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#just a little collection of fics i've read and adored in the past couple of months
acourtofchaos · 7 months
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SLYTHERIN BOYS FIC RECS
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MATTHEO RIDDLE
HIDE AND SEEK* by @writingsbychlo
BEG FOR ME* by @slytherinslut0
BROTHER'S BEST FRIEND by @pizzaapeteer
MATTHEO'S NURSE by @finalgirllx
THEODORE NOTT
SHUT UP KISS ME by @theostrophywife
LESSONS IN LOVE
THE CAT CHRONICLES
by @obsessedwithceleste
SEA FOAM* by @gemissleeping
RIDE* | PART TWO* by @pepsichrry
I MISS YOU, I'M SORRY by @angelfic
LORENZO BERKSHIRE
IS IT NEW YEARS YET by @writingsbychlo
WHITE LIE by @thatdammchickennugget
THE SECONDS BEFORE* by @distantdarlings
PIERCER ENZO
FLIRT
by @suugarbabe
CHURCH* by @jayybugg
TOM RIDDLE
MY SOUL IS TOO WELL TANGLED WITH YOU by @darkmagic-s
LITTLE DOVE* by @theostrophywife
REPENT by @tomriddleslove
NO ONE LIKE YOU* by @distantdarlings
MULTI-CHARACTER
TAKE CARE OF MY GIRL* (mattheo x f!reader x enzo)
ANYTHING?* (mattheo x f!reader x enzo)
by @thatdammchickennugget
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(* indicates smut)
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freddie-77-ao3 · 3 months
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So I know you like Marvel, DC, and Percy Jackson, but what other shows, movies, or genres to you like??? Action, horror, comedy, crime/medical dramas? If you don’t mind me asking that is .
hmmmm
so DC and PJO are definitely the big ones, and have been for years but other than that
Miss Peregrine's Home/ Peculiar Children series
greys anatomy with my sister (but i refuse to watch past season 14, there was NO reason to keep going
the owl house? a little? i still read the moringmark comics and am on the subreddit, but i'm not really active in the fandom. same goes for gravity falls. OH I NEED TO POST A GRAVITY FALLS THING ITS COOL AS SHIT!!!
throne of glass (sarah j. maas series) i love this series but oh my fucking god the fandom sucked when i was last in it. absolutely no understanding of any sort of morally gray character. i adore characters who are human and make mistakes, and from what i saw.... no one else did.
sort of merlin tv but also.... just the fanfics. i watched the first season of the actual show and then it got removed from netflix so i just read the fandom wiki and fanfiction. got into it originally because caffeinatedflumadiddle (SOSF writer) also wrote for merlin.
umbrella academy!! TV more than comics but i definitely like both. TV wise, i've not actually watched season 3 yet, but imma get there at some point.
love the true lives of the fabulous killjoys comics, don't really read the fics bc ppl conflate the fabulous four with the band and that's ick.
heartstopper! my ex gf got me into the series, but i definitely still love them now!! personally i like the show, then the novels (like solitaire!!! god i love solitaire), then the graphic novels. i love nick and Charlie (obviously) but tao is my favorite non-main character. non main being not-nick-or-charlie.
dear evan hansen. not like. a lot a lot, but i like the fics, the book was cool. not watched the musical, but listened to the songs.
hunger games!! controversial opinion but i don't really thing gale did much wrong? like he designed bombs WHILE THEY WERE IN WAR. what happened to prim was a tragedy, but one that was accidental. definitely still team everlark though.
derry girls! watch it (and rewatch it) with my family a lot. my favorite is michelle.
love both the song of achilles and circe by madeline miller, even if they're not historically accurate (moreso the circe there...) honestly, love a lot of mythological retellings-- daughters of sparta is another really good one.
speechless (tv) is great! watched it mainly for the nonverbal rep, ray is definitely my favorite character. fun fact, my mum was in a mums group with minnie driver.
everything's gonna be okay! also watched for rep (this time just autism in general) and also love it. drea is my favorite character.
coraline!!! holy shit i love coraline. book and movie. favorite animated movie by far.
my sister's keeper is a great book. not watched the movie, but i love the book.
girl in pieces is a great book.
i watched fate the winx saga, that was good
school spirits!! can't wait for season 2
okay also, nonfiction/poetry wise
i adore richard siken. he's a wonderful poet. i like crush more than war of the foxes, and i can't wait for the next collection to come out!! seriously ask me about his poetry, i could go on for ages-- i've got favorite quotes, favorite poems, everything.
black girl, call home (and other poems by the author) jasmine mans is great. i am white, so disclaimer there, i probably shouldn't speak as to the racial poetry, but i definitely enjoy her queer and sexual assualt poetry.
a couple of others i can't pull up rn
night by elie wiesel. genuinely guys, usually i don't like nonfiction, but i read this book for english nine YEARS ago, and it was such a beautiful book that i bought it when the unit was over. it's absolutely horrific, but.
radium girls by kate moore. was my special interest for years and years and years, and still definitely a comfort book.
genres?
honestly for books i just wander through barnes and noble and see what strikes my fancy
it really depends on my mood, like, i have tv shows/movies for background noise while i do homework/chores, tv shows/movies for when i'm trying to fall asleep, ones to watch with other people, ones to watch by myself...
i like watching a lot of documentaries. on Netflix, i recommend keep sweet pray and obey, brain on fire, athlete a, the volcano: rescue from whaakari, and take care of maya. also, i can't remember the name, but the boston marathon massacre one.
also, hannah gadsby? great comedian 10/10 recommend. i've loved the shows since the first came out in 2018. not watched the most recent ones yet. also rec the book.
i guess mainly action and fantasy. and then documentaries, and sometimes medical dramas.
medical drama wise i've watched greys anatomy, house, new amsterdam, parts of the good doctor, and the first couple of episodes of scrubs.
OH FOR MY BOOK PEOPLE IF YOU'RE EVER IN CHICAGO, GO TO EXILE IN BOOKVILLE ITS WONDERFUL!!
everytime i go to chicago i go to exile in bookville. if yall want the website link,
sorry this got so over the top lol
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shmowder · 4 months
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SO I was about to say that we never spoke on your BG3 blog, but I actually found one question by me, asking if you were playing the original Pathologic or P2 😂 By the time I found that blog you'd already pretty much moved on to this one (which is fine!). But I rb'd a couple fics to my sideblog. Certainly never imagined myself reading about a giant half-spider woman but here we are ♡ The thing about Minthara is that I adore her but I don't know anything about the rest of the game and it's too expensive for me to commit to right now - and I'm always hearing about her romance being bugged anyway.
Yuria <333 And Sister Friede but more importantly, Yuria! I love that you love her too! I confess that I never got past the Abyss Watchers but tbh I'm amazed I got that far. And at least my Ashen One got to meet Yuria (and heard her best line "And I, of course, am also thine" hehe). Good for you for getting through it! Bloodborne is the one Fromsoft game I've beaten and it was rough getting used to the Dark Souls combat, so I watched a walkthrough of the rest. And I've also watched a ~90 hour walkthrough of Elden Ring, which did put me to sleep occasionally lmao but I just don't have the willpower to play huge open world games anymore.
I almost finished a NG+ playthrough of Bloodborne recently, until I started the DLC and promptly got my ass handed to me and I was like hmmmm actually now is the perfect time to start a new SDV farm 🤔
But, I'm taking a little break because I've indeed started Patho 2 again!! It's the beginning of day 5, I'm using super easy settings again and I found my old notes of where the Dead Item Shop is every day and which items to save for upgrades etc. Despite that, I seem to be missing more than ever. I may have focused a little too much on trading and collecting herbs and caches. Forgot the bell rang on Day 3 and didn't gather the Apple Basket Gang rip :( (I noticed that Lara and Artemy both have dialogue about not being 30 yet, so there's that question out of the way) But on the bright side I have more eggs than I could ever need (maybe…) and I'm on my 3rd inventory upgrade.
Haha, based on that anecdote I'd say you know more Russian than I do. I know a lot of people listen to other things when playing games but I've never tried that except when hatching Pokemon eggs. I love hearing the in-game sounds and music. Victor and Yulia have the same theme playing in their houses!
Yes of course we can be friends! Requesting from writing blogs is what originally got me interacting with others, so, kind of like you, just the other way around 😅 Then I discovered it can be nice just to talk sometimes. It seems like you're having a good time on this blog! Chill is good. Part of me is still flabbergasted that there's a Pathologic x reader blog that exists and it's run by a great writer who obviously has so much love for the characters which is a huge plus <3 But I like the memes too :) I can't speak for other anons, but I always check my entire dash until I'm completely caught up.
Moving on… WHEN I TRANSLATED THE TITLE OF THE VICTOR X READER FIC!! Hooo boy, I'm a simple girl and the "You're good, my little dove, you're good. Despite it all, you're good" quote is one of my favorites. It's like you read my mind with the description - SOFT, TENDER, and UNSTABLE? Three of my favorite things 😇
So!! I am the human embodiment of this emoji while reading 🤭🤭🤭 Honestly so galaxy brained of you make it into a fic, I could never be upset about that. There's such an atmosphere to this from the very beginning, I don't know how to describe it but I want to bite it. Playing house with slightly off vibes, "Like handling a stray cat" OUGH. (I agree that'd he'd want to play at domesticity.) The way he notices everything, his solicitousness. Reader as sacrificial lamb imagery. "He takes and takes like you're the cure for his morose soul."
The immortality vs mortality thing! That's when I really got why this works so well as a fic instead of hcs. I love that it feels like a character study as much as a smut fic (and ofc I appreciate all the little details about time). TOP TIER SMUT ALSO. His endless patience while also being in emotional/spiritual/physical agony, him praising the reader's patience, he does seem like the type to draw it out a while - "He'll hide you from the world and everything dangerous outside" 😳
And the end!! What a beautiful, brilliant mind, what a sensitive fragile heart, what a lovely soul. My goodness. Just - [keysmash] [disintegrates]
That was AMAZING and you should be proud. Thank you for taking my request and running with it <333
If my overzealous reaction to the froggy chair birthday pic never made it through, thank you for that too! It's delightful.
Happy birthday!! 🧁🎉 I hope you enjoy the day.
🐿️ anon
You remembered my birthday! I love you!
