#magnolia’s fics!

[initialchains]

would you? | luke castellan.

pairing: luke castellan x fem!reader

summary: luke slowly starts to lose himself but that won’t stop you from reminding him of what truly matters.

wc: 2.6k

warnings: some manipulating and gaslighting if you squint and probably spoilers for the first book but they’re not explicitly mentioned.

a/n: HAPPY HOLIDAYS !! here’s luke as a gift <33 i’ve never written for luke before but he’s my favorite pjo character bc hes such an interesting and complex character aghh. sorry if this isnt as fluffy as you would all want, i promise i’m working on some real luke fluff.

The rays of the rising sun made the lake look far more beautiful than it always does. Sure, you were used to the warm tones that always engulfed Camp Half-Blood and it’s not like the weather ever really changed, at least not unless the gods willed it to, but the colors of the sun reflecting on the lake, the low hum of the wood nymphs singing, and the distant sounds of laughter coming from campers playing volleyball were strangely comforting. 

Well, as comforting as it can be when you’re trying to find some quiet in the neverending fight that was the demigod life. It gets tiring, it always does. The fighting, the studying, the adoration of gods who didn’t even bother to give their children a sign of them caring. It was all so exhausting. 

But there was peace in this small moment. You were sat in front of the lake, your legs crossed as you closed your eyes, trying to enjoy the tranquility of it all. The calm moment didn’t dare to stop your hand from finding a home in the clay beads of your camp necklace and twirling them around, a seemingly normal act to anyone who saw you, that actually was a sign of you being aware of your surroundings, a small sign of the fear you carried around, a fear that had you always prepared to draw your sword in any given moment. Not ever fully in peace. Not unless Luke was there. 

“So you decided to start your morning without me? Ouch,” You turned your head at the sound of your boyfriend’s voice, “A knock on my cabin’s door would’ve been enough, you know?”.

“Yeah? And risk waking the million campers that sleep in there? No, thank you. I would like to stay alive for a few more years, please.” You replied with a small smile, looking up to meet Luke’s eyes, his scar being more prominent in the morning, a red color adorning the edges of it.  

He snorted a laugh and rolled his eyes before taking a seat next to you. He was silent for a moment until he muttered softly, “This is a nice view.”

“Oh, definitely. The lake always looks beautiful when the sun hits it the right way. I need to give the Apollo cabin their congratulations and some flowers for having a talented father.” You answered, your hand moving away from your necklace to hold Luke’s.

“Of course, you make my pick-up line about the gods. Can you give me a win over here? I’m trying my best.” He said with a smirk before pressing a kiss to the back of your hand. It was a strange sort of thing he always did, even before you two started dating, he’d always find an excuse to hold your hand and give it a quick kiss. 

“I wasn’t going to let you get away with using a corny pick-up line on me, Castellan. At least be original with it.” A giggle escaped your lips, “Also, everything is about the gods, I thought you’d be used to it by this point.”

His face fell for a fleeting second, but he was quick to mask it with a small smile. “Right, everything always is about the gods.” Luke’s eyes moved away from your face, nervously glancing at the lake after his statement. 

You frowned when you heard the tone he used, he sounded almost.. bitter? You couldn’t even explain it. Luke had been acting weird ever since the camp came back from their annual visit to Mount Olympus on the winter solstice. At first, you thought it had something to do with Hermes being a total dick and ignoring him the entire night, not even bothering to give his son a pat on the back or a nod. But you’ve known Luke long enough to know he was past caring about what his father did, he was indifferent to what Hermes did–to what any of the gods did. 

The two of you were silent, sitting side by side in front of the lake in deep thought. He was thinking about gods know what, and you were busy trying to understand what was going on inside his mind. You decided to break the silence first, “You okay?”.

“I’m fine, baby. Don’t worry about it.” 

He was quick to answer. It was almost as if he had rehearsed it and had it scripted beforehand. It was almost as if someone else had told him what to answer. As if he was under someone else's guidance. Under someone else's control. 

“Are you sure? Because it feels like you’re.. I don't know, keeping something from me?” 

“I’m not keeping anything from you. I’m not keeping a single thing.”

“Right. Sorry for asking.”

Luke closed his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. He ran a hand through his hair and took some deep breaths, his chest moving up and down in a nonexistent rhythm, it was urgent and angry. He took a few more breaths, trying to calm himself before finally meeting your eyes again. 

“I’ve told you countless times to never apologize to me if you haven’t done anything wrong,” He reminded you of the conversation you’ve had millions of times, “Don’t ever apologize to me if you haven’t physically hurt me or something, alright? You’re fine. We’re fine.” 

He continued, “I’d trust you with my life given the chance. I’m not keeping anything from you, angel. You have to trust me.” 

“I do.” 

You didn’t see your boyfriend at all the following days. He always brushed you off by being busy with training or helping Annabeth plan for this week’s capture the flag. You weren’t the only one to notice his slight change of temper and personality, some campers from the Hermes cabin noticed it too. 

He kept pushing harder on his siblings, always insisting on them doing better. He was more violent than usual during capture the flag, not thinking about it twice before proving why he is the most talented swordsman in the last 300 years.

There was also this one time he volunteered to spar with a new camper.. it didn’t go well. He kept doing new maneuvers and techniques most campers didn’t even recognize, refusing to go easy on the poor thirteen year old girl. When you asked him about it, confused at the way he went too hard on the newbie, he answered with a dry “Where’s the glory in that? She needs to be prepared for what’s about to come.” It sounded as if he knew some kind of danger was approaching. As if it was a matter of life and death for the camper to learn how to fight against him.

You decided it was enough when you saw him skipping his daily chat with Annabeth, deciding he would rather sit by himself on the steps of the Big House for a little while. 

The walk from your cabin to the Big House was filled with self-doubt and twirling the beads of your necklace, you were nervous to face your boyfriend, which was stupid because he was the last person you’d ever expect to feel nervous with. When you arrived to the steps of the Big House and saw him sitting there, your mind went completely blank. 

You sat next to him and asked the first thing that came to your mind, “Would you rather fight 3000 ant-sized chimeras or a chimera-sized ant?”. 

An amused laugh bubbled up from Luke’s chest before he turned his head to face you, a smile taking over his handsome face. “I’ll take the 3000 chimeras, no doubt.” 

You smiled back at him, ready to ask him the question you spent the last thirty minutes planning, but before you could open your mouth he said, “Would you rather not be able to consume ambrosia and nectar for the rest of your life or.. see Mr. D without a shirt?”

You threw your head back with laughter, your face going red thanks to the lack of air in your lungs due to the laughs coming out of you, “I’d rather bleed to death without ambrosia than see Mr. D with a shirt.”

“Ditto.”

You decided to indulge in this back-and-forth game, after all, you hadn’t been able to have a real conversation with your boyfriend in days... you’ll take what you can get, “Would you rather not be able to leave camp ever again or turn against the gods?” 

“It would be boring to spend the rest of my life capturing a flag and growing strawberries… so I guess my answer is pretty obvious.” He answered while fidgeting with his fingers.

“You’d choose to turn against the gods?”

“Yup.”

“Huh, I guess capture the flag would be pretty hard when you’re pushing 90.”

Luke was silent, running his eyes through your face before asking, “Would you?”

“Would I what?”

He took a deep breath before replying, “Turn against the gods.”

You were silent for a few seconds, biting your lip and staring into Luke’s eyes, wondering if there was a right answer to this metaphorical question. You decided to give him an answer he’d like but also an answer you meant, “I’d go wherever you go. It doesn’t matter if it is a farm in the middle of nowhere or to the pits of Tartarus. If you’re there... count me in.” 

Luke cleared his throat and a serious look took over his face, “Sure, but if the time to make a choice came… would you go against them?”.

His persistence to try and get you to answer his question was making you nervous. The more he asked you about it, the more it looked like he was genuinely considering it. 

A nervous laugh escaped your lips as you nervously played with one of the beads on your camp necklace. He took notice of it. Of course he did, he knew more about you than anyone, probably even more than you know yourself. 

Luke stayed silent at that, a somber look taking over his features, you could tell there was a turmoil happening inside his head. It was almost as if he wanted to let you in on a secret, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“I... um. Well, I don’t think that’s happening anytime soon—at least not in our lifetime. But like I said, I’d go wherever you go, to Tartarus and back.” 

That brought a smile to Luke’s face, he looked into your eyes, probably looking for signs of you lying but finding none, and took your hand away from your necklace, lacing your fingers with his and pressing a kiss to the back of your hand. “To Tartarus and back, baby.” 

He brought your hands down before leaning in to kiss you on the lips. There was a sense of necessity to feel your lips against his, he kissed you like the feeling of your lips was his only shot at salvation. He raised his hand to cup your cheek and deepen the kiss, craving the heat he only got whenever he kissed you.

You stopped him before he could take the kiss any further, “Luke, we’re in the middle of camp. There are children around us, if you want to make out at least take me to our spot behind the stables. Holy shit.”

Luke took a second to steady his breathing, “Sorry, angel. I’ll make sure to keep your suggestion in mind for later, though.”

“Shut the hell up, Castellan.”

The two of you spent the rest of your day being busy working on your own stuff. Luke was still sparring with some campers who were brave enough to go against him, and you were hanging out with the Dionysus cabin while they helped grow more strawberries. 

 You found Chris sitting in the amphitheater and asked him if he had seen your boyfriend, he replied with an annoyed, “He’s probably in bed or something, I don’t know.” You decided to not ask Chris if he was okay and walked straight to the Hermes cabin.

A knock on the wooden door was enough to wake your boyfriend up, you were aware of it when you heard a muffled, “Come in”. You found Luke sitting on his bed, his sword in hand while he sharpened it.

So he wasn’t asleep at all, you thought.

“Careful with the sharp part of the blade.” He looked up from his sword when he heard your melodic voice, your words snapping him out of the trance he was in.

“Oh, hi.” Luke put the sword down next to his bunk and moved to lie down, leaving a space next to him for you to join him. He hummed when you laid down next to him, giving a kiss to his shoulder blade and wrapping your arms around his torso. 

He turned to face you, pressing his lips to your forehead with a soft sigh. His eyes closed at the sensation while his hands traveled to your back, looking for ways to hold you closer. His features relaxing when he finally touched your skin. 

You couldn’t keep this weird tension going on between you two, so you decided to bite first, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Once again, he replied in an almost scripted and mechanical way, “Talk about what?”

“The winter solstice visit, you’ve been acting.. different ever since we came back to camp.” 

Luke stiffened next to you, it made your heart drop. You’ve been dating him for a year now, and he had never been this cold—this uncomfortable around you. 

“I just... I think things are about to change.” He replied in a low murmur, his eyes closing again when you brought your hand up to caress his face, softly tracing his scar with your thumb in a delicate and loving way. Luke let out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding when he felt your fingers on his skin.

A smirk made its way to your face, “Change? yeah, in your dreams, Castellan. Campers will keep arriving and only 5 percent of them will get claimed, and the others will get thrown into your cabin.. like things always are and always will be. That’s not changing anytime soon.” 

Luke’s hand traced up and down your back in a soothing manner, “Yeah, maybe they won’t. Forget I even said that.” 

“Just because they won’t change, it doesn’t mean we have to accept it, you know?”Luke's eyes snapped up from your hands to meet your gaze, his brows furrowed in confusion. 

“I’m sorry?”

“We’re all on the same team here. Sure, the gods will never claim most of the campers and we will all probably die before we’re old enough to have children of our own... but is that really all that matters? We have each other. We don’t need them as long as we have the people we love with us.”

Luke tilted his head to the right to press a kiss to the palm of your hand that was caressing his cheek, “I don’t need the gods as long as I have you.” 

“Good to know we’re on the same page, Castellan.”

The two of you went out for a small walk by the lake and sat together in the dining pavilion at night. Your small conversation probably made Luke feel better because he was quick to go back to being himself, he kept greeting every camper he saw and holding your hand, not forgetting to kiss the back of it whenever he had the chance. 

Maybe it was you reassuring him about the love you had for him or maybe it was him being aware of you being willing to drop the gods at any time just to be with him, but he was completely normal during the following days, weeks, and months.

You were sure of it when you saw him walking around with the new arrival five months later, Luke seemed so excited to be showing him around. You greeted the new camper with a small smile when he introduced himself with a “Hi, I’m Percy Jackson.”

