#link neal and the seven dwarfs | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

karlyfr13s · 3 years

Text

Oathkeeper Chapter 2

It was supposed to be a CS one-shot, but then the CSMM crew got ahold of me and now we’re in multi-chapter mode. Thanks to the ladies for their inspiration, enabling, and cheering me on. Looking at you @teamhook, @caught-in-the-filter, @hollyethecurious, @gingerpolyglot (tell me if you want added, and coach the newbie in where these actually belong).

A HUGE thank you to @veryverynotgood who is the most radiant beta and gives me flails that keep me going through the self-doubt.

Links in case you missed Chapter 1 or prefer to read on ao3

Note: the rating is now M due to violent imagery.

Killian’s first week in Storybrooke was unconventional and more than a little confusing. Everyone in the whole bloody town seemed related, or at least so interconnected there may as well be blood involved; it drew attention to him and he spent most days certain he was being watched.

Certainly there were fewer eyes on him than on the young Lost Boy, Felix, and for that Killian was grateful. He observed the woman everyone called Granny as she put the lad to work with a nearly endless list of chores, always under her watchful, scrutinizing eye. In want of conversation one evening, he’d inquired about the choice to take on someone such as Felix. That had earned him a derisive snort and an eye-roll that rivaled Emma Swan’s when Granny explained in no uncertain terms that she was well-equipped for the job.

“Listen, Captain,” she leaned on the bar as he sipped a rum, “if I can raise Ruby through puberty as a damn wolf, I can handle one scrappy Lost Boy. What he needs is a strong guiding hand, and a good dose of responsibility--that Pan let those kids run wild.” Killian tipped his glass to her at that assessment, knowing all too clearly how the lads were deceived and used throughout their time in Neverland. “Structure, Hoo--it’s Killian, right?” she amended quickly. “Kids need structure and routine. You’d do well to remember that.”

Not for the first time, Killian wondered exactly how much Granny overheard and knew as she watched her patrons come and go. In fact, she was the only one in town who referred to him by his given name, most simply opting for Hook or Captain if they were being pleasant. Or ‘the pirate’ if they happen to be Emma’s father, he added. His ponderance was abruptly interrupted when the door crashed open and an exasperated looking Emma quickly crossed to the bar and sank down one stool from his own.

“This one calls for a whisky on the rocks, Granny,” she huffed, casting a sidelong glance at Killian’s own glass. “You too, huh? Must be going around today.” He watched as she shucked her red leather jacket, tossing it aside on the barstool between them and he gave her a moment, offering a quick clink of his glass once her own libation arrived.

“To what do we owe the pleasure?” Killian kept his voice light, noting the tension in the set of her shoulders and jaw.

She heaved a sigh and he made a valiant effort to focus on her stunning green eyes rather than the assets her movements showcased in that moment. “The short version? I’m sick of my mother,” she tripped on the word, “trying to be my life coach. I’m tired of inane ‘loitering’ reports from the surliest dwarf, and I cannot seem to get--” her momentum was immediately interrupted by the door and a sudden call across the diner.

“Ems, there you are!”

“--a single minute of quiet,” Emma finished lowly while Neal sauntered over and leaned against the counter, placing himself between Killian and her.

“So, I was thinking we could grab dinner. You know, you, me and Henry? Or maybe just you and me if Regina has--”

“Neal, I’ve had a long day. I am going to enjoy this drink, maybe a second, and then I am eating whatever I rummage out of the pantry at Mary Margaret’s since she and David are out on a date.”

“So you have the place to yourself?”

Killian understood the insinuation and clenched his jaw. He started counting backward from ten while he listened to Emma try to redirect Neal’s plans, and when he heard the other man’s second attempt to garner an invitation he reset the clock and started the count at twenty. Perhaps she cares for him, he reminded himself. She is tired and had a difficult day, but that does not mean she has chosen not to be with--

Her voice was suddenly raised and Killian felt like he was about four steps behind the conversation as he snapped to attention on the words she spat at the man across from her.

“Just go-- go, Neal. This isn’t happening. Not tonight. Not tomorrow. It is not happening .” Whatever expression she held in that moment must have been truly glorious to earn Neal’s melodramatic scoff as he stormed out the diner and slammed the door behind him.

Granny simply poured a healthy splash of whisky in Emma’s glass in reply before shuffling back to the kitchen as she had witnessed the whole interaction mere steps from Killian, who just now was actively working to control both his expression and the thoughts wheeling through his mind at her parting shot. What exactly was not happening between them? Where did that leave him?

Killian glanced over at Emma, her eyes ablaze as if challenging him to comment on the interaction. “Darts are quiet,” he offered congenially, smiling what he considered his most winning grin.

That earned him a quick bark of laughter. “And a little violent,” she smirked.

“Aye, that too, Swan.”

She held up her glass and they shared their second silent toast of the evening. “I could use a little of both,” she added as she got up, glass in hand and the beginnings of a smile playing at the corner of her mouth.

“I hear rumor they even sell food at this establishment,” Killian pressed his luck a bit as they collected the two sets of darts and set up.

“You don’t say?” She shook her head at him and he watched her consider the offer. “Loser buys?”

“Of course, love.” He sketched her a bow, flourishing his hand and making a show of it to cover up his surprise.

“Not your love,” she retorted, sinking a bullseye on her first try while Killian considered how grateful he was that Granny accepted doubloons. Where had she learned to play like this?

...

Granny hollered last call only moments after Emma bid Killian goodnight, a lightness to her steps as he watched her go. “Looks like that went well,” Granny called over as she wiped down the last table.

“Aye,” he tossed Granny a wink, “and she stayed for three games. And dessert.”

For the life of him, Killian couldn’t decipher Granny’s laugh at this simple observation until the double-entendre dawned on him at last. He was tired and perhaps he’d imbibed one too many glasses if he was the one missing the joke...it was then he noticed Emma’s jacket still laying across the barstool where she’d first dropped it.

“Seven hells,” he took off to the sound of Granny’s whooping call as she warned him the sheriff walked fast and he’d better work for it. Work for what exactly? Killian mused as he jogged out into the night, no easy feat in full leathers with more than a bit of drink in him. He spotted her golden hair in the lamplight down the street and called out, thinking it the better option than startling her.

