#okay back to mas now 🥰

[thetomorrowshow]

cold, empty, lonely

have a short little fic about death and disconnection :)

cw: canonical character death, description of dead body

~

He finds her body on the side of the hill, crumpled upon itself, red hair dulled against the cold, yellow grass.

Bdubs doesn't touch her, at first. He just watches, waits for some kind of movement.

In the weak light of the moon, the chill wind that blows almost makes it look like her chest is slowly rising and falling. Her hair flicks up a bit, blown like the grass around, and her clothes shift a little, and if Bdubs squints his eyes almost shut and stares at one spot long enough, he could swear that she was just sleeping.

They aren't actually breathing, though. And when he opens his eyes wide, lashes not blurring his vision, he can see again the red that shines against her grey shirt.

They had brought him her armor. It was cheap stuff, iron, held together by whatever leftover straps she'd been able to scrounge up after her good set of armor had been claimed as loot by the Red Army. They hadn't wanted the new set, and had brought it, bloodstained, as proof of their conquest.

Bdubs had pleaded with them for what felt like hours for the location of her body.

He needn't have. He could have looked out a back window and seen it, if he hadn't been so distracted with everything going on.

Their body lies just above the little river that feeds into the Crastle's moat. The river has begun to freeze at the edges, little broken-off sheets of ice forming from the rocky shore, frost touching the red-spattered stones and pebbles. And their body is just beyond that, where the stones and grey dirt turn to dying grass and bare shrubs as the slope climbs upward into a squat hill, alone in the darkness of the night.

He stands there, at a distance, watching their body for probably ten minutes.

Her body looks so lonely.

Cold. Empty.

Lonely.

Bdubs sighs (his breath puffs out in a mist before him—winter really is coming, isn't it?) before crossing the distance between them, crouching down beside the body.

Their flower crown—the one that Bdubs had collected the flowers for—has come apart, a crushed halo of daisies, partially obscured by their hair, a petal weaved in here and there.

Her hair is long, tangled, spilling out around her head like the rays from the sun, curling around her throat and caught under her body.

With a gentle touch, Bdubs brushes their hair away from their grey lips, where some strands have stuck.

Her cheeks are almost colorless, the few stubborn freckles faded. Their lashes are long, soft, forehead unwrinkled and face expressionless.

There's no twist of her mouth, no scrunch of their eyes, no desperation in their brows to denounce pain. There's nothing else, either, though—no peaceful relaxation, no joyful grin, no angry glower.

She's simply blank. It's as if she never lived, never felt.

Her face is cold. Empty. Lonely.

There's still sticky blood on her shirt, her chest slick with it, the ground stained. A lucky stab, straight to the heart. A cleaving of lifeless flesh, right through their chest, somehow missing the bone frame that once held the body together.

Bdubs pulls her shirt a little bit, rearranging it to cover the ugly, open wound. He's not quite sure why he does it. He'll just bury her, anyways.

But he does. He touches the shirt, stiff and sticky with blood, and tugs it over the wound. He pulls more of her hair away, where it's become plastered to her body with blood. He arranges her body so that it isn't half curled on its side, but fully on its back.

They look almost as they always did. Just missing everything that made her alive.

She wasn't supposed to die first. It was always supposed to be him, everyone knew it. Not her.

They probably worked so well together because of how reasonable she was. Bdubs doesn't like being reasonable, likes to kill first and ask questions later—or, if he feels like it, let them sell him a coffin first and ask questions later. She preferred to observe, keep track of enemies and allies, sneak around quietly behind the scenes and make chaos of her own kind.

Which is why Bdubs should have died first. He's so publicly provocative of the Reds, so eager to spill blood.

If anything, she was fairly peaceful. Not genuinely, but she always chose to take a step back from conflict and find a way to profit from it.

It was their Red blood that got to them, Bdubs thinks idly. They hadn't been Red for long enough to let the bloodlust acclimate, and had just gone on the hunt rather than let it simmer.

And now they're dead.

He needs to bury the body. Preferably now, when it's night yet and the battles haven't resumed.

He doesn't wait any longer.

He gets to work, picking up the shovel that he'd brought with him and stabbing it into the earth. Again. Again. Again.

The rough wood of the handle pokes into his palms, but he doesn't stop. The pain reminds him that he needs to keep going.

Every so often he pauses, wipes the sweat off his forehead, looks over at the body.

Then he keeps shoveling.

The world has lightened by the time he finishes, bathing the hill in grey. Bdubs shakes some clumps of dirt off his shovel, whacking it against the ground a couple of times.

Without further ado, he hops out of the shabby hole he's dug and tosses the shovel to the side. He gets on his knees, back creaking, and looks down at his hands.

He should wash them before he touches her, probably. Dirt is packed into every crease of his palm, his nails torn and muddy, grit between his fingers. A couple of splinters sticking out of his skin here and there.

Not that there's any point to washing them. Dirt goes to dirt and whatnot.

So, gently, Bdubs gathers up the body in his arms. He slowly turns, scooting a little on his knees, until he's facing the shallow grave.

Bdubs sets the body down, carefully, supporting the neck so their head doesn't loll. He moves their arms over their body, one limp hand placed over the other.

They wouldn't have liked this. They didn't like being touched.

He doesn't touch her any more, then.

Bdubs grasps the first handful of dirt, holds his closed fist over the grave. A couple of grains of dirt spill out, running down her shirt.

He holds it there, for longer than he should. Long enough that his arm grows weary. Long enough that somewhere, a bird starts chirping its wake-up call.

He needs to let go.

Probably, the worst part of all this is that he's doing it alone, he thinks absently. It's always been the two of them.

And there are others who could be here. Other friends. Other allies. Enemies, even. He shouldn't be alone in this. He shouldn't have to bury her alone.

It still looks like her.

He drops the dirt. It lands on her face, on her grey lips, on her bloodless cheeks.

Then he picks his shovel back up and gets to work, heaving load after load of dirt back into the grave.

And when Bdubs returns in the windy morning, the impromptu occupants that he'd left in the Crastle the previous night are all gone. It's just him, in a small castle that used to belong to two.

And Bdubs is cold.

Empty.

Lonely.

[afterglowsainz]

obsessed | oscar piastri

summary: in which oscar, your boyfriend, is obsessed with franco, your ex

pairing: reader x oscar piastri, reader x ex!franco colapinto

fc: kaia gerber

a/n: overdone concept with a little twist😋

—

liked by oscarpiastri, lilymhe and others

yourusername date night🍷

view all comments

username i was found on the floor

username such a hot woman 🥵

lilymhe how are you this beautiful?🥰

yourusername says the prettiest girl ever

username franco fumbled

username girlie i can treat you better than oscar give me chance

oscarpiastri 😮‍💨

yourusername 🥰

liked by kimi.antonelli, juanmanuel and others

francolapinto break well spent 🇦🇷 now back to the office

view all comments

username first piccc i’m deceased

username my boyfriend 🩵

username y/n’s secret account

username plsss leave her alone she’s dating oscar now 😭

username good luck for the next race!

username bestie you’re cheering for real madrid???

username disappointed but not surprised

liked by yourusername, danielricciardo and others

oscarpiastri between races 🇦🇺

view all comments

username no need to thirst trap us like this

username since when does this man watch football?

username the same man who ranked it number four out of five over all sports 😭

username girlfriend effect is full on point

username oscaaaar you want to kill me with the first pic i know 😩

username idk why but every time oscar posts i’m under the impression he’s copying franco in some way

username WHAT 😭

username these franco fans are crazy

liked by pierregasly, oscarpiastri and others

yourusername dinner is served

tagged francisca.cgomes

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francisca.cgomes are you the dinner? 🥵

yourusername kika you’re making me blush 🤭

pierregasly 🤨

username every time i think y/n can’t get any prettier …

username my god this woman 😩

username hottest wag

alexandrasaintmleux ma plus belle 💕

yourusername you more (in french)

liked by yourusername, landonorris and others

oscarpiastri back at the office 🇲🇨

view all comments

username ain’t no way

username i need oscar to be possessed by senna’s spirit this weekend

username pls not oscar shamelessly copying franco’s caption 😭

username to be fair it’s a pretty common caption

username manifesting a podium this weekend 🕯

username oscar x senna’s livery 🥹

yourusername 💛💚

oscarpiastri ❤️

username y/n and oscar flirting in that nonchalant way of theirs 🥰

liked by flavy.barla, francolapinto and others

yourusername saw this banner omw to the casino

view all comments

username omg y/n’s attending the grand prix!!!

username finally! she hasn’t been there in a while

username and franco’s driving there this weekend too

username do we think she’ll watch him? 👀

username i meaaan since she’s already there 🤷🏽‍♀️

landonorris how much money did you lose?

yourusername have some faith in me 😋

username face card is insane

username omg not franco liking this 😭

username he’s so messy 🤣

liked by oscarpiastri, olliebearman and others

yourusername bebiendo mucha champaña🍾

tagged oscarpiastri

view all comments

username y/n bad bunny fan confirmed

username the most beautiful couple

username fan of your relationship 😍

yourusername 😭

username y/n always delivering the perfect oscar boyfriend content

username they’re so good together

username she was so cute looking at him at the podium and oscar was so happy smiling at her the whole time 😭

oscarpiastri 💛💛💛

yourusername so proud of you!🧡

liked by olliebearman, lettiemg and others

francolapinto happy mother’s day💙

view all comments

username awww he was so cute as a baby

username happy day to my mother-in-law!

username i’m sorry oscar but hello franco 🥰

username the cutest fr

username okay you won me over

username the way he hasn’t changed at all 🥹

username lovely!

liked by yourusername, logansargeant and others

oscarpiastri tbt

view all comments

username what is happening 😭

username right after franco’s post too?

username franco’s was a mother’s day post…

username yeah but the baby pictures … idk is just …

charles_leclerc i see red has always been your color

mclaren never! 🧡

username the cutest baby🥰

yourusername oscar pls 😭😭

oscarpiastri 🤭

username franco is stronger than me fr

liked by oscarpiastri, francolapinto and others

yourusername my boyfriend and his head full of original thoughts🧡

tagged oscarpiastri

comments on this post have been limited

landonorris your boyfriend the attention whore*

oscarpiastri hey!

username no way she wrote that caption 😭

username she knows!!

francisca.cgomes time to get a new hobbie😁

yourusername on it!

logansargeant a few jokes here and there never hurt nobody 🤭

yourusername 😑

francolapinto a machine on track too

oscarpiastri thanks mate👊🏽

username oh!

[landograndprix]

╰┈➤ ❝ desire • l.n c.l ❞ vii

part six - part eight

➪ Charles hasn't paid much attention to you after your daughter was born but a certain Brit does.

➪ life goes on and it's up to you to decide who stays and who goes.

➪ established relationship mom!reader x dad!Charles x lando

➪ reader really growing and living her best life like she should. Spelling mistakes add character 😉 if you haven't been tagged, know that I either wasn't able to tag you or simply forgot to add you to my list, I'm not ignoring you, please send me a message if i did!

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y/nusername

📍 Nice, France

liked by landonorris, milliexoxo and 2548,543 others

y/nusername life. 🐠

tagged: landonorris, milliexoxo

view all 1,888 comments

charlesgirlies can you tell zoë to stop growing so fast? 🥺

yukisan who's the other girl?

↳ bott_ass their nanny

yukisan since when?

bott_ass girl how should I know? 😭

norry4 cutest little kid on the block 😍

milliexoxo ❤️

mrsnorris once again lando hanging out with them..

↳ norrizz okay and?

mrsnorris what about Charles? How would your bf react if you hang out with anorhers guy all the time?

norrizz pretty sure they broke up

mrsnorris sure because you know them personally right?

norrizz no girl because in one if her vlogs she's moving, she now lives in Nice without Charles or is that something couples do nowadays??

chilisainz so what if her and lando hang out, they're good friends! You should follow y/n a bit more before you judge them..zoë adores lando and the other way around. They're good friends

hamilt44n can't wait for bahrain in two weeks, hope I get a chance to meet you!

yourmumsuser my beautiful grand baby 🥰🥰🥰❤️❤️❤️

landonorris we did in fact find nemo 🐠

↳ y/nusername and now we've lost dory :(

milliexoxo we'll have to go to the aquariums again to look for her!

norrislandooo stop it why is this so cute?! 😭

charliecharlie who's millie?

norrislandooo their nanny

charliecharlie why she look so young?

norrislandooo idk lmao y'all Charles girlies so obsessed with y/n and all the people she's hanging out with

milliexoxo I'm 19 that's probably why I look so young, thanks 🤩

norrislandooo oh god, she's one of us 😭

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y/nusername

📍 bahrain

liked by charles_leclerc, landonorris and 555,465 others

y/nusername week 1. 🇧🇭

tagged: milliexoxo

yourmumsuser my pretty pretty grandbaby ❤️❤️❤️

norry4 y/n back on the tracks LFGOOOO

julieeeexo zoë is such a cute little thing 🥺

milliexoxo my cute little gurlfriend is stealing the show 😍

↳ landonorris just like her mum

norrizz lando norris get out of here, stop trying to flirt with the milfs for gods sake 😂

manon_roux ma petite princesse me manque :( (missing my little monkey)

bott_ass can't wait to see you and jenson judge Danica on love tv 😍

↳ hamilt44n honestly can't wait for y/n to shut Danica up

charliecharlie I don't think jenson would've survived another season without y/n 💀

charles_leclerc ma jolie princesse ❤️ (my pretty princess)

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y/nusername posted to their story

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y/nusername

📍 Saudi Arabia

liked by milliexoxo, landonorris and 478,745 others

y/nusername week 2. 🇸🇦

view all 1,889 comments

milliexoxo okaaaasy mom 😍

↳ y/nusername 😐

charlesgirlies millie >>>>> noelle

bott_ass millie >>>> manon

charlesgirlies millie is queen <3

milliexoxo stop it, the fame will get to my head 😇

hamilt44n is zoë always so happy? 😭

norrizz okay girl, I see the subtle hints 👀

↳ norry4 the nails 😭

charles16 they're orange not mclaren colors..

norry4 same thing to me 😭

charles16 y'all reaching too much, she's still with charles

norry4 it's alright bestie, I've been living in delulu land too, I'll help you through it

yukisan I love you mother, I hope you know that 🥰

landonorris amazing photographer, could you tag him?

↳ y/nusername @.lando.jpg

landonorris nice, great guy that is

landonorizz YOU'RE TELLING ME LANDO TOOK THAT SEXY ASS PICTURE?!

luhamilton I bet they make sex tapes 👀

landonorrizz only fans when??? 👀

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y/nusername posted to their story

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Desire taglist; @fangirl-dot-com @sainzluvrr @writingworlds @chezmardybum @lewisvinga @xjval @fanficweasley @rockyhayzkid @aundercover @thecubanator2 @minchedchilli @crimeshowjunkie @alisoncasey21 @eeviepepi08 @shamelesspotatos @sleepybrokenmelle @leireggsworld @janeholt3 @iamahalicinationn @dessxoxsworld @kapsylia @22yuki @dark-night-sky-99 @sheslikeacurse @nerdreader

Everything taglist; @thomaslefteyebrow @hopefulinlove @smoothopz @softboystarkey @honethatty12 @cixrosie @parkersmjs @ireadthensuetheauthors @celestialams @be-your-coffee-pot @heli991113 @kodzuvk @reality-is-a-con @80sloverry @bibissparkles @myescapefromthislife @lanando4 @elliegrey2803 @ravisinghs-wife @harrysdimple05 @minkyungseokie @pretty-little-bunny382728 @thatgirlthatreadswattpad @severewobblerlightdragon @cherry-piee @namgification

Lando taglist: @beatricemiruna @simp-for-fictional-people @landossainz @christianpulisic10 @bored-brunette2 @i83andrew

[chrisevansonly]

12 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐀𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 | 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐬

ʚsocial media au

ʚlando norris x female leclerc!sister reader

ʚlooks like your brothers are going to be seeing a lot more of lando…but that doesn’t mean the 6 foot rule is up..

