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welllpthisishappening · 4 years

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First-Line Center, Part One

She hadn’t read the invitation.

It hadn’t changed in years, after all - a set of rules and expectations for a New Year’s party that they were all going to break anyway because the most traditional thing about this team was flouting tradition. So, Emma had mostly ignored it. Until. A shout and Killian refusing to wear a tie and something crashing in her kitchen, one kid worried about another and she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was missing something.

There was a joke about fresh ice to be made, she was sure.

—–

Word Count: 5.3 K Rating: F for festive family feelz AN: Happy New Year, internet! I wrote this last year, never posted it, remembered it existed today and was, like…let’s throw some words out there centered around the now-annual Mills-Locksley Fancy Dress Competition originally mentioned in We’ll Take a Cup (defense) of Kindness. Timeline wise, this is 2049, which makes everyone in the next-gen adults. Matt: 31, Peggy: 28, Chris: 21, Roland, 39, Henry 45, Lizzie 32, Leo 28. Plus mention of next-gen kids having….their own next-gen kids. This is the AU that will not end. Or I won’t let it end. Semantics.

Anyway, thanks for another year of letting me throw all those aforementioned words at you. It’s real nice.

|| Also on Ao3 if that’s how you roll, with part two coming tomorrow ||

—–

“Mom! Mom! Mom!” Emma’s eyes darted towards the mirror in front of her, only to be met with a grin that was already drifting far too close to a smirk to be entirely fair. “You need to finish getting ready,” she mumbled, but that earned her a chuckle and twist of eyebrows and Killian didn’t get off the bed.

“What if we didn’t go?” he asked.

“You say that every year.” “I mean it this year. Honestly, what if we didn’t go? Who’s going to say anything?” “You want me to list it in alphabetical order or just by people I think would actually show up in person and threaten bodily harm with a stick?” Killian groaned, head dropping slightly and there was still a voice calling for her downstairs. “Mom,” Chris yelled again, and the voice was very clearly moving to a different room. “I’m taking food! Just so you know.” Emma’s eyes were going to get stuck mid-roll. She twisted her arm, trying to pull up a zipper that seemed intent on dislocating her shoulder and, all things considered, it shouldn’t have made her stomach swoop when that got Killian to move, but it did and his fingers were warm when they tugged hers away.

“The lungs on that kid, huh?” he laughed, smile still obvious when he brushed his lips behind her ear. Emma grinned, letting herself lean against his chest and something crashed downstairs. Killian groaned. “If you break anything down there, I’m going to pull whatever you’re eating out of your hands!”

“God bless us, everyone,” Emma muttered at the same time Chris shouted “nothing is broken!”

Killian’s hand moved, wrapping around the curve of Emma’s hip, but he didn’t actually try and shift her away from him. Also nice. Still. Perpetually. Indefinitely.

They were going to be late. Maybe that was the real tradition.

“Also,” Chris added, the seventh step on the staircase creaking traitorously when he, presumably, bounded up it. “It’s pretty lame that you guys were, one, not responding to my very real greeting and, two—” He stopped abruptly, crossing his arms over his dress shirt as soon as he froze in the middle of the open doorway and the curls on his forehead were far too close to his eyebrows to be entirely professional.

“Aw, c’mon,” Chris groaned, a scrunch of his nose that was oddly familiar.

Killian chuckled, resting his cheek against the side of Emma’s hair. He still hadn’t moved his hand. Or put his tie on. And neither had their kid. “Where’s your tie?” Killian asked. “Were you guys flirting and ignoring me?” “What’d you break in the kitchen?” “Nothing!” “What’d you eat in the kitchen?” Emma amended, mumbling a not quite quiet if you mess up my hair I’ll kill you under her breath. They were never going to get out of the brownstone.

Chris shrugged. “Not much. We want to circle back around on the ignoring, or…” “Do you not have food at home?” “Eh. I have—bread? Maybe some bread.”

The nose scrunch thing had to stop. It was unnerving.

Emma reached out her hand, brushing away curls and ignoring Chris’ grumbling. “You’ll cope. Do you and your brother do this on purpose?” “Matt has food,” Chris said. “The hair thing.”

She moved her fingers again, trying without much success to get Chris’ hair to lay flat and the kid in front of her wasn’t much of a kid anymore. He was an almost-finished-with-college adult, who absolutely should have cut his hair and found food long before going several blocks further downtown for a New Year’s Eve extravaganza that, somehow, got more extravagant every year.

There were too many people on this team.

“Nothing, huh?” Emma pressed, and Chris scowled when he caught her around the wrist. She found it wholly unfair that she had the worst reflexes of anyone.

“Mom, Mom, stop, listen—” Chris stammered, trying to pull away without losing his balance and must have taken his jacket off when he came in. She hoped he’d taken his jacket off. Regina wouldn’t let him in without a jacket. “Mom,” he repeated, dragging out the letters until he sounded nearly a decade younger and Killian was going to do damage to his throat if he kept laughing like that.

“You’re no help at all,” Emma sighed. She could feel Killian’s answering shrug.

“I’m not trying to help,” he said. “I’m trying to make sure a kid who doesn’t live here anymore isn’t going to continue to eat us out of house and home. Because he doesn’t live here. In this house. He lives in his own apartment. With his own groceries.” Chris made a face. Maybe they were time traveling. “Yeah, you’ve made your point, Dad. Badly and kind of…clunkily, but it’s there.” “Is clunkily a word?” “I really don’t think so.” “The education is just absolutely thriving then, isn’t it?” “I took one freshman English class,” Chris said. “I cannot possibly be expected to remember every aspect of a language that doesn’t ever make sense. Maybe we just invented a word. All about context, right?” “Something like that.” “Where’s your tie, Dad?” “I haven’t worn a tie to this ridiculous thing since it started,” Killian answered. “And I’m certainly not going to start now.” “It’s because it makes Gina mad,” Emma muttered conspiratorially. Her arm was starting to ache, still held up awkwardly in the air as Chris rocked back on his heels again. “Why are you here, kid? Honestly.” Chris made a dismissive noise – and eventually, Emma was sure, it wouldn’t be totally alarming to see both her and Killian’s mannerisms reflected back so well by all three of their kids, but one of their kids also scored a goal that was eerily similar to one she remembered seeing several decades before on Garden ice, so, that was probably just the way of the world now.

“Not an answer,” Killian said, the words taking that very specific tone. Chris stuck his tongue out when he gagged, twisting around Emma and collapsing dramatically onto the bed.

He knocked, at least, six pillows on the floor.

“You going to pick those up or you just leaving a trail of complete and utter destruction across the whole house?”

“Oh my God,” Chris grumbled. His head was hanging off the far side of the bed. There were probably curls in his eyes. “You are the single most dramatic parental figure in the history of the world, you know that?”

“I’m aware,” Killian promised, knocking his knees against Chris’ outstretched legs. “So, let’s have it, Christopher. The whole truth now, if you please.”

“Captain voice.” “You know this thing is catered.” Chris sighed, propping himself up on his elbows and something in the back of Emma’s mind startled at that — like it was years ago and they were taking turns interrogating kids about the questionable amount of mischief they were prone to getting into.

It ran the gamut.

For years.

Running through Riverside Park and skating at the Piers, even after Chris decided he didn’t want to play anymore, signs and cheers and track and field events. And Matt cursed under his breath about Serendipity III every year, but Emma knew he took both Peggy and Chris there on his off day a few days before Christmas.

They were never quite horsemen, but their own brand of something entirely original because the Jones Line knew just about everything about each other, a mess of familial emotions and a bond that got stronger the older they got and—

Killian clicked his tongue.

“It should not be that easy for you to do that,” Chris grumbled, Killian nodding in agreement.

“I’ve had some time to practice, you see.” “Something to be said for multiple reps.” “That was funny.” “Yuh huh.”

“If you think this is going to make me forget about getting an answer out of you, you’ve got another thing coming,” Killian warned, and Chris was going to wrinkle his shirt. That was another reason he needed a jacket.

“I never once thought you were going to forget,” Chris promised. “Did you read this year’s rules? Because they’re—it’s insane. The invitation is insane.”

“It’s a creative outlet for Gina. And that’s still not going to work, Christopher.” “Doubling down on the full name, huh?” “We thought you were going downtown with your sister.”

“The invitation is kind of my segue into this. And it’s not like P doesn’t know how to get downtown. She was going to hang out with Lizzie anyway and—” “—Did we not look at the invitations, ever?” Emma asked. Killian shrugged again, the movement barely registering before he turned towards the closet on the other side of the room, rifling through shirts and jackets and team-appropriate clothes and—

Chris’ left elbow gave out.

“Aw, c’mon,” he grumbled, gritting his teeth at the tie in Killian’s hand. “You’re not going to wear one! That’s not fair.” Emma shook her head. “You brought a jacket too, right?” “I know the rules.” “And are willing to follow some of them, I see.” “Well, I mean I did grow up with Dad, so…” He yelped when a pillow collided with his side, eyes barely more than slits, particularly with the strands of hair drifting dangerously close. “That is cheating,” Chris announced. “You are retired. You should not have that kind of arm strength. You taking lessons from Nolan?” Killian shot him an even look – far more dad than hockey player – and Chris bit his lip. “You are digging yourself in a very deep hole here, kid. Put the tie on.”

“Aye, aye, Cap.”

“You missed a very obvious thin ice joke,” Emma added, trying to remember where, exactly, they’d put that year’s invitation. She hoped it wasn’t in the kitchen.

She hoped the kitchen wasn’t a disaster area.

Killian sighed, but it wasn’t the put-upon sound it probably should have been. It was almost endeared and slightly charmed because their kid didn’t live in that brownstone anymore, but he was still theirs in a way that was far less possessive than it sounded and—

Chris couldn’t tie his tie.

“Move your hands,” Killian muttered, swatting at fingers and tugging on fabric and Emma was only slightly surprised and absolutely endeared and it only took a few seconds for the stupid thing to be perfectly knotted.

“Thanks,” Chris mumbled, a quiet hum from Killian.

“We’ll work on sentence structure and tie-tying techniques before you graduate, huh?” “Aim high.” “Only if you tell me and Mom why you tried to break the kitchen apart.” “There was no breaking,” Chris groaned. He fell forward – more repeats and something about title defenses probably that might not have made sense, but Emma never really knew what to do with her brain and her entire soul when she watched Killian go full-on dad, so…she figured it was probably some kind of English language wash.

“Then there was…” “I was not kidding about only having bread. Or a tie. Do you want this back?” Killian’s eyebrows moved. Emma assumed. She was still trying to figure out where the invitation was. “Fine, fine, fine,” Chris continued, “we’ve got to talk about the rules for this year’s thing because I think Rol got ahold of them and — ” “—Wait, what?” “I’m going to tell Aunt Gina you didn’t look at the invitation.” Killian clicked his teeth, glancing over his shoulder at Emma. She lifted both her hands, shaking her head and there was no way her hair was going to be able to hold up to an entire night of fancy dress competition.

“I didn’t read it,” Emma admitted. “It’s been the same since the dawn of time, hasn’t it?” “You’ll make us sound old, love.” “We get the invitation, we acknowledge how much Gina probably spent on the invitation and the overall thickness of the paper, you tell me you don’t want to go and then we show up late.” “We’re going to be so late,” Chris added. “It’s like…almost seven thirty. Leo kept texting me on my way over here.” “Are you ignoring Leo?” Chris waved a dismissive hand, but that only served to affect his slightly precarious balance. More pillows fell on the floor. “It’s not like I’m not going to see him. Also because he’s worried about bringing that girl with him.” “Leo is bringing a girl?” Emma asked sharply, Chris grinning like several metaphorical and literary cats. Killian didn’t move. “Did you know that? “Eh.” “What does eh mean? Exactly?” “Eh means he totally knew,” Chris muttered, and that time he blocked the pillow. His ha sounded far too much like Emma’s. “Who’d you hear it from? And why didn’t you say anything? Oh, oh, do you know the girl’s name? Leo won’t tell me because he thinks I’m going to tell P and P can’t keep a secret to save her life and—” “You’ve got to breathe, kid,” Killian laughed. “And I found out from your sister, so…” Chris’ laugh sounded impossibly loud. “Oh shit, Leo is going to be so mad. How did P know?” “I have no idea, but I think it had something to do with Ruby and—” “—Ru knew?” “Was that rhyme intentional?” “And how does this direct us back to the rules change?” Emma asked, only slightly determined to get the conversation back on track. She really didn’t want to be too late. There was a science to all of this.

Chris squeezed on eye shut, pressing the tip of his tongue to the corner of his mouth. “You really didn’t look? Seriously it had to be Rol. I don’t think it was Henry.” It took her another moment to find the invitation - stuffed in between files and folders and Toys for Tots campaign pages because Garden of Dreams existed on a completely different level during the entire month of December and— “Oh shit,” Emma breathed, ignoring her kid’s reprimand at her decidedly emotional response. She felt Killian behind her before she turned around, chin hooked over her shoulder and arm around her middle and the scoff in her ear nearly made Emma shiver.

“That may be the best response, honestly.” The Thirty-Second Annual Mills-Locksley Fancy Dress Competition and New Year’s Eve Party. Or the other way around depending on who you ask. The Rules. And we’re going to follow them this year. Honestly.

You must arrive downtown no later than 7:30. This rule is for you Cap, don’t be late.

