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lairofsentinel · 4 years

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Talking about the smidgens we saw of Gale, the wizard of Waterdeep.

[Baldur’s Gate 3 Early Access Spoilers]

Updated, AGAIN, because the hell of new aspects we saw when some bugs were sorted out. Warning: all this analysis was done for game versions 4.1.83 and 4.1.84

Well, I had to rewrite all this because the explorations of dialogue options and the bugs being, somehow, solved, allowed me to see small details from Gale that stand out or end up being more than curious to me. I'll list his main features to make things short (hopefully), and useful for... eventual fics:

Gale is a char who approves any good treatment to animals (and creatures in general). He has a cat, a Library, and writes poetry sometimes.

He doesn't like gratuitous murdering which is implied in the anecdote he told us about how he stopped a massacre in a Waterdeep city inn just by buying a round to everyone. It is also implied in his approval in most situations; even in the one with the ogres having sex.

He gives you disapproval most of the time if you use violence and intimidation as your first approach in solving a situation. He prefers eloquence, diplomacy, and negotiation. However, he is flexible enough to approve a performance-intimidation in front of goblins to avoid bloodshed. Point (2) is primary. So... he truly is a pragmatic char. It's not white and black: “never use intimidation/lie” or that kind of over-simplistic view.

He likes logical and reasonable conversations. An action that earned his disapproval can be undone if the main char (MC) talks to him and explains their reasons. You can disagree with him without having approval penalties most of the time. You can question many situations and, as long as it remains a mental exercise, there are no penalties. That surprised me a lot. Most characters disapprove you if you wonder about a potential situation, but Gale no. He is the scholar, he will allow a safe space to think around things without being too judgemental. We will see if this attitude lasts in the full game. No wonder some players see in him “the Teacher” archetype. Quite so.

He was an Arch wizard while being Mystra's Chosen One, and fell from grace when she put him aside. What is hard for me to grasp is if he remained Chosen One and therefore able to cast silver-fire during that intermediate period when he stopped having Mystra's whispers and his folly with the netherese taint. We know that in that moment Mystra removed herself from his life completely. But before, she has only stopped whispering and sleeping with him. So far I understand, being her Chosen One doesn't imply sleeping with her, most of the time.

He was a teacher (not surprising, since his over-explanation vices and details such as the pronunciation of “Trashj” make us suspect it), and had some students that he could not keep longer since their ineptitudes irked him.

Unlike the stereotypical “scholar” type, he knows how to cook, since he has been doing stews for the party in the camp. He also loves baths. A bit siding with the stereotypical “scholar” type, but a nice change for a “standard adventurer” type, in which most of the time it is implied that they are stinky with “animalistic” scents and uglier descriptors. No, Gale likes his lavender-scented baths. Good.

He is an over-thinker strategist. And also a char who takes responsibility for his own mistakes to the point that, when he dies for the first time, a programmed image is activated to help anyone to revive him. Despite the fact that he is dead and can give a shit about that, he is still responsible of the catastrophe that may happen if that weird magic orb stuck in his chest erupts.

He is also forcing me to check the dictionary like no other game has done in a while... the fucker uses uncommon words a lot of the time. Smidges? really? Gale is a hard char for a non native English speaker.

We can assume that during his teenage time, he was a pretty prideful peacock to the point to be blind at the reality (well, yeah, he romanced a goddess; if that doesn't give you a hell of a ego boost...) He remembers his young self's pride with a thick level of regret. He is now a mature scholar that, for a change, does not patronise you or thinks of himself better than anyone. Sure, he over-explains a lot, but that's something that most scholars/teachers do when they are worried that, maybe, they won't be understood.

He is confident in his years of study (for that reason he is a capable wizard despite having lost Mystra's favours), but he acknowledges his limits. Which is a nice change to see in the “scholar” archetype, the typical know-it-all. He knows a lot, he knows that he knows (it would be ridiculous to hide his knowledge), but he is human, and like he says: “humans are fallible”. However, it’s more than obvious that he has a big ego for everything he does, which makes sense since he follows a motto in his life: “try to excel at everything”. High accomplished scholar lifestyle, indeed.

If you don't share the Weave with him, he will state that nights are lonesome. It seems he truly is looking for some connection with a keen fellow mind. Probably it's this loneliness which triggers his urge to see Mystra's face during the night. We also know he, in general, lives in constant fear due to the Netherese taint in his chest. So, very lonely, and very scared.

I don't know if this is his poet side unable to be switched-off or it's another implication of how he sees sexual encounters: he never says sex (at least in my many runs, he never did it). He always gets around the word: love-making, art of the body, intimacy. For a scholar who is so prone to use the technical word for everything, and has already stated he is not coy at all, the use of these metaphors make me wonder if it's because he always conceives sex as something more than mere physical pleasure. For him, it seems to come with a more emotional connection (which makes sense if we think he will only sleep with those who connected to him through the Weave). Another small detail that may confirm this is when he asks the MC if the “other night” was wonderful. If MC claims it was “fun”, Gale shows a certain degree of uneasiness by that word choice, making us infer that he certainly doesn’t see sex as “fun” but as something else, deeper.

His tadpole dreams are about Mystra (rather obvious). His most desperate desire is forgiveness. Mystra's forgiveness.

Mystra was his first love. The affair did not last long. And since soon after her abandonment he looked for the Primal Weave book and was infested by it; one could assume he has been focused on solving his problem for the rest of his life than putting some energy in romance, especially if we think about (13). It's hard to say with certainty (especially with banters like these), but since he is a char that you can only sleep with if you share a mind-connection through the Weave, it seems less plausible that he could encourage into casual relationships during all this period of his life looking for a solution to the Netherese orb. If he got previous relationships, they may have been meaningful, but clearly not enough to win over the goddess’ and his urges to see her, lol.

He did not mind Mystra having many other lovers besides him. It seems to be the same with the MC, since he will insist in sleeping with them even after the party and even after the MC slept with someone else (however, that only occurs if the romantic connection through the Weave happened.) This fact combined with (13) and (15) make me wonder if he certainly wants to be with the MC too badly, even in an open relationship. We need to see the rest of his romance to be sure.

Since he looks for forgiveness so desperately, he is a char who will forgive most mistakes made by the MC if they acknowledge them.

He is a char who knows how grey and complex situations can be. This is inferred by the way he speaks of the tiefling girl who tried to steal the idol in the Grove: “She is not innocent, but that doesn't mean she is guilty.” (of course there is a lot of self projection there). This is also implied in his (surprising) approval of raising Mayrina's husband and giving her the control wand to search for a solution in Neverwinter. That shows that he can accept the fuckest weirdest situations, recognising that “sometimes we can’t choose situations but we can try to do our best, not always having the best results”. Also self-projection.

He appreciates his privacy to the point to leave the MC if the abuse of the tadpole power continues. However, and honouring (4), you can abuse of these powers and convince him with reasons: if you don't lie to him and explain that you have a responsibility with the group to know what happens with his secret, he will understand, and despite disapproving the MC actions, will remain without major troubles.

Certainly, as long as you give him reasons and logical concepts, he can almost understand everything with no disapproval or at least little one.

Consent and negotiation are vital to him, apparently. However, this aspect reaches a flaw. He was too angry with Nettie when she almost killed the MC, and he made a short speech about how nobody has the right to decide your options for you. Yet, in his romance scene, we see that he deliberately hid his true relationship with Mystra and his bomb-condition in order to sleep with the MC. In fact, during the party, if the MC tells him that doubts if he is the one they want, Gale will drop a curious argument: “That’s because you’ve yet to find out what your’re missing” (implying that he himself is what you need), followed by his most curious “Doubt is a spoilsport. Cast it aside”. That coming from a scholar is rotten, lol. He tries every convincing argument to sleep with the MC (if they shared the moment of the Weave, of course)

This happens in every variation of the path: whether the MC sleeps with him in the party, or afterwards, Gale will always wait for sharing a night with the MC before speaking the truth. It's hard to read this aspect since, he is a char who, apparently, needs a mind-connection with his partner for intimacy (see (12) and (13)); so this terrible strategy is like his way of trying to guarantee that the MC will not abandon him. I guess there is something along those line, specially if we keep in mind the book he explained: a book which is not only about the art of the body and the night and sex, but of other things such as conversation, exploration, and acceptance of oneself and the other. He is expecting with this night to reach the MC to a certain degree of intimacy in which, despite the raw truth, the acceptance will prevail. Remembering (16), he truly wants to sleep with the MC, baaaadly. And somehow everything feels like he wants to push things in a subtle way to a certain degree of commitment. Following the concept in (12), I think he has been alone for too long, and desperately needs someone in his lonesome nights and in helping him to deal with his burden. Finding someone who connected to him through the Weave (such a personal experience for him as it is) made him a bit desperate or eager. We know his emotion for the MC may have grown over those days since the connection with the Weave. In two occasions he or the MC can ask if both of them think about that moment. Gale says yes with such enthusiasm, that it may imply...that maybe, he has been thinking about that more times than he truly wants to tell the MC. The Weave moment had such a strong effect on Gale that, if the MC spent the night with another companion and rejects Gale’s proposition later, he will trail off a sentence that implies he was convinced that the MC and he were heading into something serious and deep.

Of course, once he sleeps with the MC, he confesses the truth right afterwards, accepting--without approval penalties--the harshest responses that the MC can give. He clearly knows that such manoeuvre was truly disloyal, especially contrasting it with all his speech of consent and rights to know about the true situation one is in. In the next morning, he acknowledges it was a rotten thing to do and apologies. But this shows that his principles can be bend and even be broken when it comes to emotions. I'm still a bit wary of his emotional stability, what can I say.

Mystra is more than an ex-lover for him, it’s magic. And Magic is everything for him, even more than life. I wonder if, given the opportunity, Mystra forgives him and asks him to return to her side, would he accept it without second thoughts leaving the romanced MC? It's true he also acknowledges that all that fascination he had with the goddess was a product of his youth; he knows he was a plaything in her hands. But I don't see he got over with it. He still idealises her, as such a good poet does. Idealisation, especially when a Goddess is involved, is a terrible thing to fight against for the next partner. No matter what speech of loyalties and consent he states during the whole game, the MC knows that magic and Mystra are Gale's Achilles’ heel, and factors in which they can’t predict his behaviour.

We also know that, because his bomb-condition, he tries to take all the opportunities to enjoy the little things of life that make him human.

Gale is a straightforward and honest (mostly, let's say) char. But we can see that he prefers to be honest in most situations, except in his Achille’s heel. Even when he wanted to hide all the stuff about the bomb in his chest, he did it by explicitly warning us that he was hiding something he did not want to talk about. Which is an honest approach considering the hardcore burden he carries and the immediate rejection it can mean if the truth unfolds too quickly among strangers.

When it comes to concepts, Gale has the symbol of the storm attached to him. So far, we see he talks comparing things with storms or storm elements: his lack of knowledge to explain why they are not Mind Flayers yet: the silence before the storm; the fear that rushes into his body when the Weave orb asks him for magic to consume: the thunder of a storm reverberating in his soul, the day it will erupt: the lightning striking, the consumption of magic: water running through a sore throat, Life itself: a tempest. When he asked the player if they were a wizard, he explains that he needs an Arch wizard and compares them with a Tempest. If we see the main image of Baldur's gate 3, it's clear that his main element is electricity/storm... so... full witch-bolt-guy here.

[updated later] The Weave moment is important to romance Gale. Leaving the moment in ambiguity will give the MC another opportunity to make their intentions clear during the scene of the Loss. However, remaining vague will lock Gale into a friendship path. What happens during this scene may suggest that the ambiguity in the Weave was enough to keep Gale thinking about the romantic possibility, but he will not engage into it by his own, which confirms (15). Unless the opportunity presents itself clearly before him, he will not pursue the MC. Further details [here].

Last moment detail: Gale says “I cherish you” when he explains he will await death alone if the Netherese orb goes out of control. I was not sure if that meant something more or less than love or like (I can’t not overlook the subtle meaning of the words coming from Gale’s mouth, he is a poet and his word choices matter). Checking the dictionary I found that “cherish” (in a relationship) is defined as to hold or to treat as dear, to feel love for and to care for someone deeply and tenderly. This man went straight into a commitment relationship without thinking it twice, and without (I believe) the MC knowing it either xD.

Let's see how these characteristics shift or develop deeper once the full game is out there. Now we have to wait a lot :(

To see videos where all this stuff is inferred or explicitly said, you can check [here]

More videos added later [here] and [here]

More content of bg3 in general [here]

#baldurs gate 3 #gale #bg3 #baldurs gate 3 spoilers #bg3 spoilers #baldurs gate

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dreamiehrs · 4 years

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be careful what you wish for... it may already be true ➛ l.jn

lee jeno x reader ∗ fluff, witch!jeno, witch!y/n, gender neutral reader, fantasy!au ∗ length: 2,070 words

“jeno, don’t you think it’s ridiculous that you’re going to try to get y/n’s attention by a mere love potion? do you really think that’s gonna work on them?” renjun follows jeno closely in his basement, which was where jeno would make concoctions ranging from personality potions to death potions. he was quite the powerful potion maker, one of the most popular in the magic academy he attended.

renjun does his best not to trip over any equipment in jeno’s basement as jeno stands in front of a large wooden table, which was littered with tons of flasks, beakers, test tubes, pipettes, etc. if you could name it, it was probably on the table. jeno scoffs as he crouches down, finding his potion book in one of the drawers and pulling it out. “what’s the worst that could happen? why wouldn’t it work on them?”

“...the worst that could happen is that it doesn’t work and they could end up hating you forever! don’t you ever put this type of stuff into consideration?” renjun warns, watching as jeno studies each page of his brown leather book before flipping to the next page. his eyebrows furrow until he finds the page he was looking for, and walks around the table to his pantry, that was full of herbs and liquids to make his desired potion.

jeno chuckles, almost arrogantly, as he picks out a bottle full of rose leaves. “my potions never fail, junnie, you know this. I’m one of the best potion makers in this entire academy, so this potion definitely won’t backfire on me. if it does, I can just reverse it with one of my spells... however, I’m not really confident in spell-casting yet, so that may do more worse than good.” he hums to himself, picking out a few more things before turning back to face renjun.

“you’re too cocky for your own good, jeno. one day your potion is gonna fail on you, and you’re gonna have to face the consequences sooner or later. I’m not gonna stick along when that happens, so you’ll be all on your own when you have to deal with something like that.” renjun proclaims, now leaning against a wall with his dark brown owl familiar perched on his shoulder. renjun had named him owlvin because, well, it’s renjun we’re talking about here.

jeno slips on some gloves and gets to work on the potion, turning his oven on and filling up a medium pot full of water to make his potion with. “glad to know what type of friend you are, junnie.” he adds his ingredients one by one and starts to chant something quietly to himself as his concoction starts to lightly simmer.

renjun rolls his eyes, and owlvin snuggles up to his neck. this potion definitely wasn’t going to work, he thought to himself.

...

a few days later, after jeno had perfected his love potion to use on you, he seals it up in a light pink water bottle, so he wouldn’t mix it up with his regular water bottle. he was determined that this would work on you, and if it didn’t, he would resort to other ways to get you to fall in love with him.

you were a witch yourself, and although you would love nothing more than to get to know jeno, the famous potion maker at the academy, your friends had their suspicions about him.

“he acts so nice, but what if that’s all an act?” jisung mumbles beside you as the two of you were walking down the hallway, using his levitate spell to make the bag of popcorn levitate in front of himself. he pops a few pieces into his mouth, accidentally dropping some down onto the floor in the process.

“I beg to differ, sungie. I don’t think y/n would be interested in a guy who only fakes his kindness just to get rewards out of it, right, y/n?” chenle speaks up from your left, making sure to pick up any fallen popcorn pieces that jisung had accidentally knocked over.

you nod at his words, and jisung proceeds to catapult a popcorn piece at chenle’s head. chenle practically screams an “ow!” with his dramatic self, and luckily, the other students around you three didn’t even react, because they’re so used to chenle screaming for no reason now.

as the three of you enter the canteen, you come face-to-face with (speak of the devil) lee jeno. you do your best not to let your cheeks heat up as he looks at you expectantly. jisung stares him down from your right until chenle drags him off in another direction, giving you and jeno some privacy.

“y/n,” he breathes out, having to compose himself briefly before continuing. “I was wondering if you could do something for me?”

you raise an eyebrow before a chuckle leaves your mouth. “as long as it doesn’t have to do with cursing someone, then yes, I can probably do something for you, jen.”

his eyes widened. “of course not! I would never ask you to do something that dangerous... I wouldn’t want to put you in danger. anyways,” he pauses, pulling out a pink water bottle from his bag. “I was wondering if you could test out my luck potion for me?”

you take the bottle from his hands, inspecting the liquid inside of it. usually, luck potions were a gold-ish color, that would sparkle in the sunlight. however, this one was a rosy pink, which highly resembles a love potion. you were skeptical, to say the least, but knowing jeno, he wouldn’t pull off a stunt like this on you.

you nod, opening the cap of the bottle. “of course! I’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow, alright?” he looks at you hopefully as you take a swig of the drink, almost cringing at how sweet it was. you send him a smile, and he seems relieved as you do so.

“right. see you tomorrow!” he runs off into the canteen to spill what he did to renjun, while you glance warily at the drink in your hands.

...

“...so? did it work?” renjun questions a few days later in the canteen, stabbing his fork in a piece of watermelon before popping it into his mouth. jeno sat there dejectedly in front of him, his tray still full of food as he picked at it occasionally. “hey, if you don’t eat now, you’re gonna end up regretting it later.”

jeno groans, pushing his hair back in frustration. “I don’t know! the day after I gave her the potion, she told me that it didn’t seem to work, and she gave me back my water bottle, which was half full of the potion.”