God I was refreshing my notes waiting for your reaction over the fic. I'm so happy you liked it <33 Especially how you qouted your favourite lines and your reaction to them, that's literally the highest of praise I could receive. You understand the underlying themes, the whole playing house but something seems off, Victor's inner fits of monologue occasionally completely going off-rails and showing how lost in his head he tends to get. How his brain switches focus between topics constantly before snapping back to reality and vice versa.
Conflicted in everything. At times, he appears as if he's pleading with you, below you as loyal as a guard dog. At others he appears above you, pulling your strings with sheer authority and nothing else.
The whole turmoil of deciding to let Reader die a natural death, to be selfish and never allow them into the Kains grand scheme of immortality, to know you'll only exist by his side before your soul is lost to the cosmos forever.
I avoided bringing Nina by name but her presence is heavy in each line of the story. How much he would let you hurt him and others as much as you want like she used to do, how he lets your sins slide and sweeps your wrongs under the rug. How he clings to your mortality because part of his resents humanity for taking his wife away, for stealing his own life and future away.
The whole wings and feather symbolism. Immortality is the wings the Kains are sewing together one thread at a time, each feather plucked being a brilliant person's soul. That eventually, maybe they too will ascend past the larva stage and be able to live freely with no fear of death much like Icarus flew above the seas without regards to his father's words. They're flying straight into the sun and they mistake its blazing fire for the heavens above.
His little dove petname fitting perfectly with the Icarus symbolism, with you being a beautiful bird he wants to keep caged in the mortal real out of selfishness, out of the desire to finally call someone his own. All his life he has give for the future of humanity, both his wife and two kids turned into chess pieces to be sacrificed in times of need.
And that's fine that's okay. He can handle it. His family may belong to the future, they may belong to mankind and the utopia they're slowly shaping. He is strong and pragmatic, he can more than understand why heavy costs and live with the consequences. He will carry that burden of guilt indefinitely.
But you, oh you.... He won't allow it. You have to slip away from their clutches, from his own sharp claws. You won't belong to the future, you will belong to the present forever with him, forever to him.
I enjoyed writing it so much. I started as Headcanons but the words piled up and the sentences started weaving themselves on their own. It was so beautiful, I didn't have the heart to trim the growth and force it back into the headcanons mould, so i let it blossom into a full story even if it meant more work.
Headcanons are usually effortless, stories are not. I had several open tabs by the end of writing it searching for various idoms, symbolism and word synonyms. Looking through Victor's qoute then remembering the latin endearment term for dove.
I really wanted to paint the picture of how he makes loving you a form of self-flagellation, but I had to keep the message subtle so it shows how well he hides it. How on the surface you can easily mistake his infatuation for any adoring partner, but deep down he's completely unstable behind the calculated hardened face. I'd argue that he was as crazy as Nina if not even more. He just happened to be better at hiding it. It was an elaborate plan for him to play the role of the reliable soft-hearted self-sacrificing leader to win people's favour, to paint the Kains in an angelic light so their women may be as cruel as their hearts desire.
Again, thank you for leaving such a sweet message afterwards. People rarely do, you get accustomed to fulfilling requests then throwing your writing into the ocean after posting it. The reblogs and likes are good and all but I just want to hear another human's words at times you know? Another soul's opinion, something that proves that this exists and was read by an actual person rather than a number counter going up.
Although oh my god you read THAT Minthara fic?? A beautiful webbing?? IT'S ONE OF MY MOST PROUD WORKS! One of my most ambitious too! The descriptive scenery in that fic took a lifetime out of me, so much blood and tears poured onto the layout of the garden, of the sussur tree and blood rose. Writing it felt like my magnum opus at the time, although now I'd say Lingum Vitea holds the spot for the amount of Latin I had to research for that Burakhovsky fic.
I'm so glad you liked that fic! They're my favourite children <333 I like the rest too but sometimes I write things purely out of passion and they shine brighter than the rest in my eyes.
You've already started your P2 playthrough hell yeah! I hope it goes well and it's fun! I actually missed the apple basket gang meeting too in my playthrough- I thought it was scripted to be missed because it directly coincident with the Bachelor calling people to town hall and proclaiming quarantine so I thought oh, it must be cancelled duh! I didn't realise you could still walk to it ah-
You can never have too much eggs, trust me.
Being a trader hoarder is good! you'll eventually learn which people overpay for which items and look out for them. Usually trading is rng depent on which npc you meet on the road to your current mission because straying from the path means losing precious time.
Good for beating bloodborne and going on ng+! Hell yeah! I've never played it but it seems hard bc of the parries and no shield. I miss my shield in ds3 :( During the end of the game, my brother was watching me play and he tricked me into going to the end boss unprepared. He claimed it was just another npc for a quest and I didn't know it was the end boss bc I didn't watch anything about dark souls before playing it- I just walked to the soul of cinder all like "omfg hiii bestiee :3 " then got stabbed.
BUT I FUCKING BEAT HIM IN ONE TRY! EVEN WHEN I WAS TRICKED AND ALMOST DIED. I managed to clutch with my trustyyyy shieellldd.
But also I died to that weird balls tree 90+
I am not exaggerating, I genuinely couldn't handle that lame mini boss tree. I killee the abyss watchers in two tries and the soul of cinder in one but a fucking tree is responsible for 70% of my deaths through all of the game.
I'm celebrating my birthday today. it's not going well but at least I have a lot of cake and will buy myself flowers in an hour after the shops open. I got cheesecake! I love cheesecake! I think Yulia would like cheesecake or is she more of a dark chocolate person? I still have your request for her nsfw hc so don't worry it wasn't swallowed by tumblr.
Honestly I can't believe I'm the only pathologic x reader blog- Seems almost blasphemous tbh. I hope more pop up in the future, this fandom is surprisingly chill and nice. Especially for such a hardcore game.
I hope your day is amazing <3
Oh and I did receive your froggy chair submission! I just wasn't sure whether to reply to it publicly or not in case you wanted to stay anonymous to others on this blog. I'm glad you liked the meme I threw together and my other memes on this blog hehe. I like making them, it's like visual storytelling.
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martianbugsbunny · 1 year
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Blue Skies Smiling At Me (A FrankenWolf Fic)
Well dearies I've got a new Frankenwolf fic for you! It's one of very few simple fluffy fics I've done in my life (what can I say, I thrive on the angst and the drama and the romance) so if it's maybe not quite like the rest of my fics there is a reason, I'm not just slacking. Anyway, I tried, and I think it turned out fun, so read on and enjoy!
Ruby settled in on her blanket on the sand, a cooler full of Coke on one side and a pile of books on the other. It had been a couple of weeks since anything catastrophic had happened to Storybrooke, and summer was in full swing with bright blue skies and brilliant sunshine, so a rather large portion of the town had decided to gather on the beach for an impromptu party.
Snow sat down next to Ruby, leaning back on her own blanket. “A moment to relax will be worth all the sand I’ll be sweeping out of my apartment for the next week,” she joked, putting on a pair of white cat-eyed sunglasses. “I might even take a nap.”
“How wild,” Ruby teased, opening her first book. She had a couple of hours to kill before Victor’s shift at the hospital ended, and a stack of unread romance novels a mile high. “I’ll nudge you if you start looking lobstery.”
Snow chuckled as she turned onto her stomach, nestling her head on her arms.
After a while the smell of barbecue filled the air. Ruby glanced up from the page she was reading (she was already halfway through her second book); the wolf in her was very interested in whatever meat was cooking. Over at the grill, Granny was bossing David around—it seemed hectic, but the large chunk of meat that was smoking away looked mouthwatering, so Ruby supposed it was a good enough system.
“Food’s ready!” Granny called. “Come and get it!”
Ruby waited only long enough to poke Snow awake (what kind of friend would let a friend miss out on good barbecue) before dashing across the sand to collect a paper plate for her own meal. A table was set out just past the grill with desserts, most of them from the diner, and Ruby piled her plate with both barbecue and a slice of chocolate pie before returning to her spot on the sand.
As she dug into her food, a pair of strong arms circled around her waist. “Hey good-looking, got a bite to spare?” Victor teased, his breath ghosting warmly over the shell of her ear. Ruby chuckled as he pressed a gentle kiss to her shoulder, then snatched a small chunk of the pork off her plate.
“Up for a swim later?” Ruby asked, pulling a bottle of Coke out of her cooler and handing it to Victor. “The bay is pretty calm today.”
“Hey, I didn’t buy this swimsuit just so you could look at me in it,” Victor said. “Maybe a little bit for that, but not completely.” His whole body shook as he laughed, and with his arms around her, so did Ruby’s. It was a red suit (she loved that he wore red for her) and it had a subtle darker crimson swirl pattern that matched the one on Ruby’s vintage-cut one piece.
“Help me finish this barbecue first,” Ruby said, offering him the plate. She scooted out of his embrace so he could eat, leaning back on her elbows and simply staring at him.
The warm summer breeze drifting across the beach ruffled the blond curls around the arms of his oversized sunglasses. He hadn’t been outside long enough yet for his skin to start turning red, but his face was a little bit flushed just from the heat. And best of all, he was looking back at her with what she knew was a mirror of the expression on her own face: pure adoration—and that was the most handsome expression she’d ever seen on him.
Ruby had cold soda, warm sand, blue skies, and the most wonderful husband in the world.
Life was good.
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meetmeatthecoda · 3 years
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Hi, Coda!
It's totally okay if you don't have time / inspiration / etc. to do it, but could you share some soft, hurt/comforty Lizzington headcanons?
(I've just had a couple of bad days ir which were made only worse by the fact that new content, except your fabulous fic, of course, doesn't appear in our cozy corner of the fandom anymore which is understandable but still very sad and leaves me with almost constant thirst I can't quite quench... Besides, I've just had the misfortune to stumble upon a particulary hateful discussion of how everything bad that ever happened in Liz's life, including her death and the consequences of her own decisions, are Red's fault on another platform which always shakes me when I accidentally hear/read something like that.