She spun on her heel, wobbled slightly, and burst into laughter as she leaned against the lamppost for support--clearly he wasn’t the only to enjoy one too many this evening. Ever the gentleman, Killian held her jacket out and ignored her comment about being chased down Main Street by a pirate.

“Princess,” he began, calling far too loudly given the hour, “chivalry demands I return your cloak, lest you catch a chill on this dark night.” She shushed him less than successfully as she giggled and fell into step beside him-- Emma Swan can giggle, he mused. “As well,” he continued, voice full volume and bordering on a bellow, “I must see you safely to your door. No doubt there are ruffians about, and all manor of unsavory ne’er-do-wells, all seeking mischief against such an elegant,” he chuckled as she staggered slightly, “and graceful lady as thee.”

“You’re such an idiot, shut up! Do you want the whole neighborhood awake?” Her scolding was half-hearted at best considering her idea of a whisper could likely be heard across the street.

“Do you think they’ll call the sheriff, love” He waggled his eyebrows at her and she swatted his chest. “Surely you wouldn’t throw a man in the brig for an act of noblest courtesy,” at that he draped her jacket over her shoulders while she led the way and proceeded to spin a tale of his own unimpeachable valor as a young sailor. When they reached her dwelling, she turned to face him before heading up.

“Why do you always get it? Nobody gets it.” He raised a brow at her question. “Gets me. Like Neal,” she slurred the name and rolled her eyes. “I have a shitty day at work and he decides to make some weird pass at me through the kid ? But you,” she leaned in and poked Killian in the chest, keeping her index finger pressed against his sternum. “You’re the...the flirty pirate king and you just...throw sharp shit at a wall with me and buy me drinks. You didn’t even check out my ass more than once.”

He absolutely had, but far be it for Killian to correct the lady when this seemed to be going somewhere rather interesting.

“Can I tell you a secret?” she slurred.

Before he could suggest this was likely a bad idea as she would potentially regret whatever her next words were to be, she pulled him down by one of his coat lapels and whispered loudly, “My mom is Snow White, right? So she’s all about ‘true love’ and ‘happily ever after’,” her whisper became what he thought was an imitation of her mother, though he doubted that Snow White had ever been six whiskies and two rums deep.

“So she thinks that Neal is like...my Prince Charming, but here’s the secret: he’s not a prince! He’s a con-man, and he sure as hell isn’t charming. So whoops, Mom! Wrong bet!” She laughed and let go of his coat, poking the end of his nose and whispering something that sounded like the noise boop in the most infuriatingly impossible-to-understand gesture he’s witnessed yet. She gave him a glassy-eyed smile, and in a parting shot that left him speechless, she cupped his cheek and in a much softer tone murmured, “Goodnight, Killian.”

---

The morning arrived after less rest than he’d like, but Killian snapped awake as the sky first began to turn a dusty rose on the horizon. This was very likely the best mood he’d found himself in for quite some time, and he mused on the past twelve hours as he fiddled with the magic hot-water dispenser until he got the temperature just right. Unlike the Jolly , Granny’s provisions in terms of hygiene were lavish and he assumed they cost her a small fortune if Ruby and the guests enjoyed them as much as he did, but Granny assured him the soaps and amenities were provided, so he took great joy in letting the warm water run over him as he lathered up, breathing in the herbal and lemon scent so unlike the harsh lye soap he was accustomed to. This world without magic had its charms, and hot water on demand was his latest favorite.

He arrived downstairs for his other new-world favorite - coffee - and Killian was pleased to see Emma already at the counter, though she looked a great deal less chipper than he felt. “Good morning, Swan,” he sauntered up to take a seat at her left. “Beautiful morning, don’t you think?”

She grumbled something about a headache and before Killian could reply, Granny swooped in and all but insisted she sit and have breakfast. Despite her protests, Emma wound up delayed in her arrival to her post that morning as she was cajoled into a substantial pile of eggs, bacon, and toast. “Complain all you want, Sheriff,” Granny eyed her as she set a matching plate before Killian, “but you two need to soak up some of last night’s fun. Now, eat.” After obligingly refilling their mugs with steaming hot coffee, to which Emma added more than a bit of cream and sugar, Granny retreated to another table as the morning rush filled in around them.

They ate in companionable silence until Emma glanced over and opened with, “I beat you at darts, didn’t I?”

“Aye, two wins to my paltry one, Swan. I’m only grateful we chose not to wager more than dinner and drinks on the game, or my pockets would be a great deal more empty.” She smirked at his comment, and the two chatted as they worked through their breakfasts, both seeming to come alive as Granny had predicted.

He should have known it was all going far too well.

The bell above the door chimed, and the bustle of the patrons picking up coffee and pastries on their way to work or leisurely enjoying their breakfasts fell to a whisper. Killian stayed perfectly still as he heard the man limp toward the counter, the gentle thud of his cane giving him away. From the corner of his eye, he saw Emma roll her eyes at his clipped “Miss Swan,” and Killian stayed frozen to the spot, not trusting his reaction in front of the woman who not only was increasingly important in his life--a thought he’d sort out, or studiously avoid, later--but also represented the local law enforcement.

He heard few of the words exchanged between the Crocodile and Granny, though neither appeared pleased to be having the conversation. Instead, his pulse pounded in his head and his vision clouded as he clutched the edge of the counter. Killian had the distinct image of grabbing that gold-topped cane and flipping it, beating the man about the head until nothing recognizable remained. Until the gold handle dripped red. He could leave him on the floor of this place, twitching as the last impulses of his brain forced him to dance to a soundless tune; Killian could simply walk to the Jolly and set sail, free of the memory of this vile excuse for a man.

Except that he could do no such thing. He sat next to the sheriff in a small town diner surrounded by people who already distrusted him to varying degrees. He was trapped in a land that was not his own and had no way-- nor will --to return to his own. He was a captain without a crew, and as his mind raced through the numerous ways he could rid himself of this loathsome creature he knew now was not the time and certainly not the place. Simply put, Killian refused to put Emma in a position where she would be forced to see the darkness that lurked within him. So he let it pass, and let the Crocodile go for today.

