoherent words as he tried to usher his son off the porch. “We should really go,” Azriel said, trying to avoid eye contact with her. He was so awkward. She loved it. “I’m so sorry again.”

“Wait!" Elain blurted out, trying to delay his departure. Azriel looked at her and she gave him a sheepish smile. "You forgot to grab some candy."

Tobias didn't need to be told twice. Elain held out the bowl for him to choose. He fished around for a while before picking three Skittles packages. Elain gave him a wink before turning to Azriel.

“Everyone should get candy on Halloween,” she grinned at him.

He looked at her curiously before smiling gratefully and taking a piece of candy without even looking to see the options.

“Thank you, Elain," he said, his tone sincere and soft. She nearly melted right there.

"Happy Halloween," she murmured as she watched Azriel back away, Tobias looking at his father as if he had two heads. Azriel seemed to be in a daze, giving Elain a small wave as he continued to walk backwards. He stumbled over his own feet, earning a laugh from Elain. Then, he finally turned around and walked out of sight.

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

“It’s so wonderful to meet you!” Elain exclaimed, ignoring the hand that Rhysand held out and going straight in for a hug.

“Don’t suffocate him,” Feyre joked as she watched them embrace.

Elain had arrived to their place a couple minutes early, eager to meet her sister’s boyfriend. Elain backed away to let Nesta introduced herself. Elain leaned over to Feyre.

“You didn’t tell me how cute he is,” Elain whispered with a giggle.

Feyre laughed. “Did I mention he has two brothers?”

Elain’s jaw dropped. “No, you seemed to have conveniently left that part out.”

“Well, they’ll be here soon,” Feyre said with a twinkle in her eye. “And they’re both single.”

Nesta turned to them as they laughed secretively. Rhysand followed her gaze. “What are you two giggling about?”

Before Feyre had a chance to answer, the doorbell rang. She excused herself, Rhysand right on her tail.

Elain looked over at her older sister to see her glaring down at her. “Let me guess: you guys were talking about Rhysand’s brothers.”

“How’d you know?”

Nesta let out an exasperated sigh. “She’s already tried to set me up with one of them.”

“I’m guessing it didn’t go well?”

Nesta scoffed. “Horribly. She failed to mention that he was a grade A –”

“Fancy seeing you here, sweetheart,” a low voice interrupted Nesta’s rant.

A man approached them, hands in pockets as he strutted confidently. His long brown hair was tied up in a messy bun and a five o’clock shadow on his sharp jaw. Elain watched as her sister dragged her hands down her face and groaned at the mere sight of him. That only made him chuckle deeply.

“Miss me?”

Nesta ignored his comment and reluctantly gestured to him. “Elain, this is Cassian. Cassian, this is my other sister Elain.”

Cassian shot her a goofy grin and reached out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Elain. I’ve never seen anyone rock fairy wings like you are.”

Elain couldn’t help but blush. “Thank you.”

Nesta rolled her eyes. “Ugh, stop charming everyone!”

“I’m irresistible, sweetheart,” Cassian batted his eyelashes.

“I need a drink,” Nesta muttered to herself before walking away and in the direction of the kitchen.

Cassian winked at Elain before following her sister. “I could use a drink too!"

Elain listened to them bicker as they walked away, a smile touching her lips.

Over the next couple hours, more and more people arrived at Rhysand and Feyre’s place. It soon got crowded, Elain unable to hear over the booming music and incessant chatter.

She was sitting on an loveseat in the corner watching Cassian trying to convince Nesta to dance with him when she heard a familiar voice.

"Sorry I'm so late, the babysitter cancelled last minute and I had to find a replacement."

Elain's head snapped to the foyer where Feyre and Rhys stood with another man. Elain got a glimpse of his face as he took off his jacket, and her suspicions were confirmed.

It was Azriel.

Elain's heart was beating out of her chest as she watched Feyre lead Azriel into the living room where she sat.

Then he spotted her.

He stopped dead in his tracks, Feyre continuing to walk and talk, not noticing that she no longer had his attention. No, his eyes were on Elain and Elain alone.

Elain gave him a little wave. Azriel's lips turned into a full out smile as he caught up to Feyre, who had been leading him to Elain anyway. Presumably to introduce him to her and Nesta.

"Azriel, this is -"

"Elain," he finished. His eyes were still on her, disbelief on his face.

Feyre looked between them confusedly. "Do you guys know each other?"

"Uh..." Elain started, unsure of what to say. "Sort of?"

"I went out with Tobias and we incidentally stopped by her house," Azriel explained.

"Well," Feyre said with a mischievous grin. "I guess I'll leave you guys to it." She shot Elain a look that said, You should make a move.

And just like that, they were alone.

Azriel took a seat beside Elain, leaving only a couple inches between them as he turned his body toward her. He smelled amazing.

"So, you're Feyre's sister, huh?" Azriel gazed at her earnestly and bumped his shoulder against hers. "I guess that means we'll be seeing a lot of each other."

Elain bit her lip to stop herself from grinning like an idiot. "No complaints here."

A comfortable silence fell between them as they watched others dancing and drinking. The current song faded out and "Creep" by Radiohead began to play.

"Would you, um... would you like to dance?" Azriel asked her tentatively.

