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meteor752 · 1 year

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Flower Husbands This Day Aria AU

(Technically it would be ‘A Canterlot Wedding AU’ but like the song is the best part)

Jimmy and Scott are set to be married, and Lizzie is not happy, partly because there’s a lot of fish courting traditions that were just skipped (Including the one where Scott had to ask her for permission, which he never did), and partly because protective big sister mode. Also, she received the news from a fricking wedding invite, not face to face.

Most of the other Emperors were given tasks to help organize the wedding (Joel and Gem is on decorating, fWhip is on the aftershow, Pearl is on food, Katherine and Joey is on clothes, Sausage and Shubble is on music, Pixl is officiating), but as the sister of one of the grooms Lizzie is set to take of everything and make sure everything’s alright.

And boy is she pissed when she arrives in Rivendell, chewing out her little brother for everything. Jimmy defends himself, saying it was a bit of an impulsive decision, and that he’s been too busy with organizing everything that he hasn’t been able to go to The Ocean Empire himself.

Lizzie is still seething, but forces herself to calm down because her lil brother does seem rather ashamed about it.

Her rage flares up again when Scott approaches them, dismisses her entirely, acts cold towards Jimmy, then leads him away.

Oh yeah something’s up.

None of the other emperors have the time to even notice the change in how Scott’s acts. Pearl is preparing food for two white empires and then some, and even with a full kitchen staff she’s still running around like a mad man. Doesn’t even notice how Scott throws away the Sweet Berry tarts she gave him.

Gem and Joel are in disagreements on how it all should be decorated. Gem thinks it should be subtle, with a lot of lights, and illusions of fish and snowflakes in the air. Joel believes in more bolder colours and grander designs. Scott sneers at them that neither is fitting.

Katherine and Joey try their best to design the Uniform Scott will be wearing (As Jimmy will be wearing his mother’s old dress), and yet how many times they make it he never seems to like it. They shrug it off as him just wanting what is best.

Scott yells at one of the birds apart of the musical choir. It was singing off pitch, but needlessly rude.

fWhip is busy in his workshop and barely sees the guy.

It all comes together when Lizzie goes to Jimmy and Scott’s room to discuss it with her brother, only for her brothers fiancé to take him to another room, berate him for the dress he’s wearing (Again, his mothers dress), and then seemingly cast some form of spell on him that made him all woozy. Lizzie runs away in shock.

She goes to tell the others, but surprise surprise! those who weren’t already Jimmy’s bride maids and men (Joel, Sausage, fWhip, Gem), has been chosen as Scott’s (Katherine, Joey, Pearl, Shubble was already best maid). They’re clearly also under some form of spell, Lizzie concludes.

She chooses to confront Scott in front of everyone during the wedding rehearsal, because sometimes Lizzie ain’t that smart. She yells at him, saying that he’s evil who’s casting spells on her brother, being all demanding towards and friends, and just genuinely being evil. Scott runs away crying, and Lizzie stands there all smug, feeling good about herself for approximately two whole seconds.

Then she turns around, and meets her brothers furious eyes.

Jimmy yells back at her, saying that Scott has been demanding because he’s been planning an entire wedding that’s trying to incorporate two very different cultures, plus dealing with his advisers who’s been holding meetings for hours on why marrying Jimmy is such a bad idea. And the spell he cast on him wasn’t because he was “evil”, but because he’s been having trouble breathing in the high altitude, and sometimes the air breathing enchantment on his cod head just ain’t enough.

He leaves the room to go find and comfort Scott, but he snarls at her that maybe it’s best if she don’t show up at the wedding.

Everyone else leaves the room as well to go and comfort Scott (And give Lizzie quite dirty looks as they do), and Lizzie is just left there on the floor crying.

And then, Scott appears in her field of vision, with a comforting smile. She apologizes profusely, says that she never meant to hurt him, but he just chuckles as his eyes gleam red for a second, and then Lizzie is no longer in the throne room…

This Day Aria part 2, aka this is where the second episode starts and it’s gonna be way shorter than this because the pacing on the second one is shit

Lizzie is surrounded by red-pinkish fire, and when it vanishes, she finds herself in a crystallized cave. She can see her reflection in all the glittering cave walls. That is, until a familiar face shows up.

Scott’s eyes have a very distinct red glow as he appears in the thousand of reflections, but Lizzie is too pissed off to even notice. He taunts her, saying that this is old underground Rivendell mines that have been forgotten by even the oldest of elves, and that no one will find her there. Lizzie grows so enraged that she throws her trident at one of the reflections, making the cave wall crumble to show a bigger part of the caves.

And there stands Scott, dirty and bruised, but in the flesh. Lizzie doesn’t even wait a moment before she throws herself at the elf, fully intending to kill.

This is of course the real Scott, who is very confused over how Lizzie ended up there, but all he knows is that he needs her to calm down quickly.

So he grabs her wrists to stop them from pulverizing his face, and does the only thing he can think of to prove his real identity. He starts singing.

Deal with Destiny is a song only the two of them actually know. Lizzie’s siren song was heard across most of the server, but it was vague and most misinterpreted the lyrics, and it couldn’t even reach Rivendell.

It was Scott.

The elf explained himself, that he’d been taken weeks ago, before him and Jimmy had even gotten engaged. He doesn’t know who took his place and why, but he knows that he will do whatever he can to get back and save Jimmy from whatever horrible fate the Imposter has in store.

Que This Day Aria. This whole AU is centered around the song, of course we’re gonna have it be apart of it. If you wanna know what happens in this segment, then listen to the fricking song. Thank you.

So the wedding has begun, Jimmy fully brainwashed and not even aware of what’s going on, with Fake-Scott standing tall with pride. But just beneath them, Lizzie and Scott are trying their best to find a way up to the surface. Lizzie spots a light source not too far away, and Scott grab’s onto her and flies her up, just as the vows are coming to a close and the wedding is nearly over.

In the middle of Pix saying his final words and announcing that the two grooms now can kiss, Lizzie barges in all feral, standing at her full eleven feet with murder in her eyes. And while most of the guests were fucking terrified, I mean that was the ocean empress of crying out loud, most of the emperors were just kind of annoyed.

That’s until other Scott, real Scott, bursts into the room.

And Fake-Scott looses his sad crying facade, replacing it with maniacal laughter as the ruse is up, and red flames engulf him.

Red vines pop out of the ground, snaring Lizzie and Scott in their clutches (The guests have all escaped or something lol), the flames subside and in their place stands Xornoth,

(Plot twist you all saw coming, waaaaw)

And here the plot is unveiled.

So this AU is basically, Xornoth didn’t immediately start harassing people across the server, but instead waited for the perfect time to strike. Their biggest and only threat was Scott, so they needed something to keep him in line, something that would stop him from trying to fight back.

Enter Jimmy.

Xornoth watched the two grow closer and closer, go on multiple dates and form a relationship. They was frost gonna wait for the two to actually get engaged, but turns out that’s a long ass process, something they don’t have the time for. Exor is waiting after all.

So they yoinked Scott, put him in the mines, and took his place. They proposed to Jimmy, and used a slight bit of mind control to get him to agree to Wes right away and not have a long courting process.

When Lizzie started to get suspicious, Xornoth knew that their ploy wouldn’t last forever, so they kept using their mind control magic they now have absolutely, to keep Jimmy in line. It was easy to get him to believe the breathing spell lie, Jimmy is quite Gullible.

And now they have Jimmy under their control, and neither Scott nor Lizzie can do anything to harm them, unless they want the poor cod boy hurt.

But there was one thing Xornoth didn’t saw coming.

And that was Joel with a steel chair.

YEP THE GUY JUST STRAIGHT UP PUNCHES HIM

He yells at Gem and fWhip to get Gem’s spell book, while Shubble and Katherine work on getting Lizzie and Scott free and the rest do what they can to distract Xornoth.

Gem and fWhip run for Gem’s room where she left it, and as she collects it and on their way back they’re suddenly blindsided by a flurry of red blue and yellow feathers. Because while Xornoth didn’t go on the attack at once, they have been busy collecting allies.

So Joey and Sausage who managed to sneak after them in all the commotion is standing there ready to stop them from getting anywhere close to the throne room.

The twins put up an honorable fight, but both are holding back on their punches since they don’t wanna hurt the other two emperors, so they’re easily taken down. Gem does manage to slip a small crystal into her robes before Sausage grabs her spell book and wand.

When they’re escorted back into the throne room, they’re greeted by Joel, Pearl, Katherine, and Shubble hanging upside down by vines from the ceiling, Lizzie properly snared down beneath them, vines holding onto her so tightly that she can’t even wiggle, and Scott standing helplessly in front of the throne, where upon Xornoth sits with a wide grin, Jimmy by their side looking at them like they hung the moon in the sky.

Hypnotism will do that to ya.

Xornoth grins widely when then enter, easily catching the spell book that Sausage toss them. All the emperors yell at Sausage and Joey, calling them traitors, but only Lizzie can detect that familiar red gleam in their eyes. She stays quiet.

Xornoth burns the spell book in their grasp (Gem and fWhip are very upset by this, that was their fathers old book), and as a classic villain they of course begin to gloat, saying that the emperors will all turn their power over to them and not fight back, unless they wish Jimmy any harm.

Fuck it maybe they sing the reprise as well, that shit’s a banger too.

While they’re monologuing, Sausage and Joey by their side, fWhip sneaks up to Scott and gestures to him to go to Jimmy.

And the sight of Jimmy, eyes glazed over from the hypnosis, is enough to make Scott crumble to his knees in front of him, burying his face in the cod hybrids neck.

And yeah true love and all of that, a subconscious part of Scott’s magic manages to free Jimmy from the hypnosis.

Still, cod boy is weak and absolutely not a fighter, and Scott doesn’t wish to harm his brother nor his friends, so there’s little to do with that.

Xornoth is to put it simply, just a tiny bit pissed that Jimmy is freed, but they don’t let that put them back. They still have all the emperors captured, two of them possessed to do his bidding, and the entirety of Rivendell is under a panic because of the red vines sprouting all over the kingdom.

They can still salvage this.

So just as they are about to summon vines that will snare Scott and Jimmy as well, the power of love happens.

Scott and Jimmy together, through their love cause eugh, summons a powerful spell that blasts Xornoth back, or more exactly, blasts them into the small crystal Gem manages to sneak with her.

So yeah, happy ending for all, the vines vanish from Rivendell, Joey and Sausage are snapped out of their trance, and Lizzie can take pride in the fact that she was right.

Then they decide to actually get married. Sure, they rush things and skip the courting process, but after all that you could say that they’ve earned it. Plus, down in the mines Lizzie saw how determined Scott was to get back to her brother, so yeah.

They replan the wedding, Scott loves all the things the other Emperors organize, Lizzie is put as the best maid, happy ending.

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kradeiz · 3 years

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What Your Favourite Danny Phantom Ship Says About You

(Based on @doubleca5t‘s videos. This was a bit harder than my Star Vs list bc I’ve been in this fandom long enough to remember which ships were popular back in the 00′s and there’s a considerable contrast to which ones are popular now. Though if I missed any big ones let me know.)

Danny/Sam (Amethyst Ocean)- You are old enough to remember what a TruePhan is. Thanks for that, Butch. (sarcasm)

Danny/Valerie (Gray Ghost)- You will never understand when writers take the time to set up a fascinating relationship dynamic only to then do nothing with it.

Danny/Paulina (Shallow Sapphire)- You take psychic damage anytime someone says “not like other girls”.

Danny/Tucker (Savant Par)- Your love of the Childhood Friends to Lovers trope combined with your desire to see Tucker get the respect he deserves.

Danny/Dash (Swagger Bishie)- You never forgot that one episode where it sounds like Dash called Danny a twink.

Danny/Vlad (Pompous Pep)- Your love of Vlad is rivalled only by your love of petty little shits. Also-FBI! OPEN UP!!

Danny/Ember (Phantom Rocker)- You like the dynamic of Danny/Sam but were like “What if Sam was even more goth and had a tragic backstory?”

Danny F/Danny P (Pitch Pearl)- Your answer to “Would you fuck a clone of yourself?” is “Only if my clone had superpowers.”

Danny/Wes (Unidentified Flying Ship)- You are a firm believer in the inherent eroticism of getting dunked on.

Danny/Sam/Tucker (Everlasting Trio)- You are a firm believer in the inherent eroticism of shenanigans for life.

Sam/Paulina (Goth Princess)- You’re always a slut for opposites attract, especially if it means character development.

Sam/Tucker (Veggie Burger)- Your ideal relationship dynamic is bickering married couples.

Jazz/Dash (Brains Over Brawn)- You are willing to work with what little you’ve been given.

Dash/Kwan (Tight End)- Your ideal relationship dynamic is Jock/Jock.

Valerie/Dani (Vengeful Babes)- Maybe the best revenge was the friends we made along the way.

Valerie/Tucker (Hunter Silly)- You will forever be salty that these two had a thing in ‘Shades of Gray’ and it was never mentioned again.

Dan/Future Valerie (Dark Gray)- You are a firm believer in the inherent eroticism of Bad End Friends.

Jack/Maddie (Moronic Genius)- Your ideal relationship dynamic is Sitcom Wife/Sitcom Husband but where the wife is only slightly less wacky than the husband.

Vlad/Jack/Maddie (Family Breakfast)- Your love of AUs where the villain never turned evil is rivalled only by your love of polycules.

Vlad/Maddie (Spurned Affection)- You are Vlad Masters.

#danny phantom #what your favorite ship says about you #my posts

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murder-senpai · 4 years

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F A N F I C T I O N

Oh, hello there!! My name is Murder-senpai! I’m new here to tumblr sooooo don’t mind me being awkward n’ stuff. So this is gonna be like, what fandoms and characters I write for sOoooOoOo

AU’s and other stuff I’ll do: ABO, genderbend, hanahaki, soulmate, supernatural/power, soft yandere/ stockholm syndrome, coffee shop, modern, fantasy, baby/kid versions of characters, babysitter, neko, inu, kitsune, post apocalyptic, zombie, flower shop, book store, dragon, fairy tale, high school/college, mafia, pregnant, steampunk, merpeople, pirate, pirate/merperson, prison, reincarnation, famous, vampire, werewolf

There is more shit I’ll do but I can’t really think anymore so just request

(reader insert crap)

I will NOT do nsfw. This is a christian minecraft sever

You CAN request multiple character/poly and platonic stuff

If your not specific, I will choose between headcanons or a fic/drabble

If you request angst, I will give it a fluffy ending unless requested otherwise

Please be specific in your request ex: reader gender (fem, male, gender neutral)

Edit: I will now take character x character, character + character platonic stuff, aus (like, medevil bnha, or a story about friendship or enemies to friends or adoption, anything really), and stuff like that

Current hyperfixation (aka, what I will probably write better for/ do more): dream smp

Will probably put the scenario in a non specific arc

Fairy Tail:

Natsu

Gray

Loke/leo

Laxus

Sting

Rouge

Gajeel

Zeref

Jellal

Jackal

Lucy

Levy

Juvia

Guildarts

Freed

Erza

DBH:

Connor

Hank

Markus

Gavin

nines

ATLA:

Aang

Zuko

Sokka

Katara

Toph

mai

ty lee

azula

BNHA:

Izuku

Katsuki

Shouto

Denki

Eijiro

Tenya

Toshinori

Shouta

hizashi

fumikage

neito

mirio

takami

hitoshi

inasa

Enji

keigo

rumi

momo

mina

ochaco

dabi

shigaraki

overhaul

sir nighteye

kurogiri

toga

twice

Inuyasha:

Inuyahsa

kagome

naraku

miroku

koga

sesshomaru

sango

BNA:

michiru

shirou

nazuna

alan

marie

pinga

Sherlock:

Sherlock

john

moriarty

mycroft

greg

molly

Harry potter:

harry

ron

hermione

draco

cedric

Black Butler:

ciel

sebastian

bard

finny

ash

claude

alois

triplets

william

grell

ronald

undertaker

joker

dagger

agni

soma

pluto

beast

lizzy

mey-rin

ran-mao

edward

aleistar

vincent

real ciel (I refer to him as astre tho)

snake

charles grey

charles phipps

gregory

cheslock

joanne

maurice

herman

clayton

lawrance

mcmillan

edgar

blavat

seiglinde

MLB:

Marinette/ladybug

adrien/chat noir

gabriel/hawkmoth

nathaniel

marc

luka

alya

nino

felix

bridgette

chloe

TPN:

emma

ray

norman

don

gilda

leslie

Undertale:

sans

papyrus

frisk

toriel

chara

asriel

asgore

grillby

gaster

mettaton

blooky

AU’s- underfell, mafiatale, mafiafell, underswap, swapfell

Beastars:

legoshi

haru

louis

juno

gouhin

melon

Gravity falls:

dipper

mable

ford

wendy

robbie

bill

AU-reverse falls, monster falls

SVTFOE:

star

marco

tom

toffee

Hazbin:

alastor

angle dust

charlie

husk

vaggie

lucifer

val

vox

Pokemon:

Gladion

ash

clemont

serena

james

jesse

zeraora

lucario

mewtwo

zacian

zamazenta

literally any pokemon but those are my fave(and human versions ofc either is fine)

guzma

kukui

alain

lysandre

bede

hop

leon

milo

allister

raihan

marnie

piers

ACNH:

tom nook

raymond

lobo

kabuki

lolly

marshal

Isabelle

redd

fang

Avengers:

tony

steve

bucky

clint

natasha

dr. strange

thor

loki

peter

Voltron:

lance

keith

shiro

hunk

lotor

pidge

Aggretsuko:

tadano

haida

hyoudou

The hobbit:

literally JUST smaug

MLP:

twilight

pinkie

apple jack

rainbow

fluttershy

rarity

discord

Maid sama:

takumi

misaki

shoichiro

the three idiots

aoi (totaly gives off a ciel/lizzy vibe don’t even lie)

sotaro

tora

kanade

kuga

koma

yujiro

shosei

Naruto:

naruto

sauske

kakashi

itachi

gaara

neji

shikamaru

kurama

kiba

OHSHC:

tamaki

haruhi

hikaru

karou

both twins

kyoya

hunny

mori

kasanoda

nekosawa

Cells at work:

white blood cell

red blood cell

killer t cell

Little witch academia:

atsuko

diana

sucy

lotte

amanda

andrew

louis

frank

Pucca:

pucca

garu

tobe

abyo

Glitter force:

emily/Miyuki

kelsey/Akane

lily/Yayoi

april/Nao

chole/Reika

ulric/wolfrun

rascal

Glitter force doki doki:

ira

maya/Mana

rachel/Rikka

clara/Alice

mackenzie/Makoto

TMNT(2012):

leonardo

raphael

michelangelo

donatello

splinter

april

ROTG:

aster bunnymund

north

pitch

sandy

jack

tooth

Soul eater:

death the kid

soul

black star

maka

stein

Aot:

levi

eren

armin

mikasa

jean

erwin

IT(2017):

pennywise

richie

beverly

eddie

stanley

ben

bill

henry

patrick

victor

belch

bowers gang

losers club

kamisama kiss:

nanami

tomoe

mizkui

kurama

otohiku

mikage

jiro

The outsiders:

dallas

darry

ponyboy

johnny

two-bit

steve

soda

Diabolik lovers:

shu

reiji

ayato

laito

kanato

subaru

yui

karlheinz

kou

azuza

carla

ruki

richter

yuma

shin

Hamilton:

alex

john

king george

george washington

lafayette

hercules

philip

aaron

thomas

Venom(2018):

eddie/venom

Tokyo mew mew:

ichigo

zakuro

tart

pie

Kisshu

Fran bow

Fran

remor

itward

mr. midnight

Steven universe

steven

connie

pearl

amethyst

larz

sadie

garnet

lapiz

peridot

spinel

Haven't you heard i'm sakamoto

sakamota

Shou

Gargantia on the verdurous planet

ledo

amy

Animaniacs

yakko

wakko

dot

Over the garden wall

wirt

beast

Sonic

sonic

tails

knuckles

amy

shadow

Snow white with the red hair

Shirayuki

zen

obi

The sacrificial princess and the king of beasts(manga)

Leonhart

Sariphi

Lanteveldt

Anubis/Sirius

Jormungand

Fenrir

Nir

Joz

Ilya

Beetlejuice(musical)

beetlejuice

lydia

Creepypasta

Jeff the killer

slenderman

offenderman

trenderman

splenderman

ticci toby

masky

hoodie

BEN drowned

eyeless jack

laughing jack

homicidal liu

zalgo

clockwork

Jason the toymaker

puppeteer

Yu-gi-oh

Seto Kaiba

FNAF

Freddy

bonnie

chica

foxy

golden freddy

toy freddy

toy bonnie

toy chica

mangle (male and female ver pls specify)

marionette ^

springtrap

william afton/ purple guy

baby

funtime freddy

ennard

nightmare freddy

nightmare bonnie

nightmare chica

nightmare foxy

nightmare mangle

fredbear

nightmare fredbear

Cuphead

cuphead

mugman

devil

king dice

Bendy and the ink machine

bendy

boris

alice

Duck tales

Scrooge (aged down tho)

webby

della

donald

louie

dewey

huey

launchpad

lena

Dream smp

everyone (all platonic. Will do reader stuff, but would prefer more character +character interactions, specifically, SBI. PLSSS give me sbi stuff, ill marry you)

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justimajin · 3 years

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Til Death Do Us Part ♜ Pt.5

➟ Pairing: Namjoon x Reader

➟ Genre: Angst, Fluff, Eventual Smut

↳ (4.5k), Arranged Marriage AU

➟ Summary: If someone told you that you’d be marrying the Kim Namjoon, you would think you were being lied to, or worse, that you were hallucinating. However, fate seems to have it’s own ways of making the impossible possible and before you even know it, the title of Mrs. Kim is bestowed onto you. There’s just one problem: you’re not sure if Kim Namjoon is the person he says he is and the truth of your own identity is dangling by the strength of a mere thread.

