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vogueinnie · 3 years

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HEAVEN OR HELL ; part. 2 TEASER - PART 1 - PART 2 - (...)

━ WARNINGS ; demon!hyunjin, virgin fem!reader

if you feel uncomfortable with the mentions of religion, please don’t read this story cause there are a lot blasphem, mentions of Lucifer and Mammon (Lucifer’s son)

corruption kink, fear kink, humiliation (and not only in a sexual way), mention of killing a cat, pet name (angel), manipulation, mention of alcohol (wine), reader is ashamed of herself, sir kink, nipple play, clitoral masturbation, grinding, very slight choking, slight possessive kink, no penetrative sex

━ WORD COUNT ; 3.3k ━ NOTE ; part 2!!! the smut part is kinda... soft? but the naaaasty is coming!!! also sorry for that cliffhanger at the end zjfhdzfz. feedback are so welcomed!!

The sinister forest in which you walked every morning now was very different from the glittering glade you were used to. The trees were whopping and if you looked at them for too long you can see red eyes forming in the wood. Or was it your imagination ? No one never knows. No beautiful tulips, no cute birds tickling your ears with their cute whistles, no bunnies jumping here and there. Just dead flowers and a mortifying dead silence.

Everything was dead.

All the love and joy living in your heart were starting to fade away. You can’t even remember for how long you were stuck in this place you don’t belong. The time seemed to be unfairly long. The days were all the same, empty, but tormenting in a certain way. You even started to forget how it was, in Heaven.

But in your misfortune you were lucky. Mammon chooses you. He was one of the most powerful of this world, after all. You were constantly watched, mocked by the people living here for being an angel. But what was wrong in being good ? Hyunjin was walking you everywhere like a trophy, or a dog, exposing you to everyone with the leather leash he used on you the first time you both met. They all seemed both amazed and disgusted by you.

“Why did Mammon chooses her ? Is she that special ? She’s an angel, how can he spends his day with her ?” were most of the words you were able to hear when you were around the devilish creatures. And Hyunjin never answers one of those questions, but his legendary smirk wnever left his face. It was ever more painful for you to understand that you were nothing but a toy for him. But what did you expect ? To be fully accepted as a sweet person ? Bullshits.

The only time he left you alone was on mornings. That’s why you always ended up in that scary forest near the huge castle you were left. Well, alone was a big word.

Jeongin was following you everywhere. He was Hyunjin’s personal and favorite servant. A strangely gentle and obedient demon. He looked young and pure, his beautiful angular face was surrounded by his dark blue hair. And you found that there were bright shades of red waiting to sparkle in his eyes. He was tall, not as tall as Hyunjin, but tall enough to be impressive.

There was no in between in this world. Demons were either painful to watch or absolutely breathtaking.

You were walking in the dead grass with him next to you, breathing the fresh matinal air. A beautiful black cat presents himself in front of the both of you, rubbing against your legs and purring loudly enough for you to hear.

A smile finally draws on your feature and you kneel to pat his head and scratch his chin.

“Look, Jeongin ! He wants hugs, poor thing... You’re probably hungry... Jeongin nods, looking straight ahead. But it’s the first time I saw a black cat... Are they common here ? You turn your face to look at him with a smile but still, his mouth stay closed. Hm, yeah, I see... You whisper softly, a little discouraged by his constant silence with you, making you realize that you were really alone here.”

Still without a words, he resumes his walk towards the castle, silently asking you to follow him. And you did, with the cute animal on your step. You were playing with him, walking fast or slow to see if he was still behind you. A laugh escape your mouth seeing the fluffy cat struggling to follow your speed. Not that you were fast but he was a little bit confused.

You bump into someone not on purpose and immediately your blood went icy. Respectfully, and especially cause you were too scared to look at the demon in front of you, you bow your body so low it was almost painful for your back. But you better hurt yourself than being hurted by someone else. Especially in Hell.

“There, there, there... What do we have ? This voice... I knew you were stupid but not to the point of not looking where you are walking. His words were painful but you didn’t move an inch, not wanting to bother him even more. The cat behind you was meowing and if you could you would see the confusion on the man’s face. What’s this ? Jeongin, kill it.”

“No ! No, no ! N-no...? Your voice had suddenly risen to end up being very low. You lift up your chin to finally see Hyunjin in front of you. He was only dressed in a black silk bathrobe embroidered with golden pearls, his long hair was half-tied in a low ponytail and he was holding a glass of wine in his right hand. He... He doesn’t mean you any harm, Sir... He just wants a friend...? His laugh was cold and heartless and he was scanning your body up and down with his piercing eyes.”

Suddenly, you felt a cold sticky liquid running through your face and you just understood that he literally threw the wine in your face. Your lips were parted in shock and that’s the moment you could hear vicious laughs behind him. Of course, Lucifer’s son always need his public. He drops the glass on the ground, glass shattering into thousands of pieces near your feet.

Hyunjin grabs the back of your neck, bringing your face close to his. Close enough to let his tongue slowly lick your cheek wet with wine.

“Remember when we first met, angel... What did I say ? A lot of things, actually. But you didn’t answer and he grab a handful of your hair.”

“That you wanted me ! A-and... That I was a mess... That you hated dirty things, Sir... You answer quickly with a shaking voice. He lets go of your face abruptly with a wide smile, nodding his face.”

“Yeah that’s it ! And what did you just make ? He pointed your face nonchalantly, making you whisper A mess with a tiny voice. A fucking mess, I hate it, in the name of Lucifer... I hate it ! His pupils were all black, you couldn’t even see the white in it. And you knew you messed up.”

He was hysterical and the screams, laughs and encouragements from the lower classes encourages him to act even more crazier. He grabs your wrist merciless to the applause of the crowd and he leads the two of you in the part of the castle which belongs to him.

Faster than you would have liked, you were in his room. It was always cold, not welcoming and way too dark for your eyes in need of nothing but sunshine. Hyunjin stayed silent but the creepy smile on his face was enough to makes you shiver in fear.

It was crazy how easily he switched from being insane to quiet.

Once you were in his private bathroom he made you look at you through the big golden mirror in front of the black marble bathtub. And you could see the damage, the deep red liquid running down your face, some strands of your hair are wet and the front of your black lace dress is also ruined with wine. You feel your back burning from his stares, and it’s even more humiliating than your physical condition.

“I think my angel needs to take a bath, don’t you ? You nod slowly, playing nervously with your fingers. What are you waiting for ? Go ahead.”

You look up at him leaning against the door frame, panicked. He raises an eyebrow and you shake your head. No, impossible. You probably misunderstood. Or he misspoke. How can you get naked in front of him ?

“Need some help, maybe ?”

Still through the mirror you can see him approaching you to stand behind you. Your body was frozen, not that you were afraid, but you were mostly intimidated. Your aura may be a pink pale tone but his own was... Like a dark shade of the deepest blue. The ocean itself is bright compared to what emane from this demon.

He puts your hair on the right side of your neck to have a full access of the left side one. His breath against your shivering skin was hot, and it probably burns you in the best way. The warmth and the softness of his lips against your skin were painful and you couldn’t help biting your lips and squeezing your eyes.

The inner fight you waged against yourself scared you more. Do you really want to push him away ? Or can’t you wait to be naked for him ?

Slowly, his long fingers trail the curve of your body, from your shoulders, to your waist, your hips, but strangely... Never your intimate parts. And you swear, at that right moment, you needed that more than you could ever imagine. Your body was squirming against his and slowly he grabs your chin with his thumb and forefinger.

“Look at you, angel. You open your eyes to see your back totally glued to his chest, making you blush in an instant. Don’t be shy with me, I told you. I’m your owner, there’s no need to be shy. You couldn’t stop looking at him and when he pushes his thumb against your lips you opened it to take it in your mouth and to start sucking it. He chuckles, nibbling your ear, his hot breath awakening all your senses. So nasty, are you really a child of God ?”

His last sentence makes you shiver. He was right. Did you deserve to be considered pure when you wanted him so badly ?

Hyunjin slowly untie your dress and the unknown feeling of being naked in front of someone was as arousing as scaring. Only his sharp eyes was touching you. As usual, he was looking at every details of your body and you can tell how badly he restrains himself to not put his hands all over your frame.

Why was he even nice ? He was almost hysteric few minutes ago. But the answer was evident... He was a demon, after all. They don’t need an excuse to act like crazy.

You didn’t move, looking shamefully at your body for reacting to every ones of his caresses, looks and words.

He takes you out of your mind, grabbing your wrist to lead you in the bathtub, hot smoke escaping from it due to the water. You put your body in it and you look at him undressing. He was as naked at you. His body was slim, his thighs and abdomen were muscular, his body was sculpted by the the God himself.

How funny is it to think that when he’s the son of Lucifer himself.

It doesn't take long for him to join you, placing his body behind yours. You didn’t know if it was because of the water relaxing all of your nerves, or his strangely calm aura, but you felt good. Hyunjin grabs your shoulders to make your body leans against his, slipping his wet hands on your face to clean your features from the liquid that he himself threw at you.

A little sigh escape your mouth and you allow yourself to pretend that you’re not in Hell. That you’re in your own room with all your green indoor plants surrouding you. You even have the impression that your favorite sugary smell is all over you, and you can even feel Felix scratching you neck and chin cause he knows how much you like that.

Wait... But you’re not in your room. And there’s no Felix.

Hyunjin started to kisses your neck slowly, licking your skin with the tip of his tongue, making you moan unintentionally. You open your eyes, ashamed of how pathetic you melt in the hand of the one and only Demon who can controls you. He probably feels your body tense and he starts to draw some invisible circles against your tummy.

“It’s funny how I want to protect you and ruin you at the same time. You bite your lips, gulping slowly just imagining the two situations. Yeah, it’s funny. How I want to take care of you, kiss you everywhere, makes you feel good. His words are accompanied by gentle caresses, he brushes your boobs with his fingertips, making you shiver and squirm against him. Even if he was behind you you can feel his gaze on your naked body exposed to him. How I want to hurt you in the goodest way, makes you beg and cry. He pinches one of your already hard nipple with two of his fingers and again, you moan softly. Isn’t it supposed to hurt ? Then why does it feels good ?”

He chuckles when he hear your voice, rubbing now your two buds in his digits. You can’t control your body and the sensation you’re feeling and quickly you came to the conclusion that you want more. You want to feel more, you want that heatness in your body to be more intense, to explode.

The back of your head falls against the crook of his neck and his strong woody smell makes you loose your mind. Hyunjin turns his head to put his forehead against yours while his fingers travel all around you naked figure against him. You can feel him everywhere and nowhere, it's like he can touch your whole body at the same time.

“Don’t stop looking at me. He whispers in a low voice, his eyes fixed on yours.”

You nod slowly even tho it’s difficult for you to stay focused when one of his hands glides along your exposed pubis. His other hand is still firmly gripped to your boob, massaging it in both a soft and harsh way. It was his power. To be gentle and rough.

Instinctively you open your legs. More, more, more. That’s all you can think about right now. And it seems that he exactly understand what you want. More. His long fingers run through your womanhood, wet because of the water, but not only. You can feel how burning it is, how good it feels when he slides them against your two intimates lips. More. You try to keep your eyes open as much as possible to not break the intense contact you’re sharing. A little oh escape your lips when he circles his fingers around that tiny, little, swollen bud. More, you want more.

“You don’t have that in Heaven, uh ? You never felt that good, did you ? You shake your head, half closed eyelids due to everything you’re feeling. That’s the real Heaven, angel.”

His wide black dilated pupils were magneficient, you couldn’t even think of looking away. He continues to rubs your most sensitive area and the hot water just help everything to be more soother and slicker. He teases your nipple, kissing the tip of your nose with a smirk drawns on his beautiful lips and you start to buck your hips up to feel more of the frictions he was offering to you. Slowly, you grip his wrist to push his hands even more against your intimate area. He chuckles, again, at your eagerness and soft moans crash on his lips when he taps your pussy. It was tickling, weird, but oh so good at the same time.

Slowly he grabs your waist to turn your body around so that you are facing him. And it’s even more intimidating to see Hyunjin with his eyes totally lost in the luxurious world. Almost automatically you stick your body to him, surrounding his waist with your legs.

If only you know that doing that made your pussy crash against his, you can really feel it, hard and pretty long dick. Your cheeks were now probably a bright tint of red. And you can see that he wasn’t in a better state.

“S-sorry ! I didn’t meant to do that, Sir !”

“Don’t be sorry, angel. Do it again, can you ? You nod slowly, pressing your two hands on his shoulders to give you a little bit of support. You move your hips slowly against his body, his hard-on hitting your core everytime you moved. Yeah, just like that, keep going... How does it feel ?”

Your only answer was to nod again and bite your lips. It felt too good to be real. Your two bodies stick together were hot and you swear, the burning flames in Hell wasn’t as hot as you. One of Hyunjin’s hand was grabbing your waist to help you move and grind above him while the other one found their way to your exposing neck.

All of your body was covered with shivers and you didn’t know if the cause was his eyes on you, his hands gripping your throat without squeezing it, or your core sticking and rubbing on his rosy tip.

“You’re mine. You can hear his hoarse voice whispering in your ear as he still grab your throat in a possessive way while his hand on your waist tighten it firmly. You’re mine. I choose you not only cause I know you were obedient... His hips buck up into yours, making the both of you crash your crotch together in a moaning symphony. Because I knew you were going to love it a lot more than you should.”

You felt light-headed for a moment. Hyunjin’s words was arousing, making you feel like the dirtiest angel. And it was too much. Too much new sensations for your body. The knot in your stomach were growing to the point that it was consuming you so you speed your own pace, helped by his hands, his breath, his moans, even his praises “pretty, hot, good girl” were the only words you were focused on. You felt enveloped by your devastating orgasm, your face leans back and a silent moan escapes your parted lips. It was difficult for you to keep your eyes open, your bordy starts to shake against his and you scratch his shoulders to hold on to reality. It was insanely good to be on cloud nine, a soft smile draws on your lip as every muscles of your body relaxed and tensed at the same time.

You feel him chasing his own high, patting his veiny and leaking dick on your swollen and overstimulated bud. You wanted to escape his touch as much as you wanted him to keep doing that delicious feeling.

You let yourself totally go in his arms when the both of you come back down from your high. Hyunjin was as breathless as you and he rubs your back in slow caresses, kissing your temples with a little grin.

“I bet Felix never made you feel that way. You frowned your eyebrows, why was he talking about Felix now ? You lift your face to look up at him in a confused way. Oh, you probably didn’t know... You shake your head slowly. He was my servant. You both have the same disgusting sugary smell. ”

Your jaws dropped and you blink your eyes. Felix, the purest heart you have ever known was once... A demon ?

—————————————☠︎︎ —————————————

━ TAGLIST ; @sailorhyunjinz - @minholuvs - @that-anxious-bisexual - @ohmysparkle - @yuminsung - @minaamhh - @kittykatvenom - @bubblelixie - @imagineinnie - @ronnieissupermegafoxyawesomehot - @etherealeeknow - @linours - @starry-jinnie @p0t4t0don14ll - @straytannies - @binnie-m00n - @formidxble - @skzcvre - @titleisyettobemade - @bythesunnotbythemoon - @nada-disso - @characha - @lizsvcks - @pxnidxjks - @ninjaleeknow - @solistired - @keloiu - @staaaaaa - @journalskz - @bubbl3gunz - @tinyminari - @hyuneytoast - @s4ilor-m4rs (if you want to be added to the taglist feel free to send me an ask!)

#skz smut #stray kids smut #hyunjin x reader #hyunjin smut #heaven or hell ; the serie

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boldlyvoid · 3 years

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Amoreena | Chapter Five

Chapter Five

main summary: Heaven is a real place and it's located exactly 14.6 miles away from the FBI, Quantico Headquarters. Off behind a small park, under a fantastical willow tree surrounded by wildflowers, in every colour young minds can imagine.

Don't forget, heaven also comes with angels.

Chapter Summary: (fluff only) weekly Saturday reading only they are joined by an extra 15 lost boys, not just Spencer

Warnings (adding as they happen): fluff, hurt/comfort, depressed spencer, reader has a daughter, falling in love, strangers to lovers, library smut, oral (female receiving) lots and lots of fluff

word count: 3K

from the beginning <3

He woke up Saturday morning to the sound of a bunch of voices coming from beyond the walls of his room. Only it wasn’t his room, it was the room he slept in when he stayed with Y/N and Amoreena, he hasn’t left since he arrived on Thursday and he had no plan to either.

They still hadn’t told her about their relationship, not wanting her to come crawling into bed with her mom in the morning to find Spencer there too. She wasn’t ready to explain to Amoreena what it meant for Spencer to be in her bed, how they were in love and that she might need to learn how to knock before entering.

So he slept in the spare room, completely contently because he knew she was only on the other side of the wall, instead of 30 minutes away like she would be when he slept at his own apartment.

It had been a week since he saw them reading in the park, and now they were his family. It was incredibly fast, anyone who heard the news would say so. But that’s how his life worked, he blew through everything incredibly fast, it only made sense for him to skip every step in the book and become a stepdad overnight.

He woke up then, missing Y/N and Amoreena as he thought about the last week. Finally getting dressed and peaking outside, through the crack in the blinds, to see what was going on on the farm.

There were a bunch of men in the field with the cows dropping new cattle off in a big truck as a bunch of children ran around the yard. Y/N wasn’t kidding when she said her 7 siblings had produced 15 cousins for Amoreena to play with. Children all between the ages of toddler and 7-years-old, screaming while they ran after Rufus and the cats, it was a pure dopamine rush to witness.

He found Y/N in the living room, a book in one hand and a coffee in the other, “good morning cutie, all the ruckus on the farm wake you up?” She did her best fake southern accent as she smiled at him. Beautiful as ever in the early morning sunshine.

He nodded with a yawn, sitting beside her and snuggling into her shoulder. She placed her mug in his hands so she could wrap an arm around him and pull him in closer, letting him take a sip of coffee and become a real person again.

He noticed she was reading a book he had never seen before, reading the pages and not know the words. It was a first for him.

“What’s that one about?”

Y/N closed it to let him look at the cover. It was a hand-bound book, wrapped in green fabric that was at least 30 years old and in well-loved condition. The gold lettering reading Amoreena, along with a pressed gold rose and the author's name. He had never heard of it before.

“My grandma was an aspiring writer and the reason I love books so much, her name was Peggy and she had a dream once about a wonderful little girl named Amoreena and the magical life she created for herself. She wrote it all down and my grandpa had it typed and bound for her, she was so proud of this book,” Y/N gushed, smiling as she held it to her chest softly, thinking of all the memories Spencer didn’t know yet.

“Really?” Spencer couldn’t help but smile at her.

She nodded softly, “she loved Elton John, so much so that when my sister Ashley came out she threw her a party. Almost all those kids out there are Ashley's, by the way, she went down the adoption and foster root after I did IVF.”

She pointed out the front window at all the people gathered on her land, “Ben and Dylan dropped their kids off too while they help dad and Evan with the farm. Those are my brothers in case you didn’t know their names yet, there’s also Carver and Francis but they don’t live as close.”

Her little life was just so perfect, “did they want to come with us to read this afternoon? We need some lost boys.”

“They’d love that, are you sure you can handle 16 kids between the two of us?” she smiled, pure love spreading through her body as she held him.

“They’re not so different from psychopaths right?” He teased, watching her settle against him even more as they enjoyed their Saturday together.

“What else can you tell me about your grandma?” He snuggled into her more as he asked, wanting to know as much about her happiness as possible.

“She was always listening to music, she loved Elton's song Amoreena the most. It was the song she played for the majority of my childhood. It only made sense for me to name my little miracle Amoreena too, cause I wouldn’t have her unless nanny suggested I have a baby.”

“I would have loved to meet her.”

Y/N’s smile changed then, “she would have loved you and your big mind.”

“My mom wants to meet you and Amoreena,” he announces softly, he hasn’t really told her anything about his family yet.

“What’s she like?”

“She has schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s and she lives in a care home in DC right now, I try and see her when I can but she has her own schedule so I have to fit around when she’s having a good day,” it was hard to explain it to most people, but not to her. He didn’t feel any shame or fear in introducing them. Y/N was the most loving human, and Amoreena was just the same.

“When is she free next?” A simple question that made him feel incredibly giddy.

“Tuesday from 3-5,” he snuggled in closer to her as she wraps her arm around him.

“We’ll pick Amoreena up from school after work and take her over,” Y/N agreed, their lives intertwining like they were always meant to.

Like she was the ivy on his old cottage, she took him in and made him her own, wrapping herself all around him and never letting him go again.

He basically finishes her coffee while she holds him on the couch. The sound of the kids outside making them laugh every once in a while, dogs barking and cows mooing, the farm was alive and roaring while they enjoyed each other's company.

“Did you bring your costume for the reading today?”

He sat right up then, looking at her like she lost her mind, “of course I did, I wouldn’t have Penelope spend a week tracking down a Captain Hook costume just to forget it.”

Y/N’s jaw dropped, “you didn’t?!”

He simply nodded with a cheeky grin, “come on Tinker Bell, everyone knows she had a thing for Hook.”

“Who didn’t? He was the first and last bad boy I was interested in, I typically go more for Milo’s and Ariel’s; full of adventure and always learning something new,” Y/N teased him.

“Mhm, I always had a thing for Aladdin and Belle in search of far off lands and happy endings,” he mused, making her smile just as much as he was, “but for real it was between Hook and Wendy for my costume,” he made her laugh again, wanting to hear it for the rest of time.

“You still can, I have a blue nightgown you can borrow,” it was so easy for them to flirt, it fit into their conversation so simply it felt like they had been together forever.

He couldn’t help leaning in to kiss her, resting her back against the couch softly as she held onto him. He loved kissing her, she tasted like coffee and happiness every single time. She made the cutest sounds when they would make out like she was surprised by it or she wasn’t used to it at all.

She made him feel like he was young again like he was 21 and in love for the first time. All his trauma disappeared and that Spencer who used to stare back at him in the mirror was gone now. That guy packed his bags and left the farm to never be seen again.

Good fucking riddance is all he had to say.

He was happy, he enjoyed being happy and he was going to stay happy. It was the only goal he had going forward, and as long as he was in her embrace, surround by the laugher of her child and family, he knew it would be possible.

