#oh and two characters you may or may not recognise show up for like five seconds :3 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

msjr0119 · 1 year

Text

This Life

The majority of characters belong to Pixelberry from The Royal Romance/Heir.

Series warnings ⚠️: Adult language, sexual.

Based on the Netflix series- Sex/life. Some situations are based on canon.

Tags: Because I’ve been gone MIA in like forever I don’t know who’s here anymore 🙈… so I’m not tagging specific people.

****

School psychologists aren't supposed to write books or diaries about sex. Doing so would be considered 'unethical' and 'a fireable offense'. Lucky for you, ethics was never my strong suit.

****

January 3rd

New year. New start? No. Same shit, different year. It hasn’t always been ‘bad’ though.

There was a time in my life where I was; wild, fun, happy. I was living the time of my life. As if there was no tomorrow. No worries. Anxiety- what anxiety? No sleep. It didn’t matter to me. Caffeine was my best friend as well as Liv. Both getting me through each day. Thinking back to those days- I was vulnerable. The reason why… HIM.

The man who has not been named ‘out loud’ in nearly a decade. However, just recently the memories keep flooding in my mind. I’m not sure why? As much as I try to erase them, they return immediately. Today I spent the afternoon vacantly staring at my child as he caused chaos around me. Typical toddler, some may suggest. My boy- he was…is, a blessing. To begin with, I wasn’t sure if I could be a mother. Half of the time, I’m surprised that I’ve managed to look after myself all of these years. Motherhood- that was never a high priority in my future when I imagined my fairytale life in my adolescence. Honestly, my only goal in life was to achieve my PHD in Psychology. Oh, how that went ‘tits up’.

My husband- he was my saviour five years ago. Most of our close friends and family assumed that Nate was just a rebound. Deep down, I probably believed that too back then. However, he proved everyone wrong- including myself. For the last five years he’s provided for me but for also for Preston. Most people would think that I sound ungrateful for the life that I have. Maybe I am?

The majority would dream for what I have; the wonderful house outside the city. The opportunity to not have to work for now- the life of a typical housewife. The privilege to own nice yet expensive cars due to Nate’s promotion. And not forgetting the support from Preston’s nanny- Ioana. Why isn’t all of this enough for me? I often think…What if, I had never agreed to that coffee date with Nate on our first meeting? Would my life have been any different? Could I have rekindled with the man who made me feel invisible- electrified? The intimacy with him. God, I miss it. I miss him. Back then, I was caught up in the euphoria of the moment. ‘For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, to love and cherish, until parted by death’ I keep reminding myself about the vows that we made- ‘I am happily married’. But, is that true?

“Shit!” Looking at her watch, Riley realised that the day had rapidly disappeared. Nate could be returning home at any point.

“Mommy, you….”

“I know, Preston. I’m sorry I said a naughty word.” Scrutinising the mess surrounding them- Riley deleted all of what she had noted down, before rushing around like a headless chicken in her night wear still. Hearing the door open, she panicked slightly before recognising the familiar face. Phew.

“Excuse me, Miss Riley- but your sister and Mr Liam have just got here. I can take Preston for his bath if you’d like?”

Shit.

“Erm, Ioana- let them in, I’ll quickly run upstairs and make myself decent. Preston, honey- why don’t you show Ioana the train track that we made earlier on? It’s amazing isn’t it?”

“Okay, Mommy.”

“I don’t know why they are here?!” Ioana provided a soft smile towards Riley as she mouthed this and guested that she would be one minute.

Running back downstairs dodging the washing and stray toys, Riley realised that she had two missed calls and voicemails.

Hey, girl.

Sorry I didn’t return your call earlier on. It’s been a busy crazy day. I’m back in the city- you sounded a bit upset on the voicemail. Meet up, tomorrow? Let me know.

Hello beautiful,

Just to let you know, I’m running slightly behind tonight. Emergency meeting with Katrina and ‘the big boy bosses’. I hopefully won’t be too long. I will grab some food at work- just see to yourself and Preston. Love you.

“Nothing new there, then. Working late again wasn’t expecting that at all- oh silly, me. He’s probably so far up her arse…..”

“Riley.” Lindsey shouted interrupting her sisters negative thoughts regarding her husband and his new boss.

“Hey guys. Sorry about the mess. Erm… it was Nate’s first day back at work and myself and Preston are still in the holiday mood. We still need to get back into the normal routine… anyway…. What are you doing here?” Lindsey and Liam gave each other a look- they both didn’t know how to ‘sweet talk’ the discussion that they needed to have with Riley.

“Well… we haven’t seen you since Christmas. So we thought that we’d pay you a visit.”

“It was less than two weeks ago, we’ve gone months without seeing each other before.”

“Erm…” Lindsey stuttered which encouraged Liam to continue the conversation. “Well we know that Nate is working longer hours now- we know that you have Ioana for company but if you wanted a different change of scenery…. We are here. Always.” Focusing her attention towards her sister instead of Liam - Lindsey provided a sheepish smile towards Riley.

“Linz you’ve always been a rubbish liar. What’s the real reason as to why you’ve spontaneously shown up here?”

“Ioana, are you okay looking after Preston for a couple of extra hours whilst we take Riley to the city? Mommy’s night off. I believe she deserves it?”

“Of course, Mr Liam. That is no problem. I agree, Miss Riley should go and enjoy herself.”

****

New York is a city of diversity and dynamism. As well as a city of politics, economy and culture. Even though I don’t live within the city anymore- this is home. The natural feeling of ‘home’ occurs every time that I enter the city. Each corner has a different story to tell. Mixed emotions. Memories both bad and good that will last a lifetime.

To begin with- Riley kept looking over her shoulder in the bars that the trio had entered. Was there some hope that she could see him? If there was to be an unexpected meeting she wasn’t quite sure on how to react. Due to anxiety and nerves - Riley began to take advantage of the alcohol as well as the child free night. The last known location for the man in question was California. Because of this she began to let her hair loose - something which pleased Lindsey but also worried her at the same time.

“Liv’s flat is literally next door. I’ll just go and surprise her and see if she wants to join us, okay?”

“Okay, we’ll get you both a drink. Gin and tonic?” Liam asked.

“No, make it two JD and cokes. It’s what myself and Liv always had during our… fun… days. Nights. Mornings…. I’ll be two minutes.”

“Liam- JD and coke, minus the JD for Ri.” Lindsey whispered to her husband, as they watched Riley enter the flat safely.

“I think she will need a coffee rather than fizzy pop to attempt to conceal the alcohol consumption from Nate. When Riley returns with or without Liv we are telling her the truth, Linz. Olivia will be the extra support that she may require.”

****

“Surprise!”

“Ri… what are you doing here? I suggested to meet up tomorrow on the voicemail.”

“Yeah I know, but….” Stumbling against the wall, Olivia stepped out quickly shutting the door quietly.

“Are you drunk?”

“No! Maybe. Only, slightly.” Shrugging her shoulders, she knew that Nate would berate her for being in this position. However, she didn’t care for now.

“Anyway Linz and Liam sort of dragged me out to the city- because I can never get out, I thought you could join me- us. Like old times…. But obviously old times were just you and I. It’ll be fun though…. I need to talk to you anyway…. I’ve been having these weird dreams. Memories keep rushing back of me and him….” Before Riley could continue with her word vomit - Olivia prevented her from continuing.

“Now isn’t a good time….I’m still jet-lagged from Paris. Tomorrow would better, honey. For me. I can come to you… or you could come back to the city with Preston. Whichever is easier….”

“Who’s Preston?” Standing frozen as if she had seen a ghost, Riley’s brain began to shrivel and not function properly. “I’m assuming he’s the new lucky man in your life?” Not responding to the questions- Riley couldn’t distinguish reality from fantasy.

“It’s good to see you, Brooks.”

#the royal romance #Riley x drake #riley brooks #drake Walker #Liam Rys #trr fanfic #trr au fanfic #tw swearing #tw mention of sex #theroyalromance #choices trr

23 notes · View notes

zawescource · 1 year

Text

More than the sum of her parts

Actor Zawe Ashton has graduated from student sitcom Fresh Meat to directing and producing her first film, writing a book and bulldozing barriers in an industry still dominated by white male privilege. Oh, and she might be the next Bond

Scheduling a shoot for first thing on a Monday morning with the woman best known for playing Vod from <Fresh Meat> may not have been the best idea. One imagines Vod waking up in a field somewhere with a spliff stuck to her cheek. Time ticks on. The car is waiting. There’s no word. But when Zawe Ashton finally sashays in full of apologies, immaculate in a Stella McCartney cat-print two-piece, she’s virtually unrecognisable from her bovver-booted, perma-stoned student alter ego.

Zawe (pronounced Zow-ee like Bowie) is a curious mix of erudite and approachable, high-brow but also no-holds-barred. Conversation swerves chaotically from FGM to crisps falling out of her hair, via fourth-wave feminism and the dangers of tequila. She talks frankly about getting recognised at excruciatingly awkward times – “after yoga when I’m naked in a communal shower or when I’m mid-wax and they’re lathering my labia”. Musings on the trappings of superstardom lead to an almost Vod-like exchange. “If you chase that level of fame then you’re asking for it. You’re… who’s the guy who goes that into the labyrinthe?” Er, Theseus? I suggest, searching through my somewhat shaky knowledge of Greek mythology. “Thank you! I’m on my period so I can’t remember anyone’s name.”

She orders brown toast with peanut butter, and then suddenly opts for a salmon salad instead. She has just remembered that she’s going to the Vogue 100 gala tonight – “my eyeballs might look bloated if I eat my beloved toast and that’ll be a no no for Vogue!” Her voice is posher and more considered than it is on TV, and also incredibly husky – not the result of a Vod-esque weekend of hedonism, she tells me, but the tail-end of a bout of laryngitis which left her mute for “six whole days”.

“It’s been one of the most emotional things I’ve ever been through,” she says hoarsely, elegantly crossing her 5ft 10 frame into a tiny school-style chair. “You want to be able to express yourself, but suddenly you’re forced to spend all this time in silence. It was really interesting for me because people pay for this sort of silent meditation so I was like ‘Look within, find the zen…’”, she comically massages her temples. “And actually when you can’t speak, people are very compassionate and kind to you, their body language changes, I really recommend it!”

Many of Ashton’s best roles have been women trying to find their voice. A murderous maid in a radical reworking of Jean Genet’s 1947 play <The Maids>, an unsettled divorceÃ© in the Channel 4 drama <Not Safe For Work>, and the lonely Joyce Vincent in <Dreams of a Life>, a part-dramatised documentary about a woman whose remains were found on her sofa, with the TV still on, three years after her death. And then of course there’s Violet Nordstrom, better known as Vod. “You can’t pin her down,” she explains of her show-stealing part on the student sitcom <Fresh Meat>, which ended in March after four series. “People would say to me ‘There’s never been a character like this on TV before’. I’m so sad to say goodbye to her.” She has lots of souvenirs from the set, including Vod’s leather jacket. “I wear it all the time, but it’s got huge holes in it so I keep putting my hand down looking for my keys and coming up with fake little bags of weed.”

Playing the same character for five years has “intermingled” with her life, not just her wardrobe. She’s currently writing a book of essays about how the “membrane between performance and self can become very, very thin.” It’s partly based on her own experiences – “factional” is how she wryly describes it – not just as an actor, but as a woman. “Female identity can be such a fractured thing…that line between the roles that you inherit, the roles you give yourself, the roles that as you get as you go along through your life and begin to define yourself in terms of relationships, having children…”

Although she describes the writing process as “terrifying”, she clearly thrives off the fear. Ashton has written plays, produced and directed short films and has set up her own production company – Asylum Features. She’s in the process of financing her first feature film, a remake of the 1986 Turkish film <Ah! Belinda>. “I first watched it when I was 18 and working at the Rio cinema in Dalston and I said ‘I’m going to remake that one day’ and now I’ve got the rights to it and I’m working on the script.” It’s the kind of multidisciplinary work ethic that makes Lena Dunham look lazy.

“If you broke me apart I’m sure there is one bone in me that says discipline,” she admits, letting out a raucous laugh. “But it’s not a bone that’s easily seen from the outside. I just don’t think too much about things, that has to be my starting point. If you overthink it, that’s when the anxiety kicks in.”

For Ashton, being an actor-director-writer-producer is about creating a space for herself in an industry that’s still remarkably dominated by white men. “I think you get to a point where the line gets drawn with the powerlessness you feel as a black woman and an actor,” she says. “I’ve had doors slammed on me, people shouting in my face, I’ve been escorted from the premises. So many women I know are multihyphenates. You start off doing one thing but because of the progress that we’re trying to make…that starts to morph into writing or directing or producing or critiquing the status quo.” She cites Michaela Cole, the BAFTA-award winning creator and star of <Chewing Gum> on E4 as an inspiration. “She’s a woman, she’s a black woman, and she made that show because she didn’t feel there was a space where people felt comfortable with her and that’s definitely something I feel.”

The dearth of black female characters on TV when she was growing up led to some unlikely role models. “I loved The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, so Will Smith was my first port of call in terms of someone to look up to – I mean he’s kind of my height and got a similar skin tone. Him or Oprah Winfrey or Rudy Huxtable. That was it.” But she feels that things are slowly improving. “There was a point when I was acting as a kid and there was no make up for women of colour and you were asked to arrive having your hair and makeup already done,” she remembers. “Now you’ve got models like Jourdan Dunn saying ‘I’m one of the highest earning models in the whole world. If I turn up to a shoot and you are not acknowledging my place and my space in this industry, then I’m going to call you out’ and that, to me, feels like a whole new landscape.”

It’s amazing Ashton isn’t more jaded considering how long she’s been playing the game. She’s been acting since the age of 6, when her parents took her to Anna Scher Theatre School in Islington every Saturday. Childhood roles in Desmond’s and The Demon Headmaster were followed by that trusted triumvurate of British acting gigs – Holby City, Casualty and The Bill. She credits Scher with awakening her political education, and attributes her almost-zealot like drive to her “brilliant, creative” parents who were both teachers. Her mum, Victoria, is from Uganda, and emigrated here as a teenager. Her father Paul is a “proper cockney” from east London. “All the dropping me to auditions they’ve done and the times they’ve supported me when it hasn’t been a bed of roses does make you strive that little bit more to turn it into something worthwhile,” she explains.

After getting straight A-s in her A-levels she studied drama at Manchester Met, where she was told she wasn’t a “commercial commodity”, which must amuse her now that she is being touted as both the next Dr Who and the next James Bond. “People love putting me into these iconic male roles,” she laughs. “I know I’m naturally androgynous in some ways but…come on! I’d love to be the first female Bond. It would be an amazing part that also has that one small step for womankind element to it. Sorry Idris, move along!” Although she describes herself as an “indy girl at heart” she’d love to make a big blockbuster. “I have a huge love of musicals and cheesy big budget stuff. Not being pigeonholed is the dream. Someone like Tilda Swinton’s career I really admire because she always makes every role as enigmatic as her persona.”

Hollywood has been courting her and last year she filmed a pilot for HBO about the Salem witch trials, directed by Gus Van Sant – “he’s so quiet but he sees EVERYTHING!”. The series didn’t get picked up, but Ashton loved spending time in LA. “I’m really into the David Lynch surreal dark undertones of the city…I love how diabolical it is”. She could see herself moving there, or Paris, but also says she’s “at that point in my life where I could live anywhere”. She recently bought her own house in Clapton, “embarrassingly close to my parents” but won’t discuss if she’s single or otherwise. “I don’t talk about any love lives – past or present or future!” she jokes. “Of course, when Ryan Gosling realises that we’re supposed to be together that’s when I’ll shout about it.”

Now she’s off to “get my grooms on” for our photoshoot, which will see her stripping off in the middle of a Shoreditch street for an impromptu outfit change. “Come and get itttt!” she cackles as she whips off her trousers. Vod would definitely approve.