You must be wearing an outfit that would be acceptable at the NHL Awards or Casino Night. No t-shirts. No team-branded.

There will be awards for things, but don’t make this weird Scarlet.

If Scarlet doesn’t make it weird, he will get an award. For not being weird.

You are encouraged to bring your own alcohol.

You are required to bring your own alcohol.

You are not allowed to talk point totals, standings, Cup defense, or, at any point during the night, start teaching Henry and Rol Lucy, McKenzie or Noah how to check. Seriously, Scarlet, no.

And honestly you too, Cap. It’s not cute anymore.

We will all pretend like any of us have interests outside the aforementioned non-discussable points.

You will leave by one in the morning because you have to be on the ice in Central Park on New Year’s Day are old. Not us, but the rest of you. You’re old.

Matt will stop being so weird and will stop suggesting that his obvious frustration it’s just a regular-stretch of thing. You’re a lock for the Rocket. Stop it.

Emma read the last point. And read it again. And chewed on the side of her lip.

“Huh,” Killian said. “It’s not very subtle, is it?” Chris made a noise in the affirmative. “That’s what I’m saying! It’s definitely Rol. Or Lizzie, but I don’t think she’d desecrate the invitations.” “She’d just tell Matt that.” “I will bet you five-thousand dollars she’s done that already,” Emma said, head falling against Killian’s collarbone and there were dress buttons digging into her back.

“I brought it up, Swan. That doesn’t even make any sense.” “Can we focus, please?” Chris snapped, feet slamming back onto the floor when he stood up and Emma hadn’t been entirely prepared for the serious portion of the conversation.

“Should we be?” she asked.

Chris grimaced, half a shrug and half a groan and Emma’s eyes flitted towards Killian’s again on several decades worth of parental experience. “Is that what you were actually worried about?” he asked. “You think Matt’s being weird about scoring goals?” “I don’t know.” “Nope, try again.” “Dad!” “We’re already going to get yelled at by Gina for being late and I’ve only got marginal interest in watching David meet Leo’s girlfriend—” “—I don’t know if they’re using official labels yet, that’s kind of why he was freaking out and—” “—Not part of the equation, kid,” Killian finished. He kicked out slightly, a more impressive display of balance than whatever Chris had tried to accomplish and it only ended with more sighing and another ridiculous twist of eyebrows. “C’mon. You think he’s nervous about what? Awards? That’s not Matt’s game.” “I know, that’s the weird part. I called after the game yesterday to tell him to stop stealing all your moves and he barely said two words to me. He didn’t even take the bait.” “You were baiting him?” Emma asked. “To do what?”

The flush that appeared on Chris’ cheeks was almost immediate and only slightly jarring — far too red to be entirely healthy when his teeth dug back into his lower lip. “It’s just..it’s not a big deal. He’s, well…P and I, you know, sometimes make jokes. About him stealing Dad’s moves and similarities and it’s—it’s not important. It’s fine.” “Sure it is.” “The major part is that he didn’t say anything! He barely acknowledged the joke or the win and he always fires back. It’s messing with my head.” “It’s messing with your head that your brother didn’t want to…what?” Emma shrugged. “Trade barbs with you over the phone?” “That’s the oldest sounding sentence I’ve heard heard, love,” Killian chuckled, a kiss to her temple and Regina was going to murder them. “I think the right phrase is trash talk.” “Yeah, well you don’t have a college degree.” “I have yet to see proof it’s served any of the other individuals in this room any good.” “Wow, that is scathing, Dad,” Chris grinned. He was picking up pillows. “All I’m saying is, something is going on with Matt and I’m not the only one who’s noticed. So, I guess I was double checking.” Killian tilted his head. “With us?” “You guys read minds. It’s not that unreasonable a thought process.” “Was that a compliment or…” “Jeez,” Chris groaned, standing up and pushing his fingers into his hair and Emma wasn’t sure who made what noise louder – her laugh or Killian’s gasp. “Whatever. Wait until we get downtown. I bet Matt wants to be there even less than you guys do.” “I’ll take that bet.” “What are you going to get me when I win?” “Bold of you to assume you’re going to win,” Killian muttered, straightening Chris’ tie while trying to direct him back towards the door.

The seventh step creaked on the way down too.

“Please, I’m telling you. Something is up with him and he’s doing a God awful job of keeping it a secret. I know, P knows, Rol obviously knows. I bet Henry’s already interrogating him.” “You’ve given this quite a lot of thought, haven’t you?” Emma asked, handing off several coats before shrugging into her own. She was already regretting her heels.

“Did you see that goal?” Emma nodded.

“Did you have thoughts about that goal?” Another nod.

“So did every other person in this family and none of them are going to think twice about telling Matt every single one of them. And then, I promise you, he’s going to do that stupid face thing he does—” “—Stupid face thing,” Killian echoed, closing the front door behind them and there was already a car waiting at the edge of the curb. They’d pointedly ignored the kitchen.

“Yes. Matt does that face thing all the time in post. Someone asks him a stupid question or points out that it’s been awhile since the Rangers have won a Cup and he goes all stoic, super serious and kind of hunches his shoulders and his lips get real thin. It’s ridiculous. It happens every single time.” “Are you keeping track of that?” Emma asked. There was not enough room in the backseat for all three of them.

They hadn’t been planning on having three of them in the backseat.

“See, it sounds weird when you say it like that, but it’s a things,” Chris said. “Go watch some of Matt’s post, especially in the last, like, two and a half weeks, or, you know what, ask Uncle Robin about it. I bet he’ll back me up.” Killian was doing a horrible job of not laughing. “Did he do the face thing while you were trying to trash talk him last night? There’s that phrase you were looking for again, Swan.” “Oh, shut up,” Emma mumbled.

“See, you think you’re being funny, but they’ve got this newfangled technology with video and I could actually see Matt make the face last night,” Chris muttered. “So, yeah, I did see him do the face thing and—in case you were wondering—” “—I promise I was not because I am not in the habit of gossiping about your brother.” “Just Leo Nolan with Peggy.” “That is not even remotely the same thing.” “Eh,” Chris and Emma said at the same time, a scandalized look on Killian’s face.

He mumbled a few choice curses under his breath, not all of them in English, but his fingers laced through Emma’s easily and she felt him exhale as soon as his lips ghosted over her temple. “That’s neither here nor there,” he said. “Finish the story, we’re almost here and all hell is going to break loose once Gina finds us.” “If there isn’t someone waiting for us as soon as we get outside,” Emma corrected. “Nah, that hasn’t happened in years.” “We haven’t been this late in years.” “And,” Chris interrupted, loud enough that the driver startled slightly in the front seat. “What I was getting to was that Claire wasn’t around at all when I called last night.” Emma tensed. Killian froze. The driver might have blinked.

“What?” Emma asked, slightly annoyed at the way her voice seemed to wobble over the word.

There was not enough room for Chris to shrug. He tried anyway. “I don’t know. P thinks it’s fine and I’m being stupid because, like, let’s all be honest with ourselves Matt is pretty obsessed with Claire and she’s way too good for him and—” “—You are horrible at getting to the point, Christopher,” Killian said.

“I really don’t think anything is actually wrong. I guess—well, he’s scoring all the time so I don’t think he’s hurt, but Matt’s being stupid about something and keeping secrets and I wanted a second opinion. Or forty-second opinion as the case may be.” “You asked forty people about this before you got to us? The people who actually raised you.” “It’s a rough estimate.” “An offensive estimate. Seriously, stop coming home to just eat our food.” “Don’t forget steal your ties too.” “I expect that back by midnight.” Chris chuckled lightly, swinging open the door when the driver announced they were here and there was definitely some type of body-type shadow lingering in the foyer. Killian cursed again.

“You’re not ever getting that tie back,” Emma said, taking Killian’s outstretched hand and she didn’t really need help out of a goddamn town car, but he also looked pretty goddamn good and it was very easy to be charmed.

Even in the thirty-second incarnation of a party most of them only ever begrudgingly agreed to.

It was because Scarlet made the contest weird.

Every year.

“Did I tell you how good you look yet?” Emma shook her head – a mix of emotions that felt slightly strange together because she hadn’t really noticed that anything was wrong with Matt, but maybe something was wrong with Matt and she could never really think straight when she noticed the grey at Killian’s temples. She rested her palms against the front of his jacket, shivering against the ever-present wind on Manhattan cross streets.

And it didn’t really take long, a duck of his head and a tilt of hers, several different voices barely audible when Emma’s lips caught Killian’s and maybe they should have stayed home.

Maybe they should ask their kid what was wrong.

Probably after the kissing.

Emma didn’t quite sigh – a fact she was immensely proud of – but it was dangerously close, a quiet exhale against Killian’s mouth as soon as his arm tightened around her waist. Her fingers found his hair with practiced ease, shifting to fit against his chest better or closer and the adverbs didn’t matter.

She’d graduated from college. She understood proper sentence structure.

Or at least she thought she did until Killian practically growled, hips flush against hers, and then any rational thought seemed to fly out of Emma’s brain entirely.

“God, that’s not even remotely fair,” Emma mumbled, not the complaint it sounded like.

Killian chuckled, another quick kiss and a hint of teeth as she tried to get enough oxygen back to her lungs to remain upright. “You look incredible, Swan. And nothing is wrong.” “Felt obligated to add that last one, huh?” “I’ve got a hunch.” “About?” “Stealing my moves.” Emma was half a second from asking what the hell that meant, but the voice was getting louder and more impatient and— “You know, I haven’t had to chase after you in awhile, little brother, I feel like it’s kind of out of our age range at this point.” Killian groaned, head falling onto the curve of Emma’s shoulder. “Go back upstairs.” “Nuh uh,” Liam said, clapping Killian on the back. “Hey, Em. Who tied your kid’s tie?” “Killian.” “Ah, no wonder. We’re going to have to fix that. Totally lopsided, vaguely horrible Windsor knot.” “Why do you know the name of tie knots off the top of your head?” Killian asked, not lifting his head away from Emma. She kissed his hair. “And did Chris go upstairs already?” Liam hummed. “Oh yeah, very determined and incredibly lopsided. Were you guys trying to set a record for lateness?”

“Is that a word?” Emma asked. “He also graduated college,” Killian said, shifting to sling an arm over Emma’s shoulders. Liam flipped him off. “I’d just like the record to show.” “Yeah, yeah, you’re hysterical,” Liam hissed. “Honestly, though, you lucked out because Gina is going full-on grandmother and I don’t think she even noticed you weren’t here yet?” “How did you end up down here then? Shouldn’t you also be fawning?” “No one is fawning over anything,” Liam argued, but that was probably the worst lie anyone had told all night.

“Try that again.” Liam deflated, swatting at Killian’s arm when he was met with rather uproarious laughter. “Oh shut up. Seriously. You do not get an opinion on this. You do not get to say a word about this because it’s only going to end with pointing out how old Locksley and I are and—” “—Did I say that? Swan, did I say that?” Emma shook her head. “I didn’t hear that at all. You know what it did sound like? It kind of sounded like Liam was a little worried about getting old. Did it sound like that to you?” “Sounded just like that to me. Weird.” “The weirdest.” “I’m going to lock both of you outside,” Liam sneered, but that only led to more laughter and another kiss to the top of Emma’s hair.

“This is not a threat I’m all that upset about,” Killian admitted. “The kid do anything particularly cute yet?”

Liam rolled his eyes, but the pride was practically palpable at that point and Noah Miller Locksley really was undeniably cute. It was the curls. Genetics or whatever. And regularly-scheduled haircuts. “Started practicing a pretty ridiculous looking wrister.” “Was that not breaking the rules? Who gave him the stick?” “One guess,” Emma mumbled.

“Scarlet?” Liam nodded. “And this didn’t send Gina into some kind of tailspin of—whatever?” “That’s eloquent,” Liam said. “Although I was kind of worried about that at first.”

“And then?” Liam raised his hands – not an obvious sign of defeat, but certainly getting there and it was definitely starting to get colder on that corner. Emma was, at least, four-hundred percent positive she was missing something. “Brace yourselves because it’s going to make you really upset that you weren’t here and were doing whatever it was you were doing instead.” “Kissing my wife?” “I’m not sure I appreciate you suggesting that should be something he regrets, Liam,” Emma smiled, more than ready for the grimace anyone with a Jones last name should have already patented. “Alright, we’ll bite. What happened?” “Matt helped.” Emma blinked. “What? “Matt helped. With the wrister. There was a whole thing. I bet Lizzie’ll show you the pictures and Mary Margaret might have taken video. She was talking to that girl Leo brought, but—” “She have a name?” Killian interrupted, hissing when Liam kicked at his ankles. “God, c’mon, that’s a reasonable question.” “Your kid was doing something painfully adorable with my grandkid and you want to talk about whatsherface?” “I mean…maybe not if her name is actually whatsherface?” “Her name’s Harper,” Emma said. She jerked back when she was met with another round of identical expressions and they really needed to go inside. Her dress, while good at prompting makeouts and compliments from her husband, was not conducive to spending more than a few minutes on Fifth Avenue. “I was curious,” she added, holding her phone in her hand. “And good at texting Reese’s while it was still in my coat.” “That is genuinely impressive, Swan.” “Flattery will get you everywhere, Cap.” “Are you surprised that Chris literally ran away from you guys?” Liam asked. “And you’re really missing the point here.” Killian nodded seriously – moving around Liam and bringing Emma with him and that feeling was back in the pit of her stomach and the corners of her brain, missing something or waiting for something else and she absolutely sighed when the heat from the building seemed to wrap itself around her. “Are we missing the point, you think?” she asked, glancing back up at another smirk and a certainty that was years in the making.

