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lily-blue · 3 years

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Come hell or high water

☆ characters: prince!hyunjin & princess!you (Seonghee) ☆ genre: troi au, royalty au, humour ☆ warnings: blood and death ☆ summary: When the second prince of Silla falls in love with you, the only daughter of the ruthless king of Gaya, odds aren’t in his favour. But Hyunjin is determined to find his way into your heart, no matter the consequences. Too bad that you aren’t as keen as him to turn your back on your responsibilities. ☆ words: 16,1k ☆ also: this story is a part of our Kingdom inspired “all is fair in love and war” collaboration with @dat-town and @restlessmaknae; please check out their stories, too. believe me, they are quality work! ☆ furthermore: I’m aware that Hyunjin no longer participates in Kingdom, but when this story was written, he did. Please also note that neither Silla or Gaya was like how I described them in this story. Come hell or high water (and so as the other stories of the collaboration) is a work of fiction.

The only reason for prince Hyunjin to attend the royal wedding in Goguryeo was his love and utmost respect for his family; the king and queen of Silla and his older brother, Chan, who was the crown prince of their kingdom - hence the one who had to be more responsible out of the two children - ever since the day he had been born. Otherwise, Hyunjin wouldn’t have struggled through yet another diplomatic event where old people drank too much wine to be considered as decent, and women from all ages tried their best to have him even if just for one everlasting night. Not that he had anything against fun. Of course, not. But he knew better than to let his guards down at a wedding where not only his father was keeping his eyes on him, but other royalties as well, such as the kings of the other three kingdoms, Baekje, Goguryeo and Gaya, and their most loyal servants who could have been on secret missions in the shadows while everyone else was quenching their thirst with the finest alcohol.

When the Moon finally passed its peak on the starlit sky, and the noblemen around the prince started to talk too lightly due to their ninth glass of wine, the young man excused himself with the most charming smile he could have mustered, then walked towards the seemingly abandoned balcony to ease his growing headache with a breather of fresh air. Leaning his palms onto the wooden top rail, he looked down at the royal garden with a soft smile, taking in the mesmerizing sight of rosebuds and other flowers whose name he couldn’t recall in spite of his mother’s fascination with most of them. She could walk around in her own garden for hours without getting bored, just staring at them from a distance or taking care of them when unwanted eyes couldn’t have seen it. The woman would have never put her husband in shame with her actions, but her upbringing could have gotten the worst out of her from time to time, especially in spring. But the queen’s simple antics only made the king love her more as their father had liked to claim when the royal gardener caught the woman red-handed and rushed to the man to apologize for his inability to please the queen’s wishes.

Deep in his thoughts, prince Hyunjin couldn’t have pinpointed when his gaze had stuck on you in your pretty, olive green dress, but when you took a seat on one of the benches, he couldn’t make himself tear it from your elegant figure. Your dark hair fell into your face and onto your bare shoulders in straight locks while you were observing the tranquil scenery, your pale fingers playing with the hem of your silk scarf as though you couldn’t have decided what to do with yourself while the others were having fun inside the palace. The prince wondered whether you disliked these events just like he did or whether you had a completely different reason to distance yourself from the crowd.

Either way, the young royalty was determined to get his answers, therefore he turned his back on the garden and walked back inside the palace just to find the hallway that led him towards the stairs that showed him the way to you.

A part of Hyunjin might have been afraid that you wouldn’t be sitting on the same bench by the time he managed to get there, but lucky for him, you were still busy with picking on the stray thread that you had pulled out of your scarf not so long ago, trying to lessen the damage you caused to your perfect outfit. You knew that your father wouldn’t have been too happy if he had seen this flaw in your appearance regardless of how tiny it was. He had raised you better.

If anyone had asked him, the prince would have blamed his careless actions on his crazily beating heart or on that single glass of wine he had drunk during prince Changmin and princess Gowon’s speech at the beginning of the dinner, but other than you, no one was in the garden and the moment he touched your shoulder, you were too preoccupied to utter a single word, let alone a complete sentence.

‘I am so sorry. I did not mean to scare you,’ the prince said when your shoulders tensed and you pulled away from him on instinct as though his touch had burned you.

In the back of his mind, Hyunjin knew that what he had done had been inappropriate and that you had every right to be mad at him for invading your peace, but he hoped that you wouldn’t run away or scream his head off like those whiny girls did who wanted to keep him close by making him feel guilty. He was so tired of fake people. Was it that bad that you had piqued his interest and now he yearned for something real like a young noblewoman who preferred to be alone when based on her beauty, she should have been in the middle of the spotlight? He hoped that you would have told him that it wasn’t.

It took you for a few everlasting moments, but eventually you put yourself together and stood up from the bench, doing a curtsy as the etiquette of your nations demanded from you in front of the members of other royal families and people in high ranks. Since unlike prince Hyunjin, who had still no idea who you could have been, you were perfectly aware of his identity. How could you have not? His blonde locks and mellow lips had given him out the moment you had had the chance to take a good look at your intruder.

‘It is fine. You did not scare me at all,’ you reassured him with your chin up high which made the prince shoot a beaming smile in your direction, one that seemed honestly amused by your confidence.

‘Oh, really?’ the prince asked and raised his left eyebrow a little higher while he linked his arms in front of his chest and leaned a bit close to you only with his upper body. Looking into his dark brown eyes, you couldn’t have helped, but wondered whether he acted this carefree around everyone. Wasn’t Hyunjin aware that he was representing their whole nation at the wedding? That under the glamourous facade, people were eager to catch a glimpse of each other’s weaknesses tonight? He should have paid close attention to his words and actions. But who were you to lecture him in the middle of the royal garden when you shouldn’t have left your brother’s side, either? ‘Because that lovely yelp that left your mouth says otherwise,’ he added after a few heartbeats of silence, the light in his eyes changing right in front of yours upon seeing your bashful reaction.

You hated how your burning cheeks and slightly parted lips gave you away in no time, but you were your father’s daughter, therefore you couldn’t have allowed yourself to seem weak. Not in front of the second son of the king of Silla. In a twisted way, your families were ill-fated rivals, borned to resent one another. Wasn’t this something he had been taught, too?

‘We are at a royal wedding that is a gesture of peace, and yet, you call me a liar,’ so you said, eyes burning with passion and confidence, smile sweet like saccharine despite your cold tone. After all, what you were doing was stating facts. There was nothing the prince should have been surprised about. Still, the panic in his eyes was painfully evident. It almost made you feel bad about your statement.

‘I did not! I was just saying that…’

Your small chuckle cut off his explanation before either of you would have realized it, and as your eyes bored deep into the young man’s, the unexplainable urge inside of you to clear your throat grew bigger and bigger.

‘It is fine,’ you reassured prince Hyunjin before you turned towards the flowers you had been observing not so long ago and glanced at the bench that you had stood up from to greet him accordingly. You wished that you could have sat back on it, but you knew that being borned as a man, your intruder was above you in many aspects. Which meant that you needed to wait for his permission before you took a seat. Otherwise, you would have been acting rude and a princess couldn’t have been labeled with such negative adjectives. ‘Despite what people say about you, prince Hyunjin from Silla, you are no fun,’ you said quietly, with a small smile in the corner of your mouth while your gaze shifted from your surroundings to the royalty.

‘What? Were you just… joking?’ he asked, confused, and the wrinkles on his forehead made you smile even more. If he was this easy to fool, their kingdom was lucky to have his brother as their crown prince.

‘Maybe I was, maybe I was not. What did my lovely yelp tell about me?’ you asked back in a lighter tone, your eyes shining with hidden mischief that you preserved solely for your brother, Seonghwa, when the two of you were finally on your own. Ever since he had come of age, he had gotten busier with each day, and you also had your lessons, hence there was less time that you could have spent together without eager gazes all around you. Scholars, trainers and well-respected guests from all around the kingdom had their eyes on you whenever you had some alone time in the garden or in the library that your mom had loved so much when she had been still alive. It could get very tiring.

But the look in prince Hyunjin’s eyes on you felt different. It made you feel like a worriless child again who had no idea about the cruelty of the world.

‘That you, my lady, are one of a kind,’ the prince retorted and you raised your left brow a bit higher as well, mimicking his precious facial expression. If you had been a bit braver or more comfortable, you would have even crossed your arms under your breast. But that would have been too much, too soon.

‘I am sure that you can do better,’ you said after a low hum, your hands itching to put your index finger on his chest or at least on his shoulder, so that you could have pushed him a bit further, out of your comfort zone. But your teachers’ words echoed in your head, reminding you of the fact that your actions represented your father plus your people which meant that touching the prince of another kingdom without his consent could have gotten you in a really big trouble. And you had stopped acting like a spoiled brat the day you had lost the innocence of your childhood along with that one person who had tried her best to shield you even from the coldest of winter nights.

‘And if…’

The prince’s words were once again cut off from one second to another, this time, by a guard in red and black leather. The sight of the intruder’s somewhat savage uniform tugged on your stomach in a rather unpleasant way.

‘Prince Hyunjin! Your father wishes to have you by his side at his table while he…’ the guard started although the moment his gaze fell upon you, he bit into his lower lip and took a deep bow as a sign of his respect. ‘Princess,’ he addressed you and you nodded immediately out of habit, greeting him just as politely.

For a little while, there was nothing but silence. Hyunjin’s gaze stuck on your face and yours on his guard whose uptight appearance made it clear that whatever he had intended to tell his prince was none of your business. It made you crack a subtle smile. Men and their secrets. It seemed that they guarded them with the same devotion in every kingdom despite their rulers or inhabitants.

‘I think it is time for me to look for my brother,’ you spoke up first, shooting a small smile in the prince’s direction as though you would have genuinely regretted that your conversation had needed to come to such an abrupt end. And while he could have easily sent his guard away to stay a little longer and prove you that he was a lot better at charming people than he had seemed to be around you, it was his father, the king of Silla, who called for him. Hyunjin was just as powerless against a command like that as you would be one day when your father would ask you to marry one of his powerful supporters or their son.

Therefore you walked away after another polite curtsy, and the prince watched you leave with something heavy and indecipherable in his heart. Somehow, he didn’t seem to be able to take his eyes off of you, your elegant figure getting farther and farther away, not even after you had disappeared behind the double door.

‘Was it really necessary, Jisung? She was fun.’ Prince Hyunjin turned towards the guard who had disturbed his light chatter with you, facial expression annoyed, but not at all intimidating. If anything, it put the other at ease since the blonde royalty’s sulkiness was something he was familiar with since day one.

‘And she is the only daughter of the king of Gaya. She is kind, yes. And she is really pretty, but she means trouble,’ Jisung counter-attacked and the unexpected information rendered the prince speechless for a second too long. So you weren’t just a nobleman’s precious daughter but the princess of the most aggressive kingdom of all four nations. That could have indeed meant a smaller disaster if you hadn’t been kind enough to take his careless words lightly. But you had laughed his ill-manners off and had rather played along, calling him out on his weak compliment. You couldn’t have been as bad as people at the palace claimed your family to be.

So Hyunjin decided to not think too much into his guard’s know-it-all warning slash slightly irritating lecturing and rather scoffed as he linked his arms in front of his chest.

‘Says the royal guard who helped me steal a tray of bukkumi from the kitchen when I was twelve,’ he reminded the younger of their history which made Jisung frown and close his eyes before he could have rolled them, giving the guests of the royal wedding a chance to pick on the family he had oathed to serve until the day he died. He couldn’t disrespect his prince at an event full of powerful people no matter how much he wanted to punch Hyunjin in the face for bringing up that afternoon when his father, another royal guard, had caught them red-handed and had punished him on both of their behalf. And Jisung’s clear suffering made the prince enjoy the current situation even more in spite of the fact that that day, he had gotten his own punishment after Jisung had been dragged out of the throne room by his dad.

‘For that matter, I was not a royal guard back then,’ the guard whisper-yelled while his back remained straight and his facial expression stern as if the two of them had been talking about politics or the pleasantly nice weather.

The prince shrugged.

‘Whatever. Just show me the way,’ he asked Jisung who followed the royalty’s clear order without a complaint, leading him to where his father sat with his brother and the new head of the royal guards, Lee Felix, who had been a few months younger than Hyunjin, but had still managed to win against all of his opponents during the New Year Tournament at the palace. His performance made the prince a tad bit jealous ever since, but he was glad that his loved ones were protected by someone as skilled and quick-witted as the young warrior.

The rest of the night and the early morning were just as boring as the dinner itself had been and prince Hyunjin truly doubted that he had ever regretted anything as badly as his inability to call out for you when he had still had the chance in the garden. Because as soon as the Sun reappeared on the sky, his father gave the order to their servants to get everything ready for their journey back to their kingdom in an hour. Therefore he ended up leaving without saying goodbye to you. For God’s sake. He couldn’t even steal one last glance at you talking to your brother or just sitting still by one of the fancily decorated tables.

Two weeks after the royal wedding of prince Changmin and princess Gowon, prince Hyunjin still couldn’t get your smile out of his head which made it hard for him to fall asleep at night or to focus on his studies in daytime. He kept coming up with ridiculous lines in his head as a response to your challenging remark, answers that he thought you might have found funny and he wished you could have listened to them for real.

‘If you keep skipping on sleeping, sooner or later even Seo Changbin will manage to win against you in short range combat.’ Someone’s firm steps came to a halt an arm’s length from the prince who was currently laying on the grass beside the rosebuds that his mother loved so much. Hyunjin’s expensive clothes looked messy, but they were nowhere near as pathetic as the look on his face. Despite his usual, snarky attitude around the nosy intruder, this time he didn’t spare him as much as a disapproving glance.

‘As if that ever happened,’ he mumbled, fingers picking on the freshly cut grass.

The royal guard let out a tired sigh and sat beside his prince, long legs in leather pants linked and elbows resting atop of his knees. Jisung would have never admitted it aloud, but he was a little concerned about his childhood partner in crime.

‘This morning, he almost got you,’ he pointed out matter-of-factly, his worried gaze stuck on the prince’s face because even though no one expected Hyunjin to be the most capable soldier of the royal army, he was usually a very hard-working and determined student. He wanted to earn his people’s respect instead of getting it for free just because they had no other choice, just because he had been borned as the king’s son. On most days, the young prince would have arrived at these classes an hour before their master and either trained by himself or with Lee Felix. But ever since their journey to Goguryeo, he was visibly unable to get out of bed in time.

As an unamused response to Jisung’s comment, the prince scoffed and rolled his eyes. He might have indeed made a few smaller mistakes that morning, but Seo Changbin hadn’t been anywhere close to outsmart him during their fight. He refused to believe so.

‘But seriously, you should sleep,’ Jisung kept pushing and Hyunjin had no other choice but to sit up and face him before the guard could have gone too far and lectured him even more. He might have looked at the younger boy as some kind of an odd friend, but he wasn’t in the mood to be scolded by him yet again.

‘It is not that I do not want to, obviously,’ the prince said with an ugly frown before he shifted his gaze from the guard to the nearby rosebuds.

If he hadn’t felt too embarrassed to voice it out loud, Hyunjin would have told the blonde boy that he couldn’t stop thinking about how much he regretted not calling after you in the garden and that this was the main reason behind his unusual behavior. But he was a prince desired by dozens of women and envied by even more men in their kingdom. How was he supposed to admit that there was a big chance that he had fallen for you at first sight? It sounded pathetic. He was acting pathetic.

‘Is it because of your brother’s upcoming coronation ceremony?’ Jisung asked tentatively as it was one of those topics that they rarely talked about with the prince. Not that Hyunjin hated to talk about his family with people in particular. No, it had just turned out this way since there had always been something more interesting to discuss with his closest men than how his father ruled over Silla, what his mom did in her free time and how Chan was preparing to be the next king of their land.

A few strands fell in the prince’s face when he shook his head. If he hadn’t been preoccupied, he would have found Jisung’s sudden caution amusing.

‘Not really. I am rather happy for him,’ he said, true to the truth. After all, Hyunjin had grown up knowing well that it was his brother who would inherit the crown. And he had never yearned for that much responsibility anyway. He liked his life and the relative freedom he had.

‘Then… are you feeling sick?’ the guard asked, one of his brows raised a bit upwards in pure confusion. Because if anything, prince Hyunjin didn’t seem sick at all. Sure, there were dark circles under his eyes and his fair skin was also paler and drier than usually, but Jisung had thought that these were only the inevitable aftereffects of his sleep deprivation. Shouldn’t have Hyunjin paid a visit to the royal medic if he hadn’t been feeling well? Then, everyone in the palace would have been worried about him instead of calling him out on his unusual deconcentration. It just didn’t make sense.

‘Maybe,’ the prince shrugged, not giving too much thought to his mumbled words although they made the guard’s heart skip a beat in worry.

‘Wait! Seriously? Then you should pay a visit to the…’ Jisung started as he quickly stood up from the grass, ready to push the prince all the way to the infirmary if violence had been truly necessary. He couldn’t have let him die because of his stubbornness! That could have easily counted as high treason and he didn’t plan to be sentenced to death anytime soon due to his friend’s stupidity.

‘Easy!’ Prince Hyunjin said while he brushed the guard’s hands off his arm and rolled his eyes. ‘I just cannot stop thinking that princess Seonghee would actually like mother’s garden. I missed my chance to tell her about it,’ he whined as he laid down on the grass again, facing the clouds that hid the stars. He wondered whether you could have seen them from your window and you were indeed staring at the same sky.

Hearing upon his clumsy confession, Jisung couldn’t help himself but let out a disapproving snort. But then came the laughter that shook his entire body, stomach being in pain from how much he enjoyed the situation. Prince Hyunjin of Silla, the okay-ish looking crybaby whom he had saved several times already from daring noblewomen and maids who didn’t fear their lives, was lovesick for the first time in his life. It was more than hilarious.

‘Really? You are so lame,’ the guard said, sitting down on the ground, this time a little closer to his friend whose deadly glances only poured oil to the fire. Yet, as if the boy had suddenly realized that he might have crossed a line, he quickly bowed his head and put his respect on display with a playful salute. ‘You are so lame, prince Hyunjin,’ he corrected himself which earned another annoyed eye roll from the royalty. Jisung was damn lucky that Hyunjin had a loose personality just like his parents. Otherwise, he would have sent him to prison for a night to teach him some manners.

Instead, the prince let out a resigned sigh and turned on his side with his back to the guard, his fidgety fingers picking on the grass. Hyunjin wondered whether you would have scolded him for his actions the same way the queen would have done so if she had caught him red-handed. The thought alone pulled the corner of his lips upwards.

‘If you are so sulky over your missed chance, then show her. You are a royalty. I am sure you could make it possible somehow before you lose your charms to those ugly circles under your eyes,’ Jisung suggested and while his words were followed by silence at first, the moment his idea hit home, the young prince pushed himself into a sitting position and shot a disturbing smile in his friend’s direction.

‘You know, that is actually not a bad idea. I will show her!’ he exclaimed and if anyone had asked the guard, he would have said that it was almost ridiculous how lively his deep voice sounded compared to a mere minute prior. Jisung couldn’t imagine what the two of you could have possibly talked about before his arrival that had turned Hyunjin into such a fool. But it was fun to see him get so excited about something other than archery, well-balanced swords and stolen cakes. Not that he wouldn’t have been down for the latter anytime.

‘So should we send an…’

‘We will bring her here!’ The prince cut off Jisung with his overexcited hand gestures as he stood up from the grass and fixed his messy clothes with a few, nonchalant wipes.

The guard followed suit, but blocked the prince’s way before he could have rushed inside the palace. Then and there, Jisung could have only hoped that his friend was happy enough to not scold him for grabbing his wrist out of the blue.

‘I did not mean it like that,’ he said with an ugly frown on his face, worry slowly creeping its way into not just his facial expressions but his voice as well. They couldn’t have just brought the princess of Gaya here to show her the royal garden. For heaven’s sake! Being a prince or not, not even Hyunjin could have gotten away with something like that. Had he completely lost his mind? Jisung hadn’t believed in witches before, but seeing the blind determination in the prince’s eyes, he started to question what did or did not exist.

‘Can you guarantee that her father will let her read my letter?’ was all prince Hyunjin asked before he shifted his gaze from Jisung’s calloused fingers around his wrist to his face. The small twitch in the corner of the younger’s mouth told him enough. ‘Exactly! So pack your stuff. We will leave in an hour,’ he gave the order as he brushed the guard’s hand off himself and marched towards the double door of the eastern wing of the palace.

The moment the prince noticed Jeongin behind Jisung’s back, he crossed his arms in front of his chest and let out an annoyed sigh. He should have known better than anyone to not have too much faith in his childhood friend. Because he was apparently a certified moron.

‘I thought that it was obvious that you cannot tell about our plans to anyone, Jisung,’ Hyunjin said with an unamused eye roll, his gaze stuck on no one in particular since he couldn’t have been a hundred percent sure that what Jeongin had managed to get out of his roommate was the actual truth or Han Jisung had managed to come up with a believable lie for once in his life. His sceptical ass couldn’t have ruined everything in case his friend wasn’t as much of a hopeless case as the prince assumed.

‘It was not my fault! What was I supposed to tell him when he outright asked me why I was packing?’ Jisung asked back, clearly offended although his childish pouting earned nothing but another eye roll from the prince. He was damn lucky that back in the days, he had been the only child who had been Hyunjin’s age in the place. Otherwise, the prince would have never befriended him in a million years.