Amoreena came running inside then, finding the two of them making out on the couch before they could part from each other.

“Ewww!” She cried, jumping on top of the two of them and knocking the wind out of Spencer.

“Get off,” Y/N tried to speak as she was crushed by the two of them. “Mom down!”

Spencer picks Amoreena up then, taking her away from the couch and spinning her around like she’s an airplane. She cheers and cheers and doesn’t want him to put her down because it’s so fun. The next thing he knows he’s being dragged outside to twirl all the kids around like they’re Peter Pan, flying through the air on their way to Neverland.

He’s surrounded by giggles and tickles fights, he’s tackled down against the dirt as a herd of tiny children dog pilled him. Laughing until he cried, feeling more joy than humanly possible and then Y/N’s telling them all to get ready to he’d to the park.

Coming down the stairs in a pirate costume to a bunch of screaming kids was an experience and a half. Spencer couldn’t believe how happy it made them all to imagine Captain Hook had broken into the house and Amoreena, or Peter Pan as she corrected him, chased him outside with all the lost boys.

He took a moment to learn all their names, all 15 of them, however, unlike the cats, they had relatively normal people names.

Kate, Cade, Jet, Lauren, Cassie, Sara, Evan, Benny, Olivia, Jessie, Owen, Maddie, Gwen, August, and Parker, were the cutest little family of cousins. some looked like Amoreena, some looked like their own mothers, a handful of them were adopted out of the country, they were the most perfect cast of lost boys.

He's never had any cousins, no pets, no siblings. His life never felt lonely until he realized what he missed out on.

“Dad,” Amoreena whispered as she tugged on his shirt lightly, “look!”

She pointed towards the house where Y/N was standing. When she said she was going as Tinker Bell he really didn’t think she meant looking exactly like Julia Roberts at the end of Hook.

She looked magical in her beautiful white dress, curly hair with the most perfectly placed flowers and flawless wings wrapped around her shoulders. She was a vision standing on the porch, waiting for him to pick his jaw up off the floor and compliment her.

“Tink,” the words are more like air, soft and barely there.

“Is Captain Hook being nice? Or should we take him to the pond and let the Alligators deal with him?” Y/N teased, marching down the stairs and poking Spencer's chest.

“Ouch,” he teased her, holding his hand over his heart to make her feel bad.

But she didn’t, “some Pirate you are,” she teased, sticking her tongue out at him before taking Amoreena’s hand and running off down the trail towards the main house, everyone following her lead.

Nanny packed enough snacks for all 16 kids, and a little extra just in case. Spencer slipped the lunch box over his shoulder and they made their way towards the adventure. Y/N pulling a wagon just in case the littlest ones didn’t want to walk anymore. It was spectacular.

Y/N stopped then, pretending to stand like an army man turning around abruptly to look at the troop. “Lost boys, are we ready?”

“Yes, Tinker Bell!” They cheered back.

“On my lead, 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4,” she marched, bringing her knees up high as they all followed her down the path. “We’re following the leader, the leader, the leader,” she began to sing.

Spencer was in awe, his heart felt like it was going to explode as he watched everyone follow her. Singing along as they marched their tiny little butts down to the park.

“We’re following the leader wherever she may go!” Amoreena yelled the lyrics back, leading the pack as Peter Pan should.

“Tee dum, tee dee, a teedle ee do tee day Tee dum, tee dee, it's part of the game we play Tee dum, tee dee, the words are easy to say Just a teedle ee dum, a teedle ee do tee day

Tee dum, tee dee, a teedle ee do tee dum We're one for all, and all of us out for fun We march in line and follow the other one With a teedle ee do, a teedle ee do tee dum”

It was like magic, they all knew the words and they sang the whole way down the path. Every verse and then repeating it. Not a single kid strayed from the path, no one complained about sore feet or hot backs, they loved their Aunty Y/N and so did Spencer.

“We’re off on an adventure, adventure, adventure,” Y/N changed the words, making him smile as she brought happiness into the world. “We’re off on an adventure to read out in the sun! Tee dum, tee dee, a teedle ee do tee day…”

Every single time he thought she had given him the best day of his life, she manages to outdo herself.

—

They barely listened to the story, it was a disaster of epic proportions but they tried. 15 kids is a lot to handle as an ex FBI agent and a librarian, they had lunch and instead ran around the field playing lost boys instead. It was still an amazing afternoon.

He was going to be covered in bruises the next morning. He had been kicked, poked, trampled, jumped on, the whole 9 yards. They were the most energetic bunch in the whole world, and then they came home to ice cream.

“Y/N,” Spencer finally pulled her aside when all the kids were preoccupied with their cold snack after a hot day.

“Yes, cutie?” It was a nickname that was sticking, much like pretty boy, and he didn’t mind it at all.

“We’re going to need more than 2 songs tonight to get her to go to bed,” he teased, stepping into that step-dad role with ease.

She couldn’t stop smiling at him, wrapping him up in her arms gently so he didn’t crush her fairy wings. “We’ll take her swimming, that’ll tire her out instead. Are you lookin’ for some alone time?”

“I love her dearly, but I can’t kiss you as much when she’s around,” he whispered before pecking her quickly and hearing the group of lost boys pretend to be sick.

“Just because he’s my dad doesn’t mean you have to be gross like your mom and dad, mom,” Amoreena’s smart mouth making them both shake their heads and laugh.

“What would you do if I did this?” Y/N teased before dipping Spencer back like a princess and kissing him, he stuck his foot out in shock as she held him there.

“Ewww!!” All the kids yelled as she returned him to his feet.

“Or this?” Y/N pulled him into another kiss, her leg popping like Princess Mia’s in the princess diaries.

Amoreena and her cousins were all screaming then, laughing at how gross their aunt and her new boyfriend were being. Used to it clearly, their grandparents were just as in love and watching from the porch as they held each other on the swing.

“I love you,” Spencer announced, loud enough for all to hear without a care in the world.

“You better,” she smiled. “I love you too, cutie,” she added before kissing him one last time.

His life felt perfectly complete.

Y/N’s brothers were incredibly kind just like her. He learned that Ashley was the oldest with 5 kids and her wife Susie, then Ben who was 46 and his wife Shannon, they had 3 kids. Dylan and Laurie had 4 and Even, her twin brother had 3.

Turns out her mom had 2 sets of twins back to back, 7 children and only 5 pregnancies. It felt crazy for him to think about having that many people in his life for his whole life, he wouldn’t have known what to do with anyone more than just his mother growing up.

Spencer helped Bob with the barbecue, they made burgers and hotdogs for all 16 of the children while they continued to run through the fields. They had enough energy to last them 5 straight days of chaos. It was amazing.

Y/N and Spencer managed to wander off while all the kids ate, sitting under a tree with their dinner so they could finally have some time alone together.

She was beautiful, sitting in the afternoon amber glow as she tried to keep her hair from blowing in her face. Tucking the strands behind her ears so she could eat her dinner in peace before spencer handed her the hair tie on his wrist. Then she got ketchup on her cheek, seemingly on purpose as she smiled at him and laughing as Spencer wiped it off with his thumb. He was so in love he felt stupid, smiling at her like he’s never seen another person before, absolutely enamoured.

“Derek and his wife wanted to come over tomorrow and have his son meet Amoreena if that’s okay?”

Her face lit up, “his son is the one named after you right? Not your godson?”

He nodded with yet another smile, his lips were going to fall off at this point. “Yeah, he’s the sweetest little guy, Hank’s never been to a farm before.”

“You tell them our gates are always own to new minds and pure hearts,” she smiled. “That’s what nanny used to say.”

He leans in and kisses her then, resting his forehead against hers as she held his cheek in her free hand, smiling ever so softly as she stared into his eyes, they didn’t need words, he knew she loved him too. A week of pure bliss had passed within the blink of an eye, and they still had forever to go.

Taglist: @shemarmooresfedora @spookyspence @spencers-dria @manuosorioh @reidsfish @mochionly (send me an ask if you want to be added to the tag list, I don't always see every reply! i love you guys thank you so much for reading)

#spencer reid #spencer reid smut #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid x you #spencer reid self insert #spencer reid request #criminal minds smut #criminal minds imagine #amoreena

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theres-an-impulstor-among-us · 3 years

Note

Vaunna, my beloved. Are you aware that we now need some kind of Rendog fan fiction to celebrate the important news that are his dog ears?

Ahh Oca my beloved, of course I am aware. Here you go!

(also pls don’t tag this as shipping, it’s just friendship)

…

One hot afternoon, Ren is at his log farm, trying to stock up for his shop. Bigger Logz has seen a lot of traffic recently so he hopes he can restock quickly so as to not lose any business. But his long hair is causing him to sweat heavily in the hot sun and he’s not sure how much longer he can stay out here for.

“Yo, Ren!” Iskall unexpectedly appears on top of the tree he’s just about to chop down. “How’s it going?”

“Hey!” Ren smiles up at his friend. “What’s up, Iskall?”

“Nothing much, just coming over to check on the weirdo who’s chopping logs in the middle of a heatwave.”

Ren laughs. “If I don’t get it done now, I’ll keep procrastinating until I hate everything. Now that you’re here, you wanna help?”

“No, dude, I wanna go to the beach or something!” Iskall reaches down and tugs at Ren’s shoulder. “C’mon, let’s go do something fun. Aren’t you sweltering out here?”

Their best friend considers this. “I mean, I AM really hot.”

Iskall winks. “In more ways than one.”

“Stop!” Ren giggles, swatting his best friend’s hand away.

“Yo, you’re so hot cuz you’ve got a whole mane covering your whole head and neck.” Iskall takes hold of a few strands of Ren’s hair and tugs gently at them. “Look at this. You gotta be sweating like a… um… whatever sweats a lot. Why don’t you get a haircut?”

Ren’s smile falls and he takes a step back, tugging his hair out of Iskall’s grip. “I don’t need a haircut, I’m fine like this.”

Iskall raises an eyebrow. “Okay, what’s wrong?”

“N-Nothing.”

“Bro, I know you better than you know yourself. I heard the change in your voice just now so I know something’s wrong. You can talk to me about anything, you know.”

Ren hesitates. He’s been best friends with Iskall for so long that maybe it IS time to tell them his secret.

“Okay. Here it is.”

He lifts his long hair out of the way, revealing two furry dog ears on either side of his head.

Iskall stares at him, their eyes wide. “Ren… How long have you had those?”

“My whole life,” Ren admits. “I’m just not confident enough to show them to everyone else.”

“You?” Iskall says in disbelief. “NOT confident?! You’re like the most confident guy I know.”

Ren gives a slightly awkward chuckle. “Yeah. Not about this, though.”

“But… how come? It’s not that bad, surely? You know the hermits would never judge you based on your appearance.”

“I know, it’s just… it’s hard to shake old trauma. Know what I mean?”

Iskall pauses. They know exactly what Ren means. Nobody likes talking about their lives before Hermitcraft, and this is the only time they’ve ever heard Ren mention anything about his.

Finally, they jump down beside Ren and link arms with him. “C’mon, bro. Let’s go get you a haircut. It’s time you get to show the world your full self.”

Ren starts to protest but cuts himself off. For some reason, the idea of finally letting his ears show appeals to him. Even though he’s nervous at the idea, he knows deep down that the other hermits won’t treat him any differently. They already love him for who he is.

“O-Okay,” he says, nodding. “I’ll do it.”

…

“-so we’d really like a style that shows off his ears but still encapsulates his rugged good looks,” Iskall finishes. “Can you do it?”

Bdubs expertly twirls his shears. “What a silly question. You ready, Ren?”

Ren squirms in the barber’s chair. “I don’t know. Y-You’ll be gentle, right…?”

“Oh, of course!” Bdubs beams and flicks a piece of cloth over the mirror in front of him. “But no mirrors during the process, ‘kay? Gonna be a nice surprise at the end.”

“I-I’m not gonna lose my ears altogether, am I?”

Bdubs shakes his head confidently. “Nah, that hasn’t happened in ages! Okay, on we go!”

Ren closes his eyes and leans back, forcing himself to relax. He trusts his friends; if Iskall and Bdubs say this is a good idea, he trusts their word.

Soon, he begins to relax for real, listening to Iskall and Bdubs chatter to each other about nothing in particular as the latter works. As much as he likes to talk, he also enjoys just listening to other people chat about building ideas and plans for the future. It helps distract him from his nerves.

“Right! All done!”

Ren opens his eyes. “That was quick.”

“That was fifteen minutes,” Bdubs responds amusedly. “I think you fell asleep or something. Anyway, are you ready for the reveal?”

Immediately, Ren’s heartrate skyrockets as he remembers where he is and what has just happened. “Y-Yeah.”

Grinning, Bdubs whips off the material covering the mirror.

Ren’s eyes widen.

Not for the first time in his life, he can’t stop staring at his reflection in the mirror. But this time, it’s different. This is the first time in so long that he can actually see his dog ears. He always thought he would hate any hairstyle where his ears are on show, but Bdubs has done such a good job keeping his hair long enough to still look good but short enough to show off the furry ears on either side of his head.

“Bro…!” Iskall circles Ren, unable to take their eyes off their best friend’s head. “You look amazing. Seriously. Your ears look so good with that haircut.”

“Th-Thank you…” Ren reaches up to stroke his ears. He’s only ever touched them to sweep his hair over them or hide them from someone else; the feeling of touching them so gently is foreign to him. “Gosh… Y-You’ve done an amazing job, Dubadubs.”

Bdubs beams, placing both his hands on Ren’s shoulders from behind. “Dude, I can’t believe you’ve never shown off your ears before. You look great! Do you feel any different?”

Ren simply nods, unable to put his feelings into words. Thankfully, Bdubs and Iskall can see the expression of pure joy on his face and they don’t press him to answer aloud.

A few minutes later, he steps out into the sunshine and closes his eyes, taking a deep breath. The breeze blows gently through his hair and ears. It’s amazing to Ren how this simple act has made him feel so free. Iskall appears next to him, offering him his sunglasses. “You wanna go show off your new look?”

“Heck yeah.” Ren grins and puts his sunglasses on. “How do I look?”

“Niiiiice.” Iskall gives him an approving smirk. “Ladies get in line, huh?”

Ren laughs at his own catchphrase being quoted back to him. He lets out a contented sigh, leaning casually on his shorter best friend’s shoulder. He’s never been happier in his whole life.

“Ladies, gentlemen, and everybody in between.”

#hermitcraft #rendog #iskall85 #bdubs #Vaunna writes

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smoochi-dazai · 4 years

Note

Hmmmm.... #50 with Poe please? ;) You know who it is my lovely writer! Can't wait to see more!

✿ “ Mysterious ” ✿

—> Bungo Stray Dogs, Poe Edgar | Reader

—> Sweet | Prompt

—> Description | While Poe introduces you to one of his new mystery novels, you can’t help but be intrigued while at the same time worrying about studies. His smile is too much of a distraction, and you couldn’t resist it.

✿ 50. A kiss, followed by more that trail down the jaw and neck.

Also, hello friend. @writing-for-me-at-this-point

“ Sweet pea! ” The voice of your normally shy boyfriend echoed in the halls of your home, making his way into your bedroom. Bangs covered his face while hugging his latest masterpiece with the grasp of his hands, being sure to not drop it. God was his grin the most adorable sight in the world, how innocent. However, being too caught up in work you missed out on seeing the work of art. Humming gently in response, trying your best to stay focused.

“ Ranpo acknowledged my story today, he said it’s improved!! ” While you sat in a chair, mindlessly studying for exams- your beloved Poe sat himself down right next to you on the shared bed. Meanwhile, his little raccoon friend curled up on your desk, it’s tail swishing some of your papers away. You couldn’t find yourself to be mad, setting you to work aside for a moment to look at Poe. “ Really? I’m happy for you. ” You smile softly, an endearing glance is spared to him before looking back to your work. You didn’t have much time to dwell, what’s more important- Poe or your work. Seeming to notice how he rudely intruded without knocking, Poe can’t help but quietly apologize. His bangs reveal his eyes for a moment, they were almost trembling- even though his lips curl into a small awkward smile before your eyes.

“ I’m sorry for intruding, I really should have knocked first... ” he whispers. The fact you have been with him so long was a blessing, he never saw the day he’d learn the mystery of love. It remains the toughest of them all, maybe he could write about love someday- surely no one could answer it if he doesn’t know either! Maybe Ranpo knew more about love, he will ask for some advice soon. He then continued where he left off, “ I can leave if you need to study. I wouldn’t want to get in your way- I just was incredibly happy and wanted to show you! You and Ranpo are amazing. So I thought... you’d give some feedback as well?”

That caught your attention, raising a brow, a curious glint in your eyes. You sat up from your chair while switching your small table lamp off, for now, you shouldn’t be long. His cutie of a raccoon friend jumps on your shoulder, following you with each step you take. Poe watched you every movement, eyes sparkle with excitement and shock- his beloved was going to read his story? How delightful—

Poe carefully hands you the book, caution evident in his every action. Poe watches as you open the book, first reading the back and tracing your fingers on the cover. It was a beautiful red and gold, hardcover book. You’ve always wanted to collect his books, always so well drawn out. Not as much of a masterpiece as him though. That boy was an angel, even in his fair share of awkward moments. Boy was his nerves thriving at the sight of you holding his book in your hands, the care you put into holding his beloved stories never went past him. Kind as you were, he could never describe just how good you made him feel. There always lingered a sense of euphoria in his heart due to your subtle contact.

“ It’s great, I’d say it’s your best story yet! ” Your smile radiates pure sunshine, he felt like he was in the grace of an angelic disciple. Did you mean what you said? Of course, you did! Boy was he fanboying now. “There are a couple of minor errors on page 2... and a couple of others. But from what I’ve seen so far, your introduction is perfect. You’ve always been talented, I’m sure you’ll stump Ranpo someday!”

“ Y-...You mean that, sweet pea?...” Pie whispers curiously, overwhelming joy excited his heart to no end. “ Why would I have a reason to lie? ”

“ I suppose you’re right... I’ll continue to work as hard as I can! I’ll stump Ranpo by the end of this year with this progress and your encouragement! ” Poe exclaims, whenever he rambles about his writing he almost seems to be a different person entirely, but no matter how acts- Poe is your Dear Boyfriend, and even a possible fiancé.

While he was swept up in his speech of improving to bewilder Ranpo, you found yourself scoot closer to him on the bed. Smiling at him, your hands cup his face, brushing the hair out of his face so you meet eye to eye. “ I believe in you, you’re going to be the most successful author one day. Alright, Dear? ”

The closeness between you both made a blush swarm his pale cheeks, the warmth flooding through his body and pounding of his heart was a clear sign of embarrassment. Unsure of what he should do, he attempted to look away, squirming a little beneath your gaze shyly. Looking down at his lap, only for you to lift his chin again. Leaning closer to him, you praised his work within a mere whisper against his ear. Closing the space between you two, you keep your eyes open to see how he’d react. Poe awkwardly wrapped his arms around your waist while shaking like crazy, poor boy was a nervous wreck. Poe tried his best to do what was right, leaning into the kiss as well to deepen it. Just as you pull away, he was going to speak but panicked when you began to kiss down his jawline. Each kiss left eerily warm tingles, not making any attempt to push you away. A small whine escaped his lips the more you kiss him, 1...2...3... you trailed each kiss against his flared skin. From his lips to his jaw, below his ear and even down to his shoulder. Your hands roam as well, one grasping his hand while the other combs through his hair, the attempts on brushing it out from his eyes ended in failure, always falling back into place.

Moments later, you finally pull away. Satisfied with yourself, you grin. Brushing his hair back again— holding it back to appreciate his eyes. Trying to read him like a book. “ I love you and your stories, but I think you’re the real mystery to be uncovered. ”

Que Poe blushing incredibly all night, becoming a stuttering mess whenever you called his name.

~fin~

#bsd #bungo stray dogs #bungou stray dogs #bsd x reader #bungo stray dogs x reader #bungou stray dogs x reader #Poe Edgar #Poe x reader #Edgar x reader #Edgar Poe x reader #Poe Edgar x reader #The guild x reader #kiss prompts #smoochi dazai

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luninosity · 4 years

Text

It’s @whumptober2020 time again! For prompt 10 – “they look so pretty when they bleed,” specific prompts: blood loss/trail of blood; AND prompt 15 – “into the unknown,” specifically magical healing!

Time for some more Evanstan with witch!Seb! This story takes place in the same universe as “every inch of north and south.” Warnings for...blood & magically inflicted injuries? I promise he’s going to be fine though! It’s magical healing, after all!

Chris steps in through the side door of Sebastian’s magician’s consultation rooms, where the wards know him as Seb’s boyfriend; he’s tired but cheerful, because it’s been a productive day of meetings about the directorial project he’s taking on for fun, the film about rescue dogs, and also he’s brought coffee for Seb from that new place down the street they’ve been meaning to try.

He’s expecting the familiar tickle of Seb’s magic, and he smiles, the way Seb’s wards generally smile back, all warm and smoky and glittery as opals.

The magic is familiar. It recognizes him. But it’s also wrong. Frantic. Scurrying. Spiking. Singing and shouting, sounds Chris doesn’t quite physically hear but feels—

He’s not a witch the way Sebastian is. But he is magic-sensitive, kind of adjacent to it and aware of it if it’s happening, and he’s Seb’s boyfriend. Sebastian’s magic knows that.

The hairs at the nape of his neck stand up. His skin prickles.

He takes another step. “Seb? Sebastian?”

No answer. But Sebastian’s protective magic’s shrieking now, a cacophony of clashing melodies and scents and textures—burning scarlet and blinding gold and copper on Chris’s tongue and whistles in his ears—and it wraps coils around his wrists and ankles and begs for his help—

He runs. Shoving coffee onto Seb’s table next to the silver scrying bowl. Heart twisting in his chest at the sight of neatly labeled herb-bottles and jars on the shelf, at Seb’s black leather jacket tossed over a chair, as if Sebastian’d expected to be right back—

“Sebastian? You in here?” Something nags at his brain; his eyes catch up after a second.

A space on the wall rack. A missing knife. The silver one, the moon-knife.