I'm sorry for dumping my negative on you and you can absolutely ignore this ask but I just had to vent to someone who could understand, to let that out)
Hi there, sweet anon!! 🥰 Omg, of course, I can never refuse a lovely request for soft, hurt/comfort Lizzington headcanons!! 🤗 (And, more importantly, I'm so sorry that you've had a bad few days, my friend, that makes me sad to hear!! Also, I definitely know what you mean about an unquenched Lizzington thirst - while you're so sweet to mention my silly on-going fic - I'm missing new content just as much as you are!! Oh & I also know all-too-well what it's like to stumble upon some fandom discourse that you don't agree with... it definitely hurts to see that stuff, however accidentally, & it's sometimes tough to push it aside!! 😓) Long story short, not to worry, anon!! I don't mind you coming here to share your feelings, however sad & defeated!! In fact, I'm flattered that you decided to share & so happy that you consider my blog a safe space!! 🥰 So, without further ado, your headcanons will be listed below the cut & I hope they can raise your spirits a little, thank you again for this ask, & much love to you, of course, my friend!! ❤️
In honor of James/Red's longer hair, the second he starts growing it out - more of an accident than anything, simply the result of a missed haircut - Liz discovers that she loves Red's longer hair. Even though it's only a few inches difference, Liz loves the new soft-yet-bristly texture & how it feels against her palms & nails, & she will often pull Red down onto her lap while they're watching TV in the evening to rub his head. Not to mention, Red adores the feeling of her scratching & rubbing against the grain of his hair, massaging his scalp & making him hum deep in his chest, before he's quickly lulled to sleep.
Even though she's mostly moved past it, Liz still has nightmares about Alexander Kirk kidnapping Agnes, sometimes waking in a cold sweat thinking her baby has been taken from her once again, even though Agnes is far past babyhood. But whenever this happens, Red - all too familiar with nightmares of loss & fear - takes Liz's hand for a quiet trip to Agnes' room, where they stand in the doorway in the soft glow of her pink nightlight & watch her sleep peacefully until Liz's heart rate has returned to normal. Once she's calmed, Red takes her hand & tugs her back to bed, pulling her securely against his chest, pressing a kiss to her hair, & whispering about all the things Agnes did that day that reminded him of Liz, until she falls back to sleep against him with a smile on her face.
When Red & Liz finally move in together, Liz insists that he brings his collection of framed photos from his Bethesda apartment, telling him that it's a special piece of the closest thing he had to a home for so many years & he can't leave them behind. So, he puts them in his study in their house, each frame painstakingly arranged on his desk & carefully tilted away from the window so the precious photos don't fade in the sun. Liz doesn't have a reason to go in his office very often - respectful of Red's space - but she wanders in often enough to notice that Red periodically adds to his collection photos of them in pretty gilded frames, right in the front of the group where he can see them &, before long, the front most is a candid photo of her, back-lit by the sun & smiling brightly at the camera.
One of the many things Red loves about Liz is the fact that - no matter how many designer gowns & clutches he will buy her (deaf to her emphatic protests, of course) - she will 99 times out of 100 prefer to wear his clothes over her own. She will pull on his blue wind breaker on the way to the store, take his dress shirts to tuck into her black jeans or slacks when she doesn't have time to do her own laundry, & snatch his expensive ties from around his neck if she's feeling particularly playful. But, his absolute favorite thing is when she steals his fedora, to be worn with a smoldering look only in the privacy of their bedroom.
While Red generally sleeps well when Liz is in his arms, he sometimes has nightmares that keep him from resting, & on those nights, Liz will wake from the absence of him in their bed to see him out on the balcony with his forearms leaning on the railing, a glass of scotch dangling from one hand as the sheer curtains flutter around his restless form. Liz will lay awake for a few minutes just watching him, feeling sympathy & compassion for his uneasy soul & quietly gazing at his form, reveling in the opportunity to admire him while he's unaware. But, before long, she will miss him & rise from bed to take his hand, guiding him away from the balcony & back to their bed, putting his drink aside on a nightstand & laying him down next to her in the dark, either lending a patient ear while he tells her softly about whatever woke him or letting him rest his head on her chest & slowly drift back to sleep with the sound of her heartbeat under his ear.
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toraashi · 4 years
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‘tis the damn season (ft. oikawa tooru)
Pairing: Oikawa x Reader
Genre/Warnings: angst, fluff, implications of sex (there’s no sexual dialogue, the most explicit it gets is i use the word “whimper” once but theres not even graphic descriptions like i rate this PG-13), a couple swears
Word Count: 1.5k
Summary: part two to this fic. Oikawa visits for the holidays after leaving for Argentina years ago. Catching up with his old flame brings back memories and reminds him of a love lost
Author’s Note: this is inspired by ‘tis the damn season by Taylor Swift. It’s so good, please listen to it, it’ll add so much to the story because I reference it lots :) also i’m dedicating this to @hikariakaashi bc she agreed to be my valentine this year hehe 🥰 also @u-make-my-heart-tsumtsum​ thank you for hyping this up in the discord :))
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“the road not taken looks real good now, and it always leads to you.”
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"Hey, it's Tooru. I'm in town for the holidays. I'd like to see you."
The sound of his voice as the audio repeated left an unpleasant feeling in his chest. It burned like longing but twisted and lurched like nervosity, a sensation he pretended he wasn't familiar with. Oikawa wasn't a nervous person. He was a confident, suave man with the world in his hands, but for some reason, leaving a voicemail for someone this dear to him, who could see through him like glass, left a slight tremble in his fingers. 
The ding of his phone startled him, muscles growing taut. 
10:36am
It's been so long! I'd love to see you. Would 4 at that old coffee shop work?
received
Holy shit. 
It was almost embarrassing how his breath caught and his heart stuttered. It had been years, but yet here he was, hooked in with every word.
10:40am
I'll make it work 
sent
10:42am
That's a first ;) i'll see you then 
received 
The coffee shop hadn't changed much since he'd last been. The walls were still straining with the wooden roof's weight, the floor still comprised of creaky floorboards that screeched at each drag of a chair. Sparkling red and green lights decked the rafters, hanging low and casting unique shadows across the residents. The lobby was relatively empty, and he was seated quickly at a metal table near the window. The round teapoy rocked on uneven legs when he put his arms on it, but nostalgia made up for the shoddy furniture quality. The poignant smells and whispers of piano music wafted over him like a tender memory, leaving him with visions of your sunrise smile and golden touch breezing over his fingertips. Content was the next emotion that settled over him, but before he could melt too far into it, the bell on the door jingled. Chilly winter air rushed through his hair, waking him up from the dream that was the last few years and bringing him back home. In the blink of an eye, a familiar arm was pulling at the seat in front of him. It took his brain far too long to process the rosy cheeks and snow-dusted hair before him, but once he did, an infectious grin tugged at his lips.
"Long time, no see." Your gaze was cautious and guarded, and it burned holes in his euphoria. 
"Long time, no see," you repeated with a light smile, "How have you been?" 
"Ah, you know, just capturing the hearts of every person in Argentina, how are you?" That earned him a tinkling laugh, and his heart beamed at the reward. 
"I'm doing okay, just living my life." You greeted the waitress, plainly speaking your order, pausing to glance at him before ordering his old favorite. Honey hues glittered with unspoken fondness when you caught his gaze; he couldn't help it.
"You remembered my order. I feel special."
"Shut up. You are special, Mr. Pro Volleyball Player." You teased, inching your fingertips towards him on the table. It wasn't enough to be wanton, but he noticed, and he couldn't help but reciprocate. Eyes flicking to his hands and back up, that cautious glaze returned. "So, are you staying in town?" A warm hum in affirmation thrummed in his throat.
"I'm staying at my parents' house." 
"For how long?" The words seemed full, but he wasn't sure with what. 
"Just the weekend." He held your gaze like a taut string tugging you closer and closer. The air felt heavy, and his heart ached with a longing he'd suppressed for years. You opened your mouth to speak, but before anything came out, he interjected boldly. After all, what was he, if not bold? "I got your letter." Hues big and lips parted, a pink flush climbed your cheeks. If he was the same person he was years ago, he would've teased you, but now? With his heart on his sleeve and your eyes staring into his soul, how could he muster that courage up?
"And?" The single word was meek and tentative, fragile like the little bird of your unyielding love. 
"Well, for one, your attempt at scratching out the last line wasn't great." There was the teasing. He couldn't hold it back for long. 
"Shut up." You shied away from his crinkled eyes, pinker than you were when you stumbled in. God, he missed this.
"I won't." He drawled, closing the narrow distance between your fingertips and enveloping your hands like it didn't electrify his nerves. "And for the record, I missed you too." 
"Did you?" He rubbed a calloused finger across your knuckles, holding your eyes confidently. 
"How could I not miss that pretty face?" 
"Stop teasing." You pouted.
"I'm not." Pensively, you stared back at him, and he admired the furrow of your eyebrows, the puff of your pouted cheeks. Your smaller hands were quaking in his, and just as he considered laying off, you spoke a conglomeration of words that shuddered up his spine.
"Would you like to stay at mine for the night? We can catch up more? I don't want to leave you just yet." A genuine smile simmered up his lips, and he linked his fingers between yours.
"You know I can't say no to you." 
"Didn't seem like it when you left." The magic in his chest faltered at the blow, but the regret was evident in your expression. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. I know it was about more than me." he hummed, the affectionate graze of his thumb against your knuckles resuming. 
The conversation felt much too short, every move you made clenching his heart, brimming it with innocent nostalgia and longing. Before long, you were tugging him out the door, leading him to your apartment in a movie-worthy montage. The silver moonlight caught your hair like silk, your gossamer grip on his wrist balmy and familiar. 
"My, you're eager." When you glanced back, your eyes sparkled like the sequins on your prom getup from so many years ago. 
"Is it stupid that I missed you so much?" The way his heart caught in his throat was almost painful. Chest aching, he concluded that this was what happiness felt like, a hummingbird flutter he'd never find in the falsities of fame. You, who knew him like the muddy road to your secret high-school hangout spot, looked ethereal beneath the moon's knowing smile. As you approached the door, he couldn't help but dip his toes into the subdued desire he'd grown to ignore. 
Your chest pressing into his, your back to the door, his fingertips firm against your waist, and finally, the brush of your reposeful kiss against his needy lips, it left him with frantic desperation clawing up his body. You broke away with a similar gleam tucked into your gaze like a secret just for him. Swinging the door open and fumbling with your jacket, you found your place in his arms again, a mutual craving for a love that was cut so short.