ʚnot requested but i just wanted to do a little something! you can read part one here! <3

yn.leclerc

liked by landonorris, arthur_leclerc, lilyhme and 213,000 others

surprise i chopped my hair off!!!! (pls don’t break up w me lando)

see 5,000 comments

username OMG THE SHORT HAIR?!

username no this is everything

charles_leclerc tres belle mon soleil 🩷

>yn.leclerc merci charlie 🥺🥺

username me waiting to see what lando says 👀

landonorris HELLO

>yn.leclerc hi baby🥰

landonorris WOW BABY WOW

landonorris you’re so beautiful 😭

>arthur_leclerc alright relax romeo, she’s been wooed enough

>leclercpascale arthur soyez gentille avec lando!

leclercpascale c’est si gentille ma belle!😘

>yn.leclerc merci maman!!❤️❤️

landonorris

liked by maxfewtrell, yn.leclerc, lorenzotl and 567,000 others

mini getaway with my girl, and yes i beat her playing chess

tagged yn.leclerc

see 17,000 comments

username she’s so beautiful :(

username i love their relationship

username i saw somewhere that lorenzo actually pushed them to be together👀👀👀

>yn.leclerc he did, he loves lando 🥰

>lorenzotl love is a strong word…

>yn.leclerc admit it pls☹️

>lorenzotl okay okay fine…he makes you happy so he’s family

username AWWW ENZO LOVES LANDO😭😭

liked by landonorris

yn.leclerc thank you for my little trip i loved it and i LOVE you(i beat you 4 times before you finally won)❤️❤️

>landonorris i love you more (don’t air that out..)😘

username i could sob my eyes out right now

leclercpascale oh j’aime les fleurs!! très magnifique!

>landonorris j'en ai pris pour vous maman leclerc! 😁

username LANDO BUYING MAMAN LECLERC FLOWERS😭

yn.leclerc

liked by alexandrasaintmleux, charles_leclerc, landonorris and 432,000 others

bored waiting for lando to come home, oh yeah i forgot to mention we finally settled into our new house🥰

tagged landonorris

see 20,000 comments

username SKIN CARE ROUTINE PLS

>yn.leclerc it’s on my youtube!! same with makeup🥰

username oh to be her!!!!

username aww her and lando live together now😭

charles_leclerc he needs to be 12 feet away from you at all times

>yn.leclerc char it was 6…..why double it?

>charles_leclerc because you live with him now🙄

landonorris i’m coming home in 5 with your favourite for dinner!❤️

>yn.leclerc and this is why i love and adore you baby😘

username 🥹🥹🥹

arthur_leclerc still not onboard with you moving out. come back now.

>yn.leclerc awww thur it’s okay to miss me…i miss you so much :(

>arthur_leclerc 😪❤️

charles_leclerc

liked by yn.leclerc, mclaren, pierregasly and 657,000 others

mon soleil is this your man?

tagged yn.leclerc, landonorris

see 31,000 comments

username CHARLES 😭😭

username there is no way he posted this

username only brothers would post this shit

mclaren that’s one of our papaya boys!😁🧡

liked by landonorris

yn.leclerc CHARLIE!!! CE N’EST PAS GENTIL!!! 😡

>yn.leclerc but yes, yes he’s mine 🥰🥰

username y/n to charles: 😡😤🤬😾 y/n to lando:🥰🩷🌸🫧

landonorris mate….

landonorris this is just how did you even get these

>charles_leclerc never telling🌝🌝

>username the moon emoji😭😭

arthur_leclerc

liked by carla.brocker, landonorris, yn.leclerc and 233,000 others

mon ange is this your man?

tagged yn.leclerc and lando norris

see 24,000 comments

username NOT ARTHUR TOO😭😭

username oh my fucking god

lorenzotl 🙄🙄🙄

>arthur_leclerc traitor.

yn.leclerc MAMAN!!! @:leclercpascale

>leclercpascale 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

username even pascale is done😭😭

landonorris i’m not even going to attempt to form a sentence or thought

>yn.leclerc i’m sorry my love 🥺

>landonorris it’s okay baby, i have my own revenge planned someday 😏

username the leclerc and norris war is about to begin!!!

liked by landonorris

yn.leclerc

liked by mclaren, landonorris, lorenzotl and 435,000 others

my man my man my man (stay hating charles & arthur😚)

tagged landonorris

see 15,000 comments

username he looks so happy

username i love them together

username MY ROMAN EMPIRE

landonorris awww🥹

landonorris i love you forever and ever

>yn.leclerc and ever and ever!!

leclercpascale mes bébés ❤️❤️❤️

liked by yn.leclerc and landonorris

username okay but they’re so cute together

charles_leclerc 🙄🙄

>arthur_leclerc 🙄🙄

>maxfewtrell💀💀

username i feel like max finds this hilarious tbh

>maxfewtrell i do💀

landonorris

liked by maxfewtrell, yn.leclerc, leclercpascale and 632,000 others

the boys & the princess (aka our babysitter, love you baby)

tagged yn.leclerc and maxfewtrell

see 43,000 comments

username y/n looks SO over it😭

>yn.leclerc i promise i wasn’t, max and lando are just SO annoying when they drink together 😭

username HAHAHAHA y/n outing max and lando

maxfewtrell i’m not that bad…

>yn.leclerc BRO BE SO FOR REAL

charles_leclerc blink twice if you need help soleil

>yn.leclerc 😳😳

username please charles sends me everytime

username poor y/n

yn.leclerc you owe me.

>landonorris thank you baby, i know just the thing😉

username i can’t tell if that a suggestive wink or a normal one…

yn.leclerc

liked by landonorris, carla.brocker, arthur_leclerc and 657,000 others

life lately, lots of love, family and oh yeah…lando definitely made it up to me🥰💍

tagged, leclercpascale, charles_leclerc, arthur_leclerc and landonorris

see 68,000 comments

username OMG NO WAY😭

username these photos are so cute🥹

alexandrasaintmleux congratulations beautiful❤️

>yn.leclerc thank u lex!!! love you😚

username HOLY SHIT THEY’RE ENGAGED?!

carla.brocker AWW congrats!!!🥺

>yn.leclerc thank you sissy!!🩷🩷

leclercpascale felicitations a vous deux! ❤️❤️

liked by landonorris and yn.leclerc

charles_leclerc fine…i guess lando’s okay..congrats you two❤️

>yn.leclerc thank you charlie🥰

username THIS MADE MY DAY!

arthur_leclerc i guess welcome to the family….still 12 feet apart 😒🖤

>lorenzotl ^^^😁

>landonorris i’ll take it LOL

landonorris i love you forever and ever❤️

>yn.leclerc and ever and ever😘

[sunflowerkiwis]

Forever WAG

charles leclerc x reader - part three summary: big news come from you and charles and the fans finally find the answers they've been looking for... feedback is appreciated + requests are open! enjoy xx

part one | part two | part three | part four

charles_leclerc

liked by yourusername, carlossainz55, and 1,233,467 others

charles_leclerc i love you so much, i don’t even know where to start. for five years, we’ve been here for each other. through ups and downs, you’ve loved me. you’ve dealt with me in my toughest times and in my peaks. you give me the strength i need to get through life and you love me each day no matter what.

here’s to our forever, ma précieuse and my future Mme Leclerc

tagged: yourusername

- comments have been turned off by creator -

yourusername

liked by charles_leclerc, yourbestfriend, and 1,217,846 others

yourusername 🎶it’s been a long time coming, but…🎶 here’s our engagement party🤍♥️

words simply cannot describe the ecstasy i feel knowing you’re the one i’ll spend my forever with.

tagged: charles_leclerc

view all comments

danielricciardo i wonder who chose that cake😂😂

redbullracing oh no… we’ve lost her😔

user02 CONGRATUALTIONS OMGGGG (but that last slide-)

user04 fr, who’s gonna tell them the honeymoon is AFTER the wedding

liked by danielricciardo, pierregasly, georgerussell63 and others

user02 not the whole grid coming after them💀💀

yourbestfriend i guess it’s safe to say you won…

yourusername told ya

user06 ????

user54 okay so charles is gonna write her a whole thought out paragraph and she’s just gonna sit there taking pictures and quote taylor swift…?

user26 what exactly do you gain from sending this?

user54 i’m just saying, don’t think he should be marrying someone who doesn’t appreciate him as much as he does them

user40 babe… where have you been the past five years…

scuderiaferrari our parents🥹🥹

liked by charles_leclerc and yourusername

user36 OMG CONGRATULATIONS I TOLD YALL I CALLED IT OMG YAYYY

liked by yourusername

user08 none of us… none of us believed u and now 🥲🥲

yourmomsinsta congrats my babies 🥰🥰

user22 omg i completely forgot momma yln see these posts. yn your poor mother

liked by danielricciardo, landonorris, and others

georgerussell63

liked by yourusername, charles_leclerc, and 1,113,786 others

georgerussell it was a pleasure to help with this amazing day, congrats you fools🫶🫶

yn and charles - 26.05.26

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pierregasly hey, i helped too

georgerussell63 you’re literally the best man

charles_leclerc thank you so much mate (but also ow)

yourusername we love you too stupid &lt;3

user84 you just know mans had a whole powerpoint made for them 💀

liked by georgerussell63, yourusername, and charles_leclerc

~ 8 months later ~

yourusername

liked by yourbestfriend, charles_leclerc, and 1,749,837 others

yourusername she would’ve made such a lovely bride, what a shame she’s fucked in the head (the bride was in fact drunk) 🤍💍

tagged: yourbestfriend, yourfriend1, yourfriend2, yourfriend3, yourfriend4

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charles_leclerc wow

charles_leclerc hot

danielricciardo you can stay there while i bleach my eyes 🙂🙂

charles_leclerc pls come back :(

pierregasly ouch

carlossainz55 ouch

georgerussell63 ouch

maxverstappen1 ouch

yourusername that's crazy

user24 queen energy right there👑

danielricciardo pls don’t

yourusername 🫥

yourbestfriend my wife😍😍

carlossainz55 🤨🤨

yourusername my darling🥰🥰

charles_leclerc 🤨🤨

yourfriend1 five gorgeous gorgeous girls and a goddess of a bride🫶

liked by yourusername

yourbestfriend babe 🤍

liked by yourusername

yourfriend3

liked by yourusername, yourbestfriend, and 405,678 others

yourfriend3 girls’ weekend with the future mrs. leclerc

tagged: yourusername

- comments were turned off by creator -

charles_leclerc

liked by yourusername, carlossainz55, and 1,624,104 others

charles_leclerc bachelor’s weekend (two can play this game😉)

tagged: yourusername

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user52 the tag💀

user96 he rlly saw yn thirst trapping and said nonono😭

yourusername damn

yourusername now that’s just mean

charles_leclerc 😉

user58 he took my wife and i can’t even complain

yourbestfriend right??? @yourusername you rlly left us for a banana man????

yourusername what can i say? i like bananas ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

yourbestfriend yeah, HIS

liked by yourusername

user60 💀💀

pierregasly

liked by charles_leclerc, yourusername, and 1,119,036 others

pierregasly a wild charles enjoying his last few moments of freedom

tagged: charles_leclerc, arthur_leclerc

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yourusername that guy in the middle’s pretty handsome but i will say, that fella on the far left is my favorite

arthur_leclerc he is pretty great isn’t he👀

pierregasly what about the one on the right

yourusername meh

charles_leclerc you two do realize she’s marrying ME right?

liked by yourusername

sebastianvettel enjoy it while you can

yourusername i’m telling your wife

charles_leclerc handsome guy in those last two photos

yourusername hot.

yourusername

liked by charles_leclerc, yourbestfriend, and 1,245,634 others

yourusername you can’t outdo the doer, baby &lt;3

tagged: yourbestfriend, charles_leclerc

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user94 them tagging each other and trying to out thirst trap one another is something that probably should’ve been on my bingo card this year

user10 the way it’s like a competition but they still only comment on each others posts to thirst over the other 😭

charles_leclerc it’s always worth the thrill😉

landonorris i’ve refrained from interfering, but i’d like to remind you that there are children and parents here

yourusername babe did you forget to drop him off at daycare again

charles_leclerc i thought you were doing it?

yourusername honey, i’m not back until a few days remember?

charles_leclerc i’m sorry chéri, force of habit. @landonorris get ready, we have to leave soon

landonorris 😐

carlossainz55 yn, vale, can i have my girlfriend back

yourusername she was mine first, wait your turn pepper boy

yourbestfriend

liked by yourusername, charles_leclerc, and 1,129,357 others

yourbestfriend happy wife, happy life ep 1: girls’ post-bachelorette party bachelorette weekend getaway ✨🫶

tagged: yourusername

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user58 yn always serves like that second pic????

user92 these two being couple goals and serving per usual

charles_leclerc lovely♥️

carlossainz55 you look gorgeous querida❤️ both of you. can you please come back now 🥲

charles_leclerc i second that

yourusername no :)

yourbestfriend the bride has spoken

- tags <3 -

@luciaexcorvus @roseseraj

[jennifer-jeong]

can we get a headcanon of the lads boys' (raf, Zayne & Xavier) reaction when MC bought her little sister that resembles a lot to her (MC) I'm dying for some fluffs here where the boys interact with a kid 😂🥰

HI ANON SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG JFDKLA;JFDLSA; THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR ASKK it’s so fluffy and funny heheh I had fun with this one

NOTE that reader’s sister is around 12 years old in this

Fluff + Crack | F!Reader Little Sister?

CONTENT Fluff, crack, shitposting LOL, implied feminine reader

WORD COUNT: 1342

RAFAYEL

Your sister definitely bullies him at first just like you do (LMAO) and he will pout and turn away in annoyance and she’ll do the same but then you’ll look away for 2 seconds and they’ll be best friends.

At first when you invite Rafayel over, your sister is probably a bit scared, hiding behind you holding onto you. He probably comments on how she’s kind of your “mini-me” and your sister hits him with the “I’m not mini!” and he’ll reply “well you look pretty mini to me.” Then she’ll kick him in the shins (not too hard just a warning kick). He’ll gasp and then dramatically cross his arms, turning away while pouting, she’ll do the same. Of course you’re just giggling at the antics not helping because you know they’ll get along quickly.

“Okay okay you two, go play some games while I finish making dinner for everyone,” you mediate before heading off to the kitchen. So the two stand there for a second before side eyeing each other and scrambling to the TV to see who is the champion at Mario Kart because that is extremely important information. Of course you can hear their screaming and laughter from the kitchen: “WHY DID YOU THROW THAT BANANA AT ME” you hear Rafayel scream, “IT’S YOUR FAULT FOR BEING THERE” you hear your sister reply.

Rafayel definitely yells as if he’s actually driving a car so if he crashes he’ll actually act like he crashed and it makes your sister laugh until her cheeks hurt.

Later on you find out Rafayel placed 6th out of 12 and your sister smoked him for 1st place LMAOOO. They tell you some of the funny moments and it’s all filled with laughter and a bit of banter but they’re practically best friends at this point. You even join them for a few games after dinner and it’s hilarious.

From then on, there isn’t a single moment where your sister isn’t braiding his hair/putting it in pigtails, putting clips on his bangs, play fighting with him, or just having fun with him.

ZAYNE

Basically your sister is dead terrified of him when she first sees him but since Zayne is surprisingly good with all patients, kids included, he’s actually very good with your sister as well.

When you bring your sister to your shared apartment with Zayne, her eyes are literally wide open with fear upon seeing him and when you tell her to come inside, she shakes her head. So you tell her “aw are you scared of him?? He’s harmless, look he’ll even do a dance.” So Zayne looks at you, still deadpan, looks back at your sister, and shimmy’s his arms back and forth a bit. That man is STIFF doing this move but at least he tried.

Her fear hasn’t quite gone away at this point but now it’s just confused fear?? But she agrees to come inside. You walk off to go make dinner and tell them to start a puzzle together and you’ll all finish it after dinner, comforting your sister and reassuring her that Zayne is very sweet. She sits down in the living room with him and they dump the pieces out.

Zayne pauses, staring at the puzzle pieces before asking your sister “what do you call a dancing puzzle?” and she is mildly mortified before actually thinking about the question. She responds “I don’t know, what is it called?” and he, fully deadpan, replies “a jiggy-saw.” Something about the way this stoic man said “jiggy” was just absolutely hilarious despite the awful pun and your sister lets out a snort and Zayne gives a short chuckle. He suggests they begin on the puzzle and they start chatting to get to know each other, occasionally stopping to make fun of some of the funny looking puzzle pieces.

When you call them over for dinner, Zayne holds out his hand for a high five and your sister excitedly obliges before “racing” him to the table, to which he of course loses. They then continue their yapping into dinner as your sister opens up more.