[takingasterix]

fanart for wither and bloom by tskmo

this is really, really old (and never fully finished), but the fic just updated this morning for the first time in a while and I realized that if I wrote 65k of anything, I'd probably want to see fanart for it even if that fanart was not great

anyways, if you like jiuyuan, i absolutely recommend this fic! it's one of my favorites of all time and i'm totally obsessed with it (you have no idea how excited i was today when i saw it updated!!). that being said, it does cover some darker subjects, so make sure to heed the warnings that the author gives.

[magnoliahwrites]

Lean On Me (Don’t Knock Me Over)

or: harry is a touring musician and you're here to interview him

feat: childhood friendship, flashbacks, friends to enemies to lovers,mention of panic attack/anxiety/puking

note: this is part one of a three-shot. Side note: I made up names for harry’s band, it’s an up and coming pop punk band so there’s that

Much like most things in life, when the paper slid through your desk, you immediately shoved it under the outgoing mail box.

anything that causes you stress immediately went there, a future problem for yourself.

It wasn't until the night before the show, when your manager turned best friend, Cindy sat in front of you tapping her new manicure on the desk in front of you that you even remembered it.

"I just don't see the big deal," she huffs, stopping the tapping of her nails long enough to push her blonde hair out of her eyes, "like, you two were kids. He probably doesn't even remember you. And besides, I have three people lined up who would literally kill you for this chance."

You groan, resisting the urge to fling your body on the floor and ahve a full body temper tantrum.

Instead, you act like an adult and throw a mini fit, throwing your head back and shoving the papers away from you.

"he'll remember me." you groan, rubbing your temples, "It was a small town."

"Good," Cindy shrugs, "Make him regret it, or whatever."

she pauses, and her voice drops, some of the hard that radiates off of her melts away for a second.

"I don't see what the big deal is still," she says quietly, "What happened?"

You remember the first time you heard him on the radio.

Driving down a crowded street in Cindy's car (the kind you could never even think of affording) the sun roof down, your hand out the window as the radio blasts, the sun beating down on your hand.

"This is 93.9 playing the hottest hits of the summer! To begin, we have a new single from Kennedy Curse, sure to get stuck in your head. They're new to the scene, but singer-"

Cindy all but squeals, leans forward to turn the dial on the radio up louder, "I love this band. l've been trying to get an interview with them for weeks.”

You snort as you drum your thumbs on the steering wheel, "Can't imagine it would be hard to get an interview with them-"

"Shh!" She hushes you, leans forward and turns the volume up until the car shakes under you.

"Chipped paint, Carol's gonna turn into dust-"

it was a reflex, a knee jerk reaction, something you couldn't stop. before you even knew what you were doing, you were leaning forward in your seat, slamming your hand against the volume button, immediately a silence falls over the two of you.

Cindy knows you've mentioned in passing an ex boyfriend, a singer, but haven't really elaborated on it. Now, it seems like you don't need to.

"So you'll do it?"

Cindy is all but squirming in her seat as she brings you back to the current.

The sigh is all the confirmation Cindy knows, letting out an ear piercing squeal again, "You won't regret it, i promise!"

She gets up to make her an escape, mentions something about transportation-

"I'll do it, but there has to be rules in place-" You're rubbing your temples, a headache already on the horizon, but Cindy isn't listening, long gone as she stops everyone in the hallway to mention the interview with the Kennedy Curse.

Backstage, harry fixes his hair in a broken mirror.

Something about ten years of bad luck, but he rations that's the problem for the person who broke it, not him-

A stage hand, over worked and underpaid, sticks his head backstage: "harry, Ten minutes.

Someone's here to see you-"

And the show is on.

The smirk finds his way to the corner of his lips, and it's game on. the harry who had a panic attack in the back room five minutes ago is long gone, definitely didn't puke into the garbage can earlier because of the nerves. Instead, it's now replaced by the harry he wants everyone to see; confident, cocky, bold-

"Fans already-"

And he rounds the corner and almost hits you with the door.

he speaks first. A reflex, like he's been searching for the name for months or years, waiitng for it to fall onto his lips again-

he speaks before he can stop himself, before he can hate himself for it he speaks before he can stop himself, before he can hate himself for it.

"Birdie."

The low whistle follows, some bird card be always associated with the nickname, for you always singing with him-even if you insisted you were bad.

it falls flat, feels wrong.

Not the cute nickname it was before, when you two would lie in the shared two sized mattress, harry’s feet falling off the edge of the bed, the sheets thrown over both of your heads for security;

“Birdie," he'd say, his voice low, eyelids heavy. even half asleep, the whistle followed, "I promise, to keep your side of the bed warm, always."

Under the sheets was vows between the two of you, the sillier the better, most of the time, but the hushed voices always told the truth.

Instead, you spoke back, his fingers over your lips, calloused from the non stop practicing, the yanking the garage door open at all hours of the night to practice: "I could find you in a crowd."

He laughs; it's lazy and low, like you both have all the time in the world, and he opens his mouth to say something about his height, but it lays heavy in the air as he kisses the crown of your head:

"And i'll always find you, Birdie."

Seeing him is jarring, to say the least.

The last visit was less than good, yelling and tears (from both of you) things said in the heat of the moment that keeps you both up and tossing and turning-

"It's just my normal name now, thanks." You say quickly, hoping it's dark enough backstage that he can't see the red spread across your face.

"Right," he nods, smirks as he leans against the wall, crosses his arms over his chest, "Well, birdie, I gotta say, you got a lot of nerve to wanna hear me sing after you tossed us into the gutter."

You snort, "Still the victim. i see nothings changed."

"Hilarious," he laughs without humor, takes a step toward you, eyes narrowed, that stupid fucking smirk still pulls at the side of his lips, "I see you're still following me around, hm?"

"God, I can't say I missed this. You're still an insufferable asshole-"

"An asshole you paid to see. So tell me, birdie, which of my songs do you like, hm? Still-"

You want to smack the smirk off his face. You dig your fingernails into your palm into you're sure they're going to bleed, leaving little half crescent moons in the middle of your palms, the same ones he use to study, trace over and commit to memory, kiss them better.

In some sick way, you were hoping you'd see each other and he'd apologize, come home-

"I'm just here for the interview," You shake the VIP lanyard around your neck in his face, "And then you never have to see me again."

His eyes dart to the lanyard and back to you, and for a second, he looks almost lost, like something hangs in the air that he wants to say-

"You have five minutes."

You snort, take the pencil from behind your ear,

"I'll make it two. We won't act like these are some deep songs of yours or anything-"

A local nobody band is opening, the drums are heavy and loud backstage, and the ponding begins the second you open your mouth, like it's planned.

harry leans in closer, grabs you by your elbow,

"Let's make a deal, birdie."

You act like you don't hear the low whistle fall out after the nickname.

"Listen-"

he cuts you off, "You listen to us and i'll do the interview, no bitching, after the show. we can go to the bus-"

the look you throw him is irritated and he huffs, holds his hands in the air, "Fine. I'll take you to a fuckin' restraaunt. I'll be on my best behavior, i'll have your manager eating out of your hand after this interview. Scouts honor."

He makes a show of crossing over his heart, holds his hand open in the air.

The smirk never leaves his face, even when your eyes narrow as he sets his hand between you two.

"Deal, birdie?"

You don't speak, eyes narrowed, but your hand slides into his like it never left.

It feels like you're making a deal with the devil.

[cosmicjoke]

As Above, So Below

Levi holds the girl secure against his chest, her head cradled to his neck, and moves quickly through the back alleys and side streets of the district, toward his and Furlan’s home.

He already knows what Furlan will say, and he doesn’t care.

The girl was alive, and that’s all that mattered. 

He could help her.  He would.

He’d found her, passed out from hunger, half-drowning in a puddle of sewage.  He’d checked her, like he checked all the children he came across.  Most were already dead by the time he found them.  The ones that weren’t, Furlan was most usually with him, and he would tell Levi no, and Levi would settle then for leaving food or coin.

But she was alive, and Furlan wasn’t with him, and so he’d taken her.

But not before wandering the neighborhood for a good hour, asking about, asking if she belonged to anyone.  No one had laid claim.  He had no thought beyond her immediate rescue.

She’s as light as a bag of bones in his arms.  He knows she’s hardly more than that.

He already knows what Furlan will say, and he doesn’t care.

//

“No.  Levi, no.”

Levi ignores him, laying the girl down on the floor.  He pulls his cloak free, bunching it under her head for a pillow.  He checks her pulse again.  Thready, but it’s still there.

“Lee!”

Furlan stands over him.  Levi can feel the weight of his gaze, accusatory.  Disappointed.

“She needs help,” he finally answers, and hears Furlan’s sigh of frustration.

“She’s already dead,” Furlan snaps. “look at her!  Lee, you can’t keep doing this!”

“She’s alive,” Levi says. “she’s not dead.  Don’t say that.”

“She will be soon enough.  Levi…” Furlan’s voice softens suddenly, pleading instead of angry.  His hand rests on Levi’s shoulder. “look, I know it hurts you.  But listen to me.  We can’t afford this.  We can’t afford another mouth to feed.  It’s bad enough, you throwing away half our haul every time we come across some starving kid.  You know most of them don’t make it, even when you help them.”

Levi frowns, checking the girl for bruising, lifting her arms carefully, rolling the tattered sleeves of her shirt past her elbows.  No track marks, which is good.  Means she isn’t an addict, at least. 

“She’ll make it,” he answers.

Furlan growls in frustration, tearing his hand away.

“Levi, even if you save this girl, what the hell difference will it make!?  The Underground is filled with starving children!  What difference will it make, you saving one in who the hell knows how many?!”

“It’ll matter to her!” Levi finally snaps, agitated as he stands, facing off against the older boy. “I couldn’t just leave her there, Fur!  She’s alive!”

“Yeah.  And?” Furlan steps closer to him, glaring down at him. “Levi, you give half our food away to every kid you come across out there.  You give them our money.  Oh, don’t give me that look!  You think I don’t see you slipping coins to those kids every time you think I’m not watching?  We’re barely scraping by week to week.  Did you think about that when you decided to take this girl in off the street?  You won’t be able to support her and keep up your little acts of charity out there, too.  I won’t let you.”

Levi snarls, turning away, back to the girl.

“I’ll figure it out,” he mutters. “I’ll get us more money.”

“How?!” Furlan presses.

“I’ll pull more jobs.  I’ll get us the money, don’t worry.”

“What, by yourself?”

“Yeah,” Levi says, eyes fixed on the girl.  On the shallow rise and fall of her bony chest.

“God, you and your bleeding heart, Lee!  As if it’s that easy!  What about our crew?  You know we still need to pay them, don’t you?  We can’t afford this!”

Levi grits his teeth.

He knows Furlan is right.  Knows they’re barely able to get by as is.  That he was putting a bigger strain on them by trying to help every little brat he came across out there.  Knew most of them ended up dying anyway.  He just couldn’t… he couldn’t leave her when he knew there was something he could do.

What the hell good was his strength if he couldn’t use it to help people?

He wishes he could explain to Furlan.  Wishes he knew how to put it to words.

That day, when he’d rescued Furlan, and he’d realized he could help… really help.  That his strength could be used for something better than keeping his own, miserable self going…

He hadn’t known that before.

Nobody had ever told him.

Kenny hadn’t told him.  Hadn’t shown him.  Hadn’t shown him anything but how to hurt and kill.  And that’s all Levi had thought he was good for.  Hurting and killing and keeping his own, miserable self going.

But then he’d rescued Furlan, and he realized he could help.  His strength could help, instead of hurt.  He’d discovered that all on his own. 

Kenny had been a liar and told Levi otherwise.  But Levi had found the truth all on his own.

So fuck you, Kenny, he thinks.  He could help instead of hurt.  He knew that now.  It didn’t have to be just hurt.

“Fur,” Levi says, voice quiet. “I can’t leave her.  She doesn’t deserve that.”

He turns, looking up at his friend.  His first and only friend.

“I’ll get us the money.  I swear.  I won’t let nothin’ happen to us.  You know I won’t.”

Furlan looks tired, mouth turned down at the corners.

Finally, he sighs, shaking his head.

“I’ll make some broth,” he says, resigned. “she shouldn’t eat anything that’s gonna’ be hard for her to digest.  Not until her body’s adjusted.”

Levi feels the tension go out of his shoulders, relief washing over him, powerful enough to make his head light. 

“… Thank you, Fur,” he says.