Oh my gods, yes! What kind of question is that?

"I would love to," Elain exclaimed.

Azriel stood and held out his hand. The moment Elain took his hand with her own, she was a goner.

He led them to the makeshift dance floor before bringing her hand to his shoulder and grabbing her waist gently with his hand. Fire shot through Elain when his thumb circled idly on her palm. Then, he pulled her in close.

"This okay?" Azriel murmured, his lips brushing against her ear. She shivered and nodded.

"Did I mention," he continued, spinning them in a slow circle, "that you are absolutely gorgeous?"

Elain hid her face against his shoulder to smile widely before craning her neck to look at with him, a twinkle in her eye. "I think you were too busy tripping over your own feet to mention that."

Azriel tipped back his head and laughed loudly. She loved the sound. "You wound me, Elain," he told her, but Elain could see the faint blush in his cheeks. He leaned in to whisper, "You're right though. You make me nervous."

The music swelled, and Azriel guided both of Elain's hands to cup the back of his neck. He encircled his arms around her waist until their bodies were flush against each other, their foreheads touching.

"I like Tobias. He's a great kid."

Azriel's entire body seemed to relax as he gave her an easy smile. "He's a handful, and I love him."

"I can tell," Elain told him. "You're a good dad."

"Thank you." Azriel huffed out a laugh. "You're something else, Elain Archeron."

Elain leaned her head back and she searched his hazel eyes. "Is that a good thing?"

Something unreadable flashed in his eyes. "Yes."

And then he was capturing her lips in his to give Elain the sweetest kiss she'd ever had.

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

tag list (lmk if you want to be added/removed): @sjmships @sleeping-and-books @sirgwaines @books-for-sure @blowing-mikey @b00kworm @wineywitch202 @liquifyme @maastrash @thewayshedreamed

#halloween #my writing #fic #fanfiction #acotar #elriel #elain archeron #a court of thorns and roses

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oriigami · 4 years

Text

always gold (part 1)

[Okay, so, I got Roger/Rouge/Rayleigh brainrot. This is part one of what’s gonna be a three-part story for these three, based on prompts from my @op-pirate-fleet trope bingo card. Part one, mutual pining, or: three just-set-out pirates with the whole world ahead of them. Also on AO3 here!]

Gol D. Roger isn’t a complicated man.

There are those who will disagree, of course, someday, those who will puzzle over the Pirate King’s myth for years and decades to come, piecing together a fractured legacy and wondering at the motivation behind every move. But that’s years and years away, a future still hidden behind the endless horizon.

For the moment, the Pirate King is only Roger, sitting in the bow of a sturdy little boat with his feet up on the rail and the brim of his hat shielding his eyes from the piercing sun, and he has a problem. He sighs, folds his arms and glares up at the woven brim of golden straw over his eyes, highlighted in a criss-cross pattern by the midday sunshine.

Normally, his problems don’t stay problems for long. He likes resolving things, usually quickly, usually excitingly, usually through violence. He’s not someone who leaves things waiting if he can ever help it. And he really isn’t someone who gets scared when faced with a challenge. And yet-

“Oi, Roger!”

Someone kicks him in the side, startling him out of his thoughtful half-asleep daze and catching him so off guard he squawks and tumbles half off of the bench, landing in an undignified pile on the deck.

He scowls, shoves his hat out of his eyes to look up at Rayleigh, who’s leveling a perfectly unimpressed stare straight down at him. His blonde hair is mussed from the ocean winds, hanging in messy strands around his face, stiff with salt-spray, his shirt half-unbuttoned like it usually is. Roger blinks a couple times, then remembers to glare. “Hey, I was having a really nice dream.”

“You were supposed to be keeping an eye on the horizon,” Rayleigh says. “Map says we’re supposed to reach the next one sometime today, remember?”

“So? I’m the captain, not a lookout,” he complains, pulling himself back up onto the bench with as much dignity as he can muster, which is really not much at all.

“Then act like it,” Rayleigh says, unmoved.

“Why can’t Rouge do it? She’s got the compass, anyways.”

“Captain has to pull his weight too,” another voice chimes in, bright with laughter, and Rayleigh steps aside to let Rouge slip past him and drop down to sit on the bench. She has her hair tied up in a bandana, cheeks a little pink from the sun, throwing her freckles into sharp relief. “Otherwise we might need to mutiny.”

Roger opens his mouth to object, but gets distracted before he can, by- “Hey, you called me captain! Does that mean you’re joining the crew?”

“I never said that,” she says, raising an eyebrow with a teasing smile that cuts straight through his chest. “Remember? You guys are just giving me a ride.”

“We’ve been giving you a ride for three weeks now,” Rayleigh mutters, not sounding nearly as grumpy about it as his words suggest.

“I never said a ride to where,” she parries back, grinning up at him as she hoists her long legs up onto the bench and leans back against Roger’s side in an overexaggerated languid stretch. Her body is warm, like the sunshine beating down on them made solid. “It’s the journey, not the destination- isn’t that what you pirates say?”

Rayleigh snorts. “Who do you think you’re kidding? As though you’re not just as much a pirate as we are,” he says, stepping up to the rail, propping a hand on Roger’s shoulder as he leans out to squint at the horizon.