#zawe ashton #2022 #the house #interview

10 notes · View notes

fizzyxcustard · 2 years

Text

An Unlikely Pirate. (Armitage Summer Splash. Day 30)

As part of @lathalea and I’s Armitage Summer Splash, I present to you, day 30.

Masterlist of fics for Summer Splash

Prompts: “It meant nothing to me.“ / Pirates trope.

Fandom: North and South (AU)

Pairings: John Thornton x Fem!Reader (hint)

Warnings: Angst, turning down marriage proposal.

Summary: You had always loved John Thornton, but through your insecurity, you turned down his marriage proposal. Five years later, after he mysteriously disappeared from Milton, you hear some quite shocking news that sends you on a long journey in search of Captain Thornton.

Comments/Notes: If anyone would like to be added to or removed from my tag list, please say. Thank you to everyone who has made the Armitage Summer Splash possible. I have enjoyed every day, even though it's been quite tough at times and a challenge. Thank you! And this character choice was chosen by a sweet anon. :)

Whenever anyone brought up the subject of John Thornton, your response was always the same. "It meant nothing to me." But it did. Oh, it did. That had been the day in which your mind turned on you, telling you that John would never truly love you. All he saw was that you were a good match in society; both of you from money and of a middle class stock.

That was five years ago. Every day since and you had regretted your decision. Suitors had still tried to attract your attention; none of them were John. He had that spark which only took a switch to flick on. Whenever the two of you had conversed, the etiquette had told you to remain apart, not to touch (unless shaking hands) and not to stare. John watched you plenty, and you him. It was impossible to ignore. There was something in his eyes, a passion which lay undisturbed. And you wanted that.

Word had come to you that John Thornton had disappeared from conventional society and turned to a life of piracy. Your best friend's husband, Harry, had associates who worked at the docks in Ipswich. A man matching John Thornton's description had been seen regularly, coming into port to make exchanges, some of them legal and some not so legal. His movements were now showing a pattern; he always came on the last Sunday of the month.

That was how you knew where John would be. You left your parents' house, taking only the essentials and began your journey from Milton up in the north west, and travelled south east down to Ipswich. Train. Carriages.

On the last Sunday of May, you checked in to a small hotel. It was half a mile away from the pub which John was often seen in when he docked. You checked over your letter which Harry had received for you, highlighting all the important information. The Spread Eagle. 7pm. Last Sunday of every month. That was where John Thornton always went to carry out his business.

Quarter to seven came and you walked into the smokey pub, dressed in a large hat which covered much of your face, boots and a white shirt. You kept your head low, not wanting to gain too much attention. Patrons did look at you, their eyes studying you before they walked away, losing interest.

"What can I get ya, ma'am?" the bartender asked.

You coughed, taken off guard by the fact he had immediately recognised your gender. "Um, whiskey, please."

The bartender raised his eyebrow and turned to the bottles behind him to grab the whiskey.

The place was beginning to fill with customers. Some of them were already drunk, some part way there, and some beginning their attempts at becoming inebriated.

7pm, bang on time, the door opened. You looked across the heaving room from your seat at the very back corner, and even from that distance, there was no way you could mistake that face. The long nose, cold, yet passionate eyes, thin lips, raven black hair.

"Captain Thornton. What will you be havin'?" the bartender asked, still wiping some wet glasses with an old cloth.

"Usual, please, Jim."

The voice. It sent shivers down your spine. It made you melt and unlocked everything that you had tried so hard to repress. Even now that he made his money from illegal activities, he was still polite. An unlikely candidate to be a pirate.

However, you noticed his clothing was still fairly modest. Knee high boots with brown trousers tucked in and an open neck black tunic. He certainly didn't have the familiar look of a pirate that had become so well known in the newspapers. If anything, he could have just been mistaken for a fisherman.

John leaned against the bar and began to feel a stare. Someone was watching him. But then again, weren't they always? Being watched was something that he'd become so used to now. Tittle tattle and spies were always against him, but he had grown to know all the ways to avoid the law.

He picked up the glass of whiskey that had been prepared for him. But the voice that wafted over his shoulder made him stop, and the glass hovered inches from his lips.

"It's been a while, Mr. Thornton."

***

Follow Forever tag list: @lathalea @i-did-not-mean-to @xxbyimm @linasofia @middleearthpixie @meganlpie @guardianofrivendell @knitastically @sketch-and-write-lover @asgardianhobbit98 @spidergirla5 @rachel1959 @msjava1972 @medusas-hairband @lilacpulse @luna-xial @enchantzz @sunflwrnsunnieshine

Richard Armitage tag list: @cryptichobbit @eunoiaastralwings

#North and South #John Thornton #Richard Armitage #Armitage Summer Splash #John Thornton x Reader #Pirate John Thornton #Pirate AU

66 notes · View notes

wwalkingdread · 3 years

Note

May I request prompt 21 with Mitch please? Thank you!! Have a great day!! Thanks!!

❥ Mascara

Prompt: “I’ve been waiting forever to hear that”

Characters: Mitch

Description: During a playful game of truth or dare, Mitch realises exactly how you feel about him.

Warnings: Cussing, suggestive jokes, playing ‘flip’ marry kill.

Notes: Not used to writing for Mitch to be honest… And thank you!! You have a great day too!! I’ve been naming recent works after song titles because I haven’t been feeling that creative. Shoutout if you recognise them <33

Your chipped nail found itself on the edge of the card, gulping before flipping it over. You inspected everybody else’s cards before your own.

“Queen of hearts,” Louis said, to which everybody mumbled amongst themselves, looking over each other’s shoulders to see what cards they had. None had anything better than a Queen.

“Shit…” You cussed quietly, causing a few heads to turn. You sighed harshly, lifting your card, “I got a three.” You announced with a scowl.

“Truth or dare?” Louis asked, grinning.

You answered quickly, “Truth.”

Louis’s lips curled into a smirk, “Flip…” He began, and you loudly groaned as people erupted into giggles, “Marry, kill…”

“Mitch,” Louis started, Mitch’s head shooting upward as his humoured grin faded and his eyes widened. He shot Louis a heated glare, which Louis only returned with a knowing look, one you didn’t quite catch.

“Aasim and…” He gestured to himself, “Me, of course.” He eyed Mitch from the side of his eye, seeing his nostrils flare.

“Well, I’d flip Mitch. That one’s pretty easy.” Everybody’s eyes shot toward Mitch, who hoped that the way he suddenly went to scratch his nose wasn’t a blatantly obvious attempt of hiding his flustered face.

“Easy, you say?” Louis said, wiggling his brows with a grin.

You crossed your arms tightly against your chest, “Well yeah.” You scoffed, “He’s the prettiest, I like him the most.“ You paused, “I don’t know a guy as great as him.” Your voice trailed off, your eyes catching Mitch’s, whose face tinted red. You gulped, immediately looking away. Aasim exhaled a laugh from where he sat, which was closest to Mitch.

Violet giggled, “Wow, and Mitch is just the flip option? Whoever you chose to marry must be pretty great.” Violet quipped.

You dismissively waved your hand, shrugging, “I don’t care about marriage. It’s a throwaway answer ‘cause I can just get a divorce.” You finally smiled, trying to hide your embarrassment, “That’s why I’m giving it to Louis.”

Louis’ hand clutches at his shirt, taking a theatric, pained gasp, “Ouch…” he groaned.

Aasim hummed, tracing the spade shapes on his card with his fingernail, “Then I guess you’re killing me then.”

“I guess so.” You answered, aloof “No hard feelings.”

“So, you killed Aasim, divorced Louis and… Flipped Mitch? Because he’s pretty, and he’s amazing and you really, really like him?” Violet recounted with a grin. Her voice raised in pitch as she got further into the sentence, mocking you.

“Oh, shut up.” You kicked at her with your leg, only making a giggle bubble from her throat, You scoffed, feeling your ears burn bright, “Fucking setting me up…” You scowled, Louis smugly looking back at you,

“That was all you.” He said.

“I’m already choosing a new card.” You sang.

Again, everybody silently turned over their card. Violet held up hers. A seven of clubs. She curiously looked around, noticing that everybody seemed to have a card no higher than a five except for her.

“Anybody got lower than a two…?” Mitch sighed, holding his two of spades up to show the rest of the group.

“There isn’t a card lower than a two,” Aasim stated, to which Mitch cussed quietly.

Mitch held his hard up again to Aasim, “But what about one?“ He corrected himself, “An ace?”

“We’re playing by poker’s rules, Mitchel.” Louis called from across the fire. Mitch mumbled a small ‘that’s bullshit’ under his breath, carelessly shoving his card at the bottom of the deck.

“Okay, Mitch.” Violet began, “truth or dare?”

“Dare,” Mitch said, a confident smile stretching across his lips.

Louis flashed his teeth in Mitch’s direction, nudging Violet with his elbow “Considering we just found out how eager a certain someone is to ‘flip’ you, this could go in many directions.” You and Mitch went tense, Aasim’s gaze going back and forth between you like a tennis ball, a curious grin resting on his face. Your eyes danced around each other, trying not to look at one another in the eye, but still wanting to know what the other was thinking.

Violet groaned, “But it’s not going to.” She said harshly with a warning glare that made Louis lift his arms defensively. You and Mitch both relaxed, both bursting into a vibrant red. Violet noticed your reactions, smirk painting her face, “It’s just going to be pretty close.”

You slumped in your chair, chewing the inside of your cheek. Mitch held his breath, sitting tensely.

Violet wore a lopsided beam, “It’ll just be seven minutes in heaven, but instead it’ll be seven minutes in the school’s basement.”

“Oh, that’s fucked!” You exclaimed. “Do we at least get a flashlight?”

“Nope!” Violet said, “Just don’t go too far in and you should be fine.”

You and Mitch looked at each other briefly, swallowing nervously as you both rose to your feet, hearing Louis whistle from behind you. Violet followed you two to the basement. You knocked into her with your shoulder as you went down, huffing a sigh in agitation.

You lifted your hand to present Violet with your middle finger, but she just slammed the door shut, the sound making both you and Mitch flinch. You heard her chuckle as she locked the door, her heavy boots making their way back to the campfire.

“This is stupid.” You grumbled, sat at the bottom of the stairs with your arms crossed.

Mitch chuckled at your comment, “It’s been a while since I’ve been down here.” He said, only a step or two above you. You two fell into silence. You heard the echo of Mitch scratching the back of his neck, clicking his tongue to block out the quiet.

Amid the awkward silence, you turned to face him, looking up at Mitch from where you sat, “Uh, sorry about what I said up there. Now we’re down here and… I made it weird.” You trailed off, face going scarlet. Mitch laughed, elbows on his knees as he edged himself downward toward you,

“Are you kidding?” He said, grinning, “I’ve been waiting forever to hear that.” You could see the moon hit his eyes from the slight crack in the basement door, shining brightly.

Your face lingered on his freckled features, “All I did was call you pretty…” You chuckled shyly, biting your lip and looking back at the dark abyss of the basement.

“You said more a lot more, but just that would’ve been good enough for me.” He shrugged. His smug smile faded, his scraped hand going to rub at his collar bone, “But, uh, seriously… What you said there… I’m just going to go ahead and ask…”

Mitch sucked in a breath, “Do you… Like me?”

You let out a dry laugh, brushing a stray hair out of your face, “What gave it away?”

“What didn’t?” The brunette chuckled, “But, uh, I’m glad to hear that… That stupid stunt Louis pulled was because he knew I was into you… It scared me shitless.” Mitch sighed, relieved, “I was freaking out that you’d kill me.”

“I would’ve tried to be more subtle.” You fiddled around with the cuff of your jeans, trying to distract yourself from the large grin you were attempting to bite back, “But then we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“True that.” Mitch said, taking in his surroundings once more. He glanced up at the small crack, clearing his throat with a flustered face, “So, uh, how many minutes do you think we’ve got left?”

You smirked, positioning yourself so you were propped up on Mitch’s knee, looking up at him from your low position, “Not enough to do more than just kissing.”

“I wasn’t…” Mitch blushed, seeing your teasing glance in the darkness, “Shut up.” He said, bashfully eyeing you as you got up and leaned over him, one hand on his knee and the other on the step.

“Let’s get this over with.” You said, laughing into his parted lips.

“Y-Yeah…” He stuttered out, snaking his hand around your waist and pulling you closer.

#twdg #twdg hc #twdg s4 #twdg x reader #twdg imagine #twdg mitch x reader

101 notes · View notes

mrsmalfoymagic · 3 years

Text

Card Five

I didn’t take long to find its owner. There seemed to be a force between the two of us to always find each other in a crowd. Like gravity pulling me to him.

And as my eyes made their way towards the fireplace, finally catching glimpse of Remus Lupin hunched into the heat, lost in a book as he always was, I began to blush.

I put down my own and tried to delicately approach as to not startle him. He had a reputation for being clumsy, and - whilst holding a novel beside an open fire, I didn’t like his chances.

“Uh, Remus.” I announced quietly. He jerked his head up, face filling with crimson as he acknowledged me.

“Y/n. Hi.”

We’d only ever spent any length of time around each other at the library where we’d reside solitarily during our free periods or stupidly late hours. We were never ones for small talk, so outside of class I don’t believe we’d had a single conversation. In fact, I don’t believe I’d ever even heard him speak.

My face replicated the same blood red as his and I squinted awkwardly, holding up his card to inform him of our fates.

“I picked you.”

“Oh. Alright. I suppose we should go.” His accent was strong and educated, but anxious and timid. He stood, brushing down his robes and poising himself straight, shadowing over me and blocking the cloud of warmth crackling behind him.

His manner was polite as he assisted me through our classmates towards the cupboard. I had expected nothing less than chivalry of him. We were library partners, but never confirmed it through spoken – or even written word. The only exchanges placed were little smiles from above our pages, stealing glances between our world-escaping plights. Like perfectly placed bindings in time. Baring ourselves at our peak vulnerabilities to share in each other’s entertainment.

Despite the immensity of its size, we’d somehow know to not stray too far apart in the library; subconsciously finding our settlements a few tables apart, but always managing to achieve a perfect opposing line of vision; allowing the ability to master responses to new books or topics by the speed in which we completed them, the oftenest of locking eyes, or - in Remus’ case - if he’d fall asleep against the spreadeagle spine; something he seemed to do a lot.

No, I didn’t know him, admittedly, but from these - our shared moments, I had come to recognise enough of his behaviours to learn he was wise above his age, caring and loyal beyond measure.

Yet somewhere, I sensed a fragility. Like a goose-feathered pillow hiding deeply an explosion that didn’t have a specific means of detonation.

He lit up the room as we entered. The door which Sirius and James were ardently protecting locked behind us and my cheeks burnt with nervousness. This wasn’t my usual idea of fun, but keeping myself under the radar with my classmates, I consenting to participating. And who better to face the music with than Remus Lupin. Without even knowing the remainder of cards still yet to be drawn, he was the best of all outcomes. I’d already made my silent connections with him. He’d become a peaceful existence in my life. But I wasn’t used to these interactions and felt lost in the realisation of this game’s objectives.

So as much as my inexperienced-self wished, there was no cowering behind books in here.

“Hello.” He grinned, again barely uttering. His cheeks expanded broadly through his expression and I couldn’t help but giggle. He was a charming discovery, to say the least. And despite my trembling fingers clasping behind my back, I felt safe.

“Any closer to finishing that book?” He took a step towards me, “I couldn’t help but notice it was a hardship.”

“Not at all. It’s my Astronomy class. Ironically, I feel I’m learning less the more I read about it.”

Another step closer.

“Perhaps I could help. What part are you studying?”

“Selenography. The moon.”

His smile widened and he was now upon me; directly in my space; his brogues hitting the tips of my own. There was a new glint in his heavy, restful eyes. No doubt his lack of sleep was from staying up all night reading new books.

“I know a thing or two.” His voice was gentle, almost seductive.

What I couldn’t help but note was his odour – crisp pages and the incense of ink. He had ash residue on his robes from the spitting logs, and I could still smell the fire against him. It was addictive and was guaranteed the blame to my momentary out of character response.