“Nah.” “Try that again.” “Are you disappointed we missed the cute?” “Reese’s promised she took video. So, I mean—well, kind of.” “I knew it.” “Yeah, yeah,” Emma grumbled. “You’re a great mind reader. I’m just—” “I really don’t think anything is wrong with Matt, love,” Killian said, another answer to a question she hadn’t asked and the mind reader thing was only supposed to be slightly accurate. “He’s breaking rules. That’s got to be a sign of something good.” “That’s the least parental thing you’ve ever said.” “Ah, well…” She didn’t let him finish, ignoring the flush of pain in both her calves and, somehow, only one of her heels when she pushed up, appreciating his soft sound of surprise when she kissed him.

“You look really good too, Cap,” Emma mumbled, tugging lightly on the edge of his zipper. He never actually put a tie on.

“Gross,” Liam shouted as he brushed by them, slamming a finger into the elevator button and grumbling about he better not have missed anything else.

“Obsessed with his grandkid,” Killian said. “C’mon, love, let’s go make fun of El too. I bet she cried or something ridiculous.”

#cs ff #captain swan #captain swan ff #captain swan fic #cs fic #blue line one shot #just ignore the age problems in the banner #pretend they're past new year's eve parties #instead let's focus on chris jones: sass master #laura writes captain swan #laura writes

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onhowtobecrazy · 5 years

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I love (3) boss ass butchs and their boss ass bitch girlfriends...

#i especially wonder what would happen if you put starbuck and carol in one room #the butch would be off the charts #emma swan #regina mills #kara thrace #laura roslin #carol danvers #maria rambeau #swan queen #kara x laura #carol x maria #ouat #bsg #captain marvel #i don't know why im posting this instead of writing #but it just wouldn't get out of my mind #wlw #couldn't find a decent screencap of maria on google im so mad

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rckflg · 2 years

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CHARCTER MASTERPOST

enjoy :) hope you like this free food

i will link each character’s masterlist in this post

MOVIE MASTERLIST

STAR WARS UNIVERSE

han solo

princess leia

luke skywalker

padme amidala

anakin skywalker

obi wan kenobi

kylo ren

general hux

poe dameron

rose tico

finn

boba fett

fennec shand

din djarin

paz vizsla

cobb vanth

HARRY POTTER & FANTASTIC BEASTS

harry potter

hermione granger

ron weasley

ginny weasley

george weasley

fred weasley

charlie weasley

bill weasley

neville longbottom

oliver wood

seamus finnegan

dean thomas

cedric diggory

luna lovegood

cho chang

fleur delacour

pansy parkinson

viktor krum

voldemort/tom riddle

bellatrix lestrange

fenrir greyback

lucius malfoy

narcissa malfoy

igor karkaroff

barty crouch sr

barty crouch jr

professor severus snape

alastor moody

sirius black

remus lupin

nymphador tonks

newt scamander

theseus scamander

MARVEL & X-MEN

black widow / natasha romanov

yelena belova

hulk / bruce banner

antman / scott lang

tasm!spiderman / peter parker

hawkeye / clint barton

hawkeye / kate bishop

echo / maya lopez

kazi

nebula

daredevil / matt murdock

mobius m. mobius

deadpool / wade wilson

negasonic teenage warhead / ellie phimister

cable / nathan summers

domino / neena thurman

storm / ororo munroe

mystique / raven darkholm

wolverine / james howlett / logan

rogue / anna marie

phoenix / jean grey

cyclops / scott summers

havok / alex summers

jubilee / jubilation lee

banshee / sean cassidy

quicksilver / pietro maximoff

angel / warren worthington

x-23 / laura kinney

magik / illyana rasputina

wolfsbane / rahne sinclair

mirage / dani moonstar

nightcrawler / kurt wagner

magneto / erik lensher

please let me know which version of the x-men characters you would like me to write for when requesting

BIRDS OF PREY

harley quinn

huntress

black canary

renee montoya

victor zsasz

THE SUICIDE SQUAD (1&2)

harley quinn

rick flag

captain boomerang

polka-dot man

ratcatcher 2

bloodsport

peacemaker

LORD OF THE RINGS

merry brandybuck

pippin took

aragorn

legolas

gimli

arwen

boromir

faramir

elrond

eomer

eowyn

haldir

THE HOBBIT

bilbo baggins

thorin oakenshield

kili

fili

dwalin

THE LOST BOYS

david

marko

paul

dwayne

star

michael emerson

STAND BY ME

ace merill

denny lachance

eyeball chambers

billy tessio

TWILIGHT

carlisle cullen

esme cullen

alice cullen

jasper hale

rosalie hale

emmett cullen

edward cullen

bella swan

charlie swan

billy black

jacob black

seth clearwater

leah clearwater

paul lahote

sam uley

TELEVISION SHOW MASTERLIST

THE MAGICIANS

eliot waugh

quentin coldwater

julia wicker

alice quinn

margo hansen

penny adiyodi

kady orloff-diaz

mariana andrieski

henry fogg

fen

PENNY DREADFUL

vanessa ives

ethan chandler

dorian gray

brona croft

victor frankenstein

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY

vanya hargreeves

klaus hargreeves

luther hargreeves

allison hargreeves

diego hargreeves

ben hargreeves

lila pitts

CHARMED (1998)

piper halliwell

pheobe halliwell

prue halliwell

paige halliwell

leo wyatt

cole turner

CHARMED (2018)

macy vaughn

mel vera

maggie vera

harry greenwood

abigael cain

niko hamada

PEAKY BLINDERS

tommy shelby

john shelby

arthur shelby

ada shelby

finn shelby

polly gray

alfie solomons

luca changretta

aberama gold

bonnie gold

johnny dogs

STRANGER THINGS

jim hopper

joyce byers

dr alexei

robin buckley

steve harrington

billy hargrove

max mayfield

NETFLIX’S DRACULA

dracula

SHAMELESS (US)

fiona gallagher

ian gallagher

carl gallagher

debbie gallagher

lip gallagher

mickey milkovich

kevin ball

veronica fisher

male!reader platonic &/or smut & fem!platonic!reader only for ian & mickey

CRIMINAL MINDS

spencer reid

penelope garcia

luke alvez

aaron hotchner

elle greenway

kate callahan

CARNIVAL ROW

rhycroft philostrate

vignette stonemass

tourmaline

GRIMM

nick burkhardt

hank griffin

captain sean renard

seargent wu

monroe

rosalee calvert

adalind schade

trubel

N0S4A2

vic mcqueen

maggie leigh

tabitha hutter

DOCTOR WHO & TORCHWOOD

9th doctor

10th doctor

11th doctor

12th doctor

13th doctor

simm!master

missy / gomez!master

dhawan!master

rose tyler

yazmin khan

river song

bill potts

nardole

captain jack harkness

toshiko sato

owen harper

MISCELLANIOUS

PEDRO PASCAL

the mandalorian / din djarin

javier pena

maxwell lord

whiskey / jack daniels

dave york

fransisco ‘catfish’ morales

marcus moreno

OSCAR ISAAC

poe dameron

nathan (ex machina)

apocalypse / en sabah nur

kane (annihilation)

gomez addams ; platonic!reader or familial!reader only

JOEL KINNAMAN

rick flag

takeshi kovacs

pete koslow

erik heller

stephen holder

ed baldwin

ANDREW GARFIELD

tasm!spiderman / peter parker

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searchingwardrobes · 4 years

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Not the Type: 1/7

Here it is, my contribution to the @captainswanmoviemarathon ! Aka, the Bring it On AU no one asked for. I have a love/hate relationship with this movie. On the one hand, I love it as a rom com. On the other hand, as a sports movie, it’s awful. I was a cheerleader myself, and did a brief stint coaching, so I have some issues with this movie. First of all, where is the coach?!? Can you imagine a male driven sports movie without a coach? Remember the Titans with no coach? Glory Road with no coach? Miracle with no coach? I mean, come on! And do you really think a high school is gonna let their students do stunts that can potentially cause paralysis or death without adult supervision? And while they do portray the cheerleaders as athletes, in my opinion, they still hyper-sexualize them. The girls are also way too catty with each other. I can tell you from personal experience, that you need massive trust to do those stunts. Just sayin. Anyway, this whole soap box is to say that this is a LOOSE adaptation of Bring it On written by someone who loves the sport it portrays. But don’t worry, this modern day Lieutenant Duckling AU will have plenty of fluff, feels, flirty banter, and epic kisses. I would like to say this is the cheerleading version of @welllpthisishappening ‘s Blue Line universe, but I don’t pretend to be that brilliant. Laura’s writing did inspire me as I wrote this “sports fic,” however, so massive props to her: the queen of sports writing!

Massive thanks to the mods of the Captain Swan Movie Marathon event as well as all of the other writers. The discord chats have been a blast - especially when you all helped me brainstorm a title for this. Thanks to @hookedonapirate for being an awesome beta and to @rumdrum91 for giving the first chapter a quick once over even while you are insanely busy.

This fic is about . . . 85% complete? It will be updated every Saturday. I’ll shut up now and get to the point . . .

Summary: Emma Swan first notices him in the stands at the Friday night football game. She can tell right away Killian Jones is not the football type. Then again, she's not the cheerleader type either, but here she is with pom poms. Life hasn't ever gone the way Emma planned. Lately, that's actually been a good thing. Maybe Killian Jones is a good thing, too.

Rated: T

Also on Ao3

Tagging: @snowbellewells @whimsicallyenchantedrose @kmomof4 @let-it-raines @teamhook @bethacaciakay @xhookswenchx @tiganasummertree @shireness-says @stahlop @scientificapricot @welllpthisishappening @resident-of-storybrooke @thislassishooked @ilovemesomekillianjones @kday426 @ekr032-blog-blog @lfh1226-linda @ultraluckycatnd @nikkiemms @optomisticgirl @profdanglaisstuff @carpedzem @ohmakemeahercules @branlovestowrite @superchocovian @sherlockianwhovian @vvbooklady1256 @hollyethecurious @winterbaby89 @delirious-latenight-laughs @jennjenn615 @snidgetsafan @spartanguard @itsfabianadocarmo

Bounce left, bounce right. Two hip shakes. Roger rabbit, Roger Rabbit. Bobby Brown, Bobby Brown. Cabbage patch. Electric slide. Repeat.

Emma repeated the steps to the dance like a mantra in her head. A cheerleader was supposed to smile all the time, but she couldn’t conjure one up as she bounced through the choreography that dated back to 1989. Okay, maybe they threw in the cabbage patch in 1994, but still. This shit was old.

The band sped up as they played through another round of “Louie, Louie,” and the cheerleading squad was racing through the dance like a tape on fast forward. The band thought it was hilarious and never ceased to tire of the schtick.

Emma was doing what felt like her hundredth Roger Rabbit when she caught sight of him. A large book half covered his face, so she could still see his arched brow and smirk. She held his gaze as she went into her Bobby Browns, and he lowered his book, still staring openly, a crooked grin filling his face. Was he mocking her? She stared him down as she did the cabbage patch, and his eyes widened. She tilted her chin as she went into the electric slide, and his tongue swiped his lips.

“Louie, Louie” finally, mercifully, ended. Emma whipped her ponytail as she broke the guy’s stare. She bounced up and down, waving her pom poms and shouting “Go Knights!” Mary Margaret had finally gotten her to stop rolling her eyes.

“Well look at you, Emma Swan,” Ruby said as they all turned to watch the game and cheer the offense.

“What?” Emma stood at attention, just like all the other girls, her poms on her hips.

“Don’t play dumb, Emma,” Ashley quipped on her other side. “We’re better at it than you.”

“That guy,” Ruby explained. “You were having cheer sex with him.”

“Cheer sex? Seriously?”

Emma tossed her poms down to the ground and tightened her ponytail angrily. She hated football season.

🏈 🏈 🏈 🏈 🏈 🏈

“Fancy meeting you here.”

Emma whirled around to find herself face to face with the guy she was definitely not having cheer sex with. Whatever the hell that was. She rolled her eyes. Mary Margaret couldn’t do anything about it during half time.

“Just because I’m baring my midriff and my skirt barely covers my hips doesn’t give you permission to ogle me.”

His blue eyes widened. Very blue, actually. No! It didn’t matter if his eyes were pretty; he was a creep.

“You misunderstand me, love.”

“Not your love.” Though he did have a hot accent. What? No! Nothing about him was hot.

He sighed. “Look, I couldn’t help watching you. All the other girls had fake smiles, but you . . . “ he shrugged. “You looked like you hated being here as much as I do.”

Emma blinked in surprise, and her gaze darted to the hardback copy of The Two Towers clutched in his hand. She also took in his slightly disheveled hair, slender build, and Pink Floyd t-shirt. Clearly not the football type.

The students in line behind them for the concession stand grumbled for them to move, so they both shuffled forward.

Emma smiled apologetically and extended her hand. “Emma Swan.”

“Killian Jones.”

“So, what are doing here, hipster?”

He chuckled and ducked his head. He looked a lot more bashful than he had in the stands.