Rayleigh’s hands are strong, solid and rough from tying ropes and hauling anchors. He was a dockworker for awhile, he’s said, though he’s worked more than a dozen different jobs, apprenticed to twice as many different craftsman. His work-worn hand is heavy on Roger’s shoulder. Roger can feel it burning through his shirt.

Rouge only grins at the accusation; Rayleigh rolls his eyes before glancing back out over the ocean, but there’s a smile on his lips.

Rouge is warm against his side and Rayleigh’s hand is heavy on his shoulder, and Roger has a problem.

“Spyglass,” Rayleigh says, reaching his hand back expectantly without looking around, and Roger’s shoulder feels cold in its absence.

Rouge obligingly reaches behind Roger to find the spyglass where he’d set it before drifting off, and he leans forward without really thinking so she can grab it and pass it into Rayleigh’s hand. Rayleigh brings it to his eye, propping himself up on Roger’s shoulder again, and leans forward.

“I see it,” he says after another moment, and Roger lights up immediately, scrambling around to see for himself. Rayleigh hands over the spyglass without needing to be asked, and after a moment of searching, the island comes into view. Just a shadow on the horizon, still, but the winds are guiding them straight ahead and the ocean is calm, at least for now, as it often is in East Blue.

They’ll be headed for somewhere bigger and better, soon, the two or three of them, depending on if Rouge comes along.

(If she leaves, gets off on one of the stops along the line like she keeps saying she’s going to, that’s half his problem solved. He doesn’t want her to, even so.)

He grins, big and delighted, as the shadow of the distant island slowly resolves into a silhouette. There’s a blur of grey and white along the shoreline that must be a collection of buildings. This is what he lives for- new islands, new cities, new people. New challenges to be met, new fights to be fought.

The world is huge. He’s going to see it all.

And he knows who he wants with him, when he does.

---

Roger has a by-now familiar bounce in his step as he wanders down the city streets, eyes bright and watchful in the way Rayleigh knows means he’s looking for trouble. He’s gotten used to it by now, more or less. He’s known since the day they met that Roger isn’t really someone who can be stopped from doing whatever the hell he wants.

Rayleigh lets himself fall a step behind, partly to better take in the sights at his own pace and mostly so that when Roger inevitably does find trouble he’ll have Rayleigh at his back to haul him out of it, and finds himself side by side with Rouge. She shoots him a grin, that clever one that’s so common on her face, and slips her arm into his, falling comfortably into step.

“Beautiful city, isn’t it?” she says, tilting her head back to look up at the high, old buildings that rise above them on all sides, bricks ornately carved and engraved, the occasional gargoyle leaning down to glare at them as they pass. Past the rooftops, the sky is blue, nearly cloudless, populated only by the wheeling white shadows of seagulls.

“It is,” he has to agree, but, “I don’t like it.”

He doesn’t even need to look over to know she’s raising an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Everything’s too close together,” he says, glancing around. A natural consequence of the age of the city, probably; buildings built between other buildings, on top of other buildings, creating walls of architecture on all sides and few easy escape routes between them. “Harder to get away. And there’s lots of marines around, too.”

“What, you don’t trust us to be on our best behavior?” she asks, faux-offended. He gives her a flat look, and she only manages a few seconds before breaking down giggling.

He snorts. “You, maybe,” he allows, glancing around for the familiar yellow of Roger’s hat, but before he can find it-

“Oh, Ray, look, flowers!” she says, tugging him off to one side, pulling both his attention and him towards a cart at the side of the road, overflowing with a riot of colorful petals. Her hand is still in the crook of his arm and her voice and eyes are bright with delight, and so he follows, mostly failing to smother a smile.

He hadn’t liked her, at first. Not that he’d disliked her, necessarily. Portgas D. Rouge was the sort of person who was deeply difficult to dislike. He just- well. If it had been up to him, he probably wouldn’t have taken her on the ship at all, this long-haired girl who called herself a traveller, who smiled almost as much as their captain did and never made promises.

But it hadn’t been up to him, and if he’s honest, he’s glad.

Sometimes, on rare occasions, Roger has good ideas. Rouge had definitely been one of them.

Rouge sorts through the plucked blossoms on display with gentle hands, careful with the stems and petals, and the flower-seller behind the stall looks at her with clear approval. Rayleigh will be the first to admit he doesn’t know anything at all about flowers, but watching Rouge, the clear fond familiarity in her eyes, he can’t help but think maybe he wouldn’t mind learning.

She tucks a flower stem behind her ear, a short one with a big white starburst of petals, and whirls to look at him. “What do you think?”

“Ah,” he says, caught slightly off guard. The flower stands out like a star against her strawberry-blonde hair, against her skin still pink from the sun. “You look- good?”

She smiles, and she’s always smiling, but it feels like a victory anyways. “Thanks! I’m not sure if white’s my color, though,” she adds thoughtfully, pulling the flower out of her hair again and twirling it thoughtfully between her fingers.

Rayleigh hesitates, just for a moment, then: “Red.”

He takes the flower from her hand, as gently as he can, and replaces it with another of the same type from the cart, trading snowy white petals for rich ruby red. He holds it out, feeling a little awkward. “Red’s more your color.”