“You’re still talking about my class, right?”

I couldn’t believe it - it just came out. I shocked myself realising I was flirting.

He reacted coolly but tilted his head with a squint of curiosity.

“No, I don’t believe I am.” His expression suddenly shared the same self-intrigue as mine. We were both flirting.

Taken aback by his own response, he tried a subtle retreat, but began to stumble over his robes; hobbling backwards to catch himself until eventually, with a small grunt, landed harshly against the door with a shocking bang.

He was intelligent and adorable beyond compare, but heavens, was he uncoordinated.

“Damn it.” He cursed, gripping on the doorframe to support himself upright.

“You two alright in there?” Sirius yelled out on the adjacent side of the door with a few determined knocks.

“Yes.” Remus replied loudly in an irritated mortification and lowered his face into his palms.

I watched him for a moment, a glint of pity against the reassuring smile I had pinned to my lips in case he looked up. Until suddenly, and unexpectedly, I started to laugh.

It was provoked by shyness and pure embarrassment, I was sure - feeling the knot cripple me into submission and before I knew it, I was wiping the tears out of my eyes and steadying myself against the stone wall.

“Sorry.” I breathed, believing my response was humiliating him further. But, as my hands fell back to my sides, they grazed at the form of Remus, who had now approached me again.

I looked up to find his manner bothered. His eyes blinked harshly as he considered himself.

“May I?” he asked, lifting his hand, and holding it upright towards my cheek. I nodded, keeping my eyes firmly on his fluttering ones.

Using the stub of his index finger, he carefully tucked the falling wave of hair behind my ear. Exhaling in relief, a new smile formed upon his full lips, like he had just performed a task of great difficulty.

“I can’t do justice to the full expression,” He muttered kindly whilst still admiring the tiny details of my facial outline, “But you have an entrancing effect on me.”

His fingers were now lacing around the curls against my shoulder, inspecting the silky texture.

“You aren’t to understand. I would never expect you to.”

After half a minute of combing at my hair and being lost in reverie, he gulped away a forming sorrow before lowering his head on his shoulders.

”I wish it were as simple as telling you.”

I pinched at his chin and lifted his face to find mine once again, showcasing the similar smile I had previously.

“Then show me.” I said softly.

In any other setting I would be out of place with these interactions, but with Remus, it all felt natural.

He considered my words for a moment and the seriousness of my focus against his almond eyes, before finding my hand.

“Are you ready for your first Astronomy lesson?” his lip ticked to a short smile.

I nodded innocently and allowed Remus to direct me out of the closet and begin heading towards the Astronomy tower.

We walked in silence, making sure to hide in the shadows of the halls and columns whenever we suspected a prefect or professor was heading our way, before at long last we made it to the highest point of the castle. The Astronomy tower was webbed with rails and structures, architectural beams lined the extent of the room. A brass sundial pointed outwards towards the cloudless evening. Golden and intricately detailed telescopes were poised at all four corners of the open bays.

Other than the basic tools to marvel at the heavens, there was little as far as interior to the tower – its masterpiece of course being the view it held - displaying full range of vision to every area of Hogwarts including as distant as elements of the Forbidden Forest.

Staying adamantly in the darkness of the room, Remus issued me towards the centre directly in front of the magnificent global display, illuminated by the full moon now baring down from the midnight hour and in through the widest, banistered opening which welcomed a deadly, multi-story drop.

“Lesson one.” He started, wandering in the pitch blackness. His voice rippled through the tower, “The moon is separated into three parts. The light, dark… and grey.” He hesitated.

“I’ve been studying the light side. You know, the part we can see through a telescope.” I informed naively.

“Right. And the dark is not all that important. The grey area, however, is what I want to talk about.”

“I’ve never heard of it.”

“For good reason.” I lost him in the night, but could sense the trouble in his tone, “So before I tell you, are you absolutely sure you want to know?”

I shuffled in my spot, a sense of discomfort overcoming me but nodded; knowing that – despite not seeing him – he had firm eyes on me.

“Then rest assured, whatever the outcome, I won’t hurt you.”

The suddenness of the claim trickled unease against my spine. What was I doing here? What was Remus going to do?

That feeling of safety never seemed to slip away but I knew with any ounce of logic, I should never have followed him here. And, as a group of footsteps and voice came from the entrance, these newcomers felt the same too.

“What are you doing? Have you gone barmy?” Sirius Black yelled out as he fully emerged into the room, tailed closely by the two final Marauders, James Potter and Peter Pettigrew. They’d clearly chased us here from the party, knowing the suspicious activities Remus was due to perform.

“Moony, don’t be stupid.” James insulted with a knowing attitude. It was as if they all had a sense of understanding of the situation. All except me.

I could hear the shuffle of feet ahead of me in the closest area of shade and knew Remus was before me.

“Wait. I just want to try. Trust me.” His arms appeared from the distance and held out in a terrible attempt of reassurance, but he was unconvinced himself.

“In the castle? In front of her?” Sirius directed his attention to where I was stood, a wave of worry across his brow.

“You know what will happen if you take that step.” Peter reminded - his eyes focused on the blinding of the full moon upon the rest of us. I followed his sights, still trying to piece together this encounter.

“I’ll handle it. I’m ready.”

Remus took a single step closer making way towards the lit-up ground. James, unannounced, lifted his wand and licked his top lip anxiously.

“You know I don’t want to hurt you.” He recoiled, his wand ready and pointed, and face contorted in anguish.

“You won’t have to. I promise. Y/n…” he found my hard and intense eyes. I could feel it.

“Remus, what’s going on?” I pleaded; my tremoring hands now unable to settle.

“Y/n, get behind me.” Sirius stood forward, reaching over for my hand, “Now.”

I didn’t take it.

“Let’s all just calm down, alright.” Remus was more impatient, “I think I know what prevents it. I can stop this.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Please, y/n.” James warned, his hand tightened on the wand still firmly fixed on his friend.

“Before you.” Remus resumed, “Before I ever met you, I was dangerous.”

The sound of another shuffle.

“Lupin – “ Sirius cautioned lowly, now standing in front of me to shield me.

“- Let me finish.” His voice was irritable now, feeling the hostility of the room become dense in his breath, “I was terrified of myself. The darkness inside was overwhelming. I began to go the library to distract myself. I thought it a good place to escape. It was safe, away from prying eyes. Away from who I really am; a monster.“

“- Are you sure you want her to know?” Peter questioned. Remus ignored him. And so did I.

“You’re not a monster, Remus. I at least know that about you.”

My voice was begging, filled with panic and honesty. I heard a half-hearted sigh.

“When I saw you, everything changed. I finally felt at ease.”

He took a slow step towards the light and we could at last see him. His eyes were low and his expression solemn. The boys stirred.

“And over time I slowly realised it had nothing to do with where I was at all. I’d found comfort in where you were. So -”

As he was about to take the last move into the direct beam of the moon, Sirius jerked forward.

“Really think about this, Remus. What this will do.”

Remus pursed his lips together defiantly and took a brave inhale through his nostrils, before moving aside, burning himself in the glow.

The boys all flinched and reacted in alarm. For a moment they seemed reassured as nothing happened. Remus’ eyes remained closed and face deep in concentration.

We all stared onwards, my breath heavy and out of sync.

Then out of nowhere, Remus’ body began to seize, an agony crippling him in half. He began to cry out in pain, his voice becoming hoarse from the scream.

Sirius’ stance against me widened as he paced forward, and with a confirming nod to James, began to hunch himself over. I was frozen in disorientation; completely useless to help him because I had no clue what was causing any of this. James had not fired any spells; Sirius had not flung himself at him yet. There was no logical explanation for his reaction - his turmoil. Or even theirs.

“Remus, I’ll have to change.” Sirius looked over his brow at him, bracing himself.

“No!” Remus desperately reached his arm out, preventing him. He fell to his knees, soaring in twitching intensity.

“Y/n, you really ought to go.” Peter said with a quiver in his voice as he approached me.

“She stays.” Remus wheezed, “She needs to know.”

And suddenly I did. Like a jolt of lightening to my system. Him saying that - I knew. I finally knew.

The library. The restless sleep. The grey part of the moon. Somewhere in my subconscious I had read it during my studies. This was it - his detonation.

Remus Lupin was a werewolf.

“Remus, this is ridiculous. James!” Sirius looked to the wand, but before James could do anything, I had bypassed the chaos and, fuelled by unprecedented compassion, made way towards Remus.

Kneeling before him, I rested my hand against the trembling, vein-popping one gripping at the cold floor. Sirius aimed for us, but Peter held his robe and pulled him back, suspecting my intentions.

“Remus, you don’t have to prove this to me. This isn’t who you are.”

He was looking down, begging for release from the boiling against his skin.

“I can control it, I swear. I just –“

He was letting go, being defeated by the pain of his harsh reality - his disbelief that he was anything other than a violent beast. He thought bringing me would make him see that it wasn’t true - that he could command it. But now, with the magnitude of celestial torment against his back, the strength of his curse running through him as thick as his poisoned blood, he couldn’t stop it. It was overbearing the test he so desperately wished to pass. He wanted to stand in front of the moon, and for once, be human.

And I understood it now. It all made sense, it always had – our ties together, our purposes for being so close without uttering a single word, being calming presences for each other. Why we were so drawn to one another. The control, the distraction. He couldn’t master it himself.

Maybe all of this was never his choice to make.

Maybe it was mine.

Under my palm, I could sense the stubble of hair bursting from his pores and nails expanding to ferocious claws.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I can’t - you have to go.” He admitted in surrender. I felt the air thicken behind me as the three friends prepared for a battle once this would inevitably get ugly.

I shook my head and grabbed his in my hands, allowing the risk of his free forming claw to attack at any given moment. But I trusted him. As he said, he wouldn’t hurt me. And I knew it.

I stole his eyes, begging into them to see me. His were squinted in terror, budding with tears. His lips trembled in fear and sincerity.

“I’m not going anywhere. And neither are you.”

My throat pulsed with adrenaline filled oxygen and just like that, my lips crashed onto his. It was painful and severe and with purpose. His skin was white hot, but it was fragile all the same, filled with desire and need, and a magnificent vulnerability.

I could feel the twitching against his mouth, the irregular beat of his heart as my arms found their way around his shoulders and to his back to comfort him in an embrace.

Suddenly, his own cupped around me and stole me into his whimpered stature. I gasped, and clenched my eyes shut – for a moment I had thought he had fully transformed and was initiating an attack. But I began to feel warm, gentle hands, with gracious tips and no sharp talons.

He was softening in the hug, returning to his own senses. His skin was cooled and still, his bones stopped vibrating, and the boy I had so deeply considered, so earnestly cared for was back.

“How in the fu-“ James mouthed, slumping his arms to his sides, and dropping his wand. Sirius looked over to him, finally able to let out a bewildered breath that had left him since the beginning of this confrontation. Peter stared on with a cheery, relieving laugh.

Remus refused to let me go, and I could feel his content as he wrapped me up in his body. I began to smile through his kiss pressed safely against my own. He pulled away, watching me with admiration.

We both stood, Remus still encasing me in his cuddle, and as we both finally found steadiness from the sting of the concrete floor, he noted the moon still highlighted across my face.

Swallowing in anticipation, I awaited his response.

“I knew it.” He exhaled brokenly, still sore and shaking his head subtly in disbelief as he stared intently at me.

“Not clumsy.” I giggled tenderly, brushing the flustered strands of hair away from his clammy temple, “Just a little reckless.”

He pecked at my forehead before lowering his to mine, “Thank you.”

“Uh, hello?!”

We both stared back at the friends now inspecting the pair of us in befuddlement.

“I told you to trust me.” Remus squinted from the unaccustomed brightness and teased a smirk.

With murmured cursives, they all approached, playfully retrieved Remus, and tackled him under the hue of the full moon, completely free of the fear that had devastated the entirety of their friendship. At last, but not knowing how long or how guaranteed the freedom, they weren’t looking to the night sky to determine their friend’s fate. Or even their own. The conversation could wait, for now they wanted to savour it, and by the looks on all their faces, they certainly were.

After the ruckus, Remus took my hand and aided me back to the room of requirement where the party had died down, and students were dispersing to their dorms.

“I can finally have a night off from your wolfy shenanigans.” Sirius joked as they all gave quick exchanges of farewells; James tapped me on the back gratefully while Sirius winked his thanks. Peter ruffled up Remus’ hair before the three of them headed back to their own rooms with new skips in their steps.

As I swivelled to face him, ready to declare my own goodnight after quite possibly the best, craziest and most mentally exhausting night of my life so far, Remus had made way towards the other end of the small area that we had spent the larger portion of our evening; back at the grand fireplace to retrieve the book that had been awaiting his return. The flames were still high, and the room dimly-lit. He glanced over at me with a look of pure welcome.

The reality was, I didn’t want to go to my dorm. Not one bit. I was finally able to be alone with Remus tonight, for its majority had been plagued with self-loathing and misunderstanding. Now, stood against the heat of the room with a look of unimaginable adoration, I couldn’t resist enjoying his company longer.

I came to, inviting myself into his space and ran one hand up against the chest of almost tattered robes while the other caressed against the top of his fingers clutching his book.

He raised his brow with a cheeky expression.

“No more funny business. How about you just… read to me.”

He stole a light approving kiss and ushered me to sit beside him on the large sofa. Wriggling my way below the arm he now had raised for me to rest under, he skimmed the pages and creased spine to find his place in his story.

He gave me one last check, beaming with appreciation, and comforted himself into my embrace.

“The day had finally arrived. After four years in the waiting, the infamous Robert Grimshaw would return home. Whenever the appropriate occasions called, the locals would greed themselves on talk of him - his woeful story, and his inevitable demise. Whispers were regularly made of his return, often retold, and largely falsified…“

I settled in, feeling my heavy eyes lower into a soft slumber against Remus’ low beating heart.

It was turning to be a quiet night and at long last for Remus…

Peaceful.

358 notes · View notes

redstainedsocks · 3 years

Text

The Vow

Pirate AU, part two! I don't have any more written than this, and I don't have a whole lot of plot planned for it, I'll just come back periodically and have fun in this fantasy version of the setting. Open to requests/suggestions if there's something you want to see let me know!

Notes: Decker's name changed to Ecker for the AU because I couldn't write about ship decks and have a main character called Decker... I just couldn't... xD

Content: aftermath of whump, death threats, angst, emotional whump, captive whumpee, failed rescue

[Part one] [Main Series]

Archer’s breath was thick in his lungs. Words stuck in his throat. The world spun and then stopped only to start spinning again as he tried to comprehend what was happening around him. The same way it had a week ago.

He never wanted to be one to put his crew in danger, but the contract to salvage certain things from a wreckage of one of the King’s vessels paid well, so he’d taken the job. It should have been easy and simple. The wreck was washed up on some rocks and mostly intact but incapable of getting back out to sea. They were to retrieve the goods and the captain's logs and some important scrolls and deliver them back to home shores. Tidy, straightforward. He knew the risk of pirating was high on a washed up vessel but he had a fast, manoeuvrable ship and good men, it was as likely to be them who braved the rocky seas first as anyone else.

But... Ecker. In a sleek schooner, with his evil, rank men. Ecker had got there first and hell had broken loose. Archer’s ship was better equipped for it, more cannons, more trained men, it wouldn’t have been long before they could subdue and overcome, and he had just hoped there wouldn’t be too great a loss of life.

In the midst of the firefight, between cannon shots and gunpowder smoke, and frantic sailing, a man had been dragged onto Ecker’s deck. A man blindfolded, in a loose shirt, hands bound, and too far away to see properly.

“Hold fire!” Ecker had shouted across the space. “Hold fire or I will spill his guts across the deck!”

Archer dismissed it, at first, because he couldn’t back down or lose ground just for some poor sod caught prisoner on Ecker’s vessel. Only then Jordan had handed across a looking glass, as drained of colour as the sun-bleached sail above their heads. It had taken one look through the glass to recognise the man. He would know that face--even half obscured--anywhere.