“Granny insisted I put down my guitar, stop singing depressing songs, and get my ass here to support my foster siblings. Her words exactly.”

Emma’s eyes widened. “You’re Ruby’s new foster brother!”

He leaned closer and winked. “Guilty as charged.”

******************************************************

“Cheer sex, Ruby!” Emma snapped as she returned from the concession stand with her bottle of water and bag of pretzels. She lifted the items up on auto-pilot for Coach Ava’s approval, which she received. The Coach insisted on healthy snacks during games and practice. Some of the girls chafed at the rule, but Emma had no problem with it. The last thing she wanted was someone hurling from the top of a pyramid because they had just wolfed down chili cheese fries or something.

“What?” Ruby asked before taking a bite of the apple in her hand.

“Cheer sex,” Emma repeated, “with your foster brother? Ew!”

Ruby rolled her eyes as she chewed and swallowed. “Let me emphasize the foster part. If you wanna bang Killian, I won’t stop you.”

Emma let out a groan of frustration as several of the other girls giggled. “I’m not banging anyone.”

“Exactly! And why is that, Emma?”

“Leave her alone,” Mary Margaret admonished. “Just banging someone isn’t what she needs.”

Emma appreciated Mary Margaret’s positivity - usually - but she wasn’t in the mood for another speech on true love. “I’d actually prefer a complete change of topic.”

“Good,” the girls jumped at the sound of Coach Ava’s voice behind them, “because you only have five minutes left of half time to finish those snacks. Which is kind of hard to do when you’re yapping.”

“Okay, coach,” the girls grumbled good-naturedly. They all loved Ava, and not just because she was Mary Margaret’s mom. She really cared about all of them and was both tough and fair as a coach. Better even than some of the gymnastics coaches Emma had had. Emma had never planned on being a cheerleader, but Emma was used to things in her life not going according to plan. That was usually for the worst, but lately she had to admit it had been for the better. She hadn’t planned on being adopted by the Nolans, either, and that had been the best thing to ever happen to her. When the social worker brought her to her new foster mother, Ruth, and foster brother, David, she had fully expected it to be nothing more than yet another brief stay. She hadn’t expected to be loved.

She hadn’t expected to love in return.

Emma tossed her empty pretzel bag into the trash can near the stadium stairs. She took another swig of her water, then tossed the bottle into her cheer bag that was monogrammed with her name and a megaphone. It was cheesy and matched the bags of all the other girls.

She hadn’t expected to like this group of girls, either. Hadn’t expected to find a group of athletes, but she did. Yes, since age thirteen, life had been surprising her rather than throwing her curveballs. Maybe thirteen was actually her lucky number. Now she was seventeen and had an actual family in addition to fifteen sisters.

With pom poms.

🏈 🏈 🏈 🏈 🏈 🏈

Emma crammed her first and second period books into her locker, grabbed the stuff she needed for third, then slammed the door shut. She took off down the hall at almost a sprint. TV and movies were shit in portraying high school. Kids hanging out by their lockers chatting at any and all times of the day. Complete and utter lies. Storybrooke High gave kids five minutes - five minutes! - to get to each class. There were some breaks where she didn’t have time to stop at her locker, but her American History book weighed about three tons and she refused to lug it around all day. She didn’t care if it was completely out of her way. She was chucking that book, damn it, before she threw her back out. Three weeks into the year, and she had it timed down to the second.

She did not have time to be slammed into and knocked to her rear end. “Hey!” she shouted at the jerk who’d plowed into her.

A hand reached down and hauled her to her feet. “Apologies lass.”

She knew that accent before she looked into those blue eyes. She suddenly realized she was still clutching Killian’s hand in hers. She yanked her hand away.

“Yeah, well watch where you’re going next time.”

He grinned in a way that was three-fourths charming and one-fourth roguish. “A pleasure as always, Swan.”

Then the ridiculous boy bowed over her hand and kissed it! She rolled her eyes. He arched his brow.

“Advanced Trigonometry?”

He was offering her a pad of graph paper that had her homework scrawled all over it. She snatched it from him and stuffed it into her bag. It was then she realized the zipper was broken. Great. Just great.

“Why are you so interested in my class schedule?”

He shrugged as he rocked back on his heels. “I’m impressed is all.”

She lifted one shoulder, then dropped it as she attempted to balance her busted backpack in both arms. “My mom insisted on one advanced course this year, and math’s the one subject I don’t suck at.”

He tilted his head. “Intriguing.”

“Why?” she snapped. “Because you assume cheerleaders are moronic sluts?” The bell rang, and she dropped her head back with a groan. “Great! Now you’ve made me late.”

She shouldered past him, and her hackles raised when she heard his low chuckle. He laid a hand on her arm before she could move away and lowered his head to her ear.

“Most guys would find your attitude off-putting, but I love a challenge.”

“Sure you do,” she muttered as she stalked away.

At practice that afternoon, she was informing Ruby that her brother was an absolute pain in the ass.

#cs ff #cs movie marathon #captain swan movie marathon #cs bring it on au #high school au #lieutenant duckling

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shireness-says · 4 years

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Birthday fic recs: @welllpthisishappening

It was @welllpthisishappening‘s birthday yesterday! Laura is consistently one of my favorite authors, and a dear friend to boot. So, for her birthday, I’d like to recommend some of her deep-cut, hidden gem fics - favorites of mine I think everyone should be reading all the time. Go read them and check out her seriously impressive fic page. The organization is downright inspiring.

Thank you for your friendship and your fics and your willingness to listen to me have a conniption about not-your-hockey-team, darling - I hope the next year gives you all the joy that you deserve!

Start Spreading the News

Emma Swan is just looking for something that’s hers. She’s fairly certain she’s found it in New York, with a group of friends and a good job and picture frames on her apartment walls. But then the past she’s spent so long trying to ignore shows up where she least expects to find it – wearing pinstripes in right field at Yankee Stadium.

More Famous Than A Yankee Can

He knows it’s not a dream. He’s had this dream before. Finding her again and talking to her again and wearing pinstripes. They usually aren’t all the same dream. So this has to be real. But the last place Killian Jones ever expected to see Emma Swan was while he was wearing those pinstripes. With her standing on the bleachers in Yankee Stadium.

I’ve read these fics three times this year. Maybe four. I love it every time - there’s romantic type miracles and pining and fate and I can’t resist it. It’s everything you need to cheer yourself up in these weird stressful times. Every time I read one these, I immediately have to go tell Laura that it’s So Good because I just can’t resist. That good.

What Used to Be Limes

Killian Jones is ready for his rookie season in the NHL. He's got a hell of a shot. An almost acceptable amount of confidence. And a roommate he doesn't want to check. Plus, his best friend. Who he's hopelessly in love with.

A Rooting Interest

Emma's only doing Ruby a favor. And playing bartender is kind of funy — especially when the guy in front of her keeps smiling and looking up how to make drinks. She doesn't want to make a fool of herself. That seems inevitable, though. Once he leaves the tip. Two tickets to a hockey game. And the good-looking guy from the bar turns out to be the star of the New York Rangers.

Look, obviously Laura has proved she’s the master of hockey fics with her Blue Line stuff. But! These are a great pair of hockey fics not from that ‘verse. Disaster rookies! Emma who doesn’t know a thing about hockey! Flirting galore! If you haven’t read these already - you need to get on that right away. And then join me in my quest to remind Laura that if she ever has hockey feelings that don’t fit into Blue Line, she could totally add on to these ‘verses and no one would complain. Or at least I wouldn’t.

Feeling As Good As Love

Emma is excited about this weekend. It's always good — this thing they do, with the house and the ocean and the friendship that seems to stand the test of time. But now, there's an added bonus. Because this year she and Killian aren't just coming to the house on the beach with that friendship moniker hanging over them. They're coming as a couple. A real couple. That kisses. Regularly. And Emma's excited about that too. She just didn't expect her friends not to believe her.

I am, admittedly, biased, because I all but demanded that Laura write this. But that’s only because it’s so up her alley, as demonstrated by the masterpiece that ensued. The banter! The cliches list! Emma’s righteous (and warranted) anger! It’s everything the prompt demanded and more than I could have imagined. Perfect.

In Case of Emergency, Call...

Killian Jones does several things on Thanksgiving: breaks his ankle, meets a very loud redhead in the ER, tells his best friend he loves her. None of them were part of his plan. The plan only involved cookies.

This is a little bit of an odd one - because Emma’s not even there for half the fic. But her presence and her absence and her impact is just so palpable. That pining, man! I live for that pining. The best kind of friends-to-lovers, with plenty of Killian and Ariel banter and a little dose of fake married because why not. What else could you ask for?

Gone the Way of the Dinosaurs

Emma doesn't entirely understand the town of Storybrooke. It is, apparently, the kind of place with story time at the library and spring festivals on Friday night and unfairly attractive people with blue eyes who know all the words to the dinosaur song her kid is also inexplicably singing. She doesn't understand the town of Storybrooke yet, but maybe Emma is willing to do a little research.

I love librarian!Killian. I love tiny!Henry. Put them together? I’m a sucker for it. It reads so believably, both for Emma and for Storybrooke. And I think Laura might have been channeling her own shoe collection, which I find so charming. And you can learn about dinosaurs! And what names they have! Read it in the name of paleontology.

Wrap Around Your Dreams

Emma Swan is not a very good witch. She’s emotional and prone to immediate reactions and neither one of those things are currently helping her when the body count in Storybrooke is on the rise. And there’s far too much blood at each crime scene and far too much magic and Emma has no idea where to look next. So she does the almost human thing; she starts making a list. Of clues and ideas and the absolute desperate hope that the killer isn’t what she’s certain it absolutely has to be. The last thing she expects is for the notebook to start writing back.

This is a perfect Halloween-type fic. I love epistolary fics and pen pal fics, but I’ve never seen anything like this before or since. The idea of them reaching out across all kinds of magical barriers because fate just gets me, man. Plus, the suspense is absolutely palpable. And the ending! Perfect. Another of my regular rereads.

All Was Golden In The Sky

Magic is dying. Emma knows it. She can feel it, the emptiness rattling around in her, like it’s trying to make sure she disappears as well. What she doesn’t know is what to do about it, because, suddenly, there is a man in Storybrooke claiming she’s the Savior and a seeress certain a prophecy promises the same and the last thing she expects is for her minimal amount of lingering power to pull her away. To New York City. And another oddly familiar man with blue eyes and a smile that sinks under her skin and makes magic bloom in the air around her. Things are about to get interesting.

I was just enthralled the whole time this was posting. There were so many twists and turns, but everything still weaves together absolutely perfectly. Plus, canon has been adapted so well in this. I don’t even know how to start describing this fic - but trust me, you’ve got to read it.

Out Of The Frying Pan

Emma Swan is only doing this for one reason, well, make that two. To get her show's numbers back up and, maybe, impress her son. She doesn't like admitting to that second one though. Killian Jones is doing this for absolutely, positively, just one reason. To expand his restaurant. And maybe get Regina off his back. So that's kind of two reasons. Neither one of them is doing a year-long Food Network all-star competition because they're celebrity chefs and there's not really any other choice. Of course not. And neither one of them is enjoying it because they maybe, kind of, sort of enjoy each other. That would be insane.

Ok, this one may not be that overlooked as much as it’s my FAVORITE THING ON THE PLANET. This is a perfect fic. Every time she posts another sequel one-/two-shot, my heart sings. It’s so good. The way Laura paints this competition, and lets everything grow over the course of weeks and month, is perfect - plus, there’s all the romance and Captain Cobra feels you could ever want. If you haven’t read this yet - Get On It Today.

Check out her fics on Tumblr and Ao3, and make sure to give her and them lots of love!

#happy birthday babe friend #welllpthisishappening #cs fic recs

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kmomof4 · 4 years

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A3, B5 and B6 for the ask a reader?

Thank you for the ask, darlin! I’m sorry for the delay. It has been a week... 🤦🏻‍♀️

A3: When did you get your Ao3/FF account?

I started reading fan fiction on the Captain Swan Forever Facebook page in the spring of ‘16. So, if I had to guess when I made my account, I’d say probably May or June. My Tumblr followed in August.

Well, what do you know! I checked and I joined ao3 in June 2016!

B5: Which story have you read more than any other? How many times?

Ohh goodness. That is a very good question. These are my go to rereads and I have no idea how many times I’ve read them, honestly.

Dark Hook Comes to Storybrooke by @hollyethecurious and @winterbaby89. Written for my birthday in ‘17, my two best friends paired up to write a MAGNIFICENT s1 canon divergence in which Hook got his revenge just as Regina’s curse hit. I honestly have no idea how many times I’ve read it all the way through, not to mention just going back and reading favorite parts.

Fairytales by @kymbersmith-90. I’m reasonably sure that this was my first fic of Kym’s that I found. And OH. MY. WORD!!! I found it not long after I first heard about the Orlando Con scheduled for June 2018. And because Hollye, Laura, and I were planning to attend the con, this one hit me just right. Kym jokes that I’ve read it so many times now, that I know it better than she does!

White Light on a Black Sea by @onceuponataarna. Read that first summer before I had an ao3 account and Tumblr, and to this day, one of my very favorite fics. LOADS of Dark Hook and SMOKING HOT smut!!! It hasn’t been updated in over 3yrs, but it is pretty much complete as is. I’m hopeful that someday she may come and write that last chapter, but if not, it still is and always will be one of my very favorite fics that I’ll reread again and again and again and again.