It wasn’t long after the disruption that Emma took her leave, and Killian lingered at the counter as he mulled over what to do with his day. Most days he helped Granny with the more physically demanding repairs around the place, but he felt caged and in need of something more challenging.

“Appreciate you not taking his head off in my diner,” Granny remarked banally once the place emptied. “You have any idea what it takes to get blood out of white grout? Oh, don’t look so surprised; nothing smells quite like fear and rage rolled up in one, and I could smell yours from across the damn room.” She waved dismissively and filled two mugs, sliding one to him and keeping the other for herself. “It’s hot chocolate, and you need it. Little liquid comfort never hurt anyone, so drink up and tell me about it.”

He sipped hesitantly, but the woman was certainly right about the comforting power of the elixir before him. Killian thought about his next words as he breathed in the sweet steam from his mug, letting the cup warm his hand as he held it. “You could...smell my emotions?” He felt it best to begin with the obvious inquiry and prolong the tale of his darkest day.

“I could also hear your heart-rate skyrocket the second you knew who came through that door, so I’m guessing there’s some history there. You don’t have to tell me everything, Killian, but I need to know if I can trust you when you’re in here. Gold comes in to collect rent monthly, and every now and again he has lunch as well. I need to know you’re not going to take a kitchen knife to the bastard while I’m serving sandwiches.” She levelled a scrutinizing gaze at him and waited.

Killian set down his mug and scrubbed his hand over his face, realizing he was in need of a shave, then realizing he was further delaying the conversation. He sighed, knowing there was only one right way forward. “I will not spill his blood on your grounds, Granny, not unless he spills mine first. You have my word.” She nodded once, waiting for him to continue. And so he spent the sunny morning explaining how he lost his hand to the Dark One. While Killian left out much of the story of Milah, he could not entirely avoid her role in the tale, explaining simply that the man she knew as Gold had killed the woman Killian loved right in front of his eyes. Granny was sympathetic and asked few questions, letting him choose how much to reveal. It was cathartic, in a way - a chance to tell someone this piece of truth. A chance to be heard.

When they were finished, Granny spoke briefly of her wolfish nature, a truth which Killian enjoyed as it made her acute hearing and perceptiveness make far more sense. “I know your heart-rate also picks up around a certain sheriff,” she added as Killian slipped on his greatcoat, readying himself to find busywork on the Jolly . “And I know hers does around you.” She eyed him closely then, searching for he knew not what. “Be careful with her, Killian. I don’t know everything--I’m not sure anyone does--but I can see enough to know she’s been hurt, and that hurt hasn’t fully healed. In fact, I’m damn sure the source of it just waltzed back into her life.”

He nodded his understanding and left her to her work. Given the woman’s preternatural understanding of her patrons, he was not about to argue. He chewed her words over in his mind repeatedly as he spent the rest of the day checking that everything aboard his beloved Jolly was in tip-top shape. While his life may be constant chaos in this world, at least he could be assured his ship was as perfect as ever.

#cs au #captain swan #cs ff #csmm #killian jones #emma swan #captain swan au #karly tries her hand at writing

35 notes · View notes

emospritelet · 5 years

Text

Masterlist Day 2019

Behold, my masterlist of Rumbelle variations boinking and angsting their way through various scenarios!

I checked all the links the other day so they should work. If any don’t, please let me know, as they seem to have a tendency to break or send you to the wrong fic. Under the cut because - well, because there are a lot

Multi-chapter Masterlist

One-Shots

Multi-chapter Masterlist

All fic links are to AO3, and you may need an AO3 account to read some of them, as I have them locked down due to unprotected fics being scooped from that site without consent

The Long Game - Rumbelle. Winner of TEAs for Best AU and Best FIc in 2014. Gold and Belle have known and loved one another in a hundred lives, and he’s spent the past seven lifetimes searching for her. Humour, angst, and plenty of smut. COMPLETE - rated E

Bound For All Eternity - Rumbelle. Remix of The Long Game and TEA winner of Best Remix in 2015. Belle meets Gold when she’s 16, with all the awkwardness that entails. WIP - rated E

Playing to Win - Rumbelle. Series of one-shots from the Long Game verse, based on prompts received. Most of them are smutty. WIP - rated E

Homecoming - Ogilvelle. Winner of Best Anyelle in TEAs 2019. AU in the Long Game verse, set in 1905. Mr Ogilvy has been looking for his lost love for centuries, and has been giving up all hope of finding her. That is, until he receives a visit from a young woman in search of a job as governess. WIP - rated M (for now)

Penance - Rumbelle. Winner of Best Barely Legal Belle in the TEAs 2017. Teacher!Gold and Student!Belle begin an illicit relationship following an encounter in his office. One of the angstiest things I have ever written. COMPLETE - rated E

Knowledge is Power - Rumbelle. Set after 5x12. Belle’s emails with ‘the Oxford professor’ turn out to be very helpful, and she starts to develop a relationship with him. COMPLETE - rated E

The Stranger - My first Ivelle fic and TEA winner for Best Ivelle in 2016. Colonel Ives arrives in the town of Storybrooke, and gets the attention of the local librarian. COMPLETE - rated E

Buried Treasure - Golden Lace fic. Lacey tries to take Mr Gold’s mind off his lost love. I fully intended this to be PWP, but it turned angsty :( COMPLETE - rated E

Neverland - Rumbelle. Mr Gold is Belle’s English teacher, and also works as an escort. She unknowingly hires him for her first time. COMPLETE - rated E

Pixie Dust - Rumbelle. Remix of Neverland and winner of Best Remix in the TEAs 2017. Belle is unhappily married to Gaston and discovers he has been unfaithful. Ruby suggests hiring an escort. COMPLETE - rated E

The Course of True Love - Rumbelle. Angsty version of how the fight scene in 6:04 might have gone. Also a kind of fix-it fic, in the end. Winner of Best Angst: Hurts So Good in the TEAs 2017. COMPLETE - rated E

Outsider - Rumbelle. Winner of Best AU in the TEAs 2018. Belle is running from her past, when she stumbles into Storybrooke, and its most infamous resident COMPLETE - rated E