At the end of dinner Zayne has to offer your sister a classic doctor’s office candy and her face lights up, accepting it and running off. You all work on the puzzle and chat, your sister occasionally going over to you and Zayne to tie your hair into matching ponytails that make you look like unicorns with her pink scrunchies.

When it came time for your sister to leave however, she definitely clings onto Zayne’s leg telling him to not let them take her away. But Zayne of course knows how to handle this and says “hey, there will always be next time, and if you promise to be good, you can have two candies, one now, and one the next time we hangout, okay? I’ll even hold on to this scrunchie to remember,” and she agrees to the deal. Needless to say, they were besties now.

XAVIER

Your sister is probably very confused and kind of intimidated when she meets him and Xavier has no clue what to do but he’ll do something cool with his sword or light evol and she’ll never stop being amazed.

When you call Xavier to your apartment for dinner and to meet your sister, he did not expect you to have a tiny doppelganger. What YOU expected even less was for him to literally shake her hand and say “nice to meet you.” Like he fully pulled out the businessman handshake to greet her but she followed along and also hit him with the “nice to meet you too.” Then he walks in as if nothing happened while you and your sister just stand there, watching him walk away before looking at each other and giggling.

You tell them you’re going to finish making dinner and for them to watch a short movie or an episode of a show which they wait. Your sister, being your sister, of course suggests that they watch the new episode of Demon Slayer. Xavier is caught up because you suggested it to him and he agrees, saying he finds the fighting really cool. They watch a bit until the first fight scene and Xavier is like “yoooo check this out” and pulls out his wooden sword LMAO.

He does the same slashing move the character in the scene does and he even uses his light evol to make it look like he has the same powers. He looks back and your sister’s jaw is on the actual floor while he just stands there like the standing person emoji, not sure what to do next.

2 seconds later and he’s teaching her how to hold the sword properly and how to do some basic movements. Her eyes are full of sparkles and she finds him so freaking cool !!! He’s literally a demon slayer character!!!

Xavier of course sees another fight scene and copies a few of the movements. However, he’s too busy watching the screen to see what’s in front of him… Your vase of flowers now sits on the floor. Xavier and your sister literally get on the ground praising the heavens for the vase being plastic and not glass before laughing. Quickly they hear a “WHAT DID YOU KNOCK OVER” from the kitchen and they simultaneously yell “NOTHING” while both hitting the standing person emoji pose.

You put them in timeout together as a joke (you left them there for like 10 seconds and then you all laughed).

During dinner they caught you up on the episode and after eating you finished it together. You all talk about how good it was until you joke that you’ve become a demon yourself and they need to slay you !!! So Xavier and your sister tackle you while you all giggle.

From that day on, your sister never stops talking about how cool her bestie Xavier is and how she wants to train her “demon slaying skills” with him again.

|| MASTERLIST ♡ || Thank you for reading! ||

[nmakii]

Yan Alastor when he sees his kids arrive in hell? The family is soon to be back together again!!? I need some angst! The family drama is crazy, and im all for it.

Also i hope you’re doing okay! Sending you some supportive vibes!! Remember to take care of yourself and take breaks!

Ps: Al would totally forgive his daughter of his death and compliment her daughters aim.

STUCK WITH U?

[you should prob read the story first!]

— reunited with your children years after your death, something strange happened.

hello, nonnie!! im doing well as long as u guys r enjoying this story 🥰💕

beloved mother, wife, and daughter

resting beside her love, may her soul find his in the afterlife

if you tried to be optimistic, hell wasn’t so bad. you never had to worry much for the exterminations. nor, did you have to worry about being harassed on the streets of hell by various sinners. after all, alastor was there to protect you.

but despite that, it didn’t mean he wouldn’t tear you down to make you compliant.

you sat in a corner of alastor’s broadcast tower as he brutally tore apart another overlord. and as he went off the air, he turned to you. “are you enjoying yourself, my doe?” he asked. “i don’t understand why i have to be here…” you said, mentally hurling from his new pet name. “you’re so delicate, my love. one trip and you could break! i have to be there to make sure you’re well at all times.” he cooed to you. “stop patronizing me, alastor. i won’t let you take away my dignity.” you glared at him. “darling, i may not own your soul. but, you are still my wife. you are mine, understand?” he explained, walking to you.

you didn’t respond to him, refusing to let him degrade your self worth. to this, he grew angry— grabbing you by your jaw and scalp, his claws scratching against your porcelain skin, lovingly yet still rough, as if he thought it was for your own good. “i said, do you understand?”

his face came close to your’s as he kept a tight grip on your hair, waiting for your answer. your fight or flight response was sending signals and going haywire as you tried to pull away from his touch. “yes— gh, let go of me, alastor. please…” you begged as he finally let go. “good girl.”

and just then, an awfully convenient knock came from the door. a man with lamb-like features peered through the door. “and, who might you be?” alastor raised an eyebrow to the man. “so it’s true… d-dad..! it’s me!” the familiar voice said. could it be?

“noah— is that you..?” you asked. you hoped it wasn’t him, that he didn’t end up in hell. but at the same time, you wished to see your son one more time so badly. “momma, it’s me!” he smiled, hugging you and alastor tightly. “ah, my boy…” alastor sighed. “you’re so much older than your old man now, huh?” he remarked. but then, it hit you, he was dead.

“wh— dear, what happened, how did you die?” you asked. “killed in action, ma. guess i should’ve just retired already…” he joked. “oh, my son…” alastor grinned.

and things were normal— at least, as normal as they could be with your deranged husband. things stayed as they were for 13 years.

when rumor spread of a mysterious man-eating sinner— she uses them to build her power, and then she drops them like dirt trash. she’s amassed so much power, she’s certainly a threat to alastor’s power. if he couldn’t get rid of her, perhaps he could keep her under his thumb.

“well, how do you do, sweetheart? alastor, pleasure to meet you, quite the pleasure! this over here is my darling wife!” alastor introduced both him and yourself to the older woman with features that resembled a coyote. “alastor..? is that you, dad?” the honey-like voice asked.

alastor’s eyes had widened as he realized the woman in front of him. “little emi, is that you?” emilia reached out to hug the both of you. she aged beautifully, still as charming as she was the day you died.

“oh, my pretty girl, you’ve made quite the name for yourself down here in hell, hm?” alastor grinned at his daughter. “i learned from the best!” she laughed back.

and as they conversed, you felt like an odd man out. as if alastor was talking to his own clone. given, she is her father’s daughter after all.

“darling! our little emi is here, our little family is reunited at last.” alastor grinned to you. “this calls for a celebration, don’t you think? why don’t we have a special dinner tonight?” he suggested. by his tone, the only thing you could think of would be that he wants to have another sinner served on the dinner table. “i-i don’t know…” you shook your head in disagreement. “now don’t be such a negative nancy!” he laughed. “i’ll cook a feast tonight!” he declared, taking emilia to your home in hell.

and, just as you suspected, he served the flesh of a fellow overlord, fillet mignon style. “come now, dear, eat!” alastor said, encouraging you to take a bite. “no thank you… i’m not hungry.” you frowned, shaking your head. alastor looked frustrated as you denied him. “eat.” he said, shoving the meat into your mouth.

you felt sick. but, as he shoved it down your throat, you had no choice but to swallow. “delicious, isn’t it?” he asked. your stomach churned, the guilt settling in your gut. it tasted disgusting. but, as much as you wanted to protest, you were scared of what he’d do if you disagreed. “yes… it is— delicious.” he grinned. “lovely.”

and so, your family dynamic had returned to as it had 47 years ago. back to normal… that is, until that odd day.

you woke up in your bed, as per usual. and, there was a note where alastor should be. not that you weren’t grateful he wasn’t there though.

‘leaving for a sabbatical, you know overlord work! i’ll be home very soon, my doe. kisses and love.

~ A’

sabbatical, huh? he’ll be gone for quite a while, a year at most? and, without alastor, you’re free. it felt as if breathing fresh air for the first time. even if just for a year or so, you won’t have to be on his leash anymore. all would be well now, right?

right..?

but with your freedom, alastor’s protection was gone. sinners started to harass you. and without the company of emilia, you could do nothing but withstand it.

this is all apart of being free. might as well enjoy it until alastor returned, right? make the most of the year.

or, seven years.

[inthedayswhenlandswerefew]

Napoleonville [Chapter 4: The House Of Glass]

Series Summary: The year is 1988. The town is Napoleonville, Louisiana. You are a small business owner in need of some stress relief. Aemond is a stranger with a taste for domination. But as his secrets are revealed, this casual arrangement becomes something more volatile than either of you could have ever imagined.

Chapter Warnings: Language, references to sexual content (18+ readers only), dom/sub dynamics, koi fish, smoking, drinking, drugs, kids, parenthood, Willis Warning, impractical architecture, angst, Adventures With Aegon, historical topics including war and discrimination, let's all give a nice warm welcome to Christabel! 🥳

Word Count: 7.4k.

Link to chapter list (and all my writing): HERE.

Taglist: @marvelescvpe @toodlesxcuddles @era127 @at-a-rax-ia @0eessirk8 @arcielee @dd122004dd @humanpurposes @taredhunter @tinykryptonitewerewolf @partnerincrime0 @dr-aegon @persephonerinyes @namelesslosers @burningcoffeetimetravel-fics @daenysx @gemini-mama @chattylurker @moonlightfoxx @huramuna @britt-mf @myspotofcraziness @padfooteyes @aemonddtargaryen @trifoliumviridi @joliettes @darkenchantress @florent1s @babyblue711 @minttea07 @libroparaiso @bluerskiees @herfantasyworldd @elizarbell @urmomsgirlfriend1 @fudge13 @strangersunghoon

Let me know if you'd like to be added to the taglist! 🥰🧁

It’s dawn, but you’ve already been up for hours. The sky turns from indigo to embers to flames to a cool, cloudless blue; mourning doves coo, goldfinches chirp, swamp rabbits gnaw on blades of grass glittering with dewdrops like diamonds. As the vanilla bean cake bakes in the oven, you go to Cadi’s room, sit on the edge of her bed, lay a hand lightly on the indistinct knoll that is your daughter curled up beneath her Rambo-themed blanket.

You murmur as she stirs awake: “Bonjour, ma cherie.”

Cadi rolls over, blinking groggily. You don’t call her this often. It’s something you picked up from Willis when you were married. You have a vision—sudden, jarring, though not entirely unwelcome—of him pacing back and forth with Cadi in his arms, one month old, 1 a.m., Willis humming some Cajun folk song to lull her to sleep. “Mom? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. I called Cascade Stables, there’s a spot reserved for you.”

“What? Really?!” Her face glows, Christmas lights, the Fourth of July. “But you said…how…?”

You can’t take the credit. You won’t give it to Willis if it’s unearned. “Actually, Aemond offered to pay. So you don’t need to worry about anything. The house is fine, the car is fine. No need to sacrifice your birthday presents.”

Cadi sits upright and ponders you, enigmatic childish confusion. “Mom…is Aemond your boyfriend?”

Well, honey, at first he was just some stranger from a kinky personal ad and then he was a delicious distraction and now I fear I might be starting to want more from him, something not so temporary, something forbidden. But I don’t know who he is. “I don’t think it’s quite that serious yet,” you say instead. “Would you like for him to be around more?”

She shrugs, and you recognize it not as true reluctance but rather as feigned, self-preserving indifference. “Yeah. I mean, I guess so. He’s okay.” Then she adds: “What happened to his face?”

“I honestly don’t know. He doesn’t like to talk about it.”

“Maybe he was in a war,” Cadi says, glancing down at her Rambo blanket, Sylvester Stallone armed and stern and shirtless.

“Um, yeah, maybe.”

“Can I have cake for breakfast?”

“No, you cannot,” you say, smiling. “But you can have some of Amir’s leftover jambalaya that’s still in the fridge.”

“Fine.”

“Get up. Get ready. Amir should be here soon, once he can watch the cakes I’ll drive you to school.”

“If you let me stay home, I could help you bake.”

“You definitely wouldn’t help. You’d just spend eight hours playing that Nintendo.”

Cadi grins. “Probably.” Then she rolls out of bed and shuffles towards the kitchen over the creaking, sinking floor.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh, what the fuck,” you hiss to yourself as you park behind Willis’ sheriff’s vehicle—a Plymouth Gran Fury—which just so happens to be towing a 20-foot jon boat. You step outside into glaring 90-degree sunshine, slam the door of your Chevy Celebrity, and jog into the Assumption Parish Sheriff’s Office. You are carrying a white bakery box full of cherry cobbler muffins.

“Hey sugar,” Willis drawls when he sees you. The holding cells are empty; the electric fans are whirring. Heather Locklear is simpering from where her poster is taped to the wall.

You throw the bakery box down onto his paper-strewn desk. “What the hell is that outside?”

“My new boat,” Willis says proudly. “Picked it up first thing this morning.”

“So you can get a new boat, but Cadi can’t go to horse camp?”

He throws his arms wide, exasperated. Men love to make a habit out of being exasperated by things that should be obvious. “She’s gonna get way more outta that boat than from spendin’ a week brushin’ horses! We’ll be fishin’ in it together ‘til she starts poppin’ out her own babies. If Lake Verret ain’t a puddle of oil by then. You know I’ve had three deputies resign in the past ten days? Three! I’m bleeding manpower. I can’t compete. With overtime, they can make twice as much workin’ security on the rigs.”

“I thought you voted for Reagan and his energy independence.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want them drillin’ in my neighborhood.” He flips open the box, grabs a muffin, and takes a huge, messy bite. Crumbs go flying everywhere.

“Well, Cadi is going to get to brush those horses after all,” you tell Willis. “She’ll be gone from June 24th to July 1st. Just so you know.”

His forehead crinkles as he chews. “Where’d you dig up a spare $300?”

He gave me $400, actually. “A friend offered to pay. Kind of embarrassing that they stepped up instead of you.”

Willis ignores this jab. It is uncharacteristically combative of you; but you’re hot, you’re exhausted, you have a splitting headache, you still have four cakes to finish before noon tomorrow. Sweat rolls in beads down the slope of your neck, the curve of your back. It will evaporate once you’re back outside again, once the sun bakes it off you like nightmares fade in daylight. “A friend, huh?” Willis is more fascinated than annoyed. He gnaws on his muffin, contemplating you. “The only friend I know of is Amir the Queer, and he ain’t got nothin’.”

He does; he’s just squirreling it all away for San Franscisco. “Don’t call him that. Don’t be a neanderthal.”

Willis’ thoughts are elsewhere. If not Amir, then who? Who? He asks, smirking: “You got a petit ami, sugar?”

A boyfriend, he means, a beau, a lover, a partner, a suitor. Do I? “No,” you decide. “No, he’s just a regular friend. Really.”

Willis chomps on his cherry cobbler muffin. His smirk stretches into a grin. “Sure he is.”

“Okay. You called and asked for muffins, and the muffins have been delivered. Now I gotta go. I have a hell of an order to finish for tomorrow. Which reminds me…” You take the folded piece of yellow legal pad paper out of your shorts pocket and open it to read the address of the Targaryen residence. “Where is 1066 Loch Raven Terrace? I’ve never heard of it.”

“Oh, that’s in a brand new development, real highfalutin, mansions and all. That’s where the Jade Dragon folks are livin’. You gotta go way down 401 towards Lake Verret. Turn onto Owlet, then Egret, then Loch Raven.”

You snatch a blue pen out of the mug on his desk—World’s Best Cop, it says—to scribble the directions down on your paper. “Great. Thanks. Why’d they name it that? We don’t even have ravens in Louisiana.”

“Maybe they got ‘em back in England and the Rockefellers want to feel right at home.”

You nod. This makes sense; this is a sufficiently egotistical explanation. You check the clock on the wall; it’s almost time to get Cadi from school. “You’re picking up Cadi tomorrow morning?”

“Yeah. ‘Round 8:00, as usual.”

“Sounds good. I’ll see you then.”

Willis asks longingly, looking nowhere in particular: “Remember when we were gonna go to Mexico for our anniversary?”

“Yeah. And I remember when we didn’t.”

He shrugs, perhaps regretful, mourning some hypothetical versions of yourselves. “I got busy. I got lazy.”

“We would have ended up in the same place, Willis. It just might have taken longer.”

“Sure,” he mutters, but he doesn’t sound like he believes it. He’s reaching for his second muffin as you push through the glass door and step out into the sweltering afternoon sunlight.