Rouge’s smile is sun-bright and radiant, and she when tucks the flower behind her ear, it suits her perfectly.

“You two are adorable,” the flower-seller says, her weathered face creasing in a smile that wrinkles her whole face.

Rayleigh blinks. “Oh, that’s…” he starts, then glances over at Rouge, but she just smiles at him like they’ve got a secret, the two of them, so he shrugs and drops it.

She’s still searching her wallet for coins to pay the shopkeeper with when there’s a crash and a shout from up the street. Rayleigh looks up, already feeling resigned and disgustingly fond, and isn’t surprised even the tiniest bit when he sees Roger, laughing like an idiot and dodging around passers-by with a pair of marines on his tail, headed straight for them. There’s blood on his knuckles and running down his forehead, the same exact hue as the flower in Rouge’s hair.

Rouge tosses a pair of coins to the shopkeep just as Roger reaches them, just as he grabs Rayleigh’s wrist in one hand and Rouge’s in the other, and then they’re running.

The wind catches the brim of Roger’s hat and yanks it off his head, and Rayleigh reaches back almost on autopilot to grab it out of midair with his free hand and shove it back down on his captain’s stupid skull without losing a step. Roger is laughing, the sound a little uneven and jagged in his throat from the exertion of sprinting, and so is Rouge, high and clear as bells, and she has a flower behind her ear and he has blood on his forehead, and they’re the worst, both of them, and Rayleigh loves them.

“What did you do?” he demands, more exasperated than angry, and Roger just laughs harder.

There’s something about them, about Rouge and Roger both, something magnetic and impossible that makes it difficult to do anything but follow them. Or at least that’s how Rayleigh feels, sometimes, caught up in the orbit of two spiralling stars. Sometimes it almost feels like it’s all he can do not to get left behind.

He thinks he wouldn’t have them any other way.

---

The sun is just beginning to set over the ocean by the time they manage to lose their pursuers and make their hasty exit from the island, the three of them in their little boat with what supplies Rayleigh had had the foresight to buy before the inevitable trouble hit. Rouge is still laughing, her chest warm from fading excitement, when they cast off.

She reaches up to check the red lily is still tucked behind her ear, and feels something soften in her ribcage when her fingers ghost across the petals.

She hadn’t meant to stay. Really, she hadn’t. She’d only meant to hitch a ride for an island or two, with the two boys who at once seemed like the least pirate-ish pirates she’d ever met and like they could never have been anything else. But a few days became a week became two, and she’d kept meaning to find another boat and never quite got around to it, and- well.

She’d never planned on being a pirate, exactly, and she’s still not sure whether she is or not. But does it even matter, really, when for once she’s so happy exactly where she is?

Their little boat is, well, little. It’s only barely big enough for three people to live on full-time. They’re always in each others’ space, always sharing space. It’s almost funny, how comfortable it is, how easy. She’s barely known them for three weeks, but she already feels safer with this pair of pirates than she ever did with anyone she knew back on her home island.

They have something in common with her, she thinks, something she’d never been able to share with anyone else back home; that tug in her soul, quiet but insistent, pulling her ever onwards towards the horizon. Is that what it is, to be a pirate?

If it is, maybe Rouge is one after all. If it is, she can’t say that she minds.

She flips the vegetables she’s frying in the pan, glances over her shoulder at her crewmates. They’re sitting side-by-side at the galley’s small table, Rayleigh surveying the only map they’ve got with a thoughtful frown, Roger leaning so close into his personal space he’s nearly on his lap. Rayleigh barely even seems to notice, only shifting his arm a little so Roger can see what he’s looking at. She can’t help but smile.

She loves them so much.

They’ll figure it out eventually. And if they don’t, well, she’s got no qualms about just kissing the both of them and letting things sort themselves out from there. Pirates are supposed to be greedy, aren’t they? They’re supposed to take what they want, no matter what gets in their way.

If Rouge is a pirate, she must be a lucky one.

She’s already got all the gold and silver she could want.

#my writing #opfic #one piece #opfanfic #silvers rayleigh #gol d roger #portgas d rouge #gold roger #uhh do they have. a ship tag #im assuming not #roger/rayleigh/rouge #i get a rarepair and then i make it everybody elses problem

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let-it-raines · 4 years

Text

based on the prompt: “when I was five, I was hunting shark teeth on Miami Beach and just kept finding tooth after tooth with my little plastic sleuce. I was so proud of my collection. Only 20 years later did I find out that my mom’s boyfriend had bought a bag of shark teeth at the gift shop and scattered them around while I was distracted.”

@shireness-says is the queen of finding posts and then having me write words based off of them, even more so if I can somehow make those words involve some captain cobra and then, of course, my favorite thing: all of the banter and romance ❤️

This little thing is also fully my way to give a little bit of happiness since I know 70% of you are mad at me for the last few chapters of What a Wicked Game . it gets better very soon.

found on ao3 | here | ; rating: for everyone ; ~4400 words

-/-

Emma’s forgetting something.

She knows that she is. She’s practically always forgetting something, and since she’s making the effort to drive across town to the beach with Henry, she just knows that there’s something that she’s going to forget. Then she’ll have to go into one of those tourist shops and spend fifty bucks on the smallest bottle of sunscreen known to mankind all because she forgot the sunscreen.