“wait... what potion did you tell her you were giving to her?” renjun deadpans, and owlvin coos when he sees jeno still.

jeno gulps. “I... uh... may have told her that it was a luck potion instead of a love potion...” he mumbles, and he can hear renjun sigh from in front of him. when he looks up, he notices that owlvin is facepalming with his left wing at jeno’s confession.

“you know you have to tell them eventually, right? it’s unfair that they don’t know it was actually a love potion... I mean, maybe they already figured that out, since they’re a witch as well.”

renjun was right, as always, and owlvin nodded his head in his agreement with renjun’s words. jeno groaned once again, tangling his fingers in his hair as he realized he’s messed up, and bad. you probably already knew that it was a love potion just from how he saw you examining it, so why didn’t you decline testing his potion? “you’re probably right, junnie. why haven’t they said anything, thou–”

“jeno?” he’s interrupted by your voice, and he flinches before glancing to his left, where you were now seated. renjun silently chuckles to himself as jeno’s draw practically drops, and he has to do his best to cover up his grinning face as he watches the two of you from the sidelines.

“y-yes?” jeno stutters within your presence, and you give him a sweet smile to soothe his nerves.

“can we talk about something, please? in private?” you send a glance in renjun’s direction, and jeno seems to pick up on that immediately. he turns to be met with renjun’s knowing look, and that’s all it takes for jeno to nod his head before glancing back at you.

jeno stands up and grasps your hand, pulling you up with him gently. “of course. let’s go to the courtyard.” he states, and as the two of you walk to the courtyard together, he can feel his heart threatening to beat out of his chest. even though he seemed composed conversing with you on the outside, he could feel himself practically exploding on the inside.

...

you two find a bench to sit down comfortably onto, and you turn your body towards him. “I wanted to talk to you about that potion that I tested out for you a few days ago. I know you said it was a luck potion when you gave it to me, but when I inspected it further, it resembled more of a love potion.”

he nods, playing with his hands nervously as he meets your gaze. it wasn’t an angry, disappointed glint that flashed through your eyes like he had expected. your gaze was soft as you looked at him, waiting for his next move. he was briefly surprised, and he made up his mind in a matter of seconds. “I’m sorry, y/n. it’s as exactly as you had assumed. it was a love potion that I had given you a few days ago, and for why I did so, it’s because I... I have had a crush on you for the past three years, and no matter how much time I would spend around you, trying to get you to have mutual feelings for me as well, it never seemed to work out. I know it was messed up, to give you a love potion without you knowing, and I hope you’ll forgive me for what I’ve done.”

his head hangs low as he studies the ground underneath him, not noticing how you have a huge smile on your face. “I already knew it was a love potion, jen. also, don’t worry, I forgive you.”

his head whips up to meet your gaze. “y-you knew?” he stammers out, his cheeks flushing a pink when he sees you nod.

“I knew it from the start, just from taking a good look at the liquid’s color. so, I wasn’t surprised that it wouldn’t work on me, mainly because I knew what it was already, but also because of another reason...” you trail off.

“another reason? w-what’s that?”

you scoot closer to him, and his eyes widen at the proximity between you two. “because love potions don’t work on someone when they’re already in love.”

“you’re already in love? with who?” he wonders, seeing how your eyes sparkle as you gaze at him. you hold back a chuckle at his question, and he looks at you, confused.

“oh, jen, you’re almost as oblivious as you’re confident. I thought it was obvious from the start, from the day the two of us had met, but if I have to spell it out for you, then so be it. I’m in love with you, jeno.” you use your hand to gently push away the hair that had fallen close to his eyes, and he locks eyes with you after you say this.

he couldn’t believe his ears, and his eyes for that matter, as you slowly started leaning in closer to him, your eyes flickering down to glance at his lips and then back up at him. when your lips collide with his, fireworks explode in his stomach as he cups one of your cheeks with his hand, eventually relaxing into the kiss.

as he’s having his moment with you, he realizes something. maybe he didn’t have to go through all of that work to get you to fall for him when you already were.

the universe works in certain ways to bring two people together, and luckily, for you and jeno, you didn’t have to do much to be brought together naturally.

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laws-yellow-submarine · 3 years

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The X Shaped Mark

My entry to your contest! Congratulations to your followers!

Prompt Choice: Coffe;

Characters: Nico Robin; Nefeltari Vivi

Warnings: None, but I included a little theory

Pseudonym: Barista at the coffeshop

Soft music played in the background. The smell of coffee and baked goods lingered in the air. Today, only a few people were walking by your tea and coffeehouse, near the promenade and the beach. You knew sometimes customers got swayed in by the most curious circumstances. That was one of the many reasons you loved your job as a barista. There were so many interesting people to meet, so many stories to hear. You had seen many relationships and friendships being formed in here. All in all, your work gave you a fantastic chance to view the world from a very specific angle. Right now, everything was quiet – as if the air held it’s breath before a storm.

You didn’t expect many customers today. In fact, there was only one in the guest room right now. She – stunning, with the air of mysteriousness and untouchable charm – came in about an hour ago. With a faint smile and a curious, yet skeptical look in her eyes she ordered a teapot of your famous black tea blend. She took a seat on the table in the corner. It was a bit more secluded than the others and provided a sense of privacy while giving her an excellent view over the coffee shop and the street in front of it. You had never seen her before, but you were sure that she didn’t like others meddling with her business. After you asked if she’d like something else to her tea – sandwiches or chocolate cake perhaps – you left her alone. The warm smile she gave you after you brought her a plate of bagles eased your mind a little bit. Still, you hoped she wouldn’t have any reason to cause trouble. With your keen eye for others, it wasn’t a secret that she held far more strength and power than one would otherwise assume.

You were engaged in your book when the door opened again. The mysterious lady, pushing her long dark hair behind her ear, gave the new visitor a calculating look. It was a girl, or young woman rather. Clothed in fine garments, hair and makeup done perfectly, this other woman came in with swift steps. She exuded glamour and a softness that made her instantly like-able. Though she was obviously wealthy, she showed politeness and respect when she greeted you. You were about to ask the girl for her wishes, gesturing to the empty tables, the girl however made way to the other woman’s direction. You realized that they knew each other from the way the exchanged looks. But you weren’t sure if it was a friendly relationship they shared. The girl with the sky-colored hair agreed when the raven-haired offered her a seat. She ordered a café latte and piece of cake. Your two customers appeared to be on neutral terms with each other, but you could feel the strained past between them with every fibre. You chose to listen a little more carefully than usual, as you prepared the order. The blue haired one was the first to speak.

“Ms All-Sunday,” the girl leaned to her – ‘acquaintance’?, you wondered – and proceeded in a calm tone, “you have some business with me?” The raven-haired woman chuckled and it sounded a bit like a threat. “Indeed, Ms Wednesday.” You looked up and saw her smile towards the girl. It gave you chills.

“I was surprised. It’s been quite some time, since we last met.”

“I assumed it was about time we reached a conclusion for our unfortunate past. Once and for all.”

“That would be the best!”

“Your café latte and chocolate cake. Is there something else, I can do for you?” Call a relationship counselor or something? Your interruption would hopefully manage to break the tension between your customers. Both of them smiled politely and thanked you. There was nothing left for you to do, but to hope that whatever was going on wouldn’t cause to much damage. They continued their conversation as soon as you reached the counter. Luckily neither of them noticed that they were still in hearing range.

“Though, my friend and bodyguard wasn’t too pleased about me meeting you again.” That a girl like her had a body-guard wasn’t a surprise. “Ah, yes – Igaram – wasn’t it?” commented the woman. “How is your country doing, Princess?” “Excellent. The country is peaceful and the people are thriving,” she lowered her voice. Now it appeared that the girl was the more dangerous one. “Are you upset about that, Ms All-Sunday?” The woman replied with a stare, cool as ice. Then she smiled with all sincerity. “Not at all. In fact, I am pleased about it. To harm any of your people was never my intention.”

“I know that.”

That line surprised the raven-haired woman even more as it surprised you. The girl continued softly,

“I know that you didn’t have any bad intentions. You wouldn’t be his friend if you did.” You didn’t know who they were talking about, but you thanked him. He probably saved you a lot of trouble by whatever he did to make the two females allies. It would have been a pain, if they actually started an argument in your peaceful coffeeshop.

“You heard about it. I should have figured.” The woman laughed. Honestly and full of relief.

“How is he doing? And the rest of them?”

“They are doing just fine. Causing ruckus as they go.”

“I can imagine.” Now the girl laughed wholeheartedly, making her blue hair dance along her shoulders. “I hope I can see them again soon.”

“You will. Right now they are quite occupied with some – adventure, but I am sure they will stop by eventually.” There went your hopes and prayers that whoever they were, would never show up near your place. The woman continued to talk about the mysterious group of people. The more you heard about it, the more you believed that it was all made up. The girl however, listened with glee and excitement. She didn’t seem to doubt any of the fantastic tales. Probably because she knew better.

“He is still the same,” the girl concluded eventually.

“That’s for sure. Even after two years, they didn’t chance a bit. Not one of them.”

Whoever they were talking about, your two customers cared a lot about them. Probably more than they would let on. You started doing the dishes, only to keep listening to the interesting conversation.

After a while – and another serving of tea and coffee – the woman asked about the reason for their meeting. She seemed unusually hesitant.

“Why did you agree? You can’t possibility forgive the past?” There was a remorseful look on her face, the air of vulnerability and sincere concern. The girl however, smiled reassuringly.

“Igaram told me you saved his life,” She chuckled, “even though you claimed the opposite.”

“Yes. That incident was a red herring. For a long time I had no choice but to infiltrate certain organizations and get rid of them – I didn’t have any other chance to survive. I tried to make the most of it. And I wanted to prevent as much damage as I could.” You almost didn’t hear what she added with a whisper.

“I hated it.”

“When Igaram told me about it, I started to do some research. I heard about your hometown. About what happened to Ohara. I understood that you did what you had to do. But I am really glad -” she hesitated to continue, “I am really glad that you don’t have to live this kind of life anymore.”

You could see how much those words meant. What impact they had. That there was one burden less hiding in her eyes. That was probably what gave her the courage to continue. There seemed to be a question she needed to ask.

“What happened to that man? I heard that he prevented that – on the plaza…” For a second the blue haired girl was confused. Then she quietly replied:

“You mean Pell. He is doing fine.” The woman almost dropped her cup, as she heard that.

“I thought..” The blue locks danced around slender shoulders once more.

“We thought so too, after he used his powers to fly away with the… - Well, luckily he recovered pretty soon.”

“Then it worked out after all.”

“What do you mean.”

“I suppose you can’t know. This ‘contraption’ that injured your feathered friend was sabotaged.” The woman closed here eyes, seemingly to indulge in the memories as clearly as possible.

“I was convinced you wouldn’t find the place in time. There wouldn’t have been that much damage. When I heard you had been in the clock tower, that the brave guardian – well, that he did what he did – I assumed the worst.”

“What do you mean it was sabotaged? Wasn’t that thing,” she almost spat out the word, only to get interrupted.

“As I said, I worked behind closed curtains to prevent as much damage as I could. I was the one who gave the task to the constructors, I chose the place to hide it – and I told them that the whole construction was designed to be a distraction. It wasn’t designed to be fatal. Your friend only got injured because he was too close.” The girl was outright shocked.

“But how, how did you do that?”

“I was the right-hand man of the boss himself. If I gave an order, who would dare question it?” The woman smirked. Now you were certain that you wouldn’t want her to be your enemy. “It was easy to get away with it.” Her features softened as she continued,

“I am glad that he recovered. Would you mind give my sincere apologies and best wishes to him?”

The girl still looked like she stumbled upon the one piece. After a moment she laughed and agreed.

“Seems like you fit right in with the others.”

The strange conversation turned to marvelous stories of adventures and friendship once again. As the day passed and the sun started to set, your two guests decided to move on.

Now the atmosphere felt like spring. Like a fresh bond blossoming.

As they parted ways, the girl turned around once more:

“You truly are amazing, Miss All-Sunday.” The woman smiled brightly.

“Thank you. But please – call me Robin.”

“I remember that you hated that name.”

“I did,” She paused, as if she needed to push some bad memories aside, “but now it’s the name my friends use. And you are part of our crew, right – Vivi?”

She left the girl standing and walked away – waving with her left hand,

a visible X-shaped mark upon her arm.

#writing contest submission #950 follower event #submission

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literatehiss · 3 years

Text

Promising Futures

Read on AO3 here

Peter and Simon interact with the children in their lives. It was inevitable really. If you adopted a lot of people of varying ages, eventually one of them was either going to already have children, or would have kids after he had adopted them into the Fairchilds. Which meant that Simon had an awful lot of “grandchildren”.

He sipped on a Sangria as dawn began to break, the sun rising over the mountaintops that surrounded the Fairchild mansion. He hummed in acknowledgement as one of the fine young men he had pulled into the family, stumbled downstairs for a coffee and a half-toasted piece of bread. He was part of their space-faring efforts which meant a lot of long nights that Simon was very glad he had no part of. Clinging to the man’s leg was scrawny looking child whose favourite thing in the world was to be flung around and onto soft surfaces at high speed, a chore Simon was always happy to fulfil. And with their appearance, it signalled the start of the only reason Simon ever came back to the mansion for anything more that to store the things he collected.

A veritable army of children and young teenagers would scarf down their breakfast and leave their parents and their boring conversations to go spend time with “grandpa” Simon. He rarely came home and, between other avatars and his victims, he didn’t often spend time with people who wanted to be around him. The youngest ones in particular, who were still getting the hang of their motor skills and so greatly enjoyed being thrown around, were a particular favourite of his. Children also had a peculiar enjoyment of terrible, terrible stories and half of his antics with the people he terrorised were just so he had a fun story for the kids. With one child hanging off his arm, Simon started telling the children the tale of a young man, his mother, and a journey up a mountain.

Peter woke up to the sound of his wonderful privacy and peace being interrupted by the door of his bedroom being cracked open slightly. He glared at the small form who had decided to bother him, the child squeaking in fear and panic before running away. He groaned and turned back over, intending to sleep a little bit longer.

Knock knock.

Peter swore violently at the door and scowled at his sister’s laugh as it came through the door.

Elias had changed the damn locks, the Tundra was having repairs done and he just couldn’t be doing with Moorland House unless he was summoned there, so the only other option was someone who had come into his life very recently.

Forty years after he had last seen her; his older sister, Lizzie, had tracked him down and invited herself into his life. She had been one of the ones who had left the family and the sounds of happy children was not a natural sound to Peter’s ears. But she was happy to have him stay over for as long as he liked and was understanding enough about his more “introverted nature”, as she had put it.

He rolled out of bed, cracked open the window and packed a pipe, deciding not to leave the room until he had inhaled enough nicotine to make him feel less homicidal.

Simon walked through the mansion, one of the pint sized army on his shoulders as he lead the procession through the halls. He was very nonchalant as he walked passed the swimming pool, before he chucked the child on his shoulders into the water. He was surrounded by laughter and cheering as the child crawled out of the pool, clothes sopping wet. A wide grin on her face.

He couldn’t help but sigh. The adults, the avatars that he actually brought into the family, had a more detailed and thorough understanding of their patron, but they just lost the joy of it all. An adult sensibility causing them to see it as a duty, an enjoyable duty, but not something they sought out for their won enjoyment. They found joy in the screams and fear, which was valid, he admitted, so did he, but they lost the sheer exhilaration of falling. The feeling of the wind rushing through your hair and your breath catching in your throat. The children though, they delighted in their own fear, in the sensation of it all and he couldn’t help but be charmed by it.

Peter accepted the cup of coffee from his sister gratefully, trying to ignore the gaggle of children that were peering at him from the doorway. Their mother had firmly told them to leave their “Uncle Peter” alone. Which obviously did nothing but make them more curious. The oldest waited until their mother left for the bathroom before creeping up to the kitchen counter.

“Hello”

Peter gave her a dead eyed stare.

“Are you mummy’s brother?”

Peter’s glare didn’t subside but he gave an affirmative hum. Better to answer their questions and get rid of them quicker.

“Why have we never met you before then?”

Peter considered his answer more than he would usually think about what he said. The honest answer, that he thought the rest of the family had killed her off secretly, would likely not go down well. Nor would, a second true option, that he had little to no interest in their lives. He grunted, far too tired to bother with his normal false cheer. Peter had never spent time around children and so didn’t realise that answering a child’s questions just invited more questions.

Elias was similar if he thought about it.

“I’m busy.”

“What do you do?”

“Ship Captain.”

A chorus of “oooh’s” from the three children.

“Do you have a ship?”

“Obviously.”

“Is it big?”

“Very”

“Can we see it?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Dangerous. You’re mum will be upset with me. Don’t want to deal with that.”

“Why not?

“I don’t like talking to people.”

“You’re talking to us?”

“I wish I wasn’t.”

That shut them up for a moment and they huddled on the other side of the kitchen. One of them ran off while the others stared at him. Peter wondered if he could sleep in the Lonely until either the Tundra was fixed or Elias calmed down.

It was more likely that he would suddenly reject the Lonely than Elias forgive him quite that quickly. He knew he could expect another three months minimum before the man even considered getting over himself. The child that had run off came back with something behind her back.

One of the brats, the young lad, one of the twins, broke away from his sisters and came back over, Peter didn’t bother restraining his annoyed sigh.

“Do you have any kids?”

“God I hope not.”

“Is that a no?”