And finally, the Unlocked series by @totheendoftheworldortime. A polyamory tale featuring Emma/Killian/Liam. Never thought I’d go for Emma in anyones arms but Killian’s, but from the very first chapter, Michelle captured my heart and mind in a way that very few fics have. It’s not for everyone, but it’s one of my very favorites. Again, no idea how many times I’ve read the entire series, besides going back and rereading favorite parts.

B6: What is your favourite story trope? Why?

Oh, man! Another very good question! And HARD!!! When it comes to what will I read, it would be easier to tell you what I won’t read than what I will. There’s not much that I won’t read. So, it’s safe to say that I love it all. Enemies/Friends to lovers, Modern AU’s of all stripes, EF AU’s, dark themes, canon divergent, fix it, movie or tv inspired, ... that’s all I can think of off the top of my head... That said, the tropes that make me squeal and flail like no others are supernatural fics (🤷🏻‍♀️ I guess that makes sense with creating and running the CSSNS the past 3yrs) and Neverland smut.

Thank you again for the ask! This was fun!

Send me a fic reader ask!

#ask games #fic reader asks #superchocovian

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hollyethecurious · 4 years

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1-7 for Dark Hook and Legend.

Thanks, K!! Somehow I knew you’d pick Dark Hook Comes to Storybrooke and The Legend of Captain Killian Jones

1. What is your favorite thing about this fic?

dhcts: That I wrote it with @winterbaby89, and the process of it made us life long friends.

Legend: The overall feeling I managed to infuse in the fic, and @artistic-writer’s art she made when it was still a half-assed idea.

2. What is your least favorite thing about this fic?

dhcts and Legend: That they are complete. I miss writing them.

3. What was the scene that was the easiest to write?

dhcts: The prologue. Laura had bits of the initial dialogue for it already and the entire scene just flowed exactly as we both pictured it. We knew then that we could really do this crazy thing together.

Legend: The flashbacks.

4. What was the scene that was the hardest to write?

dhcts: The final scenes, but only because we didn’t want to face the truth. The story had been told and was coming to an end.

Legend: When Henry almost got crushed by the chandelier. I fought with capturing the action when so many things were happening at once.

5. Is there anything you wish you did differently?

dhcts: I still wish we had given Killian a different car, lol. Whenever Laura and I disagreed on something we would take turns on who got their way (if it wasn’t a pivotal issue to the overall plot). It was her turn to win on that one 😝

Legend: Not a thing

6. Favorite line of narration

dhcts: SOOOOOOO many, but the one that always sticks out is: Killian doubted very much that Swan had ever properly dealt with the man’s betrayal and abandonment, more likely she’d buried it deep within herself, only to quarry it later in order to erect the walls that surrounded her heart.

Legend: The curse of him - Captain Killian Jones, the legendary ghost of Misthaven that had haunted the Jones Manor for nearly three centuries.Three centuries of existing just out of step with the living around him.

It had nearly driven him mad those first few decades, watching his brother live out his life with a wife and children at his side. Liam had returned to Misthaven from his station in London after his little brother had gone missing, refusing to give up the search for some sign of Killian’s whereabouts. Killian had yet to acquire the skill of object manipulation, and attempting to communicate with his brother had been useless. No one could see or hear him. He was damned to the audience of his brother’s grief, and then tormented by the life Liam had the privilege to enjoy as he raised a family and experienced the love of the same woman until he took his last breath.

Killian had hoped that when the moment of Liam’s passing came he might have the opportunity to be reunited with him, but his curse made it impossible. Killian realized then that he did not exist on the same plane as the living or the dead. He was isolated. Alone. Forever cursed to walk the halls and grounds of the place where he had lost everything.

7. Favorite bit of dialogue

dhcts: “I’ve never been free!” Killian roared causing everyone to take a step back from him. “I have only ever known dark masters. Indentured in servitude, commissioned to a treacherous king, bound by my own vows of vengeance, and bartered into villainy by a demon boy only to finally be cursed as one of Regina’s puppets the same day I became the newest pawn of the Darkness.” Killian could feel his control slipping, his anger creating cracks for the Darkness to seep further into. “If I am to be enslaved again then at least let it be at the hands of a merciful master.” Killian held the dagger out towards Emma and declared, “You have to take it.”

Legend: “What’s the matter, Swan?” he questioned softly, his expression cautious yet overflowing with a type of hopeful anticipation. “You look as though you’ve seen a ghost.”

Send me a number and which fic you want me to answer it for!

#ask game #author asks #dhcts #legend #tlockj #kmomof4

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cssns · 5 years

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Ok, sorry y’all! NOW here’s the monthly roundup for September!

Have y’all enjoyed all the INCREDIBLE updates we got last month? I know I did!! Please be sure to give our authors and artists all the love for all their hard work!!! And have a look at the end of the post for a VERY IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!! And now, without further ado, here we gooooooooo!!! Under the cut, unless Tumblr ate it.

@snowbellewells completed A Story Told at Last. Rated T. Artwork by @branlovestowrite.

Historical Literature Professor Henry Mills has the chance of a lifetime before him. He might finally uncover the truth of a folktale that has intrigued him for years. But, when the whole story comes to light, will he be able to accept the story that needs to be told?

@let-it-raines completed Not Your (Soul)Mate. Rated M. Artwork by @captainsjedi.

Killian Jones doesn’t like the idea of soulmates. He sees how happy his friends are with theirs, but he still doesn’t like the idea, not when he’s found love and lost it time and time again only to still not know his sign. He has no markings on his skin, no voices in his head, but then one day he meets Emma Swan and everything changes. Because, well, he may not have ink on his skin to tell him who to love, but the very first time that he hears Emma’s voice he knows that she’s the one for him. Then again, that could simply be his desire talking. After all, for every word she speaks, he becomes aroused.

It’s not the worst thing in the world to be incredibly attracted to a beautiful woman, but things aren’t that simple when she doesn’t have any interest in being his soulmate.

He’s screwed. And not in the good way.

@courtorderedcake posted Roses, a CS rendering of the classic fairytale Tam Lin. Rated E. Artwork by @eastwesthomeisbest.

A CS retelling of Tam Lin, the classic fairytale.

Liberties taken. Magic and Fae BS in play.

@teamhook posted Rionnag Dorcha Gorm (Dark Blue Star). Not rated. Artwork by @hollyethecurious.

It is said that evil is not born but made. This is how an act of kindness is twisted into a story about revenge. Emma and Killian are childhood friends until a tragedy separates them will another reunite them.

From last years event, @kymbersmith-90 updated Divine Intervention. Rated E. Artwork by @hollyethecurious.

Brothers Liam and Killian Jones are on the hunt for their father, Brennan Jones, who has gone missing in his hunt for the supernatural creature that killed their mother. But along the way, the brothers discover that the supernatural world is much bigger than they could ever have imagined.

And someone else has big plans for one of them.

@thejollyroger-writer completed What Happened in Berkshire. Rated G. Artwork by @captainsjedi.

When Emma’s boyfriend leaves her for the woman he’s been cheating with, she accepts an offer from her hospital to move to England. While she is out celebrating her thirtieth birthday with her friends before they head back to America, she drunkenly kisses the statue of Captain Hook in front of Eton College, and he comes to life. Together, he and Emma try to figure out what this curse means for them by searching for the witch that cursed him in the first place — are they really True Love, as he wants to believe they are, or did Emma’s magic go awry?

From last year’s event, @seriouslyhooked updated Lost Souls and Reveries. Rated M. Artwork by @shipsxahoy.

Killian Jones is a wolf shifter without roots, without plans, and without a pack. He’s a rogue, someone humans should avoid and shifters should be wary of given his lineage. But one night years back set him on a path he didn’t realize he was taking, a path leading to the future he was destined for. That future is tied up in one woman – a human named Emma Nolan. Together Emma and Killian will find not only answers but a love that’s truly fated. But will love be enough to set both of them free, or will past demons win out in the end?

@snowbellewells updated Face to Face in the Broad Daylight, her sequel to last years fic, Run to Me (In the Dead of Night). Rated T. Artwork by @branlovestowrite.

Here we have a sequel to my werewolf, alternate season two and beyond fic from last year’s CSSNS. You probably want to read that story "Run to Me (in the Dead of Night)" first, or it might be a bit confusing in places. This second story in the same universe partially exists just because I wanted to revisit these couples and enjoy a bit more of their fluffy happily ever afters. However, we may also see them get into some new surprises and challenges, and of course we need to see if Rumplestiltskin is still under control or back to his usual scheming and plotting. I hope you will enjoy. I’m so glad to be part of this event again, and this is just the opening chapter.

@courtorderedcake updated Hallow with accompanying artwork 1 2. Rated E.

"The Goblin King was prepared to host the Darkness, stealing Fae women away to their corrupted lands underneath the ground as concubines. The Darkness chose another in his stead, but not before this selected vessel enacted a devastating attack in its vengeance, revealing its hatred & rage. The battle was a lesson the old kings had forgotten; never underestimate an opponent.

Many more lives were lost as they razed over any who dared defy The Goblin King's will. Only the pure love of our rulers united in matrimony, breaking the Vorpal Dagger, sealed the darkness and the Goblin menace away. The light flourished under their fair rule, and the queen bore a child as pure as moon beams, swan feathers, and starlight. They lived happily ever after, and shall be written in history as Heroes for All Time."

This is the history Princess Emma memorizes from the day she is born, paraded about and presented only with the highest protection. The palace is a cage she wishes to escape, desperately. Not careful what wishes she made, Emma discovers history is written by the victors - The Dark One has an entirely different version of the events that took place.

@jarienn972 updated A Simple Spell. Rated T. Artwork by @cocohook38.

This story is my entry into the 2019 Captain Swan Supernatural Summer event and is my first venture into AU territory. Storybrooke remains our setting but I've switched up some of the characters and familial relations to better suit this tale of prodigal witch Emma who returns to her birthplace to learn lots of secrets about herself and cast a spell that could change everything.

@whimsicallyenchantedrose updated Until the Stars Are All Alight, her CS LOTR au. Rated T. Artwork by @clockadile.

When Emma Swan steals a yellow Volkswagen Beetle, she has no idea it will lead her toward an adventure filled with danger and intrigue, sacrifice and a love stronger than anything she could imagine. Tasked with bringing the Savior home, the elf, Killian Jones of Misthaven travels to the Land Without Magic. Can he convince Emma to fulfill her destiny before the Dark One regains power and takes over all of the Enchanted Forest?

@welllpthisishappening completed All Was Golden In the Sky. Rated M. Artwork by @resident-of-storybrooke. Chapter artwork by @distant-rose and extra artwork by @optomisticgirl can be found on Laura’s blog posts.

Magic is dying.

Emma knows it. She can feel it, the emptiness rattling around in her, like it’s trying to make sure she disappears as well. What she doesn’t know is what to do about it, because, suddenly, there is a man in Storybrooke claiming she’s the Savior and a seeress certain a prophecy promises the same and the last thing she expects is for her minimal amount of lingering power to pull her away.

To New York City.

And another oddly familiar man with blue eyes and a smile that sinks under her skin and makes magic bloom in the air around her. Things are about to get interesting.

And finally, we had original art post from @djlbg.

WOW!!! I mean… WOW!!! What a MONTH!!! We had 4 fics complete, 2 updates from last years event, original art, and all the other updates in between!!! I’m so thankful to be a part of such a talented and prolific fandom!!! Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your participation and enthusiasm!! I can’t wait to do this again next year!!!

Which brings me to the VERY IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!! CSSNS 2020 is a GOOOOO!!!!! We’ve had a tremendous response for the past two years and so we’ll do it for one more year. So for those of you who have participated either year and want to do it again, for those of you who just recently joined the fandom, or for those of you who, like me, have just started writing or arting, start thinking about what you might like to do next year. Signups will open in late January and I can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with!! So spread the word!!! Any questions, be sure to send us an ask, or you can contact me directly at @kmomof4.

I’ll be back in November with the monthly roundup for October. Until then y’all!

#cssns #monthly roundup #September #September roundup #cssns2020 #is a goooo #I can't wait!!!