‘Will we really just ignore the fact that you are about to kidnap the only princess of Gaya, my prince?’ Jeongin spoke up before the silence could have gotten more awkward, the honorific grammar he used doing little to nothing to ease the tension. In fact! If possible, his question ruined prince Hyunjin’s mood even more. It convinced him that he should have left without Jisung and faced the consequences alone once you agreed to pay a visit to the royal palace of Silla with him as your personal tour guide slash charming company.

‘I will not kidnap her!’ the prince objected vehemently, ready to put an end to this ridiculous conversation. However, his defensive words failed to persuade the youngest that his plan was well-calculated or that he had a concrete plan at all.

‘I am pretty sure that bringing princess Seonghee here without her father’s consent is exactly what kidnapping a royalty means,’ Jeongin counter-attacked, hoping that his rather rational approach would be able to knock some sense into the prince without violence because for 1) he couldn’t have possibly hit the second son of the king of Silla and for 2) he couldn’t have possibly let him cross the border between their kingdom and Gaya, either, just to meet a girl. Even if that girl had been as enchanting as prince Hyunjin made you out to be.

‘Oh, just shut up! We need to leave,’ the prince replied in a huff. He truly didn’t have time nor the energy for listening to their youngest guard’s lecturing about something he shouldn’t have known in the first place. Stupid Han Jisung and his incapability of lying or keeping his loosen mouth shut. At the know-it-all’s dumbfounded face, Hyunjin grabbed the boy’s thin wrist and pulled him towards the gates, signalling his friend with only a tilt of his head to follow them in silence. They were already running late. ‘You are coming with us. I cannot risk you telling on us before I could talk to the princess.’

‘But…’ Jeongin tried to reason but to no avail as he was cut off by another loud snort on their way to the gates.

‘It is not kidnapping if she is curious about the garden as well, obviously,’ the prince said and while he did have a point, his guards couldn’t have helped but worry about the consequences of his actions and the state of Hyunjin’s mind. Since when had he believed that the dreadful king of Gaya would let his precious daughter visit their kingdom because of a garden? In Jeongin’s humble opinion - and for all of their sakes -, the young prince needed to come up with a more convincing monologue by the time they reached the border of the two kingdoms or at least by the time they arrived at the royal palace of Gaya.

Han Jisung was convinced that prince Hyunjin was in Fortuna’s favour when they managed to leave not just the royal palace but Silla, too, without as much as a stray royal guard or soldier getting in their way, but Jeongin didn’t share his comrade’s beliefs until they finally arrived in the right city and their prince caught a glimpse of you and your servants in the crowd close to the market.

To say that you were taken aback when the prince walked up to you would have been a huge understatement, but your cheeks were nowhere near as red as your maids’ who were gushing praises about the boy ever since they had caught you staring at him by your brother’s side at the royal wedding in Goguryeo. You should have been angry with them for making it obvious how you had kept thinking about him during the past few weeks or for being inappropriately eager to leave you alone with him and his guards when you were supposed to buy silk for the dress that you would wear at your birthday, but you couldn’t utter a bad word when the prince picked up the conversation where you two had left off last time, interrupted by the very same guard who was now looking at your odd pair with something akin to worry in his brown eyes.

But despite his eerie presence and the stern look on his comrade’s face, you had to admit that you enjoyed the unexpected visit and the prince’s company. No wonder, before you would have realized, your always polite smile turned into a more honest one, your carefree chuckles escaping your mouth and filling the atmosphere of the already noisy streets. You were almost certain that you had never been this happy in your entire life until Hyunjin took your hand in his and your shoulder tensed on instinct. Staring at his furrowed brows, you didn’t like where your conversation was about to go.

‘But you said it yourself, you would gladly see the garden for yours…’ the prince started, but before he could have gotten to the persuading part of his monologue, you firmly shook your head.

‘Yes, and I truly meant it, but not right now. I cannot just pack my things and leave with you,’ you said, leaving no room for any objection which earned a displeased whine from Hyunjin. He didn’t understand you. He couldn’t understand why you would stay here without him by your side when you clearly liked his silly jokes and more serious arguments for and against things like how a king should have looked over his subjects and how violence shouldn’t have been a solution for establishing a strong empire.

‘But why not? You are a princess,’ he asked you and upon hearing his question both you and Jeongin had the urge to smash your heads against the closest wall. Was he for real? Or he was only pretending that he didn’t know how much a princess needed to sacrifice for her country? Hyunjin might have been a prince, but in your father’s eyes, he was no better than the poorest farmers in Gaya. He despised Silla and all the other kingdoms. He would have rather married you off to a wealthy nobleman with the same mindset and enough money to feed an entire army than to let you have your happy ending in another palace.

‘Exactly!’ you whisper-yelled, a bit annoyed by the confused look on his face that only made it harder to turn down his offer. But you had to. You couldn’t have run away with him when you had only talked to him twice. He couldn’t have meant it. He shouldn’t have meant it.

Telling yourself to act rational, you pulled your hand out of prince Hyunjin’s grab and took a step backwards, asking him to leave you alone, but he refused to listen and soon your fight started to gain more attention than it was necessary. Before you knew it, passersby slowed down their pace when they got near you and some of their steps outright came to a halt, so that they could have watched the show which was bad. No, it was disastrous. Because if your face hadn’t done so, your expensive clothes and accessories for sure gave your identity away.

‘Princess Seonghee is in danger!’ someone shouted from behind you, the desperate statement turning the crowd either more excited or outright furious.

‘What? No, I am not in…’ you turned your back on the prince and raised both of your hands in front of your chest in an attempt to calm your subjects down, but before you could have told them that you were perfectly fine and safe with Hyunjin, the blonde royalty grabbed your wrist and pulled you further from the mass. And while a part of you knew or at least assumed that he did it for your sake, his sudden action triggered the men at the front.

In those forbidden books that you treasured so much, in those that were about adventures or passion and desperate lovers instead of boring etiquettes and royal families, everything would have happened in a blink of an eye. You had already read enough of them to be sure about it. In reality, however, you were painfully aware of each strike of pitchfork and shortsword that collided with the prince’s weapon as if these were the only things you could concentrate on. The overbearing sound of their clashes scared you to death and paralized your entire body. You wanted it to stop. You wanted everyone to stop.

But they didn’t and you found yourself being dragged towards the market place as if the tables had turned and the boy who tried his best to keep you away from harm had suddenly needed to look for another strategy, one that could actually help him win this useless fight against a bunch of unskilled citizens and farmers. You were running without knowing where you were heading and you hissed at the pain when you accidentally lost one of your slippers and the rocky road cut your bare sole.

People were bleeding on the streets, fighting and screaming, and you fell against a stall when your sweaty palm slid out of prince Hyunjin’s grab, your temple bleeding just the same when you smashed your head against the edge of a wooden table full of colourful fabrics. You lost consciousness on the spot and almost got stomped to death by the crowd that was unaware of your state or your exact location and was very much clouded by the thrill of the fight. It was a matter of sheer seconds and Jisung’s quick reflexes that you survived.

Prince Hyunjin followed suit and sat on his heels beside you, looking for wounds and letting out a frustrated sigh whenever he found one. He had never wanted you to get hurt. And it was all because of him.

‘What the…’ Jeongin breathed out in horror when he got to your small group and took a side glance at your unconscious figure. ‘We need to go, my prince. Now,’ he exclaimed when he noticed that more people were coming and that the spot where you were laying could have easily gotten surrounded. With only the three of them - or more like two as prince Hyunjin seemed to be a bit out of it, more worried about you than his own well-being -, they couldn’t have won against such a numerical superiority. They were bound to get exhausted and start to make major mistakes.

And no matter what his guards thought of him at that moment, Hyunjin was aware of their lacking options as well. So he took a deep breath and lifted you off the ground.

‘What are you…’ Jisung asked in a pitched voice, eyes wider than the Japanese sea that you could see from the window of your bedroom in the summer palace.

‘I will not just leave her here,’ the prince counter-attacked with an annoyed eye roll while he carefully threw you onto his left shoulder and squeezed the grip of his sword in his right arm, ready to fight whoever wanted to hurt you.

Jeongin shook his head in disbelief, his patience wearing thin. But to his displeasure, he was not in the position to make the final call. As a member of the royal guards and a subject of the king of Silla, he needed to bend under prince Hyunjin’s will. No matter how irrational he was acting.

‘You said that you will not kidnap her. You cannot kidnap her!’ he tried to talk some sense into the royalty nevertheless, his statements followed by a loud snort from Hyunjin and a quieter yelp from Jisung that signalled that they were short on time.

‘I thought you said, we need to go. Now,’ the prince used his own words against the younger before he looked around and scanned the area, then tilted his head to right, leading the way to the other two with your body on his shoulder.

‘Good gracious! We are so screwed,’ Jisung mumbled under his nose before he gulped down a few other swear words and followed his prince, hoping that you would be able to make him realize that he was acting crazy once you woke up.

To get as far away from the angry mob as possible, prince Hyunjin and his guards didn’t stop until they finally reached the border of the city that was built around the royal palace. And they stayed on the road even after, looking for a place where they could have stayed for the night and fed their horses or where they could have at least set up a camp, stomachs empty and mood filled with unwanted tension. None of them needed to be good at reading emotions to know that Jeongin was furious, that Jisung was dying to break the silence with a silly joke, but too afraid of the reactions that it would have triggered and that Hyunjin was worried sick as you were still unconscious. Hence coming across a rundown inn in the centre of the closest town was a blessing, especially when it turned out that they not just had enough vacant rooms for the youngest guard to keep the distance from his prince, but the owner of the place also knew where to look for the local medic.

With a key in his hand, the prince sent Jeongin for the doctor, then asked Jisung to help him cover your face and expensive clothes while they were sneaking you into the only available single room, laying you atop of the grey sheets. Hyunjin wasn’t a hundred percent certain that they had such an odd colour because they were old or because they were dirty, but it wasn’t that he could have asked for fancier blankets for you without blowing up your disguise, hence he bore with it. At that moment, he would have endured much worse if only you had opened your eyes.

But you remained unconscious for days and he needed to find a way to divert his attention from your state and not check on you every ten minutes. So he used his time to write a letter to his father and another, a more detailed one, to Chan in which he explained his reasons for being gone and his hopes of returning to Silla in a matter of days. He also apologized for the trouble his sudden departure might have caused and reassured his family that he knew what he was doing. Aish. He did hope that he was telling the truth because after each morning, it became harder for him to stay put and follow the medic’s instructions. What if he was a fake? If you had died because of his fear to ask help from your father?

‘Princess Seonghee is awake,’ Jisung pushed the prince’s damp room’s door open, his voice a lot louder than it should have been although Hyunjin couldn’t find the power in himself to scold him for his excitement. He was just as thrilled by the news.

But the smile on his face soon turned into an ugly frown when he grabbed the handle of your room and crossed its threshold just for his chest to meet a grey pillow. The very same pillow he had laid your head on on your first night at the Stray Inn. Shocked and on your part, a little out of breath as well, you both watched as the puffy object fell on the floor before your gazes finally met.

‘If I did not know you better, I would think that you wanted to attack me,’ the prince said as he entered the room and shut the door in Jisung’s face. He didn’t want anyone - especially his nosy childhood partner in crime - to witness what was about to come. Because you seemed to be as fine as one could have been and he still remembered how you had tried to talk him out of his plan to take you to his kingdom. He was a royalty and he had pride. So while he was willing to get rid of it altogether just for you to change your mind, he didn’t intend to do it in front of an audience.

‘Oh really?’ you spat, linking your arms in front of your chest. Truth to tell, your head felt a little dizzy from getting out of bed so abruptly, legs jelly and arms too heavy to be normal, but you needed to be strong. You had to make this stubborn mull listen to what you had to say and you had to get back to the palace before sunset. You couldn’t have stayed out for another night. Not, if what the guard had said was true and you had already been absent for three days. ‘If I did not know you better, I would think that you just kidnapped me.’

‘I did not kidnap you! I just… could not leave you there on the ground, bleeding,’ he retorted with an annoyed huff, having more than enough of people telling him that he had kidnapped the only person he had ever been interested in. Why couldn’t have anyone understood that he had needed to see you? That he had never truly cared about the royal garden but about the joy it could have brought into your life? Was it really that hard to believe that he liked you? Or that he sucked at putting these feelings on display? It wasn’t as if he had liked anyone before other than his family and somewhat bearable mates amongst the royal guards.

‘And whose fault was that?’ you asked back without giving any thought to your reply or how it could have affected prince Hyunjin who was already pissed. Because you refused to believe that he had more right to act annoyed than you had. He had freaking kidnapped you in broad daylight!

But no matter how frustrated you felt, how utterly uneasy and lost, seeing the hurt in his eyes, you bit into your lower lip harshly before you could have made the already chaotic situation even worse. You needed to stay cold headed to come up with a solution since you honestly doubted that the prince would have done it on your behalf. If he had been as good at making strategies and plans as he was said to be or as your brother, he and his guards wouldn’t have been attacked by the people of Gaya. Then, he would have approached you another way.

On most days, you had nothing against silence. You were used to it and sometimes you even embraced it. But with Hyunjin, far from your home, it made you feel uncomfortable. You had no idea what to say. While the prince, well, he didn’t know how to make you less angry with him. He felt so stupid and embarrassed for rubbing you the wrong why before he could have confessed his feelings. He had been so sure that you would have liked him back, but after what had happened, he wasn’t so certain anymore and the thought of you rejecting him scared him. It would have been so cliché if the only girl he had ever laid his eyes on disliked him while everyone else was head over heels for him. He couldn’t have been that unlucky, could he?

If you had the privilege to speak your mind without terrible consequences, you would have told him that you actually appreciated that he hadn’t left you there, bleeding. But you didn’t want to pour oil to the raging fire and encourage him. You didn’t want to give Hyunjin false hope. You obviously couldn’t leave with him.

‘I am sorr…’

‘I cannot stay here with you. I have to go back,’ you spoke up the very same moment prince Hyunjin mustered up his courage to apologize which was a really big thing when it came to a royalty. Based on your experience, most of them were used to being the most feared person in the room. And those kinds of people never showed weakness by saying sorry.

‘What?’ Hyunjin asked and as you looked straight into his chocolate brown eyes, you would have sworn that you saw something akin to regret in them. Although if you had asked, he would have told you that he had no regrets. He was just confused. After all, he had been raised by parents who had given him everything. And since you weren’t the first born in your family, either, he assumed that the same went for you, too. So how came that you couldn’t go with him if you had said the truth and you would have liked to? Were you angry at him and acting stubborn? Did you want him to apologize again, on his knees, before you would have finally agreed? Because Hyunjin found that a manageable price. ‘Look, I truly am sorry that I brought you here without asking for your consent first, but now that you are actually here, out of there, maybe… I thought that maybe,’ he rambled and you shook your head.

‘I am not saying that I do not want to get to know you better or that I am not grateful for your concern, because I am. But you need to understand that I am not in the position to leave with you,’ you told the boy with a sad smile and despite your short acquaintance, your heart broke a little when he reciprocated it. You could practically see his hopes getting destroyed by your words and you hated it. It wasn’t your first time wishing that you wouldn’t have been born as the only daughter of your father, the king of Gaya, but this fact didn’t make the situation any less bitter.

Once again, regardless of all those etiquette lessons you had taken at the palace’s library, you had no idea how to shatter the silence in an appropriate way and it started to get ridiculous, but then the prince nodded and shot another smile in your direction. It was just as saddening as the previous one he had given you although it somehow warmed you from the inside.

‘I understand. I will make sure you get back to the palace unharmed,’ he told you, ready to go back to his own room and pack his things for the short journey back to the ruling city-state of your country. If you had departed in an hour or two at best, you could have arrived at the royal palace before sunset. That must have made you happy and at the end of the day, it was everything Hyunjin wanted from the beginning.

‘Thank you,’ you mumbled under your nose, quietly yet loud enough for him to hear. Yet, the prince didn’t look back at you from above his shoulder before he left the room.

The horse ride was quiet. However, as you kept yourself steady by linking your arms in front of prince Hyunjin’s abdomen, your thoughts were louder than ever before. You were worried about what your father would say if he found out that prince Hyunjin apparently had feelings for you or that you wouldn’t have been against an alliance between Gaya and Silla sealed by your marriage. It worked out well for prince Changmin and princess Gowon. Hence it might have worked out for you two as well in case the royalty was serious about his intentions. If he truly wanted you, if he really meant it and your father gave his blessing, you saw no reason for rejecting him. The thought alone tugged on your lips unconsciously, although deep down you knew that it was only wishful thinking. He would have rather gone to war against their kingdom and conquer them than had them as his ally. Because an ally meant someone who could have stabbed you in the back.

You arrived at the market place too soon, but it wasn’t something you could openly whine about, therefore you were secretly grateful for the prince when he offered to walk you closer to the royal palace and did it despite your protest. It was risky, especially after the turmoil a few days ago, but at least in the palace guards’ case, you knew that you could have convinced them to let Hyunjin be. Many of them knew you personally and they listened to you. It should have been alright.

Despite your confidence, you still wished that neither of them had caught you red-handed the moment you brushed a stray lock behind your ear and did a curtsy towards Hyunjin since it was overly suspicious and embarrassing as well. You knew that your father would lecture you badly when the news got to him and that your brother would have a few words, too, but what had happened had happened already, thus you could only hope that he wouldn’t be in Gaya by the time the rumours spreaded in the court.

Little had you known that as soon as prince Hyunjin disappeared behind the nearest corner, your father’s rage would be the last thing you should have been worried about. Because when you took the first steps in the gate’s direction, one of the guards grabbed your wrist violently and pulled you in the opposite way.

‘What the…’ you yelped, hissing at the sudden pain. ‘It hurts. Let go of me!’ you demanded while you tried to recall this certain guard’s name, so that you could tell their commander that he took his job too seriously. He shouldn’t have dragged you anywhere. You were perfectly capable of walking on your own.

‘I am sorry, princess, but we cannot do that. People think that you are dead. And you should have stayed dead,’ he said and you furrowed your brows in confusion before you tentatively shifted your gaze from his face to the other man. He was staring at you with pity in his eyes as he reached out for your other hand and secured it behind your back.

‘What are you talking about?’ you asked them, both of them, yet what followed your question was dead silence. The two guards exchanged a quick glance and lifted you off the dirty street with an aggressive tug. ‘I said, let go of me! What you are doing is treason! My father, your king, will punish you for…’

Before you could have finished your warning, the guard who had grabbed your wrist first pulled on your arm and shouted at you when you were finally facing him, ready to listen or at least lacking coherent thoughts.

‘Many of our men died because of that bastard! Because of his greedy wars! He will not get you back, princess,’ he shouted, a few drops of saliva landing on your skin and your worn cloak that you wore as disguise. It scared you, the fire in his eyes that was so unlike the one you had seen in prince Hyunjin’s chocolate orbs. That had made you feel as though it had been lit up just to shield you from the cold while this… your gut feeling told you that it was ready to burn your skin with its flames.

You fought back, kicking and biting anything and everything you could reach, but you were no match for them. They were skillful soldiers and a lot stronger than you who had never had as much as a friendly fight with your brother before. In the palace, you had been treated like a fragile flower from the day you had been born, therefore when they covered your mouth with a piece of dirty cloth, you knew that you had lost. You were going to die and what was worse: your family was already mourning you. Eventually, people would put the blame on prince Hyunjin and his guards while these traitors would live their lives like nothing had happened. As if they hadn’t killed their own princess.

‘She said, let her go!’ a familiar voice addressed your attackers and for a sheer moment you thought that your mind was playing a cruel joke on you solely because a few seconds ago you had seemed to be more worried about what would have happened with your prince than what would have happened to you. Were you hallucinating about Hyunjin coming to rescue you? Maybe. Were you out of your mind for putting him first? Most probably.

When you realized that the guards could see the prince as well, thus that he was indeed across the street with his sword in his hand, a part of you wanted to tell him to go because it was too dangerous and he shouldn’t have risked his life for you, but another part of you, the stronger one, didn’t want to die, either. When your gaze met with Hyunjin’s and the royal guard on your right held you a bit tighter, your silence urged the royalty to put an end to your suffering. You were shaking when his blade clashed with one of the palace guards’ a little more than an arm’s length from you.

It was the same guard who had interrupted your first ever conversation with prince Hyunjin and the boy who sat by your bed when you had woken up who helped you get further from the fight, and might it have been because of the temporary peace you found in his familiarity or your shock, but you let him drag you towards the market without a word. You felt weirdly safe in his company despite the thoughts your teachers and father had planted in your mind at a young age of foreign soldiers, but he was loyal to Hyunjin and not you. Hence it was only natural that the moment your attackers knocked the sword out of his prince’s hand, he rushed back to him to protect him at all cost.

You sat on your heels, with palms on your ears and eyes shut close throughout the entire fight, unable to look at the man whom you would have once trusted with your life and the boys who had come to your rescue although no one had asked them to. Your emotions were all over the place since you were genuinely worried about Hyunjin and his guard and wished ill for your own people which in itself made your heart heavy. Though, you weren’t sure you could have considered them your subjects anymore. After all, they seemingly hated your father enough to kill you just to cause him pain. Did people like them deserve mercy? You wanted to believe that they did, but it wasn’t your choice to make when prince Hyunjin was fighting for his life to save yours.