Furlan doesn’t look happy, but he doesn’t protest anymore.  Just tells Levi to get the girl up onto the couch, to fetch water, see if he can get her to drink any while he makes the broth.

Levi nods, picking the girl back up, careful with her as he carries her to the couch, careful as he lays her down.

She’s so young.  Maybe twelve, thirteen years old.  He can see beneath the filth of her hair that it’s red.  She’ll have lice, but that’s okay.  They have soap for that.  He’ll be able to comb it out.

Her eyes flutter open, green fogged by the bleariness of hunger, dry lips parting as she tries to speak.  They crack and bleed, and Levi frowns.

He remembers. 

He knows what she feels.

“Wh-where…” her voice comes out a rasped whisper.

“You’re okay,” Levi tells her, and takes her hand, holds it tight in his own.

Her eyes search for him, but don’t see, too crushed by the exhaustion of desperation.

Levi lays his palm to her forehead, checking for fever.  Her skin is cool, though.  He doesn’t think she’s ill with disease. 

“Can you hear me?” he asks. “Do you think you can drink?”

Her lips work, the column of her throat bobbing as she swallows.  And then she gives a single, shallow nod, and Levi feels a swell of hope in his heart.

He clasps her hand again.

“Okay,” he tells her. “just hang on.”

He stands to fetch her a ladle of water, and sees Furlan, looking at him from across the space.  The older boy turns away quickly, back to the pot he’s heating over their small coal burner. 

Levi feels a pang of guilt.

Furlan wasn’t wrong to be worried. 

It was hard enough, just surviving as was.  Just the two of them.  Another mouth to feed would only make it harder.

But Levi meant it, when he said he wouldn’t let anything happen.  He would do whatever it took to protect Furlan.  To protect their crew. 

He would work himself into the ground to make up the extra cost.  To make sure none of them went hungry.

He swears it.

He swears.

//

Her name is Isabel Magnolia.  That’s what the girl tells him when she’s strong enough to speak.

She had a mother, but she died not long back, and Isabel hadn’t known how to survive on her own. 

Levi listens to all this with a kind of resigned understanding.  It was the same story for so many of the parentless children running the streets of the Underground. 

It was the same story for him, until Kenny came along.

Kenny hadn’t been there much, Levi remembers. 

Every few weeks, he would come by, spend a few days, teach Levi what he thought he should know, and then leave again.  On and on, until one day, he just never came back. 

So, Levi understands.

And Levi thinks he could do like Kenny, and teach this girl to survive.

He thinks, better still, he could take care of this girl, the way he takes care of Furlan, and make sure she never has to learn the things he did.

//

The weeks pass, and Isabel grows stronger.  Who she really is begins to shine through.  A pistol of a girl with energy to burn. 

She takes to calling Levi “Big Bro”, and Furlan teases him over it with the relentlessness of vengeance.  But Levi can tell even Furlan has begun to grow fond of her.

Levi won’t say, but quietly, there comes a sense of warmth, that the girl looks at him that way.

He wonders if this is what it might have been like, to have a family.  A big brother and a little sister. 

That’s how he thinks of them, he realizes. 

His family.

He smiles to himself at night, when no one is around to see. 

Fervently, he prays, to whatever god there might be, that he’ll always be able to protect them.

[crossedwiress]

and when i'm back in chicago, i feel it

[fabledskies]

Anime screenshot of Clifton and Inferno. Very proud of this one!

[dont-f-with-moogles]

Hi Terra 🩵❄️ To get into the winter spirit, could I request a festive prompt with #11 - snowball fight for Levihan? ~

Festive Fics 11: Snowball Fight 

First Snow (Canon universe) Levi, Hange, Moblit, Erwin (Mentioned: Isabel Magnolia) 701 words

Leaving the warmth of the barracks behind him, Levi stepped out into the cold courtyard. In only the space of a few hours it had become a world transformed.  Snow lay in thick piles around the white stone walls. Above, the sky was as grey and empty as a blank slate. Whips of wind snatched up tiny flecks of snow like fallen stars and flung them to the earth. Low walls and withered tree branches were dusted with icing sugar sprinkled from the heavens. Levi’s feet remained frozen to the flagstones even as white whirled about him. As he looked up, flecks settled in his hair, gathered in force to coat the lapels of his black jacket. What had begun as light snow was now an audible pattering. And Levi could only stand and marvel at it, momentarily unaware of the cold as it seeped through layers of clothes to chill his senses. 

He had never seen snow before. Not like this. Living in a state of eternal dusk for all those years, trapped below in the city’s Underground, he and Farlan and Isabel had only ever caught the barest glimpse of it. The towering staircases which wound up through darkness towards the surface sometimes glinted with old snow. When it fell in the city above, it graced the top steps with the thinnest layer, turned colder by clear sunlight and breathed upon by clean air. He could recall, even now, how Isabel had stood on her toes beneath a great circle carved out of subterranean rock. Here, the light had shone down like a gilded halo; harsh and cold. At her feet the ground was dusted with a meagre offering. She had reached to catch the flakes as they fell, only for each one to melt and vanish as they touched her trembling hand…

Yards from where Levi stood, Hange was approaching. They had become distracted from their previous conversation, only half-listening to Moblit’s reply and leaving their deputy to readjust the heavy pile of books in his arms. Undoubtedly, Levi was a fascinating subject. They wondered what he was thinking in that moment as he lifted out an arm, palm upturned. Already the snow was settling upon his dark sleeve… and yet his expression was one of quiet wonder. Levi’s mouth opened, as though on the precipice of talking to someone who wasn’t there. Instead, his unspoken words coiled away in rings of mist.

Noticing Hange, he dropped his arm to his side. His features had once again become guarded; lips thinned, eyes narrowed. 

Then there came the sound of something cleaving the air. As he turned his head, Levi felt a movement of cool air skim the top of his ear. A wad of packed snow landed hard against the wall of the barracks.

Laughter carried across the frozen courtyard. One of the new recruits was stooping to scrape up more snow from the flagstones. A scout who had just opened the barracks’ door stood startled by the unprovoked blow which had so nearly narrowly missed his face.

“Tch…” Levi hissed through gritted teeth, “...making a damn mess out here…”

“Well Levi, perhaps we ought to teach them a lesson!” With that, Hange thrust the only book they were holding onto Moblit’s already impossible pile. Their deputy was left to totter as they bent down and scooped two handfuls of snow, just as the first recruit had done. Then, swinging their body around to face their attackers, they launched themself forward.

“Yahoo! Take that you punks!” Hange sent a snowball sailing through the air after them.

“...not bad.” 

Levi swept a mass of snow into his bare hands, passing it from palm to palm to alleviate its cold sting. Sprinting skillfully around patches of ice, he joined in the fray. With a horrified look of recognition at the young thug, Levi’s victims turned to retreat. Clumps of snow rained down upon their backs.

“And they say you’ve never received formal training? Simply amazing, Levi!”

Erwin, who had been watching the scene unfold from beneath the archway of the castle’s great, oak doors, smiled to himself.

“Well Levi, looks like your wings are the real deal after all.”

[aslantes]

The butterfly effect

Levi x reader (fluff, hurt/comfort)

Summary : A scene from the past is repeated and he understands who he has to protect Word Count : 1.2k

TW : Spoilers for ACWNR, characters death (tell me if I missed anything)

Author notes: It’s been more than a year since I wrote something, but I got a random burst of motivation. Hope you’ll like it! Since I don't write a lot, don't hesitate to tell me if you have any suggestions

When Levi was still a teenager and lived in the underground, he needed to be constantly on his guard, on the lookout for the slightest danger. He could only think about his own survival. He couldn’t indulge in a moment of peace, to take time to discover rare little corners of unexplored greenery that didn’t belong to anyone’s territory.

After the arrival of his two faithful companions, he felt responsible for their safety and was more vigilant in the face of this merciless city. Isabel and Furlan also had to be constantly on their guard to avoid being caught or killed. As the months went by, the morale of the three of them began to grow increasingly low. The lack of sunshine, the constant vigilance required to survive, and the dangers lurking around every corner was demoralizing them more and more. Especially Isabel, with her festive and explosive nature, lamented having to hide constantly in old, abandoned houses, where the only animals present were aggressive rats greedy for any piece of food that has fallen on the floor.

Levi, seeing the morale of his two friends at its lowest, decided to show them a corner little known to the other residents of the underground district. He told his friends that he had a place to show them and to follow him. The whole way, Isabel could barely contain her excitement at the surprise of his “big brother”. Once they had arrived at the long-awaited and hoper-for spot, Isabel and Furlan couldn’t hold back a gasp of amazement. The spot had a large round opening in the ceiling, which let in rays of light to illuminate the area. A few adventurous birds pecked at the ground from time to time before flying back to the sky when they wanted, a freedom that the three companions hoped for from the bottom of their hearts.

Occasionally, Levi, Furlan, and Isabel, would come here for a well-deserved break. Isabel enjoyed taming the birds and lightly stroking their fur. One of the three was always on the lookout, keeping an eye on the surrounding area to avoid any surprise attack from the enemy.

That day, it was Levi’s turn to keep an eye out for potential intruders in their makeshift haven. Looking behind some rocks, he saw a small bed of flowers, with an orange butterfly resting on them. He discreetly swept his gaze around to see if anyone was around and knelt, holding out his hand towards the butterfly. He had never seen one in his life, and its orange color reminded him the color of the sky he sometimes saw through the hole before nightfall. Luckily, the butterfly landed on his finger, and he watched it with curiosity and wonder. He gently brought it towards his two friends to show them the fruit of his discovery. When they saw the butterfly, they approached with curiosity and a little mistrust of this foreign insect. Furlan seemed rather indifferent, saying that they shouldn't be distracted by the slightest new thing, but Levi could see in his eyes that he was intrigued and amused by the butterfly. Meanwhile, Isabel was completely absorbed and amazed by the sight of the butterfly, not the slightest bit concerned by Furlan's comments.