Did she pack the sunscreen?

She had to have done that. That was in the top five things she needed to pack.

Towels, extra clothes, food, water, sunscreen.

And then beach toys, medicine, a comb, band-aids for when Henry inevitably figures out a way to get a cut…oh, an umbrella. She needs an umbrella.

Wait, Killian was in charge of getting that, wasn’t he?

Shit. She doesn’t remember what exactly she told Killian to bring, and she definitely should have paid more attention to that.

She has to be more put together than this, doesn’t she? She usually is, she swears, but this whole Henry spending the day with Killian is freaking her out more than it should. They’ve met, several times actually, and it’s always gone well. Henry’s six. He doesn’t really get the whole concept of his mom dating someone because he’s never really seen it before. There was almost that time with Walsh, but Emma chickened out at the last minute. Then Walsh got pissed that she wouldn’t let him meet her kid, like she owed him something, and that was the end of that.

But they’ve met. It went well.

Why is she freaking out?

“Because you really like him, you idiot,” she whispers to herself, which kind of makes her even more of an idiot.

That’s all just par for the course right now.

“Who are you talking to?” Henry asks as he walks into the kitchen. The kid is wearing a pair of jeans, no shirt, one sock, and a hat that she knows isn’t hers and is far too big for his head.

“No one,” Emma tells him. “What are you wearing, kid?”

“You told me to get dressed for the beach.”

“Why do you think jeans are what you’re supposed to wear to the beach? Is that what you wear to the pool?”

“No, but the beach has sand.”

“So you have to wear jeans?”

“Yep.” He climbs up onto the kitchen stool and sits down, wide, toothy grin on his face. “So, can we go? I packed all of my toys.”

What an adorable kid. How did she get so lucky for him to be hers?

…wait. All of his toys?

“Henry Swan,” Emma sighs, “go to your room and put every toy that is not allowed in the shower back, and take those jeans off and put on your swimsuit with the anchors on it. Also, ditch the socks.”

“Do I have to?”

“Unless you want to smell like a wet dog, yes.”

“I like dogs.”

Emma huffs and shakes her before pointing her finger down the hall. “Go. We’ve still got to make our sandwiches.”

Henry grumbles something that she probably doesn’t want to hear, but then he’s climbing down off the stool and walking down the hallway. She has no faith in him to actually manage to put on the right clothes and not bring everything he owns, but she’ll let that be the last thing she does so that way he doesn’t manage to change everything up before they leave.

There’s a knock on the apartment door, and Emma glances toward it, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth.

This is not a big deal, she reminds herself. This is not a big deal at all.

Swallowing her nerves, she puts down the knife she was going to use to cut bread up and heads toward the door. Emma takes a deep breath, her stomach fluttering, but that’s not unfamiliar as of late. It’s aching familiar, actually, and she’s not sure if she loves it or hates it.

Hates it because she’s not that kind of girl.

Loves it because maybe she wants to be.

“Hey,” she says in greeting as she opens the door to Killian.

He, unlike Henry, was able to dress himself in a pair of black trunks that are maybe a little too tight on his thighs for public and a gray t-shirt, baseball cap that actually fits his head pulled down low so that she can’t see the wisps of long hair that usually fall on his forehead. When they met, he had short hair that was nearly cropped to his scalp, but now that he’s retired from the Navy, he’s letting it grow out. She likes it. It falls off his forehead and over the nape of his neck in a slight wave, but she does kind of miss when it was short but long enough for him to style with gel. It’d all come undone when she’d run her hands through it, and she has this vivid memory of one piece falling on his forehead and making him look so young that she could scarcely believe it.

“Hello, love,” he greets before dipping his head down and pressing his lips against hers. It’s dirty but surprisingly quick, and she knows that’s just because he’s aware that Henry is around. When she meets him at his place, he kisses her differently, and really, she shouldn’t be noticing these things and categorizing them into her little boxes. “Am I allowed to say that I am very interested in what you have underneath this shirt of yours or are there young ears listening?”

Emma rolls her eyes and presses up on her toes to kiss him again, much slower this time so she can savor the hint of coffee on his lips. “He’s getting dressed again.”

“Again?”

“He was wearing jeans, no shirt, and a hat that I think must be yours.”

“Was it a Pirates cap?”

“It was.”

“Damn, I knew I’d left that somewhere.”

Emma chuckles and backs away from him, trailing her hand down his arm. “You’re not even from Pittsburg. Why are you a Pirates fan?”

“Because my best mate was when we were kids, and it stuck.”

“And your loyalties are too deep now?”

“Absolutely.” Killian closes the door behind him and saunters – and she’s not exaggerating when she uses that word – over to her small kitchen and picks up the knife she was using. “Do you need help making lunch?”

“No, I can do it.”

“Turkey, lettuce, cheese for the boy,” Killian hums as he starts placing slices of turkey on a piece of bread, “and no crust, aye? You want the same thing but with tomatoes, and do you want any condiments? I don’t think they’ll travel well. Maybe we can bring them separately.”

“Killian, seriously. I can make us lunch.”

“No, no, I’ve got it.” He waves her away with a flash of his teeth. “Go see if Henry needs help getting dressed. I feel like he should be finished by now.”