Thus when the boy eventually walked up to you, his clothes, blonde locks and skin soaked in blood and sweat, you refused to hate him for ending your people’s lives.

‘Hey, look at me! You are safe now, they will not hurt you,’ Hyunjin said gently, voice barely above a whisper when he sat on his heels in front of you, in a safe distance, so that your body wouldn’t have jerked away on instinct. He didn’t want to scare you with the blood on his face or make you feel threatened by his presence.

You bit into your lower lip, hands shaking slightly before you let out a ragged breath and slowly shifted your teary gaze from the pavement to him. He looked terrifying, but there was something warm in his brown eyes that reassured you that you had nothing to be afraid of.

‘I… need to go, if there are others like them in the palace then I need to…’ you mumbled, on the verge of a panic attack. Staring at the blood on the prince’s clothes, all you could think was your beloved brother being killed by assassins in his sleep and your father sitting on his throne, dead. You had to warn them. You might have been weaker than your opponents, but you couldn’t have just sat still and did nothing.

‘Your father will be alright,’ the prince said, tentatively reaching out to your hands. He took them in his and his thumbs automatically started to draw tiny, non-figurative patterns on your skin. ‘And your brother, too. But I cannot accompany you inside and I am not sure that letting you go there alone is a good idea,’ Hyunjin said, shooting an apologetic smile in your direction as if he had understood. As if he had known exactly how it felt to fear your family’s life. And he might have indeed done. Because at the end of the day, despite his odd perspective on the duties of a royalty, he was still a prince.

‘But I…’

‘My father can send them a letter,’ he cut you off before you could have come up with a good reason to turn your back on them and march into the royal palace on your own. For a mere second, he seemed just as scared as you were that you would have managed to change his mind to let you go again or even worse! That he might have followed you inside just to make sure you were safe. As the second son of the king of Silla, he really shouldn’t have gotten involved in Gaya’s inner issues more. ‘He can explain everything to your father and you can come back when it is safe,’ he reasoned and you sobbed, pulling one of your hands out of his to wipe your salty tears off your puffy cheeks.

‘What if something happens to them by then?’ you asked, your lips clenched into a thin, pale line. Although you had been taught not to ask questions when you weren’t ready to hear the truth, whether your heart could have borne the answer didn’t matter anymore. You had to know if your mind tried to cover up your cowardice when it said to you that you should have given Hyunjin’s plan a try. Were you turning a blind eye on the fact that your family would have most probably been killed by the time you reached the border of Silla just to save yourself?

‘What if someone kills you before you could warn them?’ The young prince counter-attacked and, lacking a top-scoring retort, his words were followed by dead silence.

You stared at each other for what felt like long hours before you accepted your defeat and stood up from the ground. Your palms tingled where Hyunjin had touched you mere seconds ago.

‘Fine. But then we should hurry. We do not have any spare time to waste,’ you claimed after you lifted your chin and cleared your throat. You followed the prince and his guard down the empty streets in silence, holding onto the saddle of Hyunjin’s horse firmly after you took a seat in front of him and the command “walk” fell from his lips.

Although no matter how much hurry you were in, eventually you needed to stop because the royal palace of Silla was further from your home than a day of horse riding and the darkness that fell on you on your way to the border made it super hard to navigate. Since Hyunjin and his guard weren’t overly familiar with the landscape of Gaya at night and you had also failed to recognize the town you had left behind roughly an hour ago, you all decided that it would have been for the better if you had taken a short break. You couldn’t have afforded to waste your time and get lost after all, let alone tire your horses out and walk in useless circles.

So regardless of the ungrateful objections in your head - since they were right, you couldn’t have possibly headed towards Silla without the Sun guiding you -, you tried your best to put yourself together and keep your emotions at bay while the boys set up a camp. Their dynamics were fascinating to watch: they worked so quickly and efficiently together even in silence as though they had read one another’s mind. And it made you wonder whether it had been due to their training or they were more than simple comrades. Could a royalty have had a soldier friend? Could a prince have had real friends to begin with? Sure, you appreciated your maids dearly, but would you have ever referred to them as friends? It sounded so peculiar.

At one point, to not feel so useless beside them, you asked the boys whether you could have helped them gather smaller branches for the campfire, but Hyunjin insisted that someone had to keep an eye on the horses and a part of you was actually grateful for him that he gave you a chance to dance back on your careless offer. On second thought, you had no desire to walk further into the woods.

You munched on the rabbit Jisung had caught for your late dinner in silence. And other than discussing the details of the journey first thing tomorrow morning and a few failed attempts at lightning up the mood with inappropriate jokes, the boys were quiet, too. The eerie echo of all the unspoken words between you almost took your appetite. But your body knew better than to starve over uncomfortable silence. You needed every bit of energy to deal with the consequences of everything that had happened during the past few days.

‘I will be on the lookout first. You two can rest a few hours before sunrise,’ Hyunjin claimed as soon as you finished your meal, wiping his greasy hands into a worn handkerchief with his crimson initials on it. Keeping your eyes on it, you wondered whether he had ever washed it or it was some kind of relic or lucky charm that he carried everywhere since the day he had gotten it.

‘But…’

‘Do not get me wrong. It was an order, Jisung,’ the prince interrupted his guard before Jisung could have voiced out his objection and watching the situation unfold in front of your eyes, you doubted that you had ever seen this side of Hyunjin before. The one that could have ruled a kingdom if he had needed to. Up until this moment, the second son of the king of Silla had lived in your memories as a carefree soul who refused to take anything too seriously. But now you got a little curious: how many sides of him could have been there, hidden behind the laid back facade?

‘Understood,’ Jisung said with a firm nod before he turned his back on you and laid on the grass close to the fire with one of his hands under his head and the other embracing his sword as though it was a toy that he couldn’t sleep without. And taking that they had entered Gaya without your father’s permission, maybe he truly couldn’t. You couldn’t blame him.

Letting the silence embrace your figures again, slowly and tentatively you looked up at prince Hyunjin, but despite the obvious discomfort on his face, you couldn’t make yourself cross the line and reassure him that everything would be alright. You were scared that it might have rubbed him the wrong way and you would have ended up making things more difficult for him. Because it might have been him who had tried to persuade you to leave your family and go to Silla with him, the royal guards who were supposed to protect your loved ones from all harm seemed to hate their king regardless of Hyunjin’s actions. Who knew what would have happened to you if he had never shown up in Gaya uninvited? They might have killed you in your sleep just to hurt your father.

So for both of your sakes, you let him place his cloak on the ground near Jisung and you laid atop of it after you shot a faint smile in the prince’s direction. Squeezing your eyes, you tried your best to fall asleep, but dreamland didn’t want to welcome you with open arms. The cogs in your head spun loudly and your worried thoughts kept you wide awake. And you grew to hate this restless state sooner than you would have thought based on your upbringing and all those lessons you had taken to become a perfect, obedient princess. You hated that you were exhausted, but fidgety. You despised that you needed to pretend as if you hadn’t been affected by the raging hatred in those men’s eyes.

It was definitely a spur-of-the-moment decision when you sat up, abruptly pushed yourself into a standing position and walked up to Hyunjin. But you didn’t regret it, not even when he made a face, watching you take a seat on the half-rotten trunk beside him by the fire.

You wouldn’t have called the silence that fell upon you uncomfortable, but you were grateful when the prince broke it, his voice laced with concern despite his gaze remaining on the gold and orange flames.

‘Are you okay?’ he asked and a bitter smile tugged on your lips when you noticed the small tremble of his hands, an unconscious reaction you were more than familiar with. Sometimes, when you had to speak up in front of people who intimidated you, your hands were shaking with the same fervour. On worse days, even your voice cracked due to your growing anxiety. It made you wonder whether he feared your answer. After everything that had happened, how could you have been both honest with him and okay? You had almost been killed and your family was still in grave danger.

‘My father is not a bad person,’ you said in the end, not entirely sure how you were supposed to pacify the prince’s heart or why you felt that it was your duty. Maybe, because regardless of his reckless decisions, Hyunjin was anything but kind to you or due to the fact that he had saved your life. But could your gratitude have really triggered such emotions in your heart? It didn’t explain why you had had the sudden urge to reassure him about what kind of a man your father was. His opinion shouldn’t have mattered and yet, it did.

‘I have never said that he is,’ he replied, slowly, tentatively turning his head in your direction.

‘I know, but…’ but what kind of king one should have been to receive so much hatred from his own royal guards? You couldn’t have made yourself ask such a direct question. Mostly because you had already known the answer and it wasn’t in your father’s favour. ‘I am not stupid. Gaya is nothing like your kingdom. You must think that he is too hard on his people, but he tries his best to keep this land together,’ you reasoned although by the time you got to the end of your speech, you weren’t sure which one of you you were trying to persuade the other more. Him or your own, doubtful heart.

Too deep in your thoughts, you failed to notice the small twitch of prince Hyunjin’s lips when you let out a sigh as a clear signal that you were out of words. He wondered whether you had left out the king’s eagerness to conquer other lands on purpose or you truly weren’t aware of the damage his wars caused not just for Gaya, but for the neighbouring kingdoms as well, especially for the towns close to their borders. But you looked too tired for him to interrogate you and if he had wanted to be honest with himself, he would have admitted that your state served as a perfect excuse to swallow back his curiosity because he didn’t want to be the one who enlightened you on your father’s wrongdoings if you were indeed unaware of the blood that was on his hands. He didn’t desire to add to your misery.

But when you looked at him, you could have sworn that you saw it in his chocolate eyes: the judgement. Therefore, you turned away.

‘You are right,’ Hyunjin said in hope of a response or the tiniest reactions one could have longed for from someone they deeply cared about and was hurt. He wished you wouldn’t have shut him out entirely just because he had been raised in a fairly different way than you and your brother. His parents might have put less burden on his shoulders, but he was a prince nevertheless. He could understand you more than many people out there. Not to mention that he was willing to decipher the depths of your complex personality. ‘I do not agree with his methods nor with how he rules Gaya, but someone who raised such a fierce yet kind-hearted daughter cannot be a bad person. So I will do everything in my power to warn him and your brother about the danger,’ he promised you and despite your doubts, the determination in the prince’s voice made it rather impossible for you to not believe him. You wanted to believe him so much.

‘Thank you, prince Hyunjin,’ you whispered, too afraid to admit how much his words meant to you, but too well-mannered to stay quiet.

‘Thank me when I have actually done something to save them. And… please, just call me Hyunjin without the formalities,’ the boy shot an awkward smile in your direction, taking you back in time to when you two had first met in the royal palace of Goguryeo. Then, you might have called him out on not giving too much thought to the consequences of his statements - calling the princess of Gaya a liar, how bold and stupid! - but you had still felt less burdened by your title. With him, it was almost easy to forget about your responsibilities. Almost.

‘Fine, just-Hyunjin-without-the-formalities,’ you replied with a hint of a smile in the corner of your mouth, playful with your words but serious in the way you looked him in the eye. Your duality made him frown, but for some reason, you could tell that he wasn’t annoyed at all.

Hence you leaned your temple against his upper arm with a lighter heart and closed your eyes while listening to both of your breathings and the comforting, snapping sound that came from the fire. They lulled you to sleep in a matter of mere seconds as if talking about your worries had completely erased them from your mind.

Guarding your dreams, Hyunjin stayed as still as one could be, not quite understanding how someone as ruthless as your father could have had a daughter like you. But he was ready to accept that there were things he didn’t know about and that there might have been more to the old man’s story than he (and the people in his kingdom) was aware of.

When the young prince had been taught about politics and the neighbouring kingdoms’ royal families, Hyunjin hadn’t been paying much attention to the latter, already overwhelmed by the boring theories, but he wasn’t entirely clueless when it came to your father. He knew well that the man was obsessed with wars and that people in Gaya lived in poverty because of this. How couldn’t have you seen it? The poor you passed by during your journey. Aish. You must have been blinded by your love for your family. And who the hell had given him the right to tell you that you might have been the only person other than the crown prince, Seonghwa, the mad king actually cared about?

Not long after sunrise, you woke up to Hyunjin’s morning voice calling your name and his guard’s amused snort followed by a mumbled complaint that made the prince’s muscles tense against your temple. A gentle reminder that you had fallen asleep with your head atop of his shoulder and that he had been too considerate to push you away or ask you to go back to your previous spot although he should have also needed to rest before your long journey to Silla. Hyunjin’s tired eyes being the first things you saw that morning, you felt a bit guilty for keeping him awake no matter that at the end of the day, it had been the prince’s decision and his decision alone. You had never asked him to put your needs first.

But you still felt responsible for his feelings in a way, hence you volunteered to peel the fruits Jisung had gathered while you two had been asleep and let the boys handle the rest of your campsite before you quickly devoured your breakfast and getting on your horses, you headed towards the border.

The silence that fell upon you after you had entered Silla gave prince Hyunjin enough time to come up with two or three hopefully tolerable explanations for his actions in case his father would have been angrier than he had expected. Or at least he thought until your trio was welcomed by the head of the royal guards and his most trusted men who immediately escorted you to the throne room with a furious king and a more or less collected queen by his side.

‘Are you completely out of your mind, son?’ the man shouted, not caring about the audience until his wife put her hand on his lower arm and shot a faint smile in his way. It was the first time you had seen anything like this: a powerful man going from outraged to relieved in less than a minute from a single touch of a fragile woman. You couldn’t have helped but admired the queen for her strength and merciful heart.

‘Do not think that you will not be punished for your stupidity, Hyunjin…’ the king said, his voice cracking in the middle of the sentence. ‘But we are really, really grateful that you came home unharmed,’ he said and taking a few steps forwards, the man pulled his reckless child into a bone-crushing hug. As he patted the boy’s bladebone, his gaze slowly shifted from the prince to his guard, and lastly, to you, turning your blood ice cold when he pulled away from his son, took a step backwards and turned towards you with his entire body.

When he asked you about your presence in the palace and you explained him the situation in detail before Hyunjin could have done it on your behalf - his brother found it amusing when you cut the prince off with a single glance and a delicate hand lifted in front of his face -, he reassured you of his sympathy and hospitality then called for two maids to prepare a room for you on the second floor. Then, he asked a man to wake up the cook and ask her to prepare something warm and delicious for the three of you before you would have gone to bed. It did take you aback that he included Jisung, too, as he was a mere palace guard, not a royalty or a well-respected nobleman, but at least the man’s attitude towards his subject explained the two boys’ occasional bickering at the inn and on the road. Beside being prince and loyal servant, they were also friends in a way you were unable to understand.

After a surprisingly loud and lively dinner with the two boys and the crown prince, Chan, you were given a chance to write a letter to your father and brother that would be sent to the royal palace in Gaya by one of the king’s personal messengers, hidden in the letter written by him and sealed with his family’s crest. But not even the Hwang family’s kindness or the tiredness in your bones helped you fall asleep that night. You woke with a start for the tiniest noises as though your enemies would have been hiding in the dark.

The days at the palace got exponentially busier as the coronation ceremony of their crown prince came within a week, therefore you were grateful for each occasion the queen decided to keep you company in the library while her younger son was forbidden to leave his room. She always made sure to ask about how you felt, whether the ghosts of the night of the attack still haunted you or your mind could have finally rested and whether you held any grudges against Hyunjin for turning your life upside down. The woman never took sides. She never pointed out that the haters of your father could have killed you even if you hadn’t gone missing, that your assasination had been bound to happen. She let you decide how you felt without telling you that you should have been grateful even though she was worried about Hyunjin and how he might have felt if you had grown to resent him for his carelessness. Her motherly love for her children - unwavering and unconditional as it should have been - reminded you of your own mother and how much Seonghwa and you missed her ever since she had died.

That early afternoon, you found yourself in front of prince Hyunjin’s door, you told yourself that it was you who needed distraction. But when you eventually found your courage and knocked, your heart told you that it was him whose burdens you wanted to lift off his chest. You were worried about him because he had seemed so sad when his father had sent him to his room on the night of your arrival. The sudden dullness of his otherwise lively eyes had craved itself into your mind.

‘Hey,’ you greeted him the moment he opened the door, cheeks aflame due to the sight of his loose shirt that made no effort to cover his bare chest.

‘Hey,’ he mimicked your bashful smile before his gaze followed yours and upon realizing what you were staring at, he quickly fixed his disheveled clothes. His knuckles turned white around the handle when he cleared his throat. ‘If you are here because…’

Although you had no idea what Hyunjin was about to say and you had also learned from your teachers how extremely inappropriate and rude it was when someone cut off another person’s words - not to mention that he was a prince -, you had to interrupt the boy before he could have come up with a good enough excuse for you to turn your back on his freshly-out-of-bed figure. You couldn’t act like a coward, no matter how convenient it would have been to turn a blind eye on your messy feelings for this particular boy. For a prince, your father would have never been approved of.

‘I came because there is a breathtaking garden somewhere around here that, I assume, you would like to show me,’ you explained, true to your original plan. You had even asked for the king’s permission in advance after lunch, but you had needed a few hours to decipher your fuzzy thoughts and whether it was the right thing to do or not. You didn’t intend to play with both of your hearts in case Hyunjin’s feelings for you weren’t just sincere but long-lasting as well.

Observing your face, looking for second thoughts, the prince contemplated whether he should have stayed in his room just as his father had told him or rather played along with your light-hearted proposal and accompanied you to the royal garden. In the end, it was his mind that lost the fight. Because he couldn’t say no to you. He was too afraid that once you went back to Gaya, he would never get a second chance. His father, on the other hand, could have scolded him whenever he pleased as they lived under the same roof and would probably do for a very long time.

‘Yeah, there is,’ he said with a small nod which forced your silly heart to pick up its rate. You felt relieved but at the same time, very excited, too, that he still wanted to spend some time with you although it was partly your fault that his father was teaching him a lesson. If you had stayed by your brother’s side at the royal wedding all those weeks ago, your paths wouldn’t have crossed and he wouldn’t have tried to find you again. For the first time, his eagerness tugged on the corner of your mouth.

‘Then…’ you started, looking up at him with something akin to impatience in your eyes. A princess was always graceful and never in a hurry. Yet, you wanted to grab his arm so badly to pull him over the threshold as if you had died in case he had made you wait a second more. ‘Should we take a walk outside?’

‘Sounds good,’ Hyunjin said with a nod before he quickly looked around and stepped out to the empty hallway. He wondered where Seungmin must have been as the young guard had been given the task to keep an eye on him during the past two days, but he didn’t think too much into his absence. After all, he was finally with you. Why would have he been thinking of another man? ‘After you,’ he showed you the way with a tilt of his head which earned a frown from you as the royal palace was still more like a maze for you and you had never visited their garden before. Truth to be told, a part of you wanted to wait for his confinement to be over.

‘I… appreciate the thought, but I do not exactly know where it is. In case you forgot, this is my first time in the royal palace,’ you said, hopefully confident enough for the prince to not question your reasoning or why you hadn’t been outside yet when it had been days since you had arrived. If he noticed the error in your statement, however, he decided to cut you some slack instead of teasing the living daylight out of you for which you were really grateful. You weren’t sure your cheeks could have endured more of those intense heat waves the prince’s playful remarks and actions triggered in you lately. As if his sudden absence made you grow fonder of his hyperactive presence. How absurd, how utterly frightening.

‘Oh! Yes, sorry,’ the prince let out an awkward chuckle before he reached out for your hand on instinct but stopped the movement half-way. It seemed that he started to get a hold of your limits and where those boundaries laid. ‘This way,’ he exclaimed and quickly wiped his palms into his leather pants as though he hoped that it could have covered up his intention of holding your hand. It did not. But you found it oddly adorable.

You followed him down the corridor in comfortable silence and let him show you the crimson rose buds his mother had picked herself when the royal gardener had been working on that specific part of the garden where people could find solace and peace in case they wanted to read a book outside of the stuffy library. The small benches around them, made of wood, looked firm, but were pleasantly comfortable when Hyunjin proposed to take a small break before he would have kept chatting your ears off, telling you the most random stories he could have come up with about certain parts of the garden. Like how he and Jisung had almost broken their arms when they had been twelve and had challenged each other which one of them had climbed higher on the cherry trees.

‘Are they really angry with you?’ you asked at one point, when the sudden halt in your conversation started to make you feel itchy and the first thing that came to your mind was the fear you had felt when you had witnessed the disappointment in the king’s eyes the night he had grounded his son. The middle aged man had looked so unlike your father when he had been angry. Yet, that was the only scenario you could have compared their interaction to. To his annoyed face and tired sigh when your and your brother’s efforts weren’t enough.

As if he had read your mind, Hyunjin shot a reassuring smile in your direction.

‘Yes, but you have nothing to worry about. They will come around sooner or later. They always do,’ he said and you nodded in response before you turned towards the closest rose buds. You felt both ashamed and envious because of your incapability to resonate with his words - your father was good at holding grudges, bringing up your past mistakes when he felt you deserved the salt he purposely rubbed into your wounds - and you didn’t want the prince to discover these emotions when he looked into your eyes, your ugly side.

‘Your mother is very nice,’ so you said instead to divert the topic. You reached out for one of the flowers and grazed your fingertips along its soft petals gently with a subtle smile on your face. ‘And the garden is indeed beautiful.’