Sebastian’s protected against most ordinary blades, but magicians sometimes need to offer drops of blood. Seb’s got a few specific knives for that purpose, which means a few weaknesses. Chris tries to breathe. To think.

Sebastian doesn’t have any specific enemies, not that he knows about; magicians can be envious and prickly and wary, but Sebastian’s generous and happy and clever and kind, and good at warding-spells, also.

But Seb had said—something, that morning—something about being asked to consult on a local case, a missing child, and of course he’d said yes, and Chris had nodded because that was a good thing, of course…but Sebastian hadn’t said it’d be anything difficult…

Or had he? By not saying so, by smiling, by kissing Chris as a distraction?

Sebastian’s a good witch but—in his own words—not anywhere near the sorcerers of legend. Gifted at cures and summonings and counter-curses, not at leveling mountains or flattening enemy armies. And he and Chris have only been a them for three months—maybe Seb hadn’t wanted him to worry…

Chris is worried now. Chris is fucking terrified now. “Seb! If you’re here, if you can hear me—say something, come on—”

Magic pulls at his arm, insistent. Wind howls past his ears, though nothing in the main consultation room physically stirs.

He spins in the direction of the tugging. Of the two doors plus small staircase, one leads to Seb’s distillery and store-room; the other’s the private workroom, for anything that can’t be handled out in the sunny front space. The staircase goes up to Sebastian’s bedroom-slash-library, with the books on astronomy and the low cozy bed with the decadent satin sheets, where they’ve spent a lot of enjoyable time.

The door to the private workroom has a small trickle of red underneath it, seeping out.

Chris stares at it for a second. Then throws himself that way.

The knob, heavy and bronze, doesn’t turn. Chris slams a hand against thick wood. “Sebastian!”

No sound.

“Sebastian, please! Can you—you gotta open the door, Seb—just that, you can do that—let me in, please, Seb, just try—”

No word from Sebastian; but a click echoes through horrified silence. This time the knob turns.

The red’s blood and the blood’s so much, a vicious trail that stretches crimson from the door to a puddle over tidy chalk lines and up to—to—

Chris’s lips say Sebastian, without noise, even as he’s flinging himself across the room. A sizzle scratches down his spine, a hint of burning singes his arm-hair, as he crosses chalk marks; but it’s weak. He doesn’t care.

Sebastian, lying on his back, blinks and tries to focus as Chris bends over him. He’s clearly just collapsed in place, knocking over equipment along the way. The knife lies silver and deadly amid broken ceramic bits of what looks like a coffee-mug; Sebastian can do scrying-work with anything, Chris knows, and is actually best with an object he uses daily, a coffee-cup friend, a connection. The big silver bowl in the consultation room’s mostly for effect.

Sebastian’s bleeding from—from everywhere, all over, red soaking his shirt and jeans, Chris’s jeans where he’s kneeling in the puddle, Sebastian’s hair—red streaks Seb’s face, his nose and mouth, his ears, his bared and laid-bare arms, which Chris almost can’t look at because of the raw—

He clamps hands over the closest wrist. Sebastian’s blood’s hot. Sticky. “Seb—oh god—”

Sebastian coughs. Starts to talk, coughs again, then manages, “Oh, hey…love you…”

“Jesus fucking Christ. Seb—I love you, of course I—what, how, what can I—no, no, oh god, Seb—”

“Not…as bad…as it looks…”

“It looks like you’re fucking dying!”

“Well…not quite…that was his plan…but it’s not all me…the water…”

Chris looks more closely. It’s true: it’s not all Sebastian’s blood. The water from the coffee mug’s thinned it and spread it out and contributed to the pool.

Contributed to. Not all of. He’s keeping hands over Sebastian’s left arm, holding edges together. The right arm’s just as bad; Seb’s still horribly injured, blood pulsing under Chris’s fingers, making them slippery. “What can I do?”

“I’m…trying to…heal it.” Sebastian’s face is white. His eyes stand out against the lack of color: that silvery grey-blue Chris loves so much, now etched with pain. “We found her…the girl…it wasn’t that hard, I’m good at talking to the earth…and to water…I just…wasn’t expecting to fight an amateur warlock for her…I won, obviously…”

“Obviously…”

“He’s not dead, don’t worry…I don’t do that…just in custody…sort of very not conscious, I think. Him, not me.”

“Let me help,” Chris pleads, hands wet, jeans wet, workroom wet with hideous ruby splashes. “Please. Anything.”

“I can’t…” Seb coughs again. Then shuts his eyes. When he opens them his voice is noticeably weaker. “I can’t ask you to…”

“You’re not. I’m offering. I love you, Seb. I said fucking anything. Do it. I’m here.”

“It’ll hurt.” Sebastian’s trying hard to sound more all right, and failing. “Chris…”

“Don’t you fucking dare ask me if I’m sure.”

“No…I know you are.” A ghost of a smile hovers at the corner of Seb’s mouth: bittersweet, evanescent, affectionate. “Okay. I can stop it…I think…but I could use an anchor…more strength…getting kind of tired, here…but you’re good at awareness, at being present…”

“I am.” He presses harder. Some of the cuts are healing—he can see them—but not enough. “I can do that. What do you need me to do?”

“Look at me,” Sebastian whispers. “Look at me, think about me…about who I am, who you think of…when you think of me…and just relax, be open, let me in…”

Chris draws a wobbly breath. Lets it out. Keeps his hands over the deepest slash. Focuses on Sebastian’s face, Sebastian’s eyes.

Sebastian, he thinks. Bright and beautiful, ridiculous and generous. Made of stories and magic, a smile through a coffee-scented drift of steam, a love of pizza and outer space and other people. Pure joy in running around the woods on a hike, by turns jumping out at Chris from behind trees or just talking to said trees, running a hand over them, starting conversations.

Sebastian’s eyes are cool and sweet, shimmering like mist and starlight. Chris finds himself distantly aware of the rest of the world—his hands trying to hold Seb together, the way his jeans stick to his legs, the hardness of the workroom floor—but it’s all going dimmer now, far away.

More, if Seb needs that. More intimate, more personal. In bed, under him, laughing and fearless. Sebastian sprawled out half atop him, cat-napping, both of them naked and contented in sunshine. The smoothness of Seb’s skin, the dip where his back curves into his ass, the soft little sound he makes when Chris caresses him just right.

Sebastian doesn’t say anything aloud, but Chris feels something like a yes, rose-pink and amber-laced and dancing like eighties rock music because Seb likes Bon Jovi: Sebastian’s magic, worn thin but glinting and prismatic, reaches out. It draws him in.

He’s always thought Sebastian’s magic felt and tasted like light, so many kinds of light: wry cool moonbeams and lazy honeyed sun-thrumming and mischievous star-twinkles and quiet shafts of shyly happy radiance unexpectedly hiding in deep green pools. The burst of airiness from a cloud-like meringue. Whipped cream and edible gold dust. The kiss of sun through water in a lake. The hushed glowing of candles, lit with a thought, pooling liquid along entwined bodies.

Right now the light’s present—Chris can feel it, can taste it—but very ragged, scarlet-tinged. It asks without words, wistful; Sebastian’s giving him one last chance to duck out, he understands. Sebastian isn’t sure that Chris should have to do this, maybe because it’s only been three quick months, maybe because Seb himself wants this so badly—Chris can feel that the same way he can feel how much Seb loves him; no lying here in this place—and Seb is consequently afraid it can’t be true.

Fuck that, he thinks: you saved me once already, you save me every day I get to kiss you, you make my life more full of magic; let me save you; I love you.

And Sebastian laughs: stunned, grateful, overwhelmed. And accepts.

Pain hits first. White-hot and searing. Chris can’t even scream. Can’t think. Can’t process the sensations. If that’s what Seb’s been feeling—how is he even talking, how is he alive, how—

Sebastian does something else, some tug at a thread in the embroidery of shades of light around them. The pain ebbs: not gone, but covered over by clean wintergreen and mint. The sense this time’s vaguely apologetic, though distracted: Seb’s having to juggle a lot of those threads, with no energy to spare.

Chris shakes his head. Tries to project don’t worry about me, I can take it that direction. Sebastian does a sort of mental headshake right back at him, and then—

It’s the strangest feeling. Not bad, not exactly—but dizzying. Stomach-flipping. Vertiginous. The light’s laced itself into his head, his gut, his chest—and it pulls gently and tugs and draws something out of him, taking it in, leaving him lightheaded as it drains.

His heart thumps faster. He’s off-balance, shaken. And it’s something like a release as well, not orgasmic but close, something like Sebastian stroking him or sucking him until the climax rushes up and out involuntarily, nothing he can do to hold it back, as he shudders and cries out at the flood of release, emptying himself into Seb’s mouth or hand or body.

The world still tastes like mint, and a little like pain, hot and copper and iron-sharp, but Seb’s shielding him from the worst of it, he’s aware.

He can feel Sebastian’s magician’s fingertips skillfully taking each strand, each bit of Chris’s energy, and patiently painstakingly reweaving pieces of self: closing wounds, connecting tendons, knitting veins back together. Chris stays very quiet, holding more pieces of Sebastian in his mind as an anchor, and watches him work.

He doesn’t know how long it takes. Time doesn’t matter, not here.

He knows he’s growing more tired, more hollowed out; he can feel that. Giving himself, and gladly—but even as he thinks that, the draining eases, and recedes, and backs away.

Sebastian’s breathing more easily. Sebastian’s arm’s whole, under his hands; Chris blinks, discovers that he has hands, that he can see and feel a world that isn’t diaphanous and timeless and made of light. He’s sticky with drying watery blood, his jeans are ruined, and he’s starving; Sebastian, still lying in the same spot on the floor, opens both eyes. His skin’s less white, and the blood on his face is dried, not new.

Chris holds his hand, his arm; runs fingertips over bright pink tender flesh, new-made skin. Gazes at Seb, amazed, in awe, thankful.

“So,” Sebastian says, visibly exhausted but with sparkling eyes, “candles? And…whipped cream?”

“It’s how you feel.” He touches Seb’s arm again. “Light. You’re not…it’s not finished. All the way.” It’s not: he can see the lines, the tracks. Closed over, safe and not spilling life anymore, but not gone.

“It’s enough for now.” Seb pushes himself up on an elbow, gingerly; he makes a face as his sleeve lands in a puddle. His shirt’s tattered and slashed open as well; so are his jeans. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I’m not—”

“If I took much more I would. Trust me.” His eyes meet Chris’s again, less magically hypnotic this time; then flinch, glancing away from the admission of potential harm. “It’s kind of my job. Knowing how far to go. As a professional. And I can do the rest, just more slowly. Are you—”

“I’m fine!” Drained and wobbly, like he’s just run two back-to-back marathons, and his stomach’s growling. But Seb’s alive. “Should you be sitting up? What else can I do?”

Sebastian’s expression goes through several emotions, and then he just says, “Chris,” a sigh, a giving in; and he reaches out, and Chris puts both arms around him right there on the messy workroom floor, holding on.

“I love you,” Seb murmurs after a moment, head resting on Chris’s chest. “I wanted—I might’ve been okay, I was trying hard, I wanted to be—but I wasn’t sure. I was scared. I kept thinking about you, and wanting to see you, and then you were here…”

“I’m here.” He squeezes more tightly. “Brought you coffee. I had been kinda thinking we could order pizza and stay in, y’know, kind of a long day for both of us…”

“And then you walked in and found me.” Sebastian tips his head to look up at Chris more. “Sorry.”

“Hey, you were saving a kid.” He runs a hand over Seb’s hair. They both need a shower. Maybe like three showers. “My hero.”

“And you saved me. It’ll rebuild—the energy I borrowed, I mean—over a day or so, I think. How’re you feeling?”

“Hungry,” Chris says truthfully.

Sebastian stares at him, and then dissolves into giggles: loopy, tired, relieved, and above all real. “Of course…of course, yes, always, after a major working…so am I…oh, Chris. My Chris. Yes.”

“Yours,” Chris agrees, equally truthful and wholehearted. “What can I do, though? For you? You’ll need to rest, right?”

Sebastian scrunches up his nose. “Shower? And…yes. We both should, really.”

“Shower,” Chris concurs firmly, and carefully gets him up off the bloodstained floor.

He holds onto Sebastian in the shower. He holds Sebastian while red slides away down the drain. He tenderly cleans Sebastian’s skin, trying hard to keep touches weightless over recent and sensitive repairs. He kneads shampoo through Sebastian’s hair.

The scent of apples and soap rises around them, light and bracing. Sebastian tips his head back, eyes closed, water sliding down his face. He’s beautiful and tired and trusting, letting Chris keep him on his feet. Chris’s heart flutters.

The world grows easier, steadier, cleansed.

He tucks Sebastian into bed, gently, after. The workroom will handle its own clean-up—Sebastian’s got a spell in place for that, and it’s automatic—but their clothes’re probably a lost cause; Chris attempts a quick rinse and then just leaves the whole disaster in the shower for later. He can deal with it if Sebastian needs to recover.

Seb’s half-asleep and drifting, a long-legged enervated kitten, but stretches out a clumsy hand to find Chris’s. “You should rest too.”

“I will. I’m ordering pizza. Pepperoni okay?” He is, poking his phone, salvaged from a pocket; he plays with Seb’s fingers in his, sitting on the side of the bed. They’re more slender than his own, but long and graceful and talented in so many ways. Magical. “Shower, food, rest. What else?”

Seb yawns. Pink and red streak his arms and his chest, a reminder; Chris can’t not glance at the marks, unable to help it. “Well…if you wouldn’t mind…there’s a jar on the third shelf, downstairs…yarrow and lemon balm…”

“Got it.” He hops up. Throws on sweatpants. Returns with the requested jar and some trail mix and some orange juice, and eases himself into bed beside Sebastian, who smiles tiredly at him.

Chris feeds Sebastian some trail mix, gives him some sips of juice; has some himself. He’s not a witch but he does know about exertion and depletion, and this’ll help. The pizza—from their favorite local place—will be here in twenty minutes, too.

The food does seem to help. Sebastian sits up more, with pillows and Chris’s arm; Chris’s stomach feels better. Low lamplight paints the room in jeweled color, because Sebastian’s bedside lamp is set with tiny lapidary bits of glass. It’s soft and warm and rich, tracing light-patterns over the bed, the blankets, Sebastian’s hair.

Chris dips fingers into spell-infused balm, and begins to stroke it across Seb’s arm. The night takes a breath, scented with healing herbs and protective lemon, and unwinds. Tension ebbs, dwindles, fades: not wholly gone but ameliorated. Sebastian’s ward-spells are quiet and pleased.

He’d thought he’d gotten used to dating a magician. He mostly has: he’s purely delighted when he gets to watch Seb help people, find lost puppies, talk to raindrops. He adores Sebastian’s genius and Seb’s playful sense of humor and Seb’s cheerful way of getting the strings of the universe to play along.

He’d forgotten, or maybe just not thought about, the fact that his boyfriend’s one of the most genuinely powerful white witches currently practicing. Someone the authorities ask when they need assistance. Someone who can fight a warlock at a distance and win.

Seb says he’s not that powerful and laughs about it, but he’s comparing himself to centuries-old stories: no one’s that strong, not these days. Sebastian’s better than he admits to being, though. Good enough that other people come to him for advice. That includes other white witches; Chris knows Sebastian’s done some consultations with colleagues before.

Chris Evans is a director, an actor, a producer of movie-magic stories. Good at empathy, moderately famous these days, and power-sensitive, a little. It’s not nothing, but it’s not the same.

He keeps his touch cautious, not wanting to put any pressure on newly made skin. “How’s this?”

“Good.” Seb yawns again, sleepy. “It’ll help…healing, renewing…’s an old classical recipe, this one…stored power, infused in it, kind of…it shouldn’t even scar, with this.”

“So it won’t cost you anything, like, in terms of power, right now.” He touches Seb’s chest, spreads balm across a thin angry line. “Tell me if I’m hurting you.”

“You’re not.” Sebastian gazes up at him: gorgeous as ever, brilliant as ever, powerful as ever, and right now vulnerable and somehow younger, framed by a navy satin pillowcase and the familiarity of them both mostly naked in this bed. “Thank you.”

“Don’t,” Chris says, heart aching with the word, with too many complicated emotions, with love. “You don’t have to say it.”

“But—”

“You’d do it for me.”

“If you ever for some reason had to fight a warlock, I would. You said you had a long day too…?”

“Long, but good.” His hand over Sebastian’s tanned skin, his fingertips bringing healing. Sebastian’s chest lifting and falling, vital and present. “Getting things moving on the heroic rescue dogs movie. Lots of the boring stuff today—logistics, budget, all that—but it’s stuff that has to happen first, so it’s kinda fun, y’know?”

Sebastian just looks at him for a second; the smile warms every atom of those opal oceans, and makes the small joyous lines around them crinkle.

Chris has to laugh, half-embarrassed, paying some closer attention to healing balm and a darker less-knitted red line. “Okay, what?”

“I love you.” Seb reaches up to touch his wrist. “I just…I’m really glad you’re here.”

“Me too? Um. About you.”

“Not just tonight, I mean.”

“Hey,” Chris says, heart in his throat, in his words, in his eyes as he looks at Sebastian, “I’m glad I was here tonight. I want to be here, Seb, okay? I’m not going anywhere.”

Sebastian’s cheeks are pinker now, but he nods. “I’m here too.”

“I know you are.”

“Tell me about your meetings,” Seb requests drowsily, “and all about your movie, again, and the dogs,” and Chris laughs a little, scrubs a hand over his treacherously damp eyes, and does, while gently treating Sebastian’s battle scars in between nibbles of food and traded kisses.

#whumptober2020 #no.10 #no.15 #blood loss #trail of blood #magical healing #evanstan #fic #injury tw #blood tw #my fic #every inch of north and south #the sequel #well sort of #not the actual sequel i will someday write #with the sex spell #witch!seb

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we-always-hit-our-ass · 4 years

Note

I just read your fluffy headcannons with Toye and they are p e r f e c t. Made me realise how much I needed this and I was hoping if you could do one with Ron Speirs. 😔✊

anon, im incredibly happy that you think my Toye hcs were perfect- i also totally get you, anon. we all need some soft speirs hcs in our lives and i will do exactly that! 😩👌💞💕

btw im incredibly sorry that i took so long to write these hcs but hopefully you enjoy them!

Taglist: @floydtab, @deldontplay, @thatsonefishyboi, @noneofurbusinez, @meteora-fc, @hufflepuffpancakes, @hihosilvers, @rayleighshughes

shoutout to my wifey @floydtab for helping me on these hcs, this probably wouldn’t have existed without you- you gave me so much inspo i love you ma’am 💞💕

Fluffy/General Ronald Speirs HCs

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Let’s get one thing clear here- Ron is a cold bitch but is ACTUALLY a big softie.

Only for you anyway, but no one else except you two need to know that-

Like Ron will subtly do things to impress you, and you’re just like, 'You dont have to do that I love you too fucking much already, stop tryna make me fall for you again-'

But you always appreciate it anyways because you know that this boy just wants the best for you-

Ron is straightforward and makes it his daily goal to make you happy-

If you’ve had a bad day, Ron will literally go and get your favorite food/drink/thing to immediately make you feel better, and it works 100% of the time.

Aaah- This man lowkey cares a lot in the relationship and he’s just but a bit worried and is self conscious.

But you just tell him that he's enough and that you'll love him no matter what.

After that he'll just immediately hug you and you would press kisses on his jawline while softly rubbing his back to reassure him that you’re there.

Soft declarations of love are always said and done between the two of you and you knew that you couldn’t live without it.

It was practically essential at this point and you’d never ever get tired of Ron saying ‘I love you’.

Ron is also very protective of you but he’s embarrassed to admit it.

The amount of times he almost yeeted someone because they either made you mad/uncomfortable have been endless.

Like they better HOPE that Speirs doesn’t find their address-

Ron isn’t really big on PDA but he will not hesitate to wrap an arm around your waist, and even sometimes he’ll sit you on his lap while he nuzzles his face on the side of your neck.

It’s just a personal preference of Ron’s and he just doesn’t want people to exactly see something that is intimate, you feel?

Even though he prefers to keep your relationship private, he would always softly call you endearing terms in your ear in public.

He prefers to love you in private, and he thinks that it feels more special that way.

Ron acts the complete opposite when you two are alone or behind closed doors. He’s extremely passionate and every single touch light yet intense.

Ron cannot keep his hands off you and he cherishes every moment he shares with you.

He just loves the fact that you feel so right in his hold, like you two were always meant to be.

He loves everything about you and wouldn’t change a single thing about yourself, I promise you that.

Ron is also a MAJOR worrywart, like if he even heard you whisper ‘ow’, you better bet that he’s going to ZOOM his ass to you.

He also doesn’t express his worries verbally- oh no- his actions speak for him. He’ll hold you in his arms and will ACTUALLY kiss the area where you hurt yourself.

Ron just wants you to be alright and will fret over you even if it’s just a papercut.

Ron is also very discreet about your relationship and God forbid anyone from seeing him being soft towards you. (And God help them even more if they decide to bring it up.)

Ron constantly thinks how amazing you are while you’re right next to him with your hands in his.

He’s always extremely happy around you and he absolutely loves playing with your hair and it’s so cute.

Soft forehead kisses for this man are a must and he can’t help but smile when you press your lips softly against his skin.

Ron is definitely an athletic man and he adores swimming.

There have been countless times where Ron would take you to a lake just so he can swim with you.

When you’re done changing Ron will scoop you up and just straight up jump into the water.

Cue the WHOLESOME AS FUCK experience, thank you very much.

It’s always serene and the air is always filled with laughs as you and Ron splash each other endlessly.

Kisses are always pressed against your wet cheek whenever you two go swimming

You’d also cradle his face in your hands as you’d stare lovingly into his eyes.

But you’d always finish swimming before him though and you’d admire him as he’d do laps.

Like Ron’s so beautiful, look at that man, he’s so fucking out of this world-

He might or might not have been trying to impress you by doing laps, but that's a secret we'll never know-

When you’re finally dry, Ron comes up behind you as he just got out of the water and hugs you, causing you to be wet all over again.

Ron also has a special spot in his heart that is reserved for playgrounds. Like when he’s walking with you and he spots one his eyes LIGHT up and you don’t need words to tell what he was thinking.