As he looked at his two friends, Levi felt a pang of pride in his heart; he had managed to distract his comrades, even for a few moments, from the reality they were enduring in this dirty, unsanitary hole. He told himself that he would do anything to protect them and get them out of that place so that they could have a life filled with little moments of happiness like this one. The butterfly flew away and they watched it fly up into the sky.

~~~~~~

Several years passed, and he was now a member of the Survey Cops, without his two beloved companions, who had perished on their first trip outside the walls. He had hardened himself, both mentally and physically, to guarantee its own survival and the survival of others. He was known for being cold and direct in the way he spoke. He didn't let people penetrate beyond the mental shell he had created for himself. He had this deep-seated fear that he wouldn't be able to protect the people he cared about and that the same tragedy that had happened years ago would happen again if he got too close to someone.

But there was one person he had a soft spot for. He felt as if all his emotions and feelings were mixed into one indistinguishable ball when he thought of you. Wanting to ignore his feelings for you, in fear of realizing how much his affection for you had grown, he tried to maintain a certain professional distance. But despite his best efforts not to get too close, his heart made him do the opposite, and he often found himself offering you a horse ride when you both had free time. It had become the long awaited rendezvous of the week for both of you, although neither of you would admit it.

On a summer's evening, you headed for the same spot as always. A small hill dotted with wild flowers and a tree that provided some much-needed shade from the heat. Once off your horses, you settled down under the tree and a comfortable silence settled in. Only the sound of leaves moving and birds singing in the distance could be heard. The slightly warm wind caressed your cheeks, and you took a deep breath to inhale the summer breeze as you closed your eyes.

After a while, you began to pluck small daisies from around you to make a little bouquet. You stretched to reach more daisies before pausing. A butterfly had just landed on the flowers. Levi looked at you, puzzled to see you frozen, then his gaze moved to where you were looking. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of an orange butterfly. He couldn't help thinking that it was some kind of twist of destiny, even though he knew it wasn't the same butterfly he'd seen before. He looked at you again, his eyes softening at the sight of your sparkling eyes. The faces of his two comrades came back into his mind. A mixture of melancholy and determination filled him. He would protect you, whatever the risks. It would be too painful to lose you. Even if he swore he wouldn't get attached to anyone else, you're too precious for him to let anything happen to you. Even if he must keep his distance, never admitting his new feelings for you, that's okay. He's prepared to endure that if it means you can be happy and safe.

The butterfly flew away. You turned around, approached him, and slipped the small bunch of daisies into the front pocket of his coat and grinned at him. "The butterfly was beautiful, wasn't it? No answer, he froze because of the proximity of your face. "Well, I think it's time to go back, don't you?" you say, getting up and heading towards your horse. "huh huh" he replied, a slight blush on his cheeks and ears. Maybe he won't need to protect you by staying as far away from you as he thought.

[petraevesplace]

Another Queen Linoan piece, this time from GR09kuma

I couldn’t settle on a crown for her but fortunately, I have a wonderful friend interested in history and fashion that gave me the idea for diamond star hairpins, like Empress Elisabeth of Austria wore in one of her portraits

It also works as a little nod to the Empress tarot card and the crown of stars she wears in it. The Empress card’s connections to femininity, nature, and abundance all feel fitting for Linoan while being connected to the highest title a female monarch can have. One of the things I love about Linoan is that she’s a respected ruler. The people of Tahra chose her to lead them after they rebelled, she leads Tahra into an unprecedented era of prosperity while aiding Leif in his reign, and when Arion wants to take control of Tahra to protect it and her, he still lets it be her choice, a choice she only agrees to after he promises to return control of Tahra to her when she returns from helping Leif defeat the Empire. She’s a cleric with 0 strength renowned for her beauty but that never feels like all she is or even the most important thing about her. She’s the Duchess of Tahra, the leader of the first city to openly rebel against the Empire, and it’s insane she’s not in FEH yet.

[ssskol]

The very indulgent cover/poster design for my TF2 HelmetParty origins fanfic 'Magnolia'! If you have any interest in the project, its current form is up on Archive of Our Own below the Keep Reading mark, as well as credits!

frame work was somewhat inspired by millipedegf on here!

[daydadahlias]

do u re-read your own fics often?

also sorry you’re feeling sick, hope you feel better soon <3

there is no greater jess fan than jess tbh so yes i reread my own fics a lot lol !! i write for me before i write for anyone else tbh <3 i wouldn't write something if I didn't wanna read it too <3

and thank you!! i just have a nasty little sinus infection so hopefully it'll leave me alone soon :)

[initialchains]

teenage dirtbag, baby! | luke castellan

pairing: luke castellan x fem!reader

summary: there is nothing more exhausting than being known as the picture perfect daughter of aphrodite… luckily, camp half-blood’s resident teenage dirtbag luke castellan can’t relate at all. fake dating him to piss off your siblings and mother could never go wrong, right? (based on 18 by anarbor)

wc: 6.5k

warnings: smoking, mentions of drinking, mentions of drugs, mentions of sex, implied sexual content, drew tanaka being a bitch, and kinda ooc luke bcs hes meant to be well … a teenage dirtbag.

a/n: its still valentine’s day for me sooo happy valentines 💌💗 !! in mexico valentine’s day is also known as the day of friendship so this one is dedicated to my favorite people ever: @emiliehornby @love-that-we-were-in and @kestisvrse <3 !! hope you enjoy it mwah !!

The sounds of campers laughing and gossiping in the dining pavilion are drowned out by your siblings and their annoyingly loud whispers about the allegedly cute (you’d beg to differ) son of Ares who joined camp less than twelve hours ago. Sure, he seemed like a nice guy even though he's a child of the god of war, but you were certain the only reason they kept bringing him up was because they wanted to set you up with him.

“And his arms, oh my gods! Have you seen them?” one of your brothers chimed in, trying to get you to agree with him, but all you could come up with was a hum and a polite smile. 

It pissed you off a bit, the knowledge of you never being able to go against your siblings' wishes.. the fear of disappointing them and your mother being all-consuming and blinding you with fear.

There were times you’d think about it if you’re being honest. Times where you would let yourself dream of doing something so stupidly reckless for once. Something that would stop your siblings from walking all over you and treating you like their personal lapdog. 

Not only was it tiring but it was also humiliating to a certain point. You were older than most of them and you were pretty sure you were the only one that took being a demigod seriously, even taking your time to strategize for Capture The Flag with Clarisse, and yet… you rejected Chiron when he asked you to be a counselor and told him to ask Silena instead. 

And you loved your family—you really did, but it was getting exhausting. Always having to be perfect was draining you and you were afraid of the kind of person you’d become if you allowed this to keep going. 

“He totally wants to ask you out,” Silena’s voice snapped you out of the daze you were trapped in. You turned your head to the right, facing your half-sister with a small frown on your face.

“You really think so?” you replied, trying your best to sound excited. 

“Oh, I know so,” she answered before going on a whole rant about how cute you’d look with the newly claimed son of Ares. A son of Ares—that you badly wanted to remind her—had only been in camp for less than twelve hours and you knew nothing about. 

You stayed in the dining pavilion with your siblings until you found the strength to tell them you were tired and wanted to go to sleep (an incredibly blatant lie but it didn’t look like they cared) and stood up, brushing the dust off your jeans.

“Wait, I’ll go with you!” Silena said with a smile, standing up and moving closer to you. 

“You don’t have to. You can stay with them if you want to, really—“ you were cut off by your half-sister with an exasperated sigh.

“I want to go with you. Plus, I can walk back here once I drop you off at the cabin,” she stated with a playful roll of her eyes.

The two of you walked back to the Aphrodite cabin in a comfortable silence. You liked being with Silena, she was a few years younger than you but she carried herself with so much grace and love it was hard to feel uncomfortable or weird whenever you hung out with her.

You kept your gaze on the sky, noticing that the moon was out by now. “Hey,” Silena whispered, trying to get your attention.

“You okay?” you answered. Your mind was practically hardwired to always look after your siblings, so your brain was unwillingly making you think of the worst-case scenario.

“What? Yeah, I am okay,” Silena was quick to reassure you, “I just wanted to talk to you about—“

“I swear to all the gods, Silena. If this is about that camper..” you replied with a small sigh. The two of you stopped walking when you reached your cabin, deciding to continue the conversation outside.

“He’s not that bad! He is a nice guy and the two of you would look really cute together,” she insisted.

“You don’t even know him.”

“Ugh, fine. Good thing is there are other cute campers we can introduce you to. I met one of Charlie’s brothers a few weeks ago and I think he’d—“

“I can’t do this tonight,” you replied in an exhausted tone.

“Wow, okay. No need to be mean about it,” Silena muttered.

“I’m sorry?”

“I’ve been trying to help you find a boyfriend for months now and you always shut me down. It was fine at first but now you’re just being mean,” she explained.

“Mean? Silena, you said it yourself. I’ve always shut you down because I’m not interested in getting one.”

“Whatever,” she replied bitterly before turning around and walking back to the dining pavilion, leaving you alone outside of your cabin. 

You stared at her back as she walked away, going through the last few minutes over and over in your head. Were you being mean? All you did was stick up for yourself. You didn’t understand why you were feeling bad for standing up against your siblings just for once.

A snort made you realize you weren’t alone. You turned your head towards the noise just to be met with.. oh.

Luke Castellan was leaning against the side of your cabin, carefully hidden under the darkness of the night and the shadows of the trees, he had a cigarette in his right hand and an obnoxious smirk adorning his even more obnoxious face. 

“Hope you enjoyed the show, Castellan.”

Luke raised his hands as if he had been caught and blew the smoke away, “I’m on your side, she was being a fucking bitch.”

“Don’t call her that, she’s just a kid.”

Luke raised a brow before taking another drag of his cigarette, “Do not call your sister a bitch after seeing her.. be a bitch to you?” he shook his head. “Oh, princess, you need to work on getting rid of that altruism.”

“Do you even know what that word means?” you snapped, not being in the mood to indulge in whatever it was he wanted to talk about.

“Why? You want to teach me?” He said with a smirk.

“Don’t even start with your annoying stuff, Castellan,” you muttered, running a hand down your face, clearly overwhelmed with everything that had happened. 

“Because you know you won’t want me to stop?” he pressed, but after a moment of silence his smirk fell and a frown took over his features. 

“Uh.. you want to...” he trailed off and cleared his throat, “you want to talk about it or something?” 

You squinted at him before eventually letting out a sigh and walking over to Luke, standing next to him with your back pressed against the wooden walls of your cabin. Luke extended his arm away from you to keep the smoke far from your face. 

“So, um... Silena wants to set me up with that new camper,” you started.

“Fuck. The Ares one?” Luke interrupted.

“Castellan.”

“Right, sorry. Please continue, princess.”

You decided to ignore the insufferable pet name he gave you and continued, “The thing is I do want a boyfriend, just not… him.”

Luke hummed before bringing the cigarette to his lips again and inhaling the smoke in, he kept his mouth closed as he thought of something decent to say before slightly tilting his head away from you and blowing out the smoke upwards. 

“Alright, and have you tried telling her to stop?” he cut himself off and shook his head. “Nope that was shitty advice, have you tried maybe describing your type or whatever it is you Aphrodite people say to describe the people you’re attracted to.” 

“My type?” you replied, almost offended by the statement.

“Yeah?” Luke answered as if it was the most obvious thing to do, “Just describe the type of guys you’re into and I’m sure that cult of yours you like to call siblings will be happy to help…” he trailed off when he noticed your gaze set on his right hand and your bottom lip in between your teeth as he flicked the cigarette, causing the ashes to fall into the ground. 

He looked up from his hand and burst out into laughter, shaking his head before whispering an amused fuck. 

“Oh?” Luke said with a bright smile and raised brows, “You find this attractive, angel?” 

“That thing is going to kill you,” you explained, “I’m not attracted to people that like to slowly kill themselves.” 

“Fucking bummer. I wanted to see you take a drag, that would’ve been really hot,” he said, his smile not wavering. “Next thing you’re going to tell me is that you don’t drink, right?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Look at you, being such a good girl,” Luke teased before throwing the rest of his cigarette to the ground and stepping on it. 

“Also, that thing you said about Silena being just a kid was really fucking stupid. She’s almost the same age as Annabeth and she doesn’t act like an asshole, I’m pretty sure your sweet little sister is just a bitch.” 

Annabeth. You forgot that even though Luke is an annoyance most of the time and prefers to stick to himself.. he still has a soft spot for the twelve year old daughter of Athena. It was kind of endearing. 

“Annabeth is a daughter of Athena, you can’t expect her to act—“

“You didn’t act like Silena when you were fourteen. You need to stop giving her excuses and allow yourself to get mad at her.” 