Zach—back from the dead. Zach, not lost at sea as they’d thought, but taken captive and held without word for two long years. All while Archer sailed on without him, without even knowing he left Zach behind.

So the world stopped and he called a ceasefire even as his head spun, and walked onto a sandbank with Ecker to negotiate the freedom of the friend who he’d lost two years previously.

“He was lost, lost at sea.”

“Seems like he was very much found, to me,” Ecker had said, gloating, drinking in Archer’s distress.

“Why wait this long, why not reveal your hand before now?”

“I knew a day would come where he would be a useful bargaining chip. Why present that on a platter when I held all the cards? Now I have leverage, and a way to get my ship out of your sights.”

“Fine, leave him behind, and I’ll let you sail away. Unscathed. You have my word,” Archer had tried to say it without sounding like he was pleading.

“Oh I don’t want your word, young Captain, I want your gold.”

“And then you give us Zach? Unharmed?”

“I can’t say unharmed, it has been a long two years for the poor lad. But yes, you pay, and he stays alive, and I’ll throw in the important bounty from that there wreck for good measure, if you like. You’ll meet us at my chosen location as soon as you have the ransom… but if any of ye so much as look at my ship wrong as I take my leave he’ll be dead before you can say ‘Davy Jones’. Locker”

He’d told his men to hold steady while Ecker sailed off into the distance, and did all he could to gather the damn ransom Ecker had demanded, and in return he was supposed to get Zach’s life as well as the logs and scrolls Ecker had pilfered from the wrecked ship. Ecker would go free, but he’d have his friend, he’d get Zach back.

So why was he now walking out of the Keep empty handed?

Zach had been—god, dragged away, without a care for his well being—and he’d rounded on Ecker with a snarl.

“What do you even want with him?”

“That’s my business, and if you want to keep your heads you’ll ask no more questions.”

“Tell me what can I do to persuade you? What will it cost? My life? You can take mine!”

“I want nothing you have to offer, and the look on your face is all the satisfaction I need. Now get out, before we throw you out… in pieces.”

Ecker’s threat had been real, he didn’t have to second guess that, so he took the chance to keep their heads. Their blades and guns and ammunition were dropped unceremoniously from the parapet above the gate after it slammed closed. Slammed and barred him from rescuing the one person he had sworn not to let down another time.

Turning his back on the Keep was the hardest thing he had ever done, it was surreal to place one foot in front of the other and walk away. And yet he was doing it. The sea was before him across the span of the small island, and his two most trusted crew were at his back.

So he walked, head swimming, just trying to keep them all alive. Treading the waters of his mind and trying to find some solution, a way out of this, even as it felt like drowning. His heart clenched as he cast one last look behind him at the Keep, half expecting to see a flash of dark hair at a window, a hand reaching for him. He wasn’t sure if it was better or worse that he didn’t. He didn’t know if he imagined the scream ringing in his ears or if it was real.

“Archer, we can’t.”

Jordan’s voice was easy to tune out. He needed space to think. It was harrowing to consider leaving like this but he had nothing to hold over Ecker. “Nothing you have to offer.”

So maybe there was something, if he could just find it.

“Didn’t you see him, what they’re doing to him?”

Archer shuddered, pausing briefly before he kept walking through the scrubland. He’d seen. Zach’s bruised body, chafed and scarred wrists, how thin he was. More than that it was his eyes that told more than Archer could bear. They were haunted, hurting, desperate and then filled with hope that was snatched away so cruelly, so instantly.

“What if he doesn’t survive much longer?”

“Jordan,” Sasha snapped.

Archer held his head higher, it wouldn’t do to have Ecker’s men see him breakdown at the threshold of their own defences. He had to be stronger, prove he was better, not show how rattled he was. And Ecker had to have a weakness, something they could exploit. He wasn’t a god or a lord, he wasn’t even a good sailor, he just had enough people around him to make sure he couldn’t fail. If he could just get him alone, five minutes alone and he could best the man. But like this…

“Are you listening to me?” Jordan grabbed his arm and swung him around.

“No I'm not fucking listening to your petty whining! I'm thinking about how the hell we're going to get him out of there!” Archer said it in one breath and wrenched his arm loose. He buckled on his sword belt and stared above Jordan’s head, unwilling to meet his eyes..

“We can't do it here, not in this fortress, not so outnumbered,” Sasha said quietly from his right.

“No, we can’t,” he agreed.

“What’s the plan, Captain?” she replied.

“I don’t know yet, I have to think…”

“Archer, we can’t leave him here,” Jordan said and Archer finally made himself look at Jordan’s face, saw the pain there, and let that pain sink into him too. He’d carry all of their hurt, shoulder every burden.

“And if we get ourselves killed today, trying the impossible, who will come for him then?” he asked quietly.

Jordan paused, licked his lips, and dragged his eyes back to the Keep with a barely perceivable nod. “I understand, but to see him like that…. There are hurts there that even I may not be able to heal.”

“I know. It pains me too. And we will not leave him to rot with them, we only have to be smart about it. We wait, and we make a plan, and then we bring him home.”

He didn’t wait for a reply but turned and walked on, to the small beach where their row boat had been dragged high upon the sand. With practiced ease he hauled it back out into the water and tried to not to feel like a failure. It was only halfway back to the ship, with the spray stinging his eyes, did he finally let a few stray tears fall--when he could pretend it was just the splash of the waves on his face. He’d have to be strong again once they reached the ship, when he had to be Captain again and not just a man.

He wouldn’t look back. This was not the end of it. He vowed it with one hand on the pommel of his sword and the other on his heart.

I will save you, I will come back for you, this I swear.

[Taglist, let me know if you want to be added or removed from either the AU or the regular list! @haro-whumps @whumpthisway @hurting-fictional-people @lonesome--hunter @crowned-avery @extrabitterbrain @firewheeesky @outofangband @0idril0]

#pirate au #Zach and Archer #failed rescue #captive whumpee #held for ransom #death threats #death mention #angst #emotional whump #aftermath of whump #abandonment #caretaker and whumper #team whump #team dynamics

33 notes · View notes

chronicasexual · 3 years

Note

If you wouldn't mind bestie, I'm gonna need that essay on the tdm movie.

inhales

ok here we go

Firstly, the interactions between Ruby and Liam felt so awkward and forced, which was nothing like their very natural bond in the books. It fell into the same problem of many dystopian and/or ya stories which try to force two characters together simply because they exist near each other's vicinity. I still feel mortified watching the scene in the movie where Liam said "iS tHaT wHy yOu dIdn'T wAnT tO kIsS mE." No hate to the actors, it's obvious they weren't given much to work with. Because of this, we never got to see those intimate moments between them felt so raw and comforting. The little things like Ruby instinctively reaching out to touch Liam's face and trying to pull away because she's anxious about her powers, but Liam keeps the hand there and says "Nope, mine now." Or the time she tells him that the space between them is a no-lie area (I can't remember the exact quote but you get the gist). The movie tries to fit their entire love story into an hour and a half and fails to do it effectively, to the point that I can't even understand how they fell in love at all. Oh and bonus cringe moment the scene at East River when everyone's dancing and they compare it to Hogwarts (bestie in what world????? if anything it's similar to camp half-blood) and they call each other Ginny and Harry or something like that before realising that the two end up together felt so unnecessary???? It made them so much more awkward than it needed to be and was obviously set up to make them feel embarrassed but also interested in each other.

Complaint two. Literally, what was the reason for making Chubs a Green? Is it not possible to be smart without a power to make you so? Chubs isn't smart because his ability made him that way, he's just smart because he is and even though he doesn't really admit it because it sounds unrealistic in their situation, he craves a further education. His powers never influenced him as a character, and he only used them two or three times overall. If anything it just played into the stereotype of the kid with glasses being the nerdy character who was also used as comic relief. (also maybe a slight loophole but if Chubs had been a Green wouldn't he had worked out EDO a lot quicker than Ruby did, because there's literally no reason for him not to have done so).

Mini rant but why did the movie make Ruby go back to her parents when she very clearly knew by now that she had erased herself from their memories. She knew they wouldn't recognise her. She had literally no reason to return and basically a waste of like five or ten minutes in the movie. And that small toy?? Maybe it's just me, but I don't get why it was so significant? Was it some sort of advertisement? idk

Also the eyes. The stupid glowing eye thing. Nowhere in the books did it mention them having LED eyes and NO ONE in the movies even brings up the fact that they have glowing eyes when they use their abilities. It's an unnecessary detail. Woudn't you think it would be super easy for PSFs to discover if someone was secretly an Orange hiding as a different colour at Thurmond if they just saw their eyes go orange when they activated and just shoot them🤡. Anyway, not to throw shade but instead of wasting the budget on making their eyes glow they could have actually given Sam a tiny bit more story instead of nothing, or including the bit about Jack and the letter, just saying :)

One final point probably because if I don't stop now I'll be here for ages and it's late but maybe I'll rant some more tomorrow. The movie removed so many compelling plot points that made the story what it is and removed details that were important to explanations. Movie Cate's explanation of "No kids, no economy." isn't accurate because in the book we find out a bunch of other things that happened whilst Ruby was at Thurmond that have led to the collapse of the economy. Sam? Removed. Martin? Removed. Jack? Removed. Ruby's mini argument over almost reading Jack's letter with Liam before having a deep conversation with him? Removed. Alongside a lot of other important thing. The movie feels so empty? It doesn't have much storyline to it, I get that the book was long but they removed so many things that it's an empty shell of what it could have been. The movie is kinda bland ngl. (apologies to anyone who may have enjoyed the movie. although if you did you probably never read the books)

One final final point because I just thought of it on the spot. Chubs saying "I knew you were Orange" very smugly makes no sense. Like. No. You. Didn't? She literally didn't show any signs of being an Orange to them and just existed. I know Greens are smart but he had nothing to infer that from. Actually maybe the glowing eyes gave it away my bad 🤡🤡🤡

#as you can tell im a little pissed #thanks for coming to my ted talk

12 notes · View notes

delaber · 3 years

Text

Just Friends (Part 3)

Story Summary: After moving to America for a 3-month long internship, you meet two interesting characters on a boring night out.

Word Count: 2.2K

Pairing: Rafael Casal x Reader

Warnings: Alcohol, minor drug use, smut, slight dom!Rafa, swearing, and loads of British references (sorry not sorry lol).

Chapter Note: let me know what you think

Tag List: lonelydance mysearchforgratification

Other Parts: See Masterlist

FIVE WEEKS LATER

With the amount of work you had had in the lab in December, five weeks passed by easily, and before you could truly process what had become of time, you had spent your first Christmas ever away from England.

Still, even though five weeks had passed by, you caught yourself thinking about this guy, this Rafa, annoyingly often.

You couldn't believe that you had fallen for (what you assumed were) his regular normie cad tricks: He had talked you up, walked you home, made you feel special, and then he hadn't given you any sign of life since then - and now the complete lack of contact was driving you insane! You knew that he was only interested in the shag, and so were you to be honest, but it still annoyed you immensely that the mere thought of him roughing you up had taken over most of your thoughts.

As if Rafa was a professional womaniser, it had only taken him a couple of hours and an obnoxious fuck boy-attitude to etch himself into your brain. And five weeks later, he was still on your mind?! What was going on with you? If you'd only invited him inside to boff back then, he probably wouldn't even have been the least bit interesting here five weeks later.

Thus, irritated with yourself and your flair for the dramatic, you often cursed yourself for having left him on the pavement that night back in November. On the night in question, however, the need to stand up to his spoiled attitude had been stronger than the urge to let him win and shag him senseless - and as a result, you often found yourself fantasising about him when you lay in bed at night. So in a way, he had won anyway.

And you hated it. You hated that he had somehow gotten to you. The way he had acted around you had made you aware that this boy was an avid smooth talker who was probably used to get whatever and whomever he wanted by any means necessary.

And you were having none of it. Forgetting about him was definitely for the best. You needed someone to knock the naughty thoughts of him out of your mind. By any means necessary.

You had never really cared much for New Years Eve, but this year, you found yourself in the right spirit for the first time ever. You had changed into the most form-fitting, festive dress you owned in the hopes of meeting a cute guy with whom you could spend the night. A guy who could knock the last thoughts of Rafa out of your head.

In the mood for an eventful evening, you had showed up for Miranda's all-girls pre-party right on time, tagging your roommate Samantha along with you. The first part of the evening passed by quickly; you had loads of champagne and ate a fancy dinner at Miranda's place surrounded by all of her best friends and some of your colleagues from the Hospital. You had all clinked to the new year as the date shifted to January 1st and you soon found yourself in a taxi on the way to an exclusive party downtown that Miranda's friend had secured you all tickets for. Big, fancy parties like this wasn't normally your scene, but you could make an exception for tonight. It was New Years, after all.

You had arrived at the club, had had a few drinks at your private table, and had even talked to some pretty cute guys, but for some reason they all bored you. At one point you found yourself cornered by a handsome - but particularly boring - gentleman when Samatha finally saved you.

"I just flirted my way to a bottle of champagne!" she squealed as she came running towards you with a magnum flask in hand.

"You did what?" you laughed at your bubbly roomie, the bore of a man by your side already forgotten.

"I just asked a random guy at the bar if he wanted to buy a table of pretty girls a drink - and the patsy did," she laughed, "not in my wildest imagination had I ever expected him actually to do it," she squealed as she twisted off the cork with a loud pop.

"So you just let the poor guy pay for it and then you ran away?" you laughed at her while holding out your glass, waiting for her to fill it.

"I reckon he did it to make me go away - I think he may have found me annoying," Samantha laughed, "He told me to take the bottle back to my friends' table and clink his glass from a distance. Look, it's him over there," she raised her glass to a guy that you recognised immediately; you would've recognised those fluffy black curls anywhere.

Rafa's friend Diggs.

When he noticed you looking at him, he too raised his glass and sent you a warm smile, silently telling you that he definitely recognised you too.

"Hey; I know that guy," you said slowly, "I met him when I'd just moved here."

"You know him?" Samantha stared at you with a sly smile, "Probably why he was so eager for me to bring the champagne back to the table instead of drinking it at the bar with him. How well do you know him if you don't mind my asking?" Samantha wriggled her eyebrows.

"Not like that," you laughed, "I only talked to him for a couple of minutes."

Samantha nudged you with her elbow, "you should go thank him."

"Yeah," you hesitated, turning away from him, "I'm honestly surprised he even recognises me."

"Well, you must've made quite the impression," Samantha was still looking at him from over your shoulder, "Oh shit, he's coming over here right now," she squealed in a whisper.

"Be cool!" you laughed before turning around, suddenly face to face with Diggs.

"Happy new year," he smiled and squinted his eyes slightly, "I think we've met before."

You nodded, reciprocating his wide smile, "we have. You're Rafa's friend," the words escaped your mouth before you could stop them.

He nodded, "...and you're Rafa's girl."

You could feel your cheeks getting warm now, "I've had like an hour long conversation with him. I would hardly refer to myself as his girl," you squinted your eyes at the handsome man in front of you.

He shrugged and laughed, "you know what I mean."

You cleared your throat, "well thanks for the champagne. You really didn't have to."

"I wanted to," he smiled, "I was hoping to catch your attention."

"Why? We've exchanged about ten words..."

"Yeah, but I'm sure Rafa would love to see you again."

"He's here?" your eyes widened. The mere thought of meeting Rafa again tonight was making your heart beat faster. You reminded yourself that you needed to keep your cool. He may be handsome and charming but he was also loud and obnoxious and a sleaze.

"We have a table in the back," Diggs nodded and pointed to an area that was cordoned off with red rope, "you should come with me."

"I don't think so," you managed to say with as much clarity as you could muster. You needed someone to help you get rid of Rafa - not indulge further in him. He was dangerous.

"Aw, come on," Diggs smiled charmingly.

"What makes you think he even wants to see me?" You tried, "as I said; I've had an hour-long conversation with him over a month ago."

"Trust me," he smiled convincingly, "I know my best friend. Are you coming or what?"