He did many things that night he'd only remembered in dreams, his frame pressing your familiar figure into the bed, lips tracing every line of your silhouette, the dips and curves in your skin, sealing each forgotten memory in an envelope for him to read later. Just for tonight, he'd bask in your entirety, the glow of your smile, the whimpers that spilled past your pretty lips, everything that was purely you. When everything was done and gone, the flaxen glow of your lamplight flickering out, you pulled him into your arms, twirling the chocolate strands of his hair, breathing in his adoration, your own lulling him into a long-awaited, dream-filled slumber. He dreamed of his past self getting lost in the empty arms of another, the void carved out by your existence impossible to fill. He dreamed of the life he'd lead if he'd remained in your embrace, waking up to you every morning instead of cold sheets. 
He awoke with the December sun, your bare skin blinding in the morning's glow. Glancing at the red numbers on your nightstand, he stretched his arms. It was almost ten, but the warmth of your body reeled him back in like a fishing pole, his mouth splattering kisses across your visage like freckles. Swelling with delight, he collected you into his arms, setter's fingers revisiting the map he drew on your body like the ink was still drying, greeting you with a grin as your eyes lolled open. 
"Morning, babe." Oikawa scanned the love-struck expression painting your features, the scrunch of your nose, the quirk of your lips; he inhaled it like it was his last breath, coming to terms with the time and its draining sand. Raising a lone finger, he followed the shape of your jawline, locking your chin between his thumb and forefinger. "Sleep well?" You neglected to respond, searching his gaze. 
"If this is the last time I ever see you, I want you to know that I've always loved you, and I won't ask you to stay." The last grain of sand in the hourglass tumbled through the glass gap, the alarm clock on your nightstand beeping abruptly, stealing Oikawa's breath. 
And as he looked upon your effervescent figure, shattering his own battered heart at the realization, Oikawa decided the road not taken never looked more appealing than now.
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codevassie · 4 years
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i've got a request! prinxiety fantasy au. roman became a prince after making a deal with a magical creature (that can be a side but also can remain unnamed, whatever works for you). the deal was: roman would become prince but in exchange, the creature would take his true love when roman would meet them. so roman was always careful not to fall in love with anyone. that worked until he met virgil. aaand i leave the rest up to you! i hope this makes sense lol
CV: Sorry it’s so long and also not long enough and also really late. Thank you so much for your patience! My mind would not stop coming up with ideas for this fic but I wrangled it in enough to get this out. Hope you like it, An!
CW: Weapons, Trauma, Injury [Edit: Angst, Unhappy Ending]
On Ao3 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Prince Roman was kind and fair to all who knew him. It was uncanny to his citizens how Disney their prince was. He glowed in all ways–always smiling, exceedingly handsome, eyes gleaming with pride. 
He was also a bachelor, sworn to it almost like a monk. He loved to flirt and would dance with many a handsome man; Roman was no stranger to romance and collected kisses like precious stones. He was not one for staying with one person, sweetly turning down those who came back, wanted more. There was guilt in his eyes, but the prince never wavered.
He was determined to rule on his own, with only advisors to lean on and citizens to give his love. This was something that had never happened before, but their kingdom had also never had a prince like Roman before.
Since the day their prince had been crowned heir to the throne by the childless king and queen, things had been very different in their kingdom. Royalty did not have to be blood, and a king did not need a queen, or any spouse at all. 
Roman did not want to marry. And no one would have batted an eye at this–but the prince did not seem to want anything at all. Full of love, he had no one to give it. Friendly, but lacked friends. It was a constant source of gossip around the castle–why their beloved prince insisted on being alone.
But the prince knew what he was doing. Roman knew well the dangers of growing close to others.
He didn’t regret the decision he made. As prince, he could make a difference; he had somewhere he belonged. A mother and father who cared. Citizens he adored, and adored him in turn. People to care for, to fight for. Roman now had more than he ever hoped in his once hopeless life.
Most importantly, Roman had his brother back. That was worth more than anything Roman could have gained or given. Worth more than his very life.
So, no. He didn’t regret it. If he had the choice, he’d always go back and face those wild eyes, those scales and wicked lies for the chance to have this.
Whoever he’d meant to love one day would have to find someone else.
-/-
“How are you today, Remus?“ 
Remus hummed. Roman knew that translated to ‘not very well.’
“Okay,” he said calmly. He moved over into the brightly lit room to where his brother sat at the window. Roman sat across from Remus and said nothing else. Today wasn’t a talking day.
So Roman sat and let his nerves calm, his mind wander like his brother’s must have been. He couldn’t imagine what sort of things Remus saw–flashbacks from the hills and the caves and the fear. Roman grew restless, and he couldn’t imagine how Remus did it for days on end, jolted into another reality that existed in his head, in the past.
He passed a lot of his days like this, sitting quietly by his brother’s side. Probably not enough though. Never enough to help. But it was hard to balance his time now that he was prince, always something more to do, something he could do to help, to plan, to sign, to consider. It was a lot.
But at least they weren’t terrified every day would be their last.
At least Remus was with him again, safe. 
“I miss Dee,” Remus surprised Roman by speaking up. Roman looked over, but his brother hadn’t moved. His gaze was towards the hills.
There was nothing Roman could say to that. He stood reluctantly, taking a glance towards the horizon himself, before stepping back. “Sorry I can’t stay very long today.” It had only been twenty minutes Roman noted by the clock on the mantle, but Remus didn’t seem phased. “I’ll come eat dinner with you tonight, though,” Roman offered. Still, nothing. “Alright. Bye, Remus.”
Roman stepped out, careful to not make any loud noises as he shut the door. Days like this were the reason Remus’ room was far away from the hustle and bustle of the castle. The noise was too much for him. There were still plenty of people around to attend to him though, to make sure he didn’t get up to too much trouble during the times he was lucid.
That didn’t stop Roman from stepping away and quietly knocking his head on the opposite wall. Forehead supporting him, Roman sighed, trying to piece himself back together. Once he had built himself up, able to give a winning smile and a confident gait, Roman picked himself up and squared his shoulders.
A prince had very little time to spare already, and he had used what he had to visit with his brother.
Winding through the halls, Roman made his way back to the front study, where his advisor and a handful of guards waited. When he opened the doors, he shot them all his winning smile. “Are we all ready?”
It took them no time at all to get to town, then just a little further to the square, which was under construction. It was a smaller project, but one that Roman loved: a park, with room for community gardening, a playground with outdoor instruments, a couple pieces of exercise equipment, and a small stage for community theater. 
It was important to him, but it was something he rarely had the time to see into fruition. There was more pressing matters in the kingdom that Roman had to oversee.: discussions to meditate, economic policies to study, corruption to dig into. When Roman became a prince, he’d known it would be a tough job, but he had never expected what seemed like such a nice kingdom on the outside to have so much else on the inside.
It was exhausting, but this park was where Roman hoped to make a positive influence. He barely had the time for it, but he made the time for it. It was usually what kept him awake at night in his office, going over budgets and blueprints.
He hadn’t been to the site for a month.
When the carriage pulled up, Roman jumped out, guards already on his tail. He didn’t wait for them, though, striding straight towards the ring of architects and construction crew at one side. A quick glance around told Roman they were making decent headway on the tiny amphitheater. 
Looking back, he took stock in what he would be dealing with. The kind architect was there, so he’d have to do his best to steer clear. Roman was a sucker for nice guys. The smart one was there too. Damn it; double the threat. 
“Hello, Shelby, Logan, David, Patton, Christie,” he greeted the ones he knew by name. “How is everything going?”
Shelby, the team leader, stepped forward, giving a kind smile. “Moving forward at a considerable pace, my prince,” she said, and, from there, they dived in. The architects pointed to blueprints and talked about estimated times for finishing different aspects, as well as possible obstacles and needed materials. They talked for half an hour before they were talking in circles again, and Roman knew he needed to draw a line and make a retreat.
“It sounds like you all are doing splendidly and have things well under control. I would say continue forward with how you’re doing. I trust you to make the right calls.” His smile was wide, and he was beginning to feel the line of business and friendly failing. 
All Roman wanted to do was share jokes with Patton. Listen to Logan tell him about the book he was reading. Even hear about Shelby’s family–though she was hardly a threat to the curse inside Roman. Still, Roman felt wrong for staying around, for getting near anyone with the danger he posed.
Roman needed to get somewhere safe. He needed just a breath of fresh air–somewhere without pretense, where he wasn’t constantly tottling between unnecessary rudeness and letting his traitorous heart do what it does and fall far too quickly.
He had always fallen fast and hard, always one for all or nothing. Never at a mere glance, no. He may be a romantic, but love at first sight simply wasn’t real. Deep longing at first sight was something Roman was prone to, though.
But Roman was careful. Never would he let an innocent soul pay for his deeds. If the price he had to pay was his love, then he would simply never fall in love. 
And, since love at first sight wasn’t a thing, Roman could simply stay away from anyone he might have liked. If Logan’s smart words made him blush, if Patton’s puns made him giggle-
Off Roman went. If he didn’t stay around them, he couldn’t fall in love with them. Easy enough.
That may have been a reason Roman rarely made his way to the park construction or spent too much time at any of his projects. He cycled through advisors. He exchanged polite greetings with guards and nothing else. He was an amiable prince, who reached out to his citizens, but he couldn’t afford to be too friendly, to get attached.
He knew he could be better. Without this fear, he could be so much better. He’d be friends with everyone he knew, not acquaintances. He’d be a personal ruler, not a distant one. 
He couldn’t risk the lives of his citizens though.
So, at the nearest chance, Roman ducked away. The others invited him to coffee, but he declined. 
Instead, he went somewhere he’d normally never go. He marched into the library, waltzed straight up to the most infuriating person he knew.
Not even Roman was hopeless enough to fall for Virgil.
“My prince,” the librarian greeted lazily, not even standing from his slumped position across the desk. “What can I do for you today?“ 
He picked up a pen and scrawled across a paper, deigning to not even look Roman in the eye. Whatever pleasantness Roman had felt upon seeing a familiar, unexpectant face, soured at the blatant rudeness.
This callousness was what had sealed the deal for Roman in the first place though. The absolute zero percent chance that Roman could like, much less love, this man. Roman never thought he could hate one of his own citizens, but this guy… He was the worst. 
Roman could have never fallen in love with someone so… Virgil. So condescending and sarcastic and pessimistic. Virgil brought with him a stormy cloud of hatred everywhere he went. The mere thought of being around him was deplorable.
Which made him perfect.
“I just came to see your lovely face, my chemical woe-mance,” Roman said breezily. He had taken to maliciously flirting with the library assistant. It satisfied both his need to flirt with someone and his abhorrence of the man’s face.