“It’s a ‘Probably not’, my husband might have something to say about it if he found out I did.” he suddenly realised he had revealed too much, and he had said it just as his sister entered the room again. He groaned internally at the thought of the second round of questioning he was bound to receive once the brats went to bed. He saw fog start to curl at the kitchen window at his longing for the cold embrace of his domain. His sister refilled his coffee mug before leaving him to his fate as the children approached. The eldest seemed to be at least attempting to restrain her two younger siblings. As soon as their mother passed the threshold of the door, he was peppered with rapid fire questions.

“Husband? What’s his name? Is he nice? Is he also old? Can we meet him? What does he do?” Peter took a moment to work out what they were saying before answering in turn.

“Yes. Elias, sometimes. No. Yes. No. Meddling in other people’s business.”

The eldest opened her mouth to ask another question and Peter growled at her in irritation. He saw her mouth “sometimes?” with obvious confusion. Peter took a long sip of his coffee and sighed, already tired of this and he’d only been there a day.

Simon picked one of his grandchildren up and threw her high into the air, he was scream-laughing as he came back down, to only the briefest glance over from the boy’s father. Most of the children had scattered to the far reaches of the house by now, only a handful staying behind. Just the child clambering over him and a pair reading a book on space. They were looking with targetted interest at the pages that were just made up of huge pictures of the stars. One of them placed their hand on the page and looked up at him with unrestrained excitement.

“Can we go there one day?” they said, tapping the picture of the stars. He laughed and patter them on the head as he stood up.

“Hopefully. If I get my way, definitely.”

He flipped the child clinging to his arm over so he hung from his arm, face going an alarming shade of red. All this time with his family was making him feel nostalgic.

He pulled out his phone and shot off a text to Peter.

Plukas 11:42

How is it going? Did you find somewhere to stay? I’m just hanging around

His sister had dragged the oldest off to some club, he didn’t know, he wasn’t listening, so he finally had some time alone as the younger two were too afraid to come up to him without their oldest sister their to “protect” them. Though the thought was laughable. If he intended them any harm, they would already be fading away in the Lonely. He could hear them crashing and tinkering with something and the sound of liquid going down the drain in the other room and if he was a responsible adult he would know that quiet children are children that are up to something. Luckily for the twins, he didn’t know that and so they were left to their crafting.

He was lying on the couch in quiet bliss when he felt his personal bubble being intruded upon. He pried open an eye and groaned at the sight of them for the second time that day.

“What.” he said flatly. They shuffled nervously before presenting him with something.

It was meant to be a ship in a bottle. And there was a ship. And it was in a bottle.

To be precise it was a plastic boat from some sort of kids play set and the bottle was a very obviously recently emptied bottle of wine. The bottle which he was sure his sister was going to be overjoyed that her kids had probably poured the contents of down the sink. The bottle was also cracked and glued back together, the kids not knowing how to do it properly. Not that they could, he realised, when they were using a solid plastic boat. He held it in his hands. It was, objectively, utter trash and it belonged in the rubbish bin.

He cracked a smile.

“Good job.”

The kids giggled and ran off, leaving him and the bottle alone. He felt his phone buzz, seeing a message from Simon. He typed in his reply, giving a quiet laugh, before returning to his nap, his gift sat on the table next to his head.

simon 11:49

I’m decent, not too much company, there was some good wine

#Peter Lukas #Simon Fairchild #NaNo 2020

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vampiregirl1797 · 4 years

Text

Time Travel & Epic Loves Chapter Two

Gif Not Mine

Series Masterlist

My Masterlist

Warnings: mentions of Klaus being abused by Mikael, mentions of murder, a little smut between Klaus and Arianna, nothing too graphic though.

Word count: 4,516

Of course I needn’t have worried—by they time we got to the feast Nik was happily dancing, with Tatia. I felt my face harden into a glare as I watched the bitch laughing and joking with my husband. Of course my anger was irrational seeing as he didn’t know he was my husband but that was beside the point.

‘If she wasn’t needed for the spell I would happily compel her to set herself on fire.’ I growled in annoyance.

Katherine let out a surprised laugh from beside me, ‘I wouldn’t blame you if you did.’

I followed her gaze over to where she was staring at Elijah; surprisingly he was watching her too, instead of the bitch dancing with his brother. She seemed reluctant to leave me but I shooed her away assuring her I could take care of myself. I sat down on a nearby log and tried not to watch Nik conspicuously, but eventually he caught my eye. It was only for a split second, but it was enough. The light-hearted party atmosphere didn’t match my mood and I decided that I’d had enough of torturing myself with Tatia’s hands all over the man I loved. I told Katherine I was leaving and headed into the woods and just walked, fighting the unbearable sadness that was crushing me.

This isn’t your Nik. This all happened before you were even born. He’s a thousand years old of course he has been in love with others before you. This isn’t your time and your Nik is waiting for you in the future.

I came to a stop when I reached a river. After a moments hesitation I stripped off my dress and shoes before stepping into the water, completely naked. I always found being in water was incredibly peaceful and serene. The water settled around me as I floated on top and I closed my eyes, enjoying the feeling of being completely weightless. My breathing levelled out and honestly, I could have fallen asleep with how relaxed I was, but my peaceful mood shattered when I heard a twig breaking not far from me. I jolted and fell underneath the water before my head broke through the surface and I scanned the trees for the culprit.

‘Hello?’ I said a little unsurely; I could hear a heartbeat but I didn’t want to get out of the water to confront who it was because I was …naked.

‘I’m sorry, I saw you leave and thought I would offer you an escort back to your hut, I didn’t mean to impose on your privacy.’ Nik answered, stepping out from behind one of the trees and looking more earnest than I had ever seen him, though his cheeks were tinted red, much to my amusement.

I smiled sincerely and bit my lip to hold back a chuckle. I was definitely going to tease him about this when I got home, but I couldn’t bear myself to do that to him now—this Nik had the desire to be strong and sure of himself but thanks Mikael that belief was none existent. I refused to make him feel anything other than comfortable and confident.

‘I’ll forgive you under one condition.’ I teased light heartedly; my smile grew when I saw him relax a little.

‘What would that be?’ he wondered, his eyes shining with curiosity.

‘Join me.’ I held my breath, suddenly nervous.

‘Are you sure?’ his surprise was clear, but so was his lust.

‘I’m sure.’

The hesitation melted from his gaze and the hunger in his eyes lit my skin alight. He would always have this power over me, no matter what version of him it was. I felt my own gaze darken with desire as I watched him strip, leaving his clothes in a messy pile next to mine. He slowly waded into the water, his gaze never leaving mine and I hoped he could feel how much control he had over me in that moment. He stopped a few inches from me, leaning down so that his head was the only part of him above water, just like me. I gulped and tore my gaze away from his lips; that was when an idea formed in my mind and I grinned. Before he could voice the confusion on his face I bought my hand to the top of his head and dunked him underwater. When he came back up, I couldn’t help but laugh at the surprise on his face and it only grew when he joined in on my amusement. I moved away from him before he could retaliate and I saw the glimmer of challenge in his eyes.

‘Did you just start a game without telling me the rules?’ Nik murmured a smirk on his lips and I felt my heart flutter at the sight.

‘Perhaps.’ I bit my lip and glided further away from him.

‘That doesn’t seem fair to me,’ he pouted making me giggle.

‘Okay how about we make a new game. If I can evade you, you accompany me to the next feast.’ I smiled at the desire on his face.

‘And if I catch you? What do I get then?’

‘That’s up to you.’ I shrugged, the water around me rippled with the movement.

‘You have yourself a deal, Arianna.’ The sound of my name on his lips made me shiver but before I could respond, he inched under water leaving me helpless at seeing where he went.

Deciding not to tap into my supernatural abilities, to make it fair, I swam backwards idly wondering how long he could hold his breath for. I felt something stroke my calf but before he could grab me I yanked it back and swam forward and hopefully away from him. It was unsettling and exciting how he could move through the water as if he weren’t there, he didn’t disturb the surface and without using my supernatural hearing I had no way of knowing where he was. I was basically swimming in random directions, hoping I wouldn’t get caught when I felt a hand firmly grip my wrist. I pulled on the hold and it led to him popping his head up and levelling me with a smug stare that made me smile in spite of myself.

‘How did you hold your breath for that long?’ I asked, a little peeved I’d lost.

‘I’ve been playing a similar game with my siblings for years, love.’ He murmured, standing properly and bringing me with him so our chests were now out of the water, ‘I never lose.’

‘So what is it you want?’ I asked him, shivering as the air hit my wet skin.

‘A kiss.’ He said simply, despite trying to look confident I could detect his nerves.

‘A kiss?’ I smiled and stepped closer.

His hands came to my waist and mine went to his bare chest. I looked up into his eyes and I couldn’t look away from the intensity in them. I knew that he didn’t care for me, and that was okay. I assumed Tatia had rejected him and he wanted someone who wasn’t interested in his brother. I was fine with that person being me, even if it was for the wrong reasons, because I loved him and was willing to take what he was happy to give. So without further hesitation I lifted my lips to his and I kissed him.

As soon as our lips connected it felt like a fuse inside of me exploded, heating my body with pure want. His hands wrapped around me, pulling my body flush against his. My hands went to his long blonde curls and fused his lips closer to mine, deepening the kiss. I felt his growing arousal and dropped my hold to his shoulders and used it as leverage to hoist myself up, wrapping my legs around his waist. I felt goose bumps rise on my skin as his hands went to my ass in order to support my weight. His lips came away from mine and went to my neck; when I heard his sporadic breathing I realised that he needed the air. My back arched when he found the special spot behind my ear and it was then I realised I was being placed onto something solid. My eyes snapped open and I registered that he had placed me on the bank, but the sight of him in between my legs with the stars shining above him was enough for me to not care where I was. I pulled him back to my lips, enjoying the way he groaned when I slipped my tongue into his mouth.

I almost growled when he pulled away but when I saw his earnest gaze, I smothered my frustration.

‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ he whispered and my heart fluttered again.

‘I’m sure.’ I answered instantly.

He smiled and I returned it before he pushed himself inside of me. His head fell to my shoulder as he tried to collect himself and I dug at the earth beneath me, not wanting to break his skin when I knew it wouldn’t heal. His hips moved against mine at a pace that wasn’t too fast or slow, wasn’t too rough or gentle it was perfect. When his blunt teeth bit into the crook of my neck I was done for and falling over the edge whilst whispering his name. He followed closely behind and when he was done he collapsed beside me. We both lay there in silence for a moment, catching our breath. I waited for the regret or guilt to wash over me, but it never happened. I knew that was because this might not have technically been the Nik who loved me, but I loved him more than I could put into words, no matter what version I met. Although that didn’t mean that it didn’t sting knowing all this was to him was a distraction while Tatia went after his brother.

‘You are exquisite.’ Nik murmured so quietly, I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to hear him or not.

I looked over, smiling shyly at the intense way he was looking at me, ‘as are you, Niklaus.’

‘Call me Nik.’ He said softly, caressing the side of my face.

‘Nik, as much as I wish I could stay here with you… I should get back before Katarina sends out a search party.’ I sighed regretfully.

‘When can I see you again?’ He asked, his arm behind his head as he watched me get dressed.

‘You know where I am,’ I sent him a flirty smile over my shoulder before making my way back to Anaya’s hut.

Living with the witch couldn’t be a permanent solution; both Katherine and I knew that. All it would take is one touch for her to realise that we’re not human and potentially what we were sent back here to stop. I would run the idea of building our own hut by Katherine later, but for now we’d have to be careful.

The next day Katherine and I left Anaya to work in peace and went to feed. We repeated the same process as yesterday before making our way to the main part of the village, wondering thorough the crowd and watching how happy and carefree everyone seemed to be. We talked about my suggestion and Katherine agreed that having our own space would be for the best. We managed to gather some supplies, but we still needed the wood for the structure. I offered to chop it down myself but Katherine pointed out how odd that would be seeing as men generally did the heavy lifting in this time—we would have to ask for help. She ended up corralling a few of her admirers and getting them to do it for us. I was surprised that we didn’t have to use compulsion, but Katherine told me that they were more than likely getting a few favours in for us in case they decided to court one of us. The thought of that made me cringe, but otherwise I didn’t comment.

The hut was finished within three days and after telling Anaya about it she assured us that if anyone asked she would explain that we were her acquaintances. In that time, we didn’t see any of the Mikaelsons, well except for Kol. He came to us a few times as we watched the men work, complaining about his father refusing to let him practice witchcraft and pushing him into fighting like his other brothers. After venting he was back to his usual self, joking around, flirting and telling us about teasing his brothers and sister. Katherine and I were more than a little disappointed that a certain couple of Mikaelson’s didn’t come to see us, but then again we weren’t all that surprised. I may have had an incredible night with Nik, but I knew at the time I was just a distraction from Tatia wondering over to Elijah. And if I hadn’t realised it then, I would have now, thanks to the radio silence.

‘I can’t believe they’re both chasing after that tramp.’ Katherine grumbled from her stool.

‘We only got here a few days ago and they’ve spoken to us once. They’ve been obsessed with her for a lot longer, Katy.’ I told her, my voice a mixture of amused and annoyed.

‘How much longer?’ she rested her chin on her balled up fist.

‘A thousand years, give or take.’ I chuckled when she glared at me, but after a moment she relented and let out a small laugh.

‘Well what are we supposed—,’ her question was drowned out by the sound of a blood curdling scream.

I didn’t even think about it and I was out of the door before Katherine could finish shouting my name. It was coming from the Mikaelson’s hut and it wasn’t letting up. My supernatural hearing made it echo in my ears and vibrate in my bones. I needed it to stop.

‘Arianna?’ I looked up to see Elijah walking over to me with Kol beside him.

Both of their expressions were wrinkled with pain as if they were suffering with Nik.

‘What’s happening?’ I whispered, already knowing the answer.

‘Niklaus—he—,’ Elijah seemed to be struggling for words and the scream that cut through the air made my temper flare up.

‘He’s being punished by our father.’ Kol said blankly, but I could read the worry in his eyes.

‘We need to stop him.’ I took a step forward but Elijah gripped my wrist and pulled me to a standstill.

‘I do not think that is wise—,’ his jaw snapped shut when I yanked my arm out of his hold.

‘You might be content to stand here and listen to this, Elijah, but I’m not.’ I growled, fighting to keep my vampire face at bay.

‘I’ll help you.’ I felt some of the tension ease out of my shoulders at the sound of Katherine’s voice.

‘I’ll compel one of the villagers to be looking for Mikael. You just need to tell him that he’s needed to discuss a hunting trip.’ She whispered in my ear, preventing Kol and Elijah from overhearing.

I nodded and winced as another scream cut through the air. Katherine turned and ran at human speed until she was out of sight, then I heard the whoosh that assured me her task would soon be complete.

‘Kol go to Anaya and ask her for herbs for pain and a salve for healing.’ I said, pleased when he nodded and ran straight away, ‘when I tell Ester Mikael is needed, I need you to distract her so I can get him back to my hut. Can you do that?’ I couldn’t have kept my hatred towards Elijah out of my tone if I tried.

‘Yes.’ He nodded solemnly, retreating out of sight as I walked up to the door and knocked.

I managed to control my expression so I appeared friendly rather than disdainful when Ester opened the door. Her indifferent expression only added to my anger and wasn’t helping me keep up the charade.

‘Hello, how can I help you?’ she asked, looking me over critically.

‘A man from the village, he was looking for Mikael. I was told he would be here?’ I murmured, knowing anything louder would reveal my fury.

‘He is. Do you know what it is about?’ she glanced in the direction of the screaming, but the casualness behind it made me want to slap her. It was as if she was just checking on her children playing rather than if her husband was still torturing her child.

‘Something about hunting. It sounded urgent.’ I said, stepping back and gesturing over my shoulder, ‘I should get back.’

‘Of course. Thank you for the message.’ Ester yelled after me but she didn’t look in my direction.

I hid behind a nearby tree and waited. The screaming stopped a moment later and Mikael came storming from the hut, looking murderous but determined. I nodded to Elijah and he entered the house next, leaving with Ester. I didn’t know what he said to get her out of the house, but I didn’t care. As soon as my hearing assured me that everyone was far enough away I flashed to the back of the house and walked into the outhouse. I breathed a small sigh of relief that I didn’t need an invitation but my breath left me at the sight I walked in on. Nik was kneeling on the ground with his back to me, revealing the long and deep gashes in his flesh. My hatred towards Mikael grew even more, reaching a completely new level that I couldn’t even begin to put into words. But I pushed it to the back of my mind for the moment and went to kneel beside him, my hand gently enveloping his. When I felt the tremors I rubbed my thumb back and forth comfortingly.

‘Arianna,’ he whispered, tears in his eyes. I offered him a shaky smile and felt my own tears spill over when he looked away from my gaze, ashamed.

‘We need to get you out of here, okay?’ I said gently grabbing his forearm and lifting him to stand. He wobbled a little so I reached out and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, but was mindful not to wrap my arm around his waist.

‘What are you doing?’ he murmured, his voice weak.

‘You’re going to be okay.’ I told him, walking out of the outhouse and groaning when he passed out from the pain. After I made sure no one was looking, I threw him over my shoulder and flashed to my hut. I gently laid him on the bed so that he was lying on his stomach, and tilted his face to the side to assure he could breathe. My hands tenderly moved through his hair, pulling it away from his face. After taking a breath, I looked again at the gashes on his back, my blood boiling all over again but when he winced, it faded into concern just as fast. I wished I could take his pain and I thought about giving him my blood, but I knew I couldn’t. At least not from my wrist. An idea formed in my mind as Kol and Katherine came rushing into the hut. Kol handed me the salve and pain treatments before taking a seat at our table with Katy, trying not to look at the wounds on his brother’s back.

‘Thank you.’ I smiled softly, kneeling back by Klaus and applying the salve to his skin.