“I’m sure he’s destroying his room.”

Killian winks. “That’s why you need to go and check, Swan.”

Henry isn’t destroying his room, surprisingly. He’s dressed in exactly what he’s supposed to be dressed in, and he’s sitting on the floor surrounded by all of his toys that he must have emptied out of his bag. Emma walks into his room and settles down beside him. “What are we thinking about, kid?”

“If I want to find buried treasure, I need one of those coin things.”

“Coin things?”

“Yeah, those things that Mrs. Klein uses to look for coins and it makes all that noise like when you set food on fire.”

Emma laughs and pushes her shoulder into Henry. “A metal detector?”

“Yeah!” he says excitedly, “but all I have are my shovels, and how am I supposed to find shark teeth with those?”

“Wait. I thought we were looking for buried treasure. When did we switch to shark teeth?”

“Avery found a shark tooth, and I want one.”

She sighs and nods before leaning forward and grabbing Henry’s plastic shovels and sandcastle molds and putting them in his bag. “You know, Killian used to look for hidden things with his job.” It’s only a half truth, but Henry doesn’t need to know the intricacies. “I bet he’d be really good at looking for buried treasure and shark teeth with you.”

“Why can’t you help?”

“Oh, I can, kid. I just thought maybe you’d like Killian to help you.”

He shrugs and then wraps his arms around Emma’s middle, squeezing her so tightly she’s not sure if her ribs are still in place. “I want you.”

“Of course,” she whispers, brushing her hand over Henry’s back before kissing his forehead. She doesn’t know what just came over him, but she doesn’t like it. She also has no idea how she’s supposed to be approaching this. “Henry, do you not want Killian to come with us today?”

He shakes his head into her stomach. “I don’t like it when you kiss him.”

Emma has to bite her tongue to keep from laughing.

Okay, maybe this isn’t as bad as she thought it was going to be.

Shit could still hit the fan, but that’s one crisis averted.

“If I promise not to let him kiss me, can he come with us to the beach?”

“You promise?”

“Pinky promise.”

Emma nudges Henry off of her and holds out his pinky. He wraps his own smaller one around it, and she has a vivid flashback of his tiny hand grabbing onto her pinky right after he was born. It’s a reflex. She’s fully aware of that, but it’s also what made her decide to keep him instead of put him up for adoption.

Pinky promises are a big deal.

“Pinky promise I won’t kiss Killian.” He smiles, and Emma takes the opportunity to lean forward and press her lips against Henry’s cheek once, twice, three times. She keeps kissing him as he giggles and squirms and falls back. “But I never promised not to kiss you.”

“M-mom,” he laughs, “s-stop.”

“Nope, not gonna stop.”

“You have cooties.”

“No such thing, kid,” she mumbles before finally pulling back. Henry’s cheeks are flushed red, and she lets out a contented sigh. He’s happy and healthy. That’s all that matters. “Now, come on, the beach is waiting for us.”

-/-

Emma can’t find the sunscreen.

Like, she legitimately cannot find it, and she knows that she packed it. She freaking triple-checked, had Killian check, and it’s nowhere to be found in her bag or in the bug. Now she has to spend a ridiculous amount of money on a brand she probably won’t even like.

“I’ll go, love,” Killian tells her when he finishes setting up the big umbrella they’ve got stationed in the sand. “You stay with the lad and help him build the sand fortress he’s already started on. Do we need anything else?”

“I’ll text you if I think of anything.”

He salutes and then leans down, and Emma has to swerve away at the last minute as Henry gives them some kind of side-eye that she knows he got from her.

“Something the matter, Swan?”

She tilts her head to the side and then gets up off her towel, grabbing Killian’s hand and tugging him a few feet away from Henry. He looks highly amused, eyebrows raised to his hairline, and she just knows he’s going to love this.

“You can’t kiss me today.”

His eyebrows somehow go higher. “What now?”

“Henry is upset about us kissing, and I pinky promised that we wouldn’t.”

She hears a small laugh, and he’s trying to keep a straight face. She can tell. But the corners of his lips are poking up, and she knows he can’t resist it.

“A pinky promise, huh?”

“It’s the most serious of promises.”

Killian reaches his hand forward, holding out his pinky. She takes it and wonders how every part of him is so impossibly warm. “I pinky promise that you will not kiss me today.”

“Killian.”

“What?”

“I see your loophole, and that is not going to fly.”

“I won’t kiss you, darling,” he whispers, leaning in so close that she thinks he just might be cocky enough to do it. “That’s a pinky promise.”

And then he’s pulling away and walking up toward the overpriced beach shack that must make a killing here every day for the amount of people that are always flocking to the beach. At least it’s kind of quiet today, but it’s still early enough that most people won’t be here for a few hours.

“Alright, kid,” Emma sighs, “let’s build a sandcastle.”

-/-

Emma has a thing about being in the ocean.

She knows how to swim. There was a foster parent who was a swimming coach at the local high school, and she made sure all of the kids knew how. The thing is that she also let them all watch Jaws, and while logically Emma knows the likelihood of her getting eaten by a shark is low, she’s not really fond of going into any kind of water that isn’t extremely clear.