To an outsider, it might have looked like any other royal garden in the warmer seasons, but it was different to you in the sense that it was the garden Hyunjin had been so persistent to show you, he had been willing to go against everything to find his way back to you. As if you had charmed him at the wedding of prince Changmin and princess Gowon with nothing but your raw personality, a side of you that had been locked away due to the etiquette forced upon you hence had always been hidden behind the glimmer.

‘I am glad you like it,’ prince Hyunjin claimed with a grin, all giddy inside as he watched you caress the roses his mother adored so much. Like this, smiling fondly, you reminded him of the said woman a lot. And he couldn’t have helped but love you for it even more.

He gave you time to organize your thoughts and when you were ready, he offered you a hand and showed you other hidden spots in the royal garden such as the aviary. You spent hours just walking and talking to each other and not even the sudden drop in temperature urged you to put an end to your tour. In the evening, you laid on the grass beside Hyunjin, watching the stars on the cloudless sky, and made up stories about the constellations you had rarely seen in Gaya. It was so peaceful and nice. For a little while, it made you forget about all the horrible things that were bound to happen in your kingdom.

Things you could have seen coming if only you hadn’t been blinded by your worries and your love for your family.

Two sunsets after your heart-to-heart conversation with prince Hyunjin, your father declared war against Silla spreading the false rumor in and outside of the borders of your kingdom that they had taken you away from him by force. Instead of feeling gratitude towards those who had warned him for the rebels under his roof, there was nothing but hatred in his heart towards the royal family who had taken you in and if his reaction for your letters hadn’t been bad enough, he just had to make things worse by paying for an assassin to kill Hyunjin’s father while he was visiting the neighbouring towns, listening to his people’s complaints and solving their problems as much as he could. The news broke the queen and the two princes as well. Actually, they shattered you, too, but you held all of your tears back, not sure that you had the right to shed them for someone who had died because of you.

Because of the king’s sudden death, Chan’s coronation ceremony was brought forward a day and while you were ready to stay in your temporary room, waiting patiently for the guards to accompany you to one of the cells in the basement, your invitation wasn’t canceled and in the morning, a maid paid you a visit to help you dress up for the occasion. Sitting on Hyunjin’s right, mere inches from his grieving mother, you were fidgety throughout the entire event, but you were determined to look strong. Not for yourself, but for the blonde boy who seemed to gain strength from your presence and the feather-like touch of your cold fingertips against his sweaty palm. You couldn’t understand how he could still look you in the eyes without hatred and disgust. If you had been in his shoes, you wouldn’t have been able to stay close to those who were partly responsible for your father’s death.

In Hyunjin’s eyes, however, there was no anger, no disgust, only pity and sadness. And most of the time, you couldn’t have even told which one of you he looked at with compassion more: himself or you. But the night of the coronation, in the royal garden with him by your side under the moonlight, you did feel pity for yourself for realizing how much you loved the prince only when he was about to go to war. A war against your people. A war against your blood.

The morning he and his troop needed to leave the palace to join the royal army, you ran towards the enormous gates as if the world had been on fire, desperate to see him one more time before he would have sat on the saddle of his horse. Your messy hair, disheveled clothes and crimson cheeks made him chuckle before he cupped your face and scolded you for thinking that he would have left without saying goodbye. You didn’t appreciate his humour.

‘I wish that you did not have to go,’ you mumbled under your nose, feeling small under his gaze. You wished nothing but for him to tell you that everything would be alright. But you two had already had this conversation last night and his answer had haunted you in your dreams. How could anything have been alright with his father being gone?

Seeing the worries in your eyes, the boy took your trembling hands into his and shot a small smile in your way, his thumbs caressing your skin in a gentle manner. It didn’t help much, but you wished he would have never stopped doing it. You didn’t want him to leave.

‘I know, but this is my duty,’ he said as though it should have been enough. As if the fact that he had no other choice could have ever pacified your heart. But it couldn’t. You were still on the edge because of him, his guards and your brother. ‘Please, do not worry too much. I will try my best to put an end to this with the smallest number of casualties. Chan wants that, too,’ he tried his best to soothe your nerves, but you swatted his hands away.

‘It’s a war, Hyunjin!’ you shouted, eyes filled with the burning rage of a thousand suns and in any other situation, your frustrated outburst would have scared the prince, but not then. After all, it was the first time that you addressed him by his first name, using informal grammar. How was he supposed to contain his giddiness?

Seeing his beaming smile, you wanted to hit him so badly but instead, you let him reach out to you and pull you close, so that he could melt your anxiety with a chaste kiss planted on the top of your head. You missed him already.

‘Please, take care of my mom. She needs you,’ he asked you when he eventually pulled away, asking for another minute from his men with a single wave of his hand. In all honesty, you doubted that your presence would have done any good to the queen’s mood or that if she had indeed needed someone, it would have been you, but you promised him nevertheless then took a small step backwards and watched him leave with unshed tears in your eyes.

Your days in the royal palace were pretty much the same after Hyunjin’s departure: you made sure that the grief didn’t consume his mother while you were waiting. For him, for a reply from your brother, for the war to finally come to an end. But each second seemed to tick by slower than the one before in the royal garden in Silla.

the end.

#stray kids scenarios #hyunjin x reader #royalty au #humour #troi au #hwang hyunjin #ssbyme #kingdom #all is fair in love and war #collaboration #beth #kathy

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brelione · 4 years

Text

Maniac (Rafe Cameron X Reader)

You were with your friends partying

When the alcohol kicked in

Said you wanted me dead

So, you show up at my home, all alone

With a shovel and a rose

Do you think I'm a joke?

Rafe was stumbling, laughing as tears ran down his face. He knew where he was going, holding a shovel in one hand and a single rose in the other, nearly falling over. Topper had mentioned your name as Rafe took his ninth shot of the night, an idea sparking in his drunk mind.

He turned into your driveway, a tired smile on his face as he banged on your door, seeing four of you staring back at him. “I broughtttt youuuuuu a anniversary gifffft babeee.”He dropped the rose at your feet.

“Am I a fucking joke to you?”You asked, staring up at your ex boyfriend. He grunted, moving forward and leaning against you, limbs turning into jelly. “I wantttt tooo backkkk.”He slurred, drooling on your hoodie.

Cause people like you always want back what they can't have

But I'm past that and you know that

So you should turn back to your outback tellin' them trash

“You cant have me back, Rafe. We’re done, you know that.”You replied, pushing him off of you until he was back on your doorstep. “whhhyyyy?”He asked, sitting down and falling forward. “Go back to your asshole friends, Rafe.”You replied, closing your door and locking it.

Tell all of your friends that I'm crazy and drive you mad

That I'm such a stalker, a watcher, a psychopath

Then tell them you hate me and dated me just for laughs

So, why do you call me and tell me you want me back?

You maniac

The next time you saw Rafe you were at a party that was being thrown by a girl named Tori. She was pretty much royalty so it was no big surprise that your ex boyfriend showed up. You planned on staying away from him, going to grab yourself a drink when you overheard him talking to a group of people as he sat back in a sofa, sipping a beer.

“She drove me mad, dude. Such a stalker too, like, borderline psychopath.”He chuckled. Joshua raised his eyebrows, an amused look on his face as he asked the question. “Why’d you ever date her in the first place?”The boy asked. Rafe shrugged, taking in a deep breath.

“I thought it would be funny.”He lied, not knowing that you were coming up right behind him. You were that one girl that everyone thought was crazy. That you had bugs in your brain, that you were some sort of mad hatter like character.

“Is that why you showed up at my house begging me to take you back last week?”You asked, startling him. He looked up at you, wide eyes. He shook his head slightly, trying to take back his words.

“At least I didnt call you thirty times and leave you tons of messages begging you for forgiveness.”You replied, a slight shrug of your shoulders before pouring cola all over his hair and face. “See you later, crazy Cameron.”You shouted before you left.

You just went too far

At your car, called me crying in the dark

Now you're breaking my heart

So, I show up at your place right away

Wipe the tears off of your face

While you beg me to stay

Three weeks after that you got a call from crazy Cameron at 3:30 in the morning. If you were properly awake you wouldnt have answered but because of your sleepy state you didnt mind, yawning. “(Y-Y/N)? Can you please come over? I cant- I cant feel anything and I cant move!”He sobbed into the phone.

You sniffled, ignoring your own tears. As much as you hated the bastard you found yourself pulling into his driveway, shivering as you opened a fake rock and took out the spare key, going inside his house. You figured he was probably in his bedroom, jogging up the stairs and listening.

You heard a cough from the bathroom, opening the door and seeing him sitting on the toilet, hands pressed to his stomach as he hunched over. “What the hell did you eat?”You asked, walking over quickly. He sobbed, shaking his head. “COme on, get up.”You told him, getting your arms under his armpits and trying to get him to stand but failing miserably.

“I cant!”He shouted. “Rafe, work with me here, bud. What’d you do?”You asked, rubbing your thumb against the back of his neck in attempt to calm him. “I dont…. I took some pills that I got a while ago and I couldnt..I dont know. I couldnt see anything and I needed to get it out and I couldnt throw up and-and I took laxatives and it wont come out!” He cried.

You nodded, stroking his hair. “Okay, im gonna tell you right now that if you dont get off the toilet it’ll never come out. We’re gonna try to stand in three...two...one.”You pulled him up, surprised when he managed to get up, hunching over a bit and using you as a crutch as you guided him to his bed.He took in a deep breath, not even caring that he was no longer wearing pants.

You left the room, getting him something to eat and placing it next to him. “You want me to stay with you?”You offered. He nodded, eating a cracker. You huffed, laying down next to him. You knew that you’d fall asleep but you didnt really care, fading into a deep slumber as Rafe munched on crackers.

You woke up to his arm around your shoulders, forehead against the back of your neck and his eyelashes tickling your skin. “I got it out.”He muttered, kissing your neck lightly. You frowned at the gesture, getting off the bed. “Good.”You spoke, grabbing your phone.

“Where are you going?”He asked, slowly sitting up. “Home.”You replied, seeing him pout. “What happened to us, princess?”He asked, hands in his lap. “You dated me for laughs.”You shrugged. He shook his head, licking his lips. “I didnt mean it, (Y/N)! I couldnt tell them…. Cant you just consider taking me back?” He asked.

“Well, people like you always want back what they can't have.” You shrugged. “But I'm past that and you know that, we’ve been done for months, Rafe. Now keep going around and telling your friends that im trash like the maniac I know you are.”You answered, leaving the room.

@sexytholland @28cnn @popcrone818 @fttayla @cherryobx @n1ghtsh4d3-67 @drewstarkeyobx @poguestyleskye @judayyyw @jjtheangel @jj-iz-bae

@sunwardsss @meaganjm @sarcasticsagittarius1998 @natalie-kate-98 @nxsmss @broken-jj @joshy-obx @prejudic3 @annmariek8 @imagines-07 @pink-meringues @ibookofstars@outerbongs @copper-boom @httpstarkey @teenwaywardasgardian @deionswannabegirl @simonsbluee @jiaraendgame @khiaraaa-in-spacee @on-socks-off @abbiesthings @kindahavefeelingskindaheartless

#rafe angst #rafe headcanon #rafe imagine #rafe fic #rafe cameron imagine #rafe cameron smut #rafe cameron x you #rafe cameron headcanon #rafe x y/n #rafe

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lilacsandwhiskey · 3 years

Text

*all pictures owned by original owners*

Chapter 4 - New Friendships

pairing: Drake Walker x Riley Brooks

A/N: Hi friends! Sorry I’ve been MIA, life was super busy and then I went on a much needed vacay but I’m BACK!

Warnings: Mention of death

Tag list:

@marshmallowsaremyfavorite @lovingchoices14 @gkittylove99 @darley1101 @kingliam2019 @tinkie1973 @whiskeyslullabye

*Drake’s POV*

ch 4

*Drake’s POV*

“So you mean to tell me, you’ve never watched Friends?” Riley had her mouth open in a smile, looking offended. “Never. I didn’t watch a lot of television growing up!” “Ugh, the poor life of Drake.” She shook her head, taking another bite of her food.

Riley had invited me into her apartment and as worried as I was about it being awkward, she made conversation so easy. “Alright, let’s get to the deep stuff.” She said. “Tell me why New York.” Unsure how to exactly go about why, I thought for a moment.

“Well, let’s see. I think I was just ready for change. I’m twenty-six. I’ve lived my entirety under the roof of someone else’s home, coming and going as I please. Though Cordonia will always be home, I just needed to get away for a while. I may go back one day, I may not. New York was the place I felt most comfortable with, we’d visited a few times. How about you? Are you from New York?” There was no need to go into depth about the fact that I actually lived in the palace with Liam, but Liam was making steps in his life, he was married, he was king, and it was time for me to take a hold of my own reigns. As much as Liam reassured me to stay, I knew it was time to go.

“I’m actually from North Carolina.” Riley said. “I moved here for college. It was the whole small town girl gets out of town situation. Life was messy, and I decided here. My mom had family here, so it wasn’t like I couldn’t call someone for help if I were in trouble, but I was far enough away to gain independence.” I nodded as she sat back in her chair and played with the place mat on her table. “So you went to college?” “I dropped out, actually.” “Hey, I did too.”

Riley looked at me, questioning. “Did you go to school in the US?” “Yeah, actually. Only for two years.” “I dropped out after two years. Why’d you drop out?” Riley asked. I room a deep breath, recognizing the truth wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense. Maybe too heavy of a conversation for now. Like, hey, yeah, there were some assassination attempts going on and Liam was severely depressed so his brother begged me to come back and I did, just like I always do. “Just realized college wasn’t for me.” I shrugged.

“Understandable.” Riley replied. “How about you?” “Uh, well, my mom passed away. I just couldn’t focus anymore. I got really depressed, stopped going to classes, and made the decision that I probably shouldn’t pay money for an education I wasn’t receiving. So I dropped out.” I studied Riley, noticing tears brimming her eyelids. “Want anything to drink? I’ve got whiskey, wine, water, soda, anything?”

I cleared my throat, recognizing that the conversation did get heavy. “Uh, whiskey, huh?” I asked. “My choice of drink,

actually.” She said with a grin. The tears were no longer in his bright green eyes. “I’ll take whiskey.”

Riley grabbed two glasses out of the cabinet to pour. She turned around to sit down, handing me a glass. “Hey, I know what it’s like.” I finally said. “Hm?” “To lose a parent. I know what that’s like. I’m sorry you had to go through it.” “Thank you. I’m sorry you had to, too.” She gave me an empathetic smile. “To new friendships?” Riley held her glass out. “To new friendships.” I smiled, clinking my glass against hers.

Listening to Riley talk was... comfortable. Watching her eyes widen, talking about things she loved, seeing her shake her head at my inexperience of television shows and movies. She laughed a lot, but her laugh was contagious. “You’re not the brooding man I remember.” She had said. I guess the brooding man was actually enjoying the company.

When Riley asked me to talk, it was hard not to just tell her everything. She laced her fingers around her glass, looked at me, studied me, commented, and just listened. Her hair was pulled back in a loose bun, she was still in her work clothes, but it made me remember her that night.

Thinking of that night sent pings of jealousy through me. I wasn’t angry at anyone but myself. I thought back to how Maxwell said that Riley didn’t want any part of royalty, and how insane it would be for her to go to a whole new country she’d never even heard of and try her hand at running it. I wondered if things would have been different if I had made the move. Would it have been a one night stand? Would it have created a friendship, though that wasn’t the in the rules of one night stands? There was so much left undone and said because I was too much of a coward to say, “hey Liam, can I call dibs?” I felt like a schoolboy even having these thoughts.

As the conversations continued, I caught a glance at the clock on the stove. It was already ten. How did the time go by so fast? “Well, I should probably be heading to bed. Got a long day of job searching in front of me tomorrow.” I said. “Me too, work calls for another day tomorrow.” We both stood up. I grabbed her plate and her glass. “Hey, I can get my stuff. You’re the guest.” “You were kind enough to invite me, I insist.” I walked over to the sink to wash the glasses, but she promptly told me to sit them down in the sink. “Fine, fine. But next time...” I said with a laugh. “So there will be a next time!” Riley joked.

As she walked me to the door, she stopped me. “Wait, give me your phone.” “Hm?” I looked down at her, confused. “I figured my number could be helpful if you need any tips around town or if you want someone to eat dinner with again.” She said with a giggle. “Oh, right.” I handed her my phone as she typed away. “There you go.” “Thank you, Riley. For keeping me company and good conversation.” “I can only thank you too. It was nice to talk to someone instead of stare at the walls while I chew.”

I walked into my apartment, closing the door and immediately falling back on my couch. Oh, Riley, you’re going to be trouble. The vision of her sitting across from me wouldn’t leave my mind. My thoughts were interrupted by my phone ringing. I looked down to see my sister, Savannah, calling.

“Savannah? Isn’t it like 4:30 in the morning there?” I asked. “Yeah, but I’m up with the Bartie and I just wanted to check in and see how things were.” She said. “Hey Uncle Dwake.” “Hey bud.” I smiled at the small voice coming over the phone. “He misses you so much.” Savannah said with a small laugh. “I miss you guys.” “Are you settling in?” “I’m trying. It’s different, that’s for sure.” “You’ll get through it. If I could do it, you can. You know home is always waiting for you.” “I know, Sav. I think it’s good for me though.” “I agree, even if I do miss my big brother. But I’ll let you go. You call me sometime, okay?” “I will. Love you.” “Love you. Talk to you soon.”

I hung up the phone, but immediately searched through my contacts. I typed in R, instantly seeing “Riley Brooks” pop up. So, Brooks is her last name. Do I text her and tell her thank you? Or tell her who’s number this is? Gosh, Drake, you’re like a infatuated ninth grader.

Drake: Hey Riley, this is Drake. Just wanted to thank you again for having me over

I instantly saw three bubbles pop up.

Riley: anytime :) what’s your last name, by the way?

Drake: Now that’s giving away too much information now lol

Riley: that’s where you cross the line? oh how unfortunate!

Drake: I guess I’ll cross it one more time for you. Its Walker.

Riley: goodnight, Drake Walker

Drake: Goodnight, Brooks

I laid my phone face down on the couch next to me, and turned on the television. Back home, we never watched much unless it was sports. I clicked on my new Netflix account and scrolled through the television shows. That’s when I came across what Riley said was her favorite show, Friends. I hovered over it, smirking at Riley’s reaction to me having never watched it.

I clicked on the first episode.

#drake walker #drake x mc #the royal romance #trr fanfic #fanfic #choices trr #trr fandom #riley brooks

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mhdiaries · 4 years

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Wave 2 Cleo de Nile Diary

Ninth Month 15th Day

I didn’t sleep very well last night at all. I had this dream that I was about to lead the Fear Squad onto a stage where we were supposed to perform in front of an undead JV audience with millions of monsters watching all over the world. Only when I looked back Frankie had forgotten her arms, Draculaura had a tiny bat body with her normal sized head and Deuce had turned the rest of the team into stone. He kept saying, “It’s okay we’ll take them home and they can live in the garden with the other gnomes.” Then I realized I was wearing a lunch lady outfit and my pompoms had turned into gravy ladles. Fortunately, I woke up before we had to perform. I told father about the dream and he said, “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.” Well, perhaps I should lessen that unease with more team practice.

Ninth Month 20th Day

Ghoulia yelled at me today and I must admit that it sort of hurt my feelings. She was sitting by herself in the creepateria drawing something in her notebook and I was going to ask her to sit with the rest of us. When I said her name though it startled her, and she slammed her notebook closed. Then she said, “Oh my ghoul!” “Can you please take your own notes and give me just a moment of privacy?” Then she turned her back on me and started drawing again. I think what hurt my feelings the most was not that she yelled at me but that she thought it wasn’t her company I wanted. She apologized later which I accepted, of course. I like having Ghoulia around because I absolutely trust her. I wish I could tell her that but it’s just not done. I am royalty after all… although perhaps I need to learn to make exceptions for my friends.

Tenth Month 7th Day

Spectra… leave it to her to make a mausoleum out of a molehill. I saw Deuce at the end of the school day, and he told me how everything started. He wrote a song for my upcoming birthday celebration and he wanted Operetta to put it to music and make a recording for me. Of course, there have been thousands of songs composed in my honor but this was different… anyway so Deuce goes into the band room with Operetta and starts reading her the song. Spectra floats through and misinterprets what’s going on, like she always does, and all of a sudden the whole school is in full scale gossip mode. Before I know it I’m being dumped by Deuce and getting back together with Clawd. She even had the audacity to ask me for a comment! I was so angry I shouted at her in Ancient Egyptian… probably a good thing since what I said was not exactly befitting royalty. I even cancelled Fear Squad practice because I totally couldn’t focus. I know that Clawd tracked Spectra down and tried to reason with her but that actually made things worse because if she thinks she’s being persecuted she gets even louder about what she thinks the “real” truth is. I appreciated Clawd trying to stand up for me though. He is an honorable wolf and under different circumstances maybe we’d still be together but undue speculation is something which commoners concern themselves, so I’ll stop now.