➟ Warnings: 18+ rating, nightmare depictions, discussions surrounding death

gif credit.

➟ Previous Parts: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

➟ Next Update: Tuesday, January 19

The room is pitch black.

Your feet are submerged within a pool of translucent water, a light breeze nipping at your features. Taking a cautious step ahead, your eyes hesitantly glance around.

“Hello?” You call out, your voice morphing into an echo that faintly bounces off the walls. You turn to look behind you with no avail, “Hello?”

Silence greets you once again. A deep frown marrs your features as goosebumps begin to rise on your skin. Your hand comes up to hug your cold arm, and it leaves a red handprint in his stead.

You involuntarily flinch at the sight, but that’s when your eyes narrow below you and you finally notice the water contaminating with red.

Nearly stumbling back, it splatters all over your pearl dress, drenching it within moments. No matter how much you splash around and kick it away, it caresses your feet, like a hand clasping onto your limb.

“W-What?” Your breathing grows thin, a hard knot constricting around your throat. A flash of red passes by the corner of your eyes, and your gaze snaps up, only to be struck by horror.

Taehyung is clad in the colour, his back facing you. Although you can’t catch a glimpse of his face, the eerie feeling curling in the pit of your stomach is telling enough.

“T-Taehyung…?” He doesn’t turn to face you, but you still plead, “W-Where am I?”

“Why are you asking him?”

You whirl around in an instant, knees on the verge of giving out.

Eunjoo stands before you in the sea of crimson, but unlike you who's been tangled in it, she’s completely drenched. There’s a familiar butter knife in her hands and you dryly swallow, chest tightening.

She reaches out, as if wanting to hand you the knife. You viciously shake your head, your trembling hands raising in defense.

That’s when you catch sight of them, eyes transfixing on the drenched nightmare in the flesh.

“No….” You whisper, desperately attempting to rub away the scarlet residue from your hands. It clings uncomfortably close and despite all your efforts, it’s tainted your skin permanently.

“N-No, please…..” An overflow of tears accumulate in your eyes, voice cracking. You glance up petrified, orbs practically begging for help.

Eunjoo stares back at you with hollow pupils, disappointment crossing her features.

Your body quivers in fear as the scarlet begins to only spread, bleeding through your skin and consuming you entirely.

Eyes flashing open, you wake up in bed with a sharp gasp. Your chest is heaving, and there’s a thin sheen of sweat uncomfortably clinging to your body. Placing a heavy hand over your racing heart, your irises carefully roam around, dawning upon you that you were simply in your bedroom and not on the verge of drowning.

You swallow hard as your trembling hand fists the material of your shirt. You wonder how many times it’s been now, how many times those images have managed to enter your head and threatened to split it in half; a familiar wretched scent wafting through the air as sanguine hands ultimately tug you back.

Slowly sliding off the bed, you wipe away the excess water that’s collecting in the corner of your eyes, and dart your vision over to the large couch in the corner of the room.

Eyes shut and arms loosely crossed, Namjoon carries a peaceful smile on his lips through his unconsciousness. It contradicts the horror that’s been replaying in your head, keeping you awake even in pitch black and willing to drive you insane. A tired sigh passes by the seam of your lips, gripping the sheets underneath you as your brows snap together.

Despite your desperate attempts, you’re not even granted a lick of sleep during that night.

***

Time is an illusion.

It would pass slowly within the walls of the Kim household ‒ that much you knew ‒ but now it was playing with you, deluding your thoughts into thinking that the loss of it was natural when in fact, you can’t even recall the last time you’ve gotten a decent night of rest.

The days flow by too quickly. The nights take too long to end. And you are dangling in between them, waiting for the nightmare to be over.

A low yawn leaves Namjoon’s lips, and he forces himself up with a grunt, rubbing his parched throat in dismay. Rising from his makeshift bed, he nearly stumbles in his attempt to leave the room, hoping to retrieve something to ease his thirst.

That’s when he hears it, so faint but enough for his keen ears to pick up on.

He spins around with a frown, tired eyes suddenly widening at the sight of you twisting around and convulsing in bed.

Approaching cautiously, he notices the way your shoulders are quivering and the deep breaths that escape your lips by the minute, almost as if your lungs were on the verge of giving up.

Namjoon lowers himself onto the bed, whispering in a soft tone, “Y/N…”

You continue to shift around, sweat forming at your temples. Namjoon places a hand against your shoulder, gently shaking you.

“Y/N….” Your breathing abruptly escalates, and he tries again, this time quicker, “Y/N‒”

You suddenly grab onto him and Namjoon jolts back, eyes completely awake. Fisting the material of his shirt within your hands, a handful of broken words leaves your lips.

“P-Please….” Voice wavering, water begins to form within the corners of your shut eyes, “Please....j-just leave me alone.…”

“Please….” You plead again. Namjoon takes your hand that has a hold of him and carefully loosens your grip. However the moment he does, you nearly slump down into arms, appearing exhausted beyond belief.

A deep crease resides between his brows, and he peers behind him, staring at the bedroom door. After a prolonged pause, he turns back to you, a pang of distress beginning to spread through his irises.

With a swift tug, your blanket is raised, and it’s not long before he nestles himself in, keeping his arms wrapped around your quivering form. Your head rests against his chest, faintly hearing the soft rhythmical beats of his heart.

Gazing at you once more, Namjoon places his head against the pillow and closes his eyes, plunging into a deep sleep.

***

As if caught up in the middle of a daze, you wake up the next morning with empty irises and a pale complexion. You barely pay any attention to how the blanket covering you has been ruffled and messy, or how there’s a light layer of warmth that emits from only one side of the bed.

You spend the rest of dawn aimlessly eating breakfast, something you quickly scraped together. Lingering in the kitchen for too long has your hands trembling, so you opt out for taking your meal in your bedroom as familiar whispers echo around you.

You’re in the midst of consuming your food when the door creaks open. The sound of light footsteps, shuffling cautiously against the ground doesn’t instantly register with your ears and it’s only at the second call of your name with a jerk to your shoulder that you jolt.

The food splatters onto the ground, creating a mess that ultimately breaks you out of your stupor.

“O-Oh, my bad.” A light chuckle leaves you, but it’s too strained. “I-I’ll clean up.”

You aimlessly glance around, all while Namjoon’s gaze doesn’t leave you once. There’s something indecipherable brewing in his eyes as he remains kneeling in place, before he rises immediately, striding over to you.

His hand clasps around your wrist, halting your actions.

“Leave it.”

You peer at him puzzled, but it doesn’t take him another second to intertwine his fingers within yours, heading towards the door. Reluctantly following behind him, you nearly stumble when he swings by one particular corridor, before reaching a certain door.

It’s one you recognize right away, one that offers a gush of wind when it’s opened, an ocean of flowers welcoming you instantly.

The scenery draws perplexment out of you, yet the open breeze spawns effortless air into your lungs, making you almost feel like you can finally breathe again. Your eyelids are on the verge of fluttering close as your shoulders drop, but you keep them astray once a lingering question conjures in your thoughts ‒ the very reason you’re here.

Whirling around with furrowed brows, you’re taken aback by Namjoon’s heavy gaze, wide eyes recognizing the scrutinizing manner his orbs take up.

You flush from the immediate attention, “W-Why did you bring me here?”

Cautiously peering up, you’re baffled at how something seems to ease within his irises, the familiar warmth you were accustomed to spreading through.

“You looked like you needed some fresh air.”

You tilt your head to the side with a frown from the comment, wondering why he would have such a thought.

A deep silence washes over, the sound of the wind simply echoing as you peer above the sky and Namjoon surveys the flowers beneath his shoes. You’re not quite sure if you should say something in rebuttal or as a counteract, but you don’t ponder over it for long.

Namjoon is the first to clear his throat, disrupting the lack of words.

“Why….” His voice is low, close to a whisper, “Why don’t you go back?”

Your head snaps around to face him, eyes wide, “W-What?”

He clarifies, louder this time, “Why don’t you go back home?”

“I-I….” You struggle for an answer, one question only spilling, “Why?”

For a moment, Namjoon hesitates. You catch onto it right away, the reluctance evident on his features.

“The burden of my future rests on your shoulders because of our marriage…”

He sucks in a sharp inhale and at this point, your heart is beginning to viciously thud against your ribcage. It worsens when Namjoon abruptly glances up, staring at you flat in the eyes.

“And you don’t seem to be happy.” It’s not an observation, but a mere fact.

“I‒….”

“Think about it. For as long as you want. And if‒”

There’s an ocean of distraught lingering in his pupils, “And if there’s a need to divorce..... Then let me know.”

His brows knit together, and his jaw tenses, lips settling into a firm line. He appears to be patiently waiting, waiting for you to speak up about your thoughts.

You dip into a brief silence before answering and when you do, your voice cracks.

“I-I can’t go back…”

Namjoon’s brows shoot up, “What?”

A somber smile surfaces on you, “My parents, my family,” You quickly clarify, “They won’t let me come back.”

Namjoon still looks just as baffled, “What? But how can they‒” A lightbulb immediately goes off in his mind, voice falling into a whisper, “The union….”

You robotically nod and it finally dawns to him that what has occurred between the two of you isn’t a simple marriage.

It is a union of two families ‒ two families that would have otherwise been at each other’s necks hadn’t it been for some type of peace offering.

And if you were to go back, it would mean the delicacy holding this union together would ultimately crumble, creating chaos unlike no other.

Namjoon scowls as he spits out the cutting words.

“Of course it’s about the union at the end of the day.”

The sudden change in his tone results in your head snapping up, a gasp nearly leaving your lips. Namjoon meets your gaze, suddenly very aware of your eyes on him.

“Do you remember how you told my parents the reason that you didn’t want to get involved in your father’s business?” You nod at the abrupt inquiry, and Namjoon sighs, a bitter smile lining his lips, “I don’t think I ever told you the reason why I got involved.”

Namjoon chuckles at your instant curiosity, “You’d be surprised, it’s quite on par with the reasoning behind our marriage.”

“When I first found out about my family’s business, from my father, my view of it was similar to yours,” He gestures to you, “Indifferent, apathetic, but at the end of the day, what I thought didn’t really matter.”

“I sort of fell into it initially,” He explains, “Some of it because of interest, some of it because of skill, but a lot of it was because of obligation.”

Your eyes meet his silently.

“I was given the title of heir even though I just wanted to help out my family, an opinion I still believe to be my first mistake.”

“They’ve convinced me that this business needs me to survive and prosper, but ultimately,” He laughs, but it isn’t out of amusement, “I'm just a tool.”

Your heart rate nearly stops, breathing stilling completely.

Namjoon peers in your direction and you attempt to paint an attentive expression onto your features, but it’s harder to do so this time around.

Instead, there’s a certain anguish in your eyes that reflect his own, almost as if he were gazing into a mirror.

As the breeze picks up, he eventually leads you away from the garden once you’ve had your ample intake of fresh air. Heading back into the house, you silently follow behind, sight glued to his back.

In the midst of your hushed trailing, the words vividly return back to you.

"You're a tool now, Y/N. From here on, you must follow our every instruction and order."

***

Namjoon stands outside of your bedroom door, patiently waiting for you to finish walking up the stairs. The moment you’re on the same ground level as him, he warmly smiles.

“I have to head work now, urgent duty calls….”

You solemnly nod, “‒But I’ll be back before night falls, in case y-you know....uh, you need me….”

Your eyes instantly light up, like a deer caught up in headlights. Namjoon teeter totters from side to side, a rapid flush suddenly rising onto his skin. You ponder over its cause, but the thought immediately dissipates once he cups your cheek with his hand.

If your eyes were wide before, then they were tremendously wide now.

Namjoon leans forward, pressing a soft kiss right at the centre of your forehead. You are completely frozen during the interaction, mouth falling agape as he takes a step back.

You’re once again his mirror, but alongside the rapid hue of scarlet dusting on your cheeks, you have the addition of your skin tingling from the contact, breaths becoming caught within your throat.

His flush has deepened considerably, and he laughs, as if trying to ward off any lingering embarrassment. He lingers for a moment, like he was debating on whether or not to leave, before ultimately remembering that he was supposed to be at work soon.

As Namjoon departs, your vision remains on his back, following his descent down the stairs. Once he’s clearly gone, you spin around, hands finding the steel knob of your bedroom’s door.

You freeze for a moment, staring down at the door handle for what seems like an eternity. Reaching up, your other hand softly touches the tip of your forehead, right where his lips brushed across.

For some strange reason, it’s like someone had released a bundle of butterflies and they were all fluttering around in the pit of your stomach.

***

The room is murky, a large shadow casting itself over the lavish bed. Soft knocks resonate from one particular corner, the plastic container balancing within your hands as you remain crouched down in position.

You patiently wait for a moment, the correspondence going silent. An exhausted sigh escapes your lips, legs beginning to slump down and spread out across the ground.

There no longer seems to be a spark of urgency in your actions anymore, obligation taking over more than necessary. You wonder if it’s because you’re simply tired, tired of running away from a nightmare that has become your reality.

For a brief moment, your head comfortably lulls back against the wall and you allow your eyes to flutter shut.

Static echoes immediately.

You jolt up in alarm, vision dazed until it lands upon the box. You lift it in your hands, freezing for a moment.

Be on guard.

The corner of your mouth twitches and you unplug the cord within an instant. The static dies out and you bring your knees closer to your head, fisting your dangling locks with your hands.

Although the words seem to carry concern and distress, you know you’re not far too naive to understand the underlying implication.

You need a plan.

But the problem is your mind is completely void of anything. Clouds have overtaken the place where there should be buzzing electricity, the task being as easy as knowing the back of your palm.

For a split second ‒ you ponder if you actually have it in you to figure something out to get back on track.

Fisting your hands into balls, you slowly rise from the ground, taking a second glance at the container before packing it away. A heavy exhale escaping your lips, the dismay rooting deep in your eyes.

***

You slide down the layering staircase, the mute atmosphere of the residence making you fidget your hands around. Vision landing onto a nearby window, you peer outside, noticing the white flowers getting drenched by the heavy rain. You sight lands beneath them, pools of translucent water beginning to slowly collect.

You avert your eyes immediately, hands slightly quivering. A shaky deep breath escapes and your lips press into a tight line, down-turning into a frown.

The front door comes slamming open.

You spin around, shoulders instantly spike up and a hand pressing against your chest. Namjoon stands before you, nearly drenched from the downpour outside.

However, that’s not where your sight lands. It’s the frightful expression he holds that draws your attention more.

Swallowing hard, you take careful steps towards him.

“Y-Y/N…” His hands latch onto your arms right away, eyes rapidly flickering.

You tilt your head to the side, appearing as puzzled as you can. Yet that’s easier said than done, and you hope Namjoon doesn’t notice the way your hands are trembling and how stiff your shoulders have become.

“I-I…..”

You faintly touch his shoulder, “Namjoon, what is it?”

Namjoon’s gaze meets yours and you hold your breath, attempting to brace yourself as much as possible.

“....Taehyung’s been killed.”

Your heart rate shoots up to an alarming rate, and you fight back the urge to cower away from him. There’s no excuse for you to be reacting this way since after all, the information he presents isn’t new knowledge at all.

You’ve been waiting for this.

Eunjoo has been reported missing, and Taehyung is nowhere to be found either.

The latter was presumed to be occupied with business, on an urgent trip of some sorts that led to his absence.

But you know that such a tale can’t be woven with evidence.

The next question that sits on the tip of your tongue makes your heart want to burst, yet it has to be asked regardless.

“W-Who would do such a thing?”

“I’m not too sure.” He presses a hand against his temples, “They found the corpse nearby here, but it was barely identifiable...almost like he was set aflame.”

You swallow hard.

Namjoon deeply sighs, shaking his head, “An investigation has opened up so hopefully we’ll be able to find out soon.”

You visibly relax, shoulders slumping down. There’s a crease between his brows, and he appears lost in thought as you glance at him in confusion.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing, just‒” He shrugs and fumbles around, “Eunjoo went missing around the same time Taehyung was killed, so I’m just wondering if there’s a possibility of the two instances being connected.”

Your eyes immensely enlarge as you morph into a block of ice, pupils fixated on Namjoon. He was an extremely keen thinker based on his profile and you wonder if that particular trait of his was going to ultimately be the one following your downfall.

Namjoon turns to you, “That brings me to another matter‒what do you think about hiring someone to replace Eunjoo for the time being?”

“H-Huh?” You blink, noticing him waiting for your response. A hard knot is starting to restrict around your throat and the longer you stand beside him, the more your chest has begun to painfully tighten. “Uh, sure‒yes, that’s a good idea.”

Namjoon nods with a smile, patting your shoulder before heading into a room on the ground level. The moment he’s out of sight, you escape right away, entering your bedroom within seconds.

Once the door is tightly locked behind you, your trembling hands reach out to cover your face. Hot tears roll down your flushed skin, your knees giving in as you slide down the wall, collapsing against the wall.

***

Sunshine floods into the house past the curtains, a bright piercing light that only seems to sting at your swollen eyes. You descend slowly down the stairs, careful not to succumb down to fatigue and stumble on your way down.

The moment you reach the bottom, your eyes widen and transfix with horror.

Namjoon is seated on a couch, the remaining three shareholders surrounding them. They seem to be in some sort of deep conversation until Namjoon catches sight of you, a warm look residing within his eyes.

“Did you sleep well?” He wonders as you draw near, pupils sweeping through the shareholders expressions. They hold an air of both distraught and somberness, but there’s something brewing underneath that nearly has you staggering back.

Anger.

Motionlessly, you nod in response and Namjoon gestures for you to sit down with him. No one speaks a word against him for your inclusion and for a moment, you wonder if it’s worse to have it that way.

“Taehyung left during the night after you returned from escorting Y/N to your driver.” There’s a sheet of paper in front of Yoongi, containing a range of scribbles and bullet points that have obstructed circles and multiple question marks around them. It gives you an inkling to the conversation that was being held before you entered, unease stirring within the pit of your stomach.