You weren't exactly sure whether it was a good idea or not. You were quite sure that if Rafa was acting just half as charming as last time, you'd be throwing yourself at him at the first chance you got and you were scared that his bad boy demeanour might lead to you wanting more even though you were going home in a couple of weeks. ..But then again, you were on the prowl for someone who could knock Rafa out of your head. Maybe actually being with him would be enough to finally close that chapter.

"Oh, she's coming!" Samantha said loudly while giving your back a small shove.

"Great!" Diggs shot you a blinding smile and stretched out his hand for you to take.

"Uhm, okay..." you said, actually glad that Samantha had made a decision for you.

As Diggs pulled you towards him, you looked back at Samantha who was looking at you with huge eyes and moving her lips without any sound, "who's Rafa?" she mouthed.

"I'll tell you later, okay?" you whispered to your friend.

Samantha tilted her head and whispered back, "well, if all of his friends are just as handsome as that guy," she nodded towards Diggs, "you're coming back for me!"

You laughed at her, "of course. I'll see you later," you said before taking Diggs' hand, following him straight through the club's dance floor and towards the closed off area.

When he reached the bouncer, he pulled up his sleeve and showed him a stamp on his wrist. "She's with me," he nodded towards you and the bouncer stepped aside, letting both of you enter the scene behind the red rope.

"Is this some sort of VIP area?" you asked Diggs as you took in the room that had been closed off to the rest of the party. The tables back here looked far more fancy and were lined with much more expensive booze than what had been available where you had been sitting only moments before.

Diggs looked at you with a weird expression, "Uh yeah..."

"It looks very expensive."

"Yeah, well..." he looked a bit uncomfortable, "we - uh - we have a good friend who's a bit over the top with these things, but we just roll with it."

He sounded weird. Almost as if he was lying. You quickly shrugged it off, however, telling yourself that of course he was being honest; it would've been a weird thing to lie about. "Must be a good friend for you to spend this amount of money on his comfort," you mumbled as you watched a girl open up a bottle of ridiculously expensive vodka.

"Yes, well... come on," Diggs said and urged you to follow him.

You scanned the room as you tagged along Diggs, noticing several low-key famous people that you were sure were known for something semi-popular but that you couldn't quite place your finger on. You'd never really been the type to care for fame. Still, you turned to Diggs and asked, "hold up; are you famous or something?"

Diggs sent you a shrug, "...or something," he said mysteriously and pointed to a table in the far back, "our table is over there."

Slowly, you turned your gaze away from him with a feeling that you were definitely missing out on something. You followed the direction that he was pointing in and found a table lined with people. You quickly scanned their faces, eyes landing on Rafa almost immediately.

Just as you had expected, he was laughing obnoxiously loud, his Adam's apple bouncing up and down in his throat in time with his vociforous outbursts of laughter. He was wearing a dark suit and he had his blonde hair slightly slicked back, making him look particularly dark and handsome. It was pure sex.

Okay, you definitely needed to keep your cool.

He was chatting up a very attractive girl who was twirling her black hair between her fingers and smiling suggestively at him. His signature charming smile was in place as he leaned closer to her and whispered something in her ear. Whatever he was saying was definitely working as she kept touching his arm and batting her eyelashes seductively. He seemed to enjoy the attention, scooting closer and closer to the beautiful woman with each passing sentence. The sight of it made your stomach drop slightly.

You contemplated turning around and go back to Samantha before Rafa had had the chance to see you. Clearly, he was busy. You told yourself that you didn't want to be the reason why he was striking out with this girl who he was clearly trying to charm the knickers off - when in reality, you were angry with yourself; It was stupid of you to think that he actually wanted to see you when he hadn't stopped by since that night five weeks ago.

You took a step backwards to go back to Samantha but immediately felt Diggs standing behind you like a concrete wall. His palm came into contact with your back as he gave you a light shove between your shoulder blades, pushing you towards the table. "Hey Rafa!" he called out, "look who I found!"

#rafael casal x reader #rafael casal #daveed diggs #blindspotting #rafael casal imagine #smut #rafael casal fanfiction #bay boys

61 notes · View notes

lochrannn · 3 years

Text

AU-gust: Escaping the Family

Read on AO3

No warnings

prompt no 6: Gaming

Characters: Lila Pitts, Diego Hargreeves, Five Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves, Vanya Hargreeves, Luther Hargreeves, Allison Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves

Relationship: Lila Pitts/Diego Hargreeves

This is by far the weirdest birthday Lila has ever had.

She’s in a new city in a foreign country, she’s in an escape room for the first time in her life, and she’s somehow ended up in a team with six bickering adult siblings and their teenage brother, who were apparently all born on the same day as her.

This, she finds completely unbelievable, though why they would lie, just to make use of the promotional free admission to people born on the first of October is entirely beyond her.

They’re all wearing stickers with Hello, my name is _______ and their handwritten name printed on them, though Lila feels it’s a little superfluous, as everyone except for her already knows each other, and she was also instantly annoyed when the little twerp in the pretentious school uniform wrote ‘Five’ on his name badge and his siblings are apparently indulging him.

Whatever, she’s not here to argue with a teenager. She’s really not too sure why she’s here at all.

Maybe she was feeling a little low and lonely when she passed the building and saw the ad for the birthday special, but now she's not too sure why she thought this was a good place to meet new people.

Currently she’s quickly losing her cool watching these complete strangers make an absolute pig’s ear of things.

The boy, Five, apparently, is sitting at an antique looking bureau trying to fiddle with something and swatting his brother Ben away, whenever he’s trying to help or interfere, she’s not entirely certain which.

The two siblings who look like models or influencers or something like that, Allison and Klaus are in another corner of the room and flicking small marbles up against the ceiling, though Lila is completely in the dark as to why, and going off their constant criticising of each other’s aim, they’re not doing a particularly good job.

The remaining three siblings Vanya, Luther, and Diego are huddled together in yet another corner, arguing over a scrap of paper and the presumed meaning of the words written on it, though it’s mostly devolved into hissed threats of bodily harm between the two bigger brothers and exasperated eye-rolling from Vanya.

Nobody has paid any attention to Lila in a solid fifteen minutes.

She’d take it personally if it weren’t for the fact that the only reason they seem to be interacting with each other is so they can make snide remarks about their lack of success with their respective tasks.

Lila decides that she’s had enough.

“Jesus Christ, you people are by far the most dysfunctional family I’ve ever come across and I should know, my parents were murdered in a botched robbery when I was four!”

By the end of her outburst she is shouting and now a pin could be heard if it were dropped.

The little wanker in the knee high socks is the first to break the silence, “Thought this was an escape room not a therapy session for traumatized orphans.”

“Hey, Five, don’t be mean to the nice crazy lady!” Diego, who she’s admittedly has had a bit of an eye on, jumps in, but right now the last thing Lila needs is some arsehole pretty boy white-knighting her, so she levels him with the deadliest glare she can manage and to her satisfaction he withers a little and doesn’t say anything else.

The rest of them just stare at her with differing levels of disbelief.

“Right!” Lila says with a determination that she’s mostly using to cover up the sudden awkwardness, “this might not have occurred to you, but can I suggest that we work together as a team and maybe try and solve the puzzles together?” She tries to keep the sarcasm in her voice to a minimum.

The siblings give each other slightly confused looks as if working together may be the furthest thing from their minds.

In the end Vanya is the first to break and says, “We’ve got a message here and I’m quite certain that it’s in Greek, though Diego says it’s Latin and Luther says it’s Russian. Does anyone have an idea what to do with this?”

Five gets up in a huff, storms over to unceremoniously take the note out of Vanya’s hand and then mumbles, “This is definitely ancient Greek, nice spot Vanya! Give me a minute, I think I can translate it.”

Ben, who has now finally got a chance to look at what Five was fiddling with at the bureau, calls out to the rest of them, “There’s two overlaying circle plaques here with the letters A to G in lower case and capital letters on them. There’s also some random small b’s and hashtags strewn in.”

“Let me see!” Vanya comes over to Ben excitedly, seemingly having had an idea. “Oh yeah, that’s a circle of fifths. Hold on we just have to turn it like this to get the right parallel modes together -”

There’s a click and one of the draws opens and Ben reaches in and presents a key to the rest of the group.

Lila is a bit surprised herself at how effective her little tantrum seems to have been.

“Ooh! Ooh! Do us next!” Klaus says with a little enthusiastic clap, looking expectantly at Lila, as if she’s done anything beyond merely pointing out that they should work together.

Allison, next to him, gives him a look that is mostly just an eyebrow lift, but Lila doesn’t need to have grown up with siblings to know that this is probably a very frequent expression between the two of them. Then Allison turns to the room at large and starts explaining, “There’s a small hole up there in the ceiling and we’re pretty certain there’s another switch inside it and there were these conveniently placed marbles that look like they just about fit through the hole, but we've missed everytime so far. I don’t know, maybe Five could get on Luther’s shoulders and see if he can reach it that way…” Allison trails off looking up at the ceiling.

“Show me?” Diego says slightly hesitantly, having kept quiet since Lila had put him in his place with a look.

He walks over to his brother and sister, takes one of the marbles from Allison, flicks it up at the ceiling without much hesitation, and hits the ceiling just next to the tiny hole in the wood panelling.

Without a word Klaus hands him another marble and Diego flicks this one up as well, manages to hit the hole and there’s another click from one of the draws in the bureau.

Ben reaches in and pulls out another key with a delighted, “Aha!”

In the end they get out using the two keys on the locks on the door and punching the code that Five deciphered from the Greek message into the additional keypad.

And then Lila suddenly finds herself out on the cold pavement, her quasi teammates a little way off, apparently arguing over where to go for food, though she’s trying strenuously not to eavesdrop, as now, after she was trying to get away from them as fast as possible, she feels a little forlorn.

She’s pulling the edges of her coat more tightly around herself while she’s wondering whether to try and catch a bus or splash out on a taxi for the occasion of her birthday, when Diego separates from his siblings and wanders over to her, hands stuffed into his jacket pockets.

“We’re… uh… we’re going for some food, d’you wanna come with?” he asks uncertainly, pulling a hand out to point a thumb over his shoulder towards his family.

Lila looks around him to where the five grown-ups and the teenager are apparently in the middle of a heated argument, and though a moment ago she felt oddly lonely, the thought of spending the rest of the evening with their constant bickering feels like a little much after all.

It seems Diego recognises the dilemma playing out on her face because he crosses his arms, looks down at his boot where he’s kicking at nothing on the pavement, and mumbles, “Or I could ditch them and you and I go out for a drink?”

Lila would have probably said yes anyway, but the shy smile on his face when he finally looks back up at her is stupidly irresistible.

“Won’t your siblings miss you for your birthday dinner?” Lila asks sincerely, though she hopes he’ll say they won’t.

“Eh, we meet up every first Sunday of the month, so I’ll see them at the weekend anyway,” he offers with a shrug.

“Well, do you know of anywhere where I can get a decent pint around here, then?” Lila asks with a bright smile on her face and a small flutter in her chest.

#au_gust_2021 #fanfic #tua #the umbrella academy #diego hargreeves #lila pitts #dielila #diego x lila #diego/lila #five hargreeves #vanya hargreeves #luther hargreeves #ben hargreeves #allison hargreeves #klaus hargreeves #lochrannn lxd au challenge

13 notes · View notes

ad1thi · 4 years

Note

henlo adi tis i with a request for some stevetony fics,,, angsty if you have 'em 💓

okay so this rec list is mainly classic stevetony fics, but i assure you - there’s angsty ones in there (ive marked the angsty ones with a 😞 so you can identify them quicker) just a general note that a lot of authors are going to repeat, because there are some authors that (imo) are stevetony staples (so if you see an author more than once - thats a sign that ALL of their stevetony is good and ive cherry picked the ones i love the most) (ive also marked those authors with a 🌟)

in the light of limerence: @shell-heads

It's the final game of the season, their biggest one yet, and there's only one question on everybody's mind: who the hell is Captain Steve Rogers' boyfriend, and why does Cap keep dodging questions about him?

"You gotta admit it's suspicious that only Bucky and Sam have met your boyfriend, dude," Clint points out as he shoves Pietro away with a smirk, pulling the uniform over his head and tugging it down. "We've known you, what-two years? We've never seen the guy even once."

"And your phone mysteriously only has pictures of Tony Stark," Johnny Storm adds as he joins the conversation, knocking knees with Thor when he sits down on one of the benches. "Tony Stark, who has at least ten fansites and personally assured me he's had a boyfriend for the past five years."

"I can't believe Cap is actually out here acting like Tony Stark's boyfriend," Luke says with a smirk, resting against a wall without a care.

"I can't believe you guys still think this is a joke," Sam throws back while tossing his other dirty sock at Luke, who dodges it smoothly.

In little more than ten minutes, the biggest question of Shield University is answered with much aplomb by none other than Tony Stark himself.

almeno tu nell'universo: @silkspectred 😞 🌟 (funfact: this is the fic that got me into stevetony)

Tony drives off.

Well, he wants to.

But he can’t.

Because.

Steve Rogers is in front of his car.

Steve fucking Rogers. Is in front of Tony’s fucking car.

Rookie and Jailbait Take On The World: @theapplepielifestyle 🌟

“You really should be in school, you know.”

“Why would I be there when I could be here, solving crimes with my favourite rookie?” Tony flashes a grin, and Steve’s stomach twists like it did on the first day.

Teenager, Steve’s mind supplies. Definitely not legal, stop doing fluttery things, stomach.

Thumb, Index and Pinky Extended: @/Eudoxia 😞

Tony Stark is twenty-one when he loses his voice. It shouldn't matter, but in a world where the first words your Soulmate says to you are marked on your skin, it can be pretty damn annoying.

I (created from fantasies) exist solely for you: @mizzy2k

Six years ago, without the Avengers Initiative there to save the day, scientist Dr. Eric Selvig sacrificed himself to save the world, the almighty demi-god Thor was lost to a terrible storm, and vigilante Iron Man – spotted with a nuclear weapon trying to take advantage of the situation – was forever labelled an enemy of SHIELD.

This is a comic book office AU, where Steve is defrosted a year too late, Thor has forgotten who he is, and no one knows Tony is Iron Man.

Also includes: office pranks, inappropriate post-it notes, and superheroes who like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain.

Celestial Navigation: @sabrecmc

Celestial Navigation: 18 year old Omega!Tony finds himself Bonded to Captain Steve Rogers. He isn't happy about it until he is.

By request, here is CN in one place without other stories and artwork.

Ironsides: @copperbadge 🌟

Antonia Carter Stark takes no shit and no prisoners.

Paved With Good Intentions (I’m On The Road To Hell): @itsallavengers 😞 🌟

When the mysterious group of vigilante assassins known only as 'The Avengers' are tipped off about the dirty secrets that lie within Stark Industries, Steve Rogers has his heart set on taking out Tony Stark for good in order to protect the rest of the world from his evil. He's seen the footage, after all- Stark is a man who fights only for himself. And of course, when a job arises as chief bodyguard for Stark, to protect him from the growing threat of an ominously infatuated stalker, the opportunity is way too good for him to miss out on. It's the perfect placement, and the perfect way to find out whether or not their tipoff is genuine.

But as Steve falls into rank as the new bodyguard for Mr. Stark and he spends time getting to know and protect him, his initial hatred begins to falter and merge into something different, something far more terrifying than the prospect of killing the face of Stark Industries.

Steve Rogers may just be falling in love with him instead.

The Problem With Communication: @itsallavengers

Steve is terrible at flirting, but when he finally picks up the courage to talk to the adorable barista who makes his drinks, he finds himself hitting a small snag:

That being, Tony is deaf. He doesn't know what Steve is saying.

But never say Steve Rogers does not rise to a challenge.

Killing Me Softly (With His Song): @itsallavengers

Steve is Tony's whole world. Tony couldn't imagine life without him. They've grown up together, after all.

Steve gets cancer.