Tenth Month 12th Day

Why is it that Headless Headmistress Bloodgood wants us to dredge up the past? The last thing I want to do is write about how my family went from ruling the greatest dynasty ever to being betrayed and dethroned by people we trusted. I will not write about that because even after so many thousands of years it still hurts. What to write then? I have the ability to charm snakes – not with a stupid flute – but I can speak to them and they will do what I ask them to. It’s not something I do all the time – I mostly just use it when Hissette crawls inside a shoe I want to wear and won’t come out. No, I’ve never used it on Deuce although I have been tempted a time or two… just kidding. He likes me for who I am, why would I want to ruin that by manipulating him? I must also wear some of my wrappings at all times otherwise… well it’s not something I really wish to think about. Father also has quite a collection of amulets and charms that will work only for those in my family. Of course, they usually also come with a curse if you overuse them.

Tenth Month 16th Day

I’m beginning to think that allowing Purrsephone, Meowlody and Toralei to stay on the Fear Squad was a mistake. My sister brought them onto the team, she always was a cat person, when she was the Fear Squad captain. If they weren’t so athletic and graceful I would have kicked them off when I became captain, despite my sister’s insistence that I keep them. They definitely have their own agenda and even though on the outside they act like they are sold out for the team I do not trust them. I think if something “better” came along they would leave me up the Styx without a Charon. I even overheard them making fun of Ghoulia one day which they totally denied when I confronted them about it. I on the other hand have one agenda; making the Fear Squad the best it can be. If they get in the way of making that happen I hear Lagoona is looking for new members on the swim team.

Tenth Month 22nd Day

I got an email from Nefera today. Ugh… haven’t had that name haunting over my head since she graduated. Just writing it after so long sends chills down my spine and not in a good way either. She said that she was up for five magazine covers and a spooks model contract. She was also up on all the MH gossip and what was happening on the Fear Squad. Wonder who she’s getting all her information from… not. Of course she gave me a whole list of things I was doing wrong and what I needed to do to fix them. As the older sister she is entitled to correct me if I do anything “unbecoming to one of royal birth.” I am entitled to sit quietly and listen which I did, a lot. The Fear Squad is not about royalty though and as a past captain she is entitled to her opinion but I’m no longer entitled to sit quietly and listen. It’s my team now and even though we haven’t yet won the awards her teams did I believe that we can and will. I don’t know why she should care anyway since her email made it sound like she’s one step away from ruling the world. If I were in her place what’s happing at high school would be the last thing on my mind.

Tenth Month 25th Day

I ran into Clawdeen at the Maul today. We both came out of a dressing room wearing the same thing. I braced myself for some sarcastic comment but she just looked at me and started laughing. I don’t know why but I did as well and before long we were both sitting on the floor of the dressing room howling with laughter. We got kicked out of the store and ended up at the food corpse sharing a basket of fries. She told me that Clawd told her the real story behind our breakup and I told her that I was sorry for not being honest about the situation from the beginning. She apologized too – for not confronting me directly and getting the true tale. We hung out for a while and mocked some current fashion trends and then before we left Clawdeen stuck out her hand, “Frenemies?” she said. “Frenemies,” I said as I shook it. While it is doubtful that two “alphas” can ever be more than that, not have Clawdeen actively against me is a step in the right direction.

#monster high #monster high diary #cleo de nile #wave 2

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dat-paw · 4 years

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07 NONAGENARIAN

“Freshen up your coffee, hon?”

The waitress’ words shook Jude out of the daydream he hadn’t realized he’d fallen into. That had a tendency to happen, this time of the year. You’d think he’d be used to it, after all this time, and yet it always caught him by surprise just the same.

“No, thank you.” Jude answered, looking up at the waitress with kind, patient eyes. The waitress had been keeping her eye on his table all morning with the sort of businesslike concern a food service employee might reserve for an out-of-towner with no idea what to order. She’d seen this miqo’te youth come in and sit at a table all by his lonesome, ordering nothing but cup after cup of plain black coffee, and had resolved to save him from his indecision.

She did not recognize who he was, and so she had no way of knowing this, but unfamiliarity with the restaurant’s fare was not the issue giving the miqo’te pause. Jude had in fact been coming to this eatery for longer than the waitress had been alive. He had even personally known the proprietor… But that was years ago, before the proprietor died and the new owner changed the name of the establishment.

The restaurant hadn’t been called the Drowning Wench for almost twenty years now.

“Can I bring you something else, then? You’ve barely touched your eggs and bacon... Something wrong with it?” The waitress asked, nodding toward Jude’s heavily laden plate.

“No, no, nothing’s wrong with it… Nothing at all.” Jude insisted with another warm smile and a wave of the hand. “I’m, ah… Just a slow eater.” “At least let me warm it up for you, it must be cold by now.” “I like cold eggs, if you can believe it.” Jude replied. The waitress smiled as though she thought the miqo’te was pulling her leg. Jude picked up on this and raised his coffee cup in her direction. “Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. Believe me, it’s better than it sounds.” The waitress laughed. “Well, alright then… I’ll leave you to your cold eggs. Just let me know if I can bring you something hot, okay?” To this, Jude offered a wordless nod that sent the waitress on her way. The excuse he’d given her was a half-truth. He really did like cold eggs, but being a slow eater wasn’t the reason his food had gone untouched. Like the daydream he’d lost himself in earlier, his loss of appetite was just another symptom of the wistfulness that always took him this time of year.

It was his ninety-seventh nameday. That alone didn’t bother him overmuch. It wasn’t even something he would bother to keep track of, if not for the fact that this date on the calendar happened to be shared by his wedding anniversary. This would have been the eighty-ninth.

Slipping back into dreams, Jude thumbed the simple silver band he’d worn for the past eighty-nine years. Enchanted as it was, the inscription it bore was still as legible today as it had been the day he’d first gotten it. The engraving was written in Old Auri, a language that was no longer especially common, though Jude remained fluent. Even if that were not the case, he’d know the inscription by rote, like a memory held deep in his heart:

My Sun, My Azim, My Lion. I will be with you always. From this day, until the end of time.

He could still picture her face in his mind’s eye, clear as a bell. If he closed his eyes, he could imagine Sayoko was here with him. She’d sit next to him, resting her head on his shoulder the way she sometimes did. She’d order fresh juice- not coffee, not this time of morning. And she wouldn’t order a meal of her own, instead satisfying her hunger with a few bites off Jude’s plate. She never ate very much, and even if that were not so, Jude always ordered enough for the both of them anyway. He was always happy to share his plate with her, as she well knew.

He could see it so clearly that it almost felt real… Real enough that he wanted to stay there with her, in that pleasant daydream. But the arrival of his guest, who was presently easing themselves into the chair across from Jude, broke the spell and brought Jude back to reality.

[“I’m glad you came, Martin.”] Jude would say to his guest, speaking in sign language.

Martin was a miqo’te like Jude, though these days, it was only vaguely clear that this was so. A walking cloud of pink hair, flowers and underbrush, his sibling seemed to drift deeper and deeper into the Twelveswood with each passing year, becoming more wild with every yalm they retreated into the forest. Antlers had begun to sprout where once there had been only miqo’te ears, and atop their head, they wore a crown of razor branches that could only have come from the Thornmarch- a sign of feral royalty, or perhaps something more ominous.

[“I would not miss our nameday.”] They replied, their long, thin fingers moving like brown spiders.

[“I started without you, knew you wouldn’t mind. Would you like to order something? I could call the waitress over.”] Jude asked. Martin shook their head, sending a cascade of leaves fluttering to the ground.

[“Thank you, no. In the free cities, even the water tastes foul. It pains me to be here… Nothing grows in this dreary place.”] They replied with a world-weary sigh. Mismatched green eyes stared out from a mass of pink tangles. [“Are you keeping well, Brother?”]

[“Well enough. I look after the house, check in on the new tenants from time to time… Run my bakery on the weekends… I keep busy.”] Jude replied with a sort of half-shrug. Martin lowered their head and fixed Jude with the kind of searching look that had always unsettled him. Even after ninety-seven years, he had the impression his twin could see right through him. In a way, that was the precise truth.

[“It is good to keep busy… Good to have purpose in life.”] Martin said knowingly. Jude looked down at his coffee, unable to meet his sibling’s eyes. It was quite similar to something his wife used to say, before she passed. At the time, Jude had been fond of suggesting that the two of them retire and become people of leisure, doing nothing but lazing about their cottage reading books and eating sweets.

“You would never be satisfied with that sort of life, my lion,” Sayoko replied, “And for that matter, neither would I.”

“And why not?” Jude asked, grinning. “We’ve worked hard, haven’t we? All those years adventuring to save up and buy a bakery, and now the bakery’s a success! It’s doing well enough that it practically runs itself!”

“Practically.” Sayoko repeated, flicking Jude’s nose lightly. “But you like the work we put into that place every week. Ordering the supplies, kneading the dough, baking the bread-”

“Taste tests…” Jude interrupted, leaning over Sayoko’s shoulder to dip a finger into the mixing bowl she was holding. Before she could stop him, he’d scooped up a bit of chocolate frosting on his finger. The golden-eyed Xaela laughed and grabbed his wrist, bringing his finger to her lips to steal his ill-gotten treat. “Yes, those too.” She continued. “You like having things to do, Jude. That’s what I mean. We both do. We weren’t made for lives of leisure… We’d just get bored.” To this, Jude’s only immediate reply was wrapping his arms around her waist, sighing happily. “Nothing about you bores me.” He whispered.

[“Brother.”]

Jude shook his head, the remnants of the dream fading like the last rays of sunlight in late afternoon.

[“You went away again.”] Martin signed.

[“Sorry. It’s this time of year, I suppose I get a little bit nostalgic.”] Jude explained with a sigh. [“I miss her every day, Martin.”]

Martin reached out to place a hand on Jude’s in solidarity before signing their response.

[“I know you do, Brother.”] [“Couldn’t you… Just do your aether thing to… I don’t know…”] Jude grasped for words he didn’t have. Martin lowered their head again, this time a great air of sadness coming over them.

[“Brother… She has rejoined the Lifestream. No power in this world can bring her back from that. Nor should it.”] Martin spoke with the sort of tired urgency that indicated they had had this conversation before, and Martin was beginning to grow weary of having it. [“ Even if such a thing were within my power... It would not be her. Not really.”]

[“I know.”] Jude replied, his shoulders sagging in defeat. [“I just… I was sort of wondering if there was anything you could do to my aether to help.”]

[“I could take your memories of her… Or make you dream of her every night. But I do not think you would thank me for either of those things.”] Martin answered with a sorrowful shrug.

[“No, I suppose not.”]

There was a pause while Jude chewed a bite of eggs. It tasted like ash in his mouth.

[“You don’t have to stay with the mortals, you know. You could come with me. Back to the Black Shroud. The forest would welcome you.”] Martin said slowly. There was a certain reluctance to their words that suggested they knew what Jude’s answer was going to be. Sure enough, Jude shook his head.

[“I belong with the mortals, my dear sibling. My place is here among them. I know that they are weak, and flawed, and… And they do not live forever.”] He thumbed his ring again. [“But that is why I love them so. Their lives are so brief and fragile… They hold it precious.”] [“Mortals hold very little precious, Brother, save their hunger for violence. You and I are proof of that.”] Martin sighed, smiling sadly. [“But I admire your faith in them, even if I do not agree.”]

Jude smiled ruefully and raised his coffee cup to his sibling. “Happy nameday, Martin.” Martin returned the smile and offered a small nod.

[“Happy nameday, Jude.”]

It was a quiet, dignified sort of moment between the two Allagan nonagenarians… And it only lasted until the sound of approaching clapping reached their ears from the restaurant’s kitchen. The waitstaff was approaching, carrying a large cake and wearing party hats.

It was the nightmare shared by anyone who had ever gone to a restaurant on or around their nameday- the terror of the restaurant staff finding out, and taking the opportunity to sing a nameday song.

Jude’s mismatched eyes shot toward the approaching waitstaff, then back to Martin.

“YOU DID THIS.” He hissed, his voice dark with anger. Martin smiled coyly. They shrugged, pleading innocence. The worst lie of the morning.

And then the singing began.

#FFXIVWRITE2020 #Martin Freepaw #Jude Paw #Sayoko Kinme

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brokehorrorfan · 4 years

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Blu-ray Review: Forgotten Gialli: Volume 1

One of the most reliable distributors when it comes to unearthing obscure genre films, Vinegar Syndrome has released Forgotten Gialli: Volume One, a Blu-ray box set containing a trio of giallo - or, European murder-mysteries - that have never received distribution in the U.S.: 1973's The Killer Is One of 13, 1975's The Police Are Blundering in the Dark, and 1978's Trauma.

The Killer Is One of 13 is a Spanish giallo by way of Agatha Christie. Lisa Mandel (Patty Shepard, Slugs) invites a collection of acquaintances to her elegant, isolated home for reasons unknown to the guests. As she reveals over dinner, it's the second anniversary of her husband's mysterious passing, so she has gathered 13 people who may have benefited from his death, convinced one of them is responsible.

Despite the very specific title, there are more than 13 suspects when you factor in everyone; from guests to family members to the help. Director/co-writer Javier Aguirre (Count Dracula’s Great Love) and co-writer Alberto S. Insúa (Count Dracula’s Great Love) do an admirable job painting each character as a potential culprit, as everyone has both motives and flaws. However, as is often the case with ensemble murder-mysteries, it's difficult to keep track of the ancillary characters, some of whom are barely developed.

Far more restrained than its Italian brethren, the film's pacing is rather uneven. It's heavy on exposition throughout the first two acts, but the intriguing mystery drives it until the murders begin. That doesn't occur until 63 minutes into the 95-minute film, leading to an unrelenting, if rushed, final act. The big reveal isn't all that surprising if you pay attention to the clues, but it's not dissatisfying.

Cinematographer Francisco Fraile's (Dr. Jekyll vs. The Werewolf) ambitious camerawork - almost always roving or zooming - provides a kineticism to offset the long stretches of dialogue, even if focus is occasionally soft. A propulsive soundtrack would have helped further, but instead Alfonso Santisteban's (The Mummy’s Revenge) score is often hokey.

In addition to Shepard, the cast features several faces that may be familiar to Eurocult enthusiasts. Spanish character actor Simón Andreu (Beyond Re-Animator) plays a smug playboy; American expat Jack Taylor (The Ninth Gate) plays as an unappreciated artist; Spanish cinema royalty Carmen Maura (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) has an early role as the wife of an unstable older man; and Spanish horror legend Paul Naschy (The Werewolf vs. The Vampire Woman) has a small part as the chauffeur.

The Killer Is One of 13 has been newly restored in 2K from its 35mm original negative. The disc includes an audio commentary by film critic and Diabolique magazine editor-in-chief Kat Ellinger. Since information on the production is scarce, she contextualizes the film relative to the giallo subgenre, making for an interesting listen.

The Police Are Blundering in the Dark’s title is more interesting than the movie itself, as it seems director Helia Colombo (this being his sole credit) was blundering in the dark during the making of his Italian giallo. The cold open could be mistaken for a cliched '80s slasher: an attractive woman gets a flat tire and is chased by a killer through the woods, during which her blouse inexplicably opens as she runs, exposing her breasts before she's caught and stabbed with a pair of scissors.

It clocks in at a scant 87 minutes - rather brief by giallo standards - yet feels drawn out. The aforementioned woman is the latest in a string of murder victims, all of whom served as models for an impotent, wheelchair-bound photographer, Parisi. Giorgio D'Amato (Joseph Arkim), the journalist boyfriend of one of the victims, heads to Parisi's villa outside of Rome to investigate, learning that the photographer has invented a camera that captures its subjects' thoughts. This unexpectedly fantastical plot point is harnessed to solve the mystery a la Four Flies on Grey Velvet.

Despite being the most traditional giallo film of the trio included in the set, the picture fails to deliver on any of the pillars of the subgenre. After setting up a middling mystery, the midsection is bogged down by talky melodrama, while the eventual solution is preposterous. Beyond that, the kills are tame, Giancarlo Pancaldi's cinematography is pedestrian, and Aldo Saitto's score is forgettable.

The Police Are Blundering has been newly restored in 2K from its 35mm original negative. In lieu of an audio commentary, film historian and critic Rachael Nisbet provides a “historical audio essay.” It is exactly that; a breathless 16-minute amalgam of facts and critical analysis. It's thorough if dry, akin to reading a well-researched Wikipedia entry. A promotional image gallery is also included.

Not to be confused with Dario Argento's later giallo of the same name, Trauma is a Spanish giallo riff on Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. It centers on Veronica (Ágata Lys, The Holy Innocents), who runs a quaint inn in rural Spain while caring for her unseen, handicapped husband. She's smitten with Daniel (Heinrich Starhemberg), a mysterious and charming author that checks in, to the point where she becomes visibly annoyed when other guests interrupt their flirting.

Director León Klimovsky (The Werewolf vs. The Vampire Woman) and writers Juan José Porto (Cross of the Devil) and Carlos Puerto (Satan's Blood) position the film as a mystery, but when a black-gloved assailant begins murdering the guests with a straight razor, the options for the killer's identity are quite limited.

The film is rather slow moving yet sleazy. Nearly every character, regardless of gender, sheds their clothing at some point. Cinematographer Pablo Ripoll (Tombs of the Blind Dead) captures it all with voyeuristic delight. Composer Ángel Arteaga (Frankenstein's Bloody Terror) crafted a Goblin-esque main title theme.

Starhemberg's position as executive producer of the film surely influenced the decision to (mis)cast him as the male lead. Beyond lacking chemistry with Lys, there are some unintentionally uncomfortable scenes in which he caresses a local boy. Antonio Mayans (Zombie Lake) plays an ill-fated hiker who takes refuge at the inn.

Trauma has been newly restored in 2K from its 35mm original negative. The disc includes an audio commentary by film historian Troy Howarth, who previously profiled the film in his 2019 book, So Deadly, So Perverse: Volume Three. Per usual, he takes a conversational approach to the track, which occasionally leads to tangents but ultimately provides a detailed analysis that digs into the history of giallo films.

Each of the discs is housed in its own Blu-ray case, and all three are packaged together in a box designed by Earl Kessler Jr. Limited to 5,000 units, it's available exclusively from Vinegar Syndrome. Having never been dubbed into English, the movies feature newly translated English subtitles to accompany the fresh scans.

A precursor to the slasher boom in the 1980s, the success of the giallo subgenre spawned a wide breadth of films, ranging from oft-discussed staples to hidden gems that barely saw a release beyond their theatrical debuts. With Forgotten Gialli, Vinegar Syndrome has breathed new life into three movies that fall squarely into the latter category. As it is subtitled Volume 1, I can only hope that more sets come to fruition.

Forgotten Gialli: Volume One is available now via Vinegar Syndrome.

#giallo #vinegar syndrome #the killer is one of 13 #trauma #the police are blundering in the dark #dvd #gift #review #article #gialli #forgotten gialli #italian horror #spanish horror #paul naschy #earl kessler jr.#murder mystery

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xyliane · 4 years

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AUgust 9: royalty au

PROMPT THE NINTH: ROYALTY AU

aka “space royalty IN SPACE!!!” ft the kingdom hearts kids. I don’t know what I’m doing in kh except that certain people got me into it and I’ve been dabbling with a few other fics for it over the last month and I don’t know how to write any of these good good kids at all. so I smashed up destiny island trio with “crest of the stars” which I haven’t seen since 2009 so all of my memories of it are on the delightful worldbuilding. vaguely soriku or sorikai? I guess? what is kingdom hearts?

0o0o0o0o0o0

The Highwind hadn’t changed at all in the last three years, or however many rotations that translated to on Kingdom ships. Sora couldn’t restrain himself from running his hands over everything, his new haptic interface buzzing gently at his temples with every passing node and module. It would have itched if Sora weren’t practically leaping with excitement. This was the Highwind. He was done with training. And what’s more, he’d been recruited for this, so someone out there thought that he was ready. Maybe if he was lucky, he’d even run into--

“Sora?” a familiar voice said. “What are you doing here?”

He spun, his smile wide with delight, and practically sprinted down the corridor to bury the red-headed junior officer in a hug. “Kairi! I didn’t know you were stationed on the Highwind!”

His best friend grinned sheepishly, face flushed the same red as her hair as Sora set her back on her feet. They wore similar sleek space-ready black uniforms, but while Sora’s jacket was full-sleeved and trimmed with red insignia, Kairi’s tunic was sleeveless and her collar marked with two tiny silver stars--a lieutenant now, not even three rotations into her official serve. Sora would have to get her something as a present. Rose-gold interfaces wound around her wrists and up her arms, newer and much nicer than the ones she’d borrowed at the academy. Nicer even than Sora’s headpiece, which he just got as a graduation present from Donald. Jeez, the Highwind really did have it all. “I’m not surprised you slept through that announcement,” she said. “I heard you were barely awake enough for your own assignment, sleepyhead. Admiral Yen Sid was probably ready to have you court marshaled.”

“Yeah, well,” he said and scratched at the back of his neck. “I’m here now?”

Kairi’s smile grew to match Sora’s own. “You definitely are,” she said. “Have you been to your quarters yet? Or do you need a tour of the ship? Captain said we don’t launch for another rotation, so I can--”

“I’ve got this, don’t worry,” Sora said, and started down the corridor again.