Ron loves pushing you on the swings and your laugh and smile just keep him GOIN-

He’ll also wrap his arms around your waist as he’s behind you when you’re sliding on the slides-

The childlike wonder in Ron comes out whenever he sees a playground and that’s one of Ron’s many quirks that you loved-

Like literally the main reason he likes going to playgrounds more now is so he can just see your joyful expressions and sweet laugh-

Okokok, Ron Speirs might seem like a cat, but please believe me when I say that he adores dogs!

You could see the absolute love in his eyes when he sees Trigger and you just had the most perfect idea on what to get him for Christmas.

You fell in love with a little Bernese Mountain Dog puppy (please, please, please search them up- they’re adorable) and your plan was set in motion.

You immediately knew that Ron would love him too.

The lil pup was a pure fluffball of sunshine and this boy was bound to bring lots of joy during the holidays-

BUT HOLY SHIT YOU DID NOT EXPECT YOUR BOYFRIEND’S REACTION TO BE SO CUTE WTF-

When you presented the tiny bundle of fluff to Ron, you could see waves of euphoria emitting off of him-

You knew that Ron was already a man of a few words but he was just rendered speechless (in a good way, of course) when his eyes laid upon the Bernese puppy.

“Milo.”

“Ron- What?”

“His name is going to be Milo.”

You have caught Ron multiple times with Milo on his lap and it’s fucking adorable.

Ron would also fall asleep with Milo in his arms and you swore you were going to take a picture of that and frame it-

Milo’s energetic and bouncy personality somehow complimented Ron’s steady and calm one.

It’s a beautiful dynamic and it just works in the best way possible.

Okokok I’ve rambled enough, but have I mentioned how caring and amazing Ron is? Yeah? Well screw it, here’s more-

Ron is a little spoon half of the time but he’ll never admit it like the stubborn cutie that he is-

You love holding him in your arms and he loves it all the same too!

But Ron is such a good fucking boyfriend, it’s making me ascend-

When you’d fall asleep in your desk while doing work, Ron would ALWAYS carry you back to your shared bedroom and lay you down gently on the bed.

Ron will get on the bed and he’d be the big spoon as he’d crawl into bed with you.

But then you’d turn to face him in your sleep and you’d instinctively pull him closer and your cheek would be resting on chest

Oml- I can’t the scene is too goddamn wholesome-

Buuuut if you fall asleep on the couch, Ron would bring a nice fluffy blanket to cover you and he’d sit next to you and he’d fall asleep while making sure you were ok-

You never liked waking up or mornings before, but mornings with Ron? Oh yeah, you were DOWN for that-

Ron’s fluffy tousled hair in the morning is GOLDEN and when you’d push it back to reveal his sleepy but hella handsome face, it’s fucking over I swear-

Ron also feels the same when he wakes up next to you and he genuinely thinks that it’s like waking up to an angel-

But Ron’s husky voice when he wakes up is 😩👌💕, is there anymore to say???

You’d two would just stay in bed cuddling with Milo by your side during the few hours of the morning and you couldn’t ask for anything better.

Ron was known and cemented as a hardened, scary, and stern soldier, but you didn’t mind one bit.

Because to you... Ron was the best thing that could’ve ever happened to your life, and you couldn’t care less as to what other people thought of him. 💞

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

oooooh i’m probably deceased by now, so boo- but the afterlife can wait im proud of writing these hcs!

i hope you enjoyed these hcs lovely anon and i also hope that it was good enough!

but thank you for reading, everybody, i appreciate it so much- 💞💞😩

#band of brothers #band of brothers x reader #band of brothers headcanon #ronald speirs #ron speirs #ronald speirs x reader #ron speirs x reader #ronald speirs headcanon #ron speirs headcanon #band of brothers fanfiction #ronald speirs fanfiction #hbo war #hbo war headcanon

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ai-katsuu · 4 years

Text

Hans and Briar Rose (1/1)

story is made thanks to @oceanspray5 and @hanadoesstuffbadly <3 i wanted to write a bit about them, specifically after they break their curses. to read about what happened previously see their backstory

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“Are you ready?”

Hans looked at the beautiful princess beside him. The small holes of sun rays hitting her face as the wall of bushes blocks her last path.

Briar Rose nodded firmly, “I’m ready.”

Hans took her hand and gently squeezed it. They both stepped forward and made their way through the bushes, outside the forest.

Briar held her hand up to cover her face as fresh sunshine shone. Once her eyes had adjusted to the light she took in the sight. Beautiful green mountains with snowy white tips, grass so much greener than the grey ones in her forest, flowers that never bloomed back there, and a gentle breeze that lifted her braid midair. Briar let out a small gasp, which Hans noticed right away.

“I understand it’s been awhile, and it might be a little scary but-“

“AHHH!” she lifted her arms and screamed out of joy.

Adrenaline completely took over her body. She ran barefooted across the cool grass, she did cartwheels near the lake, just in pure bliss that she was finally free.

“Briar please, your dress-! And the river, you might fall!” Hans said with a light red face, unsure where to look as his gaze went back and forth checking on her to make sure she didn’t fall doing her cartwheels.

Briar tumbled on the grass, laughing and giggling to herself as she sat up. She tried her best to fix her hair but it was practically useless by then.

Finally, Hans caught up to her. “Briar...please..” he said trying to catch his breath, “I’m very happy as well but-“

“Oh Hans!” she suddenly jumped up and embraced him, tackling him down on the grass. Surprised by the sudden action, Hans could only widen his eyes, flustered, unsure where to put his hands.

“I can’t believe it really worked! Thank you so much, I don’t even know what I could do to thank you!” she smiled down at him. As much time they spent together in the woods, she still managed to make him downright melt at the sight of her smile.

He laughed a bit, “You sort of just broke my curse so we’re kinda good.”

Briar giggled and placed a quick kiss on his forehead before running back around the field. Hans sat himself up as he smiled at her, his hand touching his forehead. Briar continued to explore the outside world while Hans followed her as she sprinted through the fields. She picked several flowers, swung around fruit trees, and even almost jumped in the lake before Hans just barely managed to stop her.

When she had finally calmed down the pair had found a small shaded area where Hans could cook them a quick lunch. Lying down on her stomach, resting her head on her hands, Briar swung her legs up and down as she watched Hans cook, eagerly awaiting the food in the pot. (Which Hans became used to at this point but he found it adorable.)

“Here you are,” he handed her a bowl of mushroom soup. “To your first meal outside of the forest!” he exclaimed.

Briar giggled and took a sip of the meal. “Mmm, oh Hans, amazing as always!” she closed her eyes and savored the taste of a warm meal. Hans merely smiled, the usual pride in his chest whenever she ate his cooking.

It’s like what his father used to say, ‘The secret in becoming a good chef is to meet a woman that will make you want to give all the food you make to her.’

Content with the results, he leaned back on the tree as he took a bite of his own meal. “So Bry, where are you going now?” Hans asked her.

She suddenly stopped eating and looked up as in thought, “I..I haven’t really thought about that.” she said in realization.

“If you want!” Hans spoke soon after, “You can join the rest of the group back in the White Castle! That’s where they mostly hang out and they’d be happy to have you.”

She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand out of habit, “You think so?”

Hans nodded, “I’d especially love to meet Gretel at least. Oh and they don’t even know my curse is broken, you should definitely be there for that.” he laughed.

“Mm..yeah..” she looked sideways and took another bite of her food.

Hans noticed her change in demeanor, “Are you okay?” he asked.

She nodded, “Yeah it’s just..I’m a little scared,” she admitted, “I’m sure they’re all lovely people but I don’t wanna make a fool of myself. I know you’ve told me all about them but I just wanna make a good first impression.”

“Hey, hey,” Hans looked at her, “You have nothing to worry about, I of all people know you have a good heart. And although it takes a few years off my life to see it, you’re very spontaneous and active. You don’t have to worry about acting all royal there, being yourself is the best thing you could do.” he assured her.

Briar looked at him for a bit before breaking into a smile and stirring her soup, “Thanks, Hans.” They finished up their lunch and made their way back to King White’s castle.

Hans looked at the large gates and thought for a bit. It would probably be too much to enter through the main gates, it would be better if they used the basement entrance, otherwise known as the triplets workshop.

He opened the door, relieved that they had left it unlocked. “Wow, it’s really dark, can you see anything?” Briar moved around.

“I don’t know, but be careful, the triplets have a lot of stuff here. Let me get the light switch.” he tried navigating his way through the room, careful not to bump or trip on anything.

“Oh!” she lightly yelped as she stepped on something.

“You okay?” Hans whipped his head around and rushed to her side.

“Yeah yeah,” she stood on one foot as her hand held her other. Hans steadied her balance. “I just stepped on something sharp, I should really get some shoes after thi-”

Flick

For the second time that day Briar’s eyes had to adjust to the changing light. Once her vision had cleared she saw several individuals sitting on chairs and couches on the far end of the room, all eyes staring at them. They seemed to have been in the middle of a snack meeting as there was food around the table.

“Oh-uh” Hans stood up, suddenly unsure what to say.

“He brought the girl home, pay up.” Merlin nudged Arthur to which he groaned and gave him another bag of Dog Food.

“Wait, you guys aren’t surprised? I’m human again!” he moved his hands up and down.

“You snuck out of the castle almost every day with a basket of food that was way too much for even you to eat. It was kind of obvious.” Jack traced the rim of his teacup with his pinky.

“Yeah, you would always have this stupid smile on your face while cooking.” Goldie laughed.

“W-what smile? I don’t smile!” he said stuttering and looking back and forth between them and Briar, clearly embarrassed.

“Don’t believe them, I wasn’t excited to see you. No I mean I was excited to see you but I never smiled while cooking, I mean who does that?” he rambled on.

“Urgh stop, you’re scaring her.” Gretel rolled her eyes and smiled. She was the first one to walk over and both took Briar’s hands with her own.

“Hi, I’m-”

“Gretel, right?” Briar shyly smiled, “Hans told me so much about his beloved sister.”

Gretel looked taken aback and looked at her brother, “Beloved?”

Hans frowned and averted gaze, “What..I don’t know what she’s talking about..” he mumbled.

“Aww you do love me!” she beamed and ran towards her brother, head locking him like she used to do when they were kids.

“Ow! Gret stop, I hate it when you do this!”

“Oh don’t be such a weakling.”

“I am not!”

While the twins were busy wrestling on the far end of the room, Snow, Audrey, and Goldie got out of their seats and made their way towards the seemingly dainty girl.

“You’re so pretty!”

“Oh, thank you, I-”

“What’s your name?”

“Uhm..Briar Rose,”

“No way I’ve heard about you so much! Where have you been this whole time?”

At Goldie's question, Hans poked his head up and pushed his sister off him (resulting in a small ‘ow’ from her) he quickly went to her side, putting his hands on her arms as he spoke to the girls, “You guys don’t have to ask. Bry is a lovely person, that’s all you need to know.”

“Aww gross, you two have nicknames.” Peter Pan jokingly said while smirking.

“Hypocrite,” Kio mumbled before throwing a bag of Dog Food at his face.

“Snow White?” Hans called her, “do you think you girls could show Briar around the castle? Get to know her a bit.”

Snow smiled, “Of course. C’mon Briar, there’s this really cool room we have I wanna show you!” she eagerly pulled her along.

“Oh, alright,” she said, smiling a bit. Once the girls left the room Hans sat down with his friends, clearly exhausted.

“Alright, you did it!” Merlin threw him a bag of Dog Food, to which Hans gratefully accepted.

“Looks like you’re the last one, sword boy.” Jack looked in Arthur’s direction.

“Watch it, blondie.”

“Are you really not going to tell us where she’s from though?” Noki asked.

“It’s not really my story to tell,” he told them.

“Well we’re very happy for you Hans!” Pino grinned and handed him a glass. “Looks like your cooking finally made its way to a woman's heart!”

Meanwhile Snow had brought the girls to the courtyard for some fresh air. “So what do you do for fun Briar?” Goldie asked.

“Oh! Well…” she thought about making a good first impression by saying something elegant like her parents had taught her, but after what she’s been through with Hans she decided she no longer needed to do that. “I like to sword-fight!” she said.

“No way really? Why don’t you show us? I’ll go against you!” Audrey beamed.

She stretched her arm towards the fountain and the water came flowing to her hand, forming what looked like to be a thin sword. “I promise I won’t use any of my powers aside from this.”

Briar, amazed by the magic, got excited and rapidly nodded her head. “Yeah, sure!”

Audrey had a lot of experience using her magic, her water made it easy to capture her enemies, and thus her battles ended quickly. But aside from her sword, she wasn’t supposed to use any magic, which unfortunately also meant that she didn’t have enough stamina to last her a full on sword fight.

Panting as she held the fountain for support, she breathed out, “H-How..how are you not even sweating?” she looked at Briar.

“C’mon, you can still last!” she shouted encouragingly.

“Yeah no I really can’t…” she whispered tiredly.

“What’s going on here?” the F7 and Peter walked in the courtyard.

“You,” Audrey pointed her sword at Hans, then at Briar, “Your woman is crazy athletic, she’s not even tired.” Audrey breathed out.

“Or you just have really bad stamina without your powers,” Peter flew and hovered above her. “you look like you're dying.”

“Shut up, you're next.”

“I have to say,” Gretel walked up to her brother, “I’m a little surprised she broke your curse, she’s so...different from you.”

Hans laughed as he gently pushed her. “Indeed she is.”

#red shoes and the 7 dwarfs #red shoes and the seven dwarfs #briar rose #briar x hans #red shoes movie #red shoes #prince hans #hansel and gretel #red shoes hans

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breanime · 5 years

Text

The Best of Him

@floralpeaceofmind requested father!Billy, so here it is! I hope you like it, and thank you for reading! This is pure fluff, guys!

*gif not mine*

Billy Russo was a lot of things. He was handsome—obviously—wealthy, successful, a rags-to-riches story come to life, ruthless, deadly, merciless… At one time, all that would have been enough to define him. Even after he met Frank and Curtis—a defining moment in his life—Billy wouldn’t have updated his list of adjectives. It wasn’t until you that he started to see himself as something different, something more.

You made him Billy Russo: lovestruck boyfriend. It wasn’t until you that he started to feel bored of bar-hopping and instead spent his time cuddling with you on the couch. Somehow, he went from mocking couples and seeing himself as an eternal playboy to not being able to sleep without you and staring at you wondering how he got so lucky. It’s not like he just devolved to some simpering lovesick fool—he was still him, still the best at his job, still over 100 confirmed kills and proud of it—but now Billy felt…complete. A little (a lot) more tethered to this earth because of you, Billy finally understood what Frank had been talking about when he would gush about Maria. It made the pain Frank dealt with every day that much more palpable for Billy. He thought to himself, as he held you at night or wasted time at work playing Words With Friends with you: I get it. I get why Frank risked everything for his family. I get it.

Except he didn’t, not quite. Not until you, tears in your eyes, uttered the words “I’m pregnant.”

That was when Billy Russo truly knew what fear felt like. He hid it well, of course. Billy had years of practice with pushing his feelings down, and while it was harder with you, it wasn’t impossible to do. It was actually easy in this case, you were so scared about being a mother that Billy was able to push his own anxieties to the side in order to assuage yours. He had every faith in you, and told you so.

“You make me so happy,” he was fond of telling you, “you’re gonna be an amazing mother.”

He didn’t have that same confidence in his own abilities. Billy stayed up all night, looking down at his perfect woman, the mother of his unborn child, and felt nothing but fear and panic course through him. He loved you more than he loved himself—which was saying a lot, and he really was happy you were having his child, but… How could he be someone’s father? How could he, with his broken childhood, his diseased genes, his cursed Russo blood, how could he raise a child? What if he couldn’t love it? Yes, he loved you, and Frank, and Curtis, but you were people, you were already built with your own personalities and world experience by the time he came along. A baby was brand new, a blank slate. Innocence. How could he relate to innocence?

Billy didn’t let you see his fears; if anything, he made a point to project certainty and confidence with you. He knew you were afraid he’d turn tail and leave—and a few years ago, you would have been right. But he was invested now, he loved you, he wanted to be with you, and even if he was right…even if he couldn’t be a father, he could at least provide for you both. That was already a whole hell of a lot more than his father ever did for him. He went to every doctor’s appointment (and was congratulated for that as if it wasn’t just a simple prerequisite) and read every parenting book there was to prep for the big day. He thought that would help him get over each hurdle, but he was still almost paralyzed with fear the first time he felt the baby move. He still got physical whiplash from your emotional whiplash, he still got grossed out at the weird combinations of food you wanted to eat, he still got surprised when you would burst into tears at dog commercials, and he still ran to Frank with his tail tucked between his legs when you would hand his ass to him in an emotional frenzy. Billy spent the whole of your pregnancy focusing on you; making sure you had the best doctors in the city, hiring a personal chef for the house, giving you hour long massages that almost always ended up in slow, gentle sex. Your being pregnant made Billy fall more and more in love with you every day. And every day he was more and more terrified of what would happen, what you would do when you finally saw that he would never be father material.

He needn’t have feared.

Billy was a bundle of nerves when you went into labor. Curtis had to take him outside while he had a panic attack right before you delivered the baby. Frank, meanwhile, was pretty certain that you had broken his hand during the contractions. Billy was right there with you when the baby came and cut the umbilical cord himself. He was the first one to hold the baby.

Once Billy looked down at his wailing son for the first time ever, it was over.

He was in love.

It was like holding everything good in the world in his arms, it was like seeing every joy, every triumph of his life in one perfect being. Billy couldn’t take his eyes off of his son; he was shaking with the sheer force of the love he felt coursing through him, it was as if every paternal switch he had in his mind had been turned on at once and he knew in that moment that he would die for that child. He would kill for that child. It was in that moment, as he looked down at the tiny human in his arms, the perfect combination of him and you, that scary, serene, otherworldly moment that he finally, truly understood Frank. Billy knew then, looking into the face of his baby boy, that there was no force on hell or on earth that could keep him from his child. He felt the strongest sense of love, the strongest urge to protect, that he had ever felt in his life.

And it only grew from there.

Billy was a slave to his son from the first toothy smile. For the first time in his life, Billy found himself working less and spending more and more time at home with the baby. He spent hours—literal hours—watching the baby sleep, holding him and kissing him and talking to him. You would come home and see the two of them on the couch; Billy with your son on his chest talking about Anvil or his days in the military. Billy was the only one who could get your son to stop crying. Even you—with the allure of breastmilk and your incomparable mommy smell—were no match for Billy in the eyes of your son. The two of them were peas in a pod, best friends, and nothing could infiltrate their relationship…

…except the arrival of your daughter.

Billy didn’t cry when he first met his daughter, but you swore you’d seen tears in his eyes when he first held her (Billy argued that you were too high on pain meds to know what you were talking about). For Billy, it was a new kind of instantaneous love with his daughter. She had him wrapped around her little finger from the womb. The labor was rough on you, so Billy really had to pull double-duty with the kids while you recovered—something he was more than happy to do. There were many a day where you would wobble into the nursery to see Billy, still dressed in his suit from work, burping your daughter on his shoulder while telling your son, who liked to stand in his sister’s crib laughing his head off, some watered-down war story that he would only interrupt to shush the baby or tell you to “get back to bed before I carry you back”. Your son would then start yelling at you in baby language, presumably telling you to listen to his Daddy, which led to all three of them escorting you back to your room and piling into bed with you—which you absolutely loved. Your household was one of love and affection, a concept that Billy would never have equated with his life. Every day when he woke up next to you or under a mountain of tiny limbs climbing all over him demanding pancakes, he thanked his lucky stars that this was his life.

By the time your son was three and your daughter was two, Billy was a fulltime family man. He cut his work hours down significantly, built you the perfect home for all of you to live in together, and found himself head over heels in love with his life. He would do anything for you and his kids…

…which is how you ended up with a tiny kingdom erupted in your backyard for your daughter’s birthday. Both of the kids were dressed as knights—“Mommy princess, Mommy princess!” your daughter had screamed, successfully boxing you in as the princess while everyone else got to be kickass knights—while Frank and Curtis were dressed up as a dragon and a kind king, respectively. Billy, who had a homemade sword held together with glue and glitter, had one arm around your waist as he taped the kids playing on his phone. Your son was at the top of the inflatable castle throwing grenades (oranges) down at a roaring Frank while Curtis was sitting at the bottom letting your daughter put stickers on his face. There were a few other little kids around from daycare and preschool with their parents, but Billy was only focused on his family.

He laughed as his brave, protective little boy threw orange grenades at Frank the dragon, who kept flinging himself onto the ground in pretend-agony.

“Take that, Uncle Frankie!” He yelled. “I’ll save you Mommy, I’ll save you Daddy!”

Billy turned his attention to his baby girl, his happy, healthy ray of sunshine that could turn him to jelly with one turn of her sweet little head, who was squealing with joy at all the commotion. There was nothing more beautiful than his little girl’s smile, no sweeter sound than her joyous giggle. His smile grew as he watched his baby try to emulate her brother, something she’d been doing more and more recently.

“Unc Fwankie bad! No no, Unc Fwankie,” she yelled, pulling on Curtis’ ears as an emphasis. “I help my big bruddah!”

“You know we’re raising little pyschos, right?” You asked, leaning your head against Billy’s shoulder.

“I know,” he grinned, “it’s amazing.”

You sighed, a smile on your lips. Billy looked down at you and felt his heart swell. How could one man be so damn lucky? He leaned down and pressed a soft, lingering kiss to your waiting lips. “I love you,” he said.

“Love you, too.”

“And I was thinking…” Billy smirked.

“That’s never a good sign…”

“…It’s great to have two brave knights around the house,” he began, “but wouldn’t it be even better if we had, I dunno…three?”

You couldn’t keep yourself from laughing out loud. Billy had been hinting at wanting another child for a while now, so you weren’t surprised at his comment. And honestly, it was hard not to want to indulge him when he gave you two perfect children already and was the best damn dad you’d ever seen. The night before your son’s first day at daycare, Billy was a mess of nerves—it was so cute, you couldn’t keep your hands off him. “How about we get these first two through elementary school first, and then we’ll talk?” You grinned up at him, so unbelievably in love with that man.

Billy kissed you again, and you felt him wrap both arms around you, pulling you close.