“He had a gun with him.” Hoseok explains, brows intensely furrowed as his eyes scrutinize all over the notes, “Or at least, that’s what the servants at his mansion said.”

“Why on earth would he need a gun?” Yoongi whispers, shaking his head at the information. You uncomfortably shift in your seat, hands beginning to fist the soft cloth of your skirt.

“Do you think it’s because he thought someone might try to kill him?” Jungkook immediately says, glancing back and forth with wide eyes.

“Or maybe because he needed to kill someone.” Namjoon darkly retorts, locking eyes with Yoongi in an instant. Something sparks within his irises, and he rapidly scribbles down on the sheet of paper.

It’s almost like someone has wrapped their hands around your throat, cutting off your air supply with every word they pronounce. You attempt to keep a face of naivety and confusion on, acting more like an innocent doll than anything.

Yet there’s murmurs of your hands tightening on instinct, or the way your eyes can’t help but dart around manically ‒ simple things that glitch out the more you try to repress them.

As Namjoon and Yoongi ponder over if Taehyung has made any new enemies recently, you decide it would be best to look for a route of the situation, something meek that you can excuse yourself with and that Namjoon wouldn’t even bat an eyelash over. However that’s when your eyes come into contact with foreign ones, and the glitches are on the verge of magnifying by tenfold.

There’s a face before you that you haven’t encountered beyond, round with a wise smile and eyes kind that reflect the desire to be useful more than anything. Your breath grows thin within an instant and the urge to stagger away hits you.

“Did you want something to eat, Miss Y/N?” She tilts her head to the side, humbly offering her services. “I can make some tea with tarts for you if you’d like.”

The fabric beneath your fingers is tightened until your knuckles turn white and you remain frozen, simply staring at her as if her words made no sense.

Hoseok suddenly speaks to Namjoon and the sound of their interaction jolts you back, mind running in alarm as you hurriedly rise from your seat.

There’s a bittersweet smile on your lips, “No thank you, I should be fine.”

She nods understanding and then bows, but you easily catch the look of distress she holds from your refusal. You pay her no mind as you scramble away, heading straight into your room.

From afar, you notice the look in the corner of Namjoon’s eyes as you scurry away, a linger of concern painfully radiating in his irises.

***

Namjoon has completely lost track of time.

He can’t recall moments his mind wasn’t preoccupied with Taehyung’s investigation, the reminder of the day sending him through a loop as he constantly tried to come up with conclusions with Yoongi, Hoseok and Jungkook. Even when he offered to temporarily halt their actions and look at the case with fresh eyes later, his suggestion was shot down and refused nonetheless.

He pinches his eyes together with his fingers, a deep sigh slipping out from the seams of his lips. Blinking a couple of times, his sight lands on the door to your shared bedroom, thoughts immediately arising about you.

He hasn’t seen you all day, and the new maid tells him that you’ve been in your room for hours since he encountered you this morning. The news about the entire mayhem is already too much for him, so he can’t help but wonder what’s swirling in your mind about it.

Entering the room carefully, he already notices you lying asleep on the bed as he quietly heads towards the couch, prepared to collapse down at any second.

The sound of sheets ruffling immediately catches on to his keen ears.

His head snaps up, gaze landing on your shaking form. Drawing closer, he notices the sheets have been considerably tousled, and that your breathing is coming out alarmingly erratic, as if you were struggling to breath.

Namjoon doesn’t hesitate to occupy the side of the bed opposite to you, his arms wrapping around your form like it was second nature to him. However in the midst of his actions, he doesn’t notice that your eyes have fluttered open, freshly awake from the ongoing nightmare.

To his complete surprise, you roll over and tug him closer.

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coffeesuperhero · 4 years

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leverage fic recs

So, I needed a better organizational system than my AO3 bookmarks (boy do I miss delicious!), so I’m just going to start a post for myself here and reblog it occasionally as I add to it. Most (all?) of these are OT3 fics, because I am who I am and I read what I read. If you want non-OT3 fic recs, I am not your person. Probably you have read these, but if you haven’t, what are you waiting for!

Gen:

01. The Fake Geek Boy Job, by shinealightonme. It’s casefic at a fan convention and Eliot has to cosplay. In spandex. Go read it and enjoy yourself, already.

Beautiful shippy fic (everyone is together/small moments/slice of life):

01. The Three Rings Job, by HugeAlienPie. Sophie POV. The OT3 at Nate and Sophie’s wedding, where Nate and Sophie are not aware that there is now an OT3. It’s soft. And so sweet you could serve it as dessert. And it has the best boat name for a Nate and Sophie boat in the world.

02. hacker/hitter/thief/home, by AtlantisRises. A collection of short OT3 fics that hit you just right in the feels, in the best way.

03. Nothing’s Exactly What We Need, by BabylonsFall. The OT3, on vacation.

Everybody is together and also there’s a con:

01. Covenants, Conditions, & Restrictions, by page_runner. We love a good long fic where the OT3 help an old lady and con an HOA, because HOA’s are the worst. This fic also gives me deeply hurt feelings about the team having to leave Portland, which I know in my heart is probably the Way of Things, but which I will never write myself because heartbreak. But this deals with that reality so beautifully, and it’s a good con, too.

Getting together OT3: 01. just want you close, by biblionerd07. Eliot-POV, post-rundown, man am I a sucker for Eliot-POV stories where Parker and Hardison just...love the hell out of him, and this is just a lovely, careful, sweet version of that.

02. international small arms traffic blues, by ftmsteverogers. Eliot POV, character study + get together fic. Makes you very sad for Eliot, and then happier for Eliot. And I’m a sucker for anytime someone has to call Sophie for advice.

03. So Come On, Avalanche, by elysiumwaits. It is Eliot POV snowed-in at a cabin OT3 getting together fic, so idk what more you need to know to read it.

04. Rings a Bell, by venilia. Eliot wakes up with amnesia and thinks he’s married to Hardison and also has a Parker, it’s silly and sweet.

05. The Thunderous Roll of a Tropical Sea (the moonlit memory I can’t seem to lose), by phnelt. **content notes: canon-typical violence + Mature! grown and sexy content ahoy!** I have classified this as a “getting together” story, because ultimately that is what happens, but it’s probably more like “eliot getting his shit together, and now they’re all together,” which is my favorite flavor of OT3 getting together fic, anyway. It starts out a little sad, because gasp! They were together but they split up!! But it has a happy ending. It also has fake marrieds, my favorite trope of all time. Eliot feeding Hardison strawberries and playing with his fake husband on a beach while Parker watches? Please.

06. Happy Meal, by @leiascully Listen, I admit that I am biased, because my wife wrote this for me, but it is this really hilarious flirting-over-the-comms-pre-OT3-sort-of-getting-together story, and I laughed, and it was great, so you should enjoy it, too.

07. Oklahoma’s Next Top Model, by Hedgehog-O-Brien (Roshwen). Hardison POV. This fic has the greatest tag of all time, which is: “Title not entirely accurate bc Eliot's clearly a bottom but who cares“ and I knew I was in good hands solely on that basis before I read a word of the fic. Tbh I put this in this “getting together” category because I feel like it’s heavily implied at the end that there’s a getting together situation happening, but like, that’s not why you read this fic. You read this fic for the ridiculously over the top OT3 photoshoot of your wildest dreams. You will laugh. You will be entertained. Enjoy!

08. Fifty Fake Dates, by calico_fiction. WIP, Hardison POV. nb: This hasn’t been updated in a minute but a) I too have WIPs that take a long-ass time between updates, if this updated in ten years I would still be excited to read it and b) the chapter that’s up is such a delight to me that I really think it’s worth a read even if this is all of this story the author wants to post. It’s a great Hardison POV with some delicious pining and fake Hardison/Eliot dating, which is my jam.

09. For Real, by BurningTea. It’s hard to do an accidental marriage in this canon, but this fic did that! Hardison’s technical expertise goes a bit awry and everybody has to have....a talk. About feelings.

Hurt/comfort:

01. Dig Deep, by BurningTea. Eliot has to dig his own grave and climb into it. It hurts a lot!!!! And then it’s comforting. So, exactly what it says on the tin. Good character observations and nicely written, hurts exactly right and comforts exactly right, too.

Hot (nsfw, 18+, Mature, grown and sexy content for grown and sexy adults):

01. Don’t Come Late, by @leiascully. It’s just...the OT3, having really hot sex. That’s it, that’s the review. (The writing is delightful and there’s like, funny stuff in with the sexy stuff, which is real life and always nice to see, you know?)

02. Take the Leap, by Penknife. Hardison POV, first time OT3 threesome/verbal domination. The characterization in this is just **chef’s kiss** perfection. Funny, and hot. My favorite combo.

03. The Post-Rundown Job, by DelektorskiChick. Eliot POV, demi-Parker, mostly Eliot/Hardison but Parker’s participating in her own way. I’m a sucker for some good sexy post-injury care and this is right after Rundown, so it checks that box big time.

04. In Sync, by monsoon_moon. Eliot POV, first time OT3some.

Character studies:

01. Dawning, by @darkfinch. Eliot POV, mind all the warnings. This (read with its sequel, a WIP linked below) is probably one of my favorite Leverage pieces in existence? It is just the most beautiful, dark, horrible look at Eliot-works-for-Moreau you could hope for, except that also there’s a sequel called Reverberate, and that is also perfect and intense and really digs into what’s happening in Eliot’s mind and life during s3 after Nate drops the “we’re going after Moreau” bombshell. Both of these stories are painfully perfect and believable and real and I love them with my whole heart. The story structure and writing on both of those pieces is just excellent and the characterization is pitch perfect, and along with the stress and trauma you really get some just fantastic character moments. Idky you’re reading my review instead of the story tbh go read that, thanks!

02. Ten Prides in Portland, by @leiascully. I put this as a character study because it is one? It’s about queer shit, and learning to be part of a community of queer people, and learning that you can be a mentor and a role model for other queer people even if you don’t have your own stuff figured out. I am extremely biased because this is my wife and I got to watch this story grow into existence every day, but I think it’s a really beautiful look at the queer community broadly, all the people who fit under the umbrella, and belonging. It’s sweet and funny and beautiful, and I really needed to feel like I was at Pride this year, and this helped.

03. Different, by @leiascully. Hardison POV. Honestly this just made me want to go find baby Hardison and hug him for a really long time.

04. The Twine and the Things We Bind, by @darkfinch. WIP, H/C, big on the H. Parker and Hardison taking care of an extremely fractious, extremely injured Eliot Spencer is my jam.com forever and this is all of that with beautiful characterization and writing. Also some of the best action scenes I’ve read in a while. I do not write action At All and this does it SO WELL.

05. A Kiss for Luck, by AlannaOfRoses. Parker POV. A good look into Parker’s thoughts on luck during the Rundown Job/feelsy flashbacks.

OC/Outsider POV:

01. Let’s Go Steal a Protege, by @innytoes. WIP. Gosh I adore this. It’s found family shenanigans from an outside-the-OT3 perspective. Jamie, the main POV OC (nonbinary rep!!), is a fucking delight of a human and their interactions with the super!married OT3 are all incredible. It is sweet and funny and sometimes sad but almost always in a happy tears kind of way, because it’s about finding a family. And there are so many genuine laugh-out-loud moments in this fic that I reread it a lot lately or think of it when I need something to lift my spirits. (There is a bit in chapter six with some thrift store purchases that I just absolutely lose my shit at every time.) I very badly want this story to just be canon tbh. Petition for that.

AU’s

01. The Out of This World Job (Or, Per Furtum Ad Astra), by pathera. It’s a job, but it’s IN SPACE. Parker, Hardison, & Eliot find a spaceship; shenanigans ensue. Beautifully in character, some poignant character moments, awesome writing, and just a really vivid world.

02. Plastic Pearls, by BabylonsFall. Kidfic! Various POV. Parker and Hardison move in across the hall from single-dad Eliot. I adore this, it is sweet and soft and everything you could hope for in a story where Eliot is raising a smol Molly.

#leverage #Team Leverage OT3 #fic rec #really gotta tag my shit better #RIP del.icio.us you were the best bookmark system

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amberskywrites · 4 years

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Burnt Edges

Masterpost

Pairing: Sokka/Zuko

Fandom / Genre: ATLA / Soulmate AU

Warnings: Abusive parents, Past physical abuse, Childhood trauma, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Discussion of trauma (minor this part, more prevalent in next part)

Notes: This was for @willowaudreykeyes 100 follower DTYS! Second part should be coming eventually, because I do want to write them actually getting together soon 😅

Part One || Part Two

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

Soulmarks.

Sokka wasn’t too interested in them, not as much as all the grown-ups and his sister and the little kids who were told wondrous stories of old about people finding their true love. Sokka was more interested in science, how to fight, how to survive a war. Most of the stories the older people in the village told them ended tragically, anyway. Most of their soulmates had died, their marks a bright white to signify that.

He had been fascinated with them when he was really, really young. He loved hearing his mom and dad talk about how they met or how they found out they were soulmates. It was a boring story, at least that’s what they said, but Sokka loved it. It was such an important event, and his parents had found out they were soulmates in the most mundane way possible, and he loved that their love seemed so simple.

Sokka had wanted to find his soulmate. For years, he really wanted to. He had dual swords crossing over one another, water droplets looking to be engraved into the handles.

But Sokka would never get the chance to meet them. Because at the age of twelve, his soulmark turned from black to white.

It had terrified Sokka that his soulmark had turned white when he wasn’t even a teenager yet. His soulmate couldn’t be dead, right? They must have been as young as him. A kid somewhere in the world had been killed and Sokka knew that because he had felt a hot pain shoot up his spine and as soon as he saw the mark on his lower back he discovered it to be white as a pearl.

The mark suddenly stopped being that comforting to Sokka. Instead it manifested nightmares that his sister or Grangran would have to help calm the boy down. It had felt like someone had burned him, when the mark turned white. Was that how his soulmate had died? Scorched by a fire? Sokka wouldn’t dismiss the idea. He knew the fire nation was full of some of the cruelest people. He wouldn’t put it past them to scorch a child to death.

Sokka had lost interest in his soulmate, almost forgetting that he had one in the first place. He wondered a lot why anyone cared about soulmates now though. Too many people had white marks scorched into their lower backs, and others knew their soulmates could be anywhere in the vast world, in the middle of a war, and what were they going to do? Risk being murdered by checking every nation for their soulmate? It didn’t seem worth it.

Three years went by. The pitying looks from his tribe stopped appearing because they had to accept it at some point, hell, they probably assumed it would happen to one of the kids sooner or later. Sokka trained and trained and trained the best he could to become a warrior. His skills were awful, he knew that, but he had to try. He never got the chance to meet his soulmate, never got a chance to try and protect them. He wanted to at least protect his tribe and his family.

He had to make a change of plans once Aang came into the picture. Katara was a determined and stubborn and fierce girl, but he was still her big brother. He didn’t feel right letting her go off with Aang on her own, and she was definitely not going to be content in just letting the little airbender boy leave.

In their free time between each destination, conversations always returned to soulmarks. It didn’t annoy Sokka really, he was fine listening to them talk about their marks and wonder who Katara’s soulmate could be (Aang appeared to not have a soulmark). Aang had asked about Sokka’s mark. If he had any guesses as to who his soulmate could be, or what he thought they might be like. Sokka just shrugged and showed his mark to Aang. The airbender had been surprised when he had learned Sokka’s mark was white, and for a little while the talk of soulmarks seemed to stop.

Toph had a soulmark, but it was still pitch black. She had yet to meet her soulmate, and Sokka really wasn’t surprised, considering how protective her parents were. Toph didn’t seem to care, though, because why should a mark dictate who you were supposed to fall in love with? She claimed she’ll marry earthbending instead of some random person.

And then Zuko joined the team.

He never said anything about his soulmark, even after everyone began trusting him. Even when they asked, he just said he didn’t want to talk about it. Instead, he’d turn his attention to Aang and start telling him where he needed to improve on his firebending, much to the others’ amusement and Aang’s frustration.

Sokka didn’t really care about Zuko’s mark at first. So what if the fire nation prince didn’t want to share? It was probably some noble fire bender, or maybe even Mai. Sokka knew the two had dated, and Mai had saved them for crying out loud because she apparently still loved Zuko! But Sokka thought that, if Mai was his soulmate, Zuko would have been fine with sharing. Sokka believed he was right, but he couldn’t be completely sure.

He would never admit that the reason he wanted Mai to not be his soulmate was because he wanted to stand a chance. Sokka knew when he started liking someone. He thought this would have just been a fleeting crush, one that would be over and done with in a few days or a couple of weeks. But the feeling didn’t go away. Instead it grew. It grew into warm cheeks and tumbling over words, a smile appearing anytime he saw Zuko laugh and his eyes lingered on the prince more and more with each passing day.

Sokka tried seeing Zuko’s mark, too. He remembered Mai’s because of a close fight he had gotten in a little while ago, and it had been very distinct, a flaming ring circling around a crown made of daggers. He wouldn’t have been surprised if it was Zuko’s mark as well. Something as stunning and intimidating looking would match Zuko’s personality just as much as it fit Mai’s.

But Zuko’s mark was hidden.

All the time.

And Sokka hated that he couldn’t find out if he was right.

He’d never been more curious about soulmarks until then.

Finally, he broke, and had caught Zuko just after training when Zuko was about to head into the house. The others were all down at the beach to relax, but Zuko had wanted to take a bit of time to himself. At least, that’s what he had hoped. But Zuko’s plans were stopped dead as Sokka caught his wrist. It wasn’t a tight grip, but Zuko still looked at him in confusion and a twinge of annoyance flashed through his eyes.

“Hey Zuko, can you stop that?”

Zuko blinked, brows furrowing and a frown gracing his face. “Stop doing… what exactly?”

“Stop hiding your damn soulmark. I want to see if I’m right.”

Zuko’s eyes narrowed and he pulled his hand away, folding his arms over his chest. “Right about what?”

Sokka bit his lip, his hands going to his hips as he huffed softly. “If you and Mai are soulmates! Or just, I really want to know what your soulmark looks like. Or why you of all people won’t show anyone.”

The watertribe boy watched as the young prince’s face softened for a moment, and his shoulders relaxed a little. “Well, I can tell you you’re wrong about Mai and I. We’re not soulmates. Her soulmates are Ty Lee and Azula.”

Sokka did not sigh a little in relief. He did not.

“Then you know who your soulmate is?”

Zuko shook his head, and Sokka’s heart skipped a beat. He watched Zuko worry at his bottom lip before speaking again, and Sokka thought his brain stopped working for a second hearing Zuko’s words.

“I doubt I’ll ever meet them. Or know if I do. So, to tell you why I don’t show my mark to anyone, there��s honestly no point in me showing it.”

Sokka felt the memories of years ago creep back into his mind. He never liked telling anyone for awhile that his soulmate was dead. That must be why Zuko didn’t want to talk about his soulmate, they must be dead too.

Or know if I do.

That sounded odd to Sokka, thinking about it. If Zuko’s soulmate was dead, there would be no chance of them meeting. Right?

“Wait, is your mark white too then?”

Zuko shook his head. Sokka’s brow creased as he tried to think of how Zuko would not know if he met his soulmate if his mark wasn’t white.

“Then how do you know?”

Zuko glanced away from Sokka, hands tightening on his upper arms for a moment before he relaxed. There wasn’t anything inherently wrong, Zuko knew this. He wasn’t the first person to experience this. But it still felt awkward talking about it, especially after hundreds of people made a point not to ask him. Because most people knew already in the fire nation.

“My mark was burned off.”

Sokka’s eyes widened at the admission, and he tried to catch Zuko’s gaze but Zuko kept his eyes on the bushes that lined the nearby wall.

“It’s another form of punishment, I guess.”

“... Punishment?” Sokka thought he may regret asking.

“From the fire lord for disobeying. Why do you think Azula stays in line so much? I think father did it to me to scare her into listening more, because she started to show more emotion a few years back that father didn’t quite like.”

“Your-” Sokka’s words caught in his throat. “Your father did that to you?”