“I’d rather have my siblings get mad at me and just stop perceiving me as this perfect and weak person, maybe once that happens they’ll stop trying to mess with my life,” you explained, your gaze set towards the ground. 

Luke was about to open his mouth and try to come up with a funny one-liner to make you feel better, but he didn’t get to because you were quick to look up at him with a gasp and wide eyes.

“The fuck? Are you okay?” 

“I need you.”

“Shit, angel. Most girls say that after a few dates but I’m not against the idea,” he said with an amused look in his eyes. 

“Ew, no. I mean, I need to date you—fake date you.”

“I’m uh... not for sale?” Luke answered, clearly confused by the plan you were trying to explain.

“No, Castellan. Listen to me. My siblings despise you, I’m sure they’d set my bed on fire as a way of cleansing my soul from you if they find out we’re dating.”

Luke’s eyes got bright and his smile widened (if that was even possible), “Set your bed on fire? And what would we do in your bed for them to feel disgusted by its existence?”

“You’re disgusting. Anyway, if we fake date I’ll get to stop being perceived as their perfect sister and you’ll have bragging rights for dating an Aphrodite kid,” you said, moving your hands as you spoke. 

“I’m pretty sure Drew started the rumors about me having lice and smuggling coke into camp, are you sure you want to fake date me of all people?” Luke asked carefully, trying to make you think about what was at stake. He didn’t give a shit about staining his already nonexistent reputation, but he couldn’t have you ruin yours. 

“I am so sure, Castellan,” you reassured him. 

“You know, for a good girl I’m extremely surprised you never say please.”

“Please, Castellan. Could you please be my fake boyfriend so I can finally stop being seen as my siblings' personal toy?” you said with a fake smile while bringing your hands together as an exaggerated way of begging Luke to say yes. 

“You’re so cute when you beg. But you need to prove to me you’re serious about this fake dating thing. Meet me tomorrow at the bonfire, no bullshit.” 

꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱

You had been on edge the entire day. Silena seemed to be past the argument, which made you feel better to an extent, but that didn’t seem to shake the uneasy feeling that settled in your gut because throughout the day you could feel someone staring at you. You could feel Luke staring at you.  

You were walking past the sword fighting arena with Katie Gardner from the Demeter Cabin the first time it happened. The feeling of a pair of eyes completely set on you. You turned your head to the right just to be met with Luke’s exhausted figure, he was sweating and panting, but that didn’t stop him from running his eyes up and down your figure and smiling at you. 

To say Katie was disgusted would be an understatement. A “Castellan is a dick, you should stay away from him,” was enough to stop you from staring at him and turning your head back to Katie. She went on to explain how Luke was a “real shitty person” and only hooked up with her as a way of getting her to grow weed in the back of the stables. 

It happened around eight times in the last two hours (not that you were counting) and it only got worse when the moon came up and everyone was making their way to the bonfire. You were walking next to Michael Yew when you felt a hand on your lower back. 

Luke’s hand on your lower back, to be exact. He left it there as he walked past you, only turning his head back to say “It’s adorable to see you together, are you two a couple?” 

You had to hold yourself back from strangling him when you heard his irritating laugh after he saw Michael’s reaction to his statement. Michael tried his best to be polite and tell him he was wrong, that there was nothing going on between the two of you. 

But his reply only seemed to fuel Luke’s actions even more because all he did was answer with a cocky “Oh, I know. Our princess here is only into... what was it? People that like to slowly kill themselves with cigarettes?” before walking away.

You were going to kill him.

Michael left your side as soon as you arrived, moving to sit with his siblings from the Apollo Cabin… leaving you with two choices: sitting with your siblings or sitting next to Luke (who for some reason always sat alone and spent the entire time listening to the music coming from the MP3 player he somehow managed to get into camp). 

So this is what Luke meant, you thought. This was the only way you could prove to him and everyone that you were serious about dating him—fake dating him—but it's not like they would ever know the truth.

You dragged your feet as you walked towards Luke, clearly having second thoughts about your plan, but there was no turning back now. You tried to ignore the confused look Drew was giving you and the gasps you could hear coming from your siblings. 

“I’m pretty sure Drew started the rumors about me having lice and smuggling coke into camp, are you sure you want to fake date me of all people?” You weren't so sure anymore but that didn’t stop you from taking a seat next to Luke Castellan, who took one of his earphones off and looked at you with a smile. 

“Happy now? I just proved how serious I am about this,” you whispered to him, trying your best to not let anyone hear you.

Luke nodded before saying, “You could’ve done better, but I’ll take it.”

“Done better? I just sat next to you in front of the entire camp, isn’t this good enough for you?” you asked, indignation evident in your tone. 

“Promise not to beat me up?” Luke said before pulling your arm and manhandling your body so you were on top of him, sitting on his lap. He placed his hands on your hips and looked up at you with stars in his eyes.

“Wow, Castellan. How scandalous, I’m sitting on your lap,” you deadpanned. 

He chuckled, bringing you closer to him and pressing his lips against yours. Luke’s hands felt like fire against your skin, all you could feel was a heat taking all over your body as he continued to kiss you, only pulling away to catch his breath before bringing you in for another one, this time he kissed you deeper and faster. 

Luke dragged you closer to him by pressing your hips against his and all you could do was melt into him and the feeling of his lips against yours. In the distance, you could hear gasps and people gagging, and you were pretty sure the campers from the Ares Cabin were cheering and whistling, but all your thoughts were on Luke Castellan and how good of a kisser he is.

You pulled away first this time, trying to steady your breathing as you looked into his eyes. He licked his lips before whispering “We should go.”

Your eyes widened as soon as he said that, the implications of what the sentence meant making you feel nervous. Luke was quick to reassure you, “If we leave, your siblings will be even more outraged. We don’t have to do anything, but they’ll think we are doing…some stuff. Just come to the woods with me for a little while.” 

You nodded and grabbed his hand as he guided you through the woods. You could hear Silena calling out your name and warning you about the consequences of your actions, but her voice was drowned out by the loud cheers coming from Clarisse.

Once the two of you were far enough from the rest of the campers, Luke let go of your hand and sat down by the lake, nodding his head as a way of asking you to join him.

You sat in silence for a few minutes until Luke spoke first. “How long do you think we should keep this thing up?”

“Valentina and Drew will want us to be over by tonight,” you said with a smile, a laugh escaping your lips. You didn’t notice how Luke’s eyes got brighter when he heard your laugh or how the melody that came out of your lips went straight through his heart and made him feel more alive.

“But I think a week should be enough. We can say we’ve been secretly dating for like... five months? That way it won’t be weird if we break up in a week,” you explained while your fingers played with your camp necklace. 

Luke nodded before going silent again, staring at the lake with a look you couldn’t quite comprehend. Your gaze was set on him, your eyes traveling from his toned arms, all the way to the scar that sat right below his right eye. 

“I know it’s awful, I can feel you staring at it,” he murmured. You could physically feel your heart sinking when he said it. You cleared your throat, “No, I… I think it’s beautiful. I think you’re—” Luke turned his head to face you, an inquisitive look in his eyes. “I think you’re really brave, Luke.” 

“Beautiful?” Luke asked, confusion written all over his face. “You should hear what your siblings say about it, then. I’m sure your opinion would change in a second.” 

“Being an Aphrodite kid means you see beauty everywhere,” you explained, “And I think your scar must be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” Luke stared at you with an unreadable expression, making your heart almost beat out of your chest. 

“Are you flirting with me, angel?”

“Of course, you’d ruin the moment. Screw you, man.” You rolled your eyes. 

Luke threw his head back in a fit of laughter, it made you want to strangle him… again. “Did you just say screw you? Gods, princess, saying fuck won’t kill you.” 

“I don’t like to curse, thank you for pointing it out, Castellan,” you said, playfully shoving him, making him fake a gasp. 

“You went from trying to seduce me to trying to kill me, you’re so interesting, angel,” he said before letting out a sigh. “It, uh… It was really hard at first, getting used to the scar.”

“Having people call it all sorts of names, and looking at me with nothing but pity in their eyes was not easy to get used to. But after some time you just… stop caring. I mean, I’m not that big of an asshole to hold a grudge over a fucking scar, it even looks sick. But yeah, when it gets hard again all I can do is snort a line and move on.

“The coke smuggling was real?” you gasped, only focusing on the last sentence he said. Luke tried to keep a straight face but his facade fell the moment he noticed your wide eyes. Luke Castellan has the type of laugh that makes everything get fuzzy and makes you feel lightheaded, and all you wanted to do was to come up with bad jokes just for the sole reason of hearing him do it again. 

“Fuck, you really believe anything, huh?”

“Shut up, Castellan. I’ll literally stab you and let you slowly bleed to death,” you threatened, standing up from your place next to him. Luke followed you as you walked back to the cabins.

“You do know I’m the best swordsman in the last 300 years, right? Do you even know how to wield a sword?” he asked, matching your pace and walking next to you. 

“Low blow, just because I don’t like to indulge in violence it doesn’t mean I don’t know how to wield a sword,” you retorted. 

Luke snorted a laugh, “You don’t know, do you?”

“No, I don’t. Will you shut up now?”

“I only will if you accept to let me teach you how to fight tomorrow,” Luke said with a tilt to his head. He didn’t even give you a chance to answer because he walked away from you while saying a loud “Meet me tomorrow morning in the sword fighting arena.” 

꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱

You were sure you were seconds away from passing out. It's been around two hours of sparring with Luke and your arms and legs were about to give out. The sun was starting to come out, which meant this torture was nearly over. At least that’s what Luke promised. “We’ll stop as soon as the other campers wake up, that way you won’t have to be embarrassed if they see your… skills.”

The two of you circled each other, your swords were raised and Luke’s blade was pointing straight at you. Luke took a second to study your stance before lunging forward, his sword meeting yours as you quickly blocked his attack. “Not too bad, huh?” Luke teased before trying to get another hit, his moves becoming more calculated the longer you kept blocking his advances. Proving he wasn’t called the best swordsman at camp for nothing. 

With a disarming maneuver you weren’t aware of, Luke was quick to throw your sword to the ground and have you stumbling back, not being able to regain your footing. Luke gave you a smirk when your body hit the ground with a small thud, “That was easy,” he said, “We should do this more often.” 

“Nope, this is a one-time thing, Castellan,” Luke rolled his eyes before bringing the blade of his sword closer to you, reaching for your chin with a glint in his eyes. The blade met your chin and Luke lifted it, making you meet his gaze as he slowly made you stand up by raising his sword even higher. 

The two of you stood still, staring intently into each other’s eyes until you heard it—the sound of the Ares Cabin making their way to the arena. Luke let out a surprised shit, dropped his sword to the ground, and walked closer to you, cupping your jaw with his right hand and kissing you. 

Your lips met in a hurried collision, causing the same fire from yesterday to set in your stomach. Your hands moved to Luke’s hair, softly pulling it as the kiss got heated. You knew this was fake, you knew this kiss meant nothing to him… but you didn’t want him to stop. “Holy fuck, are you two always sucking each other’s faces?” Clarisse’s voice cut through the moment, causing you to pull away from Luke, unable to meet his gaze. 

“Yeah, that’s what being in a relationship entails. I don’t think you’d know much about it, La Rue,” Luke breathes out.

“Don’t you have weed to sell or a cheap bottle of vodka to down, Castellan?” 

“Aw, you know me so well,” Luke answered before picking up both of your swords and grabbing your hand, walking away from the arena. 

The following days were (and you hated to admit it) filled with the most fun you’ve ever had. Luke would come up with some insane idea for a fake date and it would always end with one of you lying about seeing a camper or hearing Silena’s voice as an excuse to make out with each other. 

There was this one time the two of you were having a picnic by the strawberry fields and the day ended with the two of you hiding in the empty forge while making out, running your hands over each other’s bodies, and doing the normal stuff fake couples always do… it all happened because Luke swore he heard Valentina’s voice near the fields. (You were sure Valentina had been on the stables that entire day because she had cleaning duty, but why wouldn’t you play along with something you also wanted to do?)  

It was Sunday–the last day of your fake relationship–when Silena finally found the guts to talk to you about Luke. You even felt slightly bad for the girl because she was so nervous when she sat next to you in the dining pavilion. 

“I..um... I just wanted to say I’m sorry,” she began, “Well, there are lots of things for me to apologize for, but I think it’s pretty obvious what the main problem is.” 

“The way I’ve been treating you is not okay and I’m really ashamed of it. You shouldn’t have to feel pressured to be the person we want you to be, I used to see you as someone who couldn’t do things on her own and always needed someone to push her and help her handle everything… and now I see I was wrong,” Silena explained, running a hand through her hair. 

“It’s fine, Silena. I don’t mind.”