The beaches of Storybrooke are not so clear that she can see the ground, so she’s definitely staying just at the edge where the waves crest and wash over her feet. Killian and Henry, however, are chest deep, and Emma’s not nervous watching them.

Nope.

Not at all.

“Swan,” Killian calls out, “you chase bad guys for a living. The ocean isn’t going to bring you down.”

“The bad guys stay above water.”

“Mom,” Henry whines, “come on!”

“Nope. You have to stay out there with Killian. I’m not coming in.”

Henry flops back into the water, and she just knows he’s groaning. Why is he so dramatic?

But then he’s coming back up to the surface, and she sees Killian’s lips move before he holds his hand up to cover his mouth so she can’t see what he’s saying. Henry nods along, a smile carving itself a place, and Emma leans back into the sand and sighs. That’s good. They’re getting along, and she can worry about that a little, tiny bit less.

She really, desperately wants Henry to like Killian.

Because she really, desperately likes Killian, and it’s been a long time since she felt like she could have something besides Henry be good.

Emma draws her hand through the damp sand, picking up small broken pieces of shells, and when she looks up, she sees both Henry and Killian swimming to the shore. They’re in a public place and she’s around her kid, so she tries not to be distracted by the sight of Killian coming up out of the water. She’s only a woman though, and there’s only so much she can do.

“Hey, love,” Killian says as he stands above her, holding his hand out, “can I talk to you for a second?”

“I’m listening.”

He cocks his head. “In private.”

She narrows her eyes. “Why?”

“Because I have to share a secret.”

“Okay,” Emma laughs, taking his hand and letting him pull her up. He drags her a few feet over as Henry stands right in her eye-line, and she’s not sure which of them she’s supposed to keep her eye on. “What kind of secret do you have?”

Killian’s brows waggle in that way they do, and he dips his head down before wrapping his other arm around Emma’s back and tugging her closer so that the front of her suit gets wet.

“I need you to distract Henry.”

“What? Why?”

“Because he mentioned wanting to find shark teeth, and I found a bag of them at the shack. I need to scatter them around while he’s not looking.”

A lump collects in Emma’s throat, and she tries to swallow it down. She really does, but she can’t quite get it to go away. She needs air, though, and for the stinging of tears behind her eyes to go away because she’s not going to cry. She doesn’t cry. Nope. Not at all.

(She is a liar. She cries all of the time.)

But she doesn’t want to cry about this because that would be ridiculous.

“You bought him shark teeth?”

“What? Is that not okay? I figured it’d be fun for him and I – ”

“If I hadn’t made a pinky promise, I would kiss you right now.”

Killian chuckles, his eyes crinkling, and he leans that much closer in. “Later. I have other plans for you right now.”

“Really?”

Emma quickly glances over at Henry, and he’s biting his bottom lip, obviously trying to hide a smile. He gets that from her. And that’s when she gets what’s happening. That’s also when she feels her feet lift off the ground so that she’s half hanging over Killian’s shoulder.

“Jones,” she warns as he turns and slowly starts walking toward the ocean, “I can do horrible things to you.”

“That sounds like a promise and not a threat.”

“I’m serious,” she says, her heart rate ticking up as the water keeps getting deeper. It’s to Killian’s knees now, and she can feel it ghost over the bottom of her feet.

“You and I both know that if you wanted down, you could get down.”

“You’ve got a pretty tight grip.”

“And if I didn’t want to scar your boy for life, that grip would be on your ass.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Most definitely, but this was also Henry’s idea.”

“What?” Emma laughs, suddenly not so irritated with Killian. “It was not.”

“Oh, no, it most definitely was.” Killian shifts her around until her legs are wrapping around his waist and her shoulders are hanging onto his neck. She can feel the way he breathes, the steadiness of it, and for a moment she’s distracted by that and the way the background of the ocean brings out the blue in his eyes. “Look at him and see.”

Sure enough, when she twists around to look back at the beach, Henry is standing there bouncing on his toes, watching them with rapt, excited attention.

“That little mastermind.”

“He’s certainly something else.” Killian’s hands adjust underneath her, this time landing on her ass, but she knows he’ll claim it’s only for support. She definitely doesn’t mind. “I won’t let your feet touch the ground, love, and you’ll never leave my arms. I’m simply going to make it a show for Henry.”

“For Henry,” she repeats back while taking a deep breath to try to calm her nerves.

“Yeah,” he smiles, nodding. “For Henry. Now, on the count of three. One, two – ”

And then Killian is very literally tossing her up before pulling her down with him. She closes her eyes out of instinct, nerves bubbling back up and making her heart race, but even under the shock of the cold salty water, she can feel Killian’s arms around her, holding her up when she should be totally submerged. He didn’t lie. Her feet never touch the ground. They stay suspended in the water before wrapping around his waist and her arms wrapped around his neck. Being submerged isn’t all that bad, but it’s because she knows she doesn’t have to touch the ground and that if something is going to come and attack them, it might get Killian instead of her.

She’s a fantastic girlfriend, obviously.

When she finally adjusts to being under the water, she can feel Killian moving, and then they’re above water and she’s gasping for air and opening her eyes to see Killian still right in front of her. She’s distracted by the way that water trickles down his face and how his hair is pushed back off his forehead except for these few strands are dangling forward. His smile is bright and wide, and the feel of him pressed up against her body feels as warm as the sun shining down on her back.