Zuko hummed, nodding. “I know some other people have also had their marks burned off, but they’re hard to find because they don’t show off their marks either.”

Sokka didn’t seem to be listening, though. His hand tangled in his hair as he processed that Zuko’s mark had been burned off.

“What- do you know what happens to your soulmate’s mark after yours has been burned?”

Zuko tilts his head, thinking. “I think it mimics them being dead. But I’m not too sure. That’s just what mother told me before she left. Azula and I just thought it was a sad legend or something though.”

Sokka was quiet for a few moments, trying to process Zuko’s words. How many people thought their soulmates were dead, but in actuality something had just happened to them right on their soulmark? He had never heard of something like it, but it made sense, he thought. If the soulmark was somehow removed from someone, it made sense the matching soulmarks would turn white. Because the soulmark would be dead, right.

What if his soulmate was still alive?

Sokka barely noticed Zuko leave him.

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la-luna-es-hermosa · 4 years

Text

Squirt (Kai x Reader)

※ Title: Squirt

※ Businessman!AU || Businessman!Jongin || Rich people AU!

※ One-shot || Genre: Smut || Just plain smut || Squirting

※ Paring: Kai x Reader

※ Summary: When (Y/N) turned 21, Jongin, her boyfriend wanted to explore deeper into their relationship.

※ Warning(s): Age Gap

※ Word Count: 2,278

※ Note: I’m sorry I wasn’t able to keep my promise. I just didn’t have any motivation on what to write since I am also arranging my writing commissions, I hope you can check it out! I’m just gathering interest as of right now since I have not arranged my PayPal yet (probably it will be open as soon as next year starts)

※ Main Masterlist || Commissions

Just right after her 21st birthday, (Y/N) and Jongin went on a hotel suite. Being her long time lover. Their relationship is quite secretive. Of course, Jongin has a name to maintain, as a CEO of a real estate company, he would never let anyone know their relationship and ruin his reputation. Their age gap alone is problematic, what more if they know Jongin’s into BDSM? They’ve been having connections since she was 18. (Y/N) being the daughter of one of his business partners, his main contractor, Robert.

Laying on her eyes was something Jongin never thought. When he saw the girl with Robert. Coming from school and sitting in the field office working hard on her school works, he immediately fell hard on her. He even frequented her country, (Country) to just see her. He fell madly in love with her. But, just like him, she fell hard on him too. But she stops herself. Seeing him remove his safety hat, his forehead was dripping with sweat, damn! That is where she fell really hard for him.

But as a CEO, Jongin was pressured by his parents to get married.

“Jongin, baby, please get married already. Your father did not die and give this company to you if you’re just going to make it your life.” His mom said in dismay.

“But who am I going to marry?” Jongin asked. He already has someone in mind, but he doesn’t want to get married to (Y/N), yet, we mean, he can’t.

“The daughters of our business partners. There are a lot of them. Jennie and Seungyeon are really pretty.” His mother responded to him. Both women are his type, but it ain’t it.

“No. If I’m going to marry someone, I’d like that someone to be someone I want to be with forever. I want (Y/N).” When those words came out of Jongin’s mouth, his mother was shocked.

“Sweetie, no. (Y/N), she’s too young for you. Please understand that.” His mom thought of a reply. He can’t marry (Y/N) that is what his mom knows for sure.

Agreeing on a daddy-babygirl kind of relationship is intense in itself, but they never did the deed. Jongin felt bad about fucking her. - Right timing. Right after they arrive on the beautiful island of Amanpulo, Jongin will execute his other intentions. It was a night beautifully planned. Jongin has been waiting four goddamn years to execute all of this. He will surely devour the woman in front of him.

While Jongin was carrying her, - bridal style, of course, she knows it already. She knows what will happen. Jongin finally arrived at the suite’s huge bedroom, he just kicked the door open. He dropped her in the Narra wood desk. Her hands are holding on the table, scared of what is happening next. The impatient man started undoing the lace that tied the beautiful long gown together. The dress was insanely beautiful. - it was in a lavender purple, with white pearls decorated around the long beautiful train. Though admiring the beauty of the dress, Jongin wants her out of that dress. - instantly.

When the lace was done being undone, the dress instantly fell on the brown carpeted floor. But Jongin was in for a treat. The beautiful dress soon revealed the lingerie. - The oh-so cliche lingerie girls wear on the night of their lives, she was extremely waiting for it. (Y/N), herself was skeptical about wearing it. Thinking it was too risky, it was her friend Rose who suggested she wear the lingerie.

After seeing the beautiful black lace corset, hugging her curves just right, paired with matching black lace thongs and black lace stockings, Jongin’s eyes and erection were in for a treat tonight. His ever-growing member stood still, having the tight feeling in his black pants. He can’t stand it. He’s so impatient… he wants to ram his not-so-little Jongin on her little pussy.

He unbuckled his black belt immediately. Then he unzipped his pants. - Barely removing it. His hard member immediately stood up. The man didn’t wear underwear, a stupid decision on his part. His member was around 8 inches long, fat and veiny, dripping with precum. Then, he grabbed something from his pocket. - A small tube of lube. “Daddy’s gotta lube up or else I can't fit it.” He had a bigger smirk in him as he started putting lube on his hard cock.

“Why can’t you have sex with me without lube? I’m wet enough daddy, am I? I want it inside of me too, not just you.” The debutant asked him. In a very seducing voice. Where did she fucking learn that from? He asked himself. Maybe from watching porn? He continued his doubts. But hot damn! She really wants him just as much as he wanted him. From the beginning, Jongin knew she’s only stopping herself from doing that.

“Sorry baby girl, but daddy’s impatient.” Before the girl could even tell him she’s a virgin, Jongin set aside her panties. He did not even have the patience to remove it. He needs a quick release. - right here, right now. It earned a high pitched moan. He flipped her over, seeing his beautiful girl. He finally inserted his very hard cock on her wet pink folds. (Y/N) is excited and scared at the same time.

(Y/N) was quick to expect pain from Jongin. Looking that he’s already so horny and his eyes are filled with lust, she closed her eyes quickly. He saw what she was doing. So he decided to carefully insert the huge cock in her. Inch by inch. He did put the lube, just for some lubrication, though she’s really wet already. “Baby girl, please don’t worry, I won’t hurt you… and damn you’re right…” Jongin affectionately said.

Kissing her pinkish lips. It was a soft kiss, as soft as cotton candy, but the kiss was mostly tongue, she can taste the Lechon and Lechon sauce from Jongin’s mouth. He was finished drilling his cock on her tight little pussy, earning a moan from the younger woman. He started it at a devilishly slow pace. “Daddy please faster! Let’s move to the bed…” She grabbed his back that was still heavily clothed. Unlike before she doesn’t feel the sharp pain anymore.

Jongin was quick to follow, cause he’s so fucking horny, also it turns him on when she begs on him. The guy carried the woman again but to the bed this time. Her legs spread wide. Then, thrusting, he went from 1 to 100, devilishly slow to devilishly fast. She was panting from the pleasure she’s receiving. She arched her back, ‘cause holy fuck if someone can give you as good of a sex Mr. Kim Jongin can, you will arch your back no matter what. “Fuck Jongin, fuck! Daddy oh my God!” She moaned loudly, then, she could feel a knot forming on her stomach. All from this intense pleasure of course.

Jongin did not hesitate to make her cum. The girl deserves it. Since this horny bastard is still not going to cum any minute now. Even when (Y/N), his little girl - correction his wife, already spat out her sticky come and is currently riding her orgasm, the horny fuck still fucks her real good. “Daddy, I'm too sensitive!” She moaned at him as she tried to remove his coat from him.

While still roughly thrusting into her pussy, damn! This guy has God-level stamina, he proceeded to get his hands from her back and tear his own shirt. Out of more raging impatience, he tore her panties apart too. He kicked his own pants and now he is completely naked. He started thrusting harder than ever, earning a moan from (Y/N) who was writhing with sensitivity. “Daddy, ah! Fuck, please Jongin faster”

The young lady is about to release her own come as well. “Damn I waited so long to touch you… I’ve waited three damn years to touch you” The man exclaimed. He really waited that long to actually have sex with her. - He punishes her by butt spanking, but never sex. When he’s needy, he always asks her for oral sex. When she’s the one needy, he fingers her, but never inserts his gigantic length in her.

“Fuck! You felt so good, it was all worth it!” Jongin moaned louder as the young girl digs her sharp painted nails in his back, whimpering and silently moaning his name like a mantra. Encouraging Jongin to just slam his length on her a bit harder as his pace was getting quite slow.

His cock buried deep into her slit even more. But as much as the two don’t want the fun to stop, Jongin ends up cumming on her little pussy. It also timed in with the young woman’s release, coating his monster cock “Baby…” He hugged her tightly as he flipped their positions. (Y/N) is now on top of him, his back on the comfortable mattress. With his skillful hands, he started removing the corset from her body. Unhooking it one by one, earning a moan from the young one.

“Am I really too young for you?” She asked him. She was blushing way redder than any tomatoes. Of course, she would ask that, with their unbearable age gap of 10 years. He was distracted when he saw her small boobs pop from the restraints of the corset. It was small, yes, but Jongin likes it enough. As much as he likes sexy ladies, he does not really go for the tits. He’s an ass guy. Everyone knows that for sure.

“No… baby girl, you’re just right.” Jongin kissed her boobs and started sucking on them. Just like that, he can earn a moan from her. Everything he does turns this horny bitch on. Then, he drifted on her neck, sucking it in. Since her beautifully curled hair was getting out of the way, she grabs a conveniently placed black hair tie on the Narra wood nightstand.

When her hair was sloppily tied, Jongin began planting butterfly kisses on her collarbone. Earning a moan from the little girl. He found her sensitive spot and left a hickey on the area. “Round 2?” Jongin asked, smirking, he was turned on yet again when he saw his cum dripping all over her. It was dripping all over her little pussy, Jongin was fine with it, her pussy had sparse pubic hair over it, but nothing is different. - He saw her grow in every aspect.

“Oh my God, really…” She smirked at him as she got on the other side of the bed. She grabbed one of the white pillows, laying her head on it. Then, she lifted her ass up, laying her head on the pillow, looking into Jongin’s eyes. She wanted Jongin to fuck her doggy style this time.

Jongin was immediate to respond. He stood on his knees and got on her ass. “Baby girl, wanna film ya?” He asked her in a very seducing voice, slapping her. If (Y/N) can seduce, definitely Jongin sounds like he’s a sex God or something with his seducing abilities. He’s absolutely charming indeed. That is the reason why she fell in love with him.

She immediately responded to him, smirking, “Sure daddy”, Jongin immediately grabbed his phone from the nightstand and opened his camera app. His member was showing as well as (Y/N)’s ass, which he slapped. When the video started rolling, she was moaning loudly as he thrust his member yet again in her hole. He can never get enough of her. It gained, even more, moans from the young lady.

"Daddy… Please… I'm near." The young girl begged. He thrust harder as he started rubbing her clit with his calloused fingers. She started gripping onto the bedsheet as she arched her back. Jongin growled as he could feel her g-spot. He moved his phone on the nightstand, the camera still rolling in front of them.

Her velvety pink walls clenching at every thrust he makes. "(Y/N), you're so tight… please know that I love you!" He told her as he got his cock out of her tight hole and entered his three big fingers in her little hole. He went on her back, the said fingers snaked on her hole. He started roughly thrusting his fingers back and forth on her.

Legs spread as wide as ever, (Y/N) arched her back and gripped on the silky bedsheet. Arching her back so sexily in front of the beast that is devouring her. Her eyes rolled above with so much pleasure he is giving to her. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! I think I am in heaven!" Her soft yet fragile voice said. His fingers had thrust enough and just as expected, watery substance started to leak out of her pussy. It was like an explosion."Fuck! You cum so well!" Jongin expressed.

Then, he moved out. He walked in front of her as his tongue went on her pussy to leak her cum clean. "Daddy is so good with his tongue, isn't he? Ah..." (Y/N) teasingly said with a moan as her fingers ran through his silky black hair. His hands opening her legs wide. - Showing her milky thighs. When he finished licking all of her cum clean, "You're so delicious." Jongin said as he licked his fingers in front of her.

Right after he cleaned his fingers, "Are you ready?" He suddenly asked her. "Yes." She firmly answered, panting heavily on the bed. She can feel her body shaking with all the action they did.

"Let's continue, this time, privately," Jongin said with a smirk

#luna's writings #luna's imagines #exo #kpop #exo smut #kai smut #jongin smut #kim jongin #kai exo #jongin x reader #smut #fanfiction #kai fanfic #kpop imagines #kpop fanfic #Luna's Boyfriend

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snowflake-of-destruction · 4 years

Text

Lost in Translation

I can’t write a quick, few line caption to save my life Part 3/8. Based off of the third picture of THIS POST and the idea that Sora just yells in dolphin when getting frustrated at his human’s slow learning curve. Read more for length again. Italics are mermish. This is dumb but so are these boys.

@shaky-mayhemm

Part 4/? of Mermaid AU that needs a name

"Hello," Sora enunciated slowly and clearly.

"Sea Urchin," the sailor chittered back uncertainly.

Sora shook his head and repeated, "Hello."

"Hello," the sailor mimicked.

Sora resisted the urge to slap his fin against the surface of the water in triumph. There was a delicate balance at play. His human had proved more skittish than the red one, even though the handsome silver sailor had technically sought him out first, if falling out of his boat could be counted. Sora would have thought pulling him back to surface and clearing his lungs of water--after a brief confusion where he'd tried to coax the human to swallow more sea to make him feel better enough to wake up--would have proven his intentions were good. He'd even brought the human a fish to eat and get his strength up, though he supposed the sailor must have been too worn out by almost drowning to be hungry because he'd batted the still flopping fish away from his mouth quite forcefully when Sora had tried to feed him. Maybe he just didn't like to eat when he first woke up.

Even with these good first impressions though, the sailor had made a loud screech when he'd first noticed Sora's tail and had dug his hands into the ground and propelled himself backward as far away as he could with the limited room he was allowed on the tiny rock island jutting out of the water Sora had brought him to. He'd scrubbed his eyes with his hands and spouted a series of incomprehensible but almost angry sounding mouth noises, making Sora wish he hadn't kept quite so far a distance when he'd followed Roxas to see where he kept disappearing to (Sora had known for awhile Xion was just making up stories to cover for his twin. The day she ran out of plausible excuses like trying to fill the trench so the ocean floor was even or cleaning the shells of geriatric turtles as community service, and flat out claimed Roxas had been eaten by a whale had cinched it. Granted, Kairi had said Roxas was sneaking to the surface weeks ago, but Kairi hadn't been around when Roxas and Sora had last tried to move sand to the trenches to fill them so she didn't know how convincing that excuse sounded). If he'd been better a better spy when he'd observed Roxas meeting with the red maned sailor then maybe he'd have an idea of what mouth sounds would soothe this human.

He'd done well enough without human words so far though, even if pantomime was tough. There had been a major setback when Sora had swum quick circles around the rock to ask if the human felt well enough to swim with him back to proper land or try to find his boat now that the storm had passed, and the sailor had seemed to interpret this as "I am a shark about to eat you," but they'd gotten back on track and Sora had coaxed the sailor to at least trust him enough to keep to the edge of the rock instead of the middle. He almost ruined it when the silver-haired human had first felt confident enough to dip his feet in the water--to prove to himself Sora wouldn't pull him right in--and Sora had immediately swum up between his legs, but this, like the other setbacks, was eventually remedied and they were now back in that position, human sitting on the edge of the rock and Sora bracketed between his legs, arms resting above the sailor's knees, face tilted up as he tried to teach him to talk properly. If he stayed as still and calm as he could, he was sure he could avoid startling the sailor again. He'd already been tested when a hand had reached out and combed softly through his hair. He hadn't been able to help a contented sigh when he'd been petted--grateful that the human was realizing he was friendly and was being friendly back, that was the only reason--but it hadn't scared the human. just made him go pink for a moment.

"Sora," Sora pointed at his chest, then tilted his head to the side like a question.

"Sora?" the human reached out again and tentatively brushed his fingers against the smattering of scales on Sora's shoulder, like he wasn't sure if they were shells or attached to the merman since most of the rest of his upper body didn't show signs of being part fish.

Sora nodded vigorously. "Sora," he kept a hand pressed against his chest for a moment and then patted the front of the human's weird baggy detached skin over his heart.

"Riku," the sailor supplied.

" Reee-coo? Riku! Riku, Riku Riku." Sora tested out the name, smiling at the bubbling feeling the sounds caused in his chest.

"Sora." Riku was smiling too. Fingers gently combed through Sora's hair once more.

Sora leaned his head against the side of Riku's knee, humming the name one last time, "Riku," and debating what should come next. Something useful. Something that would help him get Riku back to where he belonged or signal him to wait while Sora went and found Roxas to help. He looked up at Riku's face to see if the human had any ideas. The sun on the surface of the water, making it sparkle and dance like it didn't below and bringing out warmth in the blue-green had nothing on Riku's eyes. "Pretty."

"Pretty," Riku agreed, while continuing to pet through Sora's hair, and the merman turned his face to the side, burying it against Riku's leg in embarrassment. The human couldn't know what he was saying.

"You weren't supposed to repeat that one. I'm not...you know. I'm just me. Even Kairi was disappointed. She didn't say it but I know she had to be. She came all the way from the Radiant Seas to see this prince she's supposed to marry...and ohh let me tell you that's awkward...or not really that awkward because I'm not sure she wants to get married either....not right away at least...What was I saying? Kairi makes me feel small because she's a pearl and I'm just like grit stuck in a clam...which also becomes a pearl I guess, but that's not the point because she also somehow makes me feel strong? Like I can do anything? Like save you. I think my whole life was leading up to saving you from drowning. Is that stupid to say since we just met?" Sora paused to gulp in air, even if the dryness of it made his throat burn a bit, and risked a glance to see how Riku was taking his rambling. He'd felt the absence of the hand in his hair and now he saw it was because Riku was covering his ears. "Sorry, you're right. That was coming on way too strong, and you probably don't care about the Kairi stuff, though I bet you would care about Kairi if you met her. You can't help it. Kairi's amazing."

Riku pushed a single finger against Sora's lips, leaning in close enough as he did that Sora was slightly concerned he'd topple into the water. "Shh" Sora went slightly cross-eyed looking at the digit and had to resist the nonsensical urge to lick it. "You need to go slow, Sora."

"I don't know what you're saying," Sora confessed.

"Pretty?" Riku tried to reorient the conversation.

"Forget that," Sora ordered.

"Pretty?" Riku tried again, thinking his pronunciation was off.

Sora yelled a noise of wordless frustration and Riku imitated him.

"You need to stop fixating on that word. Let's pick another word. Sky. Boat. Octopus! Algae!"

"Pretty?" Riku tugged on his weird second skin as he asked the question. "Pretty?" He pulled a lock of his hair. "Pretty?" He gently bopped Sora's nose.

"Yes, you're really pretty. You're the prettiest thing I've ever seen. No! Not me. I already told you that I'm not pretty! Technically you're not pretty either. I should have said handsome but....you are so pretty, but you really need to focus."

"Too loud," Riku frowned for emphasis. "Too fast. Slow down."

"I don't know what you're saying!" Sora found himself speaking more loudly as he repeated his earlier words.

"I wish I knew what you were saying," Riku sighed.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE SAYING!" Sora made large hand gestures, waving by his mouth, to help the conversation.

"Too loud," Riku just spoke more insistently and mimed covering his ears.

"THOSE ARE EARS. EARS!" Once Sora started yelling, it was hard to stop.

"Too loud."

"EARS! WHAT YOU ARE SAYING SOUNDS NOTHING LIKE EARS!"

"Too loud!"

"EEEEEEEEEAR!" He'd been pretty loud, but maybe Riku was still losing the nuance.

"How do I get you to stop screeching? That's too high a pitch for me, Sora."

"YES, I'M SORA! GOOD JOB RIKU. NOW SAY EAR!"

"Pretty Sora?"