“Well, I do. You’re strong and more than capable of doing things on your own, and you don’t need me to try and help you or fix you.” She took a deep breath. “I didn't know you were dating Luke, and to be honest I didn’t even know he was your type. He is so… weird and I never would’ve guessed you were dating. I mean, Drew told me he does cocaine and—”

“He doesn’t,” you interrupted.

Silena raised a brow before continuing, “Anyway, I’m sorry if I ever made you feel bad for just... existing. And you always look so happy after hanging out with Luke, I truly hope the two of you stay together for a long time.” 

You didn’t even know how to explain the situation so you just blurted out “I broke up with him.” 

Silena looked shocked for a few seconds before letting out a deep breath, “Oh, thank the gods. Just because we trust you it doesn’t mean we trust him,” she spat the him with so much disgust it made you feel sick. “You deserve so much better.” 

꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱

This is probably the first time you have ever felt ill at the thought of seeing Luke. Sure, you used to be annoyed by his presence before the whole fake dating situation even started, but at least you were a strange type of friends back then. Not really close but also not complete strangers. There were times you’d catch him hiding his secret stash of weed behind the stables and didn’t tell anyone, and he’d always pay you back by lying to Chiron about you practicing your sword skills with him. (You had only used a sword once and it was years ago when you were still a new camper, you had no idea why Chiron would ever believe him.)

Luke was sitting in his usual spot by the lake, a cigarette in his hand. It had become a tradition for the two of you to always meet up by the lake before curfew to talk about your day and practice your kissing so it wouldn’t look fake. 

“Hey,” you said, taking a seat next to him. Luke threw his cigarette to the ground, stepped on it, and almost instinctively wrapped an arm around your waist, kissing your temple. “Blink-182?” you asked, nodding at the MP3 he had on his lap. 

“The Smashing Pumpkins,” Luke answered, taking his earphones off. “Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness is one of the best albums ever made.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I’ll take your word for it,” you said. Luke smiled and poked your side. 

“So, there’s something I need to talk to you about,” you began, but Luke held up his hand as a way to get you to stop.

“Can I say something first?” he asked, looking shy for probably the first time since the day you met him. 

You nodded and let him take the lead of the conversation. “Alright, so… I’m kind of shit with words so I’m sorry if this doesn’t make any sense but this past week has probably been the best week of my life. And I’m not even fucking around, I don’t have many friends–apart from Annabeth, and getting to be with you is the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

“Being your friend is the greatest gift the gods have ever given me, and sometimes I feel like I don’t even deserve it. I’m a mess of a person, and you’re well… you’re you,” Luke stared deeply into your eyes, “And I just wanted to let you know that—”

Luke didn’t get to finish his sentence because this time it was you who cut him off with a kiss. You could taste the cigarette on his lips as he brought you closer to him, running a hand down your back and deepening the kiss before pulling away and moving to kiss your neck. 

Luke began to trail kisses down your throat and only stopped to whisper a low “Look at you, what would Aphrodite say? I’m sure she’d be proud.”

Aphrodite.

You pushed him away the moment you remembered your mother. “Silena apologized. We can stop pretending now.”

Luke was silent and just stared at you, his fingers moving to fidget with the wire of his earphones. “Oh, right,” he cleared his throat. “It’s Sunday, I forgot.”

You knew he didn’t.

“Yup, so we can go back to normal now,” you said, looking away from his eyes because you knew it would only take one look into them for you to kiss him again.

“Good,” Luke stood up, not daring to even shoot you a glance, and walked away. Leaving you alone by the lake with the lingering smell of his cheap stolen cologne mixed with the cigarette he was smoking. 

It didn’t help that you were welcomed into your cabin with hugs and your siblings congratulating you for breaking up with the son of Hermes. Sure, you weren’t the perfect sister anymore because you dated Luke Friendless-Freak Castellan, but knowing they liked you just because you were with him and then broke his heart made you want to set the cabin on fire. 

The main rule of the Aphrodite Cabin was something your siblings were extremely proud of, but the thought of its existence made you want to storm into Mount Olympus by yourself and yell at your mother for putting all these useless ideas into their heads. 

For a child of Aphrodite to prove themselves, they must make someone fall in love with them and then break that someone's heart. 

Is it possible for the rule to backfire? For the child of Aphrodite to accidentally fall in love with someone and then break their own heart because of it? You didn’t even know if that was an option, but you were sure that’s exactly what you were going through right now. 

It was hard for you to go to sleep that night because your mind kept replaying the past week on a loop. Your conversation with Luke by your cabin. The night of the bonfire. The conversation by the lake about his scar. Sparring with him. Going on a million fake dates. The night on the forge. Your last conversation with him. 

“Look at you, what would Aphrodite say? I’m sure she’d be proud.” 

꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱

You could feel Luke staring at you. Again. 

You were helping Annabeth strategize for Capture The Flag, because she had the brilliant idea to have the Athena cabin team up with Hermes and Aphrodite. You didn’t know much about fighting and spent most of the time sitting with your sisters during the game, but that didn’t mean you didn’t enjoy helping them come up with new plans. 

Once the three of you were done, Annabeth excused herself with an awkward “I think Malcolm wanted me to help him go through some maps. You two have fun… chatting!” and left as fast as she could, leaving you alone with Luke. 

You watched her leave the amphitheater and turned around to face Luke, “I can see why you like her. She’s so much like you.”

“Yeah, she’s like my little sister.”

The silence was so uncomfortable you almost broke down crying. You nodded and turned around, not being strong enough to face him, and walked away. You could hear him behind you, following you.

“Can we talk?” he pleaded.

You were about to open your mouth when Drew’s voice made you turn your head. “Gods, Castellan. It’s so embarrassing to still be hung up on your ex.” 

Luke sighed, “Hello to you too, Tanaka.” 

“Can you leave her alone? She doesn’t want to talk to you,” Drew said through a fake smile. 

“Oh, really? Did she tell you that?” Luke answered, tilting his head as he spoke and making eye contact with you. Wordlessly begging you to please talk to him. 

You stayed silent and looked away from him. Luke let out an incredulous laugh before nodding his head. “Good to know you’re back to being their little pet.” 

Drew rolled her eyes and walked away, shoving Luke as she walked past him. “So? You’re just not going to say anything?” Luke said. 

“What do you want me to say, Castellan?” 

“Tell me that last week didn’t mean anything to you,” Luke answered, his voice trembling. 

“Why do you care? I thought I was nothing but Drew’s little pet,” you replied, trying your best to not look weak in front of him.

Luke ran a hand through his hair and stepped closer to you, “I’m sure you’re thinking the exact same thing about yourself.” 

You hated that he was right.

The truth made your blood boil. “I don’t want any of your shit,” Luke let out a genuine laugh this time, a mocking look in his eyes. “Oh, so now she can curse?” 

You hated him for seeing the real you. You hated him for knowing the truth. You hated yourself for loving him.

“Fuck you, Castellan,” Luke hummed before stepping even closer to you and placing a hand on your waist, leaning to whisper in your ear. “I’m sure you’d love to do that again, right?” Luke’s smell was taking all over your senses and making your knees go weak. He continued, “Because even if we do it in the darkness of the Forge… it is still two friends fake dating because your mother might be watching.” 

You found the strength to press your hands against his chest and push him away, “Don’t talk to me ever again.” 

You spent the rest of the day with your siblings and friends, too afraid to leave their side because you didn’t trust yourself. Because you knew that if you were left alone for a second—you’d run straight to him. 

You sat next to Silena in the dining pavilion. Helped Katie and the Dyonisus cabin grow more strawberries by keeping them company. Walked with Michael to the bonfire, and stayed with Drew throughout the entire singalong. 

As always, Luke was sitting by himself, his MP3 player in his hand and his eyes were set on you. 

You walked back to your cabin when the singalong was over and helped your siblings get ready for bed. You were about to go to sleep when Valentina whispered your name, saying she had something for you.

“We found it last night under your bed, Drew wanted to give it to the harpies but I managed to take it away from her,” a frown made its way to your face.”What do you mean?”

“We found this,” She pulled out a badly wrapped gift from under her pillows. You were confused until she told you to open it.

 It was a bright pink MP3 player. 

“Oh,” you whispered, your hands shook as you stared at it. “I’ve got to—”

“It’s okay,” Valentina whispered. “He’s probably by the lake.”

You gave your half-sister a hug before running out of your cabin, and making your way to the lake. You could see Luke’s silhouette in the distance, and the sight only made you run faster.

You took a moment to catch your breath before saying, “The Smashing Pumpkins?”

Luke turned around at the sound of your voice. “Blink-182” he answered with a small smirk.

“Uh, of course,” you said as you walked closer to him. “Alright, listen. You were right.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

“Oh, fuck off,” you continued with a smile. “So, it turns out I may or may not be in love with this certain guy, and he may or may not be my type or whatever it is my siblings say.”

Luke took a step closer to you. “There’s a chance this guy thinks I’m going through a phase and only fake dated him to piss off my siblings and mother but the truth is… I don’t even care about them whenever I’m with him.” 

His hand moved to caress your cheek, “That’s cute and all but how does this guy know you truly mean that?” 

“I’m not going to make out with him at the bonfire, so I guess all he needs to do is believe me,” you whispered, your eyes moving from Luke’s eyes to his lips.

Luke smiled before answering, “Believe you? That’s alright with me,” and pressing his lips to yours.

Luke was right. Aphrodite would be proud. 

[cellythefloshie]

ＩＭＡＧＩＮＥ: Trying Not to Get Caught with Ross Colton *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ honey magnolia edition ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Celly's 300 Follower Appreciation Requested by @comphy-and-cozy

-who would have thought sleeping with Ross was exactly what you needed to be able to tolerate his presence

-and not only were you just tolerating it when you sat down at dinner together

-or had to sit a little too close during a family car ride

-you wanted to be spending your time together

-which was easy to do when you were stuck in the same house for the summer

-the tough part was trying not to make the change in your behaviours too obvious

-for years you hated each other

-finally getting along would beg too many questions

-and so you tread carefully as you moved into the living room where Ross was seating on the couch flipping through Netflix

-“what are you gonna watch?”

-“don’t know yet.”

-“that one looks good”

-and he scoffed, his bright eyes raising to meet yours 

-they were soft and didn’t match the annoyance he was trying to have perceived

-“sit down then-”

-you lay out on the couch beside him with your feet closest to him as you reached for one of the throw blankets

-the two of you settled in, the movie playing out on the screen while you heard his mother working on dishes in the kitchen

-Ross was quick to complain before the movie could really start

-“your feet are practically in my lap, sit up”

-he complained, and you sat up with a pout

-but his touch kept you from straying too far

-your eyes left the screen and looked at him as he tugged at your arm

-he drew you in close a trouble-making smile on his face

-“what are you doing?” you whispered

-“com’ere” he encouraged and drew you closer so that your head was resting on his shoulder

-“your mom-”

-“if you hear her coming, just pretend you’re asleep” 

-Ross slipped his hand beneath the blanket you had wrapped yourself in and tossed you a pillow to strategically cuddle over your frame

-it was the perfect cover for his hand as it slipped down the front of your sleep shorts and into your panties

-you took in a sharp inhale as your eyes went wide

-“Ross-”

-he hushed you

-“relax, unless you want my mom to know where my hand is…”

-you gave him a stern glance as you bit down on your lower lip in restraint

-you did your best not to move too much as his fingers stroked over the plain of your pelvis and dipped down

-but you did angle your hips just enough to help his hand with the awkward angle 

-you couldn’t risk anyone seeing the subtle movement of his arm

-Ross did his best to provide any of his movements and to disgust just where his hand had ended up by assuring that he was for the most part concealed by the blanket as well

-it was with that security that his hand began to move against you with confidence

-he had quickly learned what you liked

-and he enjoyed just how quickly he could have your reeling for him

-the added challenge of going unnoticed by his mother in the next room would only make it more difficult for you

-you would have to force composure

-you couldn’t make a sound

-and you couldn’t make a mess of the couch either

-it was a cruel thing to do to you really

-but it wasn’t purely self-indulgent

-as soon as his fingers could feel you becoming wet from his touch he began to struggle

-he could already feel his cock growing hard

-it earned a low “fuck” from his own lips as she leaned in to mutter his words into your hair 

-“i’m going to fuck you so good after they go to bed-”

-his final word was broken as he heard the shuffling of feet in the kitchen

-“you need anything before I head up for the night?”

-it was the voice of his mother

-sometimes she was too damn sweet for her own good

-because she walked straight into the living room and stood alongside the couch and down at you and Ross

-and you didn’t move an inch

-you weren’t even sure if you were breathing you had stilled so quickly

-petrified was the only way you could describe what you were feeling

-as Ross had delved his fingers deep inside you one final time before he stilled

-his fingers stayed there, deep in your cunt