And tone.
And personality.
And the way he pointed out every security detail his guards had missed by walking in there. 
And how he always pointed out the measures Roman was slow to take with his policies, and ones that he missed, redirecting Roman’s attention to needed areas. 
And when his hair fell in his eyes because, damn it, Roman wasn’t blind.
And when he laughed at something because he wasn’t horrible all the time and those were the times Roman panicked the most because shit did he mess up by letting himself talk to Virgil so much-
And his fashion sense was also horrible, so there.
But, of course, Roman was above such things. If the gloomy broody wanted to stoop, Roman would not-
“Forget how to say your own name again?” Virgil asked, and Roman stopped in his tracks, shooting him a confused look. “Hate to break it to you, but Roman doesn’t have a W.”
Roman’s face lit up red and he straightened faster than a cat struck by lightning. 
“I am your prince,” Roman said, hands curling into fists. The guards behind him didn’t react, however. By this point, they were all used to Roman and Virgil’s arguing. 
They thought it was ‘banter.’ Roman often reminded them it was a verbal battle of wits. They asked why he kept coming back.
He never answered that.
“I don’t need reminding every time you’re here, my prince,” Virgil rolled his eyes. It was ironic how the honorific fit in his mouth, like a bad taste. 
“Don’t call me that,” Roman snapped. Virgil raised a brow.
“What do you expect me to call you then?” he asked. “Your excellency? Your highness? General pain in my ass?”
“You make all of those sound like ‘general pain in my ass.’” Roman shot back with fire. 
“Then what?” Virgil crossed his arms.
Roman spoke without thinking. “My name.”
One of the guards coughed behind him. Virgil looked stunned.
“You want me to call you…” he said, and all anger had dissipated. If Roman had known this was all it would take to knock Virgil off his high horse, he would have done it so much sooner.
“Yes,” Roman said, feeling awfully proud of himself. “Call me Roman.”
Another cough behind him. What was it with the guards today? He hoped no one was coming down with anything.
“Roman?” Virgil asked, and it was said quickly, like he was still shocked at everything going on. This, however, is where Roman realized his mistake.
His name on Virgil’s tongue did not, in fact, sound like ‘general pain in my ass.‘ 
His name sounded….
Softer.
Sweeter.
Like a melody he’d never heard,
And one he’d kill to hear again.
Roman was suddenly hit with a sadness so unmistakable it was as if it had always lived in him. Something that felt lonely, something that felt like… goodbye.
Goodbye to this. Goodbye to the only person he had left that saw him as something that wasn’t a prince, or a stranger.
Oh gods, not Virgil too.
Roman straightened up, clearing his throat suddenly. “Um, yes?” he said, voice coming out squeaky. He cleared it again. “I mean, yes. Yes. Of course. If you’re going to insist on butchering everything else…”
“Might as well butcher the real thing?” Virgil asked, and he finally broke out of his shock to snicker. Roman’s heart thumped.
Fuck.
“Yeah, well. I actually have to go now, but it was nice seeing you and-”
“Nice seeing me?” Virgil asked, thrown off guard by Roman’s sudden departure. Roman hadn’t been there five minutes, but he had to get out of there.
“As ever. Terrible to see you as always, hot topic, and, if you’d just excuse me-” Roman was backing away, making his way to the door. He assumed the guards would follow.
“Hot topic…” Virgil seemed to be asking, but Roman didn’t give an answer.
“See ya!” were his final words before he ducked out.
Roman paid no mind to the knowing glances his guards shared behind him as he rushed off to the carriage.
He could only think of the heart in his chest.
And the noose it could lasso around Virgil.
-/-
“It’s not Virgil, right?” Roman asked pacing around his brother’s room. “Anyone but Virgil, surely.”
Remus continued to look out the window, mind probably elsewhere.
“It wouldn’t be. Virgil is… Virgil.” Roman shook his head. “He’s Virgil.”
“Virgil?” Remus spoke up, but he didn’t look at Roman. Maybe he was present, just a bit.
Roman nodded, pacing again to the other side of the room. “I can’t see him again. That’s it. It’s too dangerous. Even if there’s absolutely no way I’d fall for that guy, I can’t risk it.”
Remus turned Roman’s way, eyes looking troubled. Roman’s mind was spinning out of control.
“But it couldn’t be Virgil. I wouldn’t fall for him. I can still talk to him. It’ll be fine, right?”
Roman paused, thinking through his words before groaning.
“Oh my gods, I want to talk to him!” he lamented, then sat down heavily on his brother’s bed. Remus continued to watch him, looking for all the world like there was a puzzle in front of him, very close to being solved. 
“Remus, what am I going to do?” Roman asked, covering his face. “I like Virgil.”
“Virgil,” Remus mumbled.
“I can’t ever see him again. This is the end. We were never even friends! He was the asshole in the library. That’s it. That’s all he’ll ever be. And, somehow, I like him. What the fuck, heart? What the actual fuck?”
“Virgil,” Remus repeated, brows furrowing. Something was there, but Roman was too distracted to consider it.
“Gosh, but I can see it now. He’s got the warmest brown eyes to go with his shit personality. He’s so sarcastic. He actually makes me laugh. How dare he?! How dare he make me like him and all his assholeness?”
Roman stood from the bed. One look Remus’ way and he immediately regretted everything. 
“Rem? What’s wrong?” he rushed to his brother, who had the most distressed look on his face, fingers sparking green. Roman folded his hands over them, not minding the slight sting. It was better than someone walking in and seeing the magic. “Remus?” Roman asked again, kneeling before his brother. 
Remus blinked. Looked down at his hands and frowned. “Sorry, Ro,” he said, then looked back at the window. Whatever he’d been thinking, it was gone. Roman couldn’t help the sigh that escaped him.
One second of lucidity and Roman was glad it was gone. What kind of brother was he? Watching Remus look out the window again, lost to everything but the hills past the kingdom, Roman felt a deep sinking loss in his chest.
But, with that look that’d been on Remus’ face… how could he not be relieved? 
He sighed again. Roman did that a lot in this room. He wished he could help it, for Remus’ sake.
But Remus probably didn’t hear it anyway.
“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for,” he breathed, words lost to his brother. “I’m the one who should be sorry.”
Roman retracted his hands, absently noting the singe marks across his palms. He’d wear some gloves to cover them.
“Sorry,” he repeated. The word rang in his head, begging to be said again and again, until his sins were carried off with them, somewhere far away in the wind of those words. “Sorry.”
-/-
The next time Roman visited the park, he didn’t go to the library. However, it seemed he didn’t have to.
“Thank you so much, kiddo!” Roman absently heard from Patton as he scanned over some of the construction plans. “I can’t believe I forgot this.”
Roman heard one of his guards cough, stifling what sounded suspiciously like a laugh. Funny, they usually only did that when-
“No problem, Pat,” a deep, vaguely uncomfortable sounding voice replied, and Roman shot straight up. There was another noise that was definitely a laugh this time, but he didn’t pay mind to it. His eyes shot to the interaction happening not five feet from him.
Virgil.
He was standing a bit slouched, hands stuffed into his pockets and nodding along to Patton’s excited gibbering. It was sort of adorable, how patient Virgil was, the way he hid his smile when Patton punned, how out of place he seemed to feel, but comfortable around his friend.
Roman hadn’t known Virgil and Patton were friends. That was adorable.
Okay, Roman should really stop thinking of Virgil as adorable. Soon. Now.
But his eyeshadow was slightly smudged–probably from wiping it on accident–and that was adorable too.
No. Stopping now.
Roman dipped his head back down, boring his eyes into the blueprints. He absorbed none of it, but he acted the part like a champ. Looking busy sure came handy when a prince wanted to avoid people. You couldn’t argue that a prince wasn’t doing important work.
Well, perhaps a lesser prince. But everyone knew how seriously Roman took his job (whether he lived up to expectation or not. Virgil saw past that. Virgil pointed out exactly where Roman lacked…. but he also commented on the good things too. He’d said how much safer it was to walk home lately–how the children were excited about the park–how some patrons of the library complained about the tax increases, but Virgil argued with them about the necessities of the kingdom; all the community works, roads paved, safety measures).
“Ro?” Patton asked, and, even if it weren’t for his voice and bubbly nature, Roman would have known it was him. Patton was the only one on the construction crew that had taken him up on his offer to not use ‘my prince’ every time they referred to him.
“Hm?” Roman asked, pretending to be busy. He saw Patton from the corner of his eye, dragging another person by his side–no doubt Virgil. Roman swallowed harshly.
“This is my friend Virgil. Sorry to interrupt work and all, but I try to introduce him to everyone around here. He doesn’t get around too often and-”
“Pat!” Virgil hissed beside him, and Roman couldn’t help it. He looked up.
And they locked eyes.
Virgil’s cheeks were a dull pink, furiously trying to escape the bounds of the pale foundation he’d applied. For a moment, they were suspended there, Virgil and Roman just looking at each other.
Then, Virgil looked away. “Patton, you can’t just drag me around everywhere.”
Patton, the dear, had the good grace to look sheepish. “I just thought you’d want to meet the prince is all.”
“We’ve already met,” Roman said, against the wishes of his panicked nerves. It felt like something he wanted to keep for himself, something he could hold secret and close to his chest. He forced the words out though. Surely there was no valid reason to keep it secret.
Virgil flinched as Patton whipped around to face him. “Really?!”
He shifted a bit on his feet, and Roman noticed how considerably less confident he was outside the library. Maybe it was the new space, or the unknown gazes, but it worried Roman how much smaller Virgil appeared outside his familiar walls.
While Patton excitedly talked to Virgil about this new development, Roman was able to take a second to himself. It was Roman’s first time around him knowing how he felt about Virgil–without the panic of last time, mind spinning with Do I like him? Do I like him? Do I like him? Roman could examine those feelings up close here, scrutinizing them for what they were. He definitely liked Virgil, that much was definite by then, but how much? Roman fell quickly, but, as long as he was even still a bit afloat, it was fine. Virgil was safe.
And Roman understood with relief that this was indeed the case. He wasn’t in love with Virgil. It was still frightening how easily he’d fallen in deep like with the man, but Roman could remedy the situation. It just… took a bit of… severing of their relationship. Just a dash of distancing, a pinch of avoidance and rigid politeness. 