Tiger Lilies - Winner of Best Anyelle fic in the TEAs 2017. Golden Lace/Rushacey fic set in the Neverland verse. Lacey has a complicated relationship with her college professor Dr Rush, and decides to hire an escort that looks like him to work out some of her frustrations. COMPLETE - rated E

Vermillion - Rushbelle. series of one-shots based on prompts for the Tiger Lilies verse. WIP - rated E

Waiting Game - Golden Lace. Winner of Best Angst: Oops! in the TEAs 2018. Lacey is Neal’s college friend, and ends up sleeping with Mr Gold when he comes to visit Neal one day. The whole thing gets angsty due to a misunderstanding, but it’s resolved :) COMPLETE - rated E

Empty Corridors - Golden Lace. Winner of Best Golden Lace Fic in the TEAs 2018. Lacey has a bad relationship with her father, and it only gets worse after she hears about the offer he once made Gold. Unable to make rent, she takes matters into her own hands. But is Gold as ruthless as the town thinks? COMPLETE - rated E

Sacrifice - Rumbelle. Winner of Best AU!OUAT in the TEAs 2018. A new curse has stolen everyone’s memories, Gideon has been de-aged and Belle lives in a tiny house in the crappy part of town, unable to make rent. When her landlord Mr Gold threatens to evict her, she offers the only thing of value she has. COMPLETE - rated E

Cuckoo’s Flight - Rumbelle. Dr Hopper releases Belle from the asylum, and she meets Storybrooke’s notorious landlord at the Rabbit Hole. Season 1 AU. COMPLETE - rated E

Tis The Season - including Rumbelle, Golden Lace, Rushaceyrush, Dwarf Star, Swan Queen, Swanfire, Swanfirequeen, Wooden Swan, Floof Family, Malcolm x Fiona, Red Cricket, Brave Warrior, Dragon Queen. Mostly fluffy ficlets with a festive theme. COMPLETE - most ficlets rated T, some rated E

Crystal Tears - Rumbelle. With the ogres approaching her lands and her father betrayed by his own men, Belle must get away to safety. With the help of Graham, her father’s Master of the Hunt, she flees the castle in the midst of a storm, finding her way to the Dark Castle, and its strange inhabitant… WIP - rated M

Sparks - Rumbelle. Series of Dark Castle one-shots. Belle and Rumple adopt a baby dragon. WIP - rated E

Dark Heart - Rumbelle. Winner of Best AU and Best Mr Gold in the TEAs 2019. After a brief affair with Mr Gold and a bitter break-up almost two years ago, Belle returns to Storybrooke to visit her sick father. But there is a secret that she has been keeping. COMPLETE - rated E

Twisted Fate - Rumbelle. Remix of Dark Heart in which Belle manages to tell Gold she’s pregnant about seven months in. She’s wary and hostile, and he doesn’t know how to make things better, but he’s determined to try for the sake of their child. WIP - rated E

Kiss of Life - Rumbelle. Hospital AU slow burn fic. Winner of Best Storybrooke in TEAs 2019. Belle moves to Storybrooke and gets a job helping out at the hospital, where she develops a crush on Dr Gold. COMPLETE - rated E

Things Left Unsaid - Woven Lace. Winner of Best Woven Lace in TEAs 2019. Weaver takes Lacey in to save her from the streets, which leads to a one-night stand and a surprise pregnancy. Three and a half years later, Lacey asks for a divorce, but all is not what it seems. WIP - rated E

Opening Lines - Woven Lace. Prequel to Things Left Unsaid. Detective Weaver’s world changes forever when a young woman bumps into him after witnessing a murder. Friends to lovers with eventual smut. COMPLETE - rated E

Closing the Circle - Rumbelle. Winner of Best Smut: Kink and Best AU!Gold/Rumple in TEAs 2019. Belle, Mulan and Aurora have an interest in supernatural creatures, so what happens when they travel to Storybrooke to interact with the creatures that live there? In Belle’s case, mostly hot sex with ancient vampire Mr Gold. WIP - rated E

Sugar and Spice - Woven Lace. It’s Christmas Eve and Lacey’s oven isn’t working, so she asks her neighbour if she can cook Christmas dinner at his for them both. Snark, sass and eventual smut. COMPLETE - rated E

Goodbye Kiss - Woven Beauty. Detective Weaver has been in love with Belle French almost from the first moment he met her, but never thought his feelings might be returned. Christmas fluff and smut. COMPLETE - rated E

I.O.U. - Golden Lace. Lacey is desperate for cash, and tries to sell some debts to Mr Gold. Sass and sex ensue. COMPLETE - rated E

Honourable Members - Sutherelle. Belle French is an ambitious and feisty new MP and Prime Minister is equally irritated and fascinated by her. COMPLETE - rated E

Key to the Cell - Dark Castle Rumbelle. Belle doesn’t want the marriage her father has arranged for her, and seeks help from an old book, and the Dark One. WIP - rated M (for now)

One-Shots

Most fic links are to AO3

Last Man Standing - Golden Lace. Gold and Lacey are both escorts, each thinking the other is their client for the evening. Just smut, really - rated E

A New Chapter - Rumbelle Secret Santa 2014. Belle gets Rumple a special Christmas present, and tries something new - rated E

Made to Measure - Rumbelle RCIJ 2016. Fashion designer!Gold makes actress!Belle a dress for the premiere of her film. Lots of sexual tension and eventual smut - rated E

Ever After - written upon seeing the promo for the FTL AU in 4X21 and 4X22. Lady Belle unlaces Sir Rumple from his leather pants - rated E

A Taste of Freedom - Ivelle - written for Rumbelle Order in the Court. Smutty one-shot where Belle is Ives’s defence attorney in a murder case - rated E

Nothing But The Truth - Rumbelle. Thus far my only Dark Castle Rumbelle smut fic. Belle makes a deal with her master that has unexpected consequences for them both - rated E

Valley of Water - Rumbelle. Written for the Rumbelle Summer Vacation event. Rumple, Belle and baby Gideon visit the Lake District. Fluff and smut - rated E