Twenty minutes later, you’re rolling into your driveway: windows down, cicadas screeching, a flock of pelicans flapping by overhead, Cadi singing along to Jump by Van Halen. But when you cut the engine, you catch a glimpse of something strange in your rearview mirror. You have a visitor. He’s coasting down the driveway in his red Audi Quattro, displacing a grey wave of gravel. You and Cadi climb out of your Celebrity to greet him.

“Aemond?” you say, hands on your hips, a growing involuntary smile. You weren’t supposed to see him until Saturday night, until your talk about the future, a future you both disavowed before starting to get a taste for it. “What are you doing here?!”

“I only have a minute.” When he emerges from the Quattro, he’s dragging his neon teal duffle bag.

Cadi gasps. “More Nintendo games?!”

Aemond chuckles and shakes his head. “Sorry, not quite.”

Cadi groans dramatically and sprints off into the house, probably to devour an ungodly amount of baked goods.

“Don’t eat the Cap’n Crunch Treats!” you shout after her. “They’re for a customer!”

Aemond strolls over to you, wearing jeans, a white tank top, and his Adidas sneakers. His ever-present Marlboro jacket has been forgotten. His hair is a mess, he’s touching his chin restlessly; he really does look like he’s in a rush. “Hey,” he says softly, returning your smile.

You point to his duffle bag. “So you’re not here to tie me up.”

“Regrettably, no.”

“Cadi was really, really happy this morning to learn that you paid for horse camp.”

“I’m glad. Please don’t mention it again.” Aemond glances to his right and spies the alligator sunbathing a few yards away, a deep swampy green and fast asleep. “Oh, fuck!” He grabs your arm, pulls you to him, walks with you briskly towards the house. “You need to get that thing turned into a purse or shoes or something.”

You laugh. “She won’t go after you. She knows you’re bigger than she is.”

“I’m not going to take your word for it.”

In the living room, Aemond tosses his duffle bag on the couch, unzips it, and lifts out a Nikon F3 digital camera. Amir peeks out of the kitchen, flour and powdered sugar dusting his palms, his forearms, his cheeks. “What the…?”

“I need a white wall,” Aemond says distractedly, peering around. The living room walls are pink, the kitchen is mint green, Cadi’s room is yellow, the bathroom is a pale blue. Cadi watches as he darts around the small house, sitting at the kitchen counter and chomping on a ginger molasses cookie. Then Aemond snaps his fingers, remembering. He turns to you. “Your bedroom has white walls.”

“And of course he knows all about your bedroom,” Amir says.

“Come with me,” Aemond orders you.

“Okay…?”

“Cadi too.”

You and Cadi follow Aemond into the bedroom, Amir trotting close behind to satisfy his curiosity. Aemond shows Cadi where to stand against the wall, in a spot where the lighting is good, no shadows, no cracks in the paint, no paintings or photographs. He raises the Nikon and gazes through the viewfinder with his right eye.

“Alright, here we go…just from the shoulders up…yeah, look at me straight-on, just like that…big smile, one two three!” He takes a picture; you can hear the click. “Beautiful! You’re Cindy Crawford! Naomi Campbell! Linda Evangelista! Let’s go again…”

Cadi giggles as she poses: a few respectable smiles, a few silly faces, a few where Aemond asks her to act serious. Cadi says, with an exaggerated grimace: “Look, I’m Mom when Daddy tries to talk to her.” Amir guffaws from the doorway.

“Your turn,” Aemond tells you, waving you over. Aemond directs you like he’s looking for excuses to touch your shoulders, your waist, your face, making minute adjustments that can’t really matter. You’re good at the serious faces, but he’s not satisfied with your smile. “No, a real one. A real smile!”

“I am really smiling!” you protest.

Aemond lowers the camera and raises an eyebrow at you. “You can do better. I’ve seen it.”

And suddenly, effortlessly, you’re beaming.

“There you go,” Aemond says in approval, and snaps a few frames. “Done.”

“What do you need pictures of us for?”

“Just a little project I’m working on,” Aemond says, evasive. He ventures back to the living room without further explanation.

As Aemond zips the Nikon into his duffle bag, you go to the kitchen to see how far Amir has gotten with the Targaryens’ engagement party order. In a dozen different icing colors, he’s painted wildflowers—your favorite since you were Cadi’s age—all over the white buttercream frosting of the vanilla bean cake. You wrap an arm around his waist, rest your head against his chest. “You’re Picasso.”

“I’m a sad, single, four-eyes twink who lives with his Grandma.”

“You’re the love of my life.”

He laughs and smacks a noisy kiss onto your cheek. Aemond watches, amused, thoughtful. He has that same look he had when he walked in on Cadi and Amir dancing to Kyrie, like someone studying a work of art in a museum, something beautiful but arcane, crafted by a foreign stranger who’s been dead for centuries. You start chopping pecans for the hummingbird cake.

“Okay,” Aemond announces with a heavy sigh. “I gotta run.”

“Already?” Cadi says, more disappointed than she’s trying to let on.

“He’s a very busy man,” you tell her. “He’s an engineer. And a historian, too.”

“Just an engineer,” Aemond says, startled.

“Only a historian would think to quiz me about Napoleon to see if I was worthy of his time.”

“You should know something about the man your town was named after.” Aemond leans in close—smoke and cologne, sun and salt—and growls into your ear: “Bye, Cupcake. Taste you later.”

“Bye.” And you watch him leave with his neon teal duffle bag slung over one shoulder, so preoccupied you completely forget about the pecans. Your knife rests on the cutting board, your thoughts are tangled up in what you and Aemond need to talk about tomorrow. I want more than something casual. I do, I really do.

Amir whips you with a dishtowel. “Ho, we’ve got cakes to bake! Let’s go, let’s go!” And then he asks more sympathetically as he pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose: “How’s your headache?”

“Oh,” you say, only realizing it when he asked. “It’s gone now.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The driveway is long and meandering, brand new but meant to look old, cobblestones lined with meticulously manicured hedges and beasts carved out of marble: bears, dolphins, horses, dragons. On the shores of Lake Verret, out of sight of the rigs and surrounded by towering gnarled southern live oaks older than the United States, you find the Targaryen family residence—manor? estate? chateau?—and park your Chevy Celebrity amidst a sea of Lexuses, Audis, Porsches, Cadillacs, and Alfa Romeos. There are willowy whooping cranes tiptoeing their way across the lawn. A blue merle Great Dane, gigantic and glaring menacingly, lurks behind the white columns of the wraparound front porch.

“That is not a house,” Amir says, gazing up at it through the windshield. “That is a castle.”

“That is where we’re going to make a lot of money if we can impress the Rockefellers.”

“Whoo hoo!” he cheers, climbing out of the car. “San Fran, I hope you’re ready for me!”

You’re dragging the coolers out of the back seat when you are descended upon by a herd of servants, dressed in black so as not to distract from the festivities, so they can fade into the backdrop, so they can become invisible. You and Amir have missed the memo. Your sundress is from Kmart: white with pink zinnias, a cheap and unextraordinary flower for an undistinguished woman from an anonymous town in one of the most impoverished states in the nation. Amir is wearing neon orange shorts and a (very tight) t-shirt from Queen’s Magic Tour that he found at a yard sale.

“These are the cakes?” the head butler asks impatiently, a grim-faced man with salt and pepper hair and spotless white gloves.

“Yeah, that box has the coconut cake, and that one has the key lime, and there are the Cap’n Crunch Treats, and…hey! Wait!” You watch helplessly as the fleet of servants ferry the boxes up the porch steps and into the house. You and Amir stare at each other as you stand abandoned on the cobblestones. “What do we do now?”

“Do we just…leave…?!”

“You made it!” Alicent cries, sailing out of the doorway and swathed in a flowing cream-colored gown. Her large dark eyes are bright and ever-shifting, almost manic; sunlight shimmers on her auburn hair. There is music pouring out behind her, thudding but indistinct, rumbling bass, heady guitar strums. “Come inside. You simply must come in.”

“Oh, we couldn’t impose!” Amir says, already inching towards the house.

“I’ll hear no more of that. You rescued me in my hour of need and I shall not forget it.” Alicent beckons you closer. Her smile is broad and radiant but tight, like she’s having to remember to keep it that way, like her muscles are beginning to ache. “Enjoy some hors d’oeuvres, at least. We have shrimp cocktail, miniature quiches, vol-au-vents, clams casino, Swedish meatballs, little smokies, deviled eggs with paprika, and lots of champagne! Quickly now. There are some people I’d like you to meet.”

Amir glances back at you as you follow him up the porch steps. “People, huh?”

The Great Dane stalks over to you, sniffs, growls deep and low. You freeze, not wanting to provoke it. Its eyes—muddy greenish-brown and swimming with a cunning hostility—remind you of an alligator’s, not the five-footer that idles on your lawn but one of the true monsters of the bayou, old and grizzled and always hungry.

“Vhagar, no!” Alicent scolds, pushing the beast’s massive muzzle away. You imagine it chomping on her hand until it’s gone: one bite, two bites, nothing left but gristle and blood. “No! Bad dog! Go away, go!” The Great Dane reluctantly retreats, glowering from behind a column. “I’m so sorry about that. I’m utterly mortified. She’s terribly unfriendly, but she doesn’t bite. Usually.”

“It’s fine!” you say, heart still racing.

“She belongs to my son. My children…their obsessions confound me. But as mothers, we’re powerless to stop them, aren’t we?”

“I suppose so,” you reply, thinking of Cadi’s wildness, willfulness; though trying to change her would feel wrong.

“Now I certainly owe you a glass of champagne,” Alicent says, billowing like a cloud into the house, her gold heels clicking on the marble floor.

You pass through the doorway and into a vast, crowded foyer, all white and gold: a massive crystalline chandelier, oriental vases and sculptures of men you don’t recognize, paintings on the wall, servants flitting around with trays of hors d’oeuvres. On one table is a tower of champagne glasses, each with a single red cherry marooned inside. Guests mingle in their sport coats and suits and taffeta and sequins, and oddly, none of them are talking about the couple whose engagement is being celebrated. They talk instead about ski trips, polo matches, oil futures, the Soviets, the Saudis, the godawful humidity in this misfortunate corner of the world that they can’t wait to leave. There are stained glass windows everywhere, scenes of suns, stars, sunflowers, dragonflies, lemon trees, sand on beaches. It’s cold, extremely cold, frigid drafts gushing from the air conditioning vents. A Dire Straits song pours not from a Panasonic boombox but from a stereo system with a pair of speakers as tall as you are, Sultans Of Swing. There is a baffling dual chorus clanging around in your skull: Nobody needs this. I’ll never be able to give my daughter anything like this.

Amir whistles as he peers around, eyes wide behind his tortoiseshell glasses. “This place must cost a fortune to cool.”

“I Teleftaia Epithymia.” Alicent struggles with the pronunciation; she speaks slowly, effortfully. “It’s what my husband named the house. What we named the house, I mean. It’s Greek for The Last Desire. As in, no one could possibly want anything more than what this home can offer. Isn’t that poetic? I’ve fallen quite in love with it.” Still, there is that slight nervousness to everything she does, that over-eagerness to please, that restless rushing fidgeting. She wears large gold teardrop earrings that she keeps touching. “We knew we’d have to build something here for the new project on the lake. My son is overseeing it, and he’ll have to spend the next year here, at least. It’s a big step for him. It’s the first drilling operation he’s been given command of. And he—”

“Alicent!” A man comes striding through the crowd. He has shoulder-length pale blonde hair and is wearing a black pinstripe suit, a business suit, authoritative but not joyful. He doesn’t notice you or Amir. You don’t exist to him yet. “Where the hell is the ice sculpture? You said there would be an ice sculpture.”

“It’s on its way, darling. I already called.”

“It should be here now!”

“Viserys, please.” Alicent’s voice is low, embarrassed. “The driver got lost, you know our address is new. They stopped at a payphone and rang us and I straightened it out. They’ll arrive any minute.”

“They better,” the man grumbles. “It’s her family’s crest, for Christ’s sake. We need that ice dragon.”

“This is my husband,” Alicent tells you and Amir, forced smile, pleading eyes, trying to pivot. “Viserys, do you remember the wonderful people I told you about? From Hummingbird Bakery?”

“Bakery?” He seems to have only a vague recollection and even less interest. His gaze is already wandering to other guests. He flashes a grin and waves at a few middle-aged men in grey suits.

“They saved me. They were able to bake us six beautiful cakes with only two days’ notice.”

“And Cap’n Crunch Treats,” Amir adds.

Now Viserys Targaryen does turn his attention to you, and his forehead knits into perturbed wrinkles. His cool blue eyes skate over your Kmart dress, your forearms still dotted with flour and frosting, your cheap pink flats with bows on the front. “It’s a pleasure.” Then he looks to Amir—orange shorts, too-tight shirt that stops at his navel, dogwood flower in his hair—and seems to startle a little. “Alicent, you didn’t mention…uh…he’s…oh well. Too late now. It can’t be helped.”

You and Amir share a glance, polite smiles pasted on your faces. Alicent is abjectly horrified. “Viserys, he’s extremely professional.”

“There are the Lannisters. I must be off.” And the Targaryen family patriarch unceremoniously departs. You and Amir pretend to admire the stained glass windows. Alicent picks at the beds of her fingernails, her rings jangling against each other, her eyes misty.

Criston appears out of nowhere, wearing a white suit with a zebra print shirt underneath. Today his single earring is silver to match. He glides a hand around Alicent’s waist and leans in so close that his nose brushes her fiery hair. “What? What do you need?”

“The ice sculpture people—”

“I’ll wait outside for them,” Criston says, and departs as swiftly as he arrived.

“Please allow me to give you a quick tour of the house,” Alicent says, recovering somewhat. “I’m so grateful for your help. And things keep happening that only make me feel more indebted.” Then she hands each of you a flute of champagne, spins on her heels, and leads you out of the foyer.

Each room is a different color. The living room is red, furniture of lush velvet and Italian leather, bookshelves tall enough to need ladders, a brick fireplace that they’ll never use. Through a pair of French doors you can glimpse a garden and a pool with a water slide. The dining room is a cheerful butter yellow. The kitchen is teal, and like all the rest of the house has stained glass windows to match; these are shaped like a cathedral’s and run all the way up to the ceiling. Servants have arrayed your cakes on the counter, each with a label handwritten in cursive and a set of knives to cut it with. A plate of Cap’n Crunch Treats has been tucked away back by the stove like something they’re a little ashamed of.

Everywhere she goes, Alicent introduces you and Amir to the guests she crosses paths with. “Have you met these heavenly people from Hummingbird Bakery yet? Yes, they’re local, true Louisianans! I see you’ve already helped yourself to a slice of the key lime cake. Isn’t it just fantastic?! And a gorgeous shade of green! It’s so peculiar, you won’t believe what this sweetheart has living in her yard, a real-life alligator…”

You whisper to Amir: “Are we her pet poor people?”

“You might be. I’m proudly undomesticated.”

“Christabel!” Alicent shouts jubilantly as the girl scrolls into the kitchen. “There you are, dear! Come see your cakes.”

Christabel complies, shy but agreeable, peeking out from under a shock of feathery blonde bangs. She wears gleaming diamond earrings and a very bridal white one-shoulder dress, showing quite a bit of skin; you notice that some of the other guests milling about the kitchen cast her judgmental smirks. Christabel asks Alicent, as if she’s afraid of the answer: “He’s not here yet?”

“You know how busy he’s been,” Alicent says, apologetic. You think, remembering the drunk man from the holding cell: Yeah, busy committing misdemeanors. “Those rigs…the S&P 500…anyway, he’ll be home before you know it. In the meantime, let me get you a piece of cake. You’re disappearing, love.”

Christabel skims a palm down the front of her dress self-consciously. “Alright. Just a tiny one.” Then she acknowledges you and Amir. “You must be the masterminds then. Alicent told me all about you.”

Amir says: “About our excellent service and reasonable prices?”

“Yes.” Christabel isn’t skittish like Alicent, but there’s a sort of pensiveness to her, an impression that she is eternally woolgathering. Now she looks at you in particular with a small, warm smile. “And about how beautiful you are.”

Amir laughs at your stunned expression. Me? Beautiful? And the only other person to call you that in years has been Aemond, tangled up with you on your bed in your falling-down house, and you aren’t sure if that counts. “Oh, um, thank you,” you manage. “I really like your dress.”