It was less than a minute that Roman had to think on this, Patton and Virgil’s conversation ending abruptly when Virgil started to get visibly overwhelmed. That worried Roman too, but it only seemed to embarrass Virgil.
“Virge? Buddy?” Patton asked, but Virgil’s red face shook back and forth.
“It’s fine, Pat. Let’s just moveonrightnow,” Virgil spoke without a lot of breath, words coming out quick. He was different outside the library, like he was constantly afraid of… something. He was jumpy, and Roman was sure that if someone were to sneak up on him right now, purposefully or not, they would be socked in the jaw.
“Yes,” Roman spoke up, seeing his opportunity. “I’m afraid I’ve actually ran out of time here, but we got a lot done here today. Great job, all of you.”
“You’re leaving?” Patton asked, looking disappointed. 
And Roman realized what he’d tried to avoid for so long. Patton was cute. He was funny and kind and made Roman feel like the world had light. But Roman really had nothing to be scared of. He looked at Logan too, clever and full of passion for his work and interests, and thought the same. He’d been avoiding all the wrong people–people who could’ve been his friends.
So to Patton Roman gave a sad smile of his own. He gave his excuses–the many duties of a prince, how busy things have been lately, that he really should let them get back to work instead of hovering over their shoulders so often–he was just a prince, after all.
It all paled to the real reason, nestled deep in his chest where he hoped no one would look, see his obvious lie.
Roman couldn’t be near Virgil.
Too risky.
-/-
The thing with falling for someone–it doesn’t stop when you don’t see them.
What was the saying? Distance makes the heart grow fonder?
That saying existed because days without those you’re infatuated with just make you think about them more. And Roman, the chronic dreamer he was, could not stop thinking about Virgil. He dreamed in his sleep about pushing the hair from Virgil’s face, curling it around his ears and leaning down for a gentle kiss. He day-dreamed about Virgil in his library, slouched over his desk, waiting for patrons and passing the day in boredom.
Roman thought of his snarky quips, eyerolls, insistent gestures when he was trying to tell Roman something. Those milliseconds of a softer look that Roman would ignore, trying to convince himself he loathed Virgil, so he wouldn’t have to go away.
He realized now how too late it was.
Virgil’s laugh was stuck in his ears–Virgil’s nervous voice outside the library–Virgil’s stories of friends he’d never see again, growing up in a distant place. 
And Roman hadn’t realized how much of himself he’d given as well. Virgil had been an ear to Roman’s rants, a backboard to spring off horrible ideas. Virgil could be ruthless, and Roman could be idyllic, but, somewhere in there, it actually worked. He’d told Virgil about spreading himself thin, about the demands of a prince he hadn’t expected when the king and queen had adopted him. He told him about how much he cared, cared so much, about the people of this kingdom, even while he’d only been there for three years himself. 
There was so much, now that Roman considered it. And still so much he wanted to share. He’d never told Virgil about his brother–no one knew about Remus. He wasn’t fit to be in the public eye. That much scrutiny and pressure, after everything he’d been through, would destroy him.
But he found himself wanting to tell Virgil. Found that he trusted him with the information.
And he wanted to tell Virgil about where he and his brother grew up, about the night he woke up and Remus wasn’t by his side, and it took two years of searching and loneliness to find him and save him. Roman wanted to tell Virgil his favorite color was red, that his favorite stories as a kid were about knights, not princes, that he spent his free time–or what freetime he used to have–writing poetry, and he had a secret love for theater that he’d never had the opportunity to explore. 
Roman felt his heart pulling pulling pulling. It wouldn’t rest, wouldn’t relinquish the hold it had over him, would not forget him- him- 
Virgil. 
His heart was a selfish thing. It stuck like glue to those who didn’t want it. It kept its love in a cage, never to let go.
But Roman had to stop thinking of him. It would only lead to heartbreak. It would only lead to Virgil’s doom.
That should make it easier on his heart–knowing the person it longed for was at risk for its choice–but nothing did sway it. It was up to Roman to wrangle it in, suppress, push it down down down.
A sound at the door of his office snapped Roman out of his thoughts–spiralling, an hourly occurrence at this rate, sending him straight to a world far away, spinning in purple irises. The door creaked open, and there stood an odd sight.
“Remus?” Roman asked, concerned. He was already standing, walking around the desk and across the room. “Is everything alright? Why are you on this side of the castle?”
Remus was very far from his room, and the castle was pretty confusing. It was a surprise his brother had found him at all.
“Virgil,” was all Remus said, like it held all the answers he’d ever been looking for. Roman paused, eyebrows furrowing.
“What about him?”
“It’s him.”
“What?” Roman asked, and Remus reached out, grabbed his hand. Before he knew it, Roman was being pulled along. Remus was leading them down the corridor, looking more sure of himself than Roman had seen since they were kids. “Remus, what are you doing? Where are we going?”
Remus didn’t answer him. In fact, Roman was thrown into even more confusion when he was steered into a random room at the end of the corridor, his brother huffing as he shut the door behind them. “Walking takes too long,” he seemed to be realizing. His hand was glowing and, when he reached out for Roman again, it was a blink of an eye before they were standing somewhere completely new.
“Remus, what the hell?” Roman asked, retracting his hand. “You shouldn’t use your magic like that! Anyone could see you.”
But Remus wasn’t listening. Was he ever? Instead, he was looking around. “Not where I would have picked.” He was sounding… like himself. Roman stared, wide-eyed. If he wasn’t so confused, he’d be elated. He’d long since thought getting his brother back to any normalcy–or whatever was normalcy for Remus–was impossible. 
“Who’s there?” a voice interrupted his thoughts, carrying across the library stacks. Roman recognized it and cursed internally. Why had Remus taken them there?
Slowly, Roman put up his hands and crept out of the small alcove Remus had taken them to, ready to come up with an explanation for their sudden appearance on the fly. “Do not be afraid,” Roman said, as any prince would. He stood in the open and found Virgil’s gaze. All Virgil had to protect him were his own fists–not the best tactic, Roman thought. Then again, it was only the other day that Roman had been afraid Virgil would sock the nearest person.
Still, just his fists didn’t seem like a great defense against swords or knives or any number of weapons a burglar could have. There was a pang in Roman’s heart as he thought of what might have happened if it wasn’t just him and Remus in there. Virgil would have been defenseless.
As realization dawned on Virgil’s face, they stood at a stand still, both almost afraid to move. When Virgil’s eyes drifted to his raised fists–loose, not really fists at all, who had taught Virgil to fight?–he dropped them like hot coals, stuffing them in his pockets. 
“Fuck, Roman, you nearly gave me a heart attack,” Virgil said, and Roman knew he shouldn’t be focusing on this–but Virgil had said his name again, and his heart was singing.
“My dearest apologies,” Roman bowed, and, going by the weirded out look on Virgil’s face, that was not of norm between them. He supposed they had never been quite civil with each other–even at the beginning. “I wanted to show my brother the library and you weren’t at the front desk, so we just came in.”
“I’ve been at the front desk this whole time,” Virgil said, not defensive, but confused. Well, at least Virgil wasn’t in a bad mood.
“Funny. We didn’t see you.”
“Wait wait wait,” Virgil said, backing up a second. “You said brother?”
Shit.
Looked like Roman would have to explain that sooner than he’d thought. Or, really, at all. Wanting to tell Virgil and telling him had been on two separate lists entirely. Roman wasn’t actually supposed to be talking to Virgil at all. 
“Okay, so-” Roman went to start, but he was caught off by a twin set of gasps, one shortly after the other. The first had come from behind him, so that’s where he looked.
“It is you,” Remus said. Roman’s eyes widened, finally catching on to what his brother had been trying to tell him.
“Wait, do you know each other?”
“Remus?” Virgil’s reply answered that question well enough. Roman turned back to him, eyes darting between the two. Virgil sputtered, “What- How-”
“It’s too late,” Remus mumbled. It sounded a bit more like he had over the past year–less like himself, but his eyes were present; he looked to be considering something–something he didn’t seem to favor. “It was a trap.”
“A trap?” Roman asked. “What do you mean? A trap for who? Who’s trapping?”
“Remus, what the fuck? How are you here? How did you get away?” Virgil asked, walking closer, but not too close, like there was still a part of him that couldn’t believe what was in front of him. 
“Get away?” Roman said, pieces further slipping into place. He didn’t like where this was going.
“What about Dee?”
“Dee…” Roman mumbled, the name familiar in his ears. I miss Dee, Remus had said. I miss Dee I miss Dee I miss Dee…
“It’s too late,” Remus repeated. “Of course it was you.”
Then, the room erupted into chaos.
-/-
Books flew, shelves rocked, windows clattered. From the corners of his eyes, Roman could see flashes of purple and green. Past the wind in his ears, he heard vague shouts from Virgil and a round of fuckfuckfuckfuckfucks from Remus. He couldn’t recall if he was saying anything himself, but he knew what he was feeling. Scared.
Roman had no idea what was happening, but, from the flashes of light, he deduced it must have been magic. This made him turn toward his brother, suddenly scared that all of this had gotten to him. Being outside the castle, some place unfamiliar, not to mention Remus had always been kind of a loose cannon with his magic–it could have caused Remus to panic.
But one look at him and Roman knew his brother wasn’t the one doing it. He turned to Virgil, remembering what he’d been saying, how he’d known Remus, how he’d raised his hands in a stance that made no sense in traditional fighting–but, with magic?
Purple sparks flew across Virgil’s skin, like they were doing on Remus too, but his eyes weren’t aglow. He wasn’t doing it either.
What was happening?
Then, abruptly, it stopped.
Shelves balanced back to their places and books dropped to the floor, lifeless. It was all they could do to just stand there before movement caught Roman’s eye at the top of one of the shelves.
Someone sat there, legs folded elegantly over one another where they balanced precariously. Roman recognized the one glowing eye peering down at them, the scaly hands, the knowing smirk.
“What a lovely reunion,” she purred. Roman was stricken, fear clenching his gut. Instinctively, however, he stepped forward in front of Remus and Virgil. He watched as her eyes traveled over each of them, finally landing behind Roman’s left shoulder, lips curling further into her face. “I was hoping it would be you.”
“How- How did you-” Virgil stuttered, but his voice died out. Roman narrowed his eyes, something protective overpowering his fear.
“You should not be here,” Roman stated. 