She raised an eyebrow. “If you’re sure,” she said, and fell into step with him. For a minute, it was like they were back at the Academy, or even back on Destiny Island, striding along the edges of the ocean like they were in space and bouncing up and down in the lack of gravity. Sora hadn’t known about grav boots then.

Sora turned down the third corridor, following the spoke past the windows that looked out upon the twilit lights of Departure Station floating against nothing but a thousand thousand stars. “I was here before,” he said.

“Before we shipped out? That’s against protocol--even you know that.”

A really stupid rule, but one Sora had to follow if he wanted to be here. “No, before that. We haven’t even left dock yet! Before the Academy. It was after you and your family had to flee the Island, and I went looking for you and--”

Kairi blinked like Sora had hit her over the head with a practice sword. “No way,” she said. “You were here?”

“Yep!”

“On the Highwind?”

Sora crossed his arms with an annoyed harrumph. “Where else would I have been?” he said. “We found you while I was here.”

“I didn’t know it was the Highwind! I was kind of out of it, with the oxygen deprivation and the spacing and the kidnapping. I thought it was just...just the...” Kairi trailed off as she looked him up and down, taking in the haptic headpiece that wound through his chaotic hair and the red pilot’s insignia at his wrists and collar, and she put her head in her hands for a long exasperated sigh. “Oh, stars. No wonder the Kingdom Navy was so angry.”

Sora did remember more than a few expressions of shock when Yen Sid had announced where he was to be stationed. But he’d cared more about Donald and Goofy’s expressions of joy than some old farts. Or young farts. Farts who thought they were better than anyone else just because they had weird-colored hair. So most of the Academy, really. “They weren’t angry, just...not happy.”

“They’re pissed, Sora. But it’s not their choice to have two humans onboard the Highwind, not anymore.” Without checking to make sure that Sora was keeping up, Kairi squared her shoulders and picked up the pace with a grin that usually spelled pain, and lots of it. “You know, we’re almost at the flight deck. You wanted to meet the new CO, right?”

He had been going to the mess, but his stomach suddenly didn’t seem as important. He wanted to be on the Highwind because it was the best, but he also wanted to serve the person who had helped him save Kairi. He wanted to help. Not having King Mickey around felt...weird. Different. Like the air needed to be circulated a few dozen times. “What happened to Mick--I mean, the Rear Admiral?”

“The king handed over the ship to someone he trusted with his heart,” Kairi said.

That gave Sora a long moment of pause. “Should I know him?” he finally asked.

A muffled giggle came out from his friend’s mouth. “You have to meet the captain eventually. So I think you should meet him now.”

“Meet who?”

“Someone you trusted with your whole heart!”

Of all the times to be mysterious, she had to choose right this moment. “Kairiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...”

“Come on, Sora!”

They made it to the bridge in what must have been record time, Sora’s books thudding heavily against the tiled floor. Other officers, their hair all colors of the rainbow, gave the two humans the side-eye as they raced along the corridors. Sora didn’t care. They’d have a chance to say hi later, to become friends, when he wasn’t in danger of falling behind Kairi. But she slowed down with just enough time to catch her breath, unable to stop Sora from his all-out sprint to the door. Without the magnets kicking in on his boots, he couldn’t quite stop himself before tumbling face-first into the sleek sides of the small bridge.

Normally Sora liked Kairi’s laughter--it reminded him of waves and summer storms and the Island--but right now it was turning his face as her hair. What a first impression. He did his best to jump to his feet and imitate a proper salute. “Ensign Pilot Sora, reporting for command, sir,” he said, looking anywhere but at the tall captain who was definitely staring at Sora and probably counting all of the ways that he could be sent back to the Academy.

Another laugh, much quieter than Kairi’s but absolutely cacophonous in Sora’s ears, echoed around the tiny command chamber, loud against the half-empty room. Sora’s heart ached with it, beating in time with a voice he hadn’t heard in years except in the rare crackly messages shipped from the other side of the system.

The captain’s hair was long and the color of stars, a rare color even among humanoid nobility in the Kingdom. His uniform, practically picture-perfect and sleek with silver lining, had a solid steel blade at his hip, a form of haptic device that responded less to physical touch like Sora’s or Kairi’s as much as pure will. Sora hadn’t seen one of those in use in years. Not since he’d last seen Riku frantically stabbing it around a ship, Sora at his side.

Riku smiled, a private little thing that lit his green eyes up brighter than a solar flare. “Still crashing into things you shouldn’t, right Sora?”

“It’s you, Riku,” Sora breathed. “Riku!”

One of the bridge officers actually squawked. “That’s the prince of the Seven Island Worlds, you insubordinate--”

Sora ignored them and all of the rules about propriety and princes and how no one is supposed to call the nobility by their names because that’s not how things are done Ensign Sora that the instructors had tried to drill into his head at the Academy, and threw his arms around his friend. Because once, long ago, Riku had promised that Sora could call him by name, and Sora won’t ever break a promise like that. “I thought I’d never see you again,” he said.

Even though it barely lasted a moment, Riku hugged him right back, tight and warm and just right. Sora missed that. He missed Riku. “Well, you promised you’d be my pilot when you were done,” Riku said a little self-consciously.

“And I am!” Sora said, and thrust a thumb at the pilot’s insignia emblazoned on his jacket. “That is why I’m here. Right?”

Riku laughed again, and Sora swore that his heart turned to molten gold right in his chest. “A captain can choose his crew."

“You chose Kairi?”

“Well, of course,” Riku said, glancing over the top of Sora’s head to the young woman. “She’s the best gunner in her class, and probably will be in the fleet in the next few cycles.”

“Thanks, Captain,” she said. Sora could tell she was trying to be miffed and ended up being pleased. Of course Riku would know how to make her feel welcome.

But that still left Sora.

As though hearing his thoughts, Riku poked him gently between the eyes. “And I chose you, Sora. So. Welcome aboard.”

(AUgust prompts)

#AUgust2020 #kingdom hearts #kh #sora #riku #kairi #yeah you heard me right NOT hxh #...ye gods I don't know how to write these delightful chaos kids #anyways crest of the stars is one of those things that's burnt into my soul in terms of worldbuilding #and although I have approx. 1582 hxh AUs at this point #I thought I'd try it with something different #plus it didn't seem to line up with hxh #so here I am #my writing

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wiseabsol · 4 years

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WA Reviews “Dominion” by Aurelia le, Chapter 11: The Chase

Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6383825/11/Dominion

Summary: For the Fire Nation royal siblings, love has always warred with hate. But neither the outward accomplishment of peace nor Azula’s defeat have brought the respite Zuko expected. Will his sister’s plans answer this, or only destroy them both?

Content Warnings: This story contains discussions and depictions of child abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and incest. This story also explores the idea that Zuko’s redemption arc (and his unlearning of abuse) is not as complete as the show suggested, and that Azula is not a sociopath (with the story having a lot of sympathy for her). If that doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, I would strongly recommend steering clear of this story and my reviews of it.

Note: Because these were originally posted as chapter reviews/commentaries, I will often be talking to the author in them (though sometimes I will also snarkily address the characters). While I’ve also tried not to spoil later events in the story in these reviews, I would strongly recommend reading through chapter 28 before reading these, just to be safe.

Now on to chapter 11!

CHAPTER 11: THE CHASE

Alright, so on to chapter eleven, “The Chase.” I think I know why I stalled on this one, besides life getting in the way: there’s a game in this chapter, in which the readers are challenged to find all of the trope names that Aurelia has snuck into Sokka’s POV sections. And, despite being one of the betas for this story (which renders the reward for finding all of the tropes meaningless), I still want to win. So let’s put on ATLA’s soundtrack and get cracking!

We start with the Gaang arriving at the Royal Palace. Toph still has a crush on Sokka, which both Sokka and Suki are aware of. He describes Katara and Aang as “Sickening Sweethearts” for the first trope. I like that Aang has a “gusty” laugh here—it’s a nice pun. Aang is in such a good mood and I’m like, “Oh buddy, you just wait, the angst is imminent.” Sokka thinks that it’s been two weeks since they last visited, which might be a hyperbole on his part, but if so, boy have things changed quickly.

“Little lump of baby fat who was heir to the Burning Throne” is a great description, though I have my doubts that Lu Ten is going to sit on that throne, given that there’s a chance that he’s a non-bender (which, along with the sexism that has made it so that they’ve never had a woman ruler before, is something the Fire Nation will need to get over at some point, since it could be seen as a fantasy equivalent to ableism).

“Having gotten to know Zuko a little better since then, he concluded it would probably actually suck to be royalty.” Yes and no, Sokka. Definitely don’t doubt how sweet—okay, to interject for a second, “Leaves on the Vine” just came on and it hurts my heart—but anyway, Sokka, don’t doubt how sweet being royal is. There is a reason that people fight for that title. Being a responsible ruler, on the other hand—one who works their butt off to serve the people—yeah, that can be rough, because you need to go to those meetings and listen to those complaints. Doing so is, hopefully, also rewarding to the soul, but in Zuko’s case…hard to say. I think he prefers to be directly involved in making things better, rather than being in a managerial position. I think I’ve mentioned before how he should have been sent on rebuilding and reparations missions, with someone like Iroh doing the governance side of things…though putting Iroh in charge might have been scandalous after the Siege of Ba Sing Se. There were no good choices there.

“Missing Mom” for the second trope. “He found himself wondering if dysfunction was some kind of prerequisite for royal families.” No, though I can’t imagine that the pressures of living in the public eye, making decisions that affect an entire land and its people, and trying to build a legacy helps. Doing that for a few years is probably fine, but not for your entire life.

Sokka makes an amusing fish pun in this section. “First Love,” “Manly Tears,” and “Vengeful Spirit” for the third, fourth, and fifth tropes.

The Gaang arrives at the throne room, where Zuko and Iroh are arguing. Zuko mentions something about selling Azula to someone, which must be the Earth Kingdom, since he had a tense conversation with them last chapter. Zuko is in a foul mood, snapping at his friends as they walk in.

“Visual Pun” and “Clean Cut” for a sixth and seventh trope. The Gaang and Zuko then start talking, with Katara quickly catching on to the fact that Zuko was in a fight with Azula. Zuko explains that Azula slashed his face with a pin, and almost mentions that he and Azula slept together, before cutting himself off and blushing. Sokka notices the blush and is confused by it.

“Aang breezed up to him”—I see your pun, Aurelia.

Toph asks where Mai is, and Zuko tells them that Mai and Lu Ten are staying with Mai’s family. You know what, totally fair, Mai. I’d want space too. Zuko goes over Azula’s escape and mentions that they fought, and Sokka points out that Zuko should have been able to track her afterwards, since he’s a “Scarily Competent Tracker” (for an eighth trope). Zuko lies and says that Azula knocked him out, which Toph notices.

“I’m kinda starting to doubt her resolve,” Sokka says about Azula killing Zuko. This is both funny and sad, because, well, Azula and Zuko are siblings. No one should have to worry about one of them legitimately wanting to kill the other, even in the games of thrones. It doesn’t even occur to Sokka that Azula might care for Zuko. And why would it? As far as he knows, she tried to kill Zuko during their Agni Kai, and before that sounded excited about the prospect of becoming an only child.

Sokka is annoyed that things aren’t adding up in this conversation, and Zuko bursts out that he doesn’t know why Azula does the things that she does, which is another lie. Toph catches on to that one, too, but isn’t sure what it means. What’s notable here, though, is that Zuko is so used to calling Azula crazy that he says this as an outburst, even though he knows better. It’s a kneejerk reaction for him.

Zuko tells them that the Earth Kingdom is planning to execute Azula if they catch her, which offends Aang, since the tribunal agreed that life in prison would be Azula’s maximum sentence. Zuko explains that the politics around her case got dirty, shocker. Aang matured a lot during the show, but in some ways, he’s still rather naive.

“‘I gave them everything they ever asked!’ Zuko raged helplessly, glaring at the black stone floor. ‘Why can’t they just give me my sister?’”—This is sweet, though I think that Azula would be offended by the idea of anyone giving her to someone else.

“Mismatched Eyes” for a ninth trope. Toph tells Zuko that he’s just going to have to find a way around the Earth Kingdom’s sentence, which Iroh and Zuko agree with her on. Zuko mentions that they’re having their lawyers look into the court case, and then turns on Suki, asking how Azula got slapped with a torture charge.

Sokka says that Zuko is out of line for accusing Suki here, but honestly? Getting slapped with a torture charge is huge, especially when there’s no evidence that the accused did it. It’s slanderous and I’m not surprised that Zuko is reacting poorly to it. The implication here is that Suki’s comrades lied about the torture out of spite, or, if they were tortured, that it wasn’t on Azula’s orders. The Fire Nation absolutely did torture people, namely the Southern Water Tribe’s benders…but so did the Earth Kingdom, since they psychologically tortured and brainwashed their own civilians in Ba Sing Se. One crime doesn’t negate the other—they both need to be held accountable for their actions—but there is definitely some hypocrisy here from the Earth Kingdom.

Suki seems to think that her comrades were tortured, or at least she didn’t want them to “lie on [Azula’s] behalf.” But Suki, do you know for a fact that it happened? Obviously, I think that you should believe your comrades, since it’s better to believe the victims than not. But if it happened, who tortured them? Has the person who gave those orders been brought to justice? Because letting Azula be scapegoated for someone else’s crimes isn’t justice, it’s vindictiveness, and it means that somewhere out there, an actual torturer went free.

“Ridiculous accusations”—no, Sokka, this is a fair accusation, and it’s something that should have been brought to Zuko’s attention during the court case, or at least to the attention of Azula’s lawyers. They have the right to know what their client is being accused of and the evidence against them. That is, in fact, how the law is supposed to work. Mind you, I’m speaking of modern law practices, but it seems like their law practices are analogous.

Sokka says that Azula getting beheaded would be a favor for everyone, and Zuko snaps. He lunges at him—Sokka gets his boomerang out—and Iroh steps between them. Iroh scolds Zuko for being so aggressive with his friends, which is fair. He’s lashing out a lot during this conversation. Zuko then breaks down, with Suki and Katara hugging him in response. Toph sighs in a “Surrounded by Idiots” way for a tenth trope.

Sokka feels guilty over making Zuko cry. “He guessed that even if she was a crazy bitch, she was his sister, too. Of course that was what Zuko would think of, when it looked like she was going to die. Zuko had got this way when she starved herself too, Sokka recalled, and thought that he should have remember that sooner.”—Yeah, no kidding, Sokka. A little empathy and tact would have served you much better in this conversation.

Sokka apologizes shortly after this and Zuko apologizes in return. Katara promises that they’ll always help Zuko, and I wonder if that would still be true if they knew that he’d raped Azula (which he definitely did, even if he didn’t realize it at the time, since Azula wasn’t able to consent).

Sokka “wondered idly why [Katara] couldn’t forgive him that quickly when he said something tactless.” While Sokka assumes that it’s because Zuko is crying, I’m pretty sure that it’s because Katara has an unacknowledged crush on Zuko, so she’s more inclined to cut him some slack.

“It would be like Toph shoe-shopping. No one would buy it.”—This is very funny.

“Sokka reflected again on the idiocy of investing this much time, emotion, and debate into someone as damaged and dangerous as Zuko’s psycho little sister.”—I see what you’re doing here, Aurelia.

Sokka asks what they should do if Azula tries to kill them, and Zuko says, “She’s crazy. And scared, and alone.” And on the one hand, that’s true, but on the other hand, he shouldn’t be infantilizing her.

“‘Please just—remember that, if she does anything too desperate, or,’ he practically choked on his words, ‘says anything too desperate.’” This is a bad look for Zuko, since he is, essentially, trying to give himself a cushion against any accusations that Azula levels at him. He is trying to plant a seed of doubt so they’re less inclined to believe her about the rape. But I think that this will backfire on him, because he’s priming them to pay attention to what she says instead. The cold truth is, if he hadn’t done this, I don’t think they would have believed her. They’d think she was trying to slander him, because A.) They like and respect him and want to believe that he’s fully redeemed and would never do such a thing, B.) They believe that she’s a lying villain who wants to take him down, and C.) Many people don’t believe sexual assault victims anyway, regardless of the evidence they have to support their claims. But now he’s drawing arrows to her accusations, and a few of them will probably remember that, and how weird he was acting during this conversation. They’ll wonder why he said that they should dismiss what she says, which would have normally been a given for them.

The conversation wraps up as the Gaang goes to their rooms, and Zuko and Iroh continue to talk offscreen. We shift over to Azula’s POV. She’s riding an ostrich horse past an abandoned mill. She’s being rather nasty to her mount, using her fire whip to make it do what she wants. It seems like she hasn’t grown out of being cruel to animals yet (though I just re-watched the introduction to June in ATLA, and she liberally uses her whip on her mount, so I’m not sure that this is an uncommon treatment of animals in this world, just distasteful).

Azula didn’t stop to grab provisions, which is a surprising mistake, coming from her. Granted, she had to escape quickly in the last chapter, and was probably scattered from a fresh dose of trauma. She fantasizes about eating Rai’s potato and leek stew, rather than some of her favorite foods from the palace. To be fair, if that was my most recent, tasty meal, I’d probably be doing the same. But also, I think the kindness of that meal has probably gotten under Azula’s skin.

“She had been discovered. She knew how that would end. So why did she stay? She had asked herself that a dozen times since the cook betrayed her, and now thought she knew. Not for Rai’s company, certainly. Azula ought to have her traitor’s tongue out just for the presumption she showed.”—Okay, Hot Stuff, have you ever actually ordered for someone to have their tongue taken out, or are you just repeating something nasty Ozai that threatened to do? Because I’m betting it’s the latter. Also, I bet you stayed because you liked being shown some basic human kindness.

“No, worse still, it was to eat food that didn’t taste the same every day, and lay her head on a pillow at night, and take a bath—an actual bath—without unwelcome supervision…”—You mean the things that every human being should have? Especially the unsupervised baths part? I understand why Azula was watched, since she might have tried to hurt herself if she was left alone in the asylum, but still, that’s terrible.

“If she let such base considerations drive her, she would be no better than her hedonist uncle. Far better she had been betrayed now and so incompetently, then continue that way. It was that kind of complacency that would get her captured, or killed.”—Oh good, you’re going to deny yourself basic human comforts to get the job done, that’s healthy for you, Azula. You want to know who I bet never did something remotely similar to that? Ozai. I bet he’s always slept with a pillow and always had a cook on hand and was always able to bath in private. Good lord, child.

“Her father was counting on her. Her country was counting on her. She could not make these kind of mistakes.”—That’s a lot of pressure to put on yourself, my dear. Sadly, I think that the Fire Nation might have forgotten about her, since no one tried to break her out.

Azula unloads her mount of supplies and sends it running in another direction—with more fire whips, shame on her (though is she hurting it or just scaring it? That isn’t clear)—to leave a false trail for anyone who might be pursuing her. She then thinks, “It was too bad about losing the ostrich horse though, especially after Mother gave her so much grief—" So she’s still seeing Ursa. To be specific, Ursa was chiding her about stealing the ostrich horse. There are a couple of things of note about this. One is that Azula is committing the same crime that Zuko did in the show, and will probably get more flack for it. The other is that the voice of her mother, in this moment, seems to be her conscience—meaning that Azula feels guilty about stealing.

“They never did anything for me either . . . So what do you imagine I owe them?”—Azula shuts down her guilt by saying something that sounds suspiciously like something Ozai would say. That because someone wasn’t kind to her, that gives her the right to be cruel to them. Which…really isn’t how you should treat people.

“She didn’t talk to it. Wasn’t that her rule?”—Does that help you, Azula?

“How could she expect to rule anyone when she couldn’t even rule herself….”—Another thing that I’m certain Ozai said to her at some point.

“She had a mission. Everything else was immaterial. This was her one chance. No room for mistakes. No room for distractions. She had to focus. She had to get better. She would not be as effective as she could be, until she was whole again.”—Again, that’s a lot of pressure to put on yourself, Azula. Sadly, you might be right, though. The Earth Kingdom isn’t going to give you a second chance to find your mother. They don’t even want to give you this one.

Azula then burns down the mill and escapes by boat, hopefully widening the distance between herself and those searching for her.

Back to the Gaang! Toph and Aang are practicing earthbending, while Sokka preps the war balloon and inwardly gripes about them not helping. Aang and Katara are searching for Azula on Team Appa, while Suki, Sokka, and Toph are on Team War Balloon (which has been dyed black for the occasion).

Sokka makes a basket case pun about the balloon as he and Suki argue over how he treated Zuko the previous day. Suki points out that he missed the fact that Mai left Zuko, which Katara is peeved about. Katara, you don’t know and don’t want to know the full story there, trust me. Suki agrees with me. Katara reveals that she tried to talk to Mai, which Suki is horrified about, because good lord is it none of Katara’s business. Tact does not run in this family.

Zuko comes charging in, upset by this. Zuko and Katara argue, and Suki, hilariously, “looked to Sokka in clear disbelief that this much tactlessness could be contained in one family.” I knew that Suki and I were on the same page.

“Since when does she need to cool off? She shows all the emotion of an ice cube.”—Hey, Katara? This is super rude. Just because you don’t like Mai and are lowkey jealous of her relationship with Zuko does not give you the right to insult her.