‘Shouldn’t I be thanking you?’ Kol murmured. I didn’t turn to face him, continuing with my task and hoping that it was making a difference.

‘You don’t need to,’ I assured him and I was grateful when Katherine distracted him with idle chatter, preventing him from asking questions I couldn’t answer.

I was just adding the last of the salve, having liberally covered every inch of his back, when Klaus started to stir. He groaned a little and I stopped him from moving with a gentle hand on his shoulder.

‘Easy, I still need to cover them up.’ I said, avoiding his inquisitive gaze as I covered up his back with some loose cloth seeing as bandages weren’t a thing in the tenth century.

‘Okay you can sit up now.’ I told him, wincing as he cried out from the pain.

I grabbed the tea Anaya had sent over—it was supposed to help with pain and I figured it could help with healing as well. Discretely, I bit into the tip of my index finger and allowed a few drops to spill into the wooden cup. I wiped the blood on my dress and helped him drink all of the tea.

‘What happened?’ he croaked out when he had finished drinking, clearly not familiar with his surroundings.

‘Father was punishing you again.’ Kol told him, looking over to his brother with tears in his eyes, ‘Katarina and Arianna were able to create a distraction to get you out.’

‘Thank you.’ His voice cracked and I took his cup and refilled it with water.

‘Don’t thank me yet.’ I passed him his drink and started pacing—now I knew he was okay, well as okay as he could be, my rage was simmering again.

‘Arianna.’ Katherine’s voice was firm but I didn’t spare her a glance.

‘What’s wrong with her?’ Kol asked.

‘She’s angry, if she doesn’t get control of it soon…’ She trailed off, already knowing how I would react. How I always reacted when someone hurt the man I loved.

‘I’m going to kill him.’ I growled, fighting to keep my vampire face under control.

For once, Kol didn’t have anything sarcastic to say. His eyes widened, his jaw slacked and his eyebrows rose to his hairline. He looked shocked. Under any other circumstances I would have laughed, but I was beyond pissed off.

‘You know you can’t do that.’ Katherine said calmly, standing from her seat and standing in front of me, bringing my pacing to a halt.

‘Why not?’ I huffed.

She just gave me a look that made me roll my eyes, only making my annoyance grow even more.

‘Father will kill you if you try to oppose him. Especially if it is on Niklaus’ behalf.’ Kol said, almost flinching at the bitter laugh that escaped my mouth.

‘Believe me, he won’t know what hit him.’ No one missed the promise behind my words, and just before I was about to bolt for the door, someone grabbed my wrist.

The touch came from the only person who could make the anger inside of me dissipate, at least for the time being. My gaze snapped over to Nik’s and I was entranced by the gratitude and vulnerability I could see shining in his eyes. He tugged my wrist lightly and when I realised what he was trying to do I sat beside him.

‘I appreciate you wanting to defend my honour, love.’ He murmured, his hand releasing my wrist and brushing my hair back from my face, ‘but I won’t allow you to do this. My father cannot know about your involvement or he will come for you.’

‘I hope he does.’ I spat, my flare of hatred fading as he caressed my cheek.

‘Promise me you won’t make any moves against him, Arianna.’ He whispered, his forehead resting against mine.

I wanted to ask him why he cared. If he would mourn me if Mikael did kill me for going after him. But the doppelgänger’s place in his life stopped me from asking the questions out loud; I was afraid of the answer. So I simply nodded, silently promising him that I wouldn’t interfere.

He stared into my eyes for a few more moments, most likely making sure I was being honest before he also nodded, apparently content with my response. He placed a tender kiss to my forehead before Kol and Katherine interrupted the moment. I hadn’t even noticed they had stepped out.

‘Are we attending the feast?’ Kol asked, grinning cheekily at the moment he had walked in on.

I rolled my eyes, ‘I’m not interested.’

‘I’m going. I have a few choice words for Elijah that I would like him to hear.’ Katherine said, casually studying her fingernails.

‘I don’t wish to go either.’ Nik responded, taking another sip of his water.

‘Well I’m going, the promise of drama is too sweet to ignore.’ Kol rubbed his hands together happily and chuckled when we all rolled our eyes, not put out by his response.

After a hug from Katherine and Kol, they departed and headed for the village. For a brief moment it was almost as if we weren’t in a different time. The sounds of Kol and Katherine laughing and joking while Nik and I sat in comfortable silence soothed me. My heart yearned to hear Rebekah join in and for Elijah and Marcel to try and play peacemakers. Nik would drop sarcastic one-liners that would add fuel to the fire just as it was about to be put out. Elijah and Marcel would send him a look of exasperation and my love would just smirk and sit back, watching the bickering’s with amusement. Of course it was never over anything serious. Once there had been a two-hour argument over why the twenties were much better than the nineties. No joke.

‘What are you thinking about, love?’ Nik asked, breaking me out of my daze.

I cleared my throat, ‘nothing. How is your back?’

‘Surprisingly it feels fine. The salve and tea are working beautifully.’ He smiled softly, ‘thank you.’

‘It’s Anaya you should thank,’ I shrugged, standing and not knowing what to do with myself.

There would normally be a million things I could do to occupy myself. Read, binge watch a new show, listen to music, go shopping, scroll through my phone… obviously those options weren’t available here.

‘You know what I’m referring to, love.’ He insisted his gaze was burning into my skin as he observed me, not missing a thing.

‘Don’t mention it.’ I forced a smile and busied myself with folding the clothes I had pulled in from the line not an hour ago. I needed him to stop mentioning it because he was making it harder for me to keep my promise with his constant desire to remind me.

I glanced up when I didn’t receive a reply and smiled softly when I saw his eyelids drooping. I gently took the cup from his hands and corralled him into lying back down; I pulled the covers up over him and caressed the side of his face before pulling away. The closer I got to him, the harder it was getting to keep the truth from him. What was I going to do?

#klaus mikaelson imagine #klaus mikaelson #klaus mikaelson x oc #katherine pierce x elijah mikaelson #katherine petrova x elijah mikaelson #kol mikaelson #elijah mikaelson #rebekah mikaelson #the vampire diaries #the originals

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etherealwaifgoddess · 5 years

Text

The Magical Healing Powers of Hot Cocoa

Main Characters: Loki x Read

Summary: After stealing the tesseract in Endgame Loki finds himself trying to figure out what he wants to do with the rest of his life. He's lost and reeling until he meets you (and your daughter) and suddenly he knows exactly what he wants in his life.

Warnings/ Content: Angst if you squint but primarily it’s just sweet fluff here!

Word Count: 10,376

Author’s Note: This fic was written for Sherry’s Fall Into You Challenge. I snagged prompt #14 which was “Drinking Hot Chocolate”. Hopefully @sherrybaby14 will forgive me for calling it cocoa, I had the whole thing written out when I reread my actual prompt! I had so much fun writing this and it went on for much longer than I expected it to. I just love the idea of Loki finding happiness after so many years of struggling. I also have it up over AO3 since I know it can be easier to read something this long over on their platform. Thank you all for reading and a huge thank you for @sherrybaby14 for hosting this super fun challenge!

XOXO - Ash

The Magical Healing Powers of Hot Cocoa

Part One

Loki watched as the tesseract fell from its case and slid across the marble floor to his feet. There was no time to think, everyone was distracted by Tony Stark collapsed on the floor. Loki knew of the power of the tesseract but had never used it to transport himself before. Grasping the glowing cube in his hands he desperately pulled at his seidr and with a burst of light found himself on the fifth floor of the building. Loki was shaking, his breaths coming in large gasps; he was free. Loki could hear the crackle of a Comm Unit and located the receiver docked at an abandoned desk.

“Loki is on the fourteenth floor.” the voice of Steve Rogers called out of the device.

Interesting, Loki thought to himself. He couldn’t resist investigating, he knew he was too curious by nature but he followed his instincts and crept silently up to the fourteenth floor where he found Steve Rogers fighting Steve Rogers. It was quite a sight and Loki stared at the scene in disbelief. The imposter was certainly not their Captain America but it begged to question, who was it? Loki stared at the second Steve with curiosity, he wondered how this second man had come to be and when he raced off after leaving their Steve unconscious Loki chose to follow him. There was nothing keeping him around and he loathed the idea of being captured by his brother again.

Quiet as a ghost, Loki wrapped himself in seidr and followed this new Steve out of the building and into an ally where he was met by an older looking Tony Stark and a younger, very confused looking man in the same style suit as theirs. Loki was irked as Steve handed the younger man his scepter but he wasn’t willing to make his presence known. After a heated conversation Tony and Steve started pressing buttons on a device they both wore on their wrists. Loki didn’t hesitate when he saw the air around their bodies shift, he grasped onto Steve’s arm and was hurtled through time and space with them. A moment later, Loki found himself standing in a military base many decades in the past along with Tony and Steve.

Loki released Steve’s arm, he might be cloaked from view but he couldn’t risk the captain feeling his touch by accident. It wasn’t easy following the two around the base and several times Loki doubted his own sanity for even attempting this fools mission. But he wanted to see what the men were doing and what they were taking from this place. Loki was ready when they started tapping away at their wrist devices again and he placed a tentative hand on Tony’s back. Just as before, he was pulled along with them.

Loki looked around the compound, unable to place himself in time. Tony and Steve were speaking animatedly with a sobbing Clint, and an assembled group of others all wearing the same suits. Loki silently moved away from the raised platform they’d landed on. He walked around inspecting the room and strained to see if he could recognize anyone else in the group. The moment his eyes locked on Thor he felt the wind knocked out of him. Surely this was another universe, it would take an impossibly cruel world to have ruined his shining god of a brother. Loki fled, unsure where was going or really, where he was.

Loki eventually found himself in an empty office filled with computers and he pulled up the date as quickly as he could. It was 2023, eleven years in the future from his time. Loki knew the last eleven years must have been rough on the Avengers and he needed to know what had happened. Pulling up files and reports from the main drive Loki downloaded as much as he could onto the laptop. Reports and files and photos whizzed past on the screen and one in particular caught his eye; Loki (Laufeyson) Odinson - Death Record. Loki clicked open the file and began reading the report. His head swam with the information. Killed, at Thanos’ hand, on a ship back to Earth with the remaining Asgardians after they caused Ragnarock to stop his tyrannical sister. Loki was on the verge of breaking down, his mind reeling trying to make sense of all this new information and the strange future around him. He feared in his distress that the cloaking of his seidr would fail him.

Pulling himself together, Loki knew he needed to get the hell out of wherever he was, but he also needed to know what kind of world he was walking out into. Loki rifled through the desks while he waited, looking for anything that could be useful to him. Pushing past stacks of paper he found a granola bar, a bottle of Pepsi, and a key to a safe. Loki quickly scanned the room, desperate to locate the safe before his time was up. The glint of a lock caught his eye on the bottom of one of the desks and the key slid it in with a click. Nothing too exciting inside, mostly paperwork, but there was also a thick envelope with $5,000 cash. Loki thanked the Norns, it was enough to keep him going for a bit. After several tense minutes the downloads were complete and Loki grabbed the slim black laptop off it’s dock. Cursing himself, Loki doubled back to grab the charging cable and then bolted from the room.

Loki hurried off the compound grounds and began walking down the street to wherever it would lead. Part of him wanted to just hop back to 2012 but he wasn’t sure how to go about that, even if he managed to get his hands on one of those wrist devices. And if he did go back, he was a wanted man whose death he had already seen. Loki made a decision not to go anywhere else in time until he had learned what missteps he took that lead to his untimely demise. Maybe once he knew, he could go back and do it all over, save his brother and his people. Wouldn’t that surprise them all, he mused as he walked.

Eventually Loki realized he needed to get out of wherever here was so that he couldn’t be accidentally spotted by one of the pesky Avengers or their allies. So using the tesseracts powers Loki jumped through space to the only place he could think of: New York City.

Part Two

The city was bustling, a sea of people flooding past the entrance to the alley Loki materialized in. Perfect cover for someone trying to disappear and stay hidden, he thought. Loki swept his seidr over himself, changing out of his beloved Asgardian clothes and into what he hoped would pass as an “Average Joe”. He hated the idea of being considered some common Midgardian but he needed to blend in. He materialized fitted black jeans, an emerald green tee, and black boots for himself hoping it was adequately innocuous. The October chill was more prominent in the city and Loki enjoyed the cool air nipping at his skin. He pulled his silky black hair back in low bun and then joined the sea of passing people.

After a few blocks he spotted a diner advertising free Wifi and Loki figured that was as good as he was going to find until he could procure a hotel room for the night. The scent of french fry grease hit him as he entered and he wrinkled his nose at it. But it was warm inside and the sun would be setting soon. It was better than nothing for now and he needed sustenance.

“Grab a seat anywhere.” you call out in an overly cheerful voice, not looking up from the mug you’re filling with coffee. You are eight hours into a twelve hour shift and are desperately ready for the dinner rush to die down a little so you can grab yourself a bite to eat. You see out of the corner of your eye a single figure take the farthest seat down at the counter next to the wall. You hate when people camp out at the very last seat along the counter, it makes it harder to keep an eye on everyone when they’re scattered. Still easier than being stuck waiting on the booths though.

Loki settles in at the farthest seat away from the people at the counter, thankful for the wall on one side of him and praying no one dares to occupy the seat to his left. He needs privacy so he can look through the files he’d downloaded without horrifying some nosy Midgardian. Loki opens up the lid of the laptop and sets it out in front of him on the counter, hoping it makes his intention to not be disturbed clear.

You swing down a minute later, order pad in hand. “Can I get you something to drink?” you ask, pen poised and ready.

Loki barely looks up from his screen other than to acknowledge that someone is present, “What type of tea do you have?” he asks.

The smooth, rich timber of his voice has you lifting your head. It’s accented, but you can’t quite place it’s origin. Possibly English but it’s refined, elegant, and somehow it brings to mind the legends of King Arthur and Lancelot. “We have plain Lipton. Or decaf.” you tell him. You hadn’t really taken note of him when he walked in but you realize he’s actually quite attractive after taking a moment to study him. His shiny blue-black hair looks impossibly soft, his skin porcelain pale, his body lithe but with broad shoulders and lean muscles. He’s far from your standard weeknight patrons. He has to be a model or actor of some sort.

Loki purses his lips in disapproval, “Coffee, then.”

“Coming right up.” You barely suppress your eye roll at his distaste for the tea choices. It’s a diner, what does this guy expect? But fancy voice most likely means fancy tastes, and hopefully for you a nice big tip. You dash back down with a mug of fresh coffee and a menu, depositing both next to him without interrupting whatever he’s working on.

Loki is engrossed in the files he downloaded. He sifts through the last decade of the world and it isn’t painting a pretty picture. As much as it pains him to admit it, his heart aches at the deaths of Odin and Frigga, the only parents he’d ever known, as well as for the destruction of Asgard. The details of Thor’s slide into despair and self loathing over the past five years are particularly painful as well. It is a bleak future for everyone and he’s planning how he can prevent it when he notices a file on the multiverse. There is no changing what happened in this reality, just as there is no way to go back and change the course of the one he came from at this point.

Loki hangs his head, defeated in a way that he rarely allows himself to feel. He notices the mug of coffee and takes a tentative sip. It’s dark and bitter but not as terrible as he’d expected. It’s cool at this point so he pulses a little seidr into the drink warming it back up. He lets the mug warm his hands, needing a moment to collect himself. He’s trying to work out what to do next, where to go. Loki has always been a planner, ensuring he is two steps ahead of everyone else, but now... he’s lost. It’s an uncomfortable feeling and one he has no intention of becoming well acquainted with.

You start and stop a few times to return to the end of the counter to check on your solitary customer. The pained expression he wears stops you in your tracks each time. He is clearly going through something and you don’t want to pester him. You are about to head down again when your daughter tugs on your apron hem. “Mama,” she says as she pulls. “Pleeease make me hot cocoa?”

You stare down into your daughter’s eyes and she gives you her very best behaved smile. You sigh, at least she has been keeping herself busy at the counter with her coloring book and not causing any trouble for you or the owner whose office she had taken over earlier in the day. “Okay, Lilly-pad. One hot cocoa, coming up.” you give her thin shoulder a squeeze and head back to make it yourself.

You had been so fortunate to find this job after your fiance and Lilly’s father, Max, disappeared. The owner, Beth, adores you both and lets you be flexible with your schedule to ensure you have childcare for Lilly. Though now that she is getting older she enjoys hanging out at the diner while you work and Beth enjoys having her there too. Max had gone missing the day of The Decimation, his name added to those of the lost. You went from a mostly happy fiance and stay at home mom to a single working mom, and it had been a rough adjustment. Lilly was only a few months old when it happened and you’d had taken the first job you came across, desperate for any income you could get. A year later you found out through a friend that Max was alive and well, living the bachelor life in New Jersey. He’d seen what was going on and took it as his chance to run. You knew Lilly hadn’t been planned, and sure, Max probably wasn’t your soulmate, but you had been happy once and it broke your heart all over again that he’d run out on you. But in the end you had Lilly and she was the absolute best thing you had ever done.

Tearing yourself from wallowing, you return to your daughter with her cocoa.

Lilly squeals as you hand her the mug and wiggles happily in her seat. “Thanks mama.” she grins. You notice a new couple has come in and you hurry over to greet them, “Be good Lilly-pad.” you remind her.

Loki is scrolling through photos of Thano’s destruction on other planets prior to what is being called The Decimation. Thanos was ruthless and Loki wishes he hadn’t fallen for the tyrants promises in his bid to take over Midgard. Loki is so deep in thought that he doesn’t hear the approaching pitter-patter of little feet. A small hand reaches out and pokes his arm, causing him to jump, startled. The child jumps too, sloshing a mug of something in her hand and making a small squeak sound. Loki had intended to tell the intruder off but as he looks down at her the words caught in his throat. She is a tiny, almost frail, little girl with long onyx hair and bright emerald eyes. It’s like another universe had opened up and spat out a child of his own creation. He has no words and finds himself just staring at her, inquisitively.