“Hey,” Frank’s voice was a little hoarse from all the roaring, “this is a children’s party, man!”

“Yeah, get a room, you two!” Curtis joined in.

“We have a room,” your son pointed his plastic sword at your house before dropping it—and an armful of oranges—as he had an epiphany, “Get in here! Daddy bring Princess Mommy up here!” He ordered. Your daughter shrieked in agreeance.

You shook your head; you knew where this was going, where it always ended.

“Well,” Billy pocketed his phone and turned to you, “you heard what the man said.”

“Billy Russo,” you put a finger up, “don’t you dare.”

His answering smile was blinding. “Sweetheart,” he put one hand on your waist and pulled you towards him, “I can’t disobey an order.”

“Billy…” You weren’t able to finish your thought because Billy bent over, threw you over his shoulder, and carried you King Kong-style up the castle. You screamed, laughing all the while, and pounded on his shoulder. You could hear the unmistakable laughter of your babies and their uncles, and were nearly breathless with laughter by the time Billy got you all the way up to the top.

Your son climbed in your lap and kissed both you and Billy on the cheeks before going back to fighting off the fierce dragon (that you had to remember to buy beer for after this). Billy leaned back against the wall of the castle, one arm around you with a smile on his face. Curtis, taking pity on Frank, passed the baby over to Billy so that he could slay the dragon himself and put Frank out of his pretend misery.

Billy watched his two only, true friends—respected veterans both—make complete fools of themselves for the sake of his children, looked over at his son, happy and loved and safe, down at his baby girl in his arm, and then to the side where you were smiling beside him and thought back on his life. Billy Russo was a lot of things, but the thing that made him the happiest, that fulfilled parts of him that he never even knew he had, that part that was surrounded by and engulfed by this overwhelming, powerful, unconditional love…

…that part was the absolute best of him.

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

I live for Uncle Frankie and Uncle Curtis. Tell me how you liked this.

#billy russo #billy russo x reader #billy russo imagine #the punisher

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deputy-sarah-sux · 4 years

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The OC Interview

I got tagged for this three times so I’m gonna do it three times as three separate characters (in separate posts obviously).

Thank you so much for the tag @returnofthepd3 💖💖💖 This was so much fun to do!

Answering as Sarah Lamb

Name: Sarah Ophelia Lamb. Wait did you want my middle name? Only Joseph uses that name to talk to me and even then it’s not often.

Are you single: Haha, no, far from it. I’ve got my fingers in— shit no that’s gross I’m not saying that. Uh, yeah I’m dating all three of the Seed brothers actually.

Are you happy: To be doing this interview? Sure, I guess. In general? Depends. If I’m alone then odds are I’m drinking so we can safely say I am not happy but if I’m with friends thing are usually pretty great.

Are you angry: Shit who wouldn’t be in this place? I came to Hope County looking for a close-knit quiet country town and now I’m fighting a fucking cult. I’ve got cultists shooting at me and my friends on one side and the Resistance crawling up my ass on the other. I’m this close to going on a rampage in the middle of Fall’s End, I swear to God.

Are your parents still married: Well, my dad is dead so that’s a definite no. My mum remarried at some point but we haven’t talked in years so no clue what’s going on with that.

Nine Facts

Birthplace: San Francisco, California baby! I’m a West Coast girl through and through!

Hair color: Brown, but I like to color it blonde so right now it’s both.

Eye color: Blue, but not as blue as John’s

Birth date: April 19, 1988

Mood: Is exhausted a mood? Because if so, then that’s my current mood.

Gender: Female

Summer or winter: Winter, always winter. Honestly fuck summer, it gets so hot and the AC in my house barely works. In the winter I get snow and sweaters and Christmas.

Morning or afternoon: Tough question honestly, I love mornings but under normal circumstances I’m not usually awake before the afternoon. How about I just choose neither and I pick night instead?

Eight things about your love life

Are you in love: Uh, bit personal but... yeah.. Honestly I’ve never loved anyone more. And now I love three people. Three? Don’t, uh, tell anyone in the Resistance though, they definitely won’t approve of this thing and I’m not quite ready to deal with everyone hating me.

Do you believe in love at first sight: Not really, I believe in attraction at first sight which is what I had with John, but love comes later. You gotta know someone before you can love them, at least I do. (Didn’t stop me from jumping into bed with that yes-kink loser though.)

Who ended your last relationship: Me, I think. Honestly, neither of us were happy, it was sort of a mutual thing. Plus I was moving out here so it only made sense.

Have you ever broken someones heart: Yeah and honestly I’d rather not talk about it.

Are you afraid of commitment: I want to say no, but based off all of my previous relationships and everything my friends, ex-family, co-workers and department-appointed shrink say yes, yes I am. I think it stems from how shit went down with my parents and then my first few relationships were shit shows too. But who needs commitment when you have vodka right (I wonder if they have AA meetings in the middle of holy wars because I should probably attend one).

Have you hugged someone in the last week: Of course! Sharky, Adie, Nick, Staci, Rook, my baby boy Boomer, John, Joseph, and, uh, oh yeah Wheaty. That kid deserves some hugs he’s too good for this world. I tried to hug Jacob but he just glared at me until I sat back down.

Have you ever had a secret admirer: Hell if I know, aren’t they secret for a reason?

Have you ever broken your own heart: Yeah, John and I, well things weren’t always sunshine and daisies, hell they still aren’t. But I caused a lot of my own problems. Almost destroyed myself a few times with him.

Six Choices

Love or Lust: Both, definitely both.

Lemonade or Iced Tea: Iced tea, but not the sweetened kind. Lemonade is too sweet for me, it makes me gag.

Cats or Dogs: Both! My cat, Finny, is the light of my life, but Boomer is my best boy and I don’t know what I’d do without him. I used to have another dog named Sadie, but she died a few months after I got here.

A few Best friends or Regular Friends: Best friends, I need people who I can actually trust.

Wild night out or romantic night in: Well you can’t get very “wild” in Hope County unless you wanna break some laws (which I’m technically not supposed to do). Honestly though, I prefer romantic nights in. Not too gushy though, just cook me dinner, light the fireplace and let me snuggle you on the couch, then when the time is right throw me over your shoulder and take me to bed.

Day or night: Night. Day is so... boring. At night the world is mysterious and you feel like you can hide from everything, you can’t hide in the day. I love sitting outside on one of the lounge chairs at the ranch with a mug of tea and just falling asleep looking at the stars. And don’t even get me started in the pure joy I get from swimming in the rivers at night, once your extremities go numb it’s amazing.

Five Have You Evers

Been caught sneaking out: Many times, after Dad died my mom became an even bigger control freak. She wouldn’t let me go anywhere so I was constantly sneaking out.

Fallen Down/Up the Stairs: Both, *laughs* I have the tendency to try to sprint up stairs for some reason which usually means I end up tripping. And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve fallen down the stairs when I was drunk.

Wanted someone/something so badly it hurt: Fuck yes, who hasn’t.

Wanted to disappear: Yeah, a lot when I was a kid after Dad died, not so much once I hit adulthood but lately... fighting a holy war is hard man, sometimes you just wanna fade away for a bit.

Four preferences

Smile or eyes: Eyes.

Shorter or taller: Taller, or the same height (no shade to John). I’m 5’10” so it’s not always EASY to find someone as tall or taller than me. I lucked out with my boys though, John and I are the same height, Joseph’s a few inches taller and Jacob is a fucking giant.

Intelligence or Attraction: Both. I want my men attractive but if they don’t have a fucking brain I’ll blow my own.

Hook up or Relationship: Relationship. I love hook ups, (I mean that’s how John and I started) but I can never keep my feelings out of it.

Family

Do you and your family get along: I got along great with my dad before he passed. My mom and I never got along and after dad we got worse, constantly screaming at each other and shit. I moved out on my 18th birthday and I haven’t really talked to her since.

Would you say you have a messed up life: From an outsider’s point of view: yeah. But I don’t really think so. This is just my life, it’s pretty normal to me at this point, which I guess is kinda messed up in its own way. I had the stereotypical rough childhood, immediately went to the academy, was a cop in SF for a while, came out here 2 years ago, and now I’m fighting in a war and in love with my enemies. It could be worse.

Have you ever ran away from home: Twice. I never made it very far. First time I was 8 and got all the way to the end of the block before I crashed my bike, my dad found me crying in a bush five minutes later. Second time I was 17, made it halfway to Monterey before realizing I was making a huge mistake and turning around.

Have you ever got kicked out: Yeah, Mom kicked me out once but she let me come back a month later. I just went and stayed with my grandparents down in Pismo Beach while I waited for her to cool off.

Friends

Do you secretly hate one of your friends: Kind of? We’re not really friends so that’s where I’m fuzzy. It’s Jess. We hang out because of Rook, but she and I will never be friends. It’s not secret we don’t like each other, but we do our best to hide it around Rook, she hates that shit.

Do you consider all of your friends good friends: Most of them yeah. All of the ones I normally spend time with at least.

Who is your best friend: Staci, Nick, and Sharky, I literally can’t choose just. Rook and Kim are pretty high up on that list too.

Who knows everything about you: No one knows EVERYTHING. Nick and Joseph probably know the most. John and Jacob know a lot too but not as much. I’m not someone who likes to share about my past, I do my best not to actively think about it honestly.

Tagging @fluttyseed @farcryfuckmeup @onl-you @minilev @goodboiboomer-fc5 @deputy-janai and anyone else who wants to do it!!!

#far cry 5 #sarah lamb #oc: sarah lamb #oc interview

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courtorderedcake · 5 years

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Hallow : ch IV - CSSNS 2019

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

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

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

Rated E for explicit themes, Mature situations, and Fae fuckery.

Written for @cssns

Read on AO3 here.

Ch 4 / ?? - In which Emma hears Liam and Elsa's tale

Ingrid, Elsa, and Anna wasted no time at all, Emma appearing in the shop front slightly past noon. The older ladies buying bread and a teenage boy carrying several boxes of pastries noticed her first, their eyes snapping to the door she came from. The teenager made a noise between a wheeze and a gulp as the old women tutted, causing Killian to look up with his ever permanent annoyance. The smile under the loose waves of her hair was shy, and in the sundress of coral and cream, Emma was a captured ray of sunshine. Or she would be, if the smile reached her tired and slightly puffy eyes.

They walked to the park together, Killian’s annoyance tempered by her fascination with everything in the many touristy shop fronts. She marveled at stones and crystals that were marked as magical, whispering how clever they were if they'd gotten them right, and how sneaky they were if they tried to trick others. In another shop she questioned a well meaning sales clerk about corduroy and a peculiar blouse with capped sleeves that read ubiquitously, "Summer of Love", asking what other summers they observed.

When the shop clerk laughed her off, Emma shrugged and joined in. People loved her instantly, as if they had known her their entire lives; the Fae thrall of old that she unknowingly employed was a matter of charisma, combined with her natural beauty, an unerring grace, and her rapturous attention on every word spoken to her. Killian watched her in fascination as well, the Darkness puzzling over their observations. Emma shot him a happy grin, but beneath it was a foundation of the old world decorum that he had once adhered to religiously - she was weary, and the cracks in her undetectable armor were there. There was no reason for her to be doing this, he realized, especially with him of all people. It was a facade, and a very well polished one.

Moving to pull her away, they escaped from a store front caller who had been talking to her about the "future of sound" that was coming on eight different tracks, a large, flat, black circle in his hand. Killian could feel her sway towards him in gratitude, bumping him to the side. As sudden as her playfulness was in the gentle push, her mask was back up as they entered the gates of the park.

It took Emma all of four minutes to raise his hackles. He'd forgotten about the bloody fountain; one second she was by his side, then the next she was wading into the coin filled bottom of the pool, a geyser shooting from rocks above her.

"What the seven hells are you doing?" he’d called sharply over the roar of the water. Emma shrugged kicking a bit of water at him, looking for a minute absolutely impishly spiteful. "Just who are you, Swan? What sort of princess goes wading into fountains, especially those most definitely used for decor?"

She glared at him, but it was tempered by tiredness. "Wouldn't you like to know."

Perhaps .

"Perhaps I would, darling."

She hummed for a moment, watching another geyser shoot towards the sky. "I am not your love, or your darling." Emma fumed, eyes cast down at her feet, her face falling fractionally, allowing only the tiniest slip of her mask to happen quickly before she wiped water from her face with a pressed on smile. Anger gone, forced down to be forgotten behind thick walls.

Picking up a few more coins as she made her way back to him, she examined them in her palm. "These coins feel like… Are they enchanted?"

Killian shook his head, looking at a silver coin with the engraving 1967. "They're wishes."

Emma's eyes lit up brightly, and before he could stop her, Emma dipped a finger in the water. Several bubbles rose around coins, popping in a burst of pink sparkles.

"Do not use your magic -" he hissed, lunging forward into the water, eyes wild.

"Stop worrying, old man. I used only a tiny bit of magic. I only granted wishes for people who are here, and ones that wouldn't take a lot of power. A tiny bit will be fine."

She had to be insane, wet from the fountain and laughing at him, her walls as high as ever.

"No -" A bubble the size of a hippo floated past. "Bloody hell -"

“Isn't this what humans do here? Have fun in the park?” Her smile was pure happiness and joy, as bright as the midday sun.

He thought back to Milah, Elsa, Anna, and their schoolmates in ladies’ refinement courses. There had been a turn of phrase they parroted: 'Fake it until you can make it'.

The Darkness wasn't the only one perplexed by her willingness to push her other emotions down, at least; Killian found it vexing in its own right. Moreover, he hated that it reminded him of Milah, like a stab to the charcoal lump that had once been his heart.

“They don't wade into fountains, or do magic in front of unsuspecting passersby. They walk or read a book -”

“Show me, then!” Emma grabbed his hand. Instantaneously, two things happened within him, both unsettling. First, the Darkness shrunk back like a wild animal, practically spitting. Secondly, and more worrying, her touch lit something long buried that spread through his body, filling his chest with heat. Her magic pushed the Darkness down, while a sort of levity flooded his veins in its place, as if someone had thrown open a window to let in fresh air - and he could breathe easier than he had in a long time.

When she stopped to pet a dog, letting go of him, the feeling didn't fade. Instead, her laugh as she watched the dog wag its tail fueled it, and he felt…

“They don't talk here,” Emma murmured, leaving the dog's owner looking perturbed. “How peculiar.” She scratched under its chin, as Killian exchanged a nervous glance at the owner.

“Always joking, this one,” Killian laughed, trying to assuage the strange looks the owner gave them. Pulling Emma away, she spotted something else that caught her eye. She quickly led him through the dappled sunshine.

Following Emma around as she smelled flowers, describing the palace garden, or rolled down a grass hill, her laughter infectious, he felt a connection with her that he couldn't explain. Kinship due to nobility? Unlikely, and he hadn't been much of a noble in his own right. That was Liam, with his regimens and regiment, living up to long-standing expectations to fulfill the duties of their lineage.

When she reached for him, her hand outstretched and head cocked as the wind blew through her hair, he took it to test his theory. Resting his hand in hers she ran, pulling him across the park, the Darkness knotted itself up in hatred. It occurred to him that maybe she was sent by Ingrid to accompany him, some ploy in which to get them both away from the shop. It wasn't a bad plan at all, in retrospect.

All the while, even as it was caged, the Darkness puzzled at her actions. It squirmed in confusion as to why she was acting like she didn’t have a care in the world when it was obvious that her sadness and anger must lie right below the surface. Hiding her emotions with set shoulders, she blew raspberries at a baby that played in the grass near its parents, much to the small child's delight and the Darkness' displeasure.

In a secluded alcove off a deserted trail, she stepped barefoot into a meadow, letting flowers grow around her in the tall grass. Emma did cartwheels as people seemed to follow her, a group coming shortly to begin a drum circle, a small gaggle of girls making flower crowns, and another group doing cartwheels with Emma, their skirts all tucked in as much as possible. Even in its lessened noise, Killian could hear the ticking way the Darkness thought, and felt it grapple with hiding its ploys.

They fed ducks, and she made him smile as she made sure the ducklings got their fair share of the cabbage they had bought. While most creatures stayed away from him, a quick glimpse in her direction showed a menagerie of water fowl, along with two peacocks, all vying for her attention. Even brightly colored fish nibbled at her toes and for a moment, it was easy to forget the turmoil her life was in, until she looked up and the light hit her just so. There was no denying that her pain was there, but well camouflaged; there was a familiarity to it that made Killian uneasy. The Darkness retreated further, a sure sign that it would be back with a vengeance later. If he had learned anything from years alone with it in his prison, it was that its quiet was never good news.

A bubble blower showed her how to use a rope, and soon she'd created giant bubbles that chased the breeze in detailed, impossible shapes, the wish of a child that she had granted. A band performed in a pavilion, and Killian let her convince him to dance together for a song. She seemed skittish around other men without his company.

Killian tripped a few times, actually feeling shy with embarrassment and frustration when she winced at his attempts to lead.

“I'm sorry, it has been a while,” he mumbled.

“You're doing fine. This is fun, the music here is so wonderful!” Emma giggled in bubbly cheer, but her eyes were somewhere else.

The song continued, and he found his footing, leading her with ease. Emma floated in his arms, sundress flaring out beneath the hand resting at her waist with each turn about the plaza. She seemed to drift away into her thoughts for a moment, enjoying a simple waltz.

Another man interrupted and asked her to dance, but Killian found watching them brought another kind of heat that was unpleasant: something he’d almost call jealousy , if he didn’t know better. He didn't like the way the other man touched her, hands too low and his body too close to hers. The lewdness didn’t go unnoticed, and Emma removed his hand, whispering something that made the man quickly end their dance. If it rattled her, she only showed the slightest bit of distaste as she watched him walk away, her chin held slightly higher and fingers slowly relaxing from clenching. Her step was slower after, a little strain evident.

Interesting.

Killian suggested they eat when she returned to him, his mood suddenly soured as she waved goodbye to the band and the man she had danced with disappeared back into the crowd.

At a concession cart, he bought her some fairy floss and himself a dark chocolate ice cream.

They sat on a bench, Emma greedily picking the candy floss from its cone, bare feet swinging like they itched to be back on the earth. The princess hadn't said much since the man had groped far too low for her comfort. The Darkness made its tentative play.

"So, how many suitors did you have?" he asked, ignoring the beginning of his ice cream’s melted trail down his fingers. “I mean, before all this…” He made a gesture with his hand.

Emma looked at him doe-eyed.

"Suitors?" she laughed incredulously, head turned to the side. "None, I am not even allowed to be courted by anyone, let alone having -"

"So they don't just pair you off with someone in the court like you're chattel any longer?" He grinned when her lips thinned and her eyes slit into a glare.

"No." She looked down at the giant colored monstrosity in her hands. "I don't suppose they do. If I'm honest… I'm glad for it. My experiences thus far with men have been…" She trailed off, picking at the fluff.

“I suppose I don’t see why your charming parents didn’t marry you off to some honor bound Lordling then. Let him get you with child. It would have sorted this mess right out.” He crossed his legs, looking up at the flowering bushes around them. Emma picked at the fluff further, refusing to look anywhere else.

“They want me - they wanted me to marry for love. Like they did. Just not until I was ready, until I was safe. Although people say their marriage was a matter of ending the war or joining the realms, they loved each other first. They want… wanted that for me. Just without the constant threat of danger.”

“Want,” he gritted out on a laugh. The Darkness backed down, and Killian felt the tension within himself ease up . “They’ll be alright, Princess.” She pushed her hair back, and nodded without looking up. He was surprised at his desire to soothe her, but that impulse faded as the Darkness pushed back again.

Don't give her sympathy. You owe her nothing; she should feel guilty. Soothing her? You're a pathetic, hapless, meager imbecile - she deserves the pain!

The breeze blew through where they sat, and neither spoke for some time. He broke the silence with quiet bitterness in his tone. “They most likely would have killed your husband anyway, I suppose. Goblins don’t really care about sacrament or love.”

“I am sorry, truly. I -” She met his eyes, and he could see the sincerity. The Darkness in him wriggled under his skin and he looked away from her. “I don’t have words to say how truly sorry I am. You and Elsa both deserved happiness.” He felt his shoulders tighten, his body going taut. A warm hand touched his forearm, and he looked up to meet her eyes, the light of the summer sun making them viridescent. “You still deserve happiness. Dark One or not.” Sincerity underlined every word she spoke.

The Darkness under his skin shrieked, repeating its song.

You are nothing, nothing, you deserve nothing, to be pulled into nothingness. You will never find happiness, you will live an eternity of nothing!

Her thumb stroked gently, leaving the tiniest smear of pink from her sweet treat on his shirt. Everything was quiet except for the breeze, the birds around them, and the far off chatter of others in the park. He took a bite of his ice cream and she smiled thinly, pulling away and crossing her legs underneath her body.

"If I could change what happened, if I could have stopped all of this, I would have done everything in my power. I'm sorry the war ruined so many lives. I'm sorry I didn't know," Emma whispered quietly, the paper cone in her hands picked clean.

He felt his lips upturn slightly, the ghost of a smile starting as they sat in the sun. The Darkness was quiet, outmaneuvered by the princess' unexpected kindness.

“It's really beautiful here. It's so much more vibrant than the palace, and I feel so much more…” The sun started to set, thick swirls of pink and purple melting into orange lined with gold in the sky as she searched for the right word.

“Free,” Killian finished.

The Darkness laughed inside his mind.

She looked up at him, her head cocked. “Yes. Free. I feel free.”

The wind caught her hair and dress, making her laugh brightly. For him, it was a moment of strange lucidity and brought her into sharp focus: gentle curves, the soft Cupid's bow of her lips stained by sugar, long eyelashes that lay above blushing cheeks. The sea was a ways off, but he could smell the salty spray mixing with the warmed sugar.

“What would you do if you were king, Killian?” Emma asked softly, distracted, as her mind drifted no doubt to where her family lay.

He did not need to pause or think, the Darkness rising up to strike as he responded. “I would get revenge on everyone who ever crossed me.”

Despite how roughly his voice came out, Emma didn't flinch, only turned to stare back at him - through him, really - in a way that made him feel small. Even the Darkness squirmed under her scrutiny, as if she could see the half truth there, the fear that drove this vessel, and how much omission lay in that vast fracture.