“‘She had every reason!’ Zuko hotly defended, and implicated himself by saying so.”—Whoops, Zuko. Good job. “I brought you here to find my sister, not play marriage councilor! So why don’t you just stay out of problems that don’t concern you?”—Ho boy, so he shouldn’t have said this as hotly as he did, but he’s also not wrong? Focus on the problem that he’s asked for help with, Katara. His marital problems are none of your concern.

Katara responds equally hotly to this, but she’s in the wrong here, even if it will probably take her some time to realize that. What she’s most upset about is Zuko acting like he summoned them to his side, rather than them coming because they’re friends, and like…I can see why that would be insulting, but you also just tried to interfere with his marriage, Katara. I think you messed up worse in this fight.

Katara and Aang head out, or in Katara’s case, storms out. Team War Balloon leaves soon afterwards, with Sokka thinking that he’d rather deal with Flaky Aang over Angry Jerk any day, which is fair. Zuko and Katara were both poorly behaved here.

“He guessed they’d all be happier once Azula was back in her straightjacket. But first he had to make it happen. Right. No problem.”—I doubt that you’re going to make it happen, Sokka, and I think that you doubt it too.

And that’s the end of chapter eleven! Next up is chapter twelve, “The Seal,” which is my favorite chapter in this fic so far. I’m excited! As always, thank you for the read, Aurelia.

Sincerely,

WiseAbsol

#WiseAbsol #Dominion by Aurelia le #Fanfiction #Review #Azula #avatar: the last airbender

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guksthighs · 6 years

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Cinderella || jhs ( m)

Summary: You hate princes and yet you can’t seem to help yourself around Jung Hoseok, who just isn’t like other princes.

Genre: fairytale!au, smut, fluff, angst

Length: 10k

A/N: this drained my very soul. please send help and show support because i really need it,, also did you know the prince in cinderella ( disney ver. ) doesn’t even have a NaMe??? this is why this series is a mixture of disney and the original or else this fic would be a bunch of mice squeaking the entire 10k

Warning(s): sex, creampie, fingering ( female receiving ), dirty talk, spit kink, unsafe sex, promiscuity

Most girls grew up dreaming about becoming a princess, to be surrounded by riches, marry a prince and live happily ever after. But being only a human, your dreams had always been more realistic with plans to make money to support your single mother by becoming a famous baker.

There was no such thing as Prince Charming is what your mother had told you, repeating it nightly as she stroked your hair having tucked you in. And instead of fairy tales, you were brought up on stories of your father who had run away with another woman when you had been born. It shattered her heart.

In return, on your eighth birthday, your mother disappeared and stole your dreams with her.

You knew ‘happily ever after’ didn’t exist, that there were no shortcuts like wishing stars or fairy godmothers and yet it could be argued it was magic that you were scouted for an apprenticeship in the Royal kitchens.

And you finally found a home in the kitchens, surrounded by loud boys, princesses and the prince voted the most likely to break your heart, Jung Hoseok. Almost everyday girls would rush in gushing about how amazing he was, how prince-like and regal and you would always roll your eyes and remind yourself that he wasn’t as amazing as he seemed.

Hoseok and you had grown up together and although you fostered an innate dislike for Princes; he was different from anything you could ever imagine and that was why you had vowed him to be your enemy.

The sun was just peaking over the horizon when you woke up, the beginnings of a warm glow shone through the thin curtains and for a few seconds, you lay in your bed looking for a reason to leave the warmth for the cold morning. Then you remembered Seokjin had been discussing a feast for tonight and you sat up, thinking about the delicate tarts you intended to make for the visiting royalty.

A loud creak echoed through the room as you sat up; the old bed wasn’t pleased with your sudden movement but you were used to its complaints, stretching your arms above your head as a groan slipped from your lips.

Your blurry vision fixed on the sleeping tabby at the end of your bed, stifling a yawn before moving forward to stroke at its soft ginger fur, your lips curling into a smile as the supposed mouse catcher purred and nuzzled into your hand. It had been a few years since you’d found the kitten and promised Jin that it would keep the small cottage mouse-free, but really you couldn’t bear to see it abandoned.

A cold feeling ran up your spine at the thought that this mindset came from your own childhood and you quickly shook your head at the thoughts, drearily looking at the cat’s pretty face to calm your heart.

“Morning princess,” the low rumble of a voice made you yelp in surprise, almost falling out of bed at the idea you hadn’t noticed someone else was next to you. You jumped back in shock and for a second you were sure going to fall before a hand grabbed your arm and pulled you into a warm, golden chest that belonged to the crown prince of the human kingdom of Iliako. He looked down at you with a bright smile, “did I scare you, princess?”

The same prince you had proclaimed to be your enemy as a young child, also kept your bed warm every now and then, but you still frowned at the nickname, “don’t call me princess.”

A frown nestled into your brow as you glared up at Hoseok who watched as your hands gripped his shoulders in an attempt to push him away from you, but he only laughed and stayed sat on your bed, “you always were so friendly in the mornings.”

You pulled your feet up and tried to kick him off the bed, but instead, his hands wrapped around your ankles and he grinned at your frugal attempt to try and make him leave. Some mornings, Hoseok wouldn’t go until everyone else was awake and you’d have to deal with the knowing looks of all of your chefs.

Everyone knew that no matter what you said and grumbled, Hoseok appears dishevelled in the morning every now and then. They also caught the way he would look at you whilst you were baking and the darkening of your eyes whenever a new member of the court snuck into the kitchen to flirt with Hoseok.

Giving up with trying to get him off your bed, you leapt to your feet and began scooping up his articles of clothing, “get dressed and get out!” Hoseok caught the items as you threw them at him with a small smirk that made your knees weak at the memory of last night, “you fake prince!”

Instead of rising to your childish taunts Hoseok hummed in agreement, pulling his trousers back on and glancing at you to find that you were standing staring out of the window, hand pressed against the fogged glass as you traced the peaks of the castle that loomed ahead.

Slowly, you created a silhouette of the majestic castle and watched the windows brighten up as the maids lit the candles and fires in each room. The pastel colour of the spires contrasted the slowly brightening sky and even though you saw the same view every morning, it never failed to bring a smile to your face.

“You want to live in the castle?” Hoseok had appeared next to you, staring out at the view as his fingers worked on fastening his buttons. You turned to him and scoffed but he shook his head and pressed his hands to his heart, “it’s a shame it’ll never happen little apprentice!”

He giggled and ran off before you could pull his silky black hair, winking at you before he ran down the worn down stairs. The sound of his heeled shoes against the bare wood was too loud and instead of chasing him you sat on the top stair and listened to him slam the door loud enough to wake up the rest of the inhabitants.

Prince Charming definitely didn’t exist.

The kitchen was busier than usual that day, the fireplace causing the room to heat to an unbearable temperature as you began to prep for the dessert that evening. The group of breakfast duty was significantly smaller than usual, although it was a simple task to bake the fresh bread and place the cold meat cuts from the previous meal on a plate.

However, Jin, the Head Chef, managed to complain at every stage, “I’m the head chef of a royal kitchen, you’d think I would be above such menial tasks.” You looked up from your bowl and laughed as the broad-shouldered man continued to grumble whilst pulling out a golden brown loaf of bread from the oven.

He was undeniably the most talented chef you had ever met and having been practically raised by Jin, you were used to his antics that now only amused you. The family were said to be going on a hunt so the kitchen could have time to prepare for the dinner service which was meant to be celebrating Hoseok’s engagement to a neighbouring princess.

“Is this the eighth engagement celebration we’ve had to prepare for?” Jimin groaned, before looking to find you smiling happily at the bowl of batter in your arms. It was one of the few times that all thoughts faded from your mind as you added the ingredients into the bowl and began the lengthy process of making Hoseok’s favourite pudding.

The kitchen stayed relatively quiet that day until around lunch when knights and their apprentices filed in to grab their bread, meat and fruit. Although Jeongguk paused, arms full of food as he nodded in your direction and smirked, “shouldn’t a girl take more care in her appearance?”

You rolled your eyes at his usual teasing, returning to serving the knights when someone grabbed your wrist and you looked up to find those bright eyes staring at you, “I think pretty girls don’t need to worry about such thing.” Hoseok grinned at you watching as you struggled out of his grip before releasing your hand causing you to stumble backwards with an undignified grunt.

“Watch boys this is how Hoseok became known as the heart-breaker Prince,” Jeongguk laughed and you rolled your eyes, deciding today it might be better to hold your tongue than getting involved with the boys and their childish squabbles.

Jin placed a hand on your shoulder and lightly pushed you behind him, taking over at the table, before narrowing his eyes at Jeongguk, “you’re acting like you don’t have a mini orgasm whenever you eat her bakes.” The younger boy spluttered, his face sporting a vivid blush before he ran out of the kitchen, clutching his lunch to his chest.

Hoseok caught you laughing and raised an eyebrow to which you rolled your eyes and returned to baking, grumbling, “you’re unbelievable.” The prince sensing that you were occupied, gave you one last hopeful smile before walking away and he was just leaving the door when you called, “good luck with your tenth engagement party!”

He whipped around and grinned, “it’s only my ninth!” With a sigh to try and hide your amusement at how right your mother had been, there were no perfect prince charmings who rescued damsels and married a princess. Hoseok had been set up to marry eight other princesses by his parents, organised with fae and human kingdoms but the young prince always refused after he had attended the luxurious dinner.

Suddenly Jin turned to point at Hoseok, “you’re meant to be at the hunt!” Hoseok’s shoulders raised at the idea he had been caught and as he began to slunk away, the elder boy laughed, “go run back to your horse and get back before they notice!”

With a quick nod, Hoseok winked at you and sprinted off leaving you to smile at the idea that he was still like he was as a child, having disliked hunts and come riding back to the kitchen then as well. Today he had most likely come to the kitchen to check on what food was being made and you wondered if he encouraged the engagements just so he would get to eat Jin’s best cooking and an abundance of sweet cakes, pies and a structure created completely out of small fruit tarts.

Following lunch, the kitchen came to life with movement and noise as all the chefs began to cook the meals they had begun yesterday. It was to be a five-course meal, with your fruit tarts being the main piece for dessert which lead to Jin continually checking that you were going to have the one hundred puddings done in time.

“Next engagement party I would have made a thousand fruit tarts and more because it took me a while to perfect the taste,” you mused as you helped Jimin peel the vegetables. The potatoes and carrots began to pile up and the movements soon became unconscious as you wondered what this princess looked like.

The Princesses you had the opportunity of seeing had been beautiful, huge gowns leaving you to wonder how they managed to fit in their seats with their hair styled in elegant curls, loops and braids. The servers would often laugh about how little these princesses would eat and you knew that when you came out to serve the tarts, they rarely would eat more than a few pieces of glazed fruit.

For a moment you let your mind wander to what it might be like if you were the one picking at your food, sitting stiffly in your seat and doing it all for a prince known for breaking hearts. This was the exact reason you thought Prince’s were elaborate hoaxes to capture the hearts and kingdoms of young maidens, and it worked.

“Y/N?” Jimin’s voice jolted you back to the present and with a start you jumped up, carrot half peeled falling on the floor as the younger boy laughed at your reaction. “Now what were you daydreaming about?”

Picking up the carrot and slamming it on the table, “if you share a dream then it won’t come true!” It was your usual reply and Jimin smiled, shaking his head at your childish reply before shooing you away to return to finish off your tarts.

“I hope the dreams that you’re wishing will come true.”

“Now remember to address Prince Hoseok with the utmost respect,” Jin lectured as you held two plates of tarts, golden leaf glimmering in the candlelight outside the dining room and he watched as you peeked around the door, standing at the front of a long line of servers, causing him to whisper-shout, “Y/N!”

Your eyes flicked back to see Jin’s frown and you quickly nodded, “I’m serving Hoseok and his fiancee and must treat both of them respectfully.” Your elder nodded quickly and opened his mouth as if to say something, but there was the sound of metal tapping against a glass and with a smile, you entered through the doors.

The dining room was beautiful, tapestries hung from the walls in rich colours of greens and reds. Slowly you made your way towards the head of the table where Hoseok was sitting, leaning forward on an elbow and smirking at you, “this is our Head Baker who has prepared one hundred tarts by hand to celebrate the engagement between our prince and your daughter.” The King happily announced.

They were proud of having a female baker in the kitchen, bringing you out to present any time they could to embarrass other humans and impress the fae royalty that came to the palace.

Hoseok watched your every move before a gloved hand landed on his elbow, “why, do you even pay that girl?” The princess held a hand to her mouth as she giggled, watching you place the plate in front of her, “her clothes are so- so plain.”

You placed the plate in front of Hoseok, refusing to meet his eye before you curtised and walked away. Your hands fisted in your dress, it was your best one, a pale shade of pink that reminded you of the blossom that had grown in the garden of the house you had once lived in.

Now you felt the cheap fabric under your fingers, repeating to yourself that you must remember your place and not say anything out of place. But it was the only dress you owned although having heard what the princess had to say now you were left to wonder if all eight of them before this one had thought the same thing.

Your heart stuttered in embarrassment before the King tapped on the table to get your attention, “such a talented young baker.” The visiting royalty agreed as they continued to eat at a rapid pace but as you made eye contact with the Princess, you watched her dainty hands take hold of the plate and push it away.

Hoseok watched this interaction, catching the way your face fell before you bowed to the King. The rest of the servers had already left, and as you followed, placing a hand against the dark oak door to cast one last glance at the gathered royalty, you watched Hoseok slam his hands into the table.

“I don’t say I feel like marrying you,” Hoseok declared, staring right at you and the Princess who had been sipping on a glass of wine dropped it in surprise. The glass shattered across the floor and you felt a hand on your back shove you forward to tidy the mess that had been created.

The Princess was just beginning to stumble together words as you rushed back in, “y-you can’t mean, are you cancelling this engagement?” Quickly you leant down to rest on your knees, taking your time as you picked up the fine pieces of glass away from the Princess’ dainty feet.

Above you a clamout had begun akin to what you were used to in the kitchen as Hoseok’s father hit the table, shouting, “you’re not doing this again!” It was a conversation you had witnessed a few times so you continued to focus on your task.

Just as you picked up the last shard of a glass, a shoe kicked your hand causing you to drop the glittering pieces on the floor and swallow a glare at the princess who had just purposefully kicked you.

A drop of blood welled up from your fingertip and with a frown you scooped up the rest of the glass, biting your lip to not cry out in pain and rising to your feet. This time you accidentally met Hoseok’s gaze, before ducking your head in embarrassment at the notion of him seeing you with watering eyes.

Quickly you gave another curtsy and then ran from the room straight into Jin’s chest, his arms wrapped around your back and gave you a tight hug. Before he pulled away and grabbed your wrists, pouring the glass into a small bowl a waiter held for him before tugging you away from the shouting still coming from the dining room.

“Come on dearest, don’t let her words hurt you,” Jin soothed you, his hands rubbed your shoulders before you sniffed and held your head high, palms red with blood and stinging slightly. And yet, a small smile still made its way across your face at the thought of dodging a stuffy bride within the palace.

So you walked back to the kitchen with Jin, a single tear rolled down your cheek before you heaved a sigh and looked up, “just another day in a royal palace.”

The announcement came as a surprise to everyone; you had been shopping in the local market when the town crier had shouted a message that made your eyes widen in shock and all the young girls whisper in excitement.

“The Prince has declared that there will be three balls to celebrate his birthday and by the third ball he will have chosen a wife! Every maiden is invited to this ball - both maids and fine ladies!”

It was a surreal feeling that washed over you, remembering that Hoseok was a prince and you were merely a cook in his kitchen. Before you shook your head and wondered why the difference between your places in society mattered when Hoseok was merely a bratty Prince.

Around you, the air was filled with laughter and discussions as young girls discussed what dress they would wear and swooned at the idea of being chosen for his wife. Next, to you, Jeongguk was laughing at the evident uncontained jealousy in your face, a small pout rested on your lips until he elbowed you, “what stained trousers and apron shall you wear to the ball?”

You weren’t allowed out of the palace without supervision but with Jeongguk supposedly looking after you, it lead you to question who was really doing the babysitting. He raised an eyebrow as if waiting for you to reply but just as you tried to think of a witty reply, you spotted a new stall full of vegetables, their bright colours making you run over and inspect them.

There were the usual seasonal red cranberries, large cabbages but what had drawn you over to this particular stall, was the bright orange pumpkin. It was an incredibly rare thing to see and you looked up at the vendor who noticed your interest and gave you a dimpled smile, “that is my last pumpkin young miss.”

“How much?” You ventured, waiting for his answer to include diamonds, but all you got was another endearing dimpled smile as he gestured towards the vegetable.

“For you, nothing.” He winked and Jeongguk coughed as you grinned and went to pick up the huge vegetable. The vendor noticed this and laughed, “surely a young Knight should be able to carry such a minor thing for his mistress?”

You turned to look at Jeongguk, smiling up at him and batting your eyelashes expectantly waiting for him to be a gentleman and pick it up. He let out a heavy sigh before crouching and poking at the bulbous vegetable, “as a cook don’t you carry stuff like this all the time?”

But instead of answering, you merely blinked in surprise at what you had just noticed. The sound of young girls giggling had drawn your attention to the small group they had formed in the middle of the courtyard that housed the small market, “why if the Prince personally invites me, how am could I object?” They hid their laughter behind their perfectly looked after hands and you bit your lip as you noticed Hoseok standing amidst them.

He was too busy flirting to notice you, but Jeongguk saw your furrowed brow and small pout and noticed that you were getting more and angrier the longer you stared at the Prince. Jeongguk tugged on your coat sleeve, trying to draw you back to the present but your gaze was fixed on Hoseok.

“Such pretty maidens, I’d love to share a dance with you next week,” he took a girl by the hand and spun her around, “maybe you’ll even become my Queen.” It was watching him flirt that confirmed everything your mother had ever told you about princes.

Without realising, you muttered, “Prince Charming is a fraud.”

The girls gasped and turned to look at you, whispering between them as Hoseok looked up and noticed you standing there. Instantly his face fell but you had been talking to Jeongguk, “wouldn’t you agree, Gukkie? Prince’s are so romanticised and really they’re just like all the other men and focus on one thing, sex.”

Hoseok choked and the girls turned to look at him, their mouths open in shock at the implications of what you had said, as well as your audacity to say it in front of the very Prince you were aiming your judgements at.

After finally taking a moment to breathe and look at the shocked expression on Jeongguk’s face, you shook your head with a fake smile, “he’s right behind me, isn’t he?” The Knight-in-training nodded quickly and bowed to the Prince who placed his hand on your shoulder and squeezed.

“Now why would my lovely young baker say such horrible things?” Hoseok’s voice was barely louder than a whisper, and yet, it sent shivers running up your spine and your hairs to stand up because he was angry. And for all your fighting and teasing, you hated to see Hoseok upset.

Therefore, the idea that it had been you who had been insensitive and said such horrible things brought you close to tears. As the embarrassment rushed through your body, you looked at Hoseok, wide eyes filling with tears before pulling yourself out of his grip and sprinting away.

The cobbles were painful against your thin shoes but you kept running, sweat quickly collecting on your brow as you left the streets and headed towards the meadows you remembered from your childhood. For just a bit of time you wanted to be alone, no Jeongguk and no risk of being caught by any guards or Hoseok.

From a young age your response to being in trouble or being upset was to run away and as you wiped tears from your eyes, you felt like so childish and even more embarrassed. Why was it that in front of Hoseok you always froze up?

Your heart continued to race even after you stopped running and although you continued to tell yourself it was just because you had run. But some part of you knew that the tone of Hoseok’s voice and the dark look in his eyes had awoken a part of you that had previously not been there.

Instead of letting yourself believe something had changed you shook your head, before shouting, “what kind of idiot would fall in love with a Prince?”

Hoseok was not angry. It had all dissipated when he had seen that look in your eyes, wide and watery and it had caused him to freeze. He’d seen that look many times before, like when you accidentally burnt his birthday cake or spilt sauce on his favourite book and like always, Hoseok couldn’t help but forgive you instantly.

“Jeongguk, go back to the palace.” The Knight perked up and Hoseok raised an eyebrow to question the pumpkin before shaking his head to try and maintain focus as he turned to the ladies, “I’ll see you beautiful maidens at my party.”

With that he walked towards where he had tied his horse, the golden coat glimmered in the sunlight that filtered through the clouds and he smiled, pressing his forehead to her silky mane, “let’s go save my Princess.”

In a smooth movement, Hoseok pulled himself onto the saddle of his horse, kicking her sides with his heels and heading in the direction you had run off to. After you had left, he had tried to continue talking like he wasn’t worried about you but soon it became unbearable and now as he raced down the small roads, it dawned on him where you had gone.

The final rays of sunlight faded just as he made it to the entrance of the meadow, finding a figure leaning against the oak tree that stood in the centre of the field. With a pat to his mustang’s mane, Hoseok slipped off and let her roam around as he waded through the waist-high grass.

Long sheaths of brown grass brushed against his legs and waist, it was crisp in the late autumn weather and an overwhelming sense of nostalgia washed over Hoseok. Before he had been aware of what being a Prince meant, he used to run away from the court and would hide in the dense grass as officials tried to find him. It was there had met you, a young girl with a flower crown and an infectious smile that kept him coming back every day until he was caught.

Hoseok had never put these memories together until he saw you sitting under the tree. Its huge branches dwarfed you and reminded him of those days spent with you during the Summer, with the green leaves providing you shade as you exchanged fairytales.