“My mama gives me cocoa when I’m sad. Cocoa is good for sad. I brought you some.” Lilly tells him as matter of factly as a five year old can.

Loki smirks despite himself, intuitive little Midgardian. “And why do you think I’m sad, little one?” he asks, genuinely curious.

“You looked sad. I watched you for a while. I like your hair, it’s like mine.”

Loki nods, “Indeed it is. And where is your mama?” He looks around, shocked anyone would just let their child take a beverage over to a stranger.

Lilly points over to you where you are taking two sodas to your new customers.

Loki stares for a moment. He hadn’t really looked at you since he’d sat down and now he wishes he had. You don’t share your daughters features but he pauses for a moment to take you in. He couldn’t have picked you out of a line up before but now; now he is absolutely entranced. The tendrils of hair escaping your bun to float around your face, the way you smile wide and disarmingly with apparent ease, the rounded curves of your body beneath your pale blue work uniform. Shaking himself a little, he returns his focus to the child who is still holding out a mug in his direction. “Thank you, little one.” he says as graciously as he can while taking the cup from her small hands.

“My name’s Lilly.” she announces.

Lilly hops up on the seat to the left of Loki and he is more amused than annoyed with his visitor. Children never took to him like they did to his brother. Back on Asgard Thor loved when the children visited the palace, he played with them endlessly as if he were a giant child himself. Which he sort of was, Loki muses. It wasn’t that Loki wasn’t fond of them, he just wasn’t as approachable as his oafish brother. This one though, this one looks at him like he’s her best friend.

“Hello Lilly. My name is Loki.” He extends a hand which she shakes dutifully and he suppresses a chuckle.

“Don’t you like cocoa?” She points to the cup he’d sat down on the counter in front of him.

“I’ve never had it before. Shall I try it?”

Lilly nods rapidly.

“Alright then, let’s see about this.” Loki eyes the cup as he brings it to his lips. It‘s blatantly some form of child’s beverage and he steels himself to politely pass it back to her after an obligatory sip. That is until the taste of sweet, creamy, chocolate hits his tongue. Loki’s eyes widen despite himself and his tentative sip becomes a long gulp. He would never admit to something so undignified but Loki has a serious sweet tooth, one he painstakingly ignores most of the time. Growing up, everyone thought it was only Thor based on the way he had sought out sweets at every opportunity but it was actually the pair of them. Loki just prefers to be a little more dignified about it. “This is perfect, little one. Thank you. Would you like the rest?” Loki wants to bolt down the rest of the drink but he reigns himself in as always.

Lilly shakes her head, “No, mama will make me a new one. That’s yours.”

“Only if you are certain.” Loki takes another sip, feeling the sugar hit his empty stomach, and he represses a shudder of delight.

“Yeah. It s’okay. Be right back Mr. Loki!”

Loki watches, still amused, as she jumps down and runs off, pulling at her mother’s apron and whispering excitedly.

Your daughter is normally pretty outgoing so it isn’t a surprise that she’s made a new “friend” while you work. Lilly rapidly tells you about her new friend who she got the cocoa for and now she needs a new one for herself. She points down the counter and you follow her finger to the dark haired man at the end. You’re stunned. One that she was so perceptive that something was upsetting him, and two that he had indulged her intrusion. You quickly make a new cup for Lilly and follow her down to the end of the counter.

Loki takes the cocoa from Lilly’s hand, setting it down so she can scramble up onto the stool again. He notices you came down too and he worries for a moment that you are not comfortable with your daughter drinking cocoa with him. Parents are protective of their children and he respects that, but he also needs the momentary distraction as his brain fights to process everything he has learned in the past few hours. “She just came running up with the cocoa. I’ll pay for it, just add it to my check.” Loki tells you in a rush.

You lips quirk in a half smile at his earnestness. He doesn’t seem harmful, a little tired maybe, but no alarm bells are going off in your head. You’ll only be a few feet away at all times anyway. “I’m sure she did, she’s a rascal. If you’d rather get back to work though, she has plenty of coloring books she can go back to.” you offer.

“No, it’s fine. I needed a break.” He assures you. Now that the sugar is hitting his system Loki realizes he is ravenous. He turns to face Lilly who is licking the whipped cream off the top of her mug as it sits on the counter. “I should probably get something to eat though. Lilly, what’s the best thing on the menu?”

Lilly squints, her little brow furrowing as she thinks. “Grilled cheese.” she finally announces.

“Well, that’s something else I’ve never tried. I’m going to trust you again, little one.” Loki turns back to you, “A grilled cheese. Please.” the ‘please’ is hastily added, like he isn’t used to pleasantries and you hold back a smile at the thought that he’d at least tried.

“Never had cocoa or grilled cheese, huh? What planet did you grow up on?” you tease lightly as you write it down on your pad.

Loki, who is already painfully pale, actually blanches a little. He regains his composure quickly, “Strict parents.” he mumbles and takes another sip of his cocoa.

“My mom is strict too. She makes me go to bed at seven thirty.” Lilly interjects dramatically.

“What horrors.” Loki feigns shock, holding a hand to his chest, “You should at least be able to stay up until midnight by now.”

Lilly giggles, “Mama, I like him.”

You shake your head at both of their antics and head back to the kitchen to drop off his order.

It turns out Loki is just as impressed with the grilled cheese as the cocoa. He’s starting to wonder what else he has missed out on Midgard. You linger longer and longer each trip down as the diner quiets for the evening. Lilly drags her coloring books over to show Loki her latest creations which he admires with all the seriousness of an art critic at The Met. He is so patient and kind, your heart aches a little watching them.

Eventually Lilly’s little yawns became big ones and you know it’s time to get her settled on the makeshift cot in the back office to sleep until the end of your shift.

“I’m fine mama.” She grumbles fiercely, overtired and not willing to leave her new friend.

“Now Lilly, you need to listen to your mama. It’s far past seven thirty already.” Loki shoots you a sympathetic look. He had never tried using an authoritative voice on a child before and he hopes it was convincing.

Lilly’s bottom lip quivers and for a moment, Loki is ready to say the hell with bedtimes. “But I go to sleep and never see you again. Ever.”

“Perhaps not, little one. You never know. I like the cocoa here an awful lot. I might come back again.”

“You come back tomorrow?” she looks up at him hopefully.

Loki knows it’s stupid but he’s nodding before his brain can catch up. “Absolutely.”

You scowl at him and he wonders what transgression he could have made. “Come on, Lilly-pad. Let’s go.”

Lilly throws her arms around Loki and he gives her a soft pat on the back, unaccustomed to such affections. “Night Mr. Loki.” she says through a yawn as you usher her into the back.

Loki is burying himself back into the files when you come back out. You stand, arms crossed, glaring daggers at him. He actually recoils in surprise when he sees you.

You’re fine with him being sweet to your daughter, who couldn’t be when she gives you that wide smile of hers, but someone lying to your little girl just rubs you the wrong way. “You shouldn’t have gotten her hopes up like that.” you all but growl at him. Yes, you have a mama bear streak in you and you aren’t ashamed of it.

“I beg your pardon?” Loki can’t understand why coming back is a bad thing when Lilly had looked at him with such innocent hopefulness.

“She’s going to be expecting you tomorrow and when you don’t show I’m going to have to deal with the fall out. It was a dick move.”

Loki’s eyebrows shoot up. He’s been called many things over the past fifteen hundred years, but never a dick. “Who says I won’t be here tomorrow?” he challenges.

You roll your eyes blatantly at him. “Let’s see...” you begin. You’re exhausted and don’t give a shit about a big tip anymore. “You’re not a local, you’ve never had something as common as a grilled cheese or cocoa so clearly you don’t frequent diners, fancy accent, fancy clothes, fancy computer, all still indicating this isn’t your typical hang out place…” You are cut off by Loki’s deep, belly laugh which just makes you scowl harder.

“I’m sorry.” he desperately fights to compose himself. He hates that he’d lost his composure at all. “Sorry, really. I’m not used to that level of honesty. It was… fascinating.”

You blush, realizing how far you had overstepped. He had spent most of the evening placating your daughter and had been nothing but friendly towards you since Lilly took him the cocoa. “No, I’m sorry. I get a little mama bear crazy about people lying to my kid. Her father…” you trail off, “Sorry, again. You don’t need to hear about that. I should be thanking you for keeping her occupied all night.”

“It was no trouble.” Loki says quickly, “She’s charming, really. And I don’t know how much longer your shift is, but I have time to listen. It’s not like you’re packed in here.”

You look around, it’s down to just him and the other waitress is hanging out in the back with the cook. You sigh. He looks genuinely interested and sometimes it’s easier to talk to a complete stranger than your friends, even about the tough stuff. You start out slowly, the story of Max and how you’d come to be a single mom unfolding with practiced calmness. You keep your voice even, refusing to let it come out as a sob story.

Loki listens attentively, his hands steepled under his chin as he leans forward on the counter. He can feel the tension radiating from you and he admires how controlled you keep yourself despite how horrible what you’d gone through was.

“So,” you conclude, “that’s why I had a problem with you promising to come back tomorrow.”

Loki nods sagely. “I feel like ‘sorry’ would be a little trite. But please know that it is my desperate hope that this Max fellow meets a very unpleasant end. Sooner, rather than later.”

The way he says it with a mischievous smirk makes your stomach flip. “You and I both.”

“You’re wrong about tomorrow though.” he adds, the smirk still in place.

“Oh really?” you push, leaning across the counter towards him.

“Yes, really. I do not break my word. I promised I would be back tomorrow and I will be. Right here.”

“Why?” the word is out of your mouth before you can stop it.

Loki’s smirk widens to an almost grin. He’s enjoying your company more than he’d like to admit. You aren’t afraid of him, you have a backbone to you, your bottom lip is distractingly full, and you make him think of his favorite statue in his mother’s garden growing up. He’d spent a lot of time as a boy staring at that statue and you are the living embodiment of it. It took him a moment to make the connection but once he did, it was all he could see. He remembers that you’d asked him a question and forces himself to answer, “As I said, I do not break my word.”

“That easy, huh? You don’t have anywhere better to be tomorrow than coming back here? You don’t even know what time my shift is.”

“I’m going to be staying around here, I know the food is palatable, and there’s free WiFi. Though the service is a little cheeky.”

You laugh, “Cheeky? That’s a new one.”

“Oh, I can think of all sorts of adjectives if you’d like to hear them.” Loki’s tone is bordering on predatory, thrumming with an undercurrent of dark, salacious promises.

Your pulse quickens and Loki doesn’t miss the way your pupils dilate and your breathing hitches for a moment. You swallow your nerves down and square your shoulders, forcing yourself to not get swept up in where the conversation is threatening to go. “So you’re staying around here?” you ask, regaining your balance.

Loki looks almost disappointed but he pulls himself upright, no longer leaning over the counter, and smoothes his t-shirt. “I don’t know just yet. I figured I would check online to see what was around that I could afford.”

“There’s a new boutique hotel about four blocks over. It’s a little hipster-ish but I’ve heard good things.”

“I just need a bed at this point. I’ll worry about something more suitable tomorrow.”

“Then head out to the right, go left at the intersection and then down three blocks. It’ll be on your right, The Hideaway.”

“The Hideaway. Got it.”

“You ready for your check, then?” you’re a little disappointed he’s leaving but it’s lessened knowing he’ll be back tomorrow.

“How much later is your shift?”

“Another hour but-”

“I have an hour to kill.” Loki’s smirk returns and damned if it doesn’t do things to your insides.

Your lips curl up with a smirk of your own and you shake your head at him. He is certainly a charmer. The conversation flows easily and despite your best efforts to learn more about him, he consistently turns the conversation back on you. You’re floored when the other waitress comes in for her shift announcing you’re free to go.

Loki frowns at the intrusion of the other waitress. “I guess I’ll be going as well.” he says packing up his laptop.

You hand him his bill from the pad in your pocket and he flips down a twenty without looking at it.

The bill was barely over $6.

“Let me get your change.” you go to head down to the cash register but his hand slips over yours, stopping your movement.

“No need. Keep it. A thank you for making this night a little less lonely.” Loki releases your hand, trying to reign himself in. He picks up the laptop and is heading out when he hears you call after him.

“I have the dinner shift tomorrow.” you call out, realizing you had forgotten to tell him.

“What time?”

“Three to eleven.”

“I’ll be here.” he promises.

Your smile is wide enough that the other waitress, Mara notices, “Who was that?” she teases you lightly.

“Just some guy. New to the neighborhood.” you play it off as casually as you can.

“Yeah, sure. And that’s why you two were making eyes at each other.”

You snort at her comment, “You’re delusional. I don’t date, Mara.”

“Who said anything about dating? He’s gorgeous and clearly wants to see you again.”

“Nope! Not having this discussion. I have a five year to get home.”

“Fine, good night.”

“Night.” you head back to collect Lilly who is sleeping heavily on the cot in the office. You’re thankful she’s a sound sleeper as you pick her up and head down the two blocks to your little third floor walk up. After you settle your sleeping daughter in to her own bed you make yourself a cup of tea and collapse onto your sofa. You try to focus on the show you put on but your mind keeps wandering back to Loki, wondering if he found the hotel easily and if was settling in okay.

A few blocks away Loki has found the hotel and is getting checked in to his room. He materializes a Midgardian drivers license, falling back on an old alias and paying cash despite their supposed credit card policy. It’s amazing what flashing around several large bills can do. Loki scans the room and finds it to be clean but very small. He misses the palace he grew up in for a moment but reminds himself Asgard is no more and he is just lucky to be alive in this world. He lets out a bitter chuckle as he sits down on the edge of the bed, with no one around to put on airs for he finds no need for the grandeur he usually surrounds himself with.

Loki tries to get comfortable on the overly stuffed mattress but tosses around futilely. It isn’t the mattress, it’s the spinning of his own mind. He’s still coming to grips with the world he has found himself in. The memory of the way your eyes flashed when you were chastising him earlier in the evening keeps fluttering across his mind. It’s quickly accompanied by the feel of your soft skin beneath his fingers and the sound of your voice. Loki knows better than to make any acquaintances until he figures out his next moves. He promises himself tomorrow he will make plans and stop in to the diner to visit and say goodbye properly. Loki finally gives up on sleep, materializing a book to read until exhaustion finally wins out.

Part Three

The next morning Loki wakes late, it’s almost noon by the time he’s heading out from the hotel. He materializes new clothes for himself and goes to a nextdoor coffee shop for something to help wake himself up. The shop is busy, people bustling around, many of them crying or holding on to each other. Loki can sense something is off with what should be a normal weekday morning. He looks at the flat screen TV in the corner where people are crowded around watching the news broadcast. There are images of people spontaneously appearing all around the world and flashes of pictures of the Avengers, including his brother. Loki watches along with the crowd as the anchorman explains what is being called The Blip. Thor and his friends had done it. They had managed to undo the horror that Thanos had inflicted upon the universe and from what the news is saying they are reporting no casualties at this time. Loki feels a swell of pride for his brother, the golden god had triumphed again in the end. He knows he will have to pop back to the Avengers compound and visit Thor eventually, just to let him know he’s alive in this world. It would be unfair to keep it from him. Loki wants to give him a few days to settle things after their victory and then he will go to him. He has enough money to keep himself afloat for a week or so and doesn’t want to intrude on the celebration surely going on back at the compound. Loki takes his cup of coffee to go and wanders until he finds a community garden where he can sit undisturbed to plan his next moves.

The morning of The Blip has been rough on you. Lilly woke up with more energy than ever, making plans to introduce Loki to mac n cheese and begging for new crayons so she could make him the “best drawing ever”. You promise to bring all of her art supplies with you to the diner later and distract her with scrambled eggs and cinnamon toast for now. You’re already exhausted when you sit down to watch the news with your coffee. The news is all covering The Blip and you watch, stunned, as people are reunited with their loved ones. You’re glad for them but you still have to turn it off after a few minutes so you won’t start screaming. Damn Max and what he’d done to you. While it’s the most amazing gift that everyone is back, it pulls at the old scars on your heart made by Max’s abandonment and deception.

You pull Lilly aside before school to explain what has happened. You don’t want her being confused with everyone talking about it in her class. She has lots of questions and you answer what you can despite how it taxes you emotionally.

The morning flies by as you busy yourself with chores and studiously avoiding the news. You’re on your third cup of coffee by the time you pick Lilly up on your way in for your shift at the diner and it’s helping a little. Lilly chatters endlessly along the way about The Blip and it grates on your already frayed nerves but you give her the expected sounds of acknowledgement. The diner is packed full of people, it appears no one is willing to cook on such a monumental day. Lilly settles in easily to do her flashcards and pulls out her newest library book. It’s a simple one, more pictures than words, but her reading skills are improving every day.

Every time the doorbell chimes your eyes snap over to the entrance. You, mostly, trust that Loki will show and are looking forward to seeing him again. Though for all you know he’s off reuniting with family, or maybe even a girlfriend or wife. You frown at the thought. It’s only five minutes but it feels like ages when the doorbell chimes and Loki strides in. He’s wearing similar clothes to the day before but has added a leather jacket to the outfit and his hair is falling freely against his shoulders. Your brain fails you for a moment and you blush as you ask the woman you’re waiting on to please repeat her order. Your eyes follow Loki as he takes his seat at the very end of the counter and sets up his laptop, just as he’d done the day before. You hurry to collect drinks and another persons order so that you can make your way down to visit him.