"NOT THIS AGAIN. NO, SORA NOT PRETTY. RIKU PRETTY. PRETTY RIKU. SAY EAR FOR ME, PRETTY RIKU!"

"Too loud!" Riku was bending down again so their foreheads almost touched.

"TOO LOUD? DO YOU WANT ME TO COPY YOU? TOO LOUD! WHAT IS THAT?" Sora switched between English and mermish.

Riku sighed heavily and leaned back. "Sora, please stop screaming at me. I can hear you perfectly fine. How can I make you understand?"

"IT'S OKAY. I STILL LIKE YOU, RIKU, EVEN IF YOU CAN'T SAY EAR," Sora encouraged.

There was a long moment of silence as both boys tried to think of the best way to be understood. Sora wracked his brain for any human words he'd overheard Roxas say.

"Kiss?"

That was the wrong word. The human's chest was as still as it had been when Sora needed to press the water out of it. Come to think of it, his color was retreating too, leaving him the same sickly pale as when he'd been waterlogged.

"DO YOU NEED MORE AIR AGAIN?" Sora tried to push himself out of the water, intent on blowing air into Riku's mouth like he had while he'd been unconscious.

Riku scrambled backward to the center of the rock.

Great. Another setback. They'd figure out this communication thing sooner or later.

#mermay #soriku #sora #riku #kingdom hearts #mermaid au that needs a name #my sokai shows a bit #mermaid au stories

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darlingsdevil · 4 years

Text

The Ballads of Rebirth (Arthur Morgan x Reader)

Chapter 15: Full Circle

Summary: The big day. All rejoice!

Masterlist

Tag list: @rollyjogerjones

I still can’t add a read more tab on mobile.. sorry about that :/

A/N: Sorry for my long hiatus, not been super motivated lately so I made this chapter extra long for you guys! Longer than any thing I’ve written before (!!).I promise I sort have been doing productive things.. I guess. Listening to music (Hozier, Lord Huron, Gregory Alan Isakov and the Oh Hello’s are what got this chapter done), playing fallout 76 (I know), working, schoolwork, planning other fics (I have a big announcement coming up!!!)

IMPORTANT PLEASE READ: I wanted to clear some things up in terms of plot hole. My dumbass mistakenly has said that Reader has been in the gang for 15 years, not true - it’s been around 10, but a little less than John (like 3 ish months after him). I have also previously said that John and Reader joined the gang together, again, not true but I already fixed it. Reader joined the gang after John after Arthur saved her from the gang who kidnapped her. Hope this wasn’t too confusing.

As for the ending... yeah.. next chapter, and then epilogue. Not sure that many of you will stay around for the AU - which will be posted SEPARATE, after you read the actual ending >:3c Anyways, here we go.

This is all supposed to be italicized.. it’s italicized on wattpad and ao3, just tumblr decided to be a bitch and not transfer it that way and I’m too lazy to change each paragraph to italics.. so let’s just pretend it is.

•••

Shady Belle was an interesting place for a wedding, it seemed. You had been ushered away from Arthur in the morning, and carted away to Saint Denis with the rest of the women, claiming Shady Belle would be too chaotic to get ready in, which really meant they didn’t want you to get ready with the men around. They had raided your room when the sun rose, waking Arthur too. You were barely able to kiss him goodbye, they carted you out of the room that fast. You wanted to lie next to him all morning, enveloped in his warmth, but your friends had different plans.

Saint Denis was such a difference compared to Chicago, the city you grew up in. You were an orphan living in the cold streets, just barely getting by. You worked in a textile factory for as long as you could remember. You lived in a cheap, one bedroom apartment, before that you simply slept in alleyways with other orphans, huddling by fires. You were uneducated, poor, and always hungry. A man kidnapped you on your way home from work one late evening, and the next thing you knew you were in a cabin in the desert, surrounded by men with guns and a nasty look on their face. Arthur was your savior, Dutch was your teacher, John was your brother, Abigail was your sister, Hosea was your father and the Van der Linde gang was your family.

But that was a long time now. Your wedding was merely hours away.

Arthur was nervous about the whole thing, he didn’t want to make a big deal out of the wedding but Dutch decided otherwise. Dutch thought a wedding was exactly what the entire gang needed, to boost everyone’s morals he had told you. You were beyond nervous for your big day, but with Arthur by your side, the impossible became possible.

Miss Grimshaw was the head of it all, the mastermind of the party. She set everything on a strict schedule, where everyone needed to be and when. She was a godsend during this time, otherwise the wedding would no doubt end up in a shed with you wearing a white sheet as a wedding dress.

Mary Beth was absolutely bouncing off the walls at the idea of a wedding, she thought it was incredibly romantic — two outlaws falling in love. It was something out of those novels she adores.

Saint Denis was hot, humid, and made you feel sticky with sweat. It didn’t help you would be wearing a heavy dress later that day either, but you didn’t mind. Nothing could or would bring you down today.

The first stop to your magical day was the salon. You got your hair trimmed and styled, as well as some makeup, keeping it simple. A few of the other women got their hair done as well. They all looked beautiful. The women could not hide their excitement for you, even a few patrons of the salon came up and congratulated you. Their talk seemingly echoed off the walls.

Abigail put the hair clip in your styled hair, it was a beautiful piece, elegant and dazzling. It was gold with a large pearl at the top and smaller jewels surrounding it. It matched your locket perfectly. Arthur had bought the hair clip for you a few days before.

When you were ready to leave the salon, it was time for the dress store, where you had left the dress. You didn’t want Arthur to see it, and it would no doubt get soiled at Shady Belle. Some of the other women had bought new dresses for the special occasion as well.

You picked it up from the counter, and walked over to the dressing room. All the women sat down on the benches outside of the dressing room, waiting for the big reveal. A few of them had already seen it, as they had gone with you when you picked it out, but none of them had seen you in your full wedding attire.

When you slipped it on over your undergarments you felt like you were floating on a cloud. You were absolutely beautiful. You felt like you could conquer the world in the dress. It was incredibly pretty, it had a loose layered bodice, with lace woven in, long ruffled sleeves and an a-line skirt. You felt your heart strings pull at the mere sight of it, you wondered what Arthur would think of it.

You slowly pushed the door open, hearing your loud heartbeat in your ears. You heard a wave of audible gasps, and then a few squeals, you eyed your white heels nervously, hesitantly looking up at all their faces.

They were all smiling, a few covering their mouths in joy.

“You look so pretty!” Tilly shouted, the rest of the women agreed. You smiled shyly, doing a small twirl.

“I really like the dress,” You said, feeling the cloth sway with you.

“I’d be surprised if Arthur didn’t drop dead the moment he sees you,” Mary Beth said playfully.

“Do you really think so?” You questioned.

“Of course. The man will have a heart attack right there, on the altar,” Molly responded.

You giggled, “I don’t want that to happen!”

“You look so beautiful,” Mary Beth repeated. You nodded her head at her, a smile on your lips.

“I’m so nervous though,” You confessed, sitting down next to Miss Grimshaw. You gripped the edge of the wooden bench, hoping to calm your nerves.

“It’s normal to be nervous, if you aren’t, there’s something wrong.” Sadie was the only married one in the gang, you trusted her advice.

“What if something goes wrong?”

“Nothing will be going wrong today, everyone is going to make sure nothing bad happens,” Abigail reassured you.

“Are you sure? I mean what if Arthur suddenly gets cold feet? What if O’Driscolls raid our camp?”

“If the O’Driscolls try to mess up your day, they’ll have to get through me,” Sadie said rather determinedly, a strange glint in her eye. You would not want to be an O’Driscoll when Sadie Adler was around, or an O’Driscoll in general for that matter.

“Arthur would never turn his back on you. We all see the way he looks at you,” Mary Beth said, a noise of agreement was heard. Mary Beth was right, Arthur would never turn his back on you, you were sure of it.

“Arthur and you do make a handsome couple. I can tell you’re really in love,” Molly responded.

“Thank you, Molly.” You smiled at her.

“We best be getting going, we wouldn’t want her to miss her big day,” Karen reminded everyone. It was getting late after all, there were still some things to do before the ceremony, such as making sure all the men were getting ready instead of getting drunk off their asses. Luckily, most of the preparations were done the night before, but there were still some finishing touches required.

Everyone fretted for you and Arthur to simply sit back and let everyone get your wedding prepared for you. You were wary of coming off as lazy at first, but the gang assured you it was your turn to sit back and relax, after all weddings were supposed to be happy and stress free. So you let everyone pitch in, even Uncle helped.

“Let’s head back then. The bouquet still needs the ribbons in it, we need to make sure dinner is being prepared-” Miss Grimshaw already began barking orders, Karen and Tilly both groaned. Everyone began to get up, gathering all their belongings.

“And you, Miss Morgan, we need you to head inside immediately once we arrive, we can’t have your dress get dirty,” Miss Grimshaw told you as you walked through the streets to get to the wagons.

“And don’t let Arthur see you, it’s bad luck, you know,” Sadie's voice rang out from behind you.

“I know!”

•••

When the rowdy wagons finally came to a stop in front of Shady Belle, you were immediately taken up to Abigail’s room. She shielded you from the eyes of the men, rushing you up the staircase. Abigail and Sadie were not taking the superstitions lightly it seemed. She kicked John out of the room, but Jack was allowed to stay.

You walked over to the window, Abigail sat down on the rickety bed. You slowly pushed the curtains out of the way, looking down to the ground below. Dutch was giving a speech it seemed, Arthur next to him. Your breath was almost stolen from you the moment you laid eyes on him, he was so incredibly handsome. He wasn’t dressed yet, you were glad you hadn’t spotted him in his suit. He was standing proud next to Dutch, Hosea on the other side of him. You watched them for awhile, before letting the curtains fall back into place.

“Are you ever going to have a wedding with John?” You turned to Abigail as she brushed her hair on the bed.

Abigail gave you a look,“Knowing John, probably not.”

You chuckled lightly, “Well, if you ever do, I want to be there.”

“You’ll be the first invited,” She responded. You took the brush from her hands and slowly began getting rid of all the knots in her hair. You shifted behind her, making sure to not crease your dress.

“I still can’t believe you two are getting married. I remember when I caught you two kissing behind that wagon,” She laughed, remembering the awkward moment.

“He was drunk off his ass and I was too. It wasn’t much of a kiss, more like we were eating eachothers face.”

“Yeah but, it was still a kiss, right?”

“I guess it was our first kiss. But our first sweet kiss was the day after when he officially asked me out,” You sighed sweetly.

“John was horrified. I still remember the look on his face when you both arrived back in camp holding hands,” Abigail laughed.

“Hosea always knew. Dutch knew too. We were ogling each other for so long, it was kinda hard not to know.”

“You told me first though, remember?” Abigail said.

“Yeah, I do. And then the next day you went into town and bought a locket for me so I could put Arthur’s photo in it.”

You continued brushing Abigail’s locks. Abigail was the closest thing to a sister you had ever gotten. You stood up for her when the rest of the men saw her as a whore, you showed them she was more than that. You stayed by her side when John left her with a newborn. You had even helped give birth to Jack.

Arthur was closer to John for obvious reasons, but you were still John’s sister too. You were both furious at John when he left. John had betrayed you and Abigail, things were still rocky. Arthur understood what it was like to have a child, it wasn’t easy, but at least he had stayed for Eliza, you had met her twice, she was kind and respectful. Isaac was a smart boy, and looked a lot like Arthur. Arthur was distant for a while after he found out they both died.

“It took you awhile to find the right photo to put in it.”

“It did. I had to get him to take the photo in the first place. I remember I told him it was for a job!” You laughed.

“I’m sure he already suspected it.”

“Probably. I never was a good liar around Arthur,” You said.

“I’m so glad he ended up with you.. Mary and him were a troubled pair.”

“Trust me, I know.” Mary hated you and you hated her. It was the final straw when Mary began talking about you, trying to pull Arthur away from you, putting ideas into his head, and Arthur stopped putting up with it. At the time, you were no rival to Mary, you were more like his annoying little sister. His volatile little sister. You were a lot wilder in those days, no wonder Mary saw you as a threat.

“But honestly, you two are a wonderful couple. Arthur is lucky to have you,” Abigail said sincerely.

“Thank you,” You responded. You were finally done brushing her hair, you set the hairbrush down and sat down on the edge of the bed.

“I’m so nervous about this wedding,” You confessed to her, setting your hands in your lap.

“You have nothing to worry about,” Abigail looked at you. You looked up at her. Her eyes shimmered with pride.

“I don’t even know why I’m worried, I just am.”

“Well I’ll be with you the entire time, you’re my sister, (Y/N). And sisters stick together.”

“Thank you, Abi.” You leaned forward and gave her a hug, your eyes welling with tears of happiness.

When she let go, she sat up from the bed, walking over to the window. She looked down at the scene below with watchful eyes.

“John looks like he just woke up. That damned fool,” Abigail muttered, she turned to Jack, who had been playing with a few pieces of yarn and wood. You nearly laughed at the pitiful sight, you would have to buy him some real toys when you went back into the city. Arthur and you had briefly discussed having children, you had practically raised Jack, with Abigail. Arthur decided once things settled down and Dutch’s plan to go to Tahiti or wherever he decided at the time finally worked, then would be the time. You prayed it would be soon, Arthur would make a wonderful father. You wanted to get away from this life so desperately, you were tired of running, you were tired of killing. All you wanted was a family with Arthur.

You had lived the life of running, fighting to stay alive, killing without second thought. All you wanted was peace.

Abigail picked up Jack, letting out a quiet groan. Jack was getting big, you remember when you first held him, those big eyes looking up at you.

“Jack, do you want to go get what you made your Aunt?” Abigail asked Jack. Jack looked at you with big doe eyes, smiling widely.

“Yes, Mama,” He said, Abigail set him down, he walked towards the drawer by the window and reached open to pull it open. He barely even reached it. His small arms grabbed a small object from inside the drawer. Abigail put her hands on her hips, smiling at her boy.

“He made it himself,” Abigail said as Jack set a flower crown in your hands. It was pretty with wildflowers he had picked. He watched you examine it, smiling brightly.

“I think Uncle Arthur will like it,” He told you.

“Oh, Jack! Thank you so much. This is beautiful.” You gave him a grin, putting the flower crown on. It really was a thoughtful gift.

“He picked a flower for Arthur too, so you would be matching,” Abigail revealed.

“Arthur likes flowers, did you know that, Jack? He’d never let any of us know, though,” You laughed, grabbing a bobby pin from a small box next to the brush, you secured the crown to your hair. Arthur was always drawing flowers in that journal, and in his old one he had kept pressed flowers. Arthur was a secret softy, there was no hiding that. Perhaps it’s why you fell for him, his secret side was so tender and loving, and when he realized he loved you too, that’s all you ever saw of him. He was nothing but kind - even when he called himself a bad man, you saw straight through that. Arthur was a kind man, kinder than any man you had ever met.

“I know,” Jack said simply, setting down next to you. He kicked his legs out in a back and forth motion.

“How do you know?” You asked him, pretending to be shocked.

“Uncle Arthur told me he likes flowers.”

Abigail held back a laugh, looking at you. You glanced at her, giving her a look.

“Uncle Arthur told you he liked flowers?” You repeated.

“He told me when we were by the water. I found a flower and gave it to him,” Jack responded.

“I see. What flower did you give him?”

“It was a purple flower. Uncle Arthur drew it in his journal.” Jack got up from the bed and went back to his yarn and wood, plopping down on the hardwood floors.

You chatted aimlessly with Abigail for a few moments as she continued getting ready. You were beyond scared to walk down that aisle and face Arthur. The longer you waited, the worse your nerves got.

People came up and down the steps, but suddenly you realized that it was John and Arthur coming upstairs. You held your breath. Even Abigail stopped to listen. Butterflies fluttered in your stomach as you heard them speak and walk further and further up the steps.

“John?” Abigail called out.

“What?” He responded, John was close to the door.

“Arthur’s not allowed in,” Abigail replied, she picked up her makeup brush and began applying blush to her face.

“I know. He’s not, he’s going to his room.” You could hear Arthur’s footsteps in the other room.

“Can I come in?” John asked after a moment of silence.

“Sure,” You said. The door opened and there was John. He still wasn’t dressed.

“You look good. I’m sure Arthur will be happy to see you.” John closed the door behind him, walking over to the dresser.

“Think so?” You asked playfully.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t he be?” He chuckled, John pulled out a pair of black slacks and a white shirt. It looked clean enough.

“She’s nervous,” Abigail told John. John looked at you over his shoulder.

“That so? Arthur is too.”

“Did he say anything about me?” You blurted out, feeling like a schoolgirl with a crush. John walked behind the folding screen in the corner of the room.

“He’s real excited to see you,” John said from behind the screen.

“I’m sure everyone out there is,” Abigail chimed in.

“Arthur wanted me to give you something,” John said as he walked out from behind the screen in his wedding outfit. He walked towards you, outstretching his palm.

It was a chocolate bar. You smiled at it, taking it from John.

“What's up with you two and chocolate?” John asked you as he walked over to the cabinet, he leaned against it, watching Jack play with his yarn.

“It’s a long story, but he’s only supposed to give it to me when I’m injured though.”

“Maybe he just wanted to let you know he’s thinking of you,” Abigail spoke, she glared at John, you wondered what that meant.

“I don’t have anything to give him,” You sighed, staring at the chocolate bar. Arthur was always thinking ahead.

“I’m sure he knows you’re thinking of him,” Abigail replied.

“Hopefully.”

You couldn’t bring yourself to eat it, your nerves were too high. All food sounded incredibly unappetizing. You set the chocolate bar on the bedside table. Jack eyed it, his eyes nearly glowing.

“You want the candy bar?” You asked Jack.

He nodded vigorously. Abigail rolled her eyes humorously.

“You can have it,” You told him. It was a gift from Arthur but Jack would have appreciated it even more than you could, and besides, the kid loves candy.

“Thank you, Auntie (Y/N),” He said, grabbing the chocolate bar with eager hands.

“I best be getting down there now, Dutch wants to talk to Arthur and me, good luck out there by the way,” John said, buttoning the top of his collar. He opened the door and left.

Jack continued eating his chocolate, you smiled at the boy. You wanted your own son or daughter so dearly, one with Arthur’s eyes and your hair. That’s all you wanted. You wanted out. As much as you loved your family - you wanted out. You had lived that way for so long, it was all you had ever known. But now you had a chance at freedom - to create your own family with Arthur.

But Arthur would never leave Dutch. And you knew that.

Deep down you knew.

You were tired of the running — tired of the plans, tired of it all. All you wanted was Arthur, him and nothing else. No gang — no killing. Just Arthur.

You didn’t want to raise a child in the gang, that was a foolish dream. You knew how easily the child could go without a parent, you had seen it happen with Abigail and Jack, although John eventually returned.

You were coming to terms with that though. In the world of an outlaw it was to live forever as an outlaw or die trying.

•••

An hour passed - it was already almost time. A majority of the gang members had already left camp. Your nerves were skyrocketing and when Molly knocked on the door to tell you it was time you almost passed out. Abigail gently ushered you to the door. Your hands were shaking as you slowly opened it up, seeing Molly in her special dress.

The plan was to head to a small church where they held outdoor weddings behind the building, the venue backed up to a river so you would be standing by it saying your vows. It was not very far from Shady Belle. Churches were never quite Arthur’s style, so you opted for an outdoor wedding..

You walked down the staircase slowly to the carriage outside, your hands were shaking wildly. Abigail held you tightly, Jack at her hip. The carriage was waiting outside for you. The camp was deserted behind you, it was strange to see. It was almost eerie, the lack of life, but you knew later tonight it would be bustling with it.

Abigail helped you up into the carriage. Once everyone was in the driver set off. Your heart pounded in your ears, your stomach churning.

“I’m so nervous.” You clasped your gloved hands tightly in your lap, as if it would somehow stop the shaking. Every turn, every jolt, it did not help with your nerves at all.

“I know, dear,” Molly said, putting her hands over yours. Abigail watched you sympathetically, she knew this wasn’t easy.