-soaked in your arousal

-as you lay up against him pretending to have fallen asleep

-and she must had believed it

-because she didn’t seem to pry for more

-nor was she concerned

-you could only hear the smile in her voice as he spoke, “it’s so nice that the two of you are finally trying to get along”

-you felt Ross shrug and his head tilted carefully to one side as he gave off a nonchalant nod

-“i mean, i guess she’s alright”

-you did your best not to scowl

-and instead moved the only thing you could that his mother would not notice

-you flexed your cunt around his fingers

-and he made sure you know he felt it by hooking his fingers and dragging his fingertips over that spot that could so quickly make you unravel 

-“you headed up to bed?”

-“yeah, dad too,” his mom told him and you could hear her leaning over the arm of the couch to place a kiss on the top of his head

-“grab the lights?” Ross requested simply

-and then she walked away, her footsteps fading in the distance as she turned off the lights and left the main floor in darkness

-the two of you sat silent and still in the room for a long time

-your eyes opening up just enough to watch the movie

-all the while his fingers were still teasing the walls of your cunt

-“you think they’re asleep yet?” you whispered after what felt like ages

-“no way to know for sure…”

-Ross glanced back towards the stairs

-there was no glow from the bathroom at the top of the stairs

-and the house was quiet save for the credits of the movie 

-Ross reached for the remote with his free hand and turned off the tv to leave you both in complete darkness

-it brought a level of secrecy to the room

-one that gave you both the reassurance it shouldn’t

-with everyone else in bed, you shouldn’t get caught

-“you’re still soaked…”

-he told you carefully, his fingers returning to their slow pump once more

-it left you pushing the blanket aside and reaching for the drawstring of your shorts

-they were well soaked through and you were quick to dispose of them on the floor

-your panties were quick to follow 

-you kicked them aside before Ross was easing you back to lay out on the couch

-he pushed open your legs with ease and relished in the sight of you

-he pumped his fingers inside you deliberately, assuring to hit just the right spot that left you throwing your head back into the couch cushion

-your lips parted in a silent moan

-and while the sight of your pleasure was obscured by the darkness it left him grinning wide

-leaning in, he came to hover over you

-watching as your features melted with pleasure at his hand

-Ross didn’t stop until he felt your arousal dripping down his hands and the walls of your cunt flexing around his fingers

-and while he didn’t get to fuck you

-it would have been too much of a risk

-he was satisfied

-Ross withdraw his fingers, licking them clean before he reached down for your panties and sleep shorts

-he helped ease them back onto your weak legs before tossing the blanket back on top of you

-you looked up at him confused

-you should be making your way up to bed, and instead, Ross was making himself comfortable

-you raised a brow at him slowly, your head cocking to the side

-he opened his arm to you and welcomed you in as you came to rest your head against his chest

-he held you in his arms, his cheek pressed into the crown of your head and he became lost in the scent that was uniquely you

-“if my dad catches us here in the morning…”

-“it was a really boring movie, and you were already alseep,” he claimed

-and his lips coming down to kiss your hair carefully

-together you fell asleep on the sofa

-and come morning the sunlight would creep through the curtains and you too would wake together before his mother and your father could catch you

-and it wouldn’t be the last time you and Ross would take the risk

-the two of you liked to put yourselves in compromising positions…

[aniron48]

friends were a fate that befell me

“What’s the film, then?” Bond asks, resigned. “And how did you know I would have a DVD player?” “Lucky guess,” Eve says, at the same time as Q offers, “Takes a relic to own a relic.” Bond sighs, and Tanner intervenes. “It’s Steel Magnolias,” he says. “Have you seen it?” “I can’t say that I have. Comedy or tragedy?” “Yes,” Q says, and that’s all anyone will tell him before the screen fills with the opening credits, and the camera pans to a young Daryl Hannah walking down the street.

My first creation for MI6 Café 007 Fest 2023! This fic is for @anyawen, who suggested the prompt lyric "friends were a fate that befell me" from the song "Dinner & Diatribes" by Hozier.

Trigger warning for grief and discussion of both M's death and losing an (adult) child, if these are things you need to treat tenderly right now.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but spoiler warning for Steel Magnolias, I guess, even though it came out in 1989.

You can read on ao3, or here, below the cut.

It’s two weeks to the day since Skyfall went up in flames when Tanner, Eve, and Q knock on the door of Bond’s new flat. It’s still so empty that their voices echo as they push inside, all talking at once.

“—figured you wouldn’t be doing anything—“

“Anyway, Q picked the movie, I hope you—“

“—told them you wouldn’t have any good snacks, so I’ve brought an assortment.”

They shuck off their jackets and leave them piled unceremoniously on Bond’s floor, revealing a ludicrous assortment of casual wear. Tanner is clad in navy joggers and a worn grey sweatshirt with the name of his university across the chest, and Moneypenny and Q are wearing pyjama separates. Eve’s are a respectable emerald green silk with white piping, while Q’s appear to have a Fair Isle print, but on closer inspection, reveal a pattern of snowflakes interspersed with the TARDIS from Doctor Who.

“What,” Bond says finally, over the din, “is all this?”

The three of them exchange significant glances until Eve gives in and answers.

“It’s been a bloody terrible two weeks,” she says. “And we thought you might like some company.”

She’s only half right. It has indisputably been a bloody terrible two weeks, but company is the last thing Bond needs. He’d been intending to spend the evening much as he had the last several before it: waiting to be sent back into the field, replaying the events leading up to M’s death to decipher when it all went wrong, and drinking until he was able to fall asleep. 

“So you decided I needed a pyjama party with someone who shot me, someone who helped sell off my old flat, and someone who still has spots?” He says instead. It’s not so much that his hackles are up, as that he’s certain theirs ought to be. It’s a slippery slope from whatever this is to forgiveness, and from forgiveness to trust, and he’s just proven with spectacular aplomb exactly why trusting him is a bad idea.

But Q just looks at him over the rim of his glasses. “I see you’ve still only got the one joke, 007. You might consider another.”

And then he’s making himself at home on Bond’s expensive, uncomfortable leather couch, with Moneypenny on the other end. She hands Tanner a pillow and he sits on the floor with it, leaning back against her legs. Bond is forced to squeeze between Q and Moneypenny, but instead of shifting away, they both lean in even further. Moneypenny has produced a pair of fuzzy blankets from somewhere, and they settle in as if they are here to stay.

It’s ridiculous, is what it is. He needs neither comfort nor coddling; he has lived long enough without either that their sudden appearance registers somewhere in his hypothalamus as equal parts bewilderment and threat. It would be best, now that he’s officially back from either Turkey or the dead, depending on how one looks at it, to reestablish some boundaries. This is not the kind of fraternization he is wont to engage in. But he’s hemmed in by his colleagues and their soft pyjamas and their ridiculous blankets, and James Bond, the man who once escaped from a locked ice chest in the back of a burning train plummeting down a mountain pass in Kazakhstan, decides that he is effectively trapped, and may as well stay where he is.

“What’s the film, then?” Bond asks, resigned. “And how did you know I would have a DVD player?”

“Lucky guess,” Eve says, at the same time as Q offers, “Takes a relic to own a relic.”

Bond sighs, and Tanner intervenes. “It’s Steel Magnolias,” he says. “Have you seen it?”

“I can’t say that I have. Comedy or tragedy?”

“Yes,” Q says, and that’s all anyone will tell him before the screen fills with the opening credits, and the camera pans to a young Daryl Hannah walking down the street.

Bond has not exactly made a habit of watching films about the American South in the 1980s, so he’s not sure what to expect. He’s taken in by the banter and the witticisms and Dolly Parton’s sky-high hairdo, and thus, despite Q’s earlier comment, he is unprepared when the film takes a turn for the tragic. Even so, he can admit that Sally Field is masterful playing M’Lynn Eatenton as she mourns her daughter, taking a scene from heartbreaking to hilarious and back again as her friends gather around her to help her grieve. It is nothing short of wrenching in its raw humanity. Q and Moneypenny are both openly weeping as they watch, holding each other’s hands through it in a way that would be sweet were they not further infringing on Bond’s personal space by doing so across his lap. Tanner is dabbing manfully at his eyes with a napkin, his wine gums and Stella forgotten beside him on the floor. Bond swallows. The back of his throat feels tight. He must be getting a cold.

“I just sat there. I just held Shelby's hand,” M’Lynn is saying onscreen, “There was no noise, no tremble, just peace. Oh god. I realize as a woman how lucky I am. I was there when that wonderful creature drifted into my life and I was there when she drifted out. It was the most precious moment of my life.”

It is nothing at all like when M died. He was holding her when she died, yes, but the similarity ends there. Though it was quiet in the chapel, too, he supposes, the explosions and the guns all gone silent. It was quiet enough that Bond heard the moment she stopped breathing. 

He absolutely would never have called her a wonderful creature, or anything approximating it. Anything approaching an honest sobriquet would be unrepeatable, the sort of thing that was banned on the BBC. And yet he understands, deep in whatever is left of his soul, what M’Lynn means when she says it was precious, to be there at the end, knows what it means to have inhabited a moment that is profuse with grief and horror and regret, and yet somehow limned with the holy: to have been there, to have been alive together, and then alive alone, as she left all of it behind. To know that part of him is in that moment, still, and maybe always will be.

Bond clears his throat, then looks around. Tanner is at the wrong angle to see his face, and Moneypenny and Q are very pointedly not looking at him, and there is nowhere, he realizes, that will be safer than this uncomfortable couch in his empty flat, surrounded by elite members of Britain’s intelligence services who are nonetheless willing to pretend that he’s crying over M’Lynn Eatenton mourning her daughter’s death. He clears his throat once more, and lets the tears come.

There is no drastic sea change, after, once the film has ended and he has seen Q and Moneypenny and Tanner and their bags of snacks out of his flat. He doesn’t stop drinking or replaying what went wrong or seeing Skyfall in his uneasy dreams. He doesn’t suddenly join Q and Moneypenny for their boozy brunches or agree to watch a match with Tanner down at the pub. But from time to time, when they meet in the halls of MI6, Tanner will say, “My COLORS are BLUSH and BASHFUL” in the worst approximation of a Southern accent that Bond has ever heard, and when Bond walks into Q Branch without all of his gear, Q will sigh and say, “If he’s trying to drive me crazy, it’s too late” in a surprisingly accurate one. What he feels in those moments isn’t exactly peace, he doesn’t think, but it is the closest he has come in a long, long time.

In memory of N and P. Every moment with you was precious.

[cosmicjoke]

Underneath

Here's a little drabble I wrote today. I always think people misunderstand the reason Levi, presumably, killed those men that cut off Isabel's hair, so I wanted to delve into that with a short little fiction. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy it:

//

Levi finds the men easy enough.

Isabel’s “friends”, hiding away in a rat-infested shithole like the snakes they are.

He’s come to kill them. He’ll give them a single chance. A single warning. But he knows already they won’t listen. Because he knows men like these.

He’s been the victim of men like these.

He’ll need to kill them.

He’d known that the moment Isabel came back, her face bloody and hair shorn. A prelude to something much worse.

Furlan wouldn’t understand. Isabel either. Because they don’t know like he knows.

Men like these…

Levi had grown up with men like these.

His mothers' men. Men who took and took and were never satisfied. Men who saw every woman and child as a doll to do with as they pleased.

Furlan had given him that look before he’d left. Had asked him where he was going. Levi simply told him “out”. But Furlan knew, and he didn’t understand.

Furlan had never killed a man.

Levi had killed many.

What these men had done was a violation. They’d taken from Isabel. And now they would want more. More of her.

They would rape Isabel. Because that’s what this kind of thing always led to.

Furlan didn’t understand, and neither did Isabel, and Levi would make sure they didn’t need to understand, because he would take care of it for them. He would take care of them.

He kicks the door in to announce himself, the thing splintering into pieces.

The men are stationed around a wooden table, playing cards. Five of them. They startle badly at Levi’s intrusion, standing with wide eyes and half-shouts.

“Who the fuck are you?” One of them sneers after a moment, regaining himself.

Levi steps into the room. It stinks like piss and cigars, and Levi frowns, disgusted.

He looks around. Assesses what they have. There’s a gun on the table. A single-shot pistol. A cheap pool table pressed up against the back wall, wooden cues laid out on the green. They’ll likely have blades on them. Nothing to worry over.

Finally be brings his eyes back to them, and steps nearer.

“Leave Isabel alone. You don’t talk to her, you don’t touch her. You don’t even look at her. Understand?” He says.

One of the men scowls, and then laughs.

“Isabel? You mean that cute little red-head that keeps comin’ round?”

“Stay away from her. Yeah?” Levi presses again, ignoring the sickness of the man’s words.

“Or what?” He says. “What are ya gonna’ do about it?”

“If she wants it, she’s gonna’ get it.” Another of the men leers. “Ain’t nothin’ a midget like you can do about it.”

Levi feels his eyes shutter, a cold certainty in his chest.

“I’ll kill you.” He tells them, voice flat.

They all start laughing then. They think it’s funny. They don’t believe him. They don’t understand, either.

“How about instead, next time Isabel comes ‘round, we make sure to show her your severed head as we fuck her raw? How about that, you little freak?”