Loki is no closer to a plan when he walks into the diner than he’d been that morning. It’s frustrating and he feels like he’s crawling out of his own skin at times. Ever logical, Loki has made several lists of where he could go after visiting with his brother but none are very appealing. He has no home to return to and since New Asgard is apparently thriving under the eye of Valkyrie he sees no reason to head there and disturb the peace. Besides, he lost his taste for a throne after the New York incident. He considers traveling the galaxy, doing some exploring for a bit. He’s always loved that, but now some emotion pangs in his chest at the thought, one he won’t put a name to but feels regardless. Loki knows he has no marketable skills, not that he even wants a job, but he will need something to fill his days. He settles into his spot at the counter, scrolling through some inane blog about the places to see while in the city and trying to come up with at the very least a plan for the following day.

You’re finally able to swing down to the end of the counter to Loki and you assess his intent gaze and half frown before speaking. “Is it going to be another hot cocoa day?” you ask sympathetically.

Loki’s frown disappears at the sound of you voice. “I think it is.” he agrees.

“Lilly is going to be ecstatic when she sees you. Do you have work to do? Or can I send her down once she’s done her homework?”

“No, not working at the moment. I’m… taking some time off.”

“Luck you.” you try to keep the bite out of your tone and hope he doesn’t take offense.

“Not having anything to do is great in theory but I’m finding that in practice… not so much.”

You bite the inside of your cheek to keep your next comment to yourself. There is no way you are going to pity the poor, sad, rich guy who doesn’t need to work and doesn’t know what to do with his time. You give him a shrug and head off to get his drink.

“There’s always volunteering.” you suggest as you hand Loki his hot cocoa.

“Ah yes, working but not being paid for it. I’m not exactly skilled in anything to help though.” Loki explains.

You suppress the eye roll you so desperately want to give him. His comment solidifies in your mind that he must be some type of rich model. “You don’t need skills to volunteer at most places. You could help around an animal shelter, keep people company at a nursing home, stock shelves at the library, all sorts of things.”

Loki makes a small humph sound but seems to be considering it.

“Lilly will be done her reading soon and she’ll be down afterwards. If you want anything to eat just wave me down.”

Loki nods as he sips his drink and you slip away before he can respond.

It’s twenty minutes later when Loki sees a flash of pink out of the corner of his eye. Lilly is running full speed down the aisle towards him, hands full of papers. “Mr. Loki you came back.” she beams as she climbs up on the stool next to him.

“I promised I would. What do you have there?” he asks, pointing to her collection of papers.

Lilly spreads them out on the counter and starts showing off her favorites, of which there are six, and the other three that are “just okay” by her standards. Loki smiles and nods along, letting himself be swept away by her enthusiasm. After a depressing day, lost in the bleakness of his uncertain future, this is exactly what he needs.

“This is us.” Lilly points at the last page in her collection.

“I don’t think we have tails.” Loki jokes.

Lilly shakes her head, causing her hair to bounce around wildly. “Nooo!” she squeals between giggles. “It’s kitty us. Kitties with cocoa.”

“Well that makes much more sense.”

The rest of the afternoon passes by with Lilly drawing happily next to Loki while he researches the New York Public Library. The library had been on the list of places to visit and after your suggestion of volunteering Loki is toying around with the idea. He certainly loved the libraries back on Asgard and the one in New York is stunning. He can almost see himself spending his days there, though dealing with the public leaves something to be desired. Loki shakes his head at himself. Is he really considering staying in New York? One look next to him and then down to you at the other end of the diner solidifies the yes echoing in his mind. He’s too intrigued to leave just yet. Loki wants to get to know you better and he can’t imagine breaking Lilly’s heart and just disappearing. He has centuries before him and he can certainly afford to spend a little time on Midgard before moving on to more worthy endeavours.

Lilly somehow convinces Loki to order mac n cheese with her for dinner. You aren’t surprised he’s never tried that before either and you bring them two heaping plates. It’s a little odd that he’s missed out on so many standard comfort foods but chalk it up to his “strict parents” comment and the fact that he has to have been model.

You finally ask him about it after depositing a half asleep Lilly onto her cot in the back for the night. It’s seven o’clock on the dot and Lilly didn’t even fight you on it. “So, what kind of model were you?” you ask, certain of your guess.

You might as well have asked if he used to have six heads. “I beg your pardon?”

Uncertainty starts seeping in, “You used to be a model? Right?”

Loki chuckles, “No, I’ve never modeled. What gave you that indication?”

“Fancy clothes, not needing to work, not having tried the most basic comfort foods, and you know… you know what you look like.”

Loki laughs again. “You keep making the most fantastical assumptions about me. I quite enjoy it. But you are mistaken once again.”

“So, what did you do then?” your cheeks are stained pink with the slightest blush and you can tell Loki is enjoying flustering you.

Loki is hesitant to jog your memory since you clearly haven’t put the pieces together to realize who he is. But if he is going to actually try and stay in New York he needs to be honest. The irony is not lost on him. The trickster, the god of lies, finally desiring to be honest with someone even when it will likely end badly for him. Loki steels himself for your anger and chooses his words carefully, “My family is royalty so I haven’t needed to work. I traveled for a bit in my younger years. Got into a lot of trouble along the way.”

You have a sinking feeling in your stomach. He’s holding something back, you’re sure. The uneasiness is rolling off him like waves and you’re afraid that whatever he’s holding back is going to end whatever is starting between you. “What kind of trouble, Loki?”

“The worst kind, I’m afraid. I was here in New York eleven years ago. I’d gotten involved with the wrong people and couldn’t get out until it was too late. It almost destroyed the city.”

It’s like the floor has dropped out from under your feet. You brace a hand against the counter, steadying yourself. “Loki.” you breathe his name quietly.

Loki swallows hard as recognition floods your face.

“You were in league with Thanos. They said you were a monster.” the name Thanos spits out of your mouth like a curse.

“He fooled even me. I was blinded by my own desire for power and my hatred for Odin at the time. There’s no atonement for what I did.” Your horrified expression makes Loki cringe, “I’ll… I’ll leave now. I’m sorry to have… I’m sorry.” Loki pulls out a large bill from his pocket and collects his laptop and jacket. He’s moving away from the counter when you find your voice.

“No wait.” You call a little too loudly. Thankfully the diner has quieted down for the night.

Loki spins around, surprised.

“You’re not him.”

Loki furrows his brow and comes back to his spot at the counter. He keeps his distance, wary like a caged animal, his voice low and steady. “I assure you, I am.”

You shake your head, “You're not, though. The man who’s sat here the past two days is not the same one who invaded eleven years ago. People change.”

“People died because of me.”

“Would you do it again? If you had the chance now, would you try it?”

“No, of course not.” He tries to say more but you cut him off.

“There you go then. People change. I’m certainly not the same person I was back then. Let’s just get to know each other as we are now.”

Loki is speechless. He expected fear, disgust, hatred maybe, but certainly not this.

You check the time on the wall, “I have a few more hours left in my shift, you don’t have to stay all night again but I like your company.”

“I am quite fond of yours as well.” Loki manages. His voice is uncharacteristically soft and you give him one of your wide, genuine smiles in return.

You have no other customers at the moment so you lean against the counter and settle in. “So,” you begin, trying to divert the conversation to safer ground, “How many pictures were Lilly’s ‘favorite’ this time?”

Loki chuckles and just like that the tension dissipates.

Part Four

Loki spends every night that week hanging out during your shifts at the diner. The other waitresses have begun to tease you a little about him but you don’t feed into it. The routine is always the same. Loki comes in shortly after your shift, starts drinking cocoa or coffee, and orders whatever meal it’s time for when he gets hungry. You spend the quiet moments down at the end of the counter getting to know the real him. It's hard to compare the man you’ve quickly become attached to with the one who attacked New York all those years ago and you feel secure in your decision to look beyond his past.

With a little help, Loki gets a volunteer position at the New York Library and a tiny month by month rental apartment down the street. It’s not much but it’s furnished and he’s happy to have something of his own. He’s moving in next week and has his first library shift a few days later. He knows money is going to be an issue before long and resolves to go see Thor once he’s moved in. Hopefully there is some family loyalty left in his brother and he sees fit to grant Loki access to a little of the family money to get him by while he stays in New York. Though getting Thor to believe his plan is genuine will take some effort.

Monday is your first day off in ten days and as much as Loki insists he’s fine moving on his own you feel a little guilty you’re not there to help. He claims there’s nothing really to move but you at least could have helped with shopping or something. The day crawls by despite how much you are able to catch up on while Lilly’s at school and by the time you’re tucking her in you’re yawning hard. You’ve just crawled into your own bed when your phone chimes.

Loki: All moved in!

The text is accompanied by a picture of a posh looking living room decorated in shades of white, cream, and tan. You hadn’t expected to hear from him but you’re glad he reached out. It was a little odd not talking to him all day. You had given him your phone number the night before just in case he changed his mind and needed your help. Part of you had hoped he would text or call regardless.

You: Great! How does it feel?

You watch as the little typing dots blink almost immediately after your text.

Loki: It’s interesting. Quiet. Tell Lilly I need one of her pictures for my fridge.

You smile as you type.

You: Quiet is good! I’ll tell her tomorrow. Good luck prying one away from her though.

Loki starts and stops typing a few times.

Loki: Can I call?

You: Yeah.

Your phone lights up a moment later.

“Hey you. Too quiet over there?” You say putting the phone on speaker so you don’t have to hold against your ear awkwardly in bed.

Loki sighs heavily, “Yes, a bit. I’m not interrupting anything am I?”

“Nope. Lilly is in bed already and I had no plans.”

“Good. Good.”

“Did you need something?”

“No. Yes. I.. ah… I got a little wrapped up in my own head and needed to hear your voice.”

His honesty is disarming. “Oh.”

“Sorry, that was a little blunt wasn’t it?”

“No, it’s okay. It felt a little weird not talking to you all day. So what has you all wrapped up in your head?”

“I’m going to visit my brother tomorrow.”

“Thor?”

“Yes, the one and only. He doesn’t know I’m alive and I owe him that courtesy.”

“Shouldn’t you be happy about that? He’ll be so glad to see you, I’m sure.”

“My relationship with Thor is… complicated. And I don’t know how it’s going to go. I keep thinking of all the millions of ways it can go wrong. I’ve played dead before, intentionally, so I doubt he’ll believe it wasn’t intentional this time. And there’s the whole ‘I’m still a wanted man’ thing. He’ll likely turn me out on my ass. But if he does that I won’t have enough money forever. Maybe another month or two but then what do I do?”

Loki rambles frantically and you can hear the strain of anxiety running high in his tone.

“Loki! Hey!” You cut him off. “Take a breath.” You wait a moment and he doesn’t respond. “Do you want to come over?” It’s a bold offer but he sounds so distressed and you’re not tired anymore.

“I don’t want to intrude.”

“I have cocoa. And it’s better than the kind at the diner.”

You can hear his shaky exhale that’s almost a laugh. “Text me your address. I’m putting my jacket on now.”

“See you in a bit.” You hang up and pull yourself from your warm comforters to go heat the milk for cocoa.

Loki arrives barely ten minutes later and you welcome him to your little home. He looks around, taking in the sight of your living room and then your kitchen. You’re stirring the cocoa mix into the pan and he doesn’t try to make conversation, just content to watch you work and admiring how cozy your home seems to him. It’s warm and inviting, lived in looking without being overly messy.

“You’re catching me on a good day.” You tell him as you pour the cocoa into two large mugs. He’s obviously looking around and you’re glad you spent most of the day on chores. “If you’d been here this morning you’d’ve seen a mountain of laundry and about fifty of Lilly’s drawings scattered around.”

Loki shrugs before accepting the mug from you. “I’m not judging. Thank you for letting me come over. Things just snuck up on me today and it was a little much. You didn’t have to invite me over to your home like this.”

“I know I didn’t, but I wanted to. Why don’t we head out to sit on the fire escape? I have a set of chairs out there and we won’t risk waking Lilly.”

Loki nods and you lead him outside where you set up two lawn chairs for you to sit in. He scoots his chair next to yours and looks up at the sky wistfully.

“Not the view you’re used to, huh?” You ask.

He shakes his head, “No, not at all. But more stars than I would expect here.”

“Tell me about Asgard.”

“You really want to know?” His tone is skeptical. Loki fears talking about his past will remind you of his mistakes and have you giving him the boot. After an afternoon and evening beating himself up about his wrong doings and worrying about his reunion with Thor he needs a little peace and you’re the only one who can give that to him at the moment.

“That’s why I asked. Tell me. Anything. Everything.”

“Well, we certainly had more stars.” He begins.

You wrap your sweater around your shoulders, protecting yourself from the chill in the autumn air. Your cocoa is warming your hands and you lean unintentionally against Loki’s shoulder listening to him describe his home world to you. His voice is rich and smooth like high quality chocolate and you are lost in it. He relaxes the longer he speaks and you’re thankful he seems to be unwinding a bit. Hours later you put your empty mug down and Loki’s hand finds its way into yours. Your twine your fingers between his and smile over at him, the contact making you giddy like a teenager with your first real crush. He carries on, describing the difference between the ocean on Earth and the seas of Asgard.

Eventually it’s too cold to stay outside and you climb back into your apartment but Loki’s heel catches on the window ledge and he tumbles inside with a thud. You shush him and break into a fit of giggles. He’s so awkward looking splayed out on your living room floor and it’s hard to believe this man is royalty, and a god even. Loki brushes himself off and whispers sorry but it’s too late. You can hear tiny feet padding down the hall.

“Mama?” Lilly says sleepily.

“It’s okay, Lilly-pad. Go back to bed.” You assure her but she’s on the move and staring at Loki who is smiling sheepishly down at her.

“Mr. Loki?” She mumbles.

“He came over for cocoa, sweetheart. You just go back to bed. You’ll see him again soon.”

Lilly makes a disgruntled sound and throws herself at his legs in a sleepy hug.

“Goodnight, Lilly.” He says ruffling her hair.

“Night Mr. Loki.” She pulls herself away and heads back down to her room. You hear to door latch and nod to yourself, knowing she’ll be back to sleep in seconds. Loki follows you to the kitchen to place your mugs in the sink. He’s standing closer than he meant to and when you spin around it’s right into his chest. You let out a stifled squeak of surprise and he braces his hands on your shoulders to steady you. You’re both breathing heavily, conscious of the feel of your bodies pressed against one another’s.

Loki is trying to avoid staring at the rise and fall of your chest and the way your pupils are blown wide looking at him. It’s surprise but also, possibly, desire? Your body is so soft against his and he wants to be selfish and explore the curves you’re hiding underneath that bulky sweater. He moves one hand down to the curve of your waist and your breathing becomes more erratic. Tentatively he slides his other hand up to cup your cheek. He’s overstepping his bounds, he’s sure, but he can't quite stop himself.

You’re trembling as he runs his thumb along the side of your cheek. His whole body is tense and humming against yours and it’s driving you mad. He seemed as surprised as you were when you had turned into him but now that the contact is made, neither one of you seem able to break it. You want him; want to pull him against you and work your way up the lithe muscles of his chest, to explore the broad expanse of his shoulders. He’s complicated, and his past is even more so, but you’re too far gone at this point to care. You press your cheek against his hand, your lips parted and you lock your gaze to his.

Loki’s breathing falters when you stare into his eyes. He’ll hate himself tomorrow for being a greedy bastard if he’s wrong but the way your bottom lip drops down looking good enough to bite overrides his common sense. He moves his head closer, angling it slightly so you can’t mistake his intention, and pauses to give you a chance to back out. You nod almost imperceptibly, frozen in place, desperate for him to make his move. It’s enough though and he dives in, crushing his lips fiercely against yours.

You dig your fingers into his sides, anchoring yourself against him as he presses a torrent of kisses to your lips. Loki meant to gentle, he really did, but the second he felt your soft, plush lips against his he was lost. You taste like hot cocoa, sweet and rich, with the unmistakable taste of you lingering underneath. A breathy moan leaves your lips and he groans, pained by his rampant desire. He won’t take you tonight, as much as he wants to. Lilly is home and he doubts you’d let it go so far, so fast anyway. Loki is forcing his hands to stay over your sweater and you’re doing your best to keep yours in place instead of exploring his body like you want to. When he finally pulls back and you stumble apart, gasping for air, you are both grinning like fools.

“That was….” he falters for words.

“Yeah” you gasp out.

“Wow.”

“Definitely wow.”

You both laugh at the state of yourselves and you move back against him, wrapping your arms around his waist. You fit perfectly in his arms and he’s able to rest his chin on the top of your head when you press it against his chest. He pulls you close and breathes in the sweet, floral scent of you. “I should be going. It’s late and you have to get Lilly to school in the morning” he says with a frown.

“I know.” You agree with a frown of your own, “I’m working the late shift tomorrow if you get back in time to visit.”

“I don’t know how it’s going to go. I’ll text you though. And I’ll be by Wednesday after my first library shift. When’s your next day off?”

“Saturday.”

“Don’t make any plans, okay?”

“Making plans for me?”

“Well, you and Lilly. If you’re okay with that.”

Your heart melts at his inclusion of Lilly. He’s so good to her, to both of you really. “Sounds perfect.” You pull away and reluctantly follow Loki to the door.

“Thank you, again, for letting me come over.” He says standing in your doorway.

“Of course. I’m always here if you have a random need for cocoa.”

Loki chuckles, “Yes, there’s something magical about your cocoa. It seems to fix just about anything.”

“Mmm, it does.” You agree with a smirk. “Good night, Loki.” You lean in for one last brief kiss and you pause as you pull back to study his expression. Loki’s eyes are brimming with emotion and you can feel your cheeks heating.