The carriage moved closer and closer to the venue. Arthur was surely feeling the same way, hopefully not to the same extent.

You were silent for most of the ride, Abigail and Molly talked fruitlessly, but you could not focus on their words. It felt like there were a thousand thoughts in your mind but not a single one was coming to your mind clearly, they were all shrouded in nervousness.

When the carriage suddenly came to a stop your heart jumped. You looked out the window and held your breath. This was it.

You were getting married. Today. Right now.

It was suddenly almost hard to wrap your mind around it. Abigail had to lightly nudge you out of the carriage, otherwise you would have been frozen in that seat.

You stepped out of the carriage, the sun was bright and slowly setting in the sky. By the time you would all get back tonight - it would surely be night.

Charles and John were waiting outside of the church for you. Every step closer to the church felt heavier and heavier, it was beginning to be hard to stand up straight.

“You look nice,” Charles said, holding the door open for you. Sunlight seeped in from the windows of the church, it was dusty inside. Sadie, Miss Grimshaw and Mary Beth sat on one of the pews, waiting for you.

“Thank you, Charles.”

Mary Beth gave you a small wave as you walked closer to them. Molly, Abigail, Jack and John behind you. It was hot and dry inside the church, it did not help that you were wearing a heavy dress either.

You opened your mouth to say something to Sadie, but Miss Grimshaw quickly cut you off. Molly walked out the back door to the ceremony.

“Arthur’s in the room behind the altar, with Dutch and Hosea. The Processional is starting in five minutes,” Miss Grimshaw reminded everyone. You nodded slowly. Five minutes felt like nothing. Abigail clipped the veil into your hair as Miss Grimshaw spoke. The veil was long and trailed to the floor, with lots of lace that was intricately woven.

“The order goes Dutch, Miss Grimshaw, Arthur, Charles, John, me, Mary Beth, Abigail, Jack and then our bride with Hosea,” Sadie read off from a piece of paper she had been holding.

“Then I’ll get out there with them, and you, Abigail, make sure the boy doesn’t drop the rings,” Miss Grimshaw finished, she turned swiftly towards the room behind the altar. Charles and John followed suit.

You sat down on one of the pews, your heeled foot tapping tirelessly against the floors. You tried to think of something calming, but nothing came to mind. It all was scrambled, your brain desperately grasping at a comprehensible thought.

“You’ll be fine,” Sadie told you as she leaned against the pew.

“You will be,” Mary Beth agreed.

“I’m afraid I’ll mess up.”

“You won’t mess up, you’ll be fine,” Abigail beamed. The seconds ticked on, the women sticking to their own conversations after noticing the worry in your eyes.

The music began and you immediately perked up, five minutes seemingly goes fast when your mind is a jumbled mess.

Sadie, Mary Beth and Abigail got up. Jack held onto his mother’s dress tightly. Abigail turned to smile at you sweetly as they walked closer and closer to the back. You gave her a small wave of goodbye. She mouthed “you’ll do great.” as she vanished behind the door.

The church was now completely deserted, it was now you and your thoughts. About a minute passed before Abigail knocked on the door. You hesitantly walked over to the looming door. Your heart beating wildly, like it would jump out of your chest.

You opened it and took a small breath, trying to calm your screaming nerves. In a few moments, you would see Arthur, and he would see you. And you would be his, and he would be yours. Years of yearning, wishing the other would be at their side, who knew it would come to this? He would be yours and you would be his. It was as simple as that.

Hosea was waiting on the other side for you, looking handsome as ever in his suit. He was the closest thing to a father you had ever gotten, it was only fitting he would walk you down the aisle. He smiled at the sight of you, unable to hide his pride.

The small compartment behind the church was small too. The door was open leading to the altar where Arthur was waiting for you, but a path obscured by trees hid it from you.

“You look beautiful,” He whispered, resting a hand on your shoulder. You stared at the door, waiting for your turn. You smiled politely, although you were not facing him.

The summer buzz of cicadas was heard even as the Procession played, a melodic tune. You waited for the music to change into your entrance.

“You’ll do fine out there, Arthur loves you,” Hosea’s words were quiet, but you could hear them loud as day. It was entirely true of course. Hosea was always right.

The music slowly shifted into a much slower song, and you knew. This was it. Hosea slid his arm through yours, your right arm holding the bouquet. You both slowly stepped out into the bright day. You felt like you were floating on a cloud — like nothing could ever bring you down. The dirt crunched underneath your feet as the aisle slowly came into view. Hosea’s arm was steady and soothing, his steps slow and methodical.

Worries drifted away as you slowly came into view, the wedding party rising at your arrival. The music continued to play a slow, beautiful tune, the cicadas humming happily and the rush of the river drumming thunderously.

And then there was Arthur, smiling at you like you were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his entire life. You were closer now to him, every step bringing you nearer and nearer to his heart.

Arthur was handsome. He was gorgeous. And he was yours — all yours. He was sporting a dashing black suit, perfectly tailored. The flower in his chest pocket was the same as the ones in your hair.

It was like there was a beam of light radiating from him, Arthur had always been your beacon even in the darkest of times. He was love itself.

You felt the eyes of your friends and family on you, but you could only focus on Arthur.

When you finally reached the altar, your hearts felt like they were being synced, beating as one rather than two. The officiant stood behind Arthur, underneath two trees with a small arch decorated with flowers, Sadie and Mary Beth waiting for you on the left, John and Charles next to Arthur.

Hosea let go off your arm, smiling the entire time. He took his place next to Dutch in the front row, you handed Abigail your bouquet and stood next to Arthur underneath the arch, he took your hands in his. His hands were rough and strong, but they felt like home.

You looked into those eyes of endless waves, you only felt love and happiness from him. He looked like a prince, like there was supposed to be a crown sitting on top of his head, rather than the flower one you wore.

The officiant began with a welcome as the guests sat down.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the presence of these witnesses, to join Arthur and (Y/N) in matrimony, which is commended to be honorable among all men; and therefore is not by any to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, discreetly, advisedly and solemnly. Into this holy estate these two persons present now come to be joined. If any person can show just cause why they may not be joined together, let them speak now or forever hold their peace." The officiant said. This was really it, you kept reminding yourself. You both looked towards the crowd, for a fleeting moment you wondered if anyone would speak up. Arthur wondered the same, perhaps Micah would think he was funny and say something completely out of line, but he didn’t.

Arthur thought you were a goddess in your beautiful white gown. It looked exactly like something you would wear, the dress accented your body wonderfully, he couldn’t help but admire it.

The officiant spoke some more, weddings, love, union, the beginning of your new life - but you could barely focus on it. Your only focus was Arthur. Your fiancé, your best friend, your husband in a matter of moments.

“And now the bride and the groom are to exchange vows,” The officiant proclaimed. He gave you your paper with the vows.

Tears slowly started forming in your eyes as you shakily held the paper, smiling through it all.

“I remember when you found me alone in that cabin, that day you saved me in more ways than one. You taught me to love, to laugh, to trust. You have been my best friend, my companion, my lover and now you will be my husband. You have stayed by me when I was sick, injured, drunk, crying, you were there for it all. And I shall be there for you, I will choose you every time. I devote myself to you, Arthur Morgan, in sickness and in health. For I am yours, and you are mine.” You squeezed Arthur’s hand tightly, feeling the words come out naturally, like you had been waiting to say them your entire life. His smile widened throughout your entire vow.

The officiant held the paper out to Arthur, he let go of your hand to take it. You remembered him saying writing vows was hard, saying that his words sounded like nonsense. But they weren’t nonsense, Arthur was a gifted writer, whether he knew it or not. The thoughts in his journal (which you rarely ever saw) were something precious.

“My dear (Y/N), the first day I met you I knew I would like you. And I was right, and here we are now years later. It’s been a wild last few years, reckless too, but this is our first step into our new life, and we best not waste it. You are my love, you are my light, and I love you more than anything in this world. Nothing can or will separate us from now till the end of time,” He finished, his eyes brimming with love. Nothing could have prepared you for this moment, looking into his eyes and only feeling happiness. Like it was only you and him in this entire universe.

“Arthur, do you take Y/N L/N to be your lawfully wedded wife, through sickness and health, till death do you part?” The officiant asked. Arthur looked towards the man and nodded.

“I do.”

“And do you, Y/N, take Arthur Morgan to be your lawfully wedded husband, through sickness and health, till death do you part?”

“I do,” You said to Arthur. You smiled uncontrollably, and tried to stop the tears that were threatening to spill out the corner of your eyes.

The officiant leaned down to take the rings from Jack.

“Arthur, take this ring and place it on her finger.” Arthur took the ring from the man, and you presented your left hand to him. He slipped it on effortlessly.

“I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness to you.”

“Y/N, take this ring and place it on his finger.” You grabbed the ring, feeling the weight of it in your hand, you slipped it on his strong hand.

“I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness to you,” You rang out loud and clear. Speaking only to him. Words that would forever bind you to him.

“And remember, love is an unbreakable bond, it is gratitude, it is faithfulness, it is kindness, it is forgiveness, it is everything good in this world. Lovers will always find a way back to each other,” The officiant said with parting words.

“With the power invested in me, I now declare you husband and wife. You may now kiss your bride.”

You both leaned in, he grabbed your waist, you took his face in your hand. And you kissed him, and you kissed him. His mouth against yours, it was a rushing moment, like you were soaring above the clouds. And you felt the love between, the hearts beating as one. Arthur was secure, he was your lifeline, he was your home. Arthur was yours.

Cheers were heard as you both retreated. You took his hand in his as you made your way back down the aisle. The crowd stood up for you, clapping the whole way. You would have to get used to the new weight on your finger, it was different than the engagement ring.

Once you were back on the path, you finally spoke, unable to hide your excitement.

“Gosh, I was so nervous all day, but when I got up there it wasn’t bad at all!” You exclaimed, walking closer to the church. The forest singing a merry tune for you

“I know, John had mentioned earlier that you was nervous,” Arthur replied. Your heart was beating quickly, but this time not with nerves, with excitement, with joy.

“And thank you, for the chocolate by the way. I ended up giving it to Jack, since he was ogling it the entire time,” You laughed, speaking quickly. Arthur held the door open for you as you entered the church.

“I was wondering if you would eat it or not.”

“Jack liked it. He also said he picked you that flower,” You told Arthur as you walked towards the front of the church, out towards the carriage

“The flower crown looks nice in your hair, I think he made a good choice.” You opened the door to the carriage outside. The rest of the gang would come back to camp after you left. Arthur helped you into the carriage while the driver congratulated you two.

At 19 you expected to live the rest of your life with a gang of merciless strangers who beat and did horrible things to you, but now here you are, 10 years later - married to the man who had saved you. And he had saved you every day since then, reminding that you were worth the love he could give.

And he was yours, and you were his.

•••

The party still roared to life outside. There was a feast fit for a group of outlaws, cake, never ending drinks, a vibrant bonfire, poker, stories, toasts, talks. It was everything you hoped your wedding would be. Hosea and Dutch were like proud fathers the entire night. You even saw what looked like Miss Grimshaw wiping away some tears when Hosea gave his speech.

It was interesting to say the least — when the songs started, you knew a majority of the camp had gotten drunk. Barely anyone had retired for the night — besides Strauss, and Reverend who had already blacked out. They sang songs for you and Arthur, they sang songs about love, about sex (which made you blush and hide your face, while Arthur had a dumb smirk on his face). You had switched out of your dress after the ceremony and opted for a looser small white dress.

When the crowd began saying the ‘Ring Dang Doo’ you groaned, knowing everyone would be looking at you. Arthur laughed as he sang along, watching you the entire time. The hoops and hollers were joyous as you hid your face in Arthur’s shoulder.

When the song was finally over you let out a sigh of relief, but you remained nuzzled into your husband's side. He was warm from drinking, and he had a happy glow to him. There was not another place you would rather be than to be next to him.

Hours passed smoothly, the songs became less rowdy as the party goers quickly dropped, hopefully not too hard. It was hard to believe your wedding day was over. You remained by Arthur’s side for a majority of the night. By the time Javier and John had packed up for the night — as well as an insufferably drunk Sean who’d fallen on his face getting up, it left only you and Arthur.

The fire crackled and sputtered as the remaining embers shuddered, praying to stay lit. The night was slowly coming to end, the final waves of darkness would be over soon, and light would wash over the terrain.

You were tired, you’d been awake for nearly a full day now. Your head rested on Arthur’s shoulder as he stared meaningfully into the fire, both of your eyelids heavy. You slowly blinked, trying to stay awake, to not fall asleep in the middle of camp.

“You know we could get away from this all, Arthur,” You mentioned to him, trying to suppress a yawn that was threatening to be released from your mouth.

Arthur replied with a questioning hum.

You looked up at him, “We could get away from this life, you know, start our own family.”

“You know I want that, sweetheart. Life’s just a mess right now, not sure it’s the right time,” He sighed. You turned back to look at the dwindling fire.

“I know, Arthur, I do. I just — I want a child of our own, a house, a family.”

“We’ll have that one day.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

•••

#tbor #the ballads of rebirth #rdr2 #arthur morgan x reader

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tacticalgrandma · 4 years

Text

Year End Fic Roundup

Hey all- I haven’t been around here much at all this year, so I just wanted to drop in and post the fics I wrote this year to this space! Reminder that I’m on twitter and much more active there, so please follow me there if you haven’t yet.

The list is way long so I’m putting it under a cut. Still mainly Spiderbyte, but for the first time I wrote some stuff for other fandoms- Beaujester and a Jedistormpilot fic. I appreciate everyone who’s commented, kudos’d or otherwise supported me this year so, so much. Thank you.

Table of Contents:

I. Spiderbyte - 15 fics

II. R76 - 3 fics

III. Pharmercy - 2 fics

IV. Doom & Calamity - 3 fics

V. Genfic - 4 fics

VI. Beaujester - 2 fics

VII. Multiship - 2 fics

VIII. Misc. Ships - 6 fics

Spiderbyte

Kept in the Dark - 3k word count - Rated T

In which there is an assassin and there is a collector of secrets.

A Virtue - 1.8k word count - Rated E

Sombra has very nice tits. Widowmaker would like to show her appreciation.

Scorpion Tail & Rabbit Teeth - 2k word count - Rated T

Sombra is a demon hunter. Widowmaker is her bounty. Sombra's not one to let the job get in the way of a little fun.

Wall to Wall - 1.3k word count - Rated E

Sombra and Widowmaker have had sex in all but one room of Chateau Guillard. And they're not going to abandon their streak now. Even if the remaining room is. Unique.

Sheep’s Clothing - 1.1k word count - Rated T

Olivia Colomar is dating a werewolf. It's not quite what either of them had in mind.

Trying to Land - 2.1k word count - Rated T

Widowmaker cuts her hair.

I Know the Feeling Haunts You - 3k word count - Rated T

Widowmaker finds out that Sombra is still friends with Baptiste, and forms an unlikely friendship of her own.

Deep Purple with Blue Pearl - 2.2k word count - Rated T

Widow has trouble finding makeup now that she's blue. Sombra resolves to fix that.

Handle With Care - 2.6k word count - Rated T

Widowmaker can't know Sombra's still friends with Baptiste. Baptiste probably should know Sombra's dating Widowmaker. Sombra needs a drink.

Patience on a Monument - 4.5k word count - Rated M

Team Talon attending a duo of parties in Havana- with and without Maximilien's awareness.

The Performance Begins - 1k word count - Rated M

But Sombra had found that Amélie wasn’t satisfied with just knowing, didn’t just like working for her. She liked working with her. She liked being part of the hunt. And she was good at it.

Love Is Not Just a Verb - 4k word count - Rated G

A Spiderbyte wedding fic, in a series of vignettes.

We Go Down Together - 6.8k word count - Rated T

When a Talon Assassin goes AWOL, Sombra, Widow, and Akande head to Paris to retrieve her. But Widow suspects Sombra knows more than she's letting on.

Wild in My Veins - 2k word count - Rated G

Sombra joins the mysterious girl group Black Lilly, and receives a warning: don't go after Amélie.

Would You Trust It - 10.2k word count - Rated T

Sombra falls during a mission. Widowmaker is left to help someone who could never admit she needed it.

R76

Empty Hearth - 3k word count - Rated E

There was a small pitched skirmish, the kind of battle the Holy Army required during periods of stalemate so everyone would remember they were at war. Jack had raised his rifle and seen at the hilltop, riding a skeletal horse, the demons’ general in a bone-white mask, staring back at him. And Jack had known, mask at all.

Possessions - 2.4k word count - Rated G

Gabriel is an angel, Jack is a demon. They're both not where they're supposed to be.

a catalog of non-definitive acts - 8.1k word count - Rated T

A fic I wrote with the wonderful @foldingcranes about Gabe getting married, and Jack pining. First 3 chapters are her!

Pharmercy

Tents - 2k word count - Rated G

A missing scene fic, attempting to bring sense into why Fareeha wasn't present at the Talon attack on the Temple of Anubis.

Heaven Is Betting on Us - 2.5k word count - Rated G

A modern magic AU, featuring astronaut Fareeha and moon spirit Angela.

Doom & Calamity

Pleasure and Business - 2k word count - Rated T

Akande and Ashe have their first date. Things don't exactly go as planned.

And When You Move, I’m Moved - 1k word count - Rated E

Akande asks Ashe to treat him. Ashe is happy to oblige.

Family Affairs - 1.2k word count - Rated G

Ashe and Akande take a ski vacation, and talk family.

Genfic

Close to Home - 2.4k word count - Rated T

After the dust settles and their war is done, Ana and Jack have nowhere to go. So they go to Hawaii.

Cat’s Cradle - 7.7k word count - Rated T

A canon divergence where after the events of Old Soldiers, Ana and Jack honor Bastet in a different way. One that involves a lot more Fancy Feast.

Headed Deep Into the Forest - 2.6k word count - Rated G

Ana Amari joining Overwatch, and leaving her old world behind.

Human Resources - 2k word count - Rated G

A fic about Ana and Jack as platonic life partners, as well as office shenanigans.

Beaujester Fic

Small Talks - 2.2k word count - Rated T

Something’s bothering Beau, and she isn’t talking to Jester about it. Jester will need to bother every other resident of the Xhorhaus if she wants to get to the bottom of this.

why my gods look like you - 1.1k word count - Rated T

Jester reflecting on her beliefs and her new girlfriend.

Multiship

Roll on Back to that Old Town Road (Spiderbyte, R76, Doom & Calamity) - 12.5k word count - Rated M

When Ashe offers Team Talon a chance to catch Soldier: 76 on Deadlock territory, everyone has to deal with Ex Drama.

Fighting Talk (Pharmercy, Meicy) - 2.5k word count - Rated T

Pro wrestler Angela is told she's turning heel, and her rival will be Fareeha. She's not really sure why that bothers her so much.

Misc. Ships

Gifted (Jedistormpilot) - 2.5k word count - Rated G

When Finn tells them he's Force sensitive, Rey and Poe decide to celebrate by finding him a Kyber crystal. It's not as easy as they hoped.

Cold Comfort (Gen(cio)tiste) - 1.8k word count - Rated G

Baptiste heads to Nepal, to meet Genji's found family. Featuring Baptiste facing off against the formidable foes of impostor syndrome and sub-tropical temperatures.

When it All Breaks (Gentiste) - 3k word count - Rated T

Baptiste finds a very sick Genji Shimada and takes him back to his clinic. Genji doesn't want him to find out who he is. Baptiste knows.

Wouldn’t it Be Nice (Meicy) - 1.9k word count - Rated G

When Moira is being particularly Moira, Angela comes up with the dumbest possible idea to save Mei.

To Be Found Wanting (Doomfist/Genji/Ashe) - 4.5k word count - Rated E

A Canon Divergence fic in which Talon saves Genji, instead of Blackwatch.

Novelty (Reapfist) - 1.7k word count - Rated E

Reyes propositions Akande. Things do not go how Akande was expecting or how Gabe wanted. H/C and Actual Vulnerability occur.