Emma touched his hand again, giving it a gentle squeeze, looking at him again with those eyes that saw far too much. “And after that?”

Killian swallowed hard, unable to find words.

“Do you think… Do you think it gets easier over time, or harder?” she continued. “Do you think you learn how to stop feeling anything when you learn of atrocities, of people left behind, of people forgotten, of the hurt and of the people who set out to hurt you? How do you ever reconcile it all? Because I can’t - I can’t - ” Emma stood, taking a deep breath and walking stiffly to throw the fairy floss cone away. When she returned, the smile was back and firmly in place.

“Are you alright, love?”

She nodded, and he waited for her retort on his pet name. The desire to push her simmered to a boil, and he pressed her again.

"To answer your question: you don't forget. Actions have consequences, regardless of if they are necessary or of whether they look good on paper. Regardless of how you push them away by hiding in your palace, you don't forget or reconcile.” Abruptly, his understanding evaporated as the Darkness seized control once more. “Is the real world outside of your fairytale not living up to expectations, darling? A bit too much? Hm, love?" His tone turned mocking in its faux concern, but she only stiffened further, her fists balling and then unclenching as she let out a breath.

When no retort came as a response to his provocation, he threw his melted ice cream away, their silence in view of the sun’s last rays following them home.

Emma retreated to her room immediately upon their return, brushing past Elsa and Anna on her way up the stairs. Anna followed shortly after, calling her name, while Elsa just rolled her eyes, smiling slightly at Killian.

“What, did you make her cry again?” she asked sarcastically.

“I may have.” Killian grinned, stretching to look up the stairs, Anna staring back while giving him an angry glare. “She deserved it though if I did. She asked the most bloody ridiculous questions before we left -”

Ingrid’s voice came from behind them, icy and unamused. “Like what?”

Elsa froze, but Killian chuckled lightly. “Are you going to lecture me if I tell you, Ingrid?”

Ingrid stepped closer, standing toe to toe with him, a clear challenge in her stature. “No. I wouldn’t waste my breath if I had to lecture you after I specifically asked you to act with some humanity for a few hours. I’d expect you would know what bad form was without needing a lecture. So, what did she say to you?”

Killian’s jaw muscles clenched, and the two glared at one another. He scrubbed a hand over his face, letting it rest between them in the air as he started talking. “She asked me what I would do if I were king, and I told her I’d get my revenge on anyone who ever crossed me and the Darkness. She asked what I’d do after and when I didn’t answer, she asked if it gets easier for things. I didn’t answer that, so she walked off.”

“If what gets easier?” Elsa asked, no longer amused.

“I don’t bloody know, tons of things, the whiny brat.” Killian shrugged.

“What exactly did she ask, Killian?” Ingrid repeated, her low voice like gravel against glass.

“She asked if it gets easier or harder to rule when you lose people, and if you learn to stop having emotion about it. Then she kept saying, ‘I can’t do this!’ and walked away after I asked if this was not up to her expectations. What was I supposed to say, that like her magical fairytale castle life, it will be easy again? Let her suffer for a while. Let her feel the vice grip of reality.”

“You foul, rude, son of a bitch. What would your brother say?” Ingrid hissed, pushing past him to run up the stairs, the door of Emma’s room slamming shut behind her.

Elsa sat on the staircase in shock at Ingrid’s rebuke. Killian only grimaced and chuckled darkly. “Well, that’s an interesting way to thank me for keeping her out of your hair all day. What would Liam say? Probably that she should grow up, or that she sent him to his death.”

“Do you really have nothing else you’d do as a king but seek revenge?” Elsa asked quietly.

“Oh, come on now, love. Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I’m not being ridiculous. Do you know how hard it was for me when I didn’t know if Liam was dead or alive? When we didn’t know if anyone survived at all besides us? With death you can at least gain closure. I waited for decades for our family, for Liam, for you without this hatred -”

Killian scoffed, rolling his eyes. “It’s not hatred. I tolerate the princess because I have to. Make no mistake, though, I’m not making these ‘fun’ little day trips and tolerating this cohabitation by any sort of choice.”

“It’s a choice to blame her for Milah, who I haven’t seen you mourn or mention besides to compare to Liam and I. Like we weren’t anywhere as devoted to each other. Like I should want you to rip Emma apart, just because she can get you this built up idea of your revenge -”

“You don’t understand - the war is her fault, her family's fault. Without the war, we'd have - "

"Killian, I can't imagine how different our lives would be, but that's not what happened. We reacted to a war, we all tried to survive and help others to survive - The Goblins did something terrible because they believed they could, that they deserved to have that right of dominion because women were lesser, because power and blood magic was more important. How is that Emma's fault? What happened to you?"

"Her family kept me rotting for centuries, Elsa! Milah and I had enchanted ink in our tattoos, a parting token when the Royal family sent Liam and I to the front. It let us hear the other's heartbeat as a steady rhythm when we were apart, her at home and I at sea. When they took her, that was the only thing - that was the only way I measured time in my days waiting in that cell, until I found that I could make the tiny portals to you and Ingrid. The heart on my arm grew slower until the day she died, when it turned black. I refused to believe it, to give her up, to admit that she… I lost myself in rage. I took it out on you, and on anybody who had more freedom than I. I thought we could save her. If I'm honest, I suppose I've known she was gone for centuries, known that crocodile-skinned rapist killed her while royalty locked me away so I couldn't do anything. I just couldn't…”

“It's fine to grieve, Killian. I still grieve, for Liam and his future, for our future. Revenge after this much time though? And revenge on them? No one could get to the Goblins’ realm; that was the purpose of locking them there, so they could not get out. The princess does not deserve to be a pawn in your scheme - ”

“You’re only a pawn if you don’t know you’re being used," Killian hissed at her. Elsa's eyes widened as he smiled maliciously."And you - you will never know how it feels to be so powerful and yet so helpless. Liam died almost instantly, and do you know how I know? Because I killed him. Milah took years to die, years I could have saved her, years where she was alive. I'd have gone to hell and back knowing she was waiting. Instead I was imprisoned there like some sick form of insurance for the royal family for centuries. You still have a school girl crush on the ghost of the man who didn't marry you after, what, eight months?”

Elsa didn't say anything, opening her mouth but not making noise as her eyes filled with anger. He realized his overstep too late, Elsa's head shaking in what looked like shame or pity. Pushing past him, he caught her wrist.

“Elsa, I'm sorry, I didn't think before I spoke and the Dar-”

“The Darkness is not you, Killian Jones. You have drilled that into our minds, and we… It wasn't only you who lost someone. We lost our parents, our brother, your parents, Uncle Nemo… Olaf was just a child, a child who had no idea what was happening. I lost a brother too, you know. We even lost you! I forgave you for what happened to Liam. I forgave you because you said it wasn't you, begged me to understand that you would never. Do you know how much I wanted you to be wrong? You were in love with Milah for longer, and she was alive longer. I understand that. But I still know he meant it when he said he loved me. I still love him and miss him every day. When I'm ready, I'll move on, but…” Elsa took a heavy breath that shook, “Reminders like this set me back, and I haven't found anyone remotely as wonderful as him.”

“I -”

They were startled when they heard Ingrid and Anna leaving Emma’s room, each heading to their own chambers as Elsa climbed the stairs.

“That was the end of our conversation. Good night, Dark One, if that is truly what still remains.”

Elsa entered her room, her door closing with a click, ignoring Killian as he whispered curses to himself. The whispers almost sounded like a conversation, two voices overlapping, hatred in each one. In a shifting mass of black he was gone, the hallway empty and quiet except for the ticking of a clock.

*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ

Emma let herself slide down her own door, ashamed of her eavesdropping, ashamed of too many things she could not control. Angry at the events of the day, angry at whatever it was - Dark One or man - that toyed with them like a bored housecat. And if it wasn't his presence, it was hers causing distress.

How was she supposed to save her kingdom, her parents, everything she cared about, when her presence only brought chaos?

*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ

Elsa struggled to sleep after she fought with Killian, deciding instead to get a head start on the day's baking. She was often the earliest up of the three, starting her days on only a few hours of sleep.

She was surprised to hear a soft singing voice in the bakery and the sounds of a working kitchen. Poking her head inside, Elsa watched with awe as Emma baked with masterful efficiency and flitted around cutting shapes or pulling pans out to replace another.

The door squeaked slightly, Elsa and Emma meeting eyes.

"Um… Hi, and good morning - " Emma yawned.

Elsa pointed around before talking again. "You actually did all this?"

"I - Yes. I couldn't sleep, and my tutors always drilled into me that if I was going to do something, I should do it well and learn it fast. Moving around, keeping busy, it's all I know. It keeps my worst thoughts at bay, and I think clearer. I've also had several cups of your coffee, which is wonderful by the way. This isn't much different than my calisthenics or arithmetic after learning your measurements. I did experiment a bit with some of the recipes, adding ingredients while using the alchemical method of like things in small batches. I made an amazing tea cake of honey, some of the mint from the tea I recommended, rose, and lavender, if you'd like to try it, oh and - "

"You're… You're actually smart."

Emma hesitated, nervous and uneasy around Elsa. “Well. In some ways, yes. I'm well educated about my realm and its many subjects. Here, I'm nothing but some hapless - ”

“Emma.” Elsa pinched the bridge of her nose, then shook her head as she scooped up Emma's hands in her own pale palms. “The Killian I knew would never have called you spoiled or hapless. I shouldn't have called you spoiled or hapless. I'm sorry, and I beg your forgiveness. The things I said were terrible and out of anger, but Killian… The thing inside of him, controlling him, it's not what was - is - underneath. It's scared of you.”

Scoffing, Emma laughed, trying to pull away. “Oh, don't tease -”

“If there is still the man I knew under what he has become, he is lucky to have someone as clever as you in his care.”

"Thank you?"

"No, enough of that. I was a… I was awful to you and I don't need thanks for telling you what's true. We're family, and disagreements happen. I want to throw Anna three times a day, it's just what we do."

"Yes, it's wonderful to watch. I grew up very alone. That's why…" Emma trailed off, biting her lip.

"Tell me. You aren't alone now, alright?"

"That's why I… um. That's why I spoke to Liam's portrait. He kept me company."

"Ah."

Silence filled the bakery for a long stretching moment, Elsa looking down at her hands.

"I suppose, if there ever was a person to haunt people, it would not only be a Jones man, but Liam specifically. He couldn't go two feet without questioning someone's choices, or chasing them down to force them to be better. He expected perfection without sacrificing humanity and goodness. You'd hear his praises of 'good form' all over their ships, with Killian repeating it." Elsa looked lost in thought, smiling wistfully.

"To the ladies of the court it was a joke, they'd yell it down on the beaches at each other while wrapping a kerchief around their eyes, and we'd all echo it back for them to find. The Brothers Jones of Blackwater found it funny. Or Liam did at least. Killian may have been a bit sore, I suppose, but Liam joined us to play, which made it funnier. I always hoped Liam would find me; that was my secret fantasy.” She sighed, closing her eyes as if to savor the memory, then laughed lightly. “He never did. Always ended up with someone else, and I resigned myself. I was always shy outside of our kingdom, and kept to the gaggle of girls I grew up with.

"Killian struck up conversation with us first, because Ingrid helped tend to his mother before she passed, and our father and the Lord of Blackwater traded before the Lord abandoned his station to avoid war. Anna and Killian got along well, and then Anna, Milah, and Killian, and I all became friends. Liam always stood awkwardly and stared at me, just clammed up, and I was nice to him but he fled from me as if I offended him by my presence." Emma laughed with her, surprised to hear she had been shy, but more surprised by the cadence of her voice talking about Liam.

Rolling her eyes and using her hands, she continued. "Killian went on and on about his brother's love of debate, politics, theatre, the sciences… most of all, their mutual love of the sea and their keep. All things I adored, and what drew me to Liam at our primary sessions in the courts."

"Primary sessions?" Asking quietly, Emma looked at Elsa with confusion.

"Oh yes, we all, as in all the Fae nobility, used to take primary sessions of basic courtly education in the summers so the Lords could meet. It wasn't as segregated then, at least for the children and women. The ladies of the court had no roles in most things outside of the household, so they made good with those who lived nearby, were well titled, or were especially interesting."

Emma wrinkled her nose. "Oh."

Elsa straightened, explaining with precision. "It was before the population decline and finding the fundamentals of time and dimensional energies, creation of the pocket realms was just an idea back then. That changed so much, and truly allowed many more women to rule, lessening disputes about purity of lineage. Ironically, the best contributions to the Fae are exactly what sparked the war."

"Yes, I just... I never knew that world."

"I did. It was wonderful, while it was. It just took so much…" Elsa trailed off, until Emma touched her elbow gently, bring her back to the present with a question.

"You said Liam loved debates?"

"Oh, yes - Killian told me all these things and he just idolized his brother, who hated me. Would be around anyone else but me. So, I iced him out, and iced them all out in the process. By the time they realized something was wrong, Killian and Milah were done with their poor job of hiding their relationship from everyone, and I guess they realized that Liam was an absolute ass around me. It seems to be a Jones men trait.

"So one day, Liam stomps over to me as I sewed in our courtyard, and hands me a pair of gloves. Beautiful, soft suede leather, dyed blue. Periwinkle. My favorite. He grumbled something about meeting all of them back at the beach. So I met him and a few others, wearing the gloves, and we played a round of that silly game. Liam found me right away, and stayed by me the entire night. I was beyond confused and thought it was a joke, or a lost bet they put him up to."

"He kept asking if I was cold, because I was crossing my arms, and I finally yelled at him: 'The cold doesn't bother me, anyway!' It was time to end whatever this thing was. Liam sputtered out something akin to “You bloody Ice Queen!”, which had my sister, Killian, and Milah angry, and eventually the lumbering fool came to find me crying at the docks.

"He refused to leave, and told me that I'd trounced him soundly as a school girl, and he was terrified of me because he thought I was lovely and brilliant. He would have chosen me during that good form game, but could only see skirts and fingertips, and was unable to find mine before being mobbed. He liked the subjects I liked, and begged for tutoring in them on top of his rigorous Naval training. Killian had guessed, and hatched a plan with Anna, and then Milah, to push us together - but Liam had blundered every task horribly out of nerves.

"We admitted our feelings that night after pining for years. Only a few months later, whispers of war started. He bought a ring immediately, and told me it was insurance so he'd always make it back to me, jokingly begging me to wait for him to get back before running off with another suitor. It became a jest in his letters to me, and we'd count the days in our signatures. ‘Waited 32 days for your return. Waited 56 days for your return. Waited 110 days for your return.’

"Then it happened. The war hit a fever pitch with the Goblins capture of Fae women at a courtier function. Anna and I were there when the attack happened, but Milah was taken, our world was plunged into chaos, the Darkness destroyed the navy in one swoop. Suddenly, everyone was dying; we were fleeing, and my family was separated, but Ingrid refused to let us stop running until we were safe. We were never safe, so we never stopped. We didn't find out everyone's fate until we realized that there were no Fae besides us in most places. We returned home, but the changes were… There was nothing salvageable that wasn't subsequently destroyed by the shifting realms. So we took the gold we had, settled down here in Nemo’s summer home, and finally mourned. Put up pictures when we were able. Drew and painted what we needed to remember. Grew things. Learned how this new world works.

"Liam never returned, and we only heard of Killian’s betrayal after he visited us and told us of his imprisonment."

"How could he visit you? He had nothing there, and that cell was enchanted -"

"He was never able to truly leave that cell, but occasionally could make a portal big enough for us to speak through. Almost like a magic mirror. He was broken by losing Liam, desperate for news of Milah, and angrier than we'd ever seen him. Manic even. Lost and torn apart by that thing possessing him. Killian finally told me what he had done after he learned of Milah’s marriage, screamed his part in Liam's death at me because I couldn't help free his stolen love. We didn't speak again until years later, hundreds of years to him."

"Slowly, we grieved together again. The Darkness has so much control, but when he fights it, or it quiets, you can tell. There is a man still in there, a good man. The Killian I know, my only living brother, he is in there. Learn to read him, Emma. It may serve your cleverness yet."

"Elsa, I - "

"Save it, especially if it is any sort of apology. I… I'm tired." She wiped tears from her eyes, smudging trails of them off of her face. "I just… did you make pie today? I really need some pie. Or chocolate cake."

"Or? That is not the Elsa spirit I heard about! And!"

"And? Emma, what are you - "

"Pie and cake."

"Oh. Oh, Emma. I did mention you were terribly clever, did I not?" Elsa giggled, and Emma allowed herself a rarely held sly smile.

"If you'd like to mention it again, I'm certain it will not hurt."

*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ

The Palace, Great Hall

Nil sat at the head of a long table with his father, Goblins on either side of them like some bastardized version of a royal feast. Carcasses of animals and Anisapi alike graced the long oak boards, with food ladled sloppily as the horde ate their fill. Various Fae struggled in their leg shackles to haul trays of potatoes and broken gnawed bones, their bodies aching for rest.

The large doors opened with a splintery creak, an axe that had been lodged in the jamb clattering to the stone floor. Pann stood in the dim shadow that was cast, straightening himself and gathering his nerve.

"Come forward, Pann." Nil gestured toward him, grinning. "Don't be scared now, or shy. Come, come! We're feasting." He gestured to the various meats laid out, Pann's blood going cold as he looked at what once was a female Satyr, now picked clean to just past the ribcage. Large wings and haunches rested on other platters, Goblins chewing and slurping loudly.

"I find I have no appetite, M'lord, but instead bring grand news." Pann smiled his reedy grin, the Goblin King waving a hand with a grunt at him.

"Whatever you want, my son. Just get the dagger piece; I'm tired of having to try to parlay with the dwarves. Their tribal names are as stupid as they are." He took a large swig of wine, splashing some on the Fae woman behind him. Pann shifted uncomfortably at the thought of either of them being with a woman, let alone a wife.

"What is this good news then? Have you found my betrothed?" Nil asked excitedly. When Pann nodded, the prince practically bounced in his chair. "Finally, I'd begun to think I’d never own her -"

"We have set a trap for them, baiting the Dark One with a contact I now control. Tink Rebel, a siren from near the Blackwater. She played her part beautifully."

"I don't care, tell me specifically how you'll catch my wife, how does she fit into your plans!" Nil raged, slamming aside glasses. His eyes bulged, a vein in his forehead visible even under scales. Pann took a calming breath.

"Not only will I capture her and the shard, M'lord," The Goblin King's eyes slid to look at the satyr, while Nil let his fingernails dig into the table in a long gash, but Pann continued faster, "I will give her to you completely docile and under your control."

Nil laughed, staring at Pann incredulously. "Impossible. You cannot tame that dragon bitch. I am glad you joined us, are you sure you’re not hungry?" Clapping his hands, Nil smiled a dangerous smirk as a great swath of Fae struggled to carry out a platter, still sizzling with crackling fat. Pann swallowed down his revulsion as the once great body of the King of the Anisapi lay before him, the great forest boar Heston reduced to being served with a watermelon in his maw instead of an apple.

"I swear it, I swear I can get her to break. I have a hiding place, a place I keep my… Human, Fae, and Anisapi menagerie. A discotheque club in the old realm. I make a potion that keeps them young and compliant, even the Fae. I have hundreds of them in my fairy circle, and they don't even know - "

Nil's eyes lit up. "You're luring them to Never-Wonder Land? Even I know of its debauchery."

"You and I know. The Dark One has no idea; he's missed every secret deal and smuggling scam while under lock and key. And the Princess? She is so sheltered I know she'll fall." Pann flashed a smile and after a moment, Nil and the Goblin King returned their own relaxed grins. "Your queen will drink some Ambrosia pollen and Nostras water, then listen to and obey every command you ask of her, like your own personal pet, in no time."

Nil gave a cry of glee, laughing as he ripped off a chunk of meat with his fork, happily tearing at it with his sharp teeth.

The Goblin King raised his glass, and lazily licked his lips with his viper tongue. "Begone now, Anisapi."

Pann practically ran from the room, his own magic wavering for a moment before his portal appeared. He landed in Greece, adjusting his glamor to fit his human disguise, leisure suit zipped halfway up as he stalked inside his club. No music was on in the warehouse space, but bodies writhed to invisible songs while his golden nectar flowed freely.

Yes, this was his home, and with luck he would escape the Fae political world all together with Nil as his ally. Now, it all rested on Princess Emma, the Dark One, and if they could survive Never-Wonder Land.

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hannahstocks · 4 years

Text

We drove off the ferry and into the arms of warmth; sunshine and blue skies, revealing our bare white arms to the world for the first time in a while. The faint mutter of ‘I’m too hot’ ashamedly beginning to leave my lips as I change a very smelly nappy in the confines of our transit in a supermarket carpark. From Belfast we drove west, past both familiar sights and unknown territory, weaving our way into late afternoon, finding a camp-spot and watching the sun disappear, leaving behind a sky full of every shade of orange imaginable. One lone fisherman out on the rocks. We walked, we cooked and we started our evening rituals, the babe falling asleep to the rhythm of the audio book as we all fell into slumber.

The surf forecast gave us a few days to play with, to not be dictated by tides and swell, wind direction and conditions, we fell into the mercy of flat seas and found our spot on a little island, parked up next to the beach with our own natural swimming pool and kelp forest to swim through. A gully made the perfect swimming start line, protected from the wind by the cliffs.

We’d swim, we’d snorkel and attempt to fish, fruitless, but fun. Walk soggy sand at low tide and wonder about the potential should there be swell. It was two days of cold wind and sunshine mixed with cloudy stillness and pure glass. We watched people come and go. Walkers, climbers and sea swimmers. A nod to camaraderie as they passed by.

With time came a change in forecast and that much anticipated swell. We pushed on, left the gully and the cliffs and the little white sandy beach, a treasure to be told. The wind blew as we made our way south and the bad weather followed, it was October in Ireland and we’d caught the end of a heat wave, we couldn’t have asked for more.

The first waves of the trip were surfed, a little beach break. I was hungry, I didn’t need to have a closer inspection, I just needed to get wet and feel the board under my feet and quite honestly, since having Billie, each surf was a test to see if I could even do it anymore, if my muscle memory would hold me up, if my arms were strong enough to pop. It was tiny but I tucked myself in the corner and found a few little peelers. I watched from the sea, onto the shore and towards James, Billie and Dillon as they played in the sand, the water spilling over me as I sat on my board feeling the warmth in my belly for all that I have.