Levi doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t show anything. Only slips the knife from the sleeve of his shirt, letting the dim glow from the oil lamps glint off the blade as he twirls it, letting them all see.

It gets them good and mad, just like Levi knew it would.

“You runt bastard.”

The first one comes at him, pulling a knife. Levi’s too quick for him. He’s too quick for everyone. The sonofabitch doesn’t know what’s hit him as Levi parries his blade. Doesn’t realize he’s already dead as Levi slices his gut from end to end, his insides spilling out, steaming onto the floor. He’s down on his knees just as another comes up on Levi from behind, trying to pull his arms behind his back.

Levi flips him over his shoulder, sending him crashing down on the wooden table, the thing shattering to splinters. And then there’s a third, coming at Levi from the side, wielding one of those pool cues.

Levi ducks under his swing, and comes up, sinking his blade into the man’s exposed neck, twisting and tearing down, ripping the man’s jugular clean from his throat. He’s dead before he hits the floor.

Two more on their feet, and they’re hesitating now, but they still try him. Still come at him, sloppy and slow. One goes for the gun which had been on the table, lying now on the floor.

Levi doesn’t give him a chance to put his hands on it. Puts his blade into his heart before he can can reach it, and into the eye of the other, to the hilt. They’re both dead in seconds. Just leaves the man on the table, groaning and struggling to sit up, too dazed to realize he’s alone now.

Levi thinks he might let this one go. He thinks he might. Only he’s the one who made the threat against Isabel, and he won’t take that chance.

He slits the bastards throat before he can recover.

He stares at them after. There’s blood everywhere, including his clothes and hands. He’ll wash them off at one of the street pumps. Furlan will know what’s happened. He’ll be disappointed. That was fine. As long as he and Isabel were safe. He could take Furlan’s disappointment. He could take his hate, even.

Isabel still had her innocence. One of the few people in this godforsaken hellhole who did. Levi’s was long gone. Gone since he was a boy, a decade younger than Isabel now. He didn’t matter. She did.

Levi takes what he finds. A couple bags of coin scattered among the debris of the table, some bills of cash. He rifles through the men’s pockets. Not much there. Some cheap knickknacks. An alright looking watch that might fetch something with one of the pawn shops.

He leaves quickly and tries not to dwell on the unhappiness in his gut.

He hated killing.

He doesn’t think Furlan understands that either. He thought it came easy for Levi. But it never did.

Being good at it didn’t ever mean it came easy.

//

Furlan is there, waiting, when Levi comes in.

He’s looking at Levi, eyes narrowed, scrutinizing. Isabel is nowhere in sight. Still in her room, probably.

Levi had washed the blood out of his shirt the best he could. But blood never came out completely. It stained pink against the white fabric.

“Did you kill them?” Furlan asks.

Levi only looks at him.

Furlan knows. He’s only asking to shame Levi. Levi lets him see his knife. And then he turns, and heads into his own room, closing the door behind.

He doesn’t know how to explain to Furlan. Doesn’t know how to make him understand.

Those men would have raped Isabel. They would have killed her, eventually. Or sold her into trafficking.

Levi knows, because he knows men like that.

Like his mother’s men.

Like the men who once had him. Who once tried to sell him into the same kind of life.

Furlan thinks Levi is becoming like those men. He knows. He sees it in the concerned glances of his first, real friend. Sees it in his worried frown.

Levi wishes he could explain. Wishes Furlan could understand.

But Levi’s never been any good with words.

[collecting-stories]

Home Game - Tyler Townsend

Request: no. 

A/N: I’ve been really into Sweet Magnolias again ever since the second season came out so I figured I’d write a little something. 

✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

It was a minor league game, $15 a ticket for a good seat, the midsize stadium still using benches instead of fold down seats like a real stadium would. This wasn’t the Braves or the Phillies or some other major team, this was the Riverdogs. 

Your seats were just above the dugout, directly in the sun while it was still out, and you were thankful you’d worn shorts. At least for now, later you’d complain, mostly just to annoy Tyler because you kind of hated baseball and this was the third baseball themed date he’d taken you to in a month. 

Just last week he’d taken you to the batting cages on what he claimed was a date but was really just you watching him practice. Not that you didn’t sincerely enjoy watching him practice just that you wanted something a little more exciting for date night. At least here they had concessions. 

You turned your head away from the game for a second as someone shouted about popcorn and cotton candy, the sound of metal hitting a ball the only thing you caught before the crowd on your side of the stands cheered. Tyler flung an arm around your shoulders, pulling you closer as he kissed your cheek, “did you see that? Right outta the park!” 

“That’s gonna be you someday, for the Braves or Cardinals or some other impressive team.” You replied. Baseball dates might not’ve been your thing but you couldn’t deny that you loved the way Tyler’s eyes lit up just talking about a future in Major League. 

“You’ll have to endure a lot more games if I get signed to the Braves someday.” His tone was light, teasing you cause he knew you weren’t the worlds biggest baseball fan, but the implication that you and he would still be together that far into the future wasn’t lost on you. 

“Those’ll be box seats, and like, real big spreads and shit.” You laughed, watching him as he turned his attention back to the baseball game. “And I’ll get to sit around and tell everyone how my boyfriend is a pro baseball player.” 

Tyler’s cheeks tinged the slightest red, contrasting his tan as he kept his eyes on the game, trying to fight the smile that crossed his face. Maddie had been bugging him about bringing you around for a family dinner or even a margarita night, though he definitely wasn’t going to subject you to his mom, Helen, and Dana Sue without some kind of warning. He’d done a pretty decent job of ducking, making excuses for why he didn’t want them to meet you yet, most of the time swearing that this was nothing serious. But Maddie knew he was lying. 

“You can pick the next date,” he promised at the end of the night, as you walked down the ramp to the parking lot, his sweatshirt keeping your upper body warm. Some of the crowd had dispersed after the game ended but you and Tyler hung around for the fireworks even though you were freezing. 

“This was fun,” you admitted, laughing when he gave you a skeptical look. You climbed in the passenger side of the car, fixing the vents so they blew right on your legs, “I just need to remember to wear pants next time.” 

“I told you it was gonna get cold,” he replied. Tyler checked his phone, a text from Maddie telling him to drive safe in response to his letting her know that he was on the way home. 

“I wanted to look cute for you, sue me,” you joked, leaning over the dashboard to kiss him as the line of cars moved slowly out of the parking lot. 

-

“Have they?” Dana Sue raised her eyebrows questioningly as she took a sip of her margarita, sitting around the island in Maddie’s kitchen. Helen snickered as Maddie’s eyes grew wide. 

“God I hope not, Ty won’t even tell me her last name!” Maddie replied, “every time I ask about her he just says ‘it’s casual’ or ‘she’s just a friend’.” 

“I think ‘just friends’ is an understatement, Annie said they got in trouble the other day for some less than appropriate behavior in the hallway,” Dana Sue replied. 

Maddie covered her face for a moment, trying not to laugh. She knew what Kyle told her and he’d said that Tyler was crazy about you. She was doing her best not to push the subject, wanting to give her oldest privacy and let him come to her when he was ready to share. But she was also getting impatient, she wanted to meet you, figure out if you were good enough for her son. She’d asked Cal and Kyle and even Annie a couple times but she felt bad being sneaky like that, collecting information behind Tyler’s back. 

“I’m trying so hard to give him space but I wanna know. I like knowing what’s going on in my kids’ lives!” Maddie insisted just as the door clicked open and then shut. 

She had told Tyler that she was going to be at Helen’s for margarita night and honestly, that had been the plan but then Bill was late picking up Katie and Kyle didn’t feel good and suddenly they were in her kitchen drinking. The house that was supposed to be empty wasn’t and Tyler came walking into the kitchen with you behind him, still wearing his sweatshirt. 

“Mom.”

All three women were sitting there staring at him but, to her credit, Maddie spoke first, “Ty…I meant to tell you, we ended up here tonight.” 

“I can see that.” He replied, looking between them and you, clearly uncomfortable with the situation. 

“I uh, maybe I should…go?” You asked, eyes on Tyler. He might’ve been giving Maddie the runaround but he’d told you from the beginning that he was reluctant to tell his mom he was dating. He told you she made a big deal out of everything and he knew she’d embarrass him and he didn’t want it getting to his dad who would tell him not to get blindsided in the middle of baseball season. 

“No,” he grabbed your hand before you could turn back to the door, “it’s okay, uh, mom…” Tyler took a deep breath and then launched into introductions, his mom and then Dana Sue and then Helen, all three women smiling from ear to ear as he called you his girlfriend. 

“Well it is so nice to meet you sweetheart,” Helen said, getting up to give you a hug, “think I saw you in my law class?” 

“Yeah I was on the jury,” you nodded. 

“So, what did you two have in mind for the rest of the night, hate to think you’d be here all alone when we were supposed to be at Helen’s?” Dana Sue piped in, before Maddie could get to you. 

Tyler flushed and you squeezed his hand, “just gonna watch TV, got a full house so…always kinda noisy at mine. Sorry bout that, Ty didn’t say y’all wouldn’t be around.” You lied. 

Maddie cracked a smile at that, her son’s face a dead giveaway that you weren’t telling the truth about your plans. You looked so convincing though, maybe she shouldn’t have but she liked you already. “Well I’m glad I forgot to tell him I’d be home cause I know he never would’ve brought you around on purpose.” 

“Mom.” Tyler huffed. He’d been dodging questions about you only because he felt like everyone always knew everything and had their noses in everyone’s business. He wanted something that was just his, that he didn’t have to share with anyone else and that something was his relationship with you. When you’d started dating, so soon after he’d broken up with CeCe, he didn’t wanna say anything and now that things were more serious, he felt like he didn’t want everyone in his business.  

“Well it’s nice to meet you,” you replied, “sorry it’s taken this long, I guess. I tend to drag my feet too so,” you shrugged at the end of your sentence, mostly trying to give your boyfriend an out. Something Maddie clearly picked up on as she looked between the two of you.  

“Have your parents met Ty?” She asked, Helen covering her mouth with her hand as she tried not to laugh at the guilty expression on Tyler’s face. He’d met your parents more than once, he’d even been over to dinner a couple of times with your whole family.  

“Uh, once or twice,” you admitted.  

When margarita night was over, and Helen offered to drive you home when you finally said you needed to leave, you sent Tyler a quick text, apologizing for the interruption but assuring him that it was nice meeting his mom. You’d seen Maddie around and Tyler always talked about how great she was so you would’ve been lying if you said you weren’t anxious to actually meet her.  

Tyler would’ve snuck up to his room the minute the front door closed after you if it wasn’t for Maddie calling him back to the kitchen. She been waiting all night to talk to him without her friends around. As much as she loved Dana Sue and Helen, sometimes they didn’t let her get a word in edgewise and she got stuck listening to them parent her kids.  

“So you two are real serious, huh?” Maddie asked, cleaning up the dishes left in the sink as Tyler lingered by the island, not sitting down.  

“Yeah, I guess.” He shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant about it. He wasn’t sure if it was some kind of superstition, that if he said it out loud it would be true and it could go wrong, but he didn’t like talking about it. “We’ve been kinda, hanging out.”

“Kinda hanging out?” Maddie almost laughed, “Ty, she seems like a real sweet kid, maybe you should bump that ‘kinda hanging out’ up to actually dating so she doesn’t think you’re just, not serious.”  

“We already talked about it,” Tyler replied, “can I go upstairs now?”

Maddie sighed and turned around, wiping her hands on a dish rag as she leaned against the kitchen sink, “Ty...I trying real hard not to push you into something that makes you uncomfortable but, I feel like I’m not clued in anymore. Like you got your life and its separate from everyone else’s in this house. I’m not asking you to sit here every night having a heart to heart with me but can we at least be honest and keep each other in the loop with our lives.”

“I just don’t wanna jinx anything,” he admitted, sheepishly, finally taking a seat at the island. “After CeCe and I broke up I wasn’t really upset or anything and I felt like maybe something was wrong with me. Or maybe I was like dad...I could just walk away without feeling anything.”  

“Hey, you are not like that.” Maddie assured, “you are the most caring, thoughtful, person I know Ty.”

“I just,” he shrugged, “she asked me out and I said sure not really thinking it’d be different than CeCe but it is...but this is high school I mean, I don’t wanna stay in Serenity forever and I don’t wanna be that guy who marries his high school sweetheart just cause everyone says we’re so serious and we should.”  

“The only people whose opinions matter in this relationship are yours. I know Serenity can gossip something awful and I know it’s hard not to listen, trust me, but don’t let them tell you how you should be feeling or what the future looks like.” Maddie replied, “if someone makes you happy Ty, if being with them feels good and comfortable and familiar, that's all that matters.”  

Tyler nodded, letting Maddie’s words sink in. He had a lot of plans for the future and he knew that you did too, plans that didn’t fit into that neat little Serenity box that Maddie’s own life had been up until a year ago. But when people talked long term, asked if things were that serious, Tyler always fought the urge to admit that maybe they were. Maybe you wouldn’t settle down in Serenity and spend the rest of your lives running kids to baseball practice and dance lessons but he liked the idea of a future.