Open Field In Front of Him: orphan account

Steve Rogers's football season is functionally over after a loss to Rutgers, but he finds a distraction in Tony Stark (yes, THAT Tony Stark). A college AU Stony fic.

Good For You: @orbingarrow 😞

Steve doesn't understand why Tony dates people who abuse him. Tony doesn't understand why Steve cares.

The rest is bad choices, good choices, rehab, milkshakes, paintball, YouTube videos, couples therapy and learning to put the past in the past. Or: How Tony finds his happy ending.

COMPLETE 5/27/16 Edited to add art as last chapter on 6/23/16

Wrapped Up In Clover: @festiveferret

It's been seven years since Steve and Tony split up, and Steve's sure he'll never see Tony again. He's finally managed to put their failed relationship behind him and move on, focusing on his friends and building his business. But then his best friends, Bucky and Clint, decide to get married, and their wedding week at a cabin resort in Vermont turns into a minefield of heartbreak for Steve.

little green soldiers: @/nasa 🌟

“Rhodey,” Tony says. “I’m not stupid. He’s shipping out in three months. I’m not going to fall in love with him.”

Tony is a student at MIT; Steve is a soldier. They meet at a house party six months before Steve is set to deploy. This is their story.

flesh and bone: @/nasa 😞

“You or Rogers?” they ask, brandishing a knife or a gun or a flame.

“Me,” Tony says, over and over again. “Me, me, me,” always me.

Buried: @not-close-to-straight

When Howard Stark demands Tony work at a dig site in S.America one summer to "build character" and "learn about life", Tony is furious. But then he meets soldier/archeologist Steve and falls in love with blue eyes and a perfect smile.

Just as they are ready to move forward together, Steve leaves abruptly with no explanation and breaks Tonys heart. Ten years later, Tony stumbles across the file for the old dig site. He's determined to visit and shut it down, but discovers that instead of a village, the dig has uncovered a temple and actually needs MORE money to stay open. A security team is hired to protect the staff and the artefacts they find, and Tony comes face to face with Steve Rogers all over again– except Steve is bearded and BIGGER and way more dangerous than he used to be...And Tony likes it.

When the camp is attacked, Steve jumps into action, snatching Tony and running into the jungle to escape and work their way towards safety. But long days and nights together bring back old feelings, and one day Steve takes a risk and asks Tony to give them another chance. Will Tony say yes? Or is his heart buried too far for the soldier-turned- archaeologist-turned-mercenary to find it?

don’t know why it took me so long to see: @3799steps

“Oh, watch this,” Natasha says, propping her chin against her knuckles and turning a sweet gaze on him. “Tony, what’s it like dating a superhero?”

Tony bristles in irritation. “We’re not dating,” he snaps. “Captain America probably thinks he can get into anyone’s pants just ‘cause he’s got a mask, costume, and reputation, but not me, buddy. That shield? Gotta be overcompensating for something.” He adds, a bit petulantly, “Oh, and all that blue? Definitely more Steve’s color than his.”

- In which Tony is a genius in all matters except recognising his boyfriend past a mask

Heartlines: @nanasekei 🌟

“Let me,” Tony repeats. He regrets it deeply, so much, he wants to stick the words back into his mouth again, and it must show, in the way his voice wavers. He feels exposed, all of a sudden, as if he’s asking something bigger than what he can actually say. Let me touch you, let me take care of you. “Just… Let me do it.“

Feel Whole Again: @thepartyresponsible

Steve turns to leave. It’s easier to talk, somehow, when he’s not looking at him. “If you need anything,” he says, “I’m just a few floors down.”

“Might regret that, Cap,” Tony says to his retreating back. “I’ve been told I’m needy.”

Steve doesn’t know who the hell said that to Tony. It’s probably for the best that he doesn’t.

“It’s an honor,” he says, a little helpless, out of his depth and out of his time. “It’s an honor to be trusted with something like that, Tony.”

Attack Dog: @/salytierra

Steve doesn't swim in self-delusion. He knows that he is sick and that his owner is even worse. He is aware of it every time he rips some nameless guy’s throat out and feels the crunch of bones under his fingers. He is aware of it every time the rush of adrenaline at seeing life slip away from a stranger’s eyes hits him and gets him bothered and panting in ways that have nothing to do with physical exhaustion.

But it feels so good…

His owner’s approach is less personal. His shots fall clean and take out several foes at a time, his figure elegant and so graceful he looks like a god among savages. He is power incarnated, cold and burning like a sun at the same time… and Steve tries not to focus on him when they are fighting together, least his knees go weak and his technique falters. It’s fine though. They will go home afterwards and his owner will fuck him on the hard floor, with most of their gear still on and a vicious grip in his hair.

#adi's rec list #stevetony #superhusbands #steve rogers/tony stark #stevetony staples #OKAY this is like 20 fics long #so im going to make a second post #and the second post will have more #but have these for now :)))#adi answers asks #rhodee

77 notes · View notes

pizzaboat · 3 years

Text

Amity is approached by the weird girl one day at school on big break.

Fluff and daisy chains ensue.

Amity didn't like break times at school. everyone would be forced outside, and expected to run around and do something while all the adults huddled by a corner in the shade, sipping from their flasks and gossiping.

It might have been safer to just do what everyone else was doing but Amity didn't want to do what was expected of her that day.

She ignored her usual group of 'friends', that really just consisted of some kids her parents had deemed suitable for their daughter. And made her way to the trees on the grass, which provided shelter from the unforgiving heat of May, and distance from the screeching of other the other children.

Amity had tried to make it work with them, the kids her parents had picked out for her. She really had. But they weren't nice people, these kids; they made fun of her Azura books and bullied her ex-friend Willow.

They weren't the kinds of people she wanted to hang around.

She had been sitting in the cool, pleasant shade for about five minutes reading her favourite book out of the Azura series, when she heard someone aproach her, and crunching footsteps stop infront of her.

Amity readied herself to be scolded by one of the adults for having a book outside and being on the grass, or for one of her 'friends' to yell at her for ignoring them when thet had called her.

Instead an unfamiliar voice asked;

"What're doing?"

Amity looked up to see a girl her age, watching her curiously, she had a friendly smile on her face, and a sparkle in her eyes.

Amity recognised the girl. Her name was Luz, she'd learned that listening to the teachers chastise the girl for not listening in class or being disruptive in general..

"Reading." She answered cautiously, clutching the book close to her chest.

"Wait, are you reading Azura? I love Azura!" Luz exclaimed.

"Who's your favourite character!?" The girl asked, "mine's Azura herself, because she's a hero–she helps people, I wanna be like her when I grow up!"

"So what about you?"

Amity was honestly really taken back by the girls eagerness to just walk over and start up a conversation, about Azura of all things. she thought she was the only one in her class that liked it. it took her a moment to realise she was staring at Luz.

"Um.. I-I like Azura also, and Malemorf, they're pretty cool." She managed to get out.

Luz dropped to her knees infront of Amity, leaving her open lunch box beside herself.

"Malemorf is pretty cool too," Luz agreed,

"They're so mysterious, makes ya wonder what their up to, y'know?"

"Yeah!" Amity nodded.

"Did you read the new book?" Amity asked her then.

Luz shook her head, "Not yet, my Mami said she'd buy it for me if I don't get in trouble for an entire week of school-"

Luz flashed a grin, displaying a single gap in her front teeth.

"-You can see how well that's going for me." She chuckled.

"Did you get in a fight?" Amity gasped.

Luz frowned, " Um well, not exactly.. Boscha hit me with her soccer ball, it knocked out my front tooth, I think she did it on purpose,"

"She started laughing at me when I cried, so I threw her ball over the big metal fence over there."

Luz pointed to the other side of the playground, and sure enough there was a chain link fence, separating the school from a thick forest.

"Wow, that was mean of her. did you get in trouble?" Amity asked.

"I thought I was gonna be in big trouble with my Mami, because all the teachers were really mad, and Boscha had started crying then.."

"..So, I hid from everyone in the janitors closet. The school called my Mom!"

Amitys eyes widened.

"She showed up, and they found me, I thought I was done for,"

Luz paused for dramatic effect then.

"But she found out what happened and she was mad at the teachers and Boscha, not me!"

"I was so confused until she explained that the teachers 'shouldn't have lost their tempers with a ten year old for reacting the way they did' or something,"

"OK maybe I still don't get it, but she brought me home early and bought me ice cream because my tooth–and said I wasn't in trouble with her so.."

Luz shrugged.

"Huh, your Mom sounds cool," Amity told her, "my parents would have grounded me for a month if I caused so much trouble. "

"Hey, That's not cool!" Luz exclaimed, "Not even any ice cream for your toothy!?"

"No."

"Well they sound mean." Luz pouted.

The mood shifted.

Her parents weren't mean, she thought. those were just the rules.. Amity knew that.

They sat in silence for a while after that. Amity went back to reading her book. Luz picked at the grass around her, apparently the ants had gotten at her lunch ruined it, Luz hadn't been happy about that.

"Pstt,"

Amity looked up from her book.

"What?" she said cooly.

"Are you mad at me?" Luz asked.

"Why would you think that?" Amity retorted in an, admittedly, unfriendly tone.

"Because you haven't talked once to me after I called your parents mean," Luz told her.

"Well, I'm not mad." Amity lied, "I'm just reading."

"And I'm sorry," Luz sighed, "I just dont want anyone to be mean to you.. you seem really nice."

"Well you don't have to worry, because they're not and I'm not–and you don't know anything." Amity snapped.

Luz turned away from her hurt. Amity felt a pang of guilt then, but didn't try to consol the girl or apologise. Amity wasn't nice. She'd been horrible to Willow, just like she was horrible to Luz just now. That was who she was. It would just be history repeating it's self if she tried to make a new friend.

She would only make things worse by trying to talk any further to Luz.

Besides, Luz was the class weirdo. Amity shouldn't be talking to her. Blights associate with a select few. Her parents taught her that. Amity realised then, she should go find her friends.

She felt Luz grab her hand, shocking her out of her thoughts.

"Hey, I made this for you," Luz said, producing a bracelet made of daisy's from her other outstretched hand.

"To say sorry for upsetting you further."

Amity blinked in surprise, and took it.

"Oh–um, thank you, but why?"

"I just told you silly," Luz frowned, "You looked sad when I came over, so I wanted to help cheer you up, but I've only made things worse.."

"So I made you a daisy chain to say sorry."

"But I was rude to you.." Amity shook her head, "you can't be nice to me when I'm not doing the same for you."

"But you were already in a bad mood," Luz shrugged, "so I've decided to forgive you, I know you didn't mean any of it."

This kid was weird.

Amity realised Luz was still holding her hand then. She felt her cheeks burn but she didn't know why. It must be anger or hunger, she had skipped lunch after all.

"How did you make it, the daisy chain I mean?" Amity asked putting her book down and moving closer.

"Oh, well it's easy!"

Luz took her hand back, and showed her how, an intense look of concentration on her face as she tied a string of daisy's together. Amity felt a smile form on her face as she watched the other girl work her magic.

"See?"

Amity nodded, and tried to copy with sub-par results.

"It's only your first one, so don't beat your self up!" Luz encouraged.

Amity nodded, but fifteen minutes later the school bell rang signalling the end of lunch and Amity still hadn't gotten it, even after multiple attempts to show her how from Luz.

The two had been laughing all the way through though. Luz had forgotten to ask for her name, which had sent them both into hysterics when Luz realised. It had been the most fun Amity had in ages.

Luz's stomach rumbled. Amity had an idea.

While collecting their stuff and walking back inside, she whispered to Luz;

"Do you want half my sandwich?"

"Oh my god-yes, thank you!"

Amity chuckled.

She'd make Luz that daisy chain tomorrow.

#the owl house #toh fanfic #the owl house fanfiction #luz noceda #amity blight #lumity #toh lumity

21 notes · View notes

pidayforpi · 3 years

Text

“Little Joy”

(Some, uh, Fethsteel (and a bit Magicstone)...for your enjoyment...)

(Can be read as friendship or more. Whatever suits you, buddy.)

(Actually, this applies to all my other works involving any appropriate relationship, e.g. Alistarling, Baffy...)

(Also...Perhaps extremely out-of-character...I have never worked with these characters...(except Fethry, who...may also be OOC))

———————————————————————

“T-thank you s-so much for t-tagging along...”

Fethry said to the hulking rooster walking next to him. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, looking away from his companion.

“I-it m-must be so embarrassing f-for you to be d-doing such c-childish activity...”

Steelbeak smiled at the shorter duck, patting him on his shoulder.

“It’s okay. I enjoyed it.”

——————————————————————

On a spring morning, Fethry Duck and Steelbeak went to the beaches of Duckburg for clam digging.

As early as two weeks ago, Fethry had asked Steelbeak out for harvesting clams together. It was an annual event for Fethry, but a fresh new one for Steelbeak. After all, why would a F.O.W.L. agent have the time (and passion) to do such harmless stuff?

Two weeks ago, Fethry was anxiously on his phone, constantly looking back to see if anyone was eavesdropping. Countless thoughts invaded his mind while the phone beeped: Will he be busy? Does he work on Saturdays? Will he be...planning to attack his family on that day?

When his new friend picked up the call, Fethry told him his proposal, asking him whether he would be free for a clam digging day (with heavy, heavy stuttering, of course). Fethry’s ears were too red to clearly hear if the recipient agreed to hang out. He didn’t even know if his friend could hear what the event was about, given his serious stutters. It wasn’t until the rooster showed up at the shores of Duckburg that Fethry knew his friends really did listen to and accept his invitation.

For the first time in a decade, Fethry had someone to accompany him on his silly little annual activity.

And so, two adults spent a Saturday morning on the muddy ground, along with many families around them. The beach was filled with the laughter of children, while the duo silently collected one clam after another.

But for Fethry, his heart was bumping loudly. Every time he heard children laughing, or saw children running across the beach barefoot, Fethry felt a bit more regretful, blaming himself for inviting Steelbeak to this idiotic event. He was a secret agent of F.O.W.L.! Feared, cruel, malevolent! How much pride did Steelbeak swallow for his friend? How much of his image did he risk being tainted by accepting his friend’s request?

Not to mention the tired expression clearly visible in Steelbeak’s eyes. He must be a night person. It wasn’t a surprise. He was the one to act in the shadows, after all. But Fethry further chastised himself for being inconsiderate.

Although Steelbeak was wearing a smile with his shovel in hand, Fethry couldn’t help but feel deeply guilty.

——————————————————————

An hour later, the duo left the beaches with a small net of clams. The shells clanked against each other, producing clicking sounds in addition to the two pairs of footsteps.

Although both of them weren’t the talkative type, Fethry felt rather nervous for the lack of conversations in the morning. He rubbed the locks of hair sticking out of his stocking cap with his right thumb and index finger, while holding the bag of clams close to his body with his other hand. He took a peek at his partner: Steelbeak wasn’t frowning or sulking, but Fethry still felt uncomfortable in his heart. Was he embarrassed? Was he mad? Fethry looked down at the pebbled plaza floor, biting his lower lips.

Then he suddenly stopped.

Steelbeak quickly noticed his friend staying behind, and turned around to see what’s wrong. Fethry held his head down, eyes darting everywhere but Steelbeak’s line of vision.

Before Steelbeak could ask, Fethry had mumbled his concerns.

“I...I am so sorry, Steely...” Fethry muttered, just loud enough for Steelbeak to hear.

“W-what’s wrong?” Steelbeak was surprised by his friend’s sudden apology. He had no much social experience than Fethry had. Was it something he had done wrong?

“I was so s-selfish...I j-just wanted someone to accompany m-me for once, b-but I only thought for m-myself...You d-don’t like c-clam digging at all, d-do you? You h-hadn’t t-tried i-it because you d-don’t like it...” Fethry started to whimper, holding the clams even closer to himself.

“I humiliated you...Embarrassed you...J-just because I w-wanted s-someone to accompany me...You don’t even have your disguise on!”

It was true. Steelbeak right now was only wearing a t-shirt with a nylon jacket for torso, a pair of sports trousers and sports shoes for legs and feet. His face was entirely exposed, including his abnormal metal beak.