“But, my prince,” she said, “We made a deal.”
“A deal that hasn’t come to fruition,” he said. 
“I see someone’s still in denial,” the woman leered. “A witch’s curse knows all, though. You can’t scam the Dragon Witch of her hoard, my prince.” The way she said ‘my prince’ infuriated him, but nothing like Virgil’s had. The Dragon Witch said it like it was nothing, like it was delectable and sweet and hers to keep. 
“What is she talking about?” Virgil asked, and Roman turned. Instead of scared, he now looked confused. He was watching the two of them, apprehensive, but ready to fight. His hands were up again in those loose fists, purple sparking off of them. Magic. Virgil had magic. “You made a deal with the witch?”
“Not that he had much choice.” The witch shrugged. It seemed casual, despite the manic glee in her eyes. “I was going to kill him and keep Remus. But he wanted his brother, and he got to be prince of a kingdom! Fair trade, if you ask me.”
“It’s not fair,” Remus said, and the witch seemed to remember he was there. “You can’t take him-”
“Shut up, Remus,” she said offhandedly and Remus flinched. Rage filled Roman, and he stomped further toward the witch.
“Don’t you dare-”
“Don’t I dare what, sweetie?” she asked, folding her legs up onto the bookshelf with her, where Roman couldn’t reach. He was ready to topple the whole shelf when her words caught him. “I’m only here for what I’m due. I was hoping you’d choose Virgil.”
“What?” he asked, and his voice echoed. He turned around and saw Virgil’s ghostly face, mouth open, having spoken at the same time.
“There’s so many possibilities, you know,” she said and sighed like she was bored. “There’s some realities where you fall for the architects, but there were quite a few where we’d end up here and that was certainly a risk I was willing to take. So glad it paid off.”
“But I’m not-” Roman protested, and when he was cut off again he felt ready to pull his sword. It would do nothing against her magic–something he knew well–but she was really getting to him.
“Not in love? Please,” the Dragon Witch scoffed. “It’s not my problem you haven’t realized it yet.”
“Wait!” a voice suddenly tore through their conversation, and Roman looked back at Virgil, something tightening his gut. Virgil looked simultaneously angry and afraid and lost. “Hold on for a second. What the fuck is going on?”
With a grace that shouldn’t have belonged to someone so wicked, the witch floated down from the bookshelf, jumping right over Roman and landing in front of Virgil. Virgil seemed to have masked everything in those few seconds, standing defiant and tall before the woman. It mystified Roman. It was nothing he had ever seen before–nothing like Virgil’s comfortable confidence in the library. Virgil lowered his hands, appearing defenseless and unafraid under her manic gaze. 
“Long story,” she said, tossing her head side to side. “But I’ll tell you the ending if you want. My little happily ever after… minus dear Remus over there. I’d rather have all three of you but Remus turned weak. This. This was the outcome I was betting on.”
She leaned in, centimeters from Virgil’s face and anyone else might have missed the minute flinch in the man’s body, but Roman saw–tuned into it. Virgil’s eyes were hard. He said nothing.
Even as he was sentenced to his doom–to a doom brought to him because of Roman–because of a heart he couldn’t control–because Roman had signed away another’s life–a life that wasn’t Roman’s to give–a life Roman hadn’t yet met–that he was destined to love and hate and damn forever.
And it’d been a trap.
“Virgil, my long lost terror, you belong to me again. The End.”
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brimbrimbrimbrim · 7 years
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Hi I hate to ask this but I've had the worst day of my life, a sprained ankle and then a car accident. It's been horribly rough. Could I get a small one shot Lucas fic of taking a liking to and comforting a found captive?
Don’t apologize for asking, Anon. That sounds like a terrible day. I hope you recover mentally, physically and financially very soon. Car accidents are terrible and a sprained ankle is rough. I hope this fic helps ease some of the crappy feels that today has given you. Much love for you on your road to recovery.
It started off with Lucas getting bored enough to watch all the VHS tapes he could salvage - ending up with a bundle of his Ma’s collection and nothing else to do. So, he sat around with his thumb up his ass and suffered through Beaches, Titanic and… some stupid Wayne Newton thing while eating bags of cheese puffs and peanuts.
By the end of Steel Magnolias, he felt like someone had ripped his balls off and sewn a pussy on him. All he could think about was cuddling and fawning over a girl of his own, and it made him nearly sick.
He sat around for another two days thinking about what it’d be like to have a girlfriend and jus’…hold hands. Hold hands?! Like he was some fuckin’ prepubescent brat. He wanted to fuck and cum balls deep in some hot cunt, not sit around and hold hands all day. But he did, and so he sat around with a blank TV and a heartache, not knowing what to do with himself.
On the third day of his self-inflicted misery, the ol’ man came in with two bodies.
“Morgue’s overrun, boy. I’m sticking these down in the stalls. They ain’t been fed yet so don’t you touch ‘em, ya here?!”
“Whatever,” he replied, not thinking twice about it cause on account of the goop his brain had become and got a nice crack in the back of his head with a baseball bat for his trouble.
After dear ol’ dad had taken down a charter bus full of shitheels lookin’ to spend the weekend in New Orleans for the big fuckin’ Mardi Gras parade, Lucas got stuck with two captives when the basement started overflowing with new arrivals. Two too many, he grumbled, hearing one of them start screamin’ after only two hours strapped up.
Ain’t nobody got time fer this, he thought.
He had other shit to do (he didn’t), and it wasn’t even like he could use ‘em for test subjects either so what good were they but an annoyance? They’d both been there since this morning, and it only took until now for Lucas to realize one of ‘em wasn’t screaming - hadn’t been since Daddy brought ‘em by.
Typically it wouldn’t peak his interest - the silence - but the last bitch he’d tossed in the rat’s nest had long since turned to bones, and he was bored. The tapes had made him weak at heart, and he couldn’t stand watching another one of his Ma’s sentimental tear fests.
Just the thought was making him wanna puke.
Lucas hunched over his desk, frowned and gave the little joystick a push to the right, panning camera nine over to the quiet one all tied up in one of the horse stalls.
A girl, Lucas noticed immediately. She was quiet, reserved and hadn’t moved much. Without much reason to, Lucas hadn’t gone down since they’d been brought in and secured to their posts. He hadn’t bothered to look at ‘em either since he wasn’t supposed to play with ‘em. Shoulda took a little trip down though, cause the chick looked kind of hot once he zoomed in a bit. Get rid of the blood and dirt, and she’d been the nicest lookin’ bitch to ever get past the gates.
“Ain’t it just peachy ah’ get stuck with a dumb whore in the barn…” he grumbled.  She looked like one too (not really), but guess that coulda’ been the fact that she’d been stripped down to her panties. At this angle, he couldn’t see her tits, but her back was bare, so she wasn’t wearing a bra or nothin’.
Shame - shame he didn’t have a good angle for a free viewing.
His Pa never said he couldn’t have himself a look-see. As long as he didn’t chuck her in the Birthday Room, who cared if he had a little fun? All he wanted was a look and maybe a hug or some snuggles - No! No, he just wanted to watch her heaving tits as he jerked off on the floor in front of her. He wanted to slip his dick between ‘em and… ugh…
Lucas wanted good night’s sleep with a warm body beside him, in all honesty. It got pretty lonely now that he was off the grid more or less - just enough connection established to contact his people and set up communication between all the cameras and speakers. No more porn to toss his rocks off to. No cam girls to watch while he fucked his fist, pretending it was a pussy. And now, worst of all, he’d brainwashed himself into wanting something more innocent than a good fuck. Maybe when the girl down in the barn passed out, he’d go lay next to her…
The girl down in the stall shifted, stretching a long pale leg across a bed of musty hay.
Shit! Where was his Polaroid at? Worse case scenario he’d snap a picture of her and lay in bed looking at it like a freak.
Four upturned boxes and a messy bed later, Lucas was loading up his ol’ polaroid camera with a dozen blanks, fingers shaking. He was only a bit ashamed of how low he was willing to go for some semblance of intimacy, but hell… he was desperate, and it was hard enough keeping his head clear as it was.
It was pretty pointless, but he rubbed his face clean of the blood from earlier and threw his door open. Lucas kicked his heels into the stairs, eyeing the molded that were hanging off the walls. They’re gaping jaws clicked open, swinging towards him jus’ enough to know it wasn’t some escapee running fer the hills. One of ‘em gurgled, gagged and puked up a messy wad of bones as Lucas passed it by.
Easily ignored, when his heart was busy jackhammering at the thought of this girl his Pa had brought in.
The girl was sitting in the stall, a chain wrapped around her waist, connecting her manacled wrists and branching out to the pole she was resting against. She didn’t have much wiggle room, but all in all, it wasn’t as bad as getting cramped into one o’ them dog crates.
She didn’t even bother lookin’ at him as his sneakers crunched over brittle hay, pausing outside the wooden gate. A fountain of pale hair hung down in front of her face, covering the tops of her tits.
“Hey-hey, come on, bitch! Wake up!” He snorted as she jerked but did little else. Only when he growled and gave the gate a hard kick did she swayed. A hint of perky nipple poked out of her thick hair as she lifted her head; blood-matted hair slipping out of her eyes. Blue eyes, like his own, looked up at him, gazing under wet lashes.
She was a hottie, and Lucas was struck half dumb for a good long minute jus’ looking at her.
“My leg’s broken,” she whispered. Pain made her voice throaty, ragged enough he found himself licking his lips, wondering if he should have brought her a soda or somethin’. He palmed his Polaroid, nodding to her with the tip of his chin.
“I’ll set it fer ya if ya give me a smile. I’ll even bring you upstairs and get ya somethin’ to eat. How about that? Sounds like ah sweet little deal, don’t it? Jus’ gotta say cheese!”
“It doesn’t and I won’t,” she said, leaning back against the wooden pole, exposing her bare tits through a curtain of dirty hair, uncaring.
Lucas popped himself a picture without obscuring his view with the shitty glass lens. All she did was blink at the flash and nothing more. No rebuttal, no tears or anything else he’d have expected. Hell, Lucas even had a running shower up there. How could she say no that kinda offer?
Slowly, checking the barn entrance with a narrowed look, he smashed the lock on the gate and swung it open. The noise or the implication made her stiffen over the hay bed. In her lap, she curled her fingers and closed her eyes. Dry, cracked lips, which probably looked pretty full and sexy when she wasn’t dehydrated, mouthed words… no, they mouthed numbers.