Number 9 - Rumbelle. Winner of Best Smut: PWP in the TEAs 2018. Post season six finale fic. Belle wants the stamina to keep up with the Dark One, so asks Rumple to make a potion. Smutty smut! - rated E

Wolf’s Time - Rumbelle. Winner of Best Spinner!Rumple in the TEAs 2018. Rumbelle Revelry fic. Spinner!Rumple meets Witch!Belle - rated E

Midwinter’s Kiss - Rumbelle. Belle has been looking forward to the Midwinter Festival in the Dark Castle, but things get even more exciting when Rumple takes her on a trip to Arendelle - rated E

Small World verse (WovenRushBelle, Woven Lace, Golden Lace, Woven Golden Lace) - rated E

Love and Trust - WovenRushBelle. Rush and Belle are in a committed relationship but Belle has always wanted a threesome, so Rush asks his best friend…

Small World - Woven Lace. Weaver meets a girl called Lacey in Roni’s, and she’s just his type…

Turn Left - Golden Lace. Lacey returns to Storybrooke and decides to sleep with the pawnbroker she’s been trading sarcastic comments with

Off Duty - Woven Lace. Lacey’s loser boyfriend is arrested and jailed, and when she meets the detective responsible in Roni’s bar, sparks fly - rated E

Bravery Will Follow - Rumbelle. Reunion smut set post 2x01 - rated E

Drinking to Forget (Woven Lace) Winner of Best Series and Best Detective Weaver in the TEAs 2018 - rated E

Sex and Violence - Detective Weaver goes to Roni’s bar for a drink, and bumps into a girl called Lacey. There follows banter, UST, and a lot of smut

Round Two - Weaver is teased by Alice and he and Lacey have another night of hot smut at his place

Probable Cause - Lacey dresses up for Halloween and she and Weaver indulge in tricks and treats!

Damaged But Not Broken - Weaver gets a new partner, and Lacey finds an interesting trinket at Alice’s place

Smoke and Mirrors - Weaver and French investigate a murder, and his feelings for Lacey grow deeper

Almost Like Family - it’s Christmas, and Weaver and Lacey have fun with eggnog before being interrupted by Alice and French

Living Arrangements - Weaver begins to realise the depths of his feelings for Lacey, and makes an important decision

Rude Awakening - Rumple has his memories back, but reacts very badly to seeing someone who is the image of his dead wife.

Lost and Found - Lacey waits for Weaver to wake up so she can yell at him. Alice guides Rumple to the truth about his lost love.

Full Circle - Rumple takes Belle to Storybrooke to try to find a way to restore her knowledge of their old life and tries to keep her at arm’s length. Belle has other ideas.

The Return - Rumple returns Belle’s memories at the wishing well

Honeymoon Series (Rumbelle) - COMPLETE - rated E

1. Newlyweds - Rumple and Belle’s wedding night, with a little angst, lots of smut, and Hook making Moe French very uncomfortable

2. Something Blue - the morning after the wedding night, and the diners at Granny’s take an interest in the newlyweds.

3. Cabin Fever - Belle tells Rumple that she found him attractive in his EF persona, and the Charmings happen upon the happy couple while on a walk in the woods. Winner of TEA for Best Smut: Comedy 2015

4. The Many Uses Of Magic - Rumple shows Belle a useful spell, and Hook grosses out the occupants at Granny’s diner and gets a punch on the nose for his troubles

5. Red Velvet - Rumbelle roleplay - the Dark One’s maid has a problem that only he can help her with

6. Shadows at Midnight - Rumple has a flashback to his imprisonment with Zelena, and Belle is there to help him. Starts of angsty, ends up smutty

7. Light and Shadow - Rumple takes Belle on a boat ride, with a little help from Lumiere

Erotic Destiny series (Rushbelle) - all smutty. TEA winner for Best Rushbelle and Smut: Best Anyelle 2015 - rated E

1. Power Play - Belle is determined to have the last word with Dr Rush, for once

2. Curious - Belle gives Rush a surprise

3. Control - Rush has been avoiding Belle since the ‘incident’, so she seeks him out

4. Personal Matters - waking up in bed with Rush leads to an argument. Then smut.

5. Direct Orders - Belle and Rush have been fighting at work, and Young orders them to get some rest

6. Before the Storm - surprisingly just smut, no fighting

7. Third Party Evidence - Colonel Young finds out Rush and Belle are having sex

8. Open To Interpretation - Young tries to talk some sense into Belle. It does not go well

9. Going Down - clue’s in the title *winks*

10. Green Eyes - Belle gets a handsome friend to come aboard Destiny, and Rush is jealous

11. Silence - Rush is being distant, and Belle tries to find out why.

12. Only in Your Head - when Belle is stranded on an alien plant, Rush resorts to drastic action in an attempt to save her.

Rushbelle one-shots

Fragile - Rushbelle. Rush is still mourning the loss of his wife when he meets a stranger in a bar who has her own grief. Please read the tags on this one - rated E

Pleasure in Grief - Rush is insensitive, and Belle is upset with him. Smut ensues - rated E

Three’s Company - TEA winner for Best Threesome 2015 - RushBelleRush smut on Destiny - rated E

Hunger - Rush is infected with a vampiric parasite that wants Belle’s blood even more than he wants her body - rated E

Look Back in Anger - Rushbelle fic written for The Great Rumbelle Blow Off. Lieutenant Belle French decides to channel her irritation with Rush into sucking him off - rated E

Open Fire - follow up to Look Back in Anger. Fuck or die fic where Lt French and Dr Rush are trapped on a planet in a rainstorm and seek shelter - and a way to keep warm - rated E

Extracurricular series - RumBelleRush teacher/student/teacher smut - rated E

1. A Shift in Focus - Prof!Rush fucks Student!Belle in his car

2. Crossing The Line - Prof!Gold goes down on Student!Belle in his office and later fucks her in his apartment.

3. Secret Affairs - the morning after, Belle has to deal with a suspicious Ruby and later goes to Rush’s office to arrange a date that evening, with smutty results.