“Really? I fear people think it’s too…revealing. I liked it fine this morning when I put it on. I didn’t have any notion it might not be suitable. Now I’m feeling like an idiot.”

“No, it’s so nice!” you say, pained for her, one misfit recognizing another. “I never would have thought there was anything wrong with it.”

Alicent gets a plate from the pile on the counter. “What flavor would you like, Christabel?”

“Whatever this one is.” She points to the vanilla bean cake, adorned with Amir’s frosting flowers. “Isn’t it stunning, with all the colors?”

“Amir is the artist,” you say. “I love wildflowers.”

Alicent asks: “Did you have them at your wedding?”

No one bothered. No one remembered. “I wanted to.”

“Wouldn’t that be lovely, Christabel?” Alicent passes her a slice of vanilla bean cake. “Wildflowers? It would be different. Everyone has roses or lilies or something. But wildflowers? I can’t recall ever going to a wedding with wildflowers. Especially if you’re going to get married here. It would fit with the scenery. This place is so exotic, so untamed!”

Christabel nods, taking nibbles of her cake. “Wow, this is delicious! Yes, wildflowers. We could use them for the bouquet, and the corsages…”

“Now we just need a venue.” Alicent sighs. “We’ve had such a terrible time trying to find a good place. Somewhere historic, but not rundown or unsavory. I mean, you can’t get married on an old plantation or something. Bloody hell. How tone-deaf would that be?”

“Very tone-deaf,” Amir concurs.

“There’s a church across the lake in Belle River that you might like,” you say. “The Chapel of Saint Honoratus of Amiens. It’s a historic site, I believe. It’s not very big, but it would make for nice pictures.”

“There’s an idea!” Alicent chirps, then she is stricken as a woman walks into the kitchen. Her fair hair is tied up in a messy bun. She wears a white t-shirt stained with dirt, denim overalls, and Converse Chucks. There is a bluish-green chameleon perched on her shoulder, goggling at everyone with its rotating, conical eyes. “Helaena, put your dress on.”

“Dreamfyre doesn’t like the silk. She won’t sit on my shoulder if I’m wearing it.”

“Helaena, it’s a lizard.” Alicent is exasperated. “Go upstairs, stick it back in its cage, and put your dress on, now.”

“Fine,” Helaena mumbles before wandering off.

“Oh, is that the ice sculpture?!” Alicent cries, peeking out into the foyer through the kitchen doorway. “At last! If you’ll excuse me…” She scurries off to attend to it, Christabel trailing her like a shadow.

You put your empty champagne flute in the sink. “I need to go find a bathroom.”

“I need some shrimp cocktail,” Amir replies. “Do you think I should try to explain the evils of gentrification to people?”

You giggle. “Yeah, definitely. Start with Viserys.” You part ways, Amir headed towards the foyer, you journeying down a mysterious hallway that adjoins the kitchen. The walls are flame orange and decorated with portraits of grave blonde people, each with an outlandish name etched into the plaque beneath its likeness: Baelon, Alyssa, Jaehaerys, Alysanne, Aenys, another Alyssa, Aegon, Rhaenys, Visenya. “This family is so fucking weird,” you mutter to yourself as you continue down the hall.

You find a bathroom, but there’s already a hoard of glamorous, ornamented women waiting outside of it. They’re chattering about which is the superior place to take a holiday, the Canary Islands or the south of France. They stare at you like you’re vermin, a nutria or a raccoon. You keep moving.

At the top of a spiral staircase, you find another hallway. The first door you try is a home movie theater complete with a popcorn machine, neon signage, several rows of seating and a plethora of bean bag chairs. Behind the second door is a bedroom, but it’s not unoccupied. You are greeted by the sight of the man who must be the groom. He looks much like he did when he was detained in a holding cell of the Assumption Parish Sheriff’s Office: slicked-back hair, unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt, flushed cheeks, tiny shorts, flip flops. He’s hunched over a desk with three lines of white powder on it. There’s an HP computer—something you’ve never seen in person before—in one corner of the room, a television and collection of hundreds of VHS tapes in the other. His walls are black and cluttered with posters of punk rock bands, the Ramones, the Clash, the Misfits, Minor Threat, Social Distortion, Bad Religion. His Akai stereo is blaring Fight For Your Right by the Beastie Boys.

“What?” the man says agitatedly. There’s powder on his fingers and his nose. “What? What? Who are you? What do you want?”

“Um, sorry, I was just…uh…” There’s some kind of rodent running around on his unmade bed. Its fur is a sandy yellow color, its body freakishly long and four legs stumpy. What the fuck. “I was looking for a bathroom.”

He blinks, muddled recollection. “You’re the cake lady.”

“Yeah.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Delivering cakes.”

“Oh. Right.” He points directly across the hall. “There’s a bathroom.”

“Okay, great, thanks.” He starts snorting another line before you’ve even shut the door.

You spend a minute or two in the Targaryens’ lilac-colored bathroom, paintings of the night sky hung on the walls—comets, moons, stars, galaxies—and amethyst geodes on the sink, a stained glass window with a scene of a lavender field. By the time you navigate back down to the kitchen, the man is there. He’s eating a Cap’n Crunch Treat, cocaine still streaked across his pink face and caught in his wisp of a mustache.

“You did this,” he says. “I know you did. It’s too good to be anyone but you.”

With his hand that’s not holding the Cap’n Crunch Treat, he’s cradling the lean rodent against his bare chest like an infant. “What is that? A weasel?”

“It’s a ferret. His name is Sunfyre.” The man nods to a photograph pinned to the refrigerator with magnets shaped like miniature oil rigs. There are two people in the frame, a woman and a girl, their cheeks squished together as they laugh on a pink sand beach of some topical island you’ll never visit. “That’s my dad’s first wife.”

“He’s divorced?”

“Widowed. She died in a car accident.” He taps on the girl in the picture, perhaps Cadi’s age. “That’s my half-sister Rhaenyra. She’s an Olympic fencer. She lives in the Lake District and fucks our uncle.”

You shake your head. You must have misheard him. “She what?”

“Yeah, I know how it sounds. I’m not kidding. She lives in a castle and fucks our uncle and has kids with him. Fucking sick, man. And I’m the screwup? Because I like coke and strippers? I’m supposed to feel bad about that? Bite me, Viserys.” He grabs a second Cap’n Crunch Treat and gestures for you to follow him into the foyer. “Come on. You need some champagne.”

You chuckle. Mental or not, there’s something likeable about him…though you can’t say you envy Christabel. To be married to someone like this man must be hellish. Now, to be married to someone like Aemond… “I’ve already had a glass.”

“Okay, well I need some champagne, and I don’t want to go out there alone.” His flip flops slap noisily against the marble floor as he plods out of the kitchen. He looks back to see if you’re following, and then you hurry after him. The heir to the Jade Dragon fortune weaves through the crowd, ignoring everyone and being ignored in return. In the packed foyer, he plucks a flute of champagne from the tower and chugs it. He eats the cherry and holds up the stem. “You know how to tie these with your tongue?”

“No, I definitely do not.”

“I do,” he announces proudly. He shoves the stem in his mouth, wiggles it around for a while, accidentally swallows it and has to hack it back up. He spits the cherry stem onto the pristine white floor, attracting a few grimaces. “Wait. Wait. Let me try again.” He reaches for another glass of champagne. The opening notes of Asia’s Heat Of The Moment boom from the speakers.

You give him a sympathetic smile. “Pre-wedding jitters?”

He snorts. “I’m not the one getting married.”

“Wait, you’re not?”

He cackles, like it’s the most ridiculous thing he’s ever heard. “I already have a wife. Stephanie, she’s a princess from Monaco. Right now she’s in Ibiza or something. I haven’t seen her since New Year’s. This New Year’s? Last New Year’s? I’m not sure. Maybe it was the Grand Prix. I remember a lot of confetti.”

You gape at him. “So who’s getting married?”

“My brother Aemond.”

“Who?!”

He points with his Cap’n Crunch Treat. Across the foyer by the front door, Aemond is grinning and accepting congratulations from a gaggle of men in suits: black, grey, navy, tan. Aemond himself is wearing emerald green, dark and luxurious and striking and expensive, because he’s a Targaryen who’s marrying a noblewoman and he’s an oil tycoon and a millionaire and he is most certainly not single and not looking to change that.

“You fucking liar,” you hiss.

The man with the coke in his mustache peers over at you. “Huh?”

You can’t tear your eyes away from Aemond. You feel scarlet rage soaking into you drip by drip, you feel the blood turning hot beneath your skin. You shouldn’t be this upset over a man you barely know, you don’t understand why you are. Except part of you does, and it’s heartbreaking, and it’s humiliating beyond words. Of course he’s marrying someone like Christabel. Of course he’d never choose me.

Aemond bids farewell to his well-wishers, and as he turns away from them his right eye catches on you. From across the room, his face shifts from disbelief to astonishment to horror. His jaw drops open. The flute of champagne he’d been clasping shatters against the marble floor. Immediately, a flock of servants materialize to clean up the mess. You flee from the foyer to the living room, through the French doors, into the garden. It’s midday and hot as hell, humid, swampy, suffocating to the British aristocrats that fill the house. You don’t see anyone else outside. You run past the swimming pool and through cobblestone trails bordered by blue cardinal flowers, orange coneflowers, coral honeysuckle, resurrection ferns, maypops, white sage, firewheels, magnolias, cinnamon ferns. You stop at the edge of a fish pond larger than your kitchen and glare down into the water, trying not to let tears blur your vision as glimmers of scales—red, orange, black, white, gold—dart beneath the transparent rippling water.

I have to go back inside. I can’t leave without Amir. I can’t leave without formally saying goodbye to Alicent and thanking her for her hospitality and licking the boots of these people so they’ll throw just enough cash at me to keep a roof over my daughter’s head.

You hear hurried footsteps; Aemond appears on the cobblestones. He’s found you, but that’s as far ahead as he’s planned. He holds his hands open, not knowing what to say.

“You told me you didn’t have a girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend.”

“She’s your fiancée, that’s worse, don’t you get how that’s worse?!”

“Okay, this looks bad, but it’s not what you think—”

“You’re marrying her, right?” you demand, and he hesitates. “Right?!”

“Yes,” Aemond admits, and it feels like knuckles to your stomach.

“Then you’re a liar and a cheater.”

“It’s not…it’s…” He gestures frantically, not knowing how to explain, how to translate it into words you’ll understand. “There’s not an expectation of fidelity.”

“Does Christabel know that?”

“That’s the thing, that’s what you don’t get, it’s not like that between us. We don’t discuss it, we’re not…” More vague, frenzied gestures. “We’re not…um…” He groans, rubbing his scarred forehead. “We’re not fucking. At all. Nothing close to it. It’s not a physical relationship yet.”

“But she doesn’t know about me.”

“No, God no, of course not.”

“So she thinks you’re…abstinent…?”

He sighs, defeated. “I don’t know. I don’t really care, honestly.”

“Why aren’t you sleeping with her?”

“Because we can’t until we’re married.”

“I’m sorry, are you Pilgrims?! Are you time travelers from the 1400s?!”

“It’s her family’s standards,” Aemond says. “It’s not uncommon for women of her…status.”

“Girl,” you pitch at him. “She’s a girl. How old is she? Eighteen?”

“Nineteen.”

You’re furious that she exists; you’re furious on her behalf. “And she’s planning her fairytale wedding while you collect local women to act out your kinky fantasies with.”

“One woman,” Aemond says softly.

“What?”

“There’s one woman currently. Just you.”

You shake your head, swiping enraged tears from your cheeks. “Why are you marrying her?”

“It’s sort of an…arranged thing.”

You stare at him. “Someone set you up?”

“My father knows her father. They think it’s a good match. Her family needs money, my father wants ties to the nobility. She’s one of probably five people on this planet that he would approve of. And she seems enthusiastic about it, so it’s happening.”

“Aemond, that is an insanely bad idea.”

“I have to do it.”

“You’re marrying her because your dad told you to?!” You explode. “Are you serious?! Everyone with the sole exception of Amir told me to stay with Willis, my friends, my family, my neighbors, my bakery customers, the checkout ladies at the Piggly Wiggly, my goddamn mailman, my father was in the hospital dying of lung cancer saying that his last wish was for me to never get divorced, and I still went through with it because I knew it was the right thing to do and no one was going to stop me!”

“I don’t want to talk about Willis,” Aemond snaps.

“Well, he’s kind of an inescapable aspect of my existence, so if I can get over it I’m sure you can too.”

“I hate that guy,” Aemond seethes, and you have no idea how to respond. You gaze down into the pond and watch scales and fins and tails fly like bullets beneath the surface.

“Those are the biggest goldfish I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“They’re koi,” Aemond scoffs.

“Oh, is that what they teach people about at Imperial College in London? Fancy fucking fish?”

“Don’t be a bitch to me, just…just give me a second, I didn’t think I was going to have this conversation until tonight, this is not how I wanted it to go.”

You say quietly, betrayed: “You’re a robber baron.”

“What? Like Vanderbilt or Rockefeller, that kind of robber baron, that’s who you think I am?!”

“That’s who you are! You hoard and exploit and use and pollute and destroy! I don’t destroy things, I create them!”

“You bake cupcakes!”

“And I don’t hurt anyone by doing it!”

“You are so goddamn delusional, you are completely insane—”

You start counting out crimes on your fingers. “I don’t kill people, I don’t endanger the Earth, I didn’t irrevocably screw up Ketchikan, Alaska—”

“So I’m terrible because I want to bring jobs to your pathetic, dead-end town?! Because I want there to be a few less pregnant teenagers and more high school diplomas? That makes me a war criminal, that puts me right up there with Jaruzelski or Pinochet?!” He realizes what he’s said when he sees the wounded fury unfold on your face. “Oh fuck. Come on, I didn’t mean you.”

“No, you just meant people who are exactly like me in every way.”

“You know what? I take it back,” Aemond says, knife-sharp, wrathful. “I did mean you. Because you are wasting your life here, and you’re too stubborn or too scared or too much of both to recognize an opportunity to have something more. Don’t you think you deserve better? Don’t you think your kid deserves better?”

“I built something here, I made a future for myself and my daughter here, and you’re going to work our people to death and poison the lake and then pack up and leave when it all goes wrong because that’s what oil tycoons do! The opportunity is for you, not us! More mansions, more champagne, more coke, more demented pets!”

“Then leave! Get in your car and drive back to your sad, structurally unsound house and live happily ever after with whatever braindead barbarian you marry next.”

“I will,” you pitch back. “Enjoy being married to your marquess.”

“She’s not a marquess. Her dad is the marquess. She won’t inherit the title until he dies.”

“Enjoy being married to your future marquess, you pretentious prick.”

“Women can’t be marquesses. They can only be marchionesses.”

“Yeah, you’re so smart. I’m really impressed. At least I don’t have to tie people to beds to delude myself into thinking I have some semblance of control over my life.”

You storm through the garden and back into the house as Aemond watches you, violently disappointed. You yank open one of the French doors and slip into the midst of the festivities. Illustrious guests are still mingling, toasting, boasting, scrutinizing you skeptically when they notice you at all. In the archway between the living room and the foyer, Amir joins you, sipping a flute of champagne.

“Hey, ho! Did you get lost? Did you find the cellar where they keep the bodies of their political enemies?” He has eaten so many hors d’oeuvres he’s basically waddling. “You look stressed. How about a nice shrimp cocktail?” He follows your eyeline to where Aemond is trying to sneak covertly into the living room through the French doors. Christabel intercepts him, relieved that he’s finally arrived, beaming, sparkling, entirely unaware of any conflict. Aemond conjures up a smile, fond yet guarded. She doesn’t touch him, and he doesn’t touch her either. He clasps his hands behind his back instead. “Is that…?!”

“Yeah.”

“And he’s…?!”

“Yeah.”

“Oh,” Amir says. “Oh.” He pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose, his dark eyes wide and shellshocked. “We should have made him buy all of us Nintendos and a week at horse camp.”

“I want to go home.”

“You got it, let me just grab a few more of those Swedish meatballs—”

“Amir,” you say, tears brimming in your eyes. “I really want to go home.”

“Okay, okay.” He slings an arm around your shoulder, smacks a kiss against your temple, walks with you towards the front door. “Then let’s go home.”