#overwatch #critical role #star wars #fanfiction #fanfic #orig #spiderbyte #pharmercy #beaujester #reapfist #meicy #gentiste #genciotiste #jedistormpilot #finnreypoe #r76 #reaper76

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the-lupine-sojourner · 5 years

Text

Chestnutfest 2k19 Prompt 1: Shared Dream/Gift

So I am trying to challenge myself to do new things this year, and as such when I stumbled upon this Krillan/18 fest, I figured why not?

This fest is all thanks to @chestnutisland and we all owe them a debt of gratitude for organizing an even to appreciate one of my favorite couples in Dragonball.

If y’all want in on the action, Here’s a link to the post with the info!

Anyway,I will try my best to do every prompt! We shall see though lol! Hope y’all like this! I wanted to try a Soulmate AU.

I also briefly use my OC, Sarada, in this story. She is Vegeta’s younger sister and her love interest is Piccolo. :)

Fair warning: no real editing went on after writing and it is past midnight, but I wanted to get this out. Hope this doesn’t suck too bad!

God Bless and Good Day!

~The Lupine Sojourner

Krillan was confused. Once a week, he had his Dream.

It was supposed to be a hint at who his Soulmate was, but it was confusing.

In the dream, he was trembling and facing a drop-dead gorgeous blonde woman in a white shirt and black vest with a pearl necklace, black gloves, and bracelets around her slender yet strong looking wrists. He seemed afraid of her, like she would murder him.

But she, this mystery woman, was apparently his soulmate, right? So why was she his enemy?

But then she came over, smiling, and kissed his cheek. If she was the enemy, why would she kiss him like that?

Maybe she was messing with him, or maybe she realized who he was in that moment.

The only way to find out was to wait.

=#=#=#=#=

Android 18 had almost forgotten the Dream, wondering who the bald man trembling before her was.

She never put stock in the Soul Dreams or whatever they were called. Neither did she think she had a Soulmate since she was...upgraded.

She ignored her dreams, and after a while, she hardly even noticed them.

Then...there he was. Android 17 and her had taken care of his little friends in their quest to find and kill Goku. She almost didn’t recognize him. So what she’d seen him in her dreams occasionally? Meant nothing to her.

The kiss was to unbalance them so the bald guy would be less likely to follow them.

And it seemed to work. As he was unbalanced, trembling where he stood.

So why was her heart beating faster, her cheeks feeling warmer than normal?

And why was she feeling a little tingly?

=#=#=#=#=

Krillan was stunned. Up til now, he had never known who his soulmate was.

Now he knew...and he had no idea what to do.

There was no mistaking it. That tingling feeling that spread from where her lips met his cheek to his whole body sealed his fate; his Soulmate was an Android.

He never would have guessed he’d be paired with Android 18, the being that could (and did in an alternate timeline) kill everyone he knew and cared about, him following suit, apparently.

He didn’t know how to handle this.

So he didn’t bring it up. He just kept going...until he was handed the detonator.

Now, he literally held his soulmate’s life in his hands. He had the power to blow her up.

While it would ensure Cell couldn’t become perfect, it would also mean...he would never have a soulmate.

He tried. He honestly tried to make himself do it.

But he failed. He couldn’t actually hit the button. He smashed the remote beneath his heel.

He’d do what he could to protect her from Cell, little as he was aware that was. He’d try to make sure the fact that the woman Cell was after was his soulmate wouldn’t destroy the world and everything he cared about.

=#=#=#=#=

Android 18 turned to spot the bald man who gave her those weird sensations before standing there. It took only another second to see why.

He held a remote in his hands, and she could only assume what it did. Her heart skipped. She thought he...she didn’t think he’d…

But of course he would. It was between her and the world. What other choice could he have made?

What other choice did she expect him to--wait what?! He--he smashed the remote! Why?!

“You can sneak off to the other side!” He barks. She was too stunned to move. Why did it effect her so much? Why did her heart kick up again, and why did that tingling return?

“Why are you doing this?” She asks. “You could have shut me down, but you didn’t. What are you trying to achieve?” He started, like he hadn’t expected that question.

“We-well, you see...um...we need to talk.” Was all he said, but it struck some chord in her, somewhere very deep. It made her heart beat faster, her cheeks heat up. She almost realized what he was talking about, her body reacting to the impending realization.

Unfortunately, that feeling was suddenly ruined when Trunks noticed what Krillan had done and was doing, grew upset, and drew Cell’s attention to them.

Add to that a powerful flash of light from Cell, and it was a recipe for disaster. As soon as the tail enveloped her, her world went absolutely blank.

=#=#=#=#=

“Destroy it now! It’s still alive!” Those words almost paralyzed Krillan. How could Vegeta be so cruel to someone who needed help?

“No! She’s hurt!” Vegeta’s eyes narrow. “C’mon, she’s not that bad! She just needs some help, that’s all!’ Krillan narrowed his eyes. He wouldn’t let anyone kill Android 18.

Now he just had to tell everyone why he was suddenly so protective of her.

“You’re pathetic!” Vegeta growls. Krillan could live with that. As long as 18 survived. “Go do what you want to.” Vegeta continues resignedly. It as clear he didn’t like what was happening, but Krillan could appreciate Vegeta’s restraint here. He nods.

“Thank you.” He flew all the way to Kami’s lookout with her.

After everything that had happened, it was a small ray of hope that Android 18, his soulmate, was alive. He just had to tell her that they were soulmates and then convince her that it wasn’t the end of the world.

And then he had to tell his friends that he was soulmates with the being that could’ve killed them.

He stayed with her as everyone processed the events they’d witnessed. Krillan himself took a few moments himself to start his own processing.

The might Gohan had displayed, the cowardly tactic Cell resorted to, and the price they all paid for it. It all happened so fast. It wasn’t that long ago that 18 had kissed his cheek, and started this entire thing. And he had then lost and found her again. He didn’t intend to lose her again.

=#=#=#=#=

18 came to all at once, feeling strangely okay. She jack-knifed into a seated position. That bald man was the first thing she saw, and for some reason that calmed her a little.

The next thing she noticed was that she wasn’t on the island she’d been absorbed on. She was laying on some stone floor of a kind of courtyard. She then noticed no visible landmarks around her. In fact, there didn’t seem to be anything around wherever she was.

That erased any comfort the bald man’s presence had brought her as she instantly got to her feet. She hated being somewhere she didn’t know.

Someone was saying something, but she wasn’t paying attention, as she looked around. There was a small Namekian near her, as well as a strange being that was pitch black colored. Nothing made sense. Where was she?

Seeing the bald man smile at her made her feel a tiny bit better, but she was still very overwhelmed. “Hey, we can put the past behind us, can’t we?” He asked. 18 was too focused on her surroundings to answer. “Now that Gohan’s beat Cell,” (at the cost of his best friend) “we can all be friends!” That snapped her out of her paralysis.

“Gohan did?” She replies.

“You bet he did! Gohan’s incredibly strong, so you can forget about punching holes in anyone!” That made no sense, so 18 ignored it.

“You should thank Krillan, 18.” The larger Namekian muses. She just now noticed that he was even there. 18 then looks at the bald man. Krillan, huh? An odd name for an odd man. Speaking of Krillan, his smile grew as the larger Namaekian continues. “He stayed at your side the entire time since Cell spit you out.” Besides the fact that Cell apparently spat her out, 18 was stunned that someone she was prepared to kill, who could have killed her, could care enough about her to stay with her. Krillan blanched, unprepared to reply.

“D-aahh, it was nothing, really. I mean, I enjoyed it- -I mean, I couldn’t leave you there.” The boy, Gohan, seems to reach a revelation.

“I got it!” He proclaims, drawing attention to himself. “Krillan, you’re soulmates with Android 18, aren’t you?!”

=#=#=#=#=

Krillan did not know how to talk to Android 18 at all.

But Gohan took it to a whole new level of unknown territory with that statement. He’d wanted to discuss it slower with Android 18, not just drop the bomb right off the bat.

Instinctively, he punched the kid in irritation. “Thanks, Mr. Smooth!” He growls. He turns to 18. “S-sorry.” He mumbles. Everyone else is stunned.

“What?!” Yamcha exclaims. “How could you?!” Sarada, as usual, was back in the background, close to Piccolo. She steps forward.

“We can’t choose who we’re paired with, idiot.” She explains impatiently. “Good luck, Krillan.” She muses, appearing genuine, then resumes her silence, standing closer to Piccolo, her hand subtly reaching for his.

Krillan laughs in response. Trust Sarada to get things back on track with a good concise declaration.

18, however, looked positively outraged when Krillan looked at her again.

=#=#=#=#=

Upon hearing that she had a soulmate, and one so peculiar, 18 felt betrayed by the universe, like she was being punished with a partner so opposite to her that they’d never work. Her irritation only grew when Krillan began to laugh. Nervous laughter ot not, it sent her over the edge. “Expect me to fall at your feet now?!” She growls. “Big strong man rescues me and turns out to be my soulmate, so I’m his forever, right? Not that easy!” She didn’t want to just marry him and start a life because they were, allegedly, soulmates. She wanted to want a life with him. She wanted to grow a bond with him first.

When did she become such a sap?! She needed to clear her head and process everything she’d learned and been told. “Don’t follow me, Krillan!” She barks, taking off to get some space. Turns out, she was on some floating station or house.

Not that she cared. She needed space and time.

So she flew and flew, not knowing where she was and not caring.

She ended up on some beach on an island. Nice and remote. She didn’t notice the head of Saiyan black hair behind a boulder, 18’s thoughts too distracting.

=#=#=#=#=

Sarada knew how complicated it made things when she first found out Piccolo, a person Vegeta viewed as an enemy, was her soulmate. So she knew a bit about what was going through Android 18’s head, but she also knew to give the poor woman space and time to figure out what to do and where to go. So she sat behind a boulder, peeking out occasionally to check 18’s progress.

After about an hour, Sarada deemed 18 ready for someone to help her.

She simply walked over and sat down. 18 started, standing. Sarada remained seated. “I see a bit of myself in you, you know.” She muses. 18 blinks.

“What?” She asks.

“You’re thrust into a very strange place and an even stranger situation. I know a bit of what that’s like.” 18, after a few minutes of silence, slowly sits back down.

“This is happening too fast.” She murmurs. “How was I expected to react?”

“About the way you did. I took it out on Vegeta in sparring. He thought I was just finally applying myself since I hadn’t told him who my soulmate was. It was hard, but I worked up the courage to talk to him.”

“Why would you need to work up courage to talk to your brother?”

“He’s...intense and deadset in his worldview. Strength is the key to everything in his mind, and Saiyans are the best there are. No question. Weakness was exterminated. I was scared he’d take my soulmate situation as weakness.” Sarada explains. 18 nods.

“I see.”

The two women eventually agreed to make their way back to the Lookout where Sarada had asked Krillan to stay. Piccolo had returned to their house where he waited for his wife.

Krillan slowly approached, hands up. “Honest, I was going to get to know you first before we brought up the soulmate thing.” He murmurs, chuckling nervously. 18 finds it sweet that he was taking initiative and apologizing.

“I was overwhelmed by everything, but I still stand by what I said. I’m not going to marry you right away cus we’re soulmates.”

“You think I am?” Krillan asks timidly, scratching the back of his head. “No way! I wanna get to know you before anything else.” Android 18 found she was beginning to like him.

Maybe this soulmate thing wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

#chestnutfest #chestnutfest 2k19 #Fanfiction #Dragonball Z #dbz #Krillan #Android 18 #KrillanXAndroid 18 #Brief mention of Piccolo/OC #Brief mention of my OC #Soulmate AU #A very bad soulmate Au #Hope you all like it! ^.^'#Might go back and proofread tomorrow lol

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radcatcrown · 5 years

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Stephen’s Cosmos

Alternative title: My frustrations with Steven Universe coalesced into form in an AU

So Steven Universe: The Movie came out and after months of slumber, it woke my gripes with the series due to stuff that happened within the movie that irked me. I’ve had my problems with Steven Universe for some time now, and it's not that the movie is the straw the broke the camel's back, but hey, seems like a good time as any to do this.

Statement of Purpose: My main problem with Steven Universe is not an issue of the attempt at redeeming villains, for a dude like myself that grew up on an anime media diet, villains getting turned good is old hat. I’ve seen it better done than SU and worse than SU. The idea that yes, somebody that has done wrong in the past and has recognized the error of their ways has a possibility to atone is a good message. The problem is with SU scale, because of its insistence of going cosmic and having most serious problems have the sake of the world in the balance as an allegory for family issues makes it less credible, and more than a tad reprehensive. So this is an AU that remixes the show to do away with it. Mind you this is just a basic, vague, ranty pitch, probably not going to write out any episodes. We good? Ok. Let's begin.

Premise and Setting: In the interest of cutting down on the ‘epic’ scale of original SU, I’ll have this set mostly on modern-day earth and maybe other realms if necessary. Stephen’s Cosmos would have more of a straight-up magic/fantasy feel than the sci-fi magi-tech the show uses. This is because we’re not using aliens here, we’re using witches. And since we’re going for differences I’ll be using a Floral/herbal naming scheme for these witches, maybe even have them have developed plant-like features, but having them be human women at least as a basis. The backstory would go like so; existing for centuries in the shadows there would be a coven of powerful Witches known as the Chrysanthemum Circle, composed of the Elder Sister; White Chrysanthemum, Middle Sisters; Blue and Yellow/Golden Chrysanthemum and the youngest Red Chrysanthemum. They would rule over a pseudo-amazonian secret island in the middle of the pacific ocean, where they have built a society of witches that work under them, basically for both the preservation of the society itself and for them to be able to live in luxury. Red would be treated as a child by the other three instead of an equal, constantly the victim of abuse and punishment for her oddities in her sister’s eyes. This causes her to run away a few times before burning bridges in an impulsive manner, escaping and taking a few like-minded witches with her, namely her handmaiden and confidant Lily, the mysterious Sunflower, and a few others. Red would shed her imperious persona for a softer, friendlier Pink Rose. From there they would wander the world of man, picking up a young human girl that would come to name herself Carnation. They would settle and build a temple in the small coastal city of Beach City eventually, where they would live until the foreseeable future as the coven of the Wild Flowers. There Pink would find Mr. Universe and things would progress as cannon... except Pink doesn’t need to die here. So we have Pink Rose as part of the secondary cast. The main premise of the story would be to have an episodic structure with monster/problem-of-the-week setups(depending on how much action it makes sense to have in it), slowly integrating Stephen and the Flowers into the quirky town of Beach City, as well as learning lore and having the Flowers help with the strange occurrences in this town. These episodic seasons would get broken up with two-parter season finale to have a nice bombastic event. It would get slightly more serialized as it goes along, more-less the Avatar: The Last Airbender model. There would be a reveal of who Rose is about halfway through where Lily reveals it under dire circumstances and would fragment the Wild Flowers. Why not go with a completely mundane plot? Because flora is pretty, witches are cool and lesbian witches are double cool. (If you must though it's actually not that hard, the Diamonds are an old money/noble family, staunchly elitist and traditionalist, have them be in Europe where they rule over a township. Rose runs away due to similar situations and we’d have her and other runaways come to Beach City and slowly get integrated with ensuing hijinks and slice-of-life situations.)

Characters

Red Chrysanthemum/Pink Rose: Ok this is the big one so we better get it out of the way first. Since she’s going to be around her main impact on the show is actually being able to be there and explain herself but also deal with the fallout of her own choices. Her personality would be very nice, motherly, soft and friendly but in a way that she seems above it all, careless and perhaps a little too hands-off. Her main flaw to be dealt with is her selfishness. Her main arc would be raising Steven, and recognizing other people as her equals that she loves instead of her inferiors to be protected. The secondary arc would be having to deal with the repercussions of her past actions and her secrets.

Stephen: If one’s theme is generational abuse then exploring the next generation is crucial. Stephen would serve as an instigator to get the Flowers closer to the regular human population, and the audience closer to the bizarre and mysterious Wild Flowers. Stephen’s arc or arcs rather would focus on many things, but the main one being on his growth is the best of both worlds, his mother and father’s better qualities without the baggage that brought them into being, having to struggle with his identity between two worlds and the friction therein. He would eventually mature to be better than Pink.

Lily: Lily would be Pearl’s equivalent, a Handmaiden literally sworn to serve Red; now Pink. The first thing that was done after their escape was to break her oath. We’d keep her arc of her having unrequited feelings for Pink, and her issues with her self worth and need for outside stimuli and approval. Her feelings would eventually need to be confronted and her dependency issues would be dealt with by her efforts to own her own person, be well with herself by being independent, and find maybe a new love?

Sunflower: Sunflower would be the fusion between two witches in love, separated by their classes back in the Island; the knightly and flaming Poppy and the serene seer Tulip. They wanted to be together with such fervor that when they were ordered to stay separated due to their social standings they performed a forbidden ritual that bound them both as one sole entity, sort of as a witchy marriage. The Chrysanthemums banned this ritual due to the exponential increase in power between the two participants, fearing it may topple them, so they declared it forbidden and decadent due to the ‘loss of two precious lives to bring in one tortured life’. The ritual cannot be sustained forever and it would be dissolved every new moon, and the preparations to properly perform it take a few days at least. This allows the two cute lesbians to be cute together. There would be parallels between them and the Rose/Lily relationship, but also serve to contrast them. Their arcs would mostly be relationship-based, regarding if they are codependent, if their relationship is healthy, they would have their rough patches and arguments like any married couple and hopefully a second more human wedding.

Amy Thistle Aka Carnation: Carnation would be a neophyte witch kicked out of her foster home due to her magical inclinations. Finding a kindred spirit in their search for freedom Rose takes her under her wing. Carnation turns out to have the more ‘normal’ demeanor of the three witches. She would have parallels with Rose in the sense that even after Stephen’s around she’s treated like the kid and even not a ‘proper’ witch, this results in aggravating the self-worth and self hate issues she had. Rose’s words of ‘you’re perfect as you are’ would soothe her but in the long run, it just put obstacles in her development. She would grow to have frictions with Stephen, but would resolve them together with him.

Connie: Basically the same but make her parents actually overbearing or traditionalist as to make parallels with the Chrysanthemums.

Lavender: A cloudshaper that got caught up in a riot against the Chrysanthemums, was sealed in a mirror until Stephen liberates her accidentally. Once out she lashes out against even the ones that gave her a helping hand. Her way to cope with her own trauma due to being sealed for hundreds of years would be violent and volatile. Her arc would be of her working through that trauma and for her to serve as a MASSIVE red flag for Rose of what her sisters’ deeper sins may be.

Mint: Keep Peridot’s arc and just adjust for lower scale. Her whole arc should be about broken misconceptions about the society outside the Island, and breaking through the behaviors that repressive society has ingrained. Parallels with Rose on that one.

Oak: Oak would have more-less Jasper’s role in the story at large, first as a weapon for the Chrysanthemums and later as a recurring antagonist. Functionally she would begin to show to Rose and the others the consequences of her running away and other past actions since Oak was a member of her former court.

Peony: An original member of the Wild Flowers that was found by Stephen as he messed around with portals. Her conflict with Rose originally would be more-less the same than Bismuth, their ideological differences, in this case, Peony has created a garment that would sever one’s connection with magic, reducing the user to a regular human. As with the original, she would be right in wanting justice and revenge. She wanted to use that to topple the Chrysanthemums and have them face the people’s justice. Rose exiled her before, and kept her secret. When she appears again old wounds are opened, and it is Peony that plants the seeds of direct rebellion within the Wild Flowers.

Townies: Most of these are fine and we don’t need to touch it, there are three major changes to be done though; Kevin, who should get a rehabilitation arc from a douche creep to a decent person, as a sort of practice for Stephen to help everybody else. Lars, since he can no longer be of the Stars, would become a part of the human contingent of Wild Flowers, mostly out of a search for purpose and adventure. Ronaldo would be rehabilitated from a self-important conspiracy buff into another, Dipper Pine’s-ish Wildflower.