“Goodnight, Y/N.” He says softly before he turns and heads down the stairs.

You watch him go until he’s out of sight and then close your door, resting against it from the inside. This thing with Loki is still so new and uncertain but it feels so right. You whisper a quiet thank you to the universe, for bringing Loki into the diner and also for the magical, healing powers of hot cocoa.

The End

#sherry's fall into you challenge #sherrybaby14 #loki laufeyson #loki odinson #loki x reader #loki x you #single parent reader #post engame #post avengers endgame #marvel #marvel fanfic #marvel fandom #marvel fangirl #marvel avengers #loki fanfic #loki fanfiction

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pandemicthestory · 4 years

Text

10: confused

Fake it til you make it.

In the middle of the City, fairly close to the Academy, there is a chrome-colored building that is taller than almost all of the rest. Night and Sugar stand in front of its doors, wondering how they’re going to get in.

The building is called “Mecca.” It’s filled with headquarters for top companies--mostly builders, but also fashion and interior designers, medical technicians, and game developers. Thousands of civilians report here for work 5 days a week. But since it’s Friday, as soon as it’s 5 o’clock, these workers will leave their desks and head to the top floor.

At the top floor of Mecca is LOUNGE, an exclusive night and day club where windows are always blacked out and the passing of time can’t be measured. A night club meets speakeasy meets casino, this is where the elites go to unwind. After a long week’s work of building, the business men and women of Mecca can swipe their membership card at the top floor and indulge themselves in the darker parts of life.

And this is exactly where Sugar intends on taking them.

“There’s no way we’re getting in.” Night mutters, hitting his forehead with his palm. This situation feels seriously illegal and seriously stupid. As he and Night stood at the front of this massive building, Night begins to wonder if he’s made a big mistake.

“Hold on now, don’t give up just yet, man. Listen, the separation medical facility is in this building.” Sugar explains.

“So..?”

“People think we’re Vacaters. So, we’ll tell security that we have appointments today, they’ll let us in, we’ll head to the facility and…”

“And what?”

“And figure it out from there? Let’s go dude!”

*buzz*

*buzz buzz buzz*

Suddenly, Night’s phone starts blowing up in his pocket. He can’t ignore it, because it just keeps going.

“Hold on a second, Sugar…”

Night reaches into his pocket and sees that he has several missed texts and calls. From Julian.

Oh god, what does he want from her so desperately? What could be so important that it can’t wait?

This is why he’d tapped Emma’s phone. It wasn’t because he’s creepy or trying to infringe on her privacy, though, he’ll admit, that’s exactly what it looks like. No, it’s because she’s unpredictable, and surrounded by people who don’t know what’s best for her. And because he really needs her to make it here.

JULIAN: where are u

JULIAN: stopped by your house and u weren’t there

JULIAN: ur mom said u were out for a walk, but i don’t think that’s true. Tell me what’s happening

(3 MISSED CALLS)

JULIAN: your friend zoe says that you’re out somewhere with her boyfriend. Care to explain? Wtf is going on...we’re leaving in a few days Emma

(2 MISSED CALLS)

JULIAN: we’re leaving tomorrow

Leaving?

Leaving where?

Night had known that Emma was planning something, just not what. Apparently Julian does.

Sugar taps his foot impatiently while Night composes a response to Julian. With the software he installed on his phone, it will be rerouted through Emma’s number. He’ll have no idea.

“EMMA”: Going where?

A pause, and then Julian is typing.

JULIAN: there you are. Fuck. don’t do that to me

“EMMA”: where are we going, julian?

JULIAN: what are you talking about? Are you trying to distract me from the fact that ur out chilling w Gabriel? The fuck?

Now Night is actually confused. Is this why she didn’t answer him? Because she was busy with Gabriel? And for that matter, who the hell is Gabriel?

What’s going on Emma? Everything you need was sent straight to your doorstep. Couldn’t have been easier. All you had to do was get the mail. So what went wrong?

Sugar yells to him, “DUDE, NOW.”

“Ok ok, I’m ready!” Night says, while composing and sending one last text.

“EMMA”: i’m not going anywhere with you julian. I’ve changed my mind. Don’t contact me again

Night runs after Sugar. He wonders to himself...what does such a smart girl see in such a profoundly stupid guy? Is she that starved of attention that she’ll settle for anyone who gives it to her? Note to self: that question will probably be offensive to her if he were to ask it. So he will not.

But hopefully he’ll at least have the chance. Soon.

Sugar storms ahead, and Night basically has no choice but to follow.

Sure enough, they head through metal detectors on their way in, and are then greeted by a squad of security guards. A guard steps in front of them. How many times is this going to happen today?

“Please swipe ID cards on the way in.”

This guard is nicer than the last one, he said please. He’s still in the way though. Sugar steps up.

“Hello sir, we don’t have ID cards because we don’t actually work here. We’re merely here for our appointments at the separation facility. We’re wearing our uniforms to indicate our status.” Sugar says, oozing with professionalism and aggressively overdoing it. Night fights a laugh under his breath (“merely..?”) and Sugar elbows him discreetly. The guard frowns.

“Is that so? We weren’t told of any separation appointments scheduled today...in fact, it’s rare that they’re ever scheduled on Fridays. What’s the reason you’re here for the service today instead of Monday?”

At this moment, both Sugar and Night are hoping that the other one has more knowledge of who the hell Vacaters actually are and what the hell the separation facility actually does. Unfortunately, neither of them do. Night realizes that he’ll have to throw another hail mary pass and hope for the best.

“Well it’s because, the...service...is going to be followed by a session with some other associates at LOUNGE.”

Now it was Sugar’s turn to try not to laugh. That was officially the dumbest ass response ever, which is why he is the resident debauchery mastermind and Night spends every night in front of a computer and a dead plant.

Night tries to remain confident. He couldn’t bank on these guys not understanding Vacaters, like the last pair of idiots, but he gambled that he could bank on them not knowing much about LOUNGE. From the look of it, these guys don’t seem like the type to be invited to an exclusive, glamorous party. They’re wearing jumpsuits.

“What? Really? That’s so...unusual.” One guard says. The other nods in agreement. They actually seem a bit...jealous? As in, why have these two bratty teenagers been invited to the top floor when we who have worked here for five years never will?

“Well yes, my father is a builder and it’s, uh, a sort of rite of passage for me to be vacated, er, separated, alongside him. In a celebratory way. After work.”

If Night got away with this, he’d owe the forces of the universe one.

The guards just nod in admiration while Sugar looks incredulous.

“Well then, good luck young man. We hope your last night will be a special one.”

The guards exchange nods with Night and Sugar, who head forward to the glass elevator.

“Separation facility is on 43!” Calls one of the security guards from behind, almost wistfully. Maybe one day he’ll get the chance to see what’s up there. But not likely.

Once inside the glass elevator, Sugar hugs Night around the shoulder.

“Ok honestly, I’m a bit shook that you’re a bad ass. Was pretty sure that you were just a virgin computer nerd.”

Night laughs to himself. That’s all that anyone has ever expected of him. But right now, seeing himself through Sugar’s eyes as a genius lawbreaker feels good. Intoxicating, even.

“What floor’d he say? 45, was it? Sugar asks.

“Why not go straight to the top?” Night asks, with a mischievous grin.

He hits the number “100” without waiting for an answer.

* * *

Emma crashes through the front door of her house, ready to have to explain herself to her parents and hoping to get through it painlessly.

But they don’t seem to be home. “Mom? Dad?”

They must be out looking for her. Now it all makes sense...her neurotic mother was blowing up her phone because she couldn’t even trust her daughter to take a walk around the damn block. Then her phone got destroyed in the parking lot. And now, since she hasn’t answered, they’re out looking for her. And when they eventually get back, she’ll probably be sent to prison. Cool.

Emma decides to take this time as a gift. Tune everything else out. This is her shot to save Isabel.

Emma runs upstairs to her room and tears the cardboard off the headset. She tosses the instructions aside because she has enough knowledge to put one of these together without them.

Does it need to be charged? It does not. It’s ready to go.

Now, to check on the download…

7 HOURS REMAINING

She groans. It’s speeding up, but not enough. She needs to plug in now, not in 7 god damn hours. She sees on her computer that there are a shit ton of unread G-chat messages from Zoe. Ugh, she’s probably dealing with some sort of jealousy moment right now and Emma just doesn’t have time to deal with it. So she doesn’t open them. Sorry Zo. You’ll forgive me.

Emma wracks her frazzled brain--there’s gotta be a way for her to get online and contact Emma.

Wait.

Emma runs across the hallway to Isabel’s room, carrying the headset and headphones. Isabel is still slumped over in her chair, alive, looking the same as before. Well at least she’s alive, which is cool. Emma examines the game on the computer--scanning the twisted map view of a city for any sign of her sister. None. Hm, guess it doesn’t work like that.

Emma looks at the game settings.

Ah, input/output. Yes. This is it.

If she can’t join from her own game, maybe she can join Isabel’s.

Emma sits down on a pile of clothes in the back of Isabel’s closet. She might as well get comfy, she could be here for a while. She puts on thick noise-canceling headphones and the headset, and everything goes dark and quiet.

Power on.

Emma wirelessly connects to Isabel’s computer, then sees the icon for the Universe game pop up in front of her eyes. With a nod, she selects it.

Black becomes blue.

Silence becomes ambient drone music.

Isabel’s done VR before, so she expects this. She still feels excitement. This technology never ceases to amaze her.

It’s when the feeling of the laundry beneath her fades away into a rush of cold air...

This, she does not expect.

#write #writer #writers on tumblr #writers #yanovel #yanovels #scifi story #my writing #hackergirl #gamergirl #virtualreality #scifi writing

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libralita · 5 years

Text

Where is She? Part 9 (End)

The final part to this fic! I go into more at the end so I hope you enjoy!

Hours Earlier

“Beth, did you forget—”

Suddenly there was a cloth over Joyce’s mouth. She immediately panicked which caused two things: One was to flail around until she could feel her nails come into contact with someone. She heard a cry of pain from a man. The other was she took in a deep breath, inhaling a chemical.

She was out quickly as blood from her kidnapper dripped onto the vanity. He picked her up and put her into a cart for laundry. The venue had a high end restaurant and the cart was full of table clothes that needed to be wash.

The man’s uniform got snagged on her head piece. He ripped it off and it fell onto the floor.

He then went out of the dressing without anyone noticing.

Now Joyce was currently in a basement of sorts. It was nighttime and her eyes adjusted to the darkness. Her hands were tied behind her and her legs tied in front.

Stay calm. She told herself, feeling herself starting to tremble with absolute fear. First things first, get free. She read in a book—albeit a fantasy book—that if you ever kidnapped, you should get out as soon as possible. You don’t know how long you’ll be there so you could grow weak if you aren’t feed.

Joyce tried to keep an ear out for someone coming and started working at the binds. It hurt like hell and she could feel herself bruise her wrists but she had to get these things off. It was her only goal at the moment. One step at a time. She was going to get these binds off.

She pinched and pulled at the rope, until she felt herself pinch the rope it pulled free ever so slightly. The rope loosened and her heart fluttered. She didn’t know how long spent working at the ropes but that was all her mind was focusing on. Listening for any sign of someone coming. Looking around at her surroundings and letting her fingers work and work the rope.

Jumin felt like he was going to go mad in his office (that was currently being used as a base of operations to find Joyce. He had been heartbroken when just a couple of weeks ago, Elizabeth III was missing. Now he feared his heart would actually break because Joyce had been kidnapping.

His head pounded as he spoken to his private security. The police tried to assure him that they would send out a search but Jumin did not care. It wasn’t enough. Nothing was enough when it came to Joyce. He would use every resource he could to find her.

“Jumin,” he turned to see Kaya and immediately turned away. He had done the same thing when he saw Joyce’s absolutely heart broken parents. He could not deal with that. He tried to show a sign that he did care, in the only way Jumin Han could, by sending a dozen body guards to stay with them. “Jumin, you need to take a minute to breathe.”

“I need to find her. No time for breathing.”

“Are you even hearing yourself?” Kaya asked, standing in front of him. She was taller than most women but he still towered over her. “Do you think Joyce would want to see you like this?”

“I am going to do everything I can to find her. This is all my fault.”

“How?”

“Whoever did this, is probably using her to get through me.” Jumin said, as if it were obvious.

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I—” He was cut off from hearing someone call for him. They looked over and saw Sarah. Jumin’s eyes narrowed and he said in a dark tone. “Yes. I do.”

Joyce could have sobbed when she felt herself be able to slip off the ropes. She moved her arms and stretched them. It was too dark to see her wrists but she could imagine they were red and bruised. Joyce worked on the ropes tied to legs. These were much easier to get through when she could kind of make out what she was doing.

She stood up very quietly when she untied herself. There was a small window that lead to a backyard. It was providing light and she could see some men’s clothes. She took off her dance outfit. It was bright white which made her stand out too much. Then she put on the baggy clothes. She wanted to try and find shoes when she heard someone coming down stairs.

Joyce felt around until she found some tools. There was a wrench and she quietly went by the door.

She waited, her heart pounding in her ears as the lock slowly cliqued and the door opened.

While Joyce was not a very strong woman, a terrified woman with a wrench surprise attack could do a number on someone. The man who entered was knocked out and without hesitating she ran over and pulled open the window. She had to stand up on some boxes but once it was open she heaved herself up and shimmied through the window.

She did not know if there were other people coming down stairs or not. She was only concerned with squeezing her small frame through the window. She was free on the wet grass and she scrambled up.

Joyce ran around the house and there was large metal fence. The exit must have been on the other side. She was too terrified to try running back to the other side so jumped up and climbed it.

Dogs began to park and a porch light went on. This made Joyce feel even more terrified and made her move faster. Joyce got to the top of the fence and jumped down. She landed and sprinted across the yard then to the side walk and down the street.

She numbly felt a pain shoot up her foot. She must have stepped on something sharp with her bare feet but she just kept on running.

Joyce spotted a police car and she ran over. Two officers were sitting in there and she frantically knocked on the window. “I need help!”

“I heard about your friend getting kidnapped and I’m so sorry, Jumin.” Sarah said, in sickly sweet voice. “Why don’t we go chat, privately?”

“Let’s.” Jumin said, coldly. He harshly took her hand and they found a private room. “You—”

“Let me talk.” Sarah said, “Now, Jumin, I will do absolutely everything I can to make sure your friend comes back safe and sound.”

“If you hurt her, I swear—”

“No, I know she won’t be hurt. She’ll be safe and all thanks to Glam and me. You will be so appreciative that you will announce our engagement. Right?”

Jumin stayed quiet for a moment, clenching his fists. Sarah had Joyce and he didn’t know what to do. He could try and save her on his own but what if they did hurt her? Could he live with himself after that?

“I will give you—”

“Jumin!” Beth burst in, opening the door. She noticed Sarah and frowned.

“Any news?” Jumin asked, looking at Beth hopefully.

“She’s been found! She’s in the hospital right now!”

“Impossible.” Sarah said, looking baffled.

Jumin turned from Sarah and followed Beth.

Joyce was taken to a hospital to have her foot looked at. She was questioned by police and told them everything that happened. She did this all numbly and with barely any emotion. It was like a dream, it was so unreal.

Then she saw her parents and everything that happened came crashing down. “Mommy…” She cried as her mother enveloped her into a hug and her father quickly pulled them both in a hug. “Daddy.”

“Oh, baby, you’re safe…” Mary whispered. They stayed like this hugging her. Eventually Mary moved and cupped her face. “We love you so much, Joyce. You know that, right?”

“I love you, too.” She said, still crying harshly.

“Let’s get you out of these clothes.” Mary said, noticing her state. “I’ll help you change. The doctor said that your foot should be just fine.”

Joyce nodded as Oliver gave his daughter another tight hug and then left to give them some privacy.

Oliver was in the hall when he saw Jumin Han come up the hall. Oliver hadn’t spoken much to the young man when they first met. Jumin had just come over and said, “I will be assigning you a set of body guards for your own protection.” He had bowed deeply and then went to answer calls.

“Mr. Elliot.” Jumin said, meeting Oliver’s eyes and then bowed again. He bowed even lower than the first time. “I must apologize profusely. It was my fault that your daughter was put into danger. The people who kidnapped your daughter were trying to get to me through her. It is my fault and I am apologize.”

Oliver frowned and went over to him. “Don’t blame yourself, Jumin.”

“It is my fault.” Jumin said, still bowing. “I came here to apologize to you and your wife. I will remove myself from your daughter’s life for her own safety.”

Oliver raised an eyebrow. “Please stand up, this is making me uncomfortable.”

Jumin did so.

“Now, having my daughter missing took some years off my life. But I do forgive you.” Oliver said, looking at that door. “However, I know that if you walk out of her life, then it’ll break her heart. That I will never forgive you for doing.”

Jumin swallowed and looked at the door.

“Also, my wife might hunt you down. Never mess with French women. Or their daughters.”

Jumin could tell it was a joke but he didn’t laugh.

“At least go and talk to her.”

Joyce finished getting changed, she was glad to be in her own clothes.

There was a soft knock at the door. “Come in.” Mary said and saw that it was Jumin.

“Jumin!” Joyce said surprised.

“I’ll leave you two alone.” Mary said, kissing her daughter’s forehead.

Jumin was quiet for a moment, messing with his cuff and then looked Joyce over. He came over and took her hands. He stared at the bandages on her wrists. “I’m sorry…” he whispered softly, his voice raspy and it almost seemed to crack.

Joyce could not help herself, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him. “It’s okay…”

“No, it’s not…” He said, not hugging her back even though he desperately craved to. “This was my fault. They were trying to get to me through you. I put you in harms way. I cannot be in your life any longer.”