[clairyclue]

my thoughts on Majestic Rep’s RTC

it’s a lot sorry guys

tags: @jencattv @ray-winters @keatondj

(spoilers below the cut)

you can tell when ocean starts questioning her attitude and how conflicted she is, especially right after WTWN 

jane gets startled so easily poor baby

noel’s riffs are amazing!! (noel’s lament)

the choreo is awesome too!

mischa is a such a sweetie he genuinely cares so much about the other choir members 

mischa flipping ocean off before “i love you guys” haha

constance’s finger guns after “fornication” 

constance laughing at ocean out down jokes and then switching up is so funny 

i love oceans line delivery she’s like three seconds snapping i love it 

jane going from being able to move

fluidly during the songs to being stiff again she looks so confused every time 

ricky. just ricky ❤️

connie i thought the crystal meth joke was funny 

^^ i love all the dialogue in that scene i don’t remember it in original cast slime tuts 

fuck mischa’s adopted parents fr you can tell his anger is a defense mechanism because when he feels comfortable with the choir he’s so sweet!!

MISCHA FALTERING WHEN SAYING HES TALIAS FIANCÉ 

“THANK YOU FOR KILLING MY MOTHER AND INDIRECTLY KILLING ME” 💔💔💔

MY LIFE IS AWESOME 

(i’m gonna start categorizing by song now i don’t have much for WTWN and Noel’s Lament so)

jane dope 🔥🔥

mlia gives mad sibling karaoke vibes 

karna i see u bopping along 

the singing too is immaculate 

OK JANE i see u dropping it down 

TALIA

this mischa genuinely seems so into it he deserves so much credit in way of character work 

the way he gets all bashful during his Talia monologue 💓

background harmonies (constance is carrying and also i can hear her so well!!)

again riffs!! well done 

the choreo goes crazy!! this applies to all the songs tho 

the arms making a steeple 🥺😩

THE ENDING RIFFS 💔💔💔😩😩😩😭😭🥺🥺😞😞

the projection i’m gonna end it all 💔

MISCHA FUCKING CRYING INTO NOELS SHOULDER HELPHELPHELP and even once the dialogue moves on he’s still clinging to him and Noel rubs his back

“ocean why aren’t you talking right now it’s weird” (ricky in the bg: ☝️)

i love u connie awkwardness 

jane is so reactive to everything she hears like a little puppy 

“OKAY!! 😁😁😁😁” (autismo lore dump time)

oceans face when he’s explaining it 😀 to 🙁 to 😟

AND THEN SHE FUCKING MOANS U CATHOLIC FREAK (no offense to catholics reading this)

noel’s face me too bud 

ricky’s lore is kinda gross just because it wasn’t always this way. but sigh what can you do

SPACE AGE BACHELOR MAN:

ricky my little freak boy ❤️

spacedolls realness coming through 

“sure…😬”

rip ricky u would have loved therian tiktok 

little curtain face thing “it gets weird now :)” (•.•)

“THAT SON OF A BITCH !! 😡😡😡”

the emotion behind his lines the whole time tbh adds to the comedy (“i thought i told them !! 😕😕”)

the ending “b-b-b- bachelor man!” (“meow!!”)

we love u mischa hype man (again sweetest man alive)

constance’s “oh man!” was so agressive i loved it the one in the soundtrack seems so sad. this constance is less shy more awkward and i love it

THE BALLAD OF JANE DOE:

i know i know. but choreo. 

vocals!! ily jenna 

bg vocals as well!! 

the mixing 🥹

OK THE OPT UP????

the choreo at “a choir never complete” reminds me of the opening funeral scene from beetlejuice. definitely fits the vibe!

the borderline growl/anger in “and i’m asking why lord” yes!!!!

she sounds so desperate. crying. 

“does no one care?!” again the anger and emotion!

THE BG VOCALS AT THAT ONE PART SO GOOD THEYRE ANGRY FOR HER IT SEEMS 

the roller coaster. them being sucked back into it choreo wise. reverse looking. 

THE HIGH NOTES 💋💋💋

ocean being the one to put the birthday costume on means a lot to me. idk

ocean comforting her too 🥰🥰

janes birthday claps!

SNATCH !! 🧁🧁

ocean doing connie’s hair ❤️

savannah scene!! 

we don’t get to see it but i know the waltz is happening 

“ur ma best frand 💓“

^ and then ocean immediately snaps my heart again. 

“no you don’t ocean. 😕”

i understand oceans monologue she just. executed it badly. 

constance 😝 beat her ass girl 

“or they’ll call you a cow” baby. come here. 💔

constance. i get you. i get u connie baby. 

JAWBREAKER/SUGAR CLOUD:

oceans face ❤️ i don’t know how to describe it but she looks. proud. and her sitting almost re-evaluating everything in the back. (assuming)

ricky giving her the mic ❤️

HER GIGGLE

them scooting her around aghhhahahdhdbdheh

cloud props!

CONFETTI AND BALLOONS AND IM SMILING LIKE A FOOL

jane looks so happy with her ballon skipping around 🥹

the ending!! ILY CONSTANCE 

mischa helping her down awww

ocean and connie hug!!

can’t forget the nischa hug

ocean losing her voice inflection and sounding so genuine. so scared. so raw. 

janey when she gets chosen 🥹🥹

ocean and connie hug 2

JANE REACHING FOR RICKY SNDBDJWKDJDKF

ITS NOT A GAME/ITS JUST A RIDE

crying over the ending brb 

the slideshow will always get me 

something about the whole scene. houfhhhhhhh

“and you give and choose while you live and lose” and the lines preceding it get me 🥹

ARE THOSE REAL VIDEOS OF JENNA?!?!?!

KARNA SOUNDING LIKE THEYRE GONNA CRY

the first lines of it’s just a ride. no music. so raw sounding 🥹 the teary voices. the haphazard harmonies. 

ocean and mischa holding each other. big bro little sis 💓

“WOO!”

THEIR FREESTYLE DANCING! 

they’re having so much fun. they’re dead but they’re LIVING for the first time. 

all of the hand holding. my babes. 

[marnerparty]

go blue pt. 2

Part 2 by popular demand!

Luke Hughes x McCarthy!reader

*for those who do not know, JJ McCarthy is the quarterback for Michigan’s football team, so yn will be his sister!

part 1 here!

ynssecretaccount

Liked by edwards.73, yourbestfriend and 101 others

ynssecretaccount last Friday night …

View all 36 comments

rutgermcgroarty didn’t we talk about this partying thing???

ynssecretaccount what about it?

rutgermcgroarty about what happened last time …

ynssecretaccount ????

lhughes_06 oh god she doesn’t remember

ynssecretaccount REMEMBER WHAT!?

lhughes_06 you adopted a penguin in Antarctica

ynssecretaccount WHEN!?

lhughes_06 literally 5 days ago 😐

biznasty I knew I shouldn’t have supplied the pink Whitney 🤦🏼‍♀️

ynssecretaccount true this is all your fault

trevorzegras why is he on this account?

biznasty shut up

ynssecretaccount he’s my friend

trevorzegras he’s like 40

ynssecretaccount age is just a number

jackhughes look at Lukey holding your hair back

ynssecretaccount he’s cute like that

markestapa he held my hair back once too 🥰

ynssecretaccount once? try 17 times bud

ynmccarthy

Liked jjmccarthy, trevorzegras and 31,667 others

ynmccarthy wondering how he puts up w/ my shenanigans

View all 202 comments

yns#1fan how’s your penguin

lhughes_06 😧

rutgermcgroarty 😧

ynmccarthy how the fuck do you know about that

yns#1fan 🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️

ynmcccarthy is this one of the guys?

markestapa this is weird

jjmccarthy I think your priv has an op

lhughes_06 bc I love you 🙃

_quinnhughes meaning he’s whipped

ynmccarthy he better be

luca.fantilli i think you mean wondering how his friends put up with your shenanigans

ynmccarthy you’re one to talk mr. “lets skinny dip” and get us kicked out of the hotel

adamfantilli that was def a shenanigan

luca.fantilli whose side are you on!?

adamfantilli yns always

rutgermcgroarty come home the kids miss you

jackhughes is it yn and rutger or yn and Luke? I never know

lhughes_06 fuck you

ynmccarthy GUYS! this is the main!! behave yourselves

elblue6 why were you guys laying on dog beds …?

ynmccarthy I have a great explanation for that mama Hughes

jackhughes oh boy

_quinnhughes this’ll be good

elblue6 and that would be ..?

edwards.73 your son has that dog in him 🐶

ynmccarthy my words exactly

elblue6 he has a dog in him?

jackhughes gen Z expression, ma. you wouldn’t get it

jjmccarthy adorable. and you’re okay too

ynmccarthy do you have a crush on my boyfriend?

lhughes_06 it’s more than a crush babe

jjmccarthy we’ve decided that I’m going to marry Luke and you can have Quinn

jackhughes why am I left out?

lhughes_06 nobody wants a playboy

user1 oh to be yn mccarthy

jjmccarthy trust me, you’re better off living your own life

mackie.samo little Lukey is a man now

ynssecretaccount

Liked by luca.fantilli, rutgermcgroarty and 112 other

ynssecretaccount Mrs. Hughes wasn’t very happy about the decisions that were made last Friday night … hence the reason Lukey poo is grounded & the reason I am breaking all of my morals to sneak in and see my boyfriend #sorrynotsorry

View all 39 comments

jjmccarthy wow regretting decisions?

ynssecretaccount happens every once in awhile

lhughes_06 Mrs. Hughes???

ynssecretaccount I don’t deserve to call her Ellen anymore 😔

jackhughes wow she actually may be upset

ynssecretaccount I am! Ellen hates me! she thinks I’m an underage drunk

_quinnhughes actually, I told her you didn’t drink at all and she believes me

ynssecretaccount you covered for me?? why would you do that??

_quinnhughes you’re my sister now, it’s what an older brother does

ynssecretaccount 🥹🥺😮🤧

rutgermcgroarty I’m crying

jamie.drysdale hi yn

ynssecretaccount hey Jame!

jamie.drysdale how are you?

ynssecretaccount I’m good Jamie. why are we having a conversation in Instagram comments?

jamie.drysdale I’m sick and Trevor can’t take care of me

trevorzegras bc you’re absolutely disgusting

ynssecretaccount Trevor seriously?

jamie.drysdale will you please come here

ynssecretaccount Jamie… I’m in Michigan

jamie.drysdale I’ll buy you a plane ticket.

jamie.drysdale please

colecaufield no it’s okay, I didn’t want photo creds or anything

trevorzegras you were in on this? how dare you do that to Ellen?

ynssecretaccount you’re one to talk

trevorzegras what did I do!?

lhughes_06 where’s the golf cart Trevor?

trevorzegras 😐

jackhughes where is the golf cart trevor??????

trevorzegras oh … you know … in the bottom of the lake

_quinnhughes oh fucking hell

ynmccarthy

Liked by elblue6, colecaufield, and 41,661 others

ynmccarthy quick trip to Anaheim for my favorite Ducks! 🫶🏻

tagged jamie.drysdale and trevorzegras

View all 221 comments

jamie.drysdale why would you do this to me

jamie.drysdale but also everybody needs a little yn time

lhughes_06 you know who would like a little yn time? 😐

jamie.drysdale like you’re not together 24/7

ynmccarthy lukeeee you’re jealousy is showing!

jackhughes this is why I love you

nicohischier why are you in a headlock

ynmccarthy Jamie was feeling better so we went out … big mistake

yns#1fan hope Jamie’s feeling better!

ynmccarthy WHO ARE YOU!?

mackie.samo this is seriously creepy you guys

_quinnhughes someone break out their FBI skills

biznasty these guys were worth a week long trip?

ynmccarthy why do you hate them?

biznasty did I say that?

ynmccarthy you implied it

biznasty keep arguing with me and see how it goes for you

ynmccarthy you wanna go old man?

biznasty what’re you gonna do yn?

trevorzegras ooooh

lhughes_06 bad move

jjmccarthy good luck bud

biznasty ???

ynmccarthy I’m not gonna say sleep with one eye open … but … 👀

user1 jealous of her life

jjmccarthy puck bunny

ynmccarthy take that back right now

_quinnhughes hey, as honorary older brother that was really mean

adamfantilli what a mom

ynmccarthy like you don’t love me

luca.fantilli caught

trevorzegras thanks a lot for the help. I really needed it. Jamie is exhausting

jamie.drysdale I’M exhausting!? you didn’t do a single thing for me!

trevorzegras are you kidding me right now

ynmccarthy boys, seriously? the second I leave you start to argue

luca.fantilli you really are a mom

ynmccarthy yeah, to freaking 5 year olds

lhughes_06 are you gonna be home soon

ynmccarthy I’m on the way home right now babe

jackhughes your home or our home?

ynmccarthy Luke are you freaking kidding me!?

jackhughes 🤨

lhughes_06 I didn’t tell anyone yet! I thought we were waiting????

ynmccarthy does your mother know??

lhughes_06 no …

elblue6 I feel like I need to get involved now

jackhughes you guys, what is going on

lhughes_06 long story short we bought a house together and are currently in the process of moving in

ynmccarthy so when I tell my family I’m at your house, I’m really at ours. and vice versa for Luke

jjmccarthy WHAT!?

elblue6 are you serious?? why wouldn’t you guys say anything, this is amazing you two!

ynmccarthy oh thank God

mackie.samo these comments are getting really personal. great content for a fan page

ynmccarthy … what do you know?

mackie.samo 🤷🏼‍♀️

lhughes_06

Liked by rutgermcgroarty, jjmccarthy and 57,910 others

lhughes_06 5.1.23: the day I manned up & made sure I could have you forever :)

View all 391 comments

ynmccarthy I’m so ready to be your wife ❤️‍🔥

lhughes_06 last name upgrade 😎

jjmccarthy watch it

jackhughes Lukey boy!! congrats you guys 🫶🏻

ynmccarthy love you Jack!

_quinnhughes officially time to get me a sister

user1 Quinn’s older brother role for yn 🥹

elblue6 the daughter I never got but always needed 🩷

ynmccarthy I love you Ellen

colecaufield Luke getting married first!? no one had it on their bingo card

ynmccarthy you can imagine my shock then

lhughes_06 you are jumping for fucking joy

ynmccarthy well yeah, I still love you! just shocked in the best way :)

colecaufield you can go now 🤢

user1 she is so happy

umichhockey congrats to future Mr. & Mrs. Hughes!

Liked by lhughes_06

jjmccarthy awww lil sis! I couldn’t be happier :)

ynmccarthy I love you jj :)

biznasty I thought you were with that Zegras kid

ynmccarthy no you didn’t

biznasty yeah I know, I just like to start shit. serious congrats to the both of you!

ynmccarthy Paul, are you feeling okay? you just said something nice..

biznasty I’ll take it back you little shit

yourbestfriend you better treat her right Hughes

lhughes_06 🫡

yourbestfriend congrats my yn!!

ynmccarthy I love you!!

njdevils pop the champagne! congrats to the future Hughes’!

yns#1fan congratulations! I bet it was amazing to have your little brothers there too

lhughes_06 I only told 3 people that they would be there. so which one of you is it

rutgermgroarty not me

adamfantilli not me

mackie.samo not me

ynmccarthy why do you do this

jamie.drysdale you got yourself a good one! be nice to her or else. and also congrats :)

lhughes_06 🫶🏻

jjmccarthy also luke, what does this mean for us? how could you do this!?

lhughes_06 I know and I’m sorry. it was really difficult, you have to understand

jjmccarthy we could’ve been a Michigan power couple

lhughes_06 yn doesn’t have to know …

ynmccarthy right here guys

jjmccarthy go away for a minute

trevorzegras baby Hughes so longer a baby! congrats yn and Luke!!

lhughes_06 thank you Z!

ynmccarthy love you Trev 🫶🏻

ynmccarthy

Liked by colecaufield, elblue6 and 29,027 others

ynmccarthy meet beau :)

Comments on this post have been limited

nhl the cutest new addition to the Hughes fam!