This was the first time the secret agent hanged out with his friend without wearing incognito. And it was Fethry who encouraged him to do so. Despite knowing his position, Fethry believed one should feel no shame for being in the public. But for Steelbeak to go undisguised holding a colourful shovel, searching for clams with a bunch of kids around? Fethry suddenly felt how hard it had to be for Steelbeak to comply.

Although he was supposed to be a “secret” agent, meaning no one should know he was a member of a criminal mastermind organisation, nobody knew for sure whether anyone would recognise Steelbeak. At the very least, his beak would arouse a certain level of suspicion.

“I am so sorry...I am so sorry...” Fethry did his best to hold back tears, despite feeling extremely regretful for hurting his new friend. Who accepted his invitation. An invitation not even his dear cousin Donald would accept.

Steelbeak got down to Fethry’s level with a warm smile. “I enjoyed it. Really.”

Fethry blinked a few times, before slowly raising his head to look at the smiling rooster.

“I hadn’t tried anything like that, but it was fun. Let’s do it again sometimes, okay?”

“You...don’t think it was...silly...?” Fethry looked at the should-be menacing rooster, doubting the agent collecting intel in an enemy base would be down to collecting clams on a beach.

“It was silly, but I like it. Feth, you know...Ever since I got...this job, I hadn’t taken up any hobby. I hadn’t had any fun. Until I met you, and you introduced me to so many activities.”

It was Steelbeak’s turn to look away, while Fethry tilted his head curiously.

“I...uh...had a lot of fun...Thanks, Feth...”

Though a bit awkward, Fethry still felt his heart soothed by Steelbeak’s words of gratitude. Steelbeak must be the type who seldom show much emotions to others. He probably hadn’t thanked anyone before meeting Fethry, whether he felt grateful or not.

“Besides...” Steelbeak attempted to pull off his suave, yet intimidating persona. “You promised me a clam chowder meal, didn’t you? Hm?” But to put up this obviously fake facade in front of his genuine friend, even the rooster laughed at himself.

Fethry regained his smile, nodding his head cheerfully. “O-of course, Steely!”

Then his heart again bumped faster when he thought of another concern.

“I am g-glad you are having f-fun too, b-but...w-what if p-people find out about y-you? W-would I be...affecting your...c-career...?” His eyes looked up at the tall rooster, fingers fidgeting together shyly.

Steelbeak let out a chuckle, whispering to his friend. “Don’t worry, Feth. I am a ‘secret’ agent, remember? No one knows who I am! And...”

Steelbeak paused for a while, trying to phase his words without offending his friend. Fethry seemed to guess what Steelbeak was implying, and showed that he was listening with a smile.

“You...uh, aren’t a prominent member of the McDuck family, are you? I mean...not many people know you are the nephew of Scrooge, right? Unlike that ‘Donald’ guy, or the kids...”

“I...I mean it in a good way! So there won’t be any trouble for you too! My colleagues may not be so happy with me befriending a McDuck relative...” Steelbeak rubbed his shoulder nervously, thinking how their relationship may hurt not only himself, but also Fethry.

“It’s alright.” Fethry reassured Steelbeak. “You are right. Nobody knows me. Nobody knows you. So we will be safe!”

——————————————————————

Of course, except his own family...

A startled honk suddenly emerged nearby in the plaza. The goose (or gander, to be exact) realised his mistake, and unwisely covered his beak, only for the action to produce another slapping sound, gaining more attention.

On the other hand, Fethry made another mistake looking at the source of the sound. When he realised he knew the person in question, he made yet another bad decision to call out his name, only to cover his beak too when he remembered he should not be with the person he was with in the first place.

And now, the two cousins looked at each other awkwardly, both wide-eyed and covering their mouths.

After a five-second awkward silence, Gladstone tried to break the ice with a wave and a sheepish smile.

“Heeeeey, Fethry...Good to see you...Hanging out with a friend...?” Gladstone tried to appear casual, but his rigid expression showed how uncomfortable he was.

Fethry replied with an even more nervous grin, and many rapid nods.

Gladstone continued, hoping to end the encounter as soon as possible. “Oh, great! And you are...?” Signalling Steelbeak. Of course Gladstone knew who he was. The goose was just giving the rooster criminal a chance to lie about his own identity, so as to let the matter slide. He believed the agent would be smart enough to know the cue. He’s the top agent in his association! Sure he knew how to deal with his cover being blown...

Oh, but Gladstone really should had looked at how red the face of the rooster was before trying...

Steelbeak lifted Fethry off the ground with his left hand, pinning him against his own body like a head-lock, while childishly pointing a finger gun at Fethry’s head with his right hand. Fethry yelped in surprise, but took extra care not to drop the bag of clams.

“D—d-d-don’t c-c-come c-c-closer, or...this innocent man g-g-gets it!” Steelbeak attempted to threaten Gladstone into leaving them alone, only to make the situation more and more awkward. The confused Gladstone looked as Steelbeak’s face got redder and redder, while Fethry’s cheeks also started to blush with embarrassment.

“S-S-Steely...P-p-please p-put me d-d-down...T-this is v-v-very embarrassing...” Fethry muttered softly. He knew his friend was doing an act to “help” them out of the problem, but he was too embarrassed to comply.

Steelbeak immediately let go of Fethry, afraid that he might hurt the fragile duck. Hopefully not many people were in the plaza. Only the goose in green witnessed the “kidnap attempt” with a puzzled smile.

Gladstone sighed, seeing how his cue had totally been missed. “Okay, Steelbeak. I won’t tell F.O.W.L. about this. Okay, Fethry. I won’t tell Uncle Scrooge about this. Just pretend nothing happened, m’kay?”

Both the rooster and the duck nodded without making eye contact, their faces still red.

Gladstone took a deep breath. “But what are you two doing together? Don’t tell me you are teaching lil’ Fethry bad things, hm?” He stared with only one eye opened, pointing a finger at Steelbeak, who shook his head and held his hands up in denial.

Fethry quickly explained. “N-n-no! I-I p-proposed the a-activity! Steely...uh, S-Steelbeak was just accompanying me...”

Fethry showed his cousin the clams they had collected. “L-look! We went clam digging!”

“I w-will be u-using these to make c-clam chowder...Y-you can j-join us too! Just p-please...D-don’t tell U-Uncle S-S-Scrooge about this...? He will...He will...”

Fethry was visibly trembling. Gladstone didn’t blame him. Scrooge could be very scary when furious. He put his hand on his cousin’s shoulder, showing a kind smile. “I promise, Fethry. I promise.”

“You take care of him, okay?” Gladstone turned to Steelbeak. Despite Gladstone being much shorter than he was, Steelbeak gulped at the fierceness in his eyes.

“Gladstone, I’m an adult now!” Fethry protested against his elder cousin for being treated like a child.

“Well, you don’t act like one.”

Steelbeak cut in during the cousins’ bickering. “Don’t worry, Mister...”

Gladstone politely tipped his hat. “Gander. Glad-“

“Yo, Gladdy! I brought popsicles!”

Just when the goose was introducing himself, someone called his (nick)name from behind. Just from the voice, Fethry and Steelbeak knew who she was, but not why she was calling Gladstone.

This time, Gladstone hid his reddened face behind his hat.

At least, both parties were equal now.

Magica looked at her friend with his cousin and her partner-in-crime (sort of) in confusion, but quickly shrugged it off.

“Hey, boys. What’s up?” Magica greeted the two with a grin, while the two replied by signalling Gladstone with eye movements.

Gladstone’s face was entirely inside his hat, the brim of which he grabbed tightly with both hands.

“Hello...?” Magica stared at her partner curiously, waving her free hand in front of his face.

“What happened?” She questioned the other two birds present, who answered with two shrugs.

Magica let out a sigh, before biting at her popsicle. “Well, eating or not, you are paying for yours.”

Gladstone slowly reached for his, holding it in his shaking hand. He put his hat back on, before slowly approaching Fethry with his head down.

“We’ll never speak of this day ever again...”

——————————————————————

“Wow! Fethry, that’s delicious!” Magica exclaimed at a dining table.

Fethry blushed slightly at the compliment. “T-t-thank you, Miss De Spell...”

“Just Magica will do.”

Inside a golden yacht, two white ducks, a rooster and a goose were at the dining table. Everyone had a bowl and a spoon, while a big pot of clam chowder was in the centre of the table.

“Told you Feth cooks nicely!” Steelbeak added with a smile, making Fethry chuckled shyly.

“A-all thanks to Gladstone lending us his yacht...” Fethry beamed at his cousin, who was drinking his soup silently.

“You...you’re welcome.” Gladstone uttered, before feeling someone nudging his arm lightly.

“See? Nothing wrong with hanging out! Your cousin is friends with a F.O.W.L. agent! You are just friends with a witch.” Magica shoved Gladstone with her elbow playfully. “Let’s hang out sometimes!”

“S-sure!” “Fine by me.” “Of...of course. Just...”

Gladstone looked at his cousin meekly.

“Please don’t tell Uncle Scrooge about this...? He will pluck my feathers out...”

Fethry replied with a wide, cheerful smile.

“I promise, Gladdy! I promise!”

(16-12-2020 ~ 18-12-2020)

(Inspired by this screenshot of Steelbeak being adorable...sort of.)

#ducktales #ducktales 2017 #fethry duck #steelbeak #gladstone gander #magica de spell #fethsteel #magicstone #story #storyteller #short story #a huh huh huh why does everything i touch turns to angst

40 notes · View notes

onetoomanyfilms · 3 years

Text

My Heart’s Always Yours - Part Two

Luke Patterson x FemaleOC!Character - Soulmate AU

Hi everyone! Thank you so much for the love of the first part and teaser! Please let me know if you’re enjoying it because things are just about to get interesting... welcome to Mya’s perspective (and the snippet from the teaser)! Sorry it’s short! x

Songs Included:

‘IDK You Yet’ - Alexander 23

Teaser Part One Part Three Part Four Part Five Masterlist

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

There wasn’t a time Mya didn’t play music, she just didn’t broadcast it. Perhaps that was idiotic of her. There were moments she loved it and wouldn’t do anything else, but the bad always settled in and took over like overgrown ivy. Her mother thinks it’s because of the soulmate thing but Mya knew better. The soulmate idea was a myth and if it was true, it hardly ever happened because of the world we live in. It makes it impossible. Everyone has music in them so how could it be possible to find the one other person who has the same song in them? They call it the ‘soul song’. Mya knew better.

But here she was. Crying in the music room when she’s meant to be at a spirit rally. Writing furiously in her wrecked journal. Trying to reach out to her ‘soulmate’ like the dumb idiot she is.

“How can you miss someone you’ve never met?”

Mya didn’t have it bad. She had a loving family, one that would do anything for her. It was just the monsters in her head, feeding off her thoughts and fears. Amplifying the negativity others spoke around her. So she found herself pouring out her own soul whilst plucking the strings of her guitar.

“Cause I need you now but I don’t know you yet.”

She didn’t show her songs to anyone else but it was the only way she let out her truthful thoughts. Julie introduced her to it : the idea of freeing yourself through music. Mya wished she could help her as much as she did her, but there were times she knew to back off and let her grieve. Just breathe.

“But can you find me soon because I’m in my head?”

Truth be told, Mya had tried to find Julie this morning to talk about what happened in music the other day. But she couldn’t, not before the bigots from her Maths class decided today was a good day to rip her apart again. Now she couldn’t get out of her own head. She needed to write.

“Yeah I need you now but I don’t know you yet.”

She scribbled in her notebook. Glancing at the time on her phone, she figured the assembly must have ran over as it was later than she expected it to be. Mya decided one more run through of the tune in front of her wouldn’t hurt. What she didn’t expect was for three boys to walk in and stare at her as she sang,

“You’re singing my song.”

“Excuse me?” She gave a look of disbelief with a hint of apprehension towards the boy in the rock star top and orange beanie in front of her. The boys looked at each other, a glimmer of shock wavering over their faces.

“That song. I wrote it.”

“Oh. Umm…”

“Well?” His face full of curiosity, she didn’t understand. She had written it, hadn’t she?

“I mean..”

“Mya!” Quickly, she turned her head towards the doors. Mrs Harrison stood there with her arms crossed, anyone else would think she was angry but Mya recognised the glint in her eye. “You better get to your next class before my students enter otherwise I have no choice but to tell the principal.” Mya knew this was Mrs Harrison letting her off, any other teacher would’ve thrown Mya under the bus and sent her to the principal’s office straight away.

“Thank you Mrs Harrison!” Mya scrambled to get her guitar back into its case. She had got it down to a fine art by now but that didn’t mean the extra eyes of the three boys next to her made it any easier. Jumping up onto her feet, swinging her backpack on and grasping the handle of her guitar; she sprinted out of the music room. In the chaos, she didn’t really have time to think about the boys that were standing in the music room with her. But once she got to her next class and had settled in for the droning mumbles of Chemistry, a strange thought popped into her head:

Why hadn’t Mrs Harrison shouted at them?

———————————————————————————————————

“Julie!” Mya seemed to sprint everywhere lately but she hadn’t seen the bubbly brunette all day. “Mya! I swear I’ve been looking for you everywhere today! Where have you been?”

“I was looking for you this morning but things happened so I took myself off into the music room…” her voice dipped in volume, her words tapering off as she didn’t want to admit it had happened again. Julie looked at her with a look that wasn’t quite pity. More like she knew how it felt. That’s the reason the friendship group worked so well together, they understood each other. Julie, Flynn and Mya had grown up together, been through everything together. They meant everything to each other.

“Well,” Julie draped her arm over her friends shoulder as they continued down the hallway, “you won’t believe where I was.”

“Where?”

“I performed at the Spirit Rally.”

May couldn’t believe it. She felt such an immense amount of joy, her eyes watered and a smile grew on her face so big you never would’ve thought that the girl held so many problems on her shoulders. But one had just been released: Julie had played music again. In front of the whole school for that matter. Mya leapt onto Julie, encasing her in her arms. “I’m so proud of you Julie.”

The bell went off signalling the end of the school day but the two girls stood there in a puddle of tears without a care in the world. That was until something sparked Julie out of the embrace. “Oooh! I have to go!” Julie began to run down the hallway towards the entrance doors. “You coming with, Mya?”

“Of course I am!”

So the two girls took off out of the school doors.

As they approached Julie’s house, the laughter died down and Julie became more serious. Almost on edge. “I should probably tell you what went down today.”

“What do you mean Julie? What went down?” At that moment, Mya had a ping come through on her phone. “It’s Flynn.”

“That’s what went down.” As Mya read the text, Julie stepped back a bit, seeming to anticipate Mya’s reaction. Flynn was angry but most of all, hurt. “What happened?”

“Well,” she started to walk towards her front door, “do you mind waiting in the garage a sec?”

“Ok. Julie, are you ok?”

“I’ll be fine just… if you could go wait in there I’ll be there in a minute.” With that Julie put a spring in her step and went in to greet her Dad. Mya’s heart ached, she missed that. She would always miss it.

She shook her head, turning direction and walking over to the garage doors. Pulling them open, she expected to just go in and slump into the couch at the side of the room. But that didn’t happen.

Because there, sitting on the couch already, were the three boys from the music room.

30 notes · View notes

wanderingchocolateeclair · 3 years

Note

How about how the top five kinda acts like a family? I’ve kinda seen them as such and noticed one of your previous drawing was like that. What little things do they appreciate about each other? Or tiny things they do for each other.

Ahhh! Thank you for providing me with something to ramble about!

Honestly I just think that they would just get up to some really troublesome stuff together, whilst still doing an amazing job at being heroes. I’ll write some random headcanons about them in a moment but I think I’ll just give like some little points about the others from each of their own perspectives first? (None of this is in a particular order by the way)

Endeavour -

Well he’s.....himself?? Believes that the other four are just annoying “kids” that pester him for no reason, doesn’t enjoy their pranks and mischievous antics however always manages to get roped into them (most of the time by Hawks and Miruko)

To him, Miruko and Hawks are the annoying kids who always manage to challenge him into doing stupid things, Jeanist is the bothersome pest who has a really annoying way of turning whatever he says into a cheeky insult whilst still managing to have more common sense than the other two, and Edgeshot is just that really mysterious guy that he’s slightly wary of yet can tolerate more than the others because he can be kinda scary sometimes.