“No.” She said, sounding heart broken as Oliver had thought. She moved so she was looking at him. There was a mixture of pleading but also a small bit of anger. “Jumin, shouldn’t I get a say in this?”

“You need to be concerned with your safety.”

“And I’ll take more precautions but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to stop being around the people I like. It isn’t fair that some bad people are controlling who I do and do not get to be around.” Joyce said.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s not fair. It’s what needs to be done.” He found himself slipping into that emotionless, logical state.

Joyce stared at him with her intense brown eyes. “Jumin Han, tell me that you no longer wish to be in my life and I will respect your wishes.”

Jumin had to look away. That had gotten him. He could not say that. He could never say that.

“Then I’m sorry but I am not going to let some criminals rule my life.” Joyce said, firmly. “I care about you Jumin and you care about me. So, we’ll keep each other safe.”

Jumin was quiet for a moment. “You should be a lawyer.”

“Sorry, I’m a dancer.” Joyce said and wrapped her arms back around him. This time he hugged her back.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

No. It’ll never be okay. Jumin thought and held onto her. I will do everything I can to protect you, Joyce Elliot. And…any maybe you can protect me, as well.

They held each other for a while. ��So, do you still want to go on a date?”

Jumin stiffened and then moved to look at her. “We were going on a date?”

“Yes, that’s kind of the point of going to Olive Garden together. Alone.”

Jumin blushed. “Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Jumin cleared his throat, “perhaps once you are completely healed. We will do that.”

Joyce giggled. “Only perhaps?”

“We will.” Jumin said and then smiled at her. She smiled back.

Mary and Oliver both rolled their eyes as they listened in. “Well at least they finally admitted it.” Mary said and she smiled fondly at her husband.

“Are you worried about Joyce?”

“We’re parents, I think we’re suppose to worry.” She said straightening up. They both decided to give them privacy. “I think it’ll be better for both of them this way. They need each other.”

Oliver nodded, putting his arm around his wife. “Our little girl is growing up.”

“Yes, she is…” Mary said, blinking back tears. “But she’s happy.”

“They both are.”

End.

Author’s Note: I cannot believe I wrote around a 18,000 word fanfic about Jumin Han and posted it to Tumblr. It was a lot of fun! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! I plan on continuing to write more with these characters.

I plan on doing another fic series called “Broken” that follows Joyce and Jumin’s relationship leading up to the RFA party. It’ll be exploring a lot of Jumin’s past (i.e. the sexual abuse of his step-mother, crippling loneliness, and abandonment issues). So, that’ll be a lot of angst! I will also probably be doing shorter one offs. Much like “A Matter of Words”.

Again, thank you for reading! Thank you @mrs-han and @juminhandfs you guys are the best!

#jumin han #joyce elliot #Mystic Messenger #fan fiction #my writing

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owlways-and-forever · 5 years

Text

Summary: The Marauders are getting older, and that means so many things. Mischief, heartbreak, and trying to figure out who they really are. They’ll face problems within their group, prove their loyalty to each other, and discover the ugliness that is brewing in the wizarding world at large. Welcome to Years 2-4 of the Marauders time at Hogwarts. **This piece is a sequel to Behind the Mango Tree, however, you do not have to have read the first installment to pick this up. It does stand alone, but there is some carry over from the last book, especially with inter-character relationships. Basically, you don’t have to have read BtMT, but it certainly helps. Word Count: (3,045) 17,423 Links: FFnet | ao3 | tumblr: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4

A/N: Well, would you look at that, I've actually managed to finish this chapter on time! Cheers to sticking to the posting schedule, hopefully I can keep it going next week too...Also big shout out to @mischiefpuff for betaing this and to @indiebluecrown for enthusiastically volunteering to read over it, you are both wonderful.

This chapter is... well, all the angst. Lots of feels, lots of bonding between the boys. The title is a pretty big giveaway for what happens in this chapter. It also marks the last chapter of their 2nd year at Hogwarts, so when we return (hopefully on time) we'll have some excited third years on our hands!

Anyway, that's really all my notes for this chapter. A friendly reminder that feedback is ALWAYS appreciated, and if you really like story, feel free to recommend it to a friend. (And if you really really like the story, hit me up on Ko-Fi). So that's all and enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 5: Furry Little Problem

“I’m worried about Remus,” James said in a hushed tone as the Gryffindor boys all got ready for bed.

All except Remus, who had been ushered away by Professor McGonagall in the middle of dinner, muttering something about a family emergency. He was careful to keep his voice low, so that Lance and Firmin, who had the farthest beds from them, wouldn’t hear. At least, he hoped they would hear, and if they did hear, they would know enough to butt out.

“It seems like every month he’s sick,” James continued, “or there’s an emergency, or something that calls him away, and he always comes back looking deathly.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing to be worried about,” Peter said dismissively, but he stopped folding his sheets down and caught his own reflection in the glass of the window.

“How can you say that?” James hissed, staring at Peter with wide eyes. “He looks dreadful for days on end, what if there’s something seriously wrong with him?”

“Then it’s his decision whether or not to tell us,” Peter argued, turning to face James.

“I think James is right,” Sirius said thoughtfully, looking between his two friends. “Something seems off, and I think we should... check in. It’ll show that we care about him, that we noticed and are concerned.”

“Or it’ll show that you have no respect for his privacy,” Peter said, looking thoroughly disappointed. “What if it has something to do with Zeva? What if, I don’t know, what if he’s going to visit her grave with his parents or something? Don’t you think he has the right to try to process the fact that his little sister died however he needs without you two butting in and telling him how dreadful he looks every time.”

“Well why keep it secret, and why go on weeknights?” Sirius rebutted, trying to think it all through.

“I don’t know why, maybe she really liked the full moon or something,” Peter said, but he instantly knew he had given too much up. It would be the hint that gave it all away. He quickly tried to cover it up and steamrolled on. “But it doesn’t matter, he ought to be allowed to grieve privately if he wants to. It’s none of our business.”

“He is always gone at the full moon,” James whispered, looking at Peter as if he were bathed in light.

“I – I don’t know, I never noticed,” Peter denied hastily. “It was just a suggestion that maybe his sister –“

“No, Peter, you’re right, I’m sure of it,” James said, shaking his head. He got up and walked to the window, just to be certain, and sure enough, hanging in the sky was a great big full moon.

“You don’t think...?” Sirius gasped, turning toward his friend.

“The school would never allow it,” James answered, trying to make sense of it all. “We can’t just ask him if he is, can you imagine how it would look if he isn’t?”

“But we have to talk to him though,” Sirius asserted.

Remus thought his friends were acting very strangely the next day. He was tired and sore from his transformation, and even though Madam Pomfrey had mended all his cuts and lacerations, he still felt like his body had been put through a shredder. Sirius, James and Peter hardly spoke during the whole day, their usual antics set aside for reasons unbeknownst to him. He thought that perhaps something had happened while he was gone, a fight or some late night that had deprived them of sleep, so he wasn’t terribly concerned. Until dinner, when his gut began to fill with dread at the furtive glances James and Sirius were giving each other, and him. Peter seemed removed from whatever was happening, looking pointedly at his plate of food, and resolutely ignoring James and Sirius.

They all trudged along in silence back toward Gryffindor Tower, and Remus didn’t want to be the one to break it, so he just followed their lead, smiling lightly at Peter, who seemed extraordinarily sullen. They were only a few floors away when James and Sirius ducked into an empty classroom with no warning. Remus gave Peter a curious look, but his friend just sighed heavily and followed the others into the room. Remus gulped, trying to tell himself that they couldn’t possibly know, that he was safe, that these were his friends, and they were probably just pulling some prank on him. Merlin, please let it just be a prank. He took a deep breath and followed the others into the room, the door swinging shut behind him with a heavy thunk.

James and Sirius stood together by the professor’s desk, arms crossed and stern expressions on their face, while Peter leaned against the chalkboard behind them, determinedly looking at his shoes.

“Don’t do this,” Peter hissed quietly, and Remus’ heart dropped into his stomach.

“Remus, we know something’s going on,” James announced, looking defiant and completely utterly sure of himself. So very much the opposite of how Remus felt.

“We think we know what it is,” Sirius continued, his body language mimicking James’. “But we’d rather you told us yourself.”

“I dunno what you’re talking about,” Remus denied quickly, trying very hard not to let the panic show on his face.

“Yes you do,” James insisted. “Come on, Remus, all the nights away, saying that you’re sick or you have to see family. And it’s always on a full moon. You don’t think we’d eventually catch on that our best friend disappears once a month? Didn’t think we’d see the pattern?”

“I’d hoped...” Remus said quietly, not daring to look at them. “How long have you known?”

“It’s true then, you’re a werewolf,” Sirius gasped, his voice low in surprise, and Remus nodded in shame.

“We just figured it out last night,” James answered, elbowing Sirius sharply.

Peter shifted a little behind them, catching Remus’ attention and Remus narrowed his eyes, focusing lasering in on him.

“Peter?” he asked sharply.

“I figured it out around Christmas,” Peter admitted, pushing away from the wall. “Things didn’t seem to add up and then you were gone all night and...something just clicked for me I guess. I didn’t say anything though, I promise.”

James and Sirius both gaped at Peter, and from their expressions, Remus knew that what Peter had said was true. He hadn’t told them anything about his suspicions, they had all figured it out on their own.

“So now what?” Remus asked, scuffing his shoe along the ground.

“What do you mean?” Sirius replied, cocking his head, and James and Peter both looked equally confused beside him.

“Well, what are you going to do?” Remus said. “The staff all know about me, but I can’t ask you to keep my secret. You could tell the whole school and have me thrown out.”

“Of course we’re not going to have you kicked out!” Sirius exclaimed. “Why would we do that? It’d only spoil our fun. Or have you already forgotten our late night mattress escapades?”

“Because... I’m a monster,” Remus replied simply, his shoulders sagging in defeat. He was despicable, nothing could convince him otherwise.

“Remus, you’re not a monster,” Peter said, reaching out to touch his friend’s arm, but Remus shied away.

“I’m not a stuffed animal!” Remus snapped, annoyed that the other boys didn’t seem to understand how abhorrent he was. “I could kill people and I would have no control over it! I could bite someone, make them like me...”

“You’re being dramatic,” James scoffed. “You fold your socks, Remus. Forgive me if I’m not trembling at the sight of you.”

James shook his hands, pretending to quake with fear, over the top and obviously fake. Sirius laughed heartily and Peter grinned, but Remus felt stunned.

“Why aren’t you afraid of me?” Remus asked, stammering through the words. “You don’t...and...I mean...I could be really dangerous! I am really dangerous!”

“Really, Remus,” Sirius teased, “what part of ‘you fold your socks’ isn’t getting through? Besides, its not like you transform spontaneously. We’ve got a pretty good idea of when it’ll happen, which makes it right easy to avoid you.”

“Then surely you must despise me,” Remus added, shaking his head. “Werewolves aren’t exactly popular.”

“We don’t hate you,” Peter said kindly, looking at Remus with wide and sincere eyes. “We could never hate you for this. You’re still the same Remus you’ve always been –“

“Except when you’re not,” James joked, and Peter shot him a nasty look that said this-is-not-the-time-for-jokes.

“It doesn’t change anything,” Peter insisted, and James and Sirius nodded in agreement. “And you never have to worry about us telling anyone, we wouldn’t do that to you.”

“But... but...” Remus stammered, unable to accept their words as truth.

“Remus, mate, we’re your best friends,” James said, putting his hands on Remus’ shoulders and looking him dead in the eye. “You’re going to have to try a lot harder than that to get rid of us, yeah?”

Remus cracked a small smile then, feeling like crying at the generosity and acceptance of his friends. He had a feeling it wasn’t the end of the discussion – they would be curious about things, inevitably, and he would always have some doubts – but for now, it was enough that they said they wanted him to stick around anyway.

James looked remarkably pleased with himself, as if this conversation resolved everything, and perhaps for him it did. He was often like that – everything was black and white, and he was quick to bounce back. At least on the outside, things never seemed to bother James for long.

Neither Peter or Sirius seemed to share James’ levity. The former looked guilt-ridden, worried that Remus might blame him. If he hadn’t made that blasted comment about the moon, James might never have put it all together. Well, maybe not never, but certainly not that night. He really should have kept his mouth shut, should have done a better job protecting Remus, protecting his friend.

“It’s alright, Peter,” Remus said to the other boy, drawing closer. “Thank you for not telling them.”

“But –“ Peter began to protest, but Remus just shook his head.

“You’re a good friend,” he continued, his eyes tearing up a little bit, “and I don’t think you’ll ever know how much it means to me that you just didn’t say anything – not to me, not to them – without even asking any questions. Not many people would have done that.”

Peter only nodded, seeming about as choked up as Remus felt, and the significance of the moment passed between them. Then it had drifted away into the air, Peter grabbed his bag from the desk and left the room, James hurrying to follow, sensing the awkwardness building between Remus and Sirius.

Darkness had descended on Sirius’ features, surrounding him like a black veil. His grey eyes had hardened to steel and his eyebrows had begun to twitch inward, like they were fighting the anger brewing in his belly.

"I know you're mad at me," Remus said, once Peter and James were gone. He seemed to realize that he had grabbed Sirius' sleeve and let go quickly. "You think I'm a monster, I get it. I am a monster."

"Remus, I'm not mad at you. I meant what I said earlier - you're not a monster and I don't hate you," Sirius answered, but he couldn't seem to meet his friend's eye.

"You've been silent and sulky all night,” Remus countered, pulling his own sleeves down over his hands and balling them in his fists. "You can't even look at me!"

"I'm not mad," Sirius repeated unconvincingly.

"I know you are!" Remus said, his voice rising dangerously. "Just tell me that you hate me! Be honest! Tell me that you think what I am is disgusting. I can handle it."

"Remus, I don't give a rat's bollocks about your - your furry little problem!" Sirius shouted back, stepping closer to Remus. "Okay? So just drop it."

"Then... why are you mad?" Remus asked, trying not to hope too much that his words were true.

"I just... I care that you didn't think you could trust me enough to tell me," Sirius shrugged, looking out the window.

"Sirius, I -"

"No, I get it, you don't tell anyone, I just..." Sirius shook his head, trying to keep his eyes from tearing up, "I thought we were more than that. I thought we didn't have secrets."

"Sirius," Remus said quietly, taking a step closer to his friend and reaching out for his sleeve, "there are some things we just don't tell anyone. We all have our secrets, don't we?"

"There's nothing -"

"You have secrets too," Remus insisted, "And that’s okay, I won’t press you, but I promise that when you're ready, you can tell me anything. But I didn't want this to get out, I didn't know how you guys would react. The wizarding world isn't very accepting of... of people with my condition."

Sirius spun away from Remus, grinding his teeth together and running his fingers through his curls.

"You should have trusted us," Sirius argued.

"I didn't know if I could," Remus answered, trying to make Sirius understand.

"How could you not know?" Sirius snapped, pulling his arm out of Remus' grip, and turning to pace the classroom as his agitation grew.

"You and James are pureblood," Remus sighed, "I know what your families taught you. Think about what you said last year, about halfbreeds."

"I've changed since last year," Sirius snarled.

"This is a hard thing to just unlearn," Remus countered. "Prejudice against my kind runs deep, Sirius."

"You should have known it would be different for you though," Sirius said, changing tactics. "You're our best mate, we would never hate you for something like this."

"Oh, so if it was someone else, you would think they were a monster?" Remus questioned, his usually mild temper rising. "If it were Lance? You're not all that fond of him, so you'd probably hate him, right?"

"No, I wouldn't," Sirius insisted, clenching his jaw, his pride getting the better of him.

"Fine," Remus huffed, crossing his arms.

"Don't be like that," Sirius said, irritation mounting.

"Like what?" Remus snapped.

"All mad at me and stuff," Sirius answered.

"Well you're making me mad!" Remus said.

"Why?"

"Because you're impossible!" he replied, plopping down at somebody’s desk. "You shouldn't think that werew - that people like me aren't monsters just because you like me. You should... you should think that because they aren't. Because its this horrible thing that they're forced into and they get no choice and if we could cure it we would, but..."

"Remus, I swear I don't think werewolves are monsters," Sirius insisted.

They stared each other down for a few seconds, trying to read each other’s minds. Eventually Remus sighed, sinking into a chair, his annoyance dissipating.

"Okay," Remus conceded. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"I'm sorry you didn't feel like you could trust us," Sirius answered, sitting down next to Remus and nudging him with his shoulder.

"We should go study with the others," Remus said after a few moments of quiet. "They'll wonder where we are."

"Or we can sneak down to the kitchens and get some more crumble," Sirius suggested, raising his eyebrows excitedly.

"No, we need to write this essay for Binns," Remus replied.

"Why? It's not like he's going to notice," Sirius joked.

"Come on, let's just go get it done."

The two boys stood and walked out of the classroom, making their way to Gryffindor Tower and ducking into the common room. James and Peter had already pulled out their books and were working diligently, although James kept looking around the room distractedly. Sirius found it hard to focus on the impossibly dull essay Binns had set them, despite Remus' admonishments every time he got distracted. Who cared about the stupid witch trials anyway? It was like nine hundred years ago. Sirius wished they could learn about something more relevant. Things felt more intense lately, like all the professors in the school were worried about something big happening. He had no idea what it might be, but it had to be significant for the whole teaching staff to be concerned. The older students seemed stressed as well, more than just worrying about the NEWTs. Whatever was going on, it was affecting everyone, and Sirius didn’t want to be left out.

#gen writes #hp #marauders #remus lupin #peter pettigrew #james potter #sirius black #QiMH #Better Together

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