The Chrysanthemums: Ok now the big bads. The Chrysanthemums would be aristocratic and authoritarian, capable of atrocities and overall believe themselves to be superior to everybody else. They would be the center of a “Diamond-Days”-esque arc in which Stephen, Rose and the other Wild Flowers go back to the Island with the explicit purpose of changing things for the best. They would need to test the lessons learned by Rose and her growth. General personality for the three? Yellow should be be imperius and ruthless, Blue should feel sublime, like the serene calm for a perpetual storm. White would actually have a god complex; she thinks of herself as perfect and eternal. They have been ‘mourning’ Red since she ran away, but the mourn an idealized version of her, the Red they wish they had lived with. From here during their story arc we would slowly begin to find out that Blue and Yellow act the way they act out of fear, though there is a degree of them that did buy into White’s beliefs. They’ve seen what White is capable and they know they’re not powerful enough even combined. Rose would end up confronting all three of them about the trauma they put her through, not only that but for the combined suffering and pain their rule of repression has caused to the witches in the island. She would reach through to Blue and Yellow… but not White. White reacts how an angry god might. They would manage to repel her and she would become the true antagonist, a goddess ousted from her temple. Blue and Yellow over the course of the next seasons begin to realize the true extent of their actions and set upon trying to fix and atone, but it would be made clear that hundreds of years of oppression cannot be easily wiped away. White herself would end up being defeated, depowered, and put on trial. Ultimately she would be sealed away.

So yeah, that’s it, thanks for coming to my TED talk.

#su #steven universe #su critical #steven #universe #AU

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katurrade · 6 years

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Come Back to Me - The What Ifs (19/?)

The What Ifs is part 19 of “Come Back to Me” an AU series. This takes place right at the end of Book 3 Chapter 10, following the bombing of the palace. In this story Chapters 11+ never happen. This is going to be a slightly angsty, slightly fluffy story and is following the story line that is Riley and Liam are engaged and are supposed to be getting married. This was written on my iphone and fyi each chapter will be pretty long! Tagged long post! Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of these characters, PB does. I’m just borrowing them.

Pairing: Liam x MC

Rating: PG. Just to be safe!

Summary: Liam gets an evening visitor then retires early for the night. Riley wakes up in Valtoria for the first time......Pearls, views and chicken, oh my! Catch up HERE.

Word Count: 3,570 ish.

Tagged List: @blackcatkita @captain-kingliamsqueen @mrsdrakewalkerblog @umccall71 @hopefulmoonobject @speedyoperarascalparty @melodiouskeys @theroyalweisme @alicars @bobasheebaby @annekebbphotography @writtenbycandy @queencatherynerhys @ranishajay @blznbaby @jared2612 @bella-ca @mitalijoshi @lodberg @scarlettedragon @romanticatheart-posts @queenof1000days @lostinthe-pines @kennaxval @leelee10898 @jayjay879 @lizk77 @nazariobae @sstee1 @tornbetween2loves @elegantcowboyflappie @carabeth @ao719 @sarwin85 @cocomaxley

Side Notes: If you would like to be added to the tagged list for this, I can make that happen ;)

Guys and Gals, I’m so sorry for the delay of this chapter, I hit an inspirational wall and just needed some time to work through it. So thank you for being so patient with me, and thank you to those who reached out to see how I was. You all make me feel so special. This chapter is a filler chapter, of sorts. Not many big moves happen in this one, but it’s where my mind took the story and I’m just happy I was able to even get here. There is a flashback scene though, hopefully that makes up for the rest of the chapter! Now just to see if I can kick this mental wall down! Fingers crossed and enjoy!

Liams POV - Day 6 (Evening)

The door slowly opened and a small man, dressed in formal office attire entered with a bow. “Good Evening, Your Majesty. I’m sorry to interrupt, but Dr. Young is here and has requested to see you..” he shut the door behind him before continuing “If now is an appropriate time?”

This must be my assistant... “Of course,” he said as he took a second to open the folder on his desk, the one with the list of staff names. This was a name he should have memorized sooner. His eyes glanced over the page until he saw the name he was looking for “...Thank you, Markus. You can send him in” The small man bowed again, then exited the room. Liam stood and walked around his desk to greet the doctor as he entered the room. “Good Evening, Alex.”

He bowed “Good Evening, Liam. I apologize for the late hour, but you are a difficult man to track down,” he chuckled “Who knew finding a free moment for the King would be so hard.”

Liam laughed “You’re telling me.” He reached out and shook Alex’ hand “Please, sit” he gestured to a chair then walked back around his deck to sit.

Once Alex was seated, he placed his bag on the floor “How are you feeling, Liam? Any headaches? Or episodes of lightheadedness?”

“Not really. Though, I did have a slight headache last night, which was accompanied by a memory” he smiled at the thought.

“Oh? Are you starting to remember more?”

“Sort of. The last year is still mainly a blur, but there are moments I vividly remember as if they happened yesterday. It’s hard to explain, my memories are ....blotchy at best. If that makes sense?”

Alex nodded “It does. It’s like you have only half the pieces to a puzzle?”

“Yes, exactly”

“How is your balance? Any issues with walking?”

“Nope...” Liam scratched the back of his neck “..No issues with running either”

Alex’ eyes widened “Running?”

“Yes, I did a little running earlier but had no problems”

“Well then, I guess that is good to hear” Alex reached down into his bag to retrieve his stethoscope, pulse ox and blood pressure cuff “Mind if I just check your vitals quickly?”

“Of course not” Liam answered as he rolled up one sleeve of his dress shirt to his elbow. Alex stood and walked around the desk and took his vitals quickly. He then retrieved a pen light from his pocket to check Liam’s pupils. After a moment “It appears you are in good health, though, have you been nauseas or vomiting at all?”

“No, I have felt pretty normal actually”

“Perfect,” he put the equipment back in his bag “then I believe that is all I need for now” he picked his bag up off the floor and turned to Liam “I’d like to come back in a few days to see how you are doing, if that works?”

“Of course, just speak to Markus on the way out and he will give you some days and times”

Alex nodded, looking at the half glass of scotch in front of Liam “I ask that you take it easy, Liam. As you aren’t entirely out of the woods yet, and we want to make sure you continue to stay in good health for years to come”

Liam smiled, understanding what Alex was politely referring to “I will, in all areas” and with that Alex smiled and left.

Liam finished off the last few sips of his scotch, knowing that would be his only one tonight. Heeding Alex’ words he stood and headed towards his room. It might have been to early to sleep for most, but he was exhausted, to say the least. Both mentally and physically. And he knew his mind and body needed the rest.

Plus, if he was being honest with himself, a part of him just wanted to get through these next 2 days as fast as possible. Not only because of the emotions around the funeral but also because of his anxiety around getting Riley back. He needed to make things right. He had to.

Upon entering his room, he crossed the floor to the back wall to change. Retrieving the ring, bracelet and phone from his pocket and depositing them on top of his dresser, once again. He then removed his clothes and pulled on a set of pyjamas. He went to turn around to head to bed, when the bracelet caught his eye. He glanced over the now 3 objects that didn’t belong to him, yet were all still in his possession. He picked up the bracelet to look more closely at it, wishing he could remember the story behind it.

Objects seemed to be his memory triggers, he was starting to notice this trend. He held it in his hand and shut his eyes tightly, hoping it would trigger something. Anything. But after a few moments, nothing had happened. No memory. No headache. No nothing. He sighed heavily then returned the bracelet to the top of the dresser, before turning around and climbing into bed. He laid there for a short while, his mind racing with the what ifs.

What if, she doesn’t want me back. What if, I am too late. What if, I have ruined things for good. He could feel himself heading down the rabbit hole, but luck was on his side this time. Before he could go any deeper into the abyss, everything went dark. His mind finally shutting off, entirely. Exhaustion taking him over and allowing him to sleep.

—————————-

Rileys POV - Day 7 (Morning)

She awoke in the pitch black to a loud knocking on her door, then it opened slightly, letting in a sliver of light “Your Grace..?” She heard coming from the now ajar door. “Gladys?” She asked groggily as she sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, followed with a yawn and a stretch. “Yes, Your Grace, may I enter?”

“Of course” she responded as she blindly reached out to try to find the nightstand, in the hopes there would be a lamp on it.

“Here, let me turn on some lights for you” Gladys offered as she crossed the room, flicking on a few lights as she went.

Upon the light beginning to fill the room, Riley kicked her legs off the edge of her bed and took in her surroundings. Her room was bigger then the whole of her old apartment back in New York. She hadn’t realized how massive the room was in her tired state the night before. Her eyes widened as she peered around, first at the massive canopy above her, then at the huge floor to ceiling drapes beside her. Ones she was sure were most likely covering giant windows.

“Would you like to see the best part of this room?” She asked. Riley nodded and stood up “I’d love to”

Gladys then walked over and drew back the massive curtains, relieving the most spectacular view Riley had ever seen. She made her way over to the beautiful, glass french doors just as Gladys opened them.

Riley stepped out onto the balcony and was speechless. The rolling mountains with a river travelling between them were like nothing she had ever seen before. She could have never fathomed, in her wildest dreams, that a view from her bedroom window would be this breathtaking. She began to wonder if this view had played a hand in his decision. If it was part of why Liam had chosen this exact dutchy for her. Had he ever seen this view before? Was there some meaning behind why he picked Valtoria for me? If not, what would he have thought of it, if he were standing beside me, right now— She shook her head. She couldn’t think like that, those thoughts only made her heart ache more.

All the what ifs and lost moments would threaten to drown her if she gave into them. If she focused on them or thought about them. Even for a moment. He was gone and she needed to come to terms with that lose. But how? How could she just let go of him, of what they shared. Would she always wonder what Liam would think, how he would react to a certain incident or view. Was this her life now? Something amazing happens, or she stumbles upon something beautiful beyond compare, and her first thoughts are of him, of what he would think. How depressing. How utterly exhausting—

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Gladys asked.

The words pulling her back out if her mind “Yes.... it’s breathtaking..” she responded, not turning her eyes away from the view in front of her, as tears began to pool in them. The realization that she only had herself to share these moments with now. “I can’t believe this is my bedrooms view..” she whispered, more to herself. Trying to focus on the positives, instead of all the negatives.

“If you would like, I prepared you some breakfast. Along with coffee, tea and fresh squeezed orange juice. Would you like to take your breakfast on the balcony?” she asked. Riley nodded “Yes, please Gladys”

She walked away and Riley took the opportunity to quickly wipe the tears from her eyes. Gladys returned shortly, with a cart covered in an assortment of different foods and drinks “I wasn’t sure what your morning preferences were, so I figured I’d give you some options.”

Riley turned to her “That was very sweet of you, thank you. By the way, I am a coffee drinker and love a good American style breakfast. Bacon, eggs, hash browns, toast. The works.” she moved over to the patio set and took a seat as Gladys poured her a cup of coffee “What do you take in your coffee?”

“Just 2 and 2” she responded. Gladys nodded, quickly adding the cream and sugar then placing the cup down in front of Riley. She then transferred all the food and drinks to the table.

Riley looked at the massive spread now sitting in front of her and one dish stood out... “Gladys...What is this dish called..?” She pointed to some weird variation of what looked to be ...chicken..?

“Oh, that is Pollo a La Brasa, or Peruvian grilled chicken, Your Grace. It is normally a dinner food, but here in Cordonia it is somewhat of a breakfast delicacy..”

Riley furrowed her brows at the dish “Is it any good...?” She asked hesitantly as she poked at it with her fork.

“I believe so, but everyones palates are different. I’d recommend giving it a try”

She nodded as she pulled a small piece onto her plate. She cut a little slice off and touched it to her tongue, gingerly. A surge of flavour danced on her tongue “Mmm. Gladys, this is amazing!!” She said just before she put the while piece in her mouth.

“I’m glad you like it, enjoy your breakfast, Your Grace. I will return shortly so we can begin our tour” she said as she bowed.

“Sounds wonderful, Gladys. Also, please just call me Riley. Your Grace is just so ...formal”

“Of course, Riley” she agreed then headed back into the bedroom and left.

Riley picked up her mug and turned back to the view “I don’t think I could ever get used to this” she sighed and took a sip of her coffee.

“Knock, Knock!” she heard from her room as Maxwell and Hana emerged through the french doors. Both stopping dead in their tracks. “Oh my...” they said in unison. “This view is spectacular, Riley!” Hana added.

“That it is..” Maxwell said with a smirk, though he wasn’t looking passed the balcony railing, he was starring directly at the food covered table.

Riley chuckled at Maxwell’s obvious meaning “Would you like some breakfast, Maxwell?”

“I thought you’d never ask” he eagerly said as he quickly sat down and started to load up a plate. Hana reluctantly pulled herself away from the view and joined them at the table. Riley smiled at her friends then turned her eyes back to the view. At least I have these two to share these small moments with now...

—————————-

Liams POV - Day 7 (Morning)

His head silently emerged from the scintillating waters if the Blue Grotto, taking in how the light shinned of Riley’s fair skin. Her back was to him, and he took the opportunity to watch her, for a moment, without her knowledge. Wanting to commit this wonderful moment to memory. “Okay, Liam, you’re starting to scare me...”

The fear in her voice making him decide it was time to give up his perfect viewing position. As her peace of mind was more important to him now. “Over here!” He called out. She whirled around and a relieved smile took over her face. Causing Liams heart to flutter at the sight. “Oh, there you are!” She said.

He held on tightly to the oyster in his hand, hidden behind his back. Ever since the moment they had arrived in Italy, all he could think about was this pearl. In the year since he had originally stumbled across it, it had never been so much as a thought in his mind. Filled to the back with the other unimportant memories. That is, until the day he finally realized his true feelings for Riley. It had been at the Forgotten Falls, the blue waters must have kicked up the dormant memory of the pearl. “I’ve got something I want to show you.”

He swam a little closer to her then extended out his hand, palm up, presenting the glistening, perfectly round pearl. Which was still nestled protectively in between the oysters shells. Riley stared at it, then up at him briefly, before dropping her eyes back down to the pearl. “That’s lovely! How did you find it so quickly?”

“I was here last year with my brother, and I found it while we were diving. He told me it would win the heart of any woman I gave it to. But there wasn’t anyone in my life I wanted to win over. So I left it here, hiding it back in one of the crags. I thought that if it was meant to be, I’d find it again. Knowing that it was here... and that I finally had someone I wanted to give it to...” he could feel the heat rising in his face, despite the cold air, making him undeniably sure of the blush now on his cheeks “Well, I couldn’t wait to see if I could locate it once more.” He paused upon seeing the smirk on Riley’s face. They locked eyes for a moment before he looked away, feeling rather bashful of his admission “It sounds rather silly now that I’m saying all of this out loud to you... but...” he looked back to her “Would it please you to have this?”

She swam a little closer to him, erasing the small distance that was between them. She cupped one of her hands under his “This pearl? Oh, Liam...” she looked up at him, with so much sincerity in her eyes, as she put her other hand on top of his. Now holding his in both of hers “Wait to give me this until my name is cleared. When I can tell people that you gave it to me.”

He smiled at that thought, that one day, maybe soon, they could be together, openly. No more hiding, no more secret rendezvous, no more stolen moments. Just them, together, engaged and in love. “Okay, then I will keep it. For now.”

His smile quickly faded as he saw the shudder that rushed through her, causing the water around her to ripple. “Are you cold? You’re shivering.”

She smiled meekly at him “It is getting chilly in here.”

“Let’s get out of the water for a bit. Shall I take you back?” He asked honestly, though he dreaded her responce. He wasn’t ready to end the night this early.

“Not just yet. I can manage.”

“Good.” He happily let out the breath he was holding “Honestly, I’m not ready to give you up just yet.”

He reached out and took her hand, leading her over to an outcropping of rock, just at the waters level. He climbed up first, turning to offer his hand to help her up. “Come here, I’ll help get you warm.”

Once she was out if the water, he sat down on the rock. He was just about to pulled her close but before he could, she settled in next to him. Pulling his arm around her shoulders as she tucked herself under it. Her head coming to rest on his chest. He smiled as he placed a soft kiss to her hair before resting his chin on top of her head.

After a moment of just enjoying the peace and quiet of being alone, in each others arms, he feels Riley take a deep breath “Wasn’t there something you wanted to talk about?” She asked quietly, as if unsure she even wanted to ask.

Her question reminded him of the second reason for their visit to this grotto, his brows furrowed “Yes, I’ve...” he lets out a deep sigh “perhaps been avoiding it.”

She braces a hand on his chest and sits up to face him. Worry written on her face, though she smiles encouragingly at him, as if trying to ease the topic out of him, gently.

He studies her face, taking in every beautiful inch of it. He raises his hand up to move a wet lock of hair off her forehead to behind her ear, his finger tips trailing down her jawline to her chin. His eyes following the path as they go. Once he reaches her chin, he slides his thumb gently across her lower lip then flicks his eyes up to meet hers. Hoping it will help ease her mind, even just a little. Or maybe it was more to ease his own.

“These past few weeks have been so hard on both of us. I have been putting one foot in front of the other to get through it, but...” he removes his hand from her chin and takes ahold of hers “Living like this... it isn’t fair to you. I’ve never felt so powerless. There’s only one action that I can take to change this.” He frowns.

“And what’s that?” She asks quietly.

Here it comes. “Abdicating the throne.” The words finally being spoken aloud is like an instant weight lifted from his shoulder. He had thought it many times over, over the course of the engagement tour. But it had always just been that, a thought. Now, now it was spoken, it was out there, it could be reality. It could be within his grasp. She could be.

Her eyes widen instantly upon hearing the words “What?”

“Ever since my brother abdicated, I’ve known I would marry for the benefit of Cordonia. I had made peace with that.” He rubbed his thumb over her knuckles “But then I met you, and I allowed myself to hope that I could marry for Cordonia and for love. Now ...” he frowned at the next words he was about to speak “I don’t want a loveless marriage, and I’ll never have anything more than that with Madeleine. There’s this thought I can’t shake off... what our life could look like together. You and I. Without the court and the Crown.” His mind filled with images of their elopement, a small, private wedding ceremony with just their friends as witnesses. Riley in a beautiful, simple white dress. Saying there vows just as the sun sets, the fading light catching in her hair. He couldn’t contain the smile forming on his lips. How happy those images made him feel in that moment. How he wished more then anything for them to come to fruition—

He awake to his alarm with a smile on his face. The bracelet had, in fact, jarred a memory loose. It may not have been his memory of the pearl bracelet itself, but clearly pearls meant something more to him. Something more to them. He wondered if he had ever given her the pearl, or if he still had it. He looked around his room for a few moments, wondering if it was stashed somewhere inside these exact 4 walls, or if she had the pearl and had chosen to keep it.

The smile on his face grew wider at that thought. Leaving him feeling even more resolved to the fact that he needed to fix things with her. He knew in this moment, that she had changed him forever. He would have easily, and gladly, given up the throne for her, before... How he could have let things get to this point was beyond him...

He kept telling himself that there was no way he could have known. He had no memories of her, how could he have known? But if he was being honest with himself, he knew she was different, or rather special, from the moment he had laid his eyes on her in the hospital. A tiny voice in him kept pushing his thoughts back to her. As if trying to help him realize how important she was. That she was his only thought, his world, regardless of what he could actually remember. Ending things with her had clearly felt wrong for a reason, he should have listened.

He sat up and pulled himself out of bed, stretching up high the second his feet hit the floor. He just needed to get through today, and the funeral tomorrow, then he could go to her. He could fix this whole mess.

He entered his closet and quickly put on his regular royal attire; a black suit. Switching out the white button up for a black one instead, being that they were all still in mourning. Then he made his way towards his office, knowing what would greet him once he got there. The list of preparations that still needed to be addressed for the funeral. For his press release. In this moment, he was thankful that he had gone to bed early the night before. For the first time in days, he had managed to finally catch up on some, very much needed sleep. Now he was ready to get this all over with and get his engagement back on track.

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Chapter 20 - Coming *hopefully* soon ...

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