Despite this he does recognise that all of them are incredibly strong individuals who all really do take their jobs as heroes rather seriously.

Hawks -

Oh boy he loves pestering Endeavour. Miruko is the only one who will straight up join him in doing so, closely followed by the useless “supervision” of Edgeshot and Jeanist.

Obviously he really looks up to Endeavour and that’s kinda obvious, Miruko is the “fun one” in his own words as they make the most chaotic duo out of the whole of them, and actually he sees the other two as two kinda fatherly figures in a way, being two people that he’s probably known from a young age and he knows they’ll give him serious advice when he needs it - although most of the time he’ll just say that “they suck the fun out of everything”.

On the other side of things though, he does know that if he ever has an issue that he’s unsure of how to handle, or he’s feeling bad about something, he can go to any of them to ask for advice, talk or even just a hug. Because they understand.

Miruko -

Ah yes. She will never pass up an opportunity to pester one of the older heroes with Hawks. It’s way too much fun.

In her eyes, Endeavour is just a competitive fiery flamethrower who will sometimes actually say something that makes sense, Hawks is the one she can do anything stupid with who occasionally supplies her with new challenges, she finds Jeanist a little annoying in the way he words things but knows that he’s always willing to join her in sassing the hell out of Endeavor, and she will not hesitate to tease Edgeshot about whatever she can - probably the only one out of the lot of them that isn’t at all fazed by his death glare.

She sees them all as a group of chaotic adults that will happily provide her with whatever support she needs in return for her keeping an eye out for them whenever she can.

Jeanist -

He really enjoys making whatever cheeky remarks he can to annoy Endeavour. But does know when not to tag along with the other two in some of their more stupid ideas. And will no doubt comment about one of their choices in clothing about two times a day at least.

He sees Endeavour as a cranky old man who needs to lighten his temper and his manners quite a bit but does hold respect in the fact that he is older and still a very powerful hero, Hawks is basically “his child” and he knows that despite how childish he may be at times he still does know how to make his own fairly reasonable desicions, he acknowledges how strong Miruko is and is kinda terrified about getting on her bad side - but still knows she comes up with some stupid ideas with Hawks and joins in with them for the fun of it, and well Edgeshot is the only one who he’ll listen to when it comes to doing anything stupid because that man can be really scary when he wants to be.

But really he knows that each and every one of them will be there for him to lean on as a support on those days where he needs it, and he’ll always provide help for any of them when they need it.

Edgeshot -

He has to babysit 4 grown adults...but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t actually enjoy the chaos. Occasionally he’ll help out with the stupid ideas, but only when he knows it isn’t a dangerous idea. Most of the time he’ll just stand by watching it happen.

From his point of view, Endeavor is a strong hero that acts like stroppy child with bad manners most of the time but he never really tries to do anything to annoy the older man - that’s the others’ job, Hawks and Miruko are the troublesome kids who always manage to come up with ideas that are so stupid yet something that he actually really wants to know the outcome of, and Jeanist is a man of many talents but incredibly unable to keep any of his secretly stupid ideas hidden from him (and he is the only person out of the lot of them that somehow actually find Jeanist’s stupid puns funny - he won’t admit it though).

Aside from all this, he is very aware that these people will stand with him to protect whatever they must, he trusts these people with his life as he hopes they would do the same in return.

Some random headcanons:

They will have regular meet-ups outside of work at one of their agencies where they just chill out and chat. These are usually at rather random times of day.

These meet-ups usually consist of hours of Hawks and Miruko doing something very stupid and Edge preventing Jeanist from winding endeavour up to the point that the building burns down.

Sometimes, it’ll end up just being a whole day where they catch up on all the sleep they’ve missed and end up basically having a massive slumber party in the middle of their office. Until one of them notices the time and they have to dart off to their individual patrols.

Jeanist has somehow managed to persuade endeavour to let him do his hair...twice, and Edgeshot has it all on camera.

This led to a series of makeover sessions where Hawks and Jeanist made Endeavour wear neon yellow eyeliner, Miruko suddenly had pink hair and Edgeshot spent the whole day in pigtails (much to his dismay)

They treat Hawks as the baby - literally will do anything for him - but tease him with stuff like “oh it’s way past your bedtime Hawks” or “sorry Hawks you’re too young to do that well tell you when you’re older” and he HATES it.

They all gather gossip from their interns and sidekicks over the week and end up having competitions to see who has the most shocking news.

So far Edgeshot and Jeanist are tied with first place.

They are also completely fine with showing the other 3 their faces so they are fully aware of how they look like.

Most of the time these meet-ups will be fairly chaotic and cheerful, but on the occasion it may not be.

Being a hero comes with the knowledge that you cannot save everybody. And they all know this. And so when these moments happen and they feel as if they need a break, these are the best times for them to come to terms with what happened on maybe a patrol that evening, or a mission that didn’t end well.

Because they understand each other completely, and know what that feeling is like.

These meet-ups normally just consist of a lot of silent discussions, hugs and often tears.

Where they all get together to comfort the one who needs it the most. Putting their plans on hold for them and listening to their troubles.

Because even Endeavour would feel bad refusing to console a Jeanist who was distraught over being “too weak” to save a single person who was in a completely different location than himself.

Or a timid Edgeshot who’s past was hovering over his mind more than usual, preventing him from focusing properly on his evening patrol.

Or a gloomy Hawks who feels as if his decisions are always wrong and feels like he can’t do anything right.

Or even a stressed out Miruko who feels as though she did a bad job at saving someone just because they were disrespectful towards her “careless” methods.

And of course they all are aware of the heavy expectations of being number 1, and know that truly this unusually silent Endeavour is human just like themselves and will feel just as anyone else would.

Even top heroes need to have these moments where they can break down in front of the people they trust, in order to keep their own sanity from crumbling apart.

And really that’s what they all collectively like the most about their little “family”.

Between all the fun and chaos.

It’s the ability for them all to lean on each other at times when they need it the most, and they definitely feel that’s a good thing.

Wooh!! There you go! A nice long list of headcanons of my favourite lil group of chaotic characters.

Sorry for getting a little sad at the end there, but if you know me by now I’m pretty sure it’s obvious that a ramble written by me wouldn’t be complete without it lol

Thanks again for the ask @ohpleaseiwillendyou it really gave me some happy things to think about and really cheered me up, which is exactly what I needed right now aha.

Please feel free to send me asks or suggestions to write about! I’m currently quite motivation-less and I really need things to ramble about to make me feel better :)

~Eclair

27 notes · View notes

hummingbee-o0o · 4 years

Text

Parting Gifts (Winters at Kaer Morhen 1)

The wind changes and the first whiffs of thaw begin to flicker in the air. Up in the peaks of Kaer Morhen the ice and snow still hold unmoved, but Geralt can smell the spring stirring in the foothills when the wind blows just right.

Eskel, Lambert and Vesemir can smell it too. His brothers pace like he does, knowing soon they’ll start making ready. Vesemir smiles, small and restrained, and hides in his study more than usual. The old man does get a bit misty sometimes when it’s time for the three of them to leave.

Except it’s not three this year. It’s four.

Jaskier, for all his lack of Witcher senses, seems to feel the spring in the air too. He keeps singing about flowers and mornings, entire landscapes crafted out of song, the plucking of his lute strings somehow fresh like a stream.

It’s his first winter at Kaer Morhen and it’s been... good. More than good. Kaer Morhen doesn’t have much luxury to offer, and most of its splendour has crumbled away when viewed up close, but it has plenty of fire in the hearth, a steady routine of filling meals, soft beds with furs and blankets for comfort, and all the hot water for bathing one could want.

To Geralt, these things are a luxury, never mind that they take turns peeling vegetables and chopping wood (Jaskier turned out to be remarkably skilled at both and was put to work accordingly), but there had been a thorn of anxiety prickling somewhere in the back of Geralt’s mind as he led Jaskier up the mountain, walking ahead to shield him from the worst of the snow billowed in their faces by icy cold winds. Jaskier is no stranger to sleeping rough on the road and making do with whatever food can be found in leaner times, and he does it with cheerful indifference or colourful swearing and whinging. But Geralt had worried that Jaskier might expect Kaer Morhen to be... well, more. More than what actually awaited him. He seemed to have built it up into a heroic fantasy of a fortress in his mind, and the higher they climbed and the more Jaskier shivered and murmured comforting things to himself about food and bedding, Geralt worried that he would be disappointed.

As it turned out, he needn’t have worried. Jaskier gasped his awe when the keep first loomed into view, and ate three helpings of the thick, hot stew they were greeted with. Even tired, he was delighted to meet Eskel and Lambert and Vesemir, and he grinned when Geralt was teased about finally bringing him along. And when at last it was time to retire after the final and most gruelling stretch of their journey, Jaskier slept like a log, in Geralt’s bed, in Geralt’s arms, wrapped in furs and blankets and snoring lightly into Geralt’s chest.

Winter drags slow and lazy, its days filled with chores and sparring and idleness, but it still comes to an end. And as much as Geralt enjoyed having Jaskier here, with him, safe and warm and filling the keep with his cheerful voice, he’s also looking forward to resuming their life on the Path. To warmer days and new sights and having Jaskier all to himself again – as quietly happy as he is that his brothers and Vesemir have taken to Jaskier so much, he’s looking forward to it being just the two of them again.

Eskel is the one to head out first, as he usually does, braving the mountain pass while it’s still snowed over. He exchanges embraces with Lambert and Geralt, and then he pulls Jaskier into one as well.

“For you,” he says, putting something small in Jaskier’s hand. “Thank you for my songs. I... look forward to hearing them on the road.”

“Oh,” says Jaskier, surprised but clearly touched. “Thank you, that’s quite terribly sweet of you, my friend!” He turns the small gift over in his fingers, a little confused (from where Geralt is standing it looks like a coin, but he has enough dignity to not strain to try and get a better look). “This is very, erm... what is it?”

Eskel grins.

“Relax. Geralt will tell you what to do with it. Just... something to keep you safe out there.”

Geralt bristles, because he’s very much dedicated to keeping Jaskier safe just fine, fuck you, Eskel – but he tries to stamp out that impulse.

“I must say, your brother is a darling,” coos Jaskier later, once Eskel is gone, and for all the teasing aimed at Geralt, there’s genuine warmth in his tone.

“Hmm.”

“Oh, come, come, you know you’re my favourite... so, my dear, what am I supposed to do with this? I’m intrigued!”

Geralt recognises the small metal disc engraved with protective symbols the moment it’s placed in his hand.

“An amulet,” he says. “Sew it into a bag or a case and it puts a mild protective charm on what’s inside. Helps keep things safe for travellers.”

And Jaskier does so love his lute. And of course Eskel noticed. It's... good. That he cares. Jaskier deserves care. Which is why Geralt hums and smiles a little as Jaskier trills his delight over his gift and proceeds to sew it into his lute case, tongue sticking out as he sits on their bed, dressed for sleep.

Lambert leaves next. Normally, Geralt would head out with him, keep him company on the descent, but this year he wants to wait a little longer, to make sure the pass is fine for Jaskier to cross.

On the morning of his departure, Lambert pulls Geralt into his room and shoves something into his hand.

“For Jaskier,” he grunts, because he’s never dealt well with being upstaged.

It’s another fucking amulet, of course. This one is to ward off the evil eye or something along those lines. Geralt can’t help but snort.

“Hey, fuck you,” snaps Lambert. “You’re the one always complaining about how many times you had to save his arse from a cuckolded husband! Or other enemies.”

“Yeah, and I always do save it.”

“You’re not always there! And Geralt, he’s so... you know. Breakable,” Lambert says with concern that clearly shows he’s never seen Jaskier kick a burly mercenary in the crotch.

Geralt has. Twice.

“Fine. Give it to him yourself.” He grins, leaning back against a wall, because he never passes up an opportunity to taunt Lambert.

Lambert hisses, which Geralt is going to chalk up to that mysterious Cat he’s been spending time with.

“Would you stop being a dick for five minutes – honestly, I don’t know what he sees in you!”

“Hmm,” says Geralt, because most days he doesn’t know either, and other days he tries not to wonder about it. “Fine, if you’re going to cry about it.”

“Fuck you!”

Geralt grins. “That’s Jaskier’s job.”

Jaskier may claim to be a lover, not a fighter, but Geralt has seen him handle himself in tavern brawls and other fights plenty of times. Still, Jaskier beams and prattles his delight at Lambert’s thoughtfulness and promptly slips the gift in his pocket. Lambert will definitely bribe his way into another song with this, the bastard.

When at last it’s time for Geralt and Jaskier to leave, Vesemir approaches them with a small, worn-out book in his hands, and Geralt uses most of his willpower to keep his eyebrows from climbing up to his hairline.

“With thanks for caring so for our library this winter,” the old man says, handing Jaskier the book. Something shrewd plays in his eyes. “You’ll always be welcome here, Jaskier.”

It’s a book about the uses of forest plants and mushrooms for poisons and antidotes (mostly poisons), and Jaskier’s eyes gleam eagerly at the sight. Vesemir has always been a sharp judge of character. Geralt bites his lip and turns his head away to hide a smile.

Up in the peaks the snow still lies thick, and Geralt makes sure Jaskier’s new winter cloak (a proper cloak, not a flimsy piece of decoration) is secure around him, but this high up, in the clear blue skies, the spring sun smarts hot already, and Jaskier tilts his face to meet it with a laugh. He sings to snowdrops when, a while down, they find them popping up through the snow, and he tells Roach about all the juicy meadows she’ll soon be grazing on.

“Ah, the freedom of the open road again!” he announces, spreading his arms wide in that way he has, like he’s embracing the whole world. “Don’t get me wrong, my dear,” he carries on, taking Geralt’s hand in his, “Kaer Morhen was lovely, and I’m very honoured to have been invited, but it’s nice to be just us two on the road again, is all.”

“Hmm,” says Geralt, because he understands, and because something still flutters in his chest whenever Jaskier expresses his happiness with staying at Kaer Morhen.

“What’s that I hear you say? I was a delight to have and I should come back every winter henceforth? Why, Geralt, you say the sweetest things!”

Jaskier grins at him, beaming in his face, but there’s a touch of performance about it, and Geralt tugs his hand and pulls him into a kiss.

“Yes,” he rumbles against Jaskier’s lips when they part. “That.”

This time, Jaskier’s smile is brighter than the clear skies above them.

The temperature drops as soon as the sun hides behind the peaks they’ve left behind, so they make camp before it’s completely dark. In their tent, shielded from the winds by a pile of snow (and which, in turn, shields Roach as well), they sit close together under blankets. In the light of their oil lamp Jaskier reads, engrossed in his new book of poisons, flicking eagerly through the pages and worryingly scribbling Valdo next to some entries. Despite the piercing cold and rapid variations in humidity, his lute is kept a little safer by Eskel's amulet sewn into its case, and Lambert’s gift stays tucked into his pocket.

It feels right, Geralt thinks, watching the light play soft and warm across Jaskier’s face as he carefully puts the book away. Geralt has his wolf medallion, something that signifies his bond with his brothers wherever he goes. Jaskier may not have one, but with these gifts, he too now has a link to the other Wolves, something to tie him to them until he returns next winter. And he did say he wants to return.

Pleased with the thought, Geralt pulls Jaskier closer and turns out the light.

(also on AO3)

#the Witcher #Geraskier #the Witcher fic #Geraskier fic #Kaer Morhen #this will be a series of stand-alone ficlets that I'll write as ideas come to me #Jaskier wintering at Kaer Morhen is one of my biggest Witcher weaknesses #and I finally got to write the other Wolves!#my writing #my stories

159 notes · View notes