Liked by ynmccarthy

trevorzegras you finally got your Doberman!

ynmccarthy it took a lot of convincing

lhughes_06 when have I ever said no to you?

jackhughes literally never she’s so dramatic

_quinnhughes she’s not responding because she knows we’re right

ynmccarthy no comment

jjmccarthy not what I had in mind when I said I wanted a nephew

ynmccarthy it’s the best I could do for right now

lhughes_06 are kids in the near future??

ynmccarthy do you think they are??

lhughes_06 I think this is a conversation to have not in Instagram comments

user1 who’s cuter, Beau or Luke?

mackie.samo beau

rutgermcgroarty beau

jackhughes beau

ynmccarthy beau

lhughes_06 wow thank you guys so much

adamfantilli will you guys just get married already ?

ynmccarthy who says we aren’t …

adamfantilli don’t even joke

_quinnhughes ????? you guys JUST got engaged

lhughes_06 we like to move fast

jackhughes did you fucking get eloped

ynmccarthy 🤷🏼‍♀️

biznasty kids these days, buying puppies together, trying to get married quick. just slow down. Luke will still be there in the morning

ynmccarthy wow, that’s actually amazing advice

biznasty well, I wanted to end it with “he’s still gonna be there because nobody else wanted him” but I decided against it

ynmccarthy wouldn’t be a Paul Bissonnette quote without a smart ass comment

biznasty says you

ynmccarthy 🖕🏻

[ali-annals]

Unexpected Visitors

Pairing: Damian Wayne x Marinette Dupain-Cheng

Rating: G | WC: 800 | CW: - | A/N: This is one of my first fics so I'm not super proud of it but the lovely peeps on ao3 seem to like it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I thought I'd cross-posted this already but apparently I haven't, oops :| | Ao3 |

An unknown woman shows up on Wayne Manor's doorstep asking for Damian Wayne…

And enjoy this lovely fanart made by @tinybrie 🥰

A bright light flashed through the windows of the manor, the echo of thunder sounding overhead almost immediately. The knocking on the wooden door echoed down the dimly lit hallway, almost covered by the sound of rain and wind gusting outside.

The family butler swung open the door, taking in the visitors.

A young woman was standing there, holding a baby. She had her mother’s dark hair, but her eyes... 

He tore his gaze away from the baby when the pale, tired woman asked, “Is Damian Wayne here?”

“I’m afraid he is not ‘in’ at the moment, Miss. May I say who called?”

“He’s alive?”

The butler blinked, hearing the note of relief underneath the urgency in her voice. “Yes, Miss..?”

“Oh, thank goodness! His tracker stopped working and I was…I thought…can I see him, please? I can help heal him.”

“How did you know he was injured, Miss?”

She stepped further inside, brushing raindrops off the baby’s and her clothing. “Tracker. If it stops working and he doesn't reply, he’s either dead or severely injured. And since you say he’s alive-”

Alfred still didn’t know her name, but he knew she was trustworthy. Call it an old man’s intuition, call it experience from sizing up every type of person under this roof (of which there were many), he could tell his youngest Master would be safe with her. 

“I’ll show you to his room, Miss.”