An old man sat in a plastic chair, set amongst the rocks just shy of the shoreline, reading. Four others sat on the rocks above, looking out and into the ocean, eating sandwiches, walking poles resting next to them.

By the time I got out of the water, Billie was as she should be, completely covered in sand. We got the trug bucket down from the roof box, filled it with warm water and suds and bathed her sandy skin, sand in all the rolling creases. We listened on as our fellow van dwellers were ‘talked at’ by an eager group of English hikers keen to be acknowledged for their time spent in Switzerland, where the couple were from. Dominating the conversation as the couple sweetly replied, politely answering where there was any room to. We’d parked the van so the sliding door opened on the other side, it had been a good idea. As we left, we looked on to say goodbye, the hikers had left but the couples doors were tightly closed. I didn’t blame them.

We rolled into a concrete beach carpark in the dying light and negotiated the sloped terrain with rock piles, levelling ourselves off as we looked towards our neighbours bright yellow chucks sitting perfectly underneath their tyres. I maintained that make shift was way better and came with definite satisfaction guaranteed, all this said as I sat with the babe in the warm, dry van as he scouted for rocks on the beach in the cold drizzle, head torch guiding the way. The morning was filled with promise so we ate dinner and got our heads down, sure to be woken by the little girl sleeping on the worktop next to us. The van was rocked by the wind that night and the carpark toilet door acted like our lullaby with it’s constant banging.

Past the homemade knits and the lady waving in the window, over the fence and across the farmers field, a stone wall guiding us down into a make shift fence and a pile of beach litter; rope, latex gloves, bits of plastic. The cove gifted perfect right handers peeling into a conveyor belt rip, pulling you back out into the line up. No one around. No other footprints on the beach. That you could be the first ones of the day to walk on that beach or any beach, is worth spending a little bit of time thinking about and feeling thankful for.

We tagged teamed. I watched on as he, ‘the magnet’, caught wave after wave, cruising and turning. I bobbed along the shoreline with my hot water bottle as she peered over the top and into the direction of her dad.

I wasn’t as lucky. It was tricky, hard to find the right position, the tide changed and directed the waves differently, I felt weak. I felt sad. I felt disappointed in myself. I got out and cried. I just needed a few minutes to pull myself together, to laugh and to remind myself why it is that I surf in the first place. It was a special place to have a moment like that, sat on the boulders, Dillon bounding towards me. I promised myself to be kinder.

Our pile of washing had mounted and was spilling out of our bags, we found a DIY laundrette at a garage, possibly the worst and most expensive in all the land. But it was getting done, no more washing our pants in the stream. We found where we’d call home for the next few nights and the best house mates you could ask for. Positioned a stones throw from the water and a lesser distance from a concrete mini ramp. Chickens and roaming dogs and flat seas (for now). Diving in, off the natural rock spring board, the water shocked our bodies into a state of alert, feeling alive for the rest of the day. And then it was a case of waiting, watching, waiting, watching, scrolling on phones until it was time to go.

I sat on the grass overlooking the waves, Dillon by my side and a little girl full of intrigue as she picked the daisies from the grass. The swell bounced off the cliff below and formed together into wedges, waves filling the bay. Sat on the perfect viewing platform, I watched on, mind surfing and just appreciating where we were.

The swell over the next few days delivered waves for all. Reefs and river mouths delivering watery treats. The thing with tag team surfs is the high possibility of surfing completely by yourself. Daunting at new spots but with the added feeling of accomplishment and adventure, add onto that the high possibility of looking like a complete kook; sitting too deep, too wide, having to gauge position against monuments on the land and really, just a case of trial and error.

Like the swell, emotions come in waves; frustration, excitement, disappointment, satisfaction; post Billie I was becoming friends with all of them with even more intensity. A deeper satisfaction from just being in the water or just watching from the land juxtaposed with a deeper frustration of starting all over again.

His favourite wave started to turn on and the excitement in his step was like that of a bouncy puppy. The late afternoon light was magic as it bounced off buildings and with the drop in wind, the energy in the stillness was electrifying. Dolphins in the line up gifted the cherry on the top, jumping out of the water, frolicking in the waves, sat shoulder to shoulder with those lucky enough to be emerged in the water, and it would be a rare sighting we’d find out later. I looked on from the shore, babe missing the excitement through her slumber. The evening felt charged like we’d been gifted something pretty special.

Bad weather changed the course of our trip, we decided to head back up North, to cover ground we had missed through the eagerness to get south. Driving into the dark, burrito in hand we bee lined to a familiar spot and pulled off the road. Stars lined the nights sky, pitch black otherwise, no street lights, just the head lights from the odd car driving past. Being back in the area reminded me of a trip that came before, three girls sardined in the back of a van, hunting for waves and laughing for three days straight.

As we descended down towards the ocean, the Irish sun shone with as much force as early October can, stone walls cascaded down over hills and into gardens, dividing houses and farm land. The narrow road delivered us onto a bouldery beach, grass crawling towards the sea. Sheep grazing. A wheel barrow, shovel and plastic bags resting against a mound of earth. Peat rich soil territory.

The offshore breeze blew light, spraying gently off the back of each wave. Our gamble paid off. The swell pulsed and danced with the tide for a couple of hours. Harmonising and producing long walls of water, It was beautiful to watch.

The dogs descended on us, coming from nowhere, a pack of intrepid little fur balls, excited and boisterousness and taking quite the liking to Dillon. A courageous little puppy jumping in and out of the van, all to the disbelief of Dillon, gazing at me with a look of ‘what the hell is another dog doing in my bed?’ They humped it out.

He glided in from the sea, lost in a time warp of waves, salty and tired.

We’d spend the next couple of nights sheltering from a bad weather front and in the warmth and comfort of an air bnb, bathing in a free standing tub, cooking pies in the oven.

I’d talked quite passionately leading up to the trip about the best pizza I’d ever had last time in Ireland. We were back in the town and sat in the same restaurant. I could taste the sourdough base and tomato sauce already. Belly rumbling. It was reminiscent of the last time. Pure joy in every bite. I felt relief that it had lived up to expectation for the both of us. Billie had her first experience of Guinness, mainly just holding the glass and gumming the rim, but to my aunties delight through text messages later, a keen Guinness drinking since the ripe age of five.

The road took us deeper into isolation and beauty, with an undertone of mystery as we reached the port, ruins of a past village scattered in the hills, a jetty stretching out into the water and sea stacks; stacks of rocks disconnected from the land rising up towards the sky. A bay full of beautiful boulders in all different shapes and sizes, all tones of white through to grey, a monochrome carpet with the shoreline laden with a rich, thick kelp. White caps out to sea forming like icing on a Christmas cake, whilst the inner bay lay calm, our own private swimming pool. It would be our final camp spot of the trip and it appeared we’d saved the best till last.

The journey from the main road down to the port was long and with only one final destination, combining time of year and it being mid week meant that people were few and far between. Those that made the journey came and went, paying respect to the landscape and intrigue to the fallen village; still, when the sun started to sink, the port became all ours once again.

We stayed two nights, climbing what seemed like unreachable summits with roaring winds streaking our faces with tears, swimming in water as still as glass, biting in temperature and breathing in the beauty of our surroundings; a bay fringed with high cliffs and swirling birds and a wide ocean as far as the eye could see provoking contemplation and reflection.

It was our first van trip with our babe in tow; a beautiful mixture of fun and difficulty, joy and hysteria; a completely different experience than ever before with new life and new demands and personally, I couldn’t wait for the next one.

Thank you Billie. x

0 notes

dhaturainnoxia · 5 years

Note

Do all of them from angel to wobbly :D :D

Omg here we go

angel; do you have a nickname?

Already answered 🖤

awe; how old are you?

A couple centuries

baby; favorite color?

Black and white. dark red. silver. rose pink.

bloop; spirit animal?

Snake or maybe chameleon

blossom; favorite book/movie/song?

I’m not sure about book or song but my favorite movie is The Shining.

blush; what was your stuffed animal as a child?

A kitty named Sam and one named George

breeze; most precious childhood memory?

Oh god I don’t have many of those lol

bright; mermaids or fairies?

Not too into either of them really

bubbles; do you have a best friend?

I think so

buttercup; showers or baths?

Showers but baths are nice too when I want to relax

butterfly; dream destination?

England, always has been.

buttons; are you religious or spiritual?

I consider myself very spiritual.

calm; favorite scent?

Midnight.

candlelight; what did you dream about last night?

I’m not sure something weird and unsettling probably ):

charming; have you ever been in love?

Yeah :/

cozy; eye/hair color?

Grayish blue eyes. My natural is hair light brown but my coloured hair is black n white

cuddly; what’s your favorite time period?

The 1980’s. But I have a love for different eras like the late 60’s and the 70’s too.

cupcake; favorite flower/plant?

I don’t know if I can choose just one, I love flowers and plants they make me so happy.

cute; what did you get on your last birthday?

High & depressed on the floor lol

cutie pie; most precious item you own?

Maybe like my Saint Laurent sunglasses my good friend bought me in NY or lipstick Marilyn Manson gave me

cutsie; what makes you happy?

Plants, psychedelics, the people in my life, concerts, dressing up, clarity, beauty of all things, music, seeing goths in public lol

daisies; describe a moment when you felt free.

Every time I take psychedelics I am pure and free.

daydream; how do you want to be remembered?

As someone eccentric and loving.. beautiful and accomplished and dark... understanding and passionate and interesting...

daylight; favorite album of all time?

Fuck umm... I literally can’t answer this, i have favorite albums but it just depends on what mood I’m in.

dear; zodiac sign?

Virgo sun, Taurus moon, Aqua ascending.

delightful; concerts or museums?

I love both.

dimples; have you ever written a letter?

I believe so.

dobby; dream job?

House wife. Rockstar or artist. Lol

doll; how do you like to dress?

It depends. Goth shit like trad or newer in varying forms, vampire, 1800’s ghost, snake woman, or angel babydoll. I take on different forms.

dovey; any paranormal/magical experiences?

Both. And I believe in them heavily.

dreams; do you want or have any tattoos?

I have two, a double headed snake and a cross. And I do want more, most if not all religiously themed.

drizzle; do you believe in aliens?

Already answered 🖤

euphoric; talk about someone you love.

Already answered 🖤

fairy; do you have a pet?

Not mine but a cat and a dog live here.

fluffy; ocean or mountain?

Already answered 🖤

forever; where do you feel time stop?

I don’t really feel time at all..

froglet; are you a good plant owner?

I used to be 😭😭

garden; how many languages do you know?

Only one ):

gem; who are your favorite tumblrs?

I don’t know anymore lol

giggles; what is your aesthetic of choice?

Dark and sexy and kinda fucked up I guess.

glittery; do you like anons? why/why not?

Yes cause I get bored loll

glow; list the top 5 things you like about yourself

Everything I see could be better.

heart; silk or lace?

Already answered 🖤

honey; coffee or tea? how do you take it?

Love both but drink tea more. I like both with sugar.

hugsy; do you enjoy people watching or bird watching more? why?

Hmmm... I’m not sure I guess I don’t do much of either.

hunnybunch; what sounds help you sleep?

My fluffy blanket 👼🏻

jewel; what’s your favorite kind of weather?

Not too hot, not too cold, light breeze, autumn kind of weather.

jiggly; what do you usually like to do on weekends?

Go out with my friends!

joy; do you laugh loudly or giggle more?

I do both.

kinky; do you blush easily?

I’m not suree.

kisses; what romantic cliché do you wish for most?

Ugh god.. just all of it...

kitty; what’s your favorite time of the day?

Afternoon when it’s more relaxed

ladybug; what’s your favorite artist to listen to when you’re sad?

Fuck um.. again it depends on what type of sad I am...

love; what is your favorite season and why?

Autumn 😍 chilled weather and crunchy leaves and I can wear most of my wardrobe and actually be okay outside

lovey; what is your favorite flavor of macaron and ice cream?

I’m not sure but I like dulce de leche and peanut butter and cookie dough and cheese cake flavors and moree

magic; what are five flaws you have?

Oh god I have more than that

moonlight; do you prefer soft pastels, warm neutrals, or cool darks?

Cool darks

munchkin; what do you look for in your significant other?

Passionate, romantic, understanding, patient, creative, dark, thrives on touch, sex fiend, kinda into some fucked up shit, likes to dress up with me, dominant, makes me laugh, intellectual.

paddywack; how would you describe a perfect date?

Getting picked up with a flower and a hand kiss, we both stuntin LOOKS, maybe go out some place cute to eat, maybe walk along the river and talk for hours.

pebbles; how do you spend free time by yourself?

Self care, cooking, listening to music, cleaning.

precious; what is something valuable that you learned in your life?

Almost everything happens for a reason even when it feels like tragedy at first.

pretty; do you like to cook or bake more?

Cook but I could bake too. ((:

prince; how would you describe your handwriting?

strung together

princess; do you play any instruments? if not, are there any you wish you could play?

Already answered 🖤

prinky; how do you relieve stress?

Inotoxication or getting off really.

pumpkin; what is your favourite kind of fruit/vegetable?

Strawberries or watermelon for fruit and my fav vegetable is probably broccoli.

rainbow; what was the last line of the last book you read?

The grace of the lord Jesus be with all. Amen.

roses; what is the most significant event in your life so far?

Omg I’m not sure

smile; what is one thing that has greatly affected you?

Perception

shine; art or music?

Always both.

shimmer; do animals tend to like you?

They do! Which is weird because they kinda annoy me lmao

smitten; do you collect anything?

I collect CDs, vinyls, art, and all things I can wear.

smoochies; how many pillows do you sleep with?

Five lol

snuggle; what is your favourite candy?

Lollipops!

snuggly; do you have a camera? if so, what kind?

No just on my phone ): I’d like to get a Polaroid camera tho

sparkle; do you wear jewelry?

Always!

spooky; sunrise or sunset?

Both are beautiful.

sprinkles; do you like to listen to music with headphones or no headphones?

Rather listen to it with no headphones

starlight; what was your favourite show as a child?

Courage the cowardly dog or spongebob lol

soft; describe your favourite spot in your house.

MY BED 😂

soothe; digital or vinyl?

Vinyl babyyy

squeezed; who do you miss right now?

My angel

sugary; what traits do you value most in friends?

Funny, understanding, spontaneous friends

sunshine; do you prefer for things to be practical or aesthetically pleasing?

They can be both tho right

sweet; do you find it easy to open up?

Ehhh

sweetie; do you like kids? if so, do you ever want to have any?

Not really and noo

thimble; is there somebody you look up to? who are they?

I look up to Marilyn Manson lol

toot; what is something you find unique about yourself?

My outlook

tootsie; what kind of friend are you?

A good one I hope

treasure; what was something that made you smile today?

Ghostlyy

velvet; are you an early bird or a night owl?

Night owl ):

whiffle; if you could have a magical power, what would it be?

To shapeshift or bend people’s will

whimsical; do you prefer doing stuff at home or going out?

Either really but probably staying at home, it depends on my mood

whiskers; do you usually wear makeup?

Hell ya

wiggly; are you a messy or tidy person?

Ugh.. I’m both if that makes any sense.

wispy; do you like the place where you grew up? do you think you will live there when you get older?

It’s okay but hopefully not lol

wobbly; have you ever wished upon a star?

Of course I have

#asks

1 note · View note

khadij-al-kubra · 6 years

Text

Can I Bar-row Your Attend-tion (ch. 4)

Pairing: Roman/Patton

Characters: Roman, Patton, Logan, Virgil, Thomas, Joan, Talyn, Valerie, Terrence, Dio (Deceit), (some OCs)

Word Count: (I know, I know, it’s long. I’m sorry! I couldn’t settle on a good stopping point. XO )

Summary: Roman and Patton are two bartenders at a local bar & grill with some serious chemistry. However, the only people who don’t realize it are each other, and one of them is in a relationship…on the rocks.

Author’s Note: Hey friends! A thousand pardons for the late update! It’s been crazy in my life lately. Thank you so much for your patience, and don’t worry, we’re nearing the home stretch. Again I am SO thankful to see all the positive feedback so far and am happy you’re enjoying it! If you’d like to be in the tag list for future chapters in the Bar & Grill AU or other works by me, let me know. And as always feel free to leave a comment in the messages or reply if you have any notes or constructive critiques. I’m always open to writing advice. Oh, and buckle up, ‘cause this chapter is gonna get angsty. Enjoy!

<--PREVIOUS

Chapter 4: Bad News Served Neat (POV- Patton)

Patton missed Roman. He knew it was sort of ridiculous, but it was true. Roman was getting busier with the rehearsal nights, and even though he knew it was only temporary, Patton missed having the flamboyant creative man working beside him those few nights a week at the bar and grill. Missed his smile, missed the excessive gestures whenever he spoke to others, missed the way his nose crinkled before a sneeze, missed his deep hearty laugh and the way he whistled Sondheim songs while cleaning the mixer.

Patton knew he had feelings for the actor, but it wasn’t until they’d danced together three days ago that he realized juts how deep he was in. Part of him felt guilty for it, heartless even, because he was still in a committed relationship with someone else. But the heart is its own master he supposed. Patton had spent the entire weekend thinking about it. On Saturday he overfilled the food bowls at the shelter while daydreaming about kissing Roman. And on Sunday he burnt a batch of brownies replaying their conversations in his head. Only friends… For just a moment he had thought Roman was going to kiss him, that maybe he actually felt something more for Patton. Of course that’d be too good to be true. Patton sighed sadly and took out a mini chocolate chip.

“Excuse me, where is my drink order?” asked a new customer at the bar.

“Just a second,” said Patton. He stuffed the cookie in his mouth and finishing his line of orders.

Remy hadn’t shown up yet, later than usual even by his standards, so Patton was left to build drinks alone. Unfortunately for him it was a busier night, the old place filled with both old and new faces, and it was only 8pm. Patton hadn’t even taken his dinner break yet because he didn’t want to let Logan down. The poor businessman tried to pitch in when he could, but Logan also had to man the front register. Even Joan and Talyn were too busy to stop and say hi.

“Here you go. Sorry for the wait,” he said, handing over the tequila sunrise. “We’re a bit understaffed today.”

“Clearly,” the customer said stiffly, straightening her grey blazer. Patton pouted at her. Meany.

“Aaand here is your wine Valerie. Sorry for the hold up,” he smiled apologetically.

“Oh don’t worry sweetie. I can tell you’re busy,” she said, reaching over her half eaten plate of house salad and wings to pat his arm.

“Thanks for understanding kiddo.” He gave her a smile before getting back to work.

“So is it true that you and Roman actually broke into song and dance?” she asked, her big brown eyes sparkling.

“Yep. He was having a bad day and, well, I just had to cheer him up somehow. And you know he’s such a big Disney fan.” Patton sighed at the memory fondly. “It was really nice…and Logan hadn’t even been mad.”

“Awwww! I can’t believe I missed it! Wait till I tell Jas and Calypso, they are going to flip out.”

“Well you can tell them you heard it straight from your ol’ pal Patton. I wouldn’t want them to think you were being phony...Get it? …Like a flip phone?”

“Oh, right, ha-ha…” Valerie laughed, but even Patton knew it wasn’t his best joke.

“Anywho, back to work. There you are fellas. Three beers,” he said to three burly men in Roman’s section, smiling brightly at the new faces.

“Thanks,” said the one in the middle.

Normally Patton would take the time to talk a bit more with the new customers, make them feel welcomed. Tonight however his heart just wasn’t in it. No, his heart was somewhere else, and that made him feel guilty. Because even with his thoughts focused on Roman lately, part of his brain was still hooked on another man. One whom he felt was slipping father away. He munched another cookie.

Patton shook the bad thoughts welling up from his head and took a tray with three drinks to the far dinner tables. He brought one to a regular customer Madeline at table 14, stopping to say hi to her seeing-eye dog Jerico, and then brought the other two to table 12. There sat Terrence and a pretty red head he’d already taken here to eat twice before.

“Alrighty, here we go. One rum and coke for you Terrence, and one Scotch for you lovely date.”

“You’re the best Patton,” said Terrence.

“Daww same to you kiddo. Let me know if you have any problems with this tiger,” he said to the girl as he teasingly elbowed the policeman’s shoulder.

“You’re right Terrence, he is a riot,“ said the redhead, giggling at her date’s embarrassed face. “You don’t have to worry though, he’s been a perfect gentleman.”

Even with his coco skin tone and the low lighting Patton could tell that Terrence was blushing like a beet. “Uh well…thanks… y-you too o-of course. Uh, N-not a gentleman! I mean, not that you’re a man, like, gentle…woman…”

The girl merely laughed and smiled at him. Terrence smiled bashfully back. This is so pure, Patton thought wistfully. He left them alone, but couldn’t help looking back with a sigh. What he wouldn’t give to spend a night like that with a certain someone. Guilt welled up in him again as he realized the man in his fantasies wasn’t his boyfriend. Which it should’ve been, right? Because that was the right thing to think about? People in relationships should be thinking about the person they were in the relationship with. Not someone else. Wasn’t that betraying the other person?

Suddenly the image of Roman’s warm smile and strong arms wrapped gently around him popped into Patton’s mind. It made him smile, but then he frowned just as quickly with guilt.

“Patton, how are you holding up? You seem distressed,” Logan said, coming over to the bar.

“Oh it’s okay Logan,” he said, snapping back to attention. “I’m doing fine. Really.”

“Apologies that I cannot help more.”

“I’m handling things alright. It isn’t your fault.”

“While that is kind of you it is indeed my responsibility as your employer. A foolish mistake on my part, thinking I could count on my cousin for assistance. Then again, he did need the work. Regardless, I have messaged Roman to see if there was any possibility of him coming in later to help you with closing up the bar.”

“Oh! Well, that works.” Patton said, unable to hide his giddiness at the possibility of seeing Roman.

“So far no word, but I shall keep you updated. Meanwhile, I’m going to see if I can’t get at all in touch with Remy on his whereabouts.” Logan took out his cellphone and vehemently dialed a number. His mouth was stretched in a thin line of impatience. “Remy, it’s Logan. Where the hell are you?”