Lucas shoved his shoulder into the wooden post as he read her lips while she chanted math equations, solving for X and Y in some weird, brainy coping mechanism. Probably thought he was gonna rape her or somethin’. All the chicks that came through here thought he would…kinda got insulting after ah while.
“Ya forgot to carry the four, sweetheart…” he told her, watching as she ignored him, continuing despite her fuck up.
Kinda interesting. Usually, everyone just begged and screamed for someone to come rescue ‘em - like they were a princess in some wild fairy tale. This one accepted her fate, or at least what she thought was gonna happen, and did her best to prepare for it. Lucas liked that - respected it. And so he yanked the film from his camera, gave it a couples flaps until the badly lit sight of her with those cute tits came full color. He threw the picture at her, snorted when she kept on dividing and subtracting and left her there.
It wasn’t until the next morning that Lucas got itchy again.
All night he’d been watching her through the camera, ignoring the stupid asshat in the stall beside her as he screamed. It was hard to see through the snowy lenses, but Lucas was pretty sure she was still miming mathematics to herself. She didn’t sleep, at least not for more than half an hour maybe. Her unbroken leg would kick or stretch and once he saw her turn her head up towards the camera, staring at him.
“Come and do it already,” she’d say, making his gut churn sickly.
After his ol’ man had come in for the retard with the broken vocal chords, Lucas stuffed a bag of skittles in his pocket, grabbed a can of soda and hopped the stairs to see his adorable brainiac.
She was docile, only watching him, never begging, as he swung the gate open and stepped inside. The stall was narrow but spacious, but Lucas threw himself down beside her despite having enough room to host an orgy if he wanted. The girl tipped her head back and breathed deeply, ready for whatever she thought he was gonna do.
“Skittles?” he offered, shaking the packet near his jaw with a feral grin that made his cheeks ache. He’d forgotten how to smile, so a grin would have to do.
The barest touch of her tongue between her lips made Lucas swallow. In her lap he noticed her fingers twitch.
“…why?”
He didn’t need a reason, but he had one, ‘course he did. Lucas wasn’t gonna tell her, though, so he just shrugged and tore the corner off the packet, shaking a few into his palm. All he needed to do was stare at her hands fer a few seconds before she got the idea and offered her palms to him; shackles clinking. Bruises and bloody scabs ran like bracelets around her wrists.
He dropped a few sickly bright skittles into her palm and watched her wince, trying to put them in her mouth. If he weren’t so sure she’d bite his fingers off or curl her nose in disgust, he’d have fed them to her.
“So, ya like numbers, huh?” He waited for her to say something, but she merely sucked the Skittles in her mouth with half-closed eyes; savoring the sugar in silence.
“Me too,” he sighed, scooting a little closer to her until he just missed bumping her broken leg.
“My Pa said I was gifted when ah’ was younger. But hell! - Guess geniuses go crazy every damn day, huh? Jus’ another one with a bad brain.” It felt better talkin’ to someone that wasn’t Eveline…or imaginary like Oliver had been (sometimes still was). Even if she didn’t talk back, Lucas liked laying back in the barn with her. Nothin’ else better to do anyhow and it was the closest he dared to get to something resembling cuddles. Not that he wanted that… obviously.
“… can I have some more?” she asked, sounding so tiny and small that somethin’ in Lucas started to hurt. He looked up at her from the soft ground, saw how empty her eyes were - like a dead sea - and handed her the whole bag of skittles. The little, hopeless smile she gave him made his chest tighten like there was a hook buried in it.
The only thing that sucked about dosing himself with that serum was all the emotions he had coming back to him. That’s all it was. Could’ah done without ‘em, if he were honest, but the girl ate her candy through the pain, meeting her hands halfway down and somethin’ about giving her that little act of kindness made him wanna do more and more… and more.
For the next two days, he spent most of his time either telling himself not to go down and see her, or sitting with her in the barn, feeding her junk food, handing her bottles of water or talking to her (actually talking to himself, but that was neither here nor there).
Eventually, he went down to see her with a real goal in mind - not just trying to keep her alive. He brought the bolt cutters with him. The ol’ man wouldn’t sweat one little captive - not when he had dozens of ‘em fresh and ready to be hatched. If his Pa said anything, Lucas could just tell ‘im the molded got hungry and climbed the gate. Easy.
She withdrew at the sight of him with the cutters in hand, but still, she didn’t beg or scream. Lucas cut her chains without a word and tore her manacles off as easily as if they’d been clay. When he grabbed her around the waist, careful of the raw red skin where her chains had been, he felt her muscles tighten. Not one to take that shit personally, Lucas tried to smile but ended up grinning and slung her over his shoulder… only then did she scream. He could feel her tears soak through the back of his hoodie and her broken leg bang against his chest.
Lucas tried not to let the sounds of her agony bother him, but they did. Every step made him wince as she bawled her eyes out, shouting and begging him to stop - that it hurt 'it hurt so bad!’
In a few minutes, she’d be right as rain, but the pathetic, sloppy sounds still wedged their way under his skin somehow.
She sobbed when he set her down on his couch, fingers running along her broken thigh like fluttering leaves; listless. Pain lined her body - her face and brows. The lights above their heads highlight the heavy fall of tears that made Lucas feel guilty for some fucking reason. Not like he’d broken her leg…
He grumbled and left her there to her misery as he went to the kitchen, pulling out a bottle of the good stuff for her and his last candy bar. Maybe she’d be more apt to forgive him if he showered her with sugar. Wouldn’t hurt, right? - And he was pretty desperate at that point.
When he returned, she was halfway across the floor, dragging herself towards the door. A long, scattered line of dark blood following her line a snail trail.
“Hahaaaa’ah shit, sweetheart. Where’d you think yur goin’? Ain’t nothing out there but moldy freaks with them teeth waitin’ fer ya,” he laughed at her, hamming it up as his gut pulled when she merely whimpered and pulled herself another few inches across the floor.
Badass, bitch. Smart and sturdy and cute… didn’t find many of those anymore. Not that Lucas would know really. He never did get out much before Evie showed up - didn’t do much talking to girls even before he was labeled the crazy head.
Lucas swallowed and knelt down beside her, pulling at her ankle. She howled, hissed and threw a fist into his face. Took him by surprise, but it was weak and barely did more than sting. He hadn’t meant to pull at the busted leg like that.
Didn’t matter, though. He was gonna fix her, and she could hit him all she wanted if it made her feel better, Lucas could take it even if she broke his jaw. He gave her a hard look and poured the bottle’s cool, slick contents over her thigh.
Those wet blues fluttered closed, as the shit took effect.
“… I can feel my bones snapping.”
Lucas grinned, biting his lip to keep most of the infectious glee inside until he could breathe it back down, “Yeah, how about that? Feelin’ pretty good by now I reckon.”
She twisted at the waist, running a hand over her healed thigh before giving him a calculating look, “I-I don’t understand.”
“Bout what?”
“Everything,” she whispered, pulling her legs in, laying an arm over her chest with a slight blush. Guess now that she wasn’t in so much pain she had enough sense to be embarrassed by her tits hanging free. Lucas liked lookin’ at ‘em, but that free fun was over. If he’d wanted to keep ogling her, he coulda just kept her in the horse stall. Naw, Lucas wanted her - wanted to hug her close and wash away the blood and dirty, pat the wounds dry and kiss them better. It was real fuckin’ sappy and stupid and yet he didn’t bother worrying about it now that her leg was healed.
“T-this,” she started, inhaling brutally as Lucas dared put a hand on his calf, “you can’t kill her, take her away from me like that - you can’t snap my fucking leg in half and throw me in some damn pig pen and… and… and feed me candy like some pet and now this?!”
Lucas frowned, feeling like someone had a knife stuck in his stomach, giving it a good wiggle with each seething word.  She shook and cried silent tears, staring heatedly at him while he sat there frozen, just wanting to wrap his arm around her.
As more grief poured outta her, her lips started to quiver like they were hooked up to car batteries, “That asshole h-he killed 'er and now you wanna… just do it already! Just do it!”
Her fists coiled and like a feral cat, she came at him, throwing a jab at his chest and another up into his chin.
Lucas hissed, grabbing at her wrists and pulled her up over his thighs, keeping her claws out of his eyes as she trembled and sobbed; leaking wet tears down into his lap. The only crying girl he’d helped was Zoe when they were teenagers when some cunt had called her fat during lunch. This was… Lucas tried to stop looking at her tits as they bounced while she cried - sought to halt the boner from growing between his legs as her hair tickled the back of his hands. Her eyes opened wide, stared up at him, and suddenly she collapsed into his chest; sniffling.
“Ain’t gonna rape ya…” he told her; pretty lame sounding in truth, but he wasn’t sure what to do with a crazy chick in his lap, curling her fingers around his sides… hugging him hatefully. Bitch was insane, but Lucas couldn’t ignore the warmth he felt as she held him around the middle, trying to suck some sort of comfort from him.
Lucas found himself wrapping his arms around her, holding her bare shoulders, rubbing her shivering, naked back as she whimpered into his chest. Shit circumstances and all, but Lucas loved every second of the contact. She was warm and soft…
“Shh… Hush, now,” he muttered, doing what his Mama used to do for him when he had nightmares… or scuffed up his knees on the stairs. The words just sorta came out without much thought to it, and before Lucas knew what was happenin’, he was whispering sweet nothings to this chick while she breathed easy against him. There on the floor, he held her, feeling her heart thud gently against his stomach.
It was the first real intimate contact he’d had since Eveline showed up, long before that even…and suddenly he couldn’t get enough of it. Lucas groaned, pulling her up and cradled her carefully in his lap. She only struggled for a second before sinking into his arms silently, breathing slow and gentle. Lucas inhaled the stale, blood tinged smell of her hair, found something sweet buried underneath the dirt and sighed.
“Thanks,” he muttered; lips on her scalp. Down beside his stomach, he felt a soft touch, like a thumb brushing the jut of his ribs and shuddered in pleasure.
If this was how good it felt to be held - to hold - and offer comfort then Lucas decided he wasn’t gonna let his Pa get this one. Lucas was gonna keep her safe and sound, and she wasn’t ever gonna feel pain again. If he had to kill ‘em all… he’d do it, just to keep her from cryin’ ever again.
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