“Thank you, Alfred.”

~~~

Damian groggily opened his eyes. Owww… His muscles protested after all that had happened in the last short while. 

The faint sound of rain hitting the window by his bed provided soothing white noise, mixed with the soft breaths from the dark head resting on the bed by his hand. 

Marinette was fast asleep, like the baby in her arms.

He stroked her hair gently. “ Habibti , I’m awake.”

She jolted upright, carefully cradling the baby so as not to disturb her rest. “Ma lune? You’re okay?”

“Just fine, mon coeur . I take it you healed me?” He scooched into a half-sitting position.

She nodded. “I thought…Your tracker stopped, so I came to see…”

“Shh, it’s alright, habibti .” Damian cupped her face in his hand. “It broke when I was fighting. I would have immediately contacted you but they forced me to stay and heal, and drugged me so I would sleep and recover without protest.”

“I’m so glad you’re okay!” She leaned over to kiss him. “I brought Zara.”

After Marinette had reassured herself that he was well-healed thanks to her handiwork, he brought up the question niggling at the back of his mind.

“How many people know?”

“Alfred, and whoever’s watching your monitors right now.”

“You’re okay with them knowing, now?”

Marinette nodded. “I’d prefer to be close by if anything like this happens again. So what if Bruce doesn’t like magic users or the fact that we hid this from him? He can get over it or not, but I will be by your side,” she stated firmly.

He smiled softly at her, seeing the feisty woman he fell in love with. “Let’s go settle their disturbed brains, then, shall we?”

He removed all the health monitors and stood, stretching and enjoying the slight discomfort.

She handed Zara to him, whom he carefully cradled in his arm and stroked his finger over her tiny cheek, and then they headed down to the dining room, where the rest of his extended family were gathered for a celebratory meal. 

The entire Bat clan was there, in various stages of recovery from an assortment of injuries.

Alfred brought in the plates of crepes and casually announced, “There was a young lady here to see Master Damian this afternoon, just after your last check. She’s up with him right now.”

“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?!” The ones who could, jumped up to check on their youngest.

“Hello, family. I am perfectly fine, so don’t scold me for getting up. Dinner looks delicious, Alfred.” Damian and the visitors strolled in.

“Why do you have a baby in your arms? How are you up?”

“This is Marinette Wayne, my wife, and our daughter, Zara. Marinette healed me; thus, I am awake and about.”

“Since when were you married? With a child? When did you get a girlfriend?” Questions echoed from all corners of the table.

“We met when I was in Paris to help Ladybug six years ago. We got married last year and Zara is nine months old now.”

“Jon helped Damian escape when he needed and covered for us. He’s quite good at illusions,” Marinette spoke up. “Hi, I’m Marinette Wayne; it’s nice to meet you all.”

Taglist (open): @jennifer-rose123 @questioning-blob-of-fog

[coffeecat1983]

Hello! Hope it's okay if I send you a suggestion for the drabble game 🥰 I was thinking, how about 10 "I'm right here, okay?" for Mario and Luigi? No rush of course! 💖

A pleasure, my friend! I hope you enjoy.

Prompt #10 "I'm right here, okay?" (set in the Mario movie-verse, 2023)

   The apartment door swung open and Mario shuffled in with a groan. Despite his aches, he smiled when he heard his mother singing along to the radio as she made dinner. Hearing him, Marianna came out, a warm smile greeting her son.      "Hi sweetheart," she kissed his cheek before noting how exhausted he looked. "Bad day at work?"    He slid the toolbox off his shoulder. "Just a long one. Really could have used some help today." he said softly.      "Well get cleaned up and come eat, dinner's almost ready." she said, returning to the kitchen. Mario went to wash up and change. As he entered the bedroom, something felt off but he couldn't place what it was. Returning to the dining room the feeling increased as he took his seat.    Dinner was quiet, just him, his parents, and grandfather. Talk was light until Giovanni asked how work went.      "It was lousy, had to pull a lot of old pipes out from the floor. Thankfully the bathtub had already been taken out." Mario said, picking idly at his plate. He glanced at the chair beside him. "Big jobs like that will be easier once Lu gets back."    Giovanni froze, fork halfway to his mouth. Placing it back down he cleared his throat.      "Ah, Mario..." he stopped as Marianna touched his arm, a barely perceptible shake of the head making him change his mind.      "I mean, you're right, son. It's been a long day. Why don't you take tomorrow off, get some rest?"    Considering this, Mario gave in. "Yeah, yeah I think I will. I'm not very hungry tonight." He went to stand. "Sorry, Ma."      "It's all right, sweetheart."      He didn't notice the worried looks from his family as he made his way back to the bedroom. Going over and turning on his bedside light, he rubbed at his head.      "Really can't wait for Lu to..." he turned and letting out a small cry, fell back.    Hurried footsteps raced down the hall, Marianna bursting into the room with Giovanni right behind her.      "M-Ma?" Mario pointed, hand shaking as she kneeled beside him. "Where... Lu's bed, where's his bed?!"    He stared with horror at the empty spot. All that was there now was a table set up with some of Luigi's things with a framed photo in the center.    Mario's heart twisted as he realized it was a shrine.      "Mario," Marianna put her arms around him, "he's been gone for a year now." she said gently.    Memories that he kept pushing back came flooding forth.      A melted cage.     His brother hanging on.    Racing to reach him as he fell.    The scream that pierced his very soul.    The scream that echoed in his dreams night after night.      "No...I couldn't... I tried, Ma, I tried!" he broke, his body shaking as everything came back. Clinging to his parents, he threw his head back with a sob.      "Luigi!"

     "Mario, Mario, wake up..." The nightmare shattered around him. Waking, Mario gasped wildly as he struggled to sit up, shoving his blankets off in a panic. Hands grabbed his own, tired blue eyes that matched his watching him with worry.      "It's okay, it was just a dream." the soft, rusty voice he loved so dearly wrapped around him, forcing back the waves of fear.      "L-Luigi?" he choked out. The nod was all he needed. He grabbed his twin, trembling as tears flowed.      "I dreamt I lost you! I wasn't fast enough, the lava, you f-fell." another sob shook him. Warm arms held him close, a tender kiss to his head.      "Shh, you didn't lose me.  I'm right here, okay?" Luigi soothed. "I'm not going anywhere. I promise."      "Mm'sorry." the exhausted apology was mumbled into his brother's shoulder as Mario slumped against him. Gently guiding him so he could turn, Luigi rested against the headboard with Mario snug against his chest. The gentle heartbeat provided a lullaby and Mario relaxed.      "Th'nks Lu." he mumbled again. "Love you."    A faint chuckle. "Love you too, big bro."

END

By "CC"

Drabble master list and game here

[jobean12-blog]

Fair Grounds for Love

Pairing: Joel Miller x reader (Cowboy AU)

Word Count: 1,772

Summary: Joel takes you to your first real state fair

Author’s Note: This is for @the-slumberparty June Writing Challenge and my item is lemonade and my setting is festival/fair as well as a Summer Bingo Event and Choose your own AU box. I also did one with Biker!Joel and since my friends are super supportive and kind I decided to do Cowboy!Joel too because both are the best! Thank you to Navy and Roo for hosting and thank you all so much for reading! Much love always! ❤️❤️❤️ All dividers by the lovely @firefly-graphics thank you Daisy! 🥰

Warnings: lots of fun and fluff and sweetness, it gets flirty at the end ;) 

This photo below was taken by Iglesias Mas for Strange Way of Life 😍

Joel Miller Masterlist

Joel insists on picking you up for your date to the state fair, ever the gentleman and loving any excuse to spend more time together.

He knocks and waits, his smile growing when he hears you start to unlock the door.

You open it just enough to say, “close your eyes, Cowboy.”

He takes a step back and pulls his hat off then puts it over his face.

When you step out you rest your hand on his arm. “Okay.”

He takes his hat down and it tumbles from his fingers as he focuses on you, his gaze sweeping from your head to your toes.

“My god,” he says.

You grin and bend down to grab his hat before standing and placing it back on his head.

“Does that mean you like it?” you ask, tone cheeky.

You step closer and press yourself against him. “You look pretty good too…if you can stop drooling and close your mouth.”

He pulls you closer. “You are the sexiest, most beautiful woman I have ever seen darlin’.”

His arms circle around your waist and he kisses you hello, the sweet gesture quickly turning heated as his hands smooth along your curves and he drags your hips into his.

When he releases you he let’s out a sigh, kissing you one more time, quickly, before taking your hand and walking you to his truck.

“If we don’t leave now I’m gonna march you right back into the house and we’ll never make it to the fair.”

You giggle and hop into the truck when he opens the door. The ride is short and it almost takes you as long to find parking.

“Wow,” you whisper as you enter the fairgrounds, “I’ve never been to anything like this before.”

You look around at all the rides, tents and booths, a vibrant array of colors and sounds, and try to take it all in.

“Let’s go have some fun darlin’.”

You nod excitedly and keep hold of his hand as you wander toward some of the booths, stopping at the first game you see.

Joel tips his hat back and gives you a wink before he takes the toy rifle and gets into position to shoot the target.

You try not to giggle when he leaves just a shred of black on the star-shaped target, failing to win you a big stuffed toy and grumbling something about poor mechanics.

“I thought all you cowboys knew how to shoot!” you tease.

“Gimme something with a decent lever action and I’ll shoot the feathers off a duck’s butt at five hundred feet! This thing…”

He looks at the old and rusty toy. “Sucks!”

“Yeah…yeah,” you continue to tease. “And that poor duck!”

You make a pouty face and he smirks, taking your chin between his fingers and pulling you in for a kiss.

“Don’t worry darlin’,” he murmurs against your lips. “It’s just an expression.”

He slips his hand into his back pocket and hands the guy working at the game booth another dollar.

“One more try.”

You keep still, watching the target intently as Joel readies himself and starts to shoot.

With a squeal you throw yourself into his arms. “You did it!”

“Just needed to warm up,” he says with a triumphant grin.

You tap your chin as you try to pick out your new toy. “I’d like the stuffed dog please, the brown and white one.”

The guy at the game booth pulls it down and hands it to you with a smile.

You squeeze the dog to your chest and smile over it at Joel.

He reaches for your hand and you take it.

“Can we go on a ride now?” you ask, tugging on his arm.

“Sure darlin’.”

You spot the Viking swing ride; it’s squealing and creaking motor making Joel grimace as you approach.

“This has gotta be older than me,” he jokes.

“I’m scared but I want to go on!” you tell him.

Pressing yourself into his side the entire time you’re waiting on the line you finally move up to take your seats, suddenly unsure if you want to hold onto the railing or Joel.

“I apologize in advance if I scream really loud and squeeze the life out of you.”

He presses his lips together to stifle a laugh and you narrow your eyes playfully, startling when the ride jerks forward. Without a second through you wrap both your arms around his bicep and smash yourself against his side.

Now you feel his laughter and you would scold him except the ride starts getting into full swing and the only thing you can do is scream with terrified glee.

He tucks his hat away so it doesn’t blow off his head and gives you a reassuring squeeze.

When you step off the ride you lean into Joel’s side to steady yourself.

“Did ya have fun?” he asks.

“Yes!” you squeak. “Everything is a little wobbly though.”

“I got ya darlin’,” he says softly, tucking you under his arm. Let’s get something sweet.”

He leads you over to the food area and you look around the bustling fairgrounds, trying to decide what to get. The air is filled with the aroma of various foods, each one tantalizing and you finally choose something, deciding first to have lemonade.

“The booth is a lemon,” you giggle as you wait on the line. “It’s so cute!”

“Wait ‘til you get a taste darlin’.”

You take a moment to peruse the menu, and your mouth waters with anticipation as you read the enticing choices. Classic lemonade, freshly squeezed and tangy, is available for those seeking a traditional experience. But there's also a selection of tempting twists on the classic, such as strawberry lemonade.

Taking Joel’s advice you go for a classic lemonade, your eyes widening when the vendor hands you a cup so large you can barely close your fingers around it.

Joel takes it from you, the cup looking like a regular size in his large hands.

“Here,” he says, holding the straw up to your lips.

The cool, tangy sweetness dances on your taste buds, instantly refreshing and invigorating. The combination of tart lemons, the subtle hint of sweetness, and the chill of the ice soothes your senses on this warm day, making you feel rejuvenated.

“It’s sooooo good. Oh my god.”

You take a second long sip before he does the same.

“Shit,” he agrees with a chuckle. “I’m almost forgot how good this is.”

You reach for another drink but he swipes the cup away and instead plants his lips on yours.

“Mmm,” he hums. “Sorry darlin’…just need some extra sugar.”

He adjusts his hat and winks.

“Where are we going now?”

You’re back in Joel’s pick-up, resting against his shoulder, your stomach full and your feet tired.

“It’s a surprise.”

He pulls off the road and into a small clearing, stopping the truck at the edge of a cliff.

Before he opens his door he holds up his finger, signaling for you to wait, and jumps out, running around the truck to help you.

“We’re so high up!” you say, peering near the edge. “It’s so beautiful!”

The cliff offers a panoramic view, stretching far and wide. Below, the vast expanse of the earth unfolds, revealing a tapestry of rolling hills, meandering rivers and lush greenery.

While you’re admiring the view he lowers the tailgate and sets down a blanket in the truck bed.

“Come ‘ere darlin’,” he says, placing his hands on your hips to help you hop up.

Once you’re comfortable and resting in his arms he threads his fingers through yours, idly rubbing his thumb across your knuckles.

The sun, now hovering low on the horizon, casts long, dramatic shadows that dance across the landscape. The golden light bathes everything in a soft glow and the distant mountains are silhouetted against the radiant sky.

You stare out at the breathtaking scenery, but every time your eyes slide to Joel he’s looking at you.

Slowly he brings your hand to his lips, kissing your fingertips before releasing them and curling his arm around your waist to tuck you against his chest.

You push his hat off his head and run your hand through his hair then dance your fingers across his jaw and over his beard.

He closes his eyes and hums, leaning into your touch. His hand moves from your waist and he slips it under your top, rubbing softly and slowly, making the heat in your body build.

Your hand drops to the collar of his shirt then slides inside the open buttons, his skin warm and smooth. You move lower, popping open the next button, then lower to the next, revealing more of his skin.

“Darlin’” he murmurs, his lips pressing to your neck, lightly nibbling until they meet the shell of your ear.

With a shiver you hook your thigh over his, the thick muscle settling between your legs and creating the perfect friction as you shift against him.

He reaches forward with his thumb and sweeps it across your lips, leaning in to kiss you. At first it’s tender and soft but when his name falls from your lips, desperation in every syllable, he rolls over and covers your body with his, deepening the kiss until you’re a panting mess beneath him.

When he pulls away for air he rests his forehead to yours and squeezes his eyes shut.

“Fuck woman,” he groans as he pushes himself up and slides out of the back.

He extends his hand toward you. “Get in the truck. I’m taking you home.”

You crawl closer and grab the front of his shirt, dragging him back to you and chasing his lips.

“Nope. I can’t wait.”

“Darlin’,” he says softly, but it’s gritty with restraint. “I’m taking you home to bed like a proper fucking gentleman.”

Your hands slide up his chest and wrap around his neck so you can bring his mouth back to yours.

“Right now, I don’t want a proper gentleman,” you whisper along his lips. “I want you, Cowboy, fucking me in the bed of your truck, under the sunset.”

You slip from his grasp and lie back on the blanket invitingly. He sucks in a curse and stares, taking you in, the golden setting sunlight catching like little sparks across your skin, lighting you up like an angel.

With purposeful movements he charges back into the bed of the truck.

“You’re gonna miss one hell of spectacular sunset darlin’,” he simpers as he settles over you. “But I promise I’ll make up for it.”

@sstan-hoe @laineyreads @justkinsey @beccablogsthings @pedritosdarling @lorilane33 @blackwidownat2814 @littleseasiren​

[sturnstars4]

high school sweethearts-c.sturniolo • v-card (story 2)

warnings: smut, v!rg!n!ty loss, a lil fluff

these stories aren’t in order i just think of them sooo yeah🥰

“chris can you come over, my parents left me again.”

“yes of course y/n, i’ll be there in 10.” chris says as he hangs up.

your parents had always been kinda shitty to you, sometimes would leave you for weeks. you were able to take care of yourself though.

you wait on the couch as you see matt drop chris off. he waves at you through the window, and you wave back.

“hey baby!” chris says, hugging you and kissing your forehead.

“hey!” you reply.

“whatcha wanna do y/n?”

“i don’t know chris, maybe watch a movie? we can go to my room.”

“okay.”

you head to your room, sitting down with chris as he puts on despicable me 4.

while you watch the movie, chris leans down and kisses you. you return the kiss, deepening it.

you feel chris growing hard under you, which scares you.

you’re a virgin.

you’ve known for a while that when you lost your v-card, you would feel safest doing it with chris.

“chris.” you say.

“yes baby?” he replies.

“i-i’ve never had sex before.”

“that’s okay ma. do you want to right now? i can take it slow.”

“i think so.”

he immediently takes off your shirt, then unclasping your bra. he kisses your collarbone, then your chest, while drawing shapes with his fingers on your stomach.

you take his shirt off next, running your fingers over his abs, while you kiss his lips.

he takes off your shorts, revealing your red lace underwear. you return the favor by removing his sweatpants, showing his boxers with an obvious bulge.

chris carefully removes your underwear, running his fingers over your wet folds.

“i’ll take it slow, i promise.” he reassures you as he lines his tip up with your entrance.

he carefully pushes his tip in, gently sliding himself in you as he takes his time.

before he slides more of his dick in, he aleah looks up at your face to make sure you aren’t in discomfort.

“am i doing okay baby?” he asks.

“mhmm.” is all you can muster out.

he starts to lightly thrust into you, barely even moving.

“chris?”

“yes, ma?

“can you go faster please?”

“-are you sure?”

“yes-just, please do it.”

chris picks up the pace, thrusting into you harder and faster. he can tell by the way you roll your hips, and your facial expressions that you’re almost there.

he puts his thumb on your clit, as he feels you squeeze around his dick. he’s about to come too.

“damn ma- i’m close,”

“me too-“

you both come at the same time, flopping down onto the bed and cleaning each other up.

“i love you chris, and thank you.”

“i love you too ma.”

[itsmebytch001]

OH MA GOD THE CARMY WRITING ABOUT BEING HIS KID WAS SO CUTE! maybe you could do something about bringing them to christmas with the family whiel mikey and donna are there (maybe they all have a soft spot for her, like she'sa baby carmy to them), or helping him cook in the restaurant while she is still young 🥰

Camry: "I don't want to go in"

He said sat in the drivers seat of his car, you in the back behind him right outside the large enough house, snowing profusely down, collecting on the roof of the car.

Richie: "Jesus cousin we just pulled up you can't chicken out now"

Carmy: "They don't even know were her-"

Richie: "Yeah because it's a surprise!, like surprise your out of touch son is here! and special guest, your granddaughter that he failed to fucking mention"

Y/n: "Language"

Richie: "Sorry Princess, but seriously Carm you can't just hide away forever, especially now you got Y/n it's not fair"

Carmy: "you don't ever bring round your kid to these god damm family events"

Richie: "I don't need to"

Carmy: "And why's that?"

Richie: "Cuz they know she exit's!"

Camry inhaled deeply, looking at you and back at the house.

Camry: "You ready baby?"

Y/n: "Yep!" You giggled swinging open the door and rushing over to the house, your father and Richie rushing after you.

Camry: "Y/n, Y/n stop!" He caught up to you, leaning down and placing a hand on your shoulder.

Camry: "My family's a bit intense yeah? so y'know if you wanna leave at any point just say the word and were gone, kay"

Y/n: ""M'kay"

Richie: "we literally just got here and your already planning an escape? Jesus man"

The closer the door got the worse his anxiety got,

breath in breath out it's all gonna be okay, they're gonna love her it's all gonna be just fine.

Finally approaching the door, Riche knocked, and not getting an immediate answer knocked again.

click click

dear God, take me now please Carmy thought to him self.

Donna's tired face peers round the door.

Donna: "OH! look who it is!"

Camry: "You invited us" He said monotonely

Donna: "And who is this?" She asked gesturing to you.

Carmy: "uhh That's my kid...Y/n"

Donna:"...what?"

...

...

Donna: "WHAT?!"

Camry: "I know Ma jus-"

Donna: "Don't fucking 'Ma' me!"

Now, having moved to the kitchen Richie took you upstairs, while your father fended for himself down stairs against the beast.

Donna: "Jesus Camry, fucking Jesus you had a baby and you didn't even call?!"

Camry: "I know it just didn't feel like the right time"

Donna: "The right time? The right time would have been when you found out whatever floozy you knocked up realised she was pregnant"

Camry: "Don't, don't say that Ma"

Donna: "How old is she, like 8, 9?"

Carmy: "eight"

Donna: "8 years?! You had eight years and you didn't even call?" She said, her eyes misting gripping onto a serving spoon.

Carmy: "I know, I know I should have called but, but I just got so busy with, with life with school with all sorts of shit I was just trying to keep everything afloat an-"

Donna: "Your only 29, you had her 21? Are you insane?!"

Carmy: "It's a bit late now to be lecturing me"

Donna: "Oh God, Oh God" She cried still gripping the spoon tight in her grasp, leaning over the sink taking deep breaths in and out.

Donna: "You need to leave"

Carmy: "What?"

Donna: "You cannot just show up to my house, after no fucking contact dragging along some kid"

Camry: "She's not some kid Ma, she's your granddaughter you can't just kick us out"

Donna: "This is my house! this is my house It's mine It's mine Its MINE" She cried, sounding almost in pain, bashing the spoon onto the pan.

Carmy: "Okay...Okay" He said putting his hands up in defeat, scurrying out of the kitchen and into the living room only to bump into...Mike.

Mike: "hey hey man, what the hell is going on in there?"

Camry: "Ma's acting crazy, I really don't want to expose Y/n to this kinda shit but I don't want to drive back and have to explain to her why were leaving, can you take this?"

Mike: "yeah, yeah I got you" He patted his brothers back sending him off up stairs, where Richie kept you entertained with TV blaring so that you could not hear the commotion down stairs.

Camry: "Hey sweetie, you good?"

Y/n: "I'm good"

Camry, to Richie: " I told you not to let her use the TV"

Richie: "Why the hell not?"

Camry: "Cuz it's bad for her! I don't want to fucking Ipad kid"

Richie: "It was ethier this, or let her hear your Mom ripping you a new ass hole."

Camry:"...Okay, fair enough"

After Mike had finally gotten Donna to calm down, Camry and Y/n were invited down to the dinner table for charismas dinner, with you across your father, next to your Aunt Nattily crammed in the corner, all enjoying the delicate peace you had established.

For Now...

[topaz-witch-tea]

Hello ! I love love love your yanqing family au! I’m a PhD student so I have very limited time when it comes to sitting down and reading fan fics so I really appreciate the little drabbles you post on here! Whenever you’re able to, I’d love to see a fic where yanqing gets sick and his father (and aunts) fuss over him

Hello! I'm very happy you love it! 🥰

Totally understand on the PhD part, I hope you are doing your best to stay healthy and hydrated.

I do enjoy writing drabbles since they don't need to be as clean as fics are, so please have a drabble of Yanqing being sick. This is a bit longer than some of my other drabbles.

*****

Mimi woke up to whimpering and the body of her young master tightly curled in the blankets. He didn't him to be awake but his breathing was labored and as Mimi walked over to poke the bundle with her nose, it seemed to curl even tighter into the blanket.

Worried, the lion quickly opened the door and rushed to her owners' room. It was a cold night and the three were all curled together in the middle of the bed. Mimi jumped onto the bed, startling Jing Yuan awake.

"Mimi?" The general rubbed his eyes, "what's wrong?"

Mimi made no noise, instead choosing to prod the others awake as well.

"Mimi…stop." Yingxing groaned, stuffing his face into the pillow. Dan Feng blearily opened his eyes, also displeased at being awoken in the middle of the night.

Mimi, displeased by how tired everyone was, started to pull at Jing Yuan's robe before hopping off the bed. She took a couple of steps before looking back to see if they were following her, a growl at the ready if they were still too tired to understand her urgency. Jing Yuan was already walking in her direction as Dan Feng was scrambling off the bed to get to his robe.

Yanqing felt horrible. He felt hot and cold and his body hurt all over. All his thoughts were foggy and when he wanted to call for his dads, it hurt his throat.

"Yanqing?" A voice called out, but Yanqing could only respond with a whimper.

Warm arms rolled him on his back and a slightly cold hand brushed his forehead. He could hear murmuring but they sounded as if they were talking to him underwater. Something wet and cold was placed on his forehead and a bitter liquid was fed to him from a cold, metal spoon. His thoughts went black again and he felt hot and icky for hours until a voice called out to him.

"Come on, little bird. Wake up, you need to eat."

Yanqing opened his eyes to see Jing Yuan. His bright, golden eyes filled with worry as he helped the boy sit up.

"A-die?" Yanqing muttered out. His throat not hurting as much anymore.

"How are you feeling? You didn't want to eat earlier so we just gave you medicine and let you sleep." Yingxing came over with a bowl of soup on a tray.

"I don't feel good," Yanqing said before burying his face into Jing Yuan's gray robe.

"I know, it'll be okay. Ba is getting medicine for you right now. But you have to eat before you can take more okay?"

"Okay," Yanqing murmured before being spoonfed soup by his Baba.

"It's just broth so try to finish the whole thing." Yingxing held out another spoonful.

"It tasted weird."

"Yes, that's normal. Food doesn't taste good when you're sick."

Yanqing was halfway done with his soup when Dan Feng arrived, a small brown paper bag in his hand. He set the bag down before coming over and playing his hand on Yanqing's forehead. The hand was cold like the water in Scalegorge Waterscape and for Yanqing, who felt like he was burning up, it was a welcome respite.

However, his father quickly drew his hand away. "You're burning up. You should take some medicine now and finish your food."

Dan Feng pulled out a brown bottle and a metal spoon from the bag. Pouring the amber syrup into a spoon, he held it up for Yanqing to drink. The medicine was bitter and had a sharp, tangy aftertaste. He hated it and quickly ate the rest of the soup in order to get rid of the taste. Jing Yuan helped him lay down again and with a little bit of Cloudhymn magic, Yanqing quickly fell asleep.

"It pains me to see him like this," Dan Feng said as he adjusted the blanket.

"I know. He's a strong boy now, so there's no need to worry." Jing Yuan scratched Mimi's ears, a reward for her ever-vigilant care.

"He'll be hungry when he wakes up. I'll prepare another soup for him when he's up." Yingxing said, standing up and collecting the bowl and medicine spoon.

Yanqing woke up a couple of hours later to Mimi laying by his side, her cold nose poking his arm and her sharp blue eyes were as watchful as ever.

"Oh, you're awake! How are you feeling?" A cheerful voice spoke up, though her purple ears were flat against her head- a telltale sign that she was worried.

"Auntie Baiheng? Why are you here?"

"I came to visit you, little bird. I heard you got sick last night. Are you feeling better?"

Yanqing nodded. His body was still tired from the illness.

"Good. Auntie Jingliu is here too. She brought some special ginger tea for you. I think she's still preparing it now." Baiheng gently smoothed away the hair that clung to his face.

"Ginger is spicy." Yanqing didn't like ginger but his family always made him eat it since it was good for him.

"I know. But it's good for you." The little boy pouted and somehow looked even more pitiful than he already was.

"Where are my dads?" His fathers were usually by his bedside when he was sick, so it was strange not to see them there.

"You're A-die got called into work for a quick thing but he should be back soon. Baba is in the kitchen with your auntie preparing food and tea. Ba is probably looking at medicinal herbs to make more new medicine for you."

"I hope the new medicine is sweet like candy. The one I got tasted really yucky." Yanqing made a face, earning him a laugh from Baiheng.

The door opened again and Yanqing could hear the tinkling of glassware.

"Are you feeling better Yanqing?" Yingxing placed the tray down before moving to sit on the bed and placing his hand on Yanqing's forehead. "You aren't as hot as earlier."

"I feel better. But my throat hurts a bit."

"Here, drink this." Jingliu placed a small, ceramic teacup into Yanqing's hands.

He knew better than to fight them when it came to drinking tea and medicine so he took a deep breath and finished the tea in one gulp. The tea was hot and spicy and burned his throat and tongue. When he was younger, he cried when they made him drink it.

"Good job." Jingliu patted his head and took the cup away.

Yanqing heard the door open again and this time, Mimi jumped off the bed. "Why hello to you too, Mimi!" Jing Yuan laughed as the lion rolled onto her stomach, obviously lacking in belly rubs as the family was busy.

Dan Feng paid little mind to them, instead walking over to check Yanqing's temperature.

"I just checked it. He's fine." Yingxing spoke up.

"One can never be too sure."

Yingxing rolled his eyes as he pulled up a chair to the two new arrivals. "Do you want to eat dinner now?"

"You're eating here?" Yanqing asked.

"Of course!" Baiheng fluffed up the pillows so he could lean back properly. "It wouldn't be fair to have to eat here on your own."

The five of them sat by Yanqing's bedside happily chatting with dinner in hand as Yanqing finished his soup. Mimi, after finishing her meal, was curled up at the end of the bed.

"When I get better, could we go somewhere?" Yanqing asked after finishing his soup.

"Where would you like to go?" Jing Yuan replied.

Yanqing thought for a moment. "I want to go to the Artisanship Commission Auction!"

"The auction?" Yingxing looked taken aback, "You have no money to bid with."

The comment earned him a kick to the shin by Dan Feng.

"I'll give you however much you need!" Baiheng said cheerfully, always happy to spend on her nephew.

"Stop spoiling him." Jingliu looked over to her wife, knowing full well how much would be drained from their account next month. Those words fell on deaf ears anyway and she was just as guilty.

"I don't see why not. I think it's a wonderful idea. But you have to take your medicine and rest if you want to recover in time." Jing Yuan said.

"I will!" Yanqing beamed, ready to take that horrible-tasting medicine and dream of all the swords he could have.

****

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it and please feel free to send me asks!