And really, she nearly forgets about her pinky promise and leans forward to slide her lips over his until she hears Henry’s raucous laughter back on the shore.

“Careful, love,” Killian whispers, “wouldn’t want to spoil the kid’s mood.”

“Later,” Emma promises, echoing their words from earlier, “now let’s get me back to dry land so I can distract him and let you hide those shark teeth.”

“I’ll try to make it as natural as possible.”

“He’s six. I don’t think he’ll notice.”

“But he’s a smart lad, Swan. Wouldn’t want him to catch onto our devious plans.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

She and Killian quickly get back to the shore, and Henry is still laughing, all of his teeth showing and his eyes nearly closed from how he can’t seem to stop. Emma immediately chases after him, wrapping him in a hug and swaying him back and forth as she jokingly gets onto him for conspiring with Killian to throw her in the water. He apologizes, but Emma’s not mad, not at this.

Looking over her shoulder, she can see Killian shuffling through the tote bag, and Emma turns back to Henry with her own bright smile.

“Race you down to that pink umbrella?”

“What do I win?”

“Who says you’re going to win, kid?”

And then she’s sprinting away, and Henry is sprinting after her. She can easily beat him, even with the magical energy and speed that a six-year-old has, but since that would take the joy out of everything, she keeps managing to trip up or slow down until Henry is running past her and beating her to the pink umbrella.

When she joins him, she fakes being tired, resting her hands on her knees and exaggerating her breathing. “When did you get so fast?”

“Since I got my new shoes.”

“You’re not even wearing any shoes.”

He shrugs. “I guess they still make me fast.”

Emma laughs and leans down to kiss Henry’s cheek. “C’mon, we need to go put more sunscreen back on you.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“I don’t want to.”

“You have to.

Henry mumbles and grumbles the entire walk back, and Emma leads him back to their own umbrella, where she dries him off before reapplying his sunscreen. He continuously squirms, but she eventually gets him all covered to the point where she sends him off to go get Killian, who is casually sitting in the sand running his hand over the same place.

Smooth.

She watches as Killian waits for Henry to get near him. Henry plops down next to him, and they talk for a minute or two before Killian pulls something up from the sand and shows it to Henry, who is more excited than she thinks anyone should be to find a shark tooth. But this is what he wanted, even if Killian had to fudge the truth a little to get there, and Emma’s not going to question it as they keep walking around with Henry’s little plastic shovel discovering more and more teeth.

Emma grabs her phone and takes a picture of the two of them examining one they found, and she tries not to examine it too much as her heart beats a little faster and her cheeks heat. It has absolutely nothing to do with the sunshine.

This is good.

This is really damn good, and she lets herself hope that maybe this is going to be the time where it all works out.

-/-

Killian pulls into her apartment complex and puts the car in park before turning the key. He looks back before patting her leg. “He’s asleep.”

“He was out the moment we got in the car. He had a long day.”

“Well, should I let you two go? I – ”

“Do you want to come inside?” Emma interrupts. “It won’t take me long to put him to bed and then we can see what’s on Netflix.”

He nods, and smiles, almost shy. She likes when his smile is tentative like that, likes that he cares not to overstep with her. “I’d love that, Swan.”

Emma gets out of the car and opens the back door to get Henry as Killian gets all of their bags from the trunk. She’s thankful now that she made him get in the outdoor shower at the pier and change clothes after dinner, so now she doesn’t have to worry about getting him in the bath before bed. She picks him up and lets him wrap himself around her, and then they walk upstairs, careful to stay quiet so that he doesn’t wake.

She thinks she’s in the clear when she’s got him in bed, but then his eyes flutter open.

“Shhh, go back to sleep, kid.”

He nods and opens his eyes a little wider. “Mom?”

“Yeah?” she asks, smoothing his hair over his forehead.

“I like Killian.”

Emma swallows and then nods, trying to hold in her smile. “Me too.”

“You can kiss him now, but only a little.”

Emma laughs and leans down to press her lips against Henry’s forehead. “Goodnight, Henry. I love you.”

“Love you, too,” he mumbles, his eyes fluttering closed again.

She waits until she knows that he’s asleep, and then she stands from his bed and walks out of Henry’s bedroom. Killian’s sitting on the couch when she gets to the living room, their bags all put away and the mess in the kitchen cleaned, and Emma walks toward him until she’s sitting down next to him and curling into his side, resting her elbow on his shoulder as his arm wraps around her. waits

“Hey.”

“Hey, beautiful.”

Emma ducks her head and smiles before looking back up at him. “I have some good news for you.”

His brow arches. “Is that so?”

“Mhm. You’ve gotten the Henry Swan seal of approval. He said you could kiss me…but only a little.”

“Oh, well, if the lad insists, I guess I have to listen.” His mouth lingers over hers, tantalizingly close and tempting, “but only a little.”

And then he kisses her, and Emma melts into it and him and how damn good this day was.

Mostly, though, she’s happy that there’s going to be more of them.

#pinky promises #cs prompts #cs fic #cs ff #cs fanfic #captain swan fic #captain swan fanfic #captain swan ff #captain swan

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