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skyfulcfstars · 5 years

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so i think i’m gonna bring back my multimuse as a low activity side blog, just because there are some characters i really miss writing! see below the cut for the full list. i might add more, tbh.

a blend of canon and original characters. characters marked with * are originals.

a series of unfortunate events

beatrice baudelaire ( morena baccarin )

kit snicket ( kelly reilly )

olivia caliban ( sara rue )

addams family

wednesday addams ( christina ricci )

all the wrong questions

ellington feint ( jaime murray )

anastasia

grand duchess anastasia romanov ( christy altomare )

battlestar galactica

laura roslin ( mary mcdonnell )

carmen sandiego

carmen sandiego ( lara parrilla )

cinderella

ella ( laura osnes )

doctor who

13th doctor ( jodie whittaker )

missy ( michelle gomez )

dracula

mina murray ( natalie dormer )

frozen

princess anna ( molly quinn )

game of thrones

joanna lannister ( viva bianca )

lyra mormont* ( bridget regan )

sansa stark ( sophie turner )

harry potter

hermione granger ( emma watson )

nerissa harrows* ( michelle dockery )

nymphadora tonks ( natalia tena )

luna lovegood ( evanna lynch )

minerva mcgonagall ( michelle fairley/maggie smith)

lily evans/potter ( karen gillan )

hunger games

effie trinket ( elizabeth banks )

katniss everdeen ( jennifer lawrence )

verity coin* ( bryce dallas howard )

labyrinth

sarah williams ( jennifer connelly )

little mermaid

melody triton ( adelaide kane )

looking glass wars

redd heart ( rebecca mader )

lost

juliet burke ( elizabeth mitchell )

magic school bus

ms. frizzle ( alex kingston )

marvel

aquarius* ( emilia clarke )

men in black

charlotte albright* ( gal gadot )

midsummer night’s dream

queen titania ( gillian anderson )

mummy

evelyn o'connell ( rachel weisz )

mythology

lady sigyn ( celina sinden )

national treasure

abigail chase ( diane kruger )

phantom of the opera

christine daae ( sierra boggess )

princess diaries

princess mia ( anne hathaway )

sanctuary

ashley magnus ( emilie ullerup )

helen magnus ( amanda tapping )

sherlock holmes

mary morstan ( amanda abbington )

star trek

beverly crusher ( gates mcfadden )

kathryn janeway ( kate mulgrew )

swan princess

odette ( lily james )

treasure planet

captain amelia ( emma thompson )

twilight

esme cullen ( sarah bolger )

van helsing

anna valerious ( kate beckinsale )

victoria

queen alexandrina victoria ( jenna coleman )

wicked/ozian canon

glinda upland ( michelle williams )

#( talk to the plants | out of character )

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theonceoverthinker · 5 years

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CSFicRec Monday: A Rec...In Song

Here’s this week’s @csficrecmonday fic.

...I don’t need to tell you what this is to the tune of...It will be quite clear soon.

*coughs* Ahem.

Some BODY once told me a way to get all jolly The Captain Swan Se-cret San-ta-a So my SS girl got me And all month, we spoke with glee Her fic is great, we all can agree-e Well, the fic came coming And it didn’t stop coming 8K per chapter and her fingers kept running Get ready for hijinks and Storybrooke fun But it’s a Chrismas fic, so don’t expect a sun So much to do, so much to see Cause her artwork made me scream like a banshee You’ll barely be able to breathe At this romp from Christmas Eve Chorus: Laura Wrote a great fic @welllpthisishappening Writes well Dynamics And some banter Makes my whole darn heart swell It’ll melt your soul from the co-o-ld It’s The Thought That Counts Is Total Go-o-old! So Killian, Henry, and the town at large Need to get some presents without incurring a big charge Cause his gifts got lost in the mail Amazon really pulled a bi-i-g fail Through the town, the pair will go Not knowing that Emma’s just behind on their toes Because her presents got lost too And she’s got some shopping of herself to do Repeat Chorus

Repeat Chorus Again! Their plans do not work well And this day just ain’t so swell After run-ning all over the pla-a-ace But they’re not done yet So they both jet And they talk to the friends that they’ve met But will smiles show up on their fa-a-ace? I won’t spoil the story But it deserves all the glory It’s descriptive, should be inscriptive, and in its own cat-e-gory Read it for yourself and you’ll see what I mean There’s some great stuff in here that you’ll want to glean The romance is nice, it’s paradise It’ll make you yearn for pies and fries I know on the ground there’s no snow But in your heart this fic will still glow Repeat Chorus Again! And Chorus Again!

...So yeah...Go check this out. See you next time!

#ouat #cs #captain swan #emma swan #killian jones #csficrecmonday

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katie-dub · 5 years

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Author Rec - Welllpthisishappening

Sometimes fic recs just don't go far enough, sometimes you come across an author that you feel could get you to read pretty much anything and love it and you just have to just recommend their entire body of work.* Laura @welllpthisishappening is one of those authors.

If you'd told me a few years ago that I would read - just read, not love - a 45 chapter fic about ice hockey I'd have laughed in your face. Full on cackled. The kind of total hysteria that takes you past the point of obnoxiously loud and into silent stomach-crunching laughter that actually hurts but you just can't stop. It's fair to say that I'm not the most sporty (or sports-loving) of people.

But such is Laura's talent.

Her way with words is damn near magical. She creates beautiful, layered plots faster than you can blink, writes banter like it's as natural to her as breathing and picks the perfect pop culture reference every time.

She's got a whole library of Captain Swan fic to devour and adore, but if you haven't yet read anything by her, here are my personal top three (honestly, it was super hard to narrow this down to a small number):

To Make The Season Bright

It’s just one weekend. At Christmas. In New York. With everyone there. With Killian there. It’s fine. Emma doesn’t mind – he’s always there and she wants him to be there and it’ll be good. Great, even. Festive. She’s looking forward to it.

Honestly.

She just hopes she doesn’t do something stupid. Like shout feelings in his face. That probably wouldn’t be very festive.

OK, story time - I was the worst pregnant lady. Some women glow when they're pregnant, I just glowered. Damn near constantly. My youngest was due right after Christmas and I was, quite simply, moody as fuck. Then this fic came along with its friends to lovers, mutual pining, and making out. At Christmas! It was like a little festive treat, a respite for my pregnancy-addled brain that was as comforting as being wrapped in a fleecy blanket with a great cup of coffee-hot chocolate hybrid and cinnamon rolls while being cuddled and having your hair stroked. I thank this fic entirely for giving me a break from obsessing about pregnancy, it was a god send. Even, now 14 months later, I break this fic out whenever I need a lift. It's literally open on my phone right now, I love it.

Wrap Around Your Dreams

Emma Swan is not a very good witch. She’s emotional and prone to immediate reactions and neither one of those things are currently helping her when the body count in Storybrooke is on the rise.

And there’s far too much blood at each crime scene and far too much magic and Emma has no idea where to look next. So she does the almost human thing; she starts making a list. Of clues and ideas and the absolute desperate hope that the killer isn’t what she’s certain it absolutely has to be.

The last thing she expects is for the notebook to start writing back.

The reason I was drawn to OUAT in the first place was because of the idea of taking magical characters and plonking them into our world. It's one of my favourite things - magic and myth clashing with the modern world. This fic is a totally unique twist on the fusing of those worlds, it's dark, compelling and still provides on the banter front. Totally wonderful.

Nights Were Mainly Made For Saying

It’s possible. Emma is certain. She’s going to fix this. She’s going to save him. By time traveling. Which is totally, absolutely possible.

She’s read about it. There’s a theory.

So, no one has ever actually done it yet, but that doesn’t mean she can’t or they can’t try and she just needs a little help. From Killian Jones. And his magic.

This is another creative use of the mundane and the magical but with time travel alongside the romance and all of that good stuff. It's like the best episodes of Doctor Who - dark and scary but also witty and light and touching. (And it actually totally makes sense.) This one will burrow its way into your soul and take up residence there and you'll be glad of it.

I realised that I picked out two dark fics from Laura, who is the absolute queen of the make out scene, and that I didn't choose any sports fic, which feels like a crime. But the truth is that she can turn her hand to anything, and whatever your favourite fic you will find something by her, and it will be gorgeous. And seriously, you should take a chance on the fics that don't immediately call to you if they're written by her. Just the other week I was like "I don't even know what March Madness is, but if Laura wrote a fic about it, it'll be amazing." And it was.

Her writing and honestly her whole being is a ray of sunshine. Go read something by her and tell her how fantastic it - and she - is, you won't regret it.

*(She's also absolutely a Good Human. 10/10, would recommend as a friend.)

#cs fic rec #cs author rec #fic list #cs ff #welllpthisishappening #I love you Laura #A lot

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welllpthisishappening · 4 years

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And Take Your Hand Until the End

He shouldn’t have said it.

It was stupid. Instinctual. Wishful thinking. Which is also pretty stupid, honestly. But Emma gave him the signal and Mary Margaret keeps trying to set Emma up and, well, Killian reacted. He told Graham Humbert they were dating. In secret.

So. Now it’s time to talk about it.

----

Rating: The lowest possible T but with kissing Word Count: 2.6K AN: waves Hi there, internet. It’s me, again, back at it because I asked for a bunch of prompts before Christmas and then...didn’t fill all of them. As I am apt to do. Since then, Justin and I went to Disney, got back, got the flu, worked a lot and I felt bad about not filling prompts or writing anything in, legitimately, the last month. So here is this, shaking off some cobwebs with trusty tropes, kissing and scenarios I’ve definitely written before. I’m going to try and write quick bits of fluff for all of these prompts in an attempt to get back into the swing of things again.

So these prompts were: "do you believe in love at first sight?"// "i’d like it if you stayed. // "can i kiss you?"

----

“She’s mad.”

“She’ll cope.”

“We weren’t very nice about it.”

“Did you want to be nice?”

Emma huffs, rolling her eyes towards the ceiling. Her apartment door creaks when she closes it behind her, toeing out of her shoes and tossing her keys on the counter nearby. They don’t land. They clatter to the floor instead, an impossibly loud noise that seems to rattle between Killian’s ears and in between every irregular heartbeat his body has sustained for the last few hours.

He would like that to stop.

He would also like Mary Margaret to stop setting up Emma.

“I guess not,” Emma admits. “I mean—did you hear him? He kept talking about sustainable—what was that word he used?”

“I’m going to be honest, Swan, I was not listening to the woodsman.”

“Oh my God, what a nickname.”

Killian shakes his head deftly, dropping onto the edge of the couch if only because he knows it will get that one, specific look out of Emma. Passably amused and a little frustrated, a slight pinch between her eyebrows that only ever happens when she looks at him.

His heart does that thing again.

“Nickname implies fondness,” he says.

“You weren’t fond?”

“Were you?”

“Mary Margaret thought she was doing the right thing. A good thing, even.”

Killian can’t help whatever noise bubbles in the back of his throat, eyes going thin when Emma scrunches her nose at the sound of her own lie. She clicks her teeth exactly four times.

He shouldn’t know that.

He shouldn’t be looking in the general vicinity of her teeth.

But those same teeth have been chewing on her lower lip for the better part of the night — or as soon as Mary Margaret showed up at trivia with that guy and the promise that he and Emma have so much in common. It was a stupid idea. Graham goes camping. Regularly.

Emma is allergic to pollen.

And like…the outdoors. In general. They live in Red Hook.

People don’t camp in Brooklyn.

They shop at thrift stores and organic markets and Graham Humbert likes organic markets too. Obviously. And talks about it. Incessantly. All night. Killian isn’t sure David ever pulled his eyes away from his tangled fingers.

They were horrible at trivia.

Embarrassing, even.

“Mary Margaret has a lot of thoughts and opinions about romance that the rest of the regular, human world does not share,” Killian says, Emma’s head lolling towards her shoulder in obvious defeat. “And,” he adds, “you used the signal. So—”

Killian shrugs, like that’s that. Which it almost is, but it’s also the first time they’ve ever used the signal and maybe they should have planned things better. Telling Graham that they were dating was not part of the deal.

Emma’s eyes had gotten very large as soon as the words were out of his mouth.

Graham’s jaw went very tight.

Seriously, Killian has got to stop thinking about the area around everyone’s mouths. It’s so goddamn weird.

“That’s true,” Emma admits. “And he did leave after that.” “Quickly.” “Something that could almost qualify as a jog.” “Brisk, at least. Possibly a race-walk?”

“No, no, that requires far more hip movement.” “I’m not sure I appreciate my fake girlfriend discussing some other guys hip movement.” She scoffs, half a laugh and a hint of a smile, some of the tension falling off her shoulders when she steps into his space. And directly between his legs, an even more precarious position than rather rudely subverting Mary Margaret’s sixteenth set-up in the last four months.

Not like Killian is counting.

Much.

David is definitely counting.

So is Ruby.

Killian stops thinking about their friends, or Mary Margaret, or that one Harry Potter question he still can’t believe they got wrong, as soon as Emma’s hands fall to his shoulders, the ends of her hair drifting dangerously close this cheeks and the only thing he can smell is strawberries.

He takes a deep breath.

He’s a psychopath.

“Why’d you use the signal?”

Teeth click number five also includes something that sounds a bit like Emma’s tongue, but Killian can’t possibly be expected to think about that as well and—“He did ask me out, you know. Graham, I mean—not, like there were a ton of other guys there lining up to date me tonight, but…” “You’re selling yourself short, love.”

“Jeez.” “Tell me you’re still not upset we got that one Harry Potter question wrong..” “Oh my God, I can’t believe David got that wrong! It’s obviously the Deluminator. That’s just—that is basic knowledge and—” “—He was convinced it was put-outer. They use that at the start of the series.” “Yeah, but then they get Dumbledore’s will and they get a specific name for it and if you’ve got a name, you should use the name, right?” “I was the one agreeing with you. I defer to your Harry Potter expertise at all times.”

She makes another noise, half disbelief and something that he desperately wants to be charmed, but then her hair shifts and Killian refuses to be held accountable for what he does next, tugging Emma onto his left thigh until her arm is slung around his shoulders and her fingers dance across the back of his neck. He licks his lips.

He’s ninety-six percent positive she doesn’t look.

It is that four percent that will eventually make all the difference.

“Flattery will get you everywhere,” Emma grumbles. “I just—I don’t know...I guess—do you believe in love at first sight?”

“Are we still talking about Harry Potter?” “You’re an idiot.”