4. Unrequited - Gold accidentally sexts Rush, much to Belle’s amusement. She helps him feel better in his office. Erotic art then appears around the university featuring Gold and Rush, and Rush trolls Gold, meaning Belle has to punish him with a public blowjob

5. San Francisco - RumBelleRush threesome smut! TEA winner of Best Threesome 2016

6. Fire and Ice - More RumBelleRush threesome smut, wherein they’re snowed in at a hotel, and make use of a sauna, shower and Gold’s bedroom for sexy times. TEA winner of Best Threesome 2017

7. Peaches and Longing - threesome smut in a hotel, following their car breaking down on a road trip. Winner of Best Threesome 2018.

#masterlist day 2019 #rumbelle #rushbelle #anyelle #ogilvelle #golden lace #woven lace #ivelle #sutherelle

21 notes · View notes

sarahreesbrennan · 7 years

Note

Congratulations on your new book! I'm so excited to read it. :) Although, I also wanted to ask, will any of the extras for Turn of the Story, such as Adara's side story, be left up? I want to know so I make sure to save it ahead of time.

Thank you so much for the congratulations, my sweet! I so hope you will like IN OTHER LANDS.

Any side dishes I prepared are generally left at the table for my beloved guests of the mind to nibble at! Definitely the side story about Adara, one of Elliot’s classmates and a beautiful warrior lady born in lands fantastical, is still up. I have located it and put it right her for you!

LOVE FROM BOTH SIDES

“You’re so pretty,” her mother said to Adara when she was five, six, seven, and eight, learning how much she wanted and every way she could think of to get it all. “The world’s going to be handed to you on a silver platter, darling.”When the Border guard came recruiting Adara said she wanted to go, like her brothers had before her, to serve in warrior training. She’d always beaten every boy at games, at foot-racing. She thought it seemed a good idea. She didn’t expect them to laugh at her. “What, those golden curls make you think you’re one of those fighting Sunborn women?” asked her uncle, pulling her hair a fraction too hard to be playful.She went, just the same. She did not think, until later, about how quickly the world she was promised had boundaries set on it.On the first day of Border camp there were so many other kids, more than Adara had ever dreamed of in her little village. And she couldn’t help but notice there were more boys than girls, and most of the girls seemed destined for the council course. There was a girl who definitely had dwarf blood: Adara didn’t see how she could hold her own in a fight.Most of the girls that there were, were from the other side of the Border, and looking very uncertain about staying. Some short otherlands idiot had been running his mouth and putting everybody off.If Adara was one of the few girls from a Borderlands family, she was the best representative the Borderlands could possibly have. She approached a girl who was looking unsure but tempted, a girl almost as pretty as Adara was herself, her eyes sparkling even as she bit her lip and said: “Fighting? I don’t know.”“You’ll know once I teach you,” Adara told her, and they linked elbows and were best friends, easy as two cherries with a joined stem.“My name’s Natalie Ventura,” said Natalie, and Adara laughed, delighted: she’d never heard a name like that before.That evening, eating meat off the bone around a roaring fire, she saw all the boys forming little groups, and no girls allowed in any of them. She told her new friend Natalie that Natalie could ask that girl, and that girl, and that one, to sit and eat with them. She formed her own group.After her group were all sitting comfortably, laughing and feeling chosen, Adara noticed one boy sitting apart from all the others, talking to a tall girl with her dark hair ruffling gently in the night breeze to display the curve of elven ears. Her face did not show any emotion, but his did. He was leaning close to her, listening to what she had to say: his face was attentive, interested, intent. His hair was chased gold and his tanned skin darkened by the firelight, so he looked burnished and brilliant. “I know,” said one of the girls Adara had chosen, seeing where she was looking and sighing. “That’s Luke Sunborn.”Those fighting Sunborn women.Adara thought: of course it was.*Adara did very well at the Border camp. She was the best of the girls, everyone acknowledged that, and even though fewer people mentioned it she was better than most of the boys, too.Sometimes the elf Chaos-of-Battle edged her out, but that didn’t count. Everyone knew she was getting help from Luke Sunborn. Natalie invited her to come stay over the summer, if she could cross the Border. Adara climbed the stone steps into the clouds and then spread her arms wide and looked down at her first city, laid out before her like an open jewelry box, and felt that it was absolutely right that she should have the power to cross, that she should have two worlds ready for the taking.*

Luke Sunborn wasn’t perfect. He had the bad taste to pal around with Chaos-of-Battle and Schafer, that supercilious elf who thought she was better than everyone, who never even had to try, and the short guy from the council course who kept saying he disapproved of violence and then driving people to it. But he seemed made to be happy, so beloved that he could afford to always be kind, like a victory statue made flesh. His attention was a gift everybody craved: to have it permanently would be like having a piece of high steady ground to stand on, to be never questioned again.Adara tried to talk to him, in class, at practice, down by the lake when everyone was stripped down and casting each other shy glances. The leaves caught sunlight in a net overhead, and dappled light slid down the delicate brown curve of Natalie’s back, cast green-tinted shadows in Dale Wavechaser’s glorious eyes, and almost every girl around the brimming waters was looking at Luke Sunborn with his shirt off. No other boy his age had shoulders like that, muscled as if they were meant to bear any weight put on them.Look at me, Adara thought, but he never did. *Adara’s first kiss was with Dale Wavechaser, who was definitely the second-best-looking boy in their year—Adara’s group had discussed it many times and were absolutely sure—and was almost never a jerk.It happened down by the lake. They came down early, when the morning was still pale gray and the lake looked like a pearl. Dale’s hair was soft and his arms hard under her fingers, and it was nice.It was less nice when Dale’s friends surprised them kissing and one of them gave Dale a high five as if he’d won at Trigon. Adara felt better the next day, when she came top in history and Dale came dead last, and she made fun of him. Dale got his fun handed to him on silver platters, as it turned out: Adara had to make her own.But she could, so what did it matter?“You don’t have to be so mean,” said Dale, looking upset.“I know,” said Adara. “I enjoy it.”*Adara went home with Natalie every summer. She liked it there, everything so strange and different, with so many rules changed. Adara learned the rules of that place, too, so she could win over there.She stopped jumping when cars went by after a few days, and it only took her a day more to accept it when the boys in the cars hooted or honked their horns. It was just something boys did, when they could make you nothing but a pretty picture in their rear-view mirrors. Adara made sure it was never a picture of someone caught off guard, even for a moment.She learned to dress exactly right, dance exactly right, and use the internet so she never had to ask anyone what she wanted to learn.The rules were so different that what happened on one of their late nights, lying on the carpet for hours in a pool of orange light like no light in Adara’s world, seemed natural. “I mean, they say everyone’s a little bit capable of liking both,” Natalie said slowly. “Like, if you were on a desert island, obviously. Or… some people are just so hot that anyone would, right?”She was lying with one arm propping her up, chin against her palm, but then she drifted down to where Adara lay flat on the carpet. Her eyes were illuminated, turning the strange light soft.And it all made so much sense to Adara, as much sense as Natalie’s arm linked through hers on their very first day.But Natalie wouldn’t look at her that way in the daylight, any more than Luke Sunborn would.*Louise Sunborn was only a few years older than Adara, and she was leading a troop of soldiers into battle. She rode better and fought better than any man, laughed loudest and longest, talked and expected everybody to listen. All the men watched her, all the men wanted her, and all the men obeyed her.She was the most beautiful person Adara had ever seen.