Logan walked away with the phone, but Patton heard Remy from the other line saying, ‘I have, like, NO idea!’

You’d think being busy with work would have taken Patton’s mind off of things, but nope. If anything he was stuck even further into the swirling whirlpool of unpleasant thoughts and memories. Like Friday night when Dio had to cancel another one of their dates, telling him something came up at work. Patton had been sad, but honestly he was sadder about the fact that he wasn’t surprised than by the cancellation itself. It had even taken away some of the joy he’d felt after singing and dancing with Roman. Sure, Dio had made it up to him by taking him out to dinner Saturday night at his favorite restaurant, but Patton’s heart just wasn’t in it. Wasn’t in the relationship anymore. He couldn’t help feeling guilty over that, probably because he was too nice for his own good. Then again, Dio didn’t seem so invested in the relationship lately either.

Patton wasn’t as naïve as people made him out to be. He could tell that the flame between him and Dio wasn’t as bright as it had been the first three months of their relationship. Things had been so wonderful back then. Patton remembered the first time they met in the park, how mesmerized he had been by Dio’s dancing and the way they locked eyes. He came back to that park every other day just hoping to see him. Dio would always bring him flowers until he finally asked Patton out officially. He remembered their first date, all the movie and make-out nights, the time Dio won him a stuffed cat at the carnival, taking Dio to the zoo and seeing the giddy look on his boyfriend’s face in the reptile room…cartoon-a-thons, whispered secrets as they lay in bed holding hands…That all seemed so long ago.

Then Dio got less enthusiastic about their dates, almost bored. Patton tried to put more effort into it, thinking maybe he just wasn’t showing enough appreciation. Not long after he stared feeling wilted…felt like he had to try harder, even when he didn’t always want to… But hey, relationships weren’t always sunshine and smiles, right? Patton couldn’t break up with Dio just because they’d hit a rough patch. Part of him did still love Dio…at least he was pretty sure he did. They’d been together so long, those feelings couldn’t just disappear, right? He munched on two more cookies.

“Hey Pat, you okay dude?” Alex asked from their usual corner seat at the bar.

“Of course kiddo! I’m always a-okay!” Patton said, plastering on his best smile.

“You sure? ‘Cause you’ve been hitting the cheer-up cookies kinda hard tonight. That was your fifth one.” Uh oh. Has it really been that many?

“Weeell sometimes that’s how the cookie crumbles.” He grinned cheekily as the young artist groaned. “But I appreciate you looking out for your old pop kiddo.”

Patton playfully ruffled Alex’s beanie. They grumbled a bit, but Patton could see the small smirk on their face.

“Oooh is that a new piece you’re working on?” asked Patton, spotting the open sketchbook on the bar surface.

“Um, not really,” said Alex, nervously twirling their long blonde hair. “Its something I’ve been working on for a while. I’m just touching up some parts. Virgil gave me some really helpful feedback. He really is talented…”

Patton took note of the soft smile and slight blush on their face at the mention of Virgil. Could Alex possibly be crushing on his stepbrother? The thought made Patton feel bubbly inside but he fought to curb his cupid-like tendencies. He had his own relationship and romance woes to worry about. Playing matchmaker for his favorite pan pals probably wasn’t the best idea.

A light knock on the kitchen widow sill alerted Patton to Thomas’ presence. The chef was holding a small plate of steaming rice and beans with what looked like pieces of chicken sprinkled with chopped green things. What was that, cilantro? Bell peppers?

“Hey Patton, could you taste test this dish for me?” Thomas asked. “I’m trying to convince Logan to let me add some new specials to the menu.”

“Absolutely kiddo!”

Patton took the plate of food, blew on it and spooned a bit of everything into his mouth. The flavors of caramelized onions, black beans, savory chicken, warm rice, and just a hint of lime danced across his tongue. Heavenly.

“Thomas, this is so good!” Patton said, mouth half full.

“Thanks Pat!” Patton savored the look of pride on his friend’s face. “Yeah, it’s called pollo a la plancha; my gran’s old recipe. You know, she’s the one who taught me how to cook in the first place.”

“That’s so sweet! I’m sure Logan will let you add this. He’d be pretty kooky not to once he tastes it.”

“I still say it need more cilantro, guero,” called Enrique from the kitchen.

“You leave my abuelita’s recipe alone!” Thomas cried into the kitchen, making Alex and Patton both laugh. It was his first real laugh he’d had all day.

Patton was about to get back to the bar and check if anyone needed a refill, but then he saw Virgil rush in through the door. He looked very distressed, which made Patton worry.

“Hey Virgil,” both Thomas and Alex said.

“You here for your usual?” Thomas asked.

“Not here for a mozzarella run this time Thomas,” said Virgil. Then he turned to Patton. “Got a sec? I need to talk with you in private.”

“Uhhh,” he looked to his friends who seemed equally concerned then check the bar. Everyone seemed fine for the moment. “Sure Virge.”

He’s immediately let away gently but earnestly to the other side of the bar. It was the only unoccupied spot in the place so they could talk in private.

“What’s up kiddo? Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine, but…” Virgil tugged nervously at his hoodie strings. “I’ve kinda got some bad news.”

“Is it mom and dad? Did something happen to them?”

“No, no! Mom and dad are fine. It’s just,” Virgil huffed. “Okay, just, promise me you won’t freak out please?”

“Of course, just tell me what’s wrong so I can know how to help you.”

The emo artist looked at him with pained sympathy. “You’re great Pat, but I’m not the one whose gonna need help this time.”

Patton waited patiently. Virgil closed his eyes, took a deep breath and said in a rush, “IsawDiocheatingonyou! There. It’s like a Band-Aid rip.”

Patton blanked for a second. It was rushed but he’d heard what Virgil said. Could he have heard wrong?

“Wh-wh-what?” he asked softly.

Virgil sighed. “I was working on my mural and ran out of paint. So made a parkour run through the park since it’s a short cut to the nearest art supply store. I was cutting through some trees when I thought I saw a certain someone’s bowler derby through the leaves…But he wasn’t alone” His teeth clenched at the memory but Virgil kept going. “I got close enough to get a better look without being seen. I thought, like, maybe I’d seen wrong, running and all…but I didn’t. It was Dio, and he was with some other guy…and they were making out. Like, full on tongue fencing.”

“A-are…are you sure Virge?” Patton asked, his voice barely a whisper.

“Yeah. I saw his tattoo. It was definitely Dio. I’m so sorry Pat!”

Thoughts and memories swirled through Patton’s head. He didn’t even hear the music in the bar and grill, like his ears were full of emotional cotton. He knew that Virgil wouldn’t lie to him. Yet part of Patton, probably the too-nice-for-his-own-good side, wanted to deny it, give his boyfriend the benefit of the doubt. But now that it had been said aloud there was no denying the truth. It explained so much. The lack-luster touches, distracted texts, and all the cancelled dates because ‘something came up.’ Patton knew Dio was losing interest in him, but he never thought he’d stoop so low as to cheat on him and lie like that. Then again…didn’t he always lie? Oh how could I be so STUPID!

Patton took the entire bag of mini chocolate chip cookies out of his apron pocket. He shoved his hand in and grabbed a fistful. Before he could shove the sweets into his mouth however they were knocked out of his hand. He turned to a stern faced Virgil. Patton frowned back, mad at him for depriving him of the only thing that could cheer him up right now, and defiantly grabbed another fistful.

“No!” Virgil yanked the bag of cookies out of his hands.

“Give it,” Patton said, reaching for the back.

“NO!” Virgil said forcefully, holding them out of reach.

“Virgil Alighieri, you give me back those cookies THIS INSTANT!” Patton stomped his foot.

Instead of giving them back Virgil yeeted them into the nearest trash can. Patton gasped, fighting the urge to cry. He wanted to shout at his brother but it came out more like a pathetic whine.

“Virgil!”

“I am NOT gonna let you eat your feelings again! You’ll make yourself sick. Remember last time?”

He did remember the last time. It was senior prom. Patton had plucked up the courage to ask the girl he liked at the time to go with him to prom and she said yes. Patton had been so excited he bought her a corsage in her favorite color and everything! The day of, however, she approached him after class to tell him she couldn’t go after all. Apparently her long distance boyfriend had flown in for a surprise visit and they were going to have a private dinner together instead. To be fair she had seemed genuinely sorry, even kissed him on the cheek and thanked him for being such an understanding sweetheart. Still, he was crushed. Virgil went as his date instead, but Patton had been so upset he wound up eating nearly all the food at the snack table. He’d spent the rest of the night throwing up in the bathroom. Patton could still remember the smell of puke and how green his face had looked in the mirror. Green like a snake…like Dio’s favorite animal…Dioooo!

The floodgates burst. Patton felt Virgil’s arms wrap around him as he sobbed into his brother’s shoulder.

“It’s okay bro, I’ve got you,” Virgil said, rubbing his back soothingly.

“H-how could he do that to me?” Patton cried. “How c-could h-he cheat? After six months! How could he LIE!?”

He was well aware that he was causing a scene. A grown man whimpering and sobbing in the middle of a bar wasn’t exactly inconspicuous. He didn’t care though. His heart was broken. Not even so much from the betrayal, but because he’d been foolish enough not to see it. To stay even when he’d felt so unhappy and unloved because he didn’t want to hurt the other person. He always thought it was worse to break someone else’s heart than to get your own heart broken. Boy was he wrong. Heartbreak feels so much worse!

“Patton, what’s wrong?” He heard Talyn’s concerned voice ask.

“Are you okay?” Joan asked, big brown eyes wide with worry.

Patton half turned out of Virgils arms to look at them both. “Noooo.”

“I saw Dio kissing someone else in the park.” Virgil explained. “’Nuff said?”

“Oh, that son of a—

“L-language,” said Patton.

“Oh Patton, I’m so sorry!” Talyn hugged him from behind.

“Yeah man,” Joan rubbed his arm gently. “You don’t deserve this.”

Don’t I though? Patton didn’t say this aloud though. He just let himself have a long time coming cry surrounded by his friends.

“Hey can we get some drinks over here?” One of the men at the bar shouted.

“Shut up!” Joan and Talyn shouted back. The guy slinked back in his seat grumbling about bad service.

Just when Patton thought he couldn’t make more of an embarrassed spectacle of himself, Roman bursts in through the door. Oh nononono I can’t let him see me like this. The thought only makes Patton cry harder.

“Greeting hungry and thirsty patrons! Logan, I got your text and lucky for you my rehearsal got out early tonight. Apparently the director ate a bad—“

That’s when he looked up and saw Patton. The smile on Roman’s face dropped and his brow wrinkled with worry. In just a few strides he was standing before Patton, who couldn’t for the life of him stop crying. Whether from sadness or embarrassment he couldn’t tell, maybe a bit of both, but the look of concern on Roman’ face quieted him just a little. Roman cupped his cheek’s gently in his warm hands, his thumbs wiping away some of Patton’s tears.

“Patton, what’s wrong? Are you hurt? Did someone hurt you? Are you sick? Virgil, what on earth happened!?”

Virgil filled him in on the story. It hurt Patton to hear it again, but he was too upset to explain it himself. His sobs had at least died down to hiccuped cries, but he still felt so heavy with sadness. As Roman heard the news his face went from worry to shock to anger and then…something else…something cold. He took a deep breath, turned back to Patton with tenderness in his eyes. Maybe it was because he was so raw with emotions, but Patton couldn’t help himself from practically falling into Roman’s arms. He needed more than just a brotherly hug. He needed to feel wanted. For a second Patton was worried that he’d overstepped a line of sorts, but instead of pushing him away Roman held him back. It wasn’t a long embrace but the warmth (maybe even love) that poured through was enough to finally soothed the storm in Patton’s heart. He wasn’t okay, but he felt safe in those strong yet gentle arms.

Eventually though Roman did pulled away reluctantly. Then he took Patton’s hand—the same one he’d bandaged a week ago—and kissed it. He smiled at Patton sadly and then gave a nod over his head to Virgil. The anxious artist nodded back and gently put an arm back around Patton. Roman turned around but Patton saw his fists clench and the muscles of his back tightened.

“I’m going to kill that creep,” said Roman, his voice low and filled with rage.

“Wha—“

He watched Roman storm away. Patton’s stomach twisted with worry. There was no denying Roman was strong and could hold his own, but so was Dio. The dancer was also fast and tricky. What if Roman got himself hurt? He couldn’t bare the thought.

“Roman where are you going?” Logan said as the actor passed the register. “You just got here.”

“Sorry boss. I’ve got a knuckle sandwich to deliver!”

“Roman, wait!” Patton reached out, but he was already out the door. “…Oh no…nonono he’s going to get himself hurt! Virgil!”

“He’ll be okay Patton.” Virgil squeezed his arm reassuringly. “Trust me. Princy will be just fine.”

“But what if something happens to him? What if Dio…”

The thought of anything bad happening to his strong, brave and sweet prince sent Patton into another fit of tears. His friends surrounded him with their embraces. It didnt stop the tears, but their love he felt from them was like a balm on his heart.

“Hey, what’s going on you guys?” Thomas asked, now out of the kitchen.

“Virgil, what the hell happened?” Alex asked.

Valerie came over to them as well. “Why did Roman storm out the door? Why is Patton crying?”

Virgil sighed. “I am so tired of being the messenger here. Joan, you mind?”

“Apparently Dio’s been fucking cheating on Patton so Roman went to kick his ass,” said Joan.

“WHAT!?” Valerie shrieked. “Oh sweetie,” she gave Patton an almost motherly hug.

“That bastard,” said Alex. “Good on Roman though. Hell, maybe I’ll go help him.”

“Dude, no.” Virgil gently held them back.

By then everyone was aware of what was going on and why. The newer faces were just annoyed by the lack of service and some were heading to Logan with their complaints. The regular patrons on the other hand were just as angry at Dio’s infidelity and probably could’ve made a pretty decent mob. However they opted instead to show support and comfort to their favorite fatherly bartender. Eventually though Logan broke through the small gathering of irate diners and came over to the bar. He pushed up his glasses, clearly confused and frustrated.

“What in the world is going on here? Customers are complaining. Why are none of you working? You know how swamped we are. And since when did we add a new sandwich to the menu? Why did Roman— Patton…Are you ill?”

“…No,” he sniffled. “Not exactly.”

“But then why are you so distressed?” Logan asked, concern and confusion painted across his usual stoic face.

“Patton is, uh, heartsick,” Talyn explained carefully. “Like how my head hurts real bad during migraines, except emotionally…”

Logan seemed to understand better but sighed. “Feelings. The bane of my existence.”

“I-I’m sorry Lo. I’ll g-get back to work. I just…just need a minute.”

Logan turned to the complaining customers, then back to his employees in front of him. Patton could practically see the wheels in his mind turning, puzzling the situation out. He placed a hand on Patton’s shoulder.

“On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad is the pain?” he asked gently.

“Logan.”

“How bad?”

Patton sniffled. “…9…”

That seemed to settle it. Logan pulled out a chair from the nearest table and stood atop it. Then he cleared his throat.

“Attention everyone,” he said loudly. When they hushed he continued. “I have heard your complaints about the lagging service tonight, and I assure you this is not typical of Sanders’ Bar & Grill. That being said, due to a personal emergency, I shall be closing up early today.” Logan gave Patton, whose mouth was agape, a small reassuring smile before continuing. “Therefore I must ask you to kindly vacate the premises. I will see to it that those who’ve yet to receive their orders will be refunded and that you all receive a coupon for one free lunch...should you…come back. I…sincerely apologize for this gross inconvenience and while I hope you return, I shall understand if—“

“Logan, Relax,” said Terrence, getting up from his seat. “We understand.”

“Do what you gotta do man,” said Alex.

“We’ve been coming here long enough to know you’re good on your word,” said Madeline, her dog barked as well. “I’ll be back for that free lunch though.”

“This place has the best drinks in town,” said Valerie. “And the best bartenders. Where else am I going to go for happy hour?”

“We’ll be back,” said another regular.

“All of us,” said another.

Of course Logan was met with some complaints, but the glares from the Sanders’ regulars shut them up enough. Logan’s mouth quirked into a soft smile. He looked deeply touched by their loyalty, as well as relieved. Patton was touched by it as well. Logan stepped back down and readjusted his tie before ushering a few grumbling customers to the register. Meanwhile Thomas went to help close up the kitchen. Joan and Talyn went to clean up the place as well. Patton stayed close to the bar, but he wasn’t left alone. Not only did Virgil stay beside him, but his customers stopped by as well. He smiled as they all came up to him on their way out with words of comfort and reassurance. They called Dio an ass, and assured him that Roman would be okay. Some gave him hugs or squeezed his hand, telling him he’ll be okay; he deserves better. Their kindness meant the world to Patton, but part of him couldn’t help wondering if they were right. Did he really deserve better?

A half hour later the tables were cleaned, chairs flipped up onto the tables, and Sanders’ was officially closed early for the night. Logan had let everyone go home early, assuring them all they wouldn’t lose out on the day’s pay. An exhausted Joan and Talyn went home, giving Patton another hug goodbye first, but Thomas stayed behind. He was worried about Roman as well and wanted to make sure he got back all right. Sometimes Patton forgot how close of friends the two were.

Patton of course stayed as well. Virgil insisted on not leaving his brother and Patton was grateful for that. He was all cried out now but the heaviness hadn’t left his heart. Now that he knew the truth about Dio, what was he supposed to do? Were they officially over? Dio didn’t know that Patton knew, but did that matter since he was the one that cheated? It’s not like Patton wouldn’t have every right to leave him…but could he face being alone again?

A sudden ringing startled Patton from his thoughts. It was the bar’s landline phone. Logan walked over and answered.

“Salutations, Sanders’ Bar & Grill. I apologize but we are closed for the— Yes this is he...Wait, where is he? ….I see….Very well. I’ll be right there. Yes, I shall indeed. Alright. Thank you.” He hung up the phone.

“What was that about?” asked Virgil.

“That was the police station,” said Logan, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Apparently Roman has been arrested.”

“What?” said Patton and Virgil.

“Is he okay?” asked Thomas.

“For now, but I have to go. I’ll be back. Thomas, watch the place until I get back.”

“No prob Logan.”

With a curt nod, Logan was out the door. Thomas slumped into a chair, running a hand through his hair, and Virgil was doing breathing exercises to keep from panicking. They both stopped however when they saw that Patton was still standing in the middle of the room trebling.

“Patton?…Bro, it’s gonna be okay,” said Virgil.

“Yeah, Logan’s on the case. I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Thomas said.

“Excuse me please,” Patton said in a rush as he retreated to the back storage room.

Once he was alone Patton tried to calm himself down. His hands shook and he paced around the small room. Thoughts of Roman locked in some small cell, possibly hurt, and all alone invaded his mind. Oh my poor precious impulsive knight in shining armor. He can’t do hard time. He won’t survive in jail. It’s full of too many bad people and he hates the color orange. Oh why oh why did I let you go?

His phone rang then and he jumped at the sound. He checked and saw it was a text. From Dio.

Boyfriend <3: I need you to come pick me up at the park.

That’s it? That’s all he had to say to him!? Patton frowned and dialed the number. He heard the phone ringing and eventually Dio’s voice on the other line.

“Patton? Did you get my text?”

“Dio. What happened?”

“What happened you ask? I’ll tell you what happened. Your crazy co-worker came out of nowhere and jumped me at the park! He kept screaming that I stay away from you, the psycho. But don’t worry I –ow— took care of him.”

Patton gasped. “Wha-what happened to Roman? What did you do to him?”

“What are you worried about him for? He attacked me. Gee, I expected a little more sympathy from my boyfriend. But if you want to know, he only managed to land a few hits. He’s –ow, ouch— he’s in way worse shape than me.”

Even Patton could tell he was lying. Hard to tell a decent fib when you were in pain. Even so, what if he was telling the truth? What if Roman really was hurt?

“By that point the cops came by and I told them how he assaulted me. They took care of him. Good riddance. I wouldn’t want you around the likes of him. But uh…I really do need to get picked up. And uh, maybe we could stop by, like, City MD or something? Not that I need it. Can you come by or what?”

Patton said nothing for a moment. Then he straightened his back, felt something settle in him like a stone. “Ask your other boyfriend.”

“…What?”

“Ask. Your other. Boyfriend.”

“What are you talking abo—

“You’ve been seeing someone else, haven’t you.”

“Now Patton, where would you get a silly idea like that?”

“Please Dio, for once in your life don’t lie to me! Have you been cheating on me? Yes or no?”

“...Patton, kitten, you know I love you.”

“No… You love yourself. But you know what? So do I. And maybe I am too nice for my own good, but I have enough self-respect to know that I deserve better than a lying, cheating slimy snake for a boyfriend! …Its over Dio.”

“You can’t just leave me.”

“Sure I can. Goodbye.”

Patton hung up then immediately deleted Dio’s phone number and texts before he could think twice. Good thing he let Virgil convince him not to move in with Dio after four months. It was finally over. Patton let out a shuddered breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. He realized then that his glasses were blurry with tears, but even so he felt…better. Like his chest was finally free of the heavy weight from before. A small laugh escaped his lips. Patton was proud of himself…but there was still one big fear that had its claws sunken into his heart and wouldn’t let go.

“Oh Roman, please be okay.”

FINAL-->

Tag List: @altruistic-skittles @thekeytohappiness-is-you @canadian-crofters@icecoldparadise @bluebloodstains @purpleshipper@patchworkofstars@axyzel @hissesssss @beautifully-terribly @pink-and-purple-flowers@jynxlovesluck @thatsanswitch @6tick6tock6 @hanramz-the-fander @azlinne @helplesscreator @thestoryofme13 @bibbidi-bobbity-booyah@accidental-sanders @moonstonefox12 @hissesssss @smokeyrutilequartz @phlying-squirrel @madly-handsome @puns-and-patton @notveryglittery @eequalsmcscared @safesandersides @lizziepopanime @anxiously-unsatisfied-world @beautifully-terribly @justisaisfine

#My writing #Bar & Grill AU #royality #sanders sides fanfic #roman sanders #patton sanders #virgil sanders #logan sanders #thomas sanders #joan and talyn #sanders sides fandom #original characters #deceit sanders #fanders #i know its long im sorry #KDsWriting

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