“There is no love at first sight in Harry Potter.” “Love potions.” “Which are pretty fundamentally bad. Like Voldemort bad.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Her fingers are moving again. It’s distracting. It’s impossibly grounding. Maybe a little magical.

Seriously. Psychopathic. “Voldemort,” Killian repeats. “Was the byproduct of a love potion and the general consensus in fandom—” “—Say fandom again, please.” “Don’t act like you don’t know this theory.” She sticks her tongue out. Killian refuses to linger on that for too long either. “Anyway,” he says pointedly, “Tom Riddle existed because his mother gave Senior a love potion. That’s why he can’t feel love. There wasn’t any there when he was made.” “That’s gross.” “Again, I think that’s the point. And you’re deflecting from your own conversation.”

Emma sighs. “I know, I know, but—humor me. Please.” “About love at first sight?” Emma nods, and they’re usually much better conversationalists. They’re usually—better, full stop. But Killian is also fairly certain that both David and Ruby are only uncomfortable with Mary Margaret’s continued setups because they’re also painfully aware that he’s almost painfully in love with his best friend and he’s glad they went back to her apartment.

He’s not sure he’d be able to cope with the smell of her shampoo lingering in his space.

Maybe Graham knows of some kind of environmentally friendly air freshener.

“I do not think love at first sight is a thing,” Killian says, a quick shake of his head like that will help him regain some of his senses. Common or otherwise. “Partially because of the aforementioned love potion problems and partially because it sounds a little fairy tale, doesn’t it?” “You anti-fairytale, Jones?” “I like to see it more as a realist.” Emma hums in agreement and understanding and he can’t help but narrow his eyes at the sound. Because they’re frustratingly similar — near-matching backstories and overbearing friends who are determined to fix that and Mary Margaret has done her best to set Killian up too, promises of happily ever after that he’s not all that interested in with anyone except—

“Yeah, me too I guess,” Emma says, but it sounds like another admission and something in Killian’s stomach churns uncomfortably at the sound. “There’s got to be build up, right?” “To?” “The good stuff.” “Oddly unspecific.” She laughs softly, eyes flitting up towards his. “I probably shouldn’t have laughed when Graham started telling Ruby about that tracking thing he used to use in—whatever state he used to live.” “Montana.” “I thought you weren’t listening.” “I really didn’t think anyone ever lived in Montana. That was admittedly interesting.”

Another laugh, softer and decidedly his in a way that Killian will never admit to because that is a line he can’t possibly cross and—“What’s the matter, Swan?” “Why do you think something’s the matter?” There’s not enough space between them for him to move the way he wants to, but Killian still manages to level her with a very specific look and for one, insane moment he swears the air around them turns electric.

Pulses. Waits. Desperately. For something that might not be there, may just be his own romantic wishful thinking, but then—

“Mary Margaret says that she knew David was the one from the get,” Emma continues, as if she’s reading from a script. She rushes over the words, eyes darting anywhere except Killian’s and his stomach feels like it’s determined to creep its way up his throat. It’s a disgusting thought. But she’s also still sitting on his thigh and maybe that’s just affecting the blood flow to his brain. “That...they looked at each other and it was like something snapped into place or turned on and—” “—Do you think she uses construction metaphors on purpose? You know, just to make it more relatable or something?” “You’re interrupting.” “I’m sorry.” Emma blinks.

And Killian’s mouth goes dry.

He doesn’t mean to say anything else. He’s genuinely surprised he can, what with the desert-like state of his tongue and the way he can’t blink, far too distracted by the light in Emma’s eyes and neither one of them ever tried to pick up her keys.

That seems important.

“For—well, for interrupting, but also because I know we’ve always joked about the signal and that we’d use it in desperate need, but I just...we never really talked specifics and I couldn’t think of anything except what I told Graham and—”

He doesn’t get the rest of the words out.

It one-hundred percent, absolutely positively does not matter.

Because Emma Swan is kissing him.

And it’s better than he thought it could be.

He’s thought about this far too much.

Kissing Emma is a bit like coming home and jumping off the top of the Empire State Building. All at the same time. It’s familiar and entirely unexpected, a free fall and perfect landing, the tilt of his head and swipe of her tongue, parted lips and shared breath. Her fingers move again, carding through his hair and pulling him closer, as if he’d ever be inclined to do anything else.

She kisses like she is — a little determined, a hint of caution that quickly evaporates, turning into something almost stubborn, like she’s challenging him to object. He lets his arms circle her waist instead, tugging her up until they’re a twisted and precariously balanced mess of limbs. They don’t stop, a low hum in the back of Killian’s brain that may actually be oxygen deprivation, but he can’t be bothered with that right now.

He wouldn’t mind if they continued to do exactly this for the rest of the night.

The rest of the week.

Until the end of goddamn time.

His hand finds its way under her shirt, fingers on her skin and back arching slightly and his heels skidding across the floor and—

It was probably inevitable.

They fall backwards, Killian’s head bouncing on couch cushions that should definitely be softer than they are, the whole of Emma’s weight crashing onto his chest until it’s almost impossible for him to breathe.

His arms don’t move.

He relishes it.

“Oh shit,” Emma mumbles, mostly into his jacket because he’d never taken his jacket off and one of them starts laughing. It’s probably her. He’s having trouble catching his breath.

Still not the worst thing in the world.

Inching closer to the best, honestly, the longer she’s on top of him.

“You really didn’t have anything to apologize for,” Emma says. “I just—” “—The good stuff, huh?”

She nods, hair in his face and it’s still easy to see the way her lips curl up. “It’s Mary Margaret’s fault, really.” “I think we’ve established that, yeah.” “No, no, that’s not what I mean. I—” Her eyes widen when Killian grunts, an elbow to his ribs and—”Oh, shit,” Emma repeats. “Can you breathe?” “No. Don’t move.” She tugs her lip between her teeth. It’s the greatest thing Killian has ever seen. “Mary Margaret kept talking,” Emma explains. “About this guy and another set up and then she was talking about love at first sight and it got me thinking.” “About?” “How stupid it is.” “I’m swooning, Swan.” “You are really good at kissing. Like even better than I thought you’d be.” It’s Killian’s turn to widen his eyes, a miraculous bit of oxygen flying out of his lungs again. “My point—if that’s what this even is...is that...well, Mary Margaret was talking and she kept saying how it felt and I was—well, that’s how I feel when I’m with you. And it wasn’t first sight, but it’s something better than that and—” “—Can I kiss you?”

“Are you serious?” “Are you swooning?” Emma nods slowly, letting her head fall into Killian’s palm when he pushes his fingers into her hair. “Yeah, obviously.”

“Good.” It’s slower that time — a little more measured, like they’re testing or memorizing each other, the hum turning into a buzz that inches its way through Killian’s arms, curls itself around the base of his spine until his heart finds its rhythm because it’s always been Emma and it will always be Emma and that thought alone is a little fairy tale.

It’s entirely possible that Mary Margaret was working the long con here.

Killian will probably have to apologize eventually.

And thank her.

“I like you,” Emma says, not bothering to move away from his mouth. “A lot and—you’re right, we never really came up with specifics for the signal, but it worked and then I couldn’t stop thinking about it and that’s a little insane.” “Romantic.” “Seriously, the flattery.” Killian hums, kisses to her chin and the curve of her jaw. It leaves her eyelashes fluttering, twisting on top of him in a way that is only slightly distracting. “We could probably work on that, you know.” “On what?” “The, uh—actual dating. If you want.” “Did I not make that blatantly obvious?” “Maybe not blatantly.” “Jeez,” she sighs, but he can still feel her smile when her lips catch his and that’s really the only thing he cares about. Except maybe that one trivia question. They’ve got a reputation to maintain, after all. “I’d...I’d like it if you stayed.” “Yeah?” “Blatantly.” “Improper sentence structure,” Killian chides. Emma clicks her teeth, nipping at his nose and it’s somewhere between impossibly cute and everything he’s ever wanted, so the only reasonable thing to do is—

“We’ll probably need a new signal,” he says. “You know, for when I’d like to kiss you.” She blushes.

Magic.

“Deal.” “Deal.”

And they don’t really have to use it, but Mary Margaret keeps staring and Ruby’s got that look and David refuses to back down on another wrong trivia answer. About Star Wars this time.

So Emma raps her knuckles on the table and Killian doesn’t have to move that much, already sitting next to her, before his kisses her — quick and a little bruising and Mary Margaret knocks her chair over when she jumps.

“Worth it,” Killian mumbles, Emma laughing into his mouth.

#cs ff #captain swan #captain swan ff #cs fic #captain swan fic #laura cleans out her prompts #seriously i feel so bad when i don't fill prompts #this trivia experience is based on real life #as most things i write are #but we got a question wrong because i wanted to call it the deluminator and none of my friends believed me #that was legit almost a decade ago and i will never be over it #laura writes captain swan #laura writes

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frauleinsmaria · 6 years

Text

Chance Encounters

Based on the prompt “I don’t know who you are but we keep running into each other on the street and getting into screaming arguments over the stupidest things and I’m actually looking forward to our next meeting bc you’re annoying as hell but damn you’re hot and it’s kind of fun to argue with you”

Written for my match for the Captain Swan Spring Fic Formal. Surprise @welllpthisishappening! Laura, I’ve had so much fun interacting with you over the past few weeks- although it’s been hard to make sure I didn’t reveal myself talking to you elsewhere 😂 You’re such a wonderful presence in this fandom and I’m so glad I got to be paired with you. I know you like both friends and enemies to lovers and lots of banter, so I hope you enjoy reading this lil fic as much as I enjoyed writing it <3

Also thanks @distant-rose and @awkwardnessandbaseball for getting the @csficformal together! It’s been a blast

Also on AO3

It’s certainly not how he expects his Monday morning to start.

It shouldn’t surprise him though, considering the direction his day is already heading in from the moment he wakes up. A power outage in his apartment building the night before causes his alarm clock to reset, meaning he wakes up less than half an hour before he’s supposed to leave for work. He cuts himself shaving thanks to being in a hurry and hopes no one will notice the nick on his chin. He goes to make his regular cup of coffee after getting dressed and realizes he ran out of coffee beans over the weekend and forgot to buy more.

His last resort is leaving everything else he needs to do as is so he has time to stop by the coffee shop on his way to the office. Of course it’s not his biggest priority, but he’s already heard about the workload Regina has waiting for him today and knows he won’t be able to deal with it properly without some kind of caffeine.

Thankfully, the line this morning is short, and he’s able to order his drink and be on his way quickly. But it’s just his luck that his phone vibrates with a text from Liam as he’s turning to head out the door, and he’s reading it when he collides with a wall and spills coffee on the front of his white shirt.

“Damn it!”

Whoops, not a wall. A woman, and a very angry one at that, judging by the expression on her face and the similar coffee stain she now sports on her own grey blouse.

Killian shakes his head as the shock wears off and takes in the death stare he’s receiving from the blonde in front of him. She’s holding a drink in her hand as well, but most of it still seems to be in the cup rather than on their clothes like his. “I’m terribly sorry, love. I should have been paying more attention to what I was doing.”

“Yeah, you should have,” she snaps, pulling a napkin out of her purse and attempting to clean up the mess she’s wearing.

There’s a snarky comment on the tip of his tongue, but he manages to hold back and tries to think of a way to be the bigger person here.

“Love, if there’s anything I can do-”

“The best thing you can do right now is to leave me alone so I can go before I’m later for work than I already am. And I’m not your love.”

Any desire he has to be polite is out the window as the the events of the morning all catch up to him. “With that attitude, I’m bloody glad you aren’t!”

“So am I!” She turns on her heel and leaves the coffee shop before he has a chance to say anything else.

By some stroke of luck, he’s able to make it through the day without any other mishaps.

But he can’t explain why the thought of the annoying blonde from the coffee shop stays in his mind long afterwards.

-/-

It’s Thursday afternoon when Killian runs into her again- not literally this time, thank goodness. He’s on his lunch break, headed to the gym near his office when he sees her leaving the building as he’s walking up. She glances in his direction briefly when she sees him, doing a bit of a double take as she realizes where they’ve seen each other before.

“Afternoon, love.”

She makes a sour face. “I thought we established that I’m not your love,” she reminds him, using her fingers to draw air quotes around the word.

“Sorry, lo- lass,” he corrects himself. “Just a habit I suppose.” He blames it on Liam; their mother made quite the effort to ensure the two of them both had adequate manners, and he’d enforced the same ideals on Killian long after she passed.

But it’s clear by her unwavering expression that she doesn’t buy it. “Whatever.” It’s not unlike her reaction a few days earlier when he’d tried to apologize for the coffee incident.

As much as he wants to ignore her and go about with his day, something keeps him there. He’d be lying to himself if he said it wasn’t at least partly attraction; he hadn’t paid much attention to her in the coffee shop thanks to the circumstances, but now he can’t seem to focus on much besides blonde hair, green eyes, and the black and white outfit she’s clearly just finished a workout in judging by the way it sticks with sweat to her thin frame.

And yet, while he’ll willingly admit to finding her attractive, there’s something else- maybe it’s the attitude she’s developed toward him, or her unwavering stubbornness, he doesn’t know- that keeps him from letting things alone like he normally would. “Do you always act like this when someone tries to apologize or be nice to you?”

Killian watches as her jaw sets and sees he’s struck a cord, although he can’t say whether or not it was unintentional. “Do you always butt into other people’s business?”