War was different than Adara had thought, a chaos in which all the skills she had painfully learned seemed worse than useless more than half the time. War was worth it for two things: the few brief shining moments of triumph, and the quiet nights around the campfire when she could sit, hold Natalie’s hand and listen to Louise Sunborn reading out Schafer’s ridiculous and over-the-top love letters to Serene-Heart-in-the-Chaos-of-Battle.Wartime meant they were all desperate to grow up, drink as deep as they could from the cup of life before it was snatched away. One day when Louise was reading the latest letter, Natalie bagged a Sunborn called Neal, and Chaos-of-Battle allowed herself to be kissed by Darius Winterchild. Serene always acted as if she was indulging the pretty things, as if she might laugh about them with her friends later rather than the other way around, and it annoyed Adara deeply.But it provided Adara with the perfect opportunity to drift over to where Luke Sunborn sat watching his sister.“You’re looking lonely,” she said, and it was true.“I’m trying to listen,” said Luke, an edge in his voice.Then Louise Sunborn was wounded and carried off the battlefield, in the same battle where Darius Winterchild was killed, and without her to look to Adara felt so impossibly lost, so terrified. There was only Luke left, now, and surely they were all too young to prevail.Unbelievably, Luke Sunborn carried the day. Adara had always been good with the sword, but never more than on the last day of her first war, when she moved like a dancer and brought all down before her, when the sound of her sword striking was the precursor to trumpets and bells and she knew that they had won, and winning meant they were going to live.When the battle was done and the cheering began she held Natalie’s hand, their fingers slippery with blood, and Adara was grateful enough to acknowledge that Serene had even helped Luke lead.Victory was so sweet. Adara wanted nothing more than to taste it again, and again, and again.*The month Natalie chose a Borderlands surname was the same month Adara became involved in the school plays. She always got chosen to be the leading lady, the love interest: who wouldn’t choose her? She loved being chosen, and she loved the sound of applause, every person who clapped another one choosing her.She got Natalie into it as well, but unlike Natalie she never went and sat at the table with all the council trainees who were involved in drama. Adara could like it: but she knew not to like it enough.*Sometimes when Adara visited Natalie’s house she used the computer to look up things she never wanted Natalie to know she was curious about. She learned a lot of new words she never told Natalie about.Even still, she was surprised to see a parade go down the street one day when they were eating doughnuts in a café. Adara thought doughnuts were marvelous, the jam inside, the sugar dusting them: it was all so clever. The tops of these were stale, stiff in her mouth, but she was still eating hers happily when the parade went by, the windows filling with rainbow colors, and Mrs Ventura’s mouth went flat behind her teacup.Adara wanted to ask what was going on, but she did not because she was not like Schafer, socially inappropriate and demanding words that nobody wanted to give and making sure nobody liked him.“These are so good,” she said. “Thank you for taking us out, Mrs Ventura.”And Mrs Ventura, who was afraid of losing Natalie altogether and with good reason, smiled a smile that softened her whole face and put her teacup down.“You can have mine, too,” said Natalie. “I don’t fancy it, somehow.”Adara took it.

The next year, she heard Chaos-of-Battle talking with Schafer about pamphlets from somebody called a guidance counselor, and Adara thought those words, strange when put together, sounded wonderful: someone to guide and advise, someone who knew the right words and could put them in your hands.“I’ll give them to you, but I honestly don’t know if they’ll be any help,” said Schafer. “I’m telling you, this guidance counselor was useless and rubbish.”Adara thought: at least he’d had the choice, to take or reject guidance. He and Serene were so utterly ungrateful about everything.Why they had been discussing the matter at all came clear later, when Luke Sunborn caused a sensation in class by announcing he liked boys.Adara was not unduly disturbed. She remembered Natalie saying: everyone likes both, and how it had made absolute, perfect, total sense, how it had seemed so shiningly obvious. That didn’t mean you messed up your whole life. It did mean that Luke was not mad about Serene, as everyone had assumed for years. So Dale could stop walking around looking as if he’d already won a beautiful shining trophy: he hadn’t won anything yet.It must have been a nasty shock for Chaos-of-Battle, since she then apparently lost all self-respect and began courting with Schafer. That didn’t last, of course, but it proved what Adara had always known: that Chaos-of-Battle was not so great after all, that Adara was better.*The next year a perfect opportunity was delivered to Adara, like a world on a silver platter.Luke Sunborn got involved in the school play, and Adara was the star: he was cast to be her love interest.That meant that Adara was given a great deal of time to spend with Luke, such as when Schafer was occupied dancing attendance on the dwarf girl Myra who did the scenery, in the same relentless way he’d pursued Chaos-of-Battle. He showered endearments, made jokes, threw himself into the school play like he’d attended every Trigon game to sit beside the elf. He did everything he could short of just serenading them with a song that went ‘Love me, love me, love me.’As soon as Adara thought that, Schafer actually began to sing a love song: something terrible from the otherlands, about making love wearing a cape. Possibly a song about superheroes: Adara knew about those.Schafer wasn’t terrible-looking, now that he’d grown up and filled out a bit, stopped giving the impression of a short stick with a huge pile of out-of-control hair on top, a sharp nose poking out of the mess, and an opinion everyone had to hear. Myra was not even fully human. He didn’t have to try so hard, and if you asked Adara trying so hard was what would mess everything up for him. It was pathetic.“Here we are, cast as the leads in a play,” said Adara, twinkling up at Luke. “Think the world’s trying to tell us something?”That they would be perfect together, that nobody would ever question them and only admire them.Just listen, Adara thought, but he wasn’t.“I have to… be over there,” said Luke. “Who knows what Elliot could be saying to poor Myra?”He smiled at Adara, the engaging smile that made it impossible for her to be really angry with him. She wished she could have that charm for her own, but it didn’t work for her: its appeal was based on Luke’s absolute sincerity, and she did not know how to reproduce that.She could only watch Luke’s back, departing in the direction of Schafer and Myra.“Hey, loser,” said Schafer, demeanor changing at Luke’s approach, calmer and happier and acting as if that was an appropriate way to talk to Luke. “Do you think you could use your severely limited musical ability to hum a tune so I can show Myra some dance moves?”“Nope, I am not going to do that, thanks for asking so politely,” said Luke, and smiled at Myra. “I’m afraid I’m not very musical.”

Adara saw how Myra’s dark eyes lit up, talking to Luke. So many people looked at Luke that way, as if his regard could touch them with gold.“What’s a piney collider?” Luke continued, which was a fair question.Schafer frowned at him as if he was stupid. “Pina coladas,” he said testily, but then grinned because he was a weirdo. “ ‘If you like pina coladas, and getting caught in the rain, if you’re not into yoga, if you have half a brain’—well, that lets you out, obviously…”He rattled on, alternately insulting and singing, making a very sad spectacle of himself as per usual. In spite of how hard he was trying, Adara noticed, Myra was not really paying the least bit of attention to Schafer. Myra was looking at Luke. Too bad for Schafer.*Too bad for Adara, as it turned out.It happened on the night of the school play, when she was feeling as if all triumphs were certain and anyone trying to bring her down might as well be shooting a crossbow at some distant star.She had been dancing, whirling with Schafer across a stage and to the sound of music and sighs and applause. She was the main character of the story, the lead of the whole play, and everybody watching wanted her, believed in her, wished for her victory.So when she grabbed Luke Sunborn for the big kiss scene, it seemed natural to kiss him: it seemed certain to her that this was the moment pretence would become real.Except that it wasn’t the moment she’d thought it would be: the fact he looked the part of the hero didn’t mean that he acted right. Luke’s big bronzed shoulders stayed stiff in her hands, his mouth unyielding under hers as if she’d kissed a beautiful statue.She’d been taught all her life the only way to get what she wanted was to push past all limits, but someone else’s boundaries were limits you were not meant to push against.Adara left the party and the congratulations as far behind her as she could, went out to the burning fires where she’d first seen Luke Sunborn, and sat on a log with her head in her hands, and had to face it all. She’d been chasing someone with no interest in her, pushing the way boys she wasn’t even slightly interested in pushed at her. She’d been so desperate she hadn’t seen it.Luke hadn’t wanted her, not ever, and nor had Natalie. Neither of them, and neither of them were going to change their minds, no matter how shiningly brilliant she made herself out to be.She was pathetic, as pathetic as Schafer.She was just thinking that when she spotted Schafer, and he apologized for kissing her, for ignoring her boundaries. She didn’t even know why that made her want to kiss him. It was against all reason.She told herself it was just about having a good time and blotting out all the bad feelings of the night, until Schafer told her he’d slept with men. (Adara was prepared to bet just one man, because even though she was currently doing it, she refused to accept a world in which all that many people would willingly go to bed with Schafer.)And it was like being told the most important secret in the world, like having someone draw you close and whisper it to you. Maybe not everyone, but you, and me too: you are not alone. Being as pathetic as Elliot did not seem, for a little while, like a death sentence.Besides, Schafer was shockingly competent in the sack.*

“Did I—when we kissed, when we were younger, was that all right?” Adara asked Dale Wavechaser, months later.Dale blinked. “Oh, sure,” he said. “I mean—no offence, Adara, but I was younger and still working things out. I was maybe a little confused, but I’m not confused any more.”“Confused, huh?” Adara asked, and felt that dart of pained guilt, the feeling that she should have boundaries worked out like Sunborn and Natalie and Dale and the most certain and self-assured person in the world, Serene-Heart-in-the-Chaos-of-goddamn-Battle. But she thought of Schafer: she clung to the thought of him some days, though she did not even like him. He hadn’t seemed confused.“Don’t be in love with me, okay?” Dale asked anxiously.“Don’t worry,” said Adara, rolling her eyes.It was the closest she could come to apologizing to Luke Sunborn, she supposed, since he clearly did not care what she did or how she felt about him. He hardly ever registered when she was there, but when he did notice her he frowned slightly, and she edged away, removing the presence that dimmed his light. She made him able to forget her.That was another apology, even if he never realized. *“I’m done, done with it all,” said Natalie on the very first day of their very last year in the Border camp. “I’m never going back.”And Adara lay out in front of her very own cabin, where she could have anyone she wanted spend the night and nobody would ever know unless she chose. She thought about the little village she’d grown up in, thought about the Border camp and the clean singing energy of winning, being so gifted at dancing or fighting that there was no need for words. She thought of the chaos of war with trolls roaring and the bright shapes of harpies overhead like stars in a daytime sky. She thought of cities laid out before her like open jewelry boxes, full of new words to be learned and opportunities to be taken.Two worlds for the taking, even if they did not come on silver platters.“Never’s a strong word,” Adara said. “Why limit yourself?”

#in other lands #sarah rees brennan #turn of the story #the turn of the story #adara cornripe #luke sunborn #serene heart in the chaos of battle #elliot schafer #lgbtq #free fiction #natalie lowlands

290 notes · View notes