“Regardless, it seems yours isn’t worth my time.” She rolls her eyes and walks away from him for the second time.

His annoyance with her is just the motivation he needs for his workout, but like the time before, his thoughts stay occupied with the woman he knows nothing about, aside from the fact that she must be some kind of a force to be reckoned with.

He can’t decide whether she intrigues or irritates him more.

-/-

The next Tuesday is when Killian becomes convinced that the universe hates him.

He’s walking to work, sans coffee after finally replenishing his stock at home, when he catches a familiar glimpse of blonde hair coming out of a store as its owner taps away at her phone. He doesn’t try to get her attention; she’s not exactly his biggest fan as it is, and bothering her for no reason certainly won’t change that.

It doesn’t matter how honorable his intentions are, though, since she notices him when she glances over her shoulder not a moment later. She stops in her tracks and he hears her groan as he’s walking up.

“Are you following me or something? Because I have a gun and-”

Killian holds a hand up to stop her. “Not to worry, lass.” (He’s remembered what not to call her this time.) “Believe it or not, it seems that you and I are yet again the victims of mere coincidence.”

“Seriously? Who talks like that?”

“A person who’s about as thrilled with our recent pattern of encounters as you are.”

“I’m not making you walk beside me to chat, you know! I think you and I both have better things to do.”

“Finally something we can agree on. Now, if you’ll excuse me…”

He wastes no time leaving her behind and getting to work just as fast as he can. He’s annoyed yet again, something he’s convinced will be a common theme whenever he runs into her. But, bloody hell, he still can’t answer the question as to how and why she’s managed to get both under his skin and stuck in his mind so easily.

-/-

Killian goes a week without running into her after their last encounter on the street. He feels relieved considering how things between them are all but guaranteed them to go- or, at least, he thinks he does. It’s Liam that brings it to his attention when they’re at The Rabbit Hole sharing a drink after work.

“Looking for someone, are you?” his brother asks, seeing Killian’s eyes go to the bar’s entrance when the bell above the door chimes. A group of women arrive together, but he quickly loses interest in the redheads and brunettes.

He shakes his head as he takes a drink. “No. What makes you ask?”

Liam doesn’t look convinced. “Every time we’ve been out over the past few weeks, you seem to be waiting for someone else to show up. Not only that, but you’ve been examining every blonde within a mile’s radius, and I’d like to know just why.”

“You’re not going to leave me alone about this, are you?”

“Not a chance in hell.”

“Alright then.” Killian pauses as he tries to figure out how to explain his recent series of meetings to his brother. “To make a long story shorter: there’s this woman-”

“I knew it,” Liam mutters under his breath.

“There’s this woman,” he continues, ignoring him. “I haven’t the slightest idea who she is, but we keep running into each other and always end up having some petty argument before we part ways, only to see each other a few days later and do the same thing all over again.”

“Huh. And just what exactly are you and this lass always arguing over?”

“That’s just it; it’s usually just mindless bickering because I seem to annoy her as much as she does me.”

“Is she pretty?”

“What’s that got to do with anything?”

“Just a question.”

Killian rolls his eyes, but mutters, “Aye. Very much so.”

A moment of silence passes as Liam taps at the side of his glass and processes everything Killian’s just told him. “Well, I wish I could think of something to say to help you out, but all I’ve got is that you’re making this situation much more difficult than it needs to be.”

“How?! It's not like I'm intentionally trying to run into her.”

“No, but it doesn't sound as if you're trying to avoid her, either,” Liam argues. “Just admit it, Killian: you like her.”

“I don't bloody know her well enough to like her!”

“Maybe you should get to know her then. What’s that saying, opposites attract? She could end up surprising you.”

Killian wants nothing more than to argue with his brother and insist his suggestion is ridiculous. But as much as it pains him to admit it, he's up for having another run in with her just to see if there’s a way to make it out without yelling or sarcastic remarks. He doesn't tell Liam all of this, only says, “Maybe I’ll think about it. Maybe.”

He can already tell from the smug look on Liam’s face that he's going to get an I told you so if things turn out in his favor.

-/-

It's only three days later when he thinks maybe the universe doesn't hate him after all.

He's only been at work for a little over an hour, things going relatively well for a Friday morning, when there's a knock on his office doo. He looks up from his seat behind the desk to see his boss in the doorway.

“Regina, something I can do?”

To Killian’s surprise, the brunette actually smiles at him. He can't tell if it's genuine or not, but it's a smile just the same. Those can be far and few between where Regina Mills is concerned.

“Yes. But first, there's someone I'd like for you to meet.” She steps to the side and Killian has to bite his tongue to keep from cursing. “This is Emma Swan. Miss Swan, this is Killian Jones, one of our top family law attorneys.”

Her eyes widen as she recognizes him, but she doesn't say anything other than a quick, “Nice to meet you” and shakes his hand when he stands and offers it to her.

“Killian, Miss Swan is here for Humbert’s Bail Bonds. She’s looking for some information regarding the Lewis case from a few weeks ago; I figured you would be the one she needed to see.”

She's not wrong, the file he'd used to hold the casework from a messy child support ordeal is still in the top drawer of his desk where he'd left it once the trial was over. “Yes, I'm sure I can help with whatever's necessary.”

“Good to know,” Regina answers. “I'm due for a meeting downstairs, so I'll leave you to it.” The blonde- Emma- thanks her as she walks away, leaving the two of them alone in his office.

“So, the Lewis case, eh? I hope that's an incident I don't have to repeat any time soon,” he says, going through the desk drawer and pulling out the file she needs. He gestures for her to sit down as she takes it from him.

“Yeah. I'm the one who tracked the husband down, and my boss apparently needs the rest of the case information to turn over to his boss for one reason or another.” Her eyes scan over the words on the pages before she pulls a small notebook out of her purse and begins to scribble notes on a blank page.

Killian waits for her to say something about their past meetings; some kind of sarcastic remark, at least. But to his surprise, her focus stays on her work for the ten or fifteen minutes she's there, occasionally asking a question or two about his work or making a comment about the weather. Either she wants to avoid a confrontation, or she actually doesn't recognize him. The second option seems unlikely, but still believable.

Emma hands him back the Lewis file once she's collected all the information she needs. “I appreciate your help.”

“It was my pleasure,” he answers, for once remembering not to refer to her as love.

“Oh, and Mr. Jones?” She stops at the door. “It was...surprisingly nice to have a conversation with you without any yelling.”

She's out the door and gone before the “bloody hell” has a chance to leave his lips.

-/-

It doesn’t take long for Killian to think that maybe the universe does in fact hate him after all, because having a name to go with the face only makes it that much harder to get Emma Swan out of his head.

They’re still all but strangers- knowing the other’s name and workplace doesn’t exactly count as having an acquaintance- but he had to admit that he could accept the idea of that changing. Seeing they were capable of having a pleasant conversation has him believing that it’s possible, if only barely so. He toys around with the idea of somehow trying to get more information about her from Regina, but that could likely end with both women angry at him, his boss for using her influence the wrong way and Emma for going out of his way to get to know her.

Things soon take another turn and make him wonder just what kind of ridiculous dream he's stuck in.

Liam talks him into going to his girlfriend’s sister’s birthday party the next Friday night. He doesn't want to go- socializing with a crowd of mostly strangers isn’t something he goes out of his way to do- but he likes Elsa, and Anna seemed like a nice girl from the few times they've met, so he agrees. He and Liam show up at Elsa’s apartment precisely at seven, a bottle of wine tucked under his brother’s arm.

It should be no surprise that Emma’s is the first face he sees after Elsa lets them in.

She’s standing in the hall talking to a brunette with a pixie cut, laughing at something the other woman has said when she notices him and pauses. They’ve gotten so good at this now that she doesn’t have to wonder who he is or where she’s seen him anymore, especially thanks to her office visit. Speaking to her hasn’t always been the greatest idea, but he’s not about to waste the chance if she is indeed warming up to him. He tells Liam he’s going to speak to someone, but she’s standing right in front of him when he turns back around.

“Jones?”

“Yes, it seems we meet again.”

“What are you doing here?” she asks.

“What are you doing here?”

“I asked you first.” He catches a glimpse of her quizzical expression as she takes a sip from the beer bottle she’s holding.

“Elsa is my brother’s girlfriend.”

“You’re Liam’s brother?!”

“You know him, too?”

“I’m pretty sure he’s tried to give me your number more than once.”

“Oh, bloody hell.” He glances over his shoulder at Liam who’s trying- and failing- to pretend he hasn’t been watching them. To think he’d already talked to his brother about her at the bar that night and he’d already known who she was.

“Yeah. But I don’t like it when my family and friends try to set me up with other people, so I thought I’d be nice and return, er, I guess not return the favor.” He can tell she was trying to save him from an unpleasant experience she’s likely had in the past, but it might be her way of letting him know she wouldn’t be interested regardless. He’d be lying if he said it didn’t deflate his confidence a bit. “Er, so how do you know Elsa and Anna?”

“They’re friends with my sister-in-law,” she answers, nodding her head towards the woman she’d been standing with earlier, who smiles when she sees them looking her way.

“Ah. It’s a small world, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess so. Smaller than I thought.”

Killian chooses his next words carefully. “I would offer to get you a drink, but it seems that’s unnecessary,” he gestures to the one she already has.

“Maybe so, but rumor has it Elsa’s got pizza in the kitchen, and I haven’t had dinner yet.” Emma raises an eyebrow, indicating this is his chance and he’d better take advantage of it now.

“Give me five minutes.”

“I like pepperoni!”

-/-

“How long are you giving Liam to finally pop the question?”

“Honestly, love? I’m quite surprised he hasn’t already. Perhaps he’s worried Elsa won’t say yes.”

“Are you kidding? Look at her; she’s as much of a lovesick puppy as he is.”

Killian follows her eyes to where the couple stands outside together on the balcony, completely oblivious to everyone else around them. “Aye. They seem to be quite the good match for each other.”

“They remind me of David and Mary Margaret in that way; I couldn't have picked anyone more suited for either of them.” He senses a bit of disappointment in her words, but she doesn’t elaborate on the subject, and he doesn’t ask.

She’s asking about his job and the law firm when her phone vibrates. “It’s my boss,” she groans after taking a look at the screen. “Give me a sec?” He nods as steps out to answer.

Emma’s back not a minute later, frowning. “Sorry, I have to bail. A skip I’ve been tracking for almost a month was just spotted downtown, and my boss wants me to grab the jerk before he tries to run again.”

“Not a problem, lass,” he tells her, attempting to mask his own disappointment. “I can tell you put a lot of effort into what you do.”

“Yeah, maybe sometimes too much,” she mumbles, getting her purse and jacket from the seat beside him. “I guess I’ll see you around, Killian.”

He smiles as he watches her leave because he knows she’s probably right.

-/-

She’s right.

They cross each other’s paths three times over the next two weeks, twice at the coffee shop where they first unofficially met- with no coffee spilt either time, thankfully- and then at a local carnival that Liam has yet again coerced him into going to. (Killian thinks later that his brother wouldn’t need to go to so much effort to get him to do things if he knew Emma would be there.) Each encounter they’ve had since the party has been much different than the first few; although they both have a dry sense of humor and are too sarcastic for their own good, there has yet to be an instance that involves yelling or has someone convinced they hate the other.

It’s gotten to the point now that he’s begun to think of Emma as more than just a regular acquaintance, but maybe even a friend: He texts her corny jokes when she’s bored during a stakeout and she’s taken to willingly sitting at his table when they show up at the same restaurant for lunch. They haven’t gone as far as to share the more painful details of their pasts, but he’s convinced her background must closely mirror his own somehow based on her demeanor when something along the lines of childhood or family comes up in conversation. She always changes the subject or gives some kind of vague answer and he knows better than to push the subjects any further. It’s evident she’s been through quite a bit in her life and he sees no reason to make her reminisce any more than she already does.

And, yes, he likes her. A lot, if he’s being honest. And it’s just his luck that he realizes it about the same time Liam does.

“Why not ask her out already? The worst thing she can do is say no.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Killian groans. “I can’t complain; I’m lucky we’re even able to be friends considering the way we met.”

“And you’re always going to wonder what could have been if you don’t take that chance.”

Liam’s words stick with him for quite some time afterwards because he knows he’s right. Emma may hate him for going through with this, but he may come to hate himself even more for being a coward.

It’s Monday night when he goes over to Emma’s apartment after leaving the office.

“Hey, Killian,” she greets him when she comes to the door. “What brings you by?”

“Go out with me?”

“What?” The dumbfounded expression on her face makes him regret not thinking this through.

“Sorry, love, it’s just I know we didn’t exactly start off on the right foot, but I’ve found myself becoming more and more fond of you and I was wondering if...oh, bloody hell,” he curses, running a hand through his already unkempt hair. She was definitely going to say no. “You know what, Swan, forget it. I’ll just go.”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry for botheri- wait, what?” He can’t have heard her correctly.

“Yes.” Emma smiles. “I was hoping you would ask eventually.” She leans forward and presses a kiss to his cheek before turning to go back into her apartment. “Tomorrow night, pick me up at seven. I’ll be waiting.”

Liam yells “I bloody told you so!” when he calls him on the way home. Killian’s too thrilled to care.

#cs ff #cs fic #cs fic formal #welllpthisishappening #cs fluff #cs au #captain swan #captain swan fic #meredith writes

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