“If you came here for an apology, go away,” your voice made him jump, Hoseok found you staring at him, biting into a bright red apple as you waited for an answer. He wondered what must have happened to change that young innocent girl to the one who called Princes cons, it made him even more passionate to change your mind.

Slowly Hoseok approached you, sitting down so his shoulder brushed against yours and waited for you to pull away, but you didn’t. “I’m not here for an apology,” you huffed and bit into your apple waiting for Hoseok to continue, “I am here to ask one question.”

You nodded having expected a catch because everything came with a price, you knew that well. However, Hoseok’s question caught you off guard, as he placed his hand on your thigh and tapped it, “why do you pretend to hate me?”

“Pretend?” You shook your head in disbelief, “why do you think I’m pretending?” You pushed yourself up from where you were sitting to try and walk away from Hoseok. You felt a droplet of water land against your cheek and as you turned to look at him, wondering why he believed you were pretending when you’d just said such horrible things to him.

It made you feel like maybe you had misjudged Hoseok because even though he was a hopeless womanizer and enjoyed teasing you, he was also continually forgiving and kind. Two traits that you struggled to find when they hadn’t been present in your home before the kitchen.

The rain quickly changed from a light splattering to a downpour but neither of you moved, in a mental and physical deadlock as both waited for the other to yield. Of course, it was Hoseok who spoke next, “you’re forcing yourself to hate me,” he paused and stood up, reaching out his hand to grasp his and pull you towards him, “it’s not me you hate but my title.”

He laughed and you watched with wide eyes as the droplets of rain dripped down his face, his soft eyes looked at you with such care that your heart fluttered. Hoseok’s gaze dropped to your lips before he pressed a kiss to your lips, pulling away and whispering, “you hate the fact that I’m a Prince. You don’t hate me.”

It was as if a flick had switched inside you, staring at Hoseok as you refused to give him an answer. Instead, you pressed your hands to his chest and pushed him away, “don’t be so full of yourself.”

Your clothes stuck to your body, cold rain soaking you to the bone and instead of focusing on Hoseok, you began to shiver. Desperately you tried to hide this fact, looking down at the ground and seeing again the difference between you and him, his sturdy leather boots looking barely scathed compared to your thin linen shoes.

But even though you’d pulled away, Hoseok still tried to look after you as he shrugged the coat from his shoulders and placed it over your shoulders. Even though you were cold, his mere actions made your heart race and if anything you were only more confused than before.

The sky was beginning to darken and in the candlelight of your room, the pink fabric of your mother’s dress glimmered and sparkled, creating the illusion it was more than just an old dress. Your hands skimmed the fabric, looking in the mirror and smiling before sliding your feet into a pair of simple shoes and pulling your hair out of its usual ponytail, you left the safety of your room.

It was as if you were in a trance, walking down the wooden stairs and being greeted by the shouts of young girls as they tried to get help tying corsets and curling hair from the maids who lived in the cottage. A hush fell when Jin ran up to you and wrapped you in a hug, “you look so beautiful, I’m so proud!”

All eyes were on you as Jin continued to make a huge fuss, holding your hand and pulling you through the crowd of girls to seat you on a small stool, and place a coil of white pearls against your neck, before nodding and smiling, pressing a kiss to your forehead and whispering, “perfect.”

But the rest of the girls going to the party seemed less than pleased that you had dressed up with the obvious intention to go to the ball. They sent glares towards you and eventually you the prickling feeling against your skin became so intense that you stood up and walked out of the cottage, hoping the fresh night air would soothe your heart.

Sitting in the garden was your pumpkin and the sight of it made your heart soar, its orange colour was so vibrant and as you crouched down to stroke a hand over the skin. You had pulled up the skirt of your dress to prevent it from getting dirty, remembering times when you had been a young teenager and the staff had teased you relentlessly for always having dirty hems. That was why you only wore trousers now, and just as you went to stand, a hand landed on your shoulder and with a slight shove, you lost your balance.

With a thud you fell into the dirt, your eyes squeezed shut before the sound of laughter made you slowly open them, looking up to see elegant and intricately detailed patterns of full silken skirts. It was the usual group of girls from the courts and slowly, you stood up, brushing off your skirt and grimacing at the dirt that was smeared across the pale pink fabric.

“Why did you push me?” you asked, trying to hide the wobble in your voice as you stared at your dirt covered hands before looking up and straightening your back, hoping you could pretend to be someone not to mess with.

However, the main girl only laughed, before poking a finger into your shoulder, “why are you acting like you’re going to be attending the ball tonight? Do you really think the Prince would want someone like you there?” She laughed and nudged her friends as if to encourage them, causing one to approach you and touch a scuff on your dress.

“You can’t go to a royal ball in such a state, you’re covered and dirt,” her fingers dug into the fabric and she yanked at it, causing you to jump back even though it was too late. “Your dress is coming apart! How embarrassing,” the girls giggled and then they walked past you, purposefully walking into you and you felt them further rip your dress.

A hand landed on your chin, turning you to look into the cerulean blue of the girl’s eyes, before she laughed and pushed you away, “looks like you won’t be going to the ball.”

And it was too late, with your dress destroyed and your emotions a wreck, you took in a deep breath and turned on your heel, deciding that today, just this once, instead of running away, you would at least try and fix the problem.

That was why you were currently sitting on your bed, still wearing the dress, needle in hand as you tried to fix the rips, “why am I doing this?” you whispered, fingers stopping suddenly as tears began to roll down your face and blur your vision, making it hard to properly sew.

With a heavy sigh, you placed the needle into your lap and rubbed at your eyes before a familiar voice behind you made you jump so hard you fell off the bed, “you shall go to the ball Y/N.”

You picked up the sewing scissors laying on the floor, turning to brandish them at the figure, who you instantly recognised to be the man who had sold you the pumpkin. But even then, his being in your room was not explained, “why are you here? Get out or I’ll scream and my Knight will kill you.”

The vendor laughed and rubbed the back of his head, as if he’d expected his appearance to be received in a different way. “I’m the fae carer that comes with the pumpkin I gave you.” His dimples appeared as he smiled again and you continued to point your scissors, waiting for a further explanation, “my name is Kim Namjoon, I’m a fae. The pumpkin you purchased has magical qualities that mean if the owner becomes distressed I am summoned to come and provide help.”

You raised an eyebrow at the weird explanation but slowly lowered your scissors as Namjoon gestured to you to follow him, both of you made your way outside where he signalled to the pumpkin that was no longer the beautiful bright orange. Now, it looked almost sickly, having turned to a white colour.

“It only looks like that because you are upset,” Namjoon sat down and leant against the pumpkin, “why would a beautiful young maiden be crying on her bed wearing an old dirty dress?” You frowned and raised an eyebrow because you’d read in one of your favourite cookbooks about the ‘pumpkin protectors’ and yet the idea seemed far-fetched to you.

And yet, as Namjoon leapt to his feet and his clothes melted from a simple navy jacket and trousers to a sparkling white suit with elegant threaded applique across his chest. He gestured to his new outfit, “Now do you believe me?”

You nodded quickly and watched as he rubbed his hands together, “you have a ball to get to young Pumpkin princess and for that you need a fixed dress,” Namjoon smirked, and you balled your fists in anticipation as with a wave of his fingers, the pale pink of your dress faded to a pale blue, the waist became cinched as the skirt flared out to be even bigger than the girls who had ruined your previous one.

“That looks much better,” he smiled and you twirled around in the new huge dress, fingers grazing the soft fabric of the skirt. Your hair rested against your shoulders and the more you gazed at your dress, it became even more beautiful. He smiled and winked, “You might want to look at your new shoes.”

With that you stuck out your foot, eyes widening in surprise when you saw a glass slipper on your foot, reflecting the blue of your dress and it felt like you were living a dream. They were beautiful, and you clinked them together to find they were both sturdy and also intensely comfortable.

The clocktower rang nine times, echoing through the courtyard you were standing in reminding you that the ball had just started and you needed to hurry to get to the ball before the doors were shut and all the food was eaten. So quickly turning to Namjoon, you bowed, “thank you so much Mr Namjoon for giving me this chance. I’m not very rich but if you come to the kitchen I can make you something?”

The boy laughed and shooed you away before suddenly yelling to get your attention, “The dress and glass shoes are magic and will disappear if you begin to doubt yourself! So believe in yourself young pumpkin princess!”

It was like living a dream as your heels sounded against the marble floor, walking through the maid doors and into a room full of people. All the women were wearing huge gowns, brushing against the knees of their partners who were equally well dressed as they danced in the centre of the ballroom.

“Might I have this dance?” you turned in surprise to find a man offering you his hand, and without thinking you took it, letting him lead you to the centre, until a hand landed on your wrist and pulled you away, it was the Prince.

Quickly you curtsied, before risking a glance up to find Hoseok’s cheeks covered in a deep blush, his eyes wide as he offered you a hand, “I’m sorry Sir but she promised me her first dance.” He smiled easily and pulled you into the centre, placing a hand on your waist and clasping your other, you both began to sway to the gentle waltz of the orchestra.

“How could I promise you a dance when I didn’t intend to come?” you smiled and tilted your head at Hoseok, laughing as he pulled you closer and rolled his eyes at your comment. He knew you well enough to recognise your smile was one trying to tempt him into another squabble, so Hoseok smiled and span you around.

When you were brought back into his chest, you felt your heart finally react to being near him and as it raced, Hoseok smiled down at you, “is it crime to want to dance with the prettiest girl here?” Instantly you broke the intense eye contact with Hoseok, blushing and focusing instead on his chest, watching its quick rise and fall as you both continued to dance.

It was custom to change partners at the end of every dance, but as the pieces changes from a waltz to a more upbeat piece and then another and another, you and Hoseok seemed unable to leave each other alone.

Others watched in amazement, whispering about the young beauty who was Prince Hoseok had been dancing with for almost six dances now. The older women sighed at the memory of love and how it was to have a man gaze at you in the way Hoseok was to you and very quickly you became the fan favourite for the new Queen.

Although it seemed like a dreamy dance, when you broke out of your state and noticed the glares you were receiving from the same girls who had ripped your mother’s dress, you pulled away from Hoseok, curtsying quickly, stammering, “I-I need to- to get some water.”

Quickly you ran off, wading through the crowd to get to the balcony, walking through the glass door and breathing a heavy sigh as the cold air hit your skin. As you walked towards the balcony, you rubbed your face, trying to bring yourself back to reality.

Had you really been thinking about love whilst dancing with Hoseok, the boy you’d known for over fifteen years and always fought with. It felt daunting and surreal and yet, the warmth in your heart reminded you that the feeling was real.

The teachings of your mother came back, as they always did when you felt yourself falling for a trap. And as you straightened your back and stared at the full moon, you knew that you weren’t going to fall for his lies because your mother had and it had broken her heart. You refused to let the same happen to you.

Your thoughts were cut short when a hand landed on your wrist and pulled you backwards, “if it isn’t our favourite lying peasant.” It was the girls from before, faces of thunder as they all looked at your dress as if trying to figure out where you’d been hiding it in that small cottage.

“Just because you’re dressed better doesn’t make our Hoseok’s any less out of your reach,” one of the girls sniggered but her words didn’t hurt as much as before because they didn’t seemed as convinced of themselves anymore.

That was only furthered when you watched their faces turn white in fear, someone clearing their throat behind you, “that’s Prince Hoseok to you girls.” Your eyes widened, turning to see Hoseok standing behind you, his stern face melting away as he winked at you before returning to glare at the other girls.

A wave of embarrassment washed over you and without thinking, you scrunched at the fabric of your dress beginning to wonder if your mother had been right about all princes. Frowning as you tuned out Hoseok lecturing the girls about court etiquette, you began to question if this prince was a fraud because he’d come to save you from those horrible girls.

And when his fingertips brushed against your palm, your eyes widened as all the advice your mother taught you disappeared. He was nice and in no way a fraud, and with that the glove Hoseok had been tracing disappeared.

The spell had been broken.

Your eyes widened as you curtsied quickly, “I must be getting home,” and with that you sprinted away, making your way through the ballroom as you felt the other glove turn to rags and then you were through to the main entrance. It was the stairs you were worried about and the fact that you could hear footsteps behind you so you continued to run, getting to the white marble steps and running down them.

“Wait! Y/N!” Hoseok called and when you hesitated again, your left shoe slipped off. Quickly you bent over and picked it up, worried he would use it for the engagement ceremony of shoe fitting and without thinking you threw it at Hoseok’s head.

Luckily he wasn’t hit by the sharp heel of a glass stiletto but by a muddy radish, Hoseok looked up only to see you were already at the bottom of the stairs. The sight of you dressed in that pale blue dress set off something in Hoseok and without thinking he ran after you, not bothering to stop the party with the hopes no one would notice.

Hoseok refused to let the girl he was in love with disappear.

“Don’t get confused, I’m still angry with you,” Hoseok’s words were faint as he pressed kisses to your neck which you tilted to give him more space to leave marks as you knew he loved to do.

You had only been sitting in your room for a bit when Hoseok had slammed open the door, his chest heaving as he moved forward and flung himself onto the bed, gasping, “you can’t look that stunning and then run away.”

The dress had already turned to your rags and he placed a hand on your thin cotton nightdress, slowly moving his hand up and bringing the fabric with it until you placed a hand atop his, and moved to kiss Hoseok.

His kiss was passionate, Hoseok’s tongue slipping into your mouth and moving against yours until dribbles of salvia where moving down your chin. You pulled away gasping only to find his eyes had darkened and that was why you’d tilted your neck away and allowed Hoseok to suck and bite marks into the tender skin.

Your prince was talented with his tongue, lathing it across your skin before pausing and sucking at your temple, chuckling when you tilted your head back and moaned. Soon enough, Hoseok trailed his fingers down your torso, they paused at the curve of your breasts and thumb at your nipples but their goal was somewhere better.

Sex with Hoseok was always quick and passionate with both of you worried about getting caught or being too loud, but tonight it seemed like Hoseok had other plans as he placed his hand against your thigh and walked his fingers towards your heat.

“Just this once can I-” he started and instantly you nodded desperately, feeling his fingers already working on your clit and causing heat to pool at the base of your stomach. Hoseok slowly traced a line down your folds and brought the finger to his mouth, licking it before placing it into yours. “Get it nice and wet Princess.”

As you tasted the mixture of your juices and Hoseok, you bucked your hips into the air, already desperate for him to plunge his length deep into your depths. “So desperate Princess, but good things come to those who wait.”

He laughed before pulling his finger from your mouth and placing it against your entrance, sliding in the digit and watching your back arch in momentary pleasure. “Can you feel how wet you are princess,” Hoseok whispered next to your ear as he began to thrust his finger inside you, waiting a few seconds before adding another, “did you feel how easily my fingers just slid in. You really are my Princess, so good for me,” he pulled away to watch you bite your lip and you watched his eyebrows shoot up showing he had just thought of something.

As he continued to pump his two fingers into you, his thumb moving circles against your clit, Hoseok raised an eyebrow at you, watching your head tilt back in pleasure as his fingers brushed against your G-spot. “Open your mouth for me.”

“Why?” you managed to gasp, recognising the look on his face as meaning he was up to no good. Hoseok began to place more pressure into his thumb bringing you closer and closer to your orgasm and without thinking you let your jaw drop as you looked up at him.

Hoseok stuck out his tongue and you watched as a droplet of salvia rolled down the pink flesh and then landed into the back of your throat. “Get ready for more,” he smirked and watched as you began to writhe under his fingers.

That was when he moved closer to your face and spat directly into your mouth, watching with a huge grin as your eyes began to roll back as your orgasm began to wash over you. Hoseok placed his mouth against yours, kissing you as your legs began to tremble and hips buck whilst his touch became so good it was painful.

“Please-” you managed to gasp and when he finally pulled his hand away, you slumped into the Prince’s chest, feeling his hand stroke comfortingly up and down your back sent a new wave of tingles down your spine.

You wanted Hoseok, more than ever and now cuddled up against his chest so you could hear his heart beating and his hard length against your thigh, you knew you were going to get him.

“We’re doing it tonight,” you mumbled, smiling when he ran a hand through your hair and nodded. The fact that tonight Hoseok was so kind to give you a breather made your heart race with a new emotion, one that made you blush at the idea of moaning in front of him but also sent waves of tingles to your heat.

Hoseok, unaware of your inner turmoil, cupped your cheek and pressed a delicate kiss to your nose, “my dick is so hard I think it might explode.” he bucked his hips into your thigh and you nodded, laying down and pulling him on top of you.

“Please fuck me Prince Hoseok,” you smiled up at him and as he buried his length inside your heat, you kicked back your head and even though you had slept with Hoseok many times, this one was different.

Maybe it was the way he buried his head into your shoulder, kept asking if you were okay or came much earlier than usual that had you gasping words you never thought would leave your mouth, “fuck- I love you!”

“They say the young Prince has found himself a wife,” Jeongguk nudged Taehyung as they sat in the kitchen, helping themselves to raw cookies as you continued to make them, hair pulled back and wearing your dirty trousers.

Jin glanced over at you and smiled to himself at the duality of your looks, from looking like a princess in that gorgeous pink dress and now, looking like you didn’t have a roof to live under. Maybe that was why no one had recognised you to be the mystery girl from last night.

In your mind that was a welcome nickname, as you had no intention of being the centre of everyone’s conversations. Also you’re back really hurt and you didn’t want to get into lots of chats, especially ones that included the topic of Hoseok, the very Prince you had been avoidinging since you’d accidentally confessed to him, mid-orgasm.

“I heard the Prince has the shoe of his mystery girl already, it’s a glass slipper and it sits atop a pillow in the middle of the ballroom ahead of the celebration and engagement ceremony. It was a weird tradition and although no one was sure where it came from, if a Prince were to wed someone from his Kingdom, he would have to sleep with her to check their compatibility and then steal her shoe when the sun rose.

Then during a large ball, he would allow every maiden to try on the shoe claiming that if it fit anyone else but his love, she was not special enough to be a princess. It was weird and now you thought about it, although your plain cloth shoes had both been present in the morning, you had not bothered to check on your single glass slipper resting on your table.

It was already late in the day, the ball was meant to start soon and yet you felt frozen in fear. How where you to attend the ball when you no longer had a dress to wear, Jin noticed you cracking egg after egg into an empty bowl and placed a hand on your shoulder.

“Y/N, why don’t you get ready for the ball? I heard there was a young man, by the name of Namjoon looking for you?” Jin smiled in relief when you finally broke out of your trance, dropping the egg into the bowl as you turned and searched his face for any clue the elder was lying to you. Jin merely laughed and pushed you away, calling, “Hurry up before he leaves!”

You sprinted outside, coming to a halt when you saw people already beginning to enter the palace and ducking behind a crate, you peaked out to see if you could find Namjoon. Next to you, someone cleared their throat and you fell in surprise, turning to find Namjoon shaking his head at you, “I saw you lost your last dress.”

Before he could finish you wrapped your arms around Namjoon and squeezed, “thank you Namjoon. That dress was magical and I had the best night, I really did!” The boy smirked and raised an eyebrow causing you to groan and lightly push him away.

“Stand up tall tonight,” he smiled, and when you looked down you were once again clothed in a beautiful blue dress. Your eyes welled with tears as you balled your hands into fists, trying to stop yourself from hugging Namjoon again and instead you looked at him and gave a watery smile.

Before you could say anything the boy pointed at your feet, “not enough magic to help with your shoe problem.” He laughed as you shrugged and ran your hands over the skirt of the dress in amazement.

“Thank you Namjoon, again.” You wiped at the tears and turned to gaze at the castle, wondering if it was too much to wish tonight would go well for you and Hoseok. Instead of your dress turning to rags because you got confused. Having reminded yourself of the previous conditions you turned to Namjoon who was already walking away, “If I doubt myself will the dress disappear?”

The fae shook his head, “no conditions for a girl who is finally honest to herself.”

It was a night to remember.

Young maidens of all ages lined up to try on the glass slipped, some would groan as they wedged it onto their feet and others would sigh when it fell off their small foot. Everyone was determined to stop the Prince from marrying someone that wasn’t them and yet, the whole ceremony, you stood in the corner watching.

Onlookers whispered in interest at the mystery girl’s refusal to join in with tradition and many wagered that it wasn’t your shoe and you were too angry to try to fit into the shoe. However, having allowed every single maiden in the Kingdom to try on your own glass slipped, Hoseok looked up and finally spotted you.

His eyes were kind as he gazed at you, and instead of gesturing for you to try, he stood and walked towards you. When he got there his smile seemed unable to leave, and you watched in a mixture of embarrassment, fear and excitement as Hoseok held out the shoe for you to try on.

“You are the last maiden of this Kingdom to try,” he whispered as you slipped your foot easily into your shoe, and the ballroom erupted into cheer as Hoseok leapt to his feet, his arms encircling your waist so he could dip you and press a kiss to your lips.

Then pulling you back up and intertwining his fingers with yours, he shouted, “this is the woman I love and shall marry!” And the only thing in your mind as you looked over at Hoseok, his bright eyes staring at you with such hope and his lips spread in a huge smile gave you an experience you had never felt before.

And without thinking, you looked down at your dress, the single glass slipper peeking out from under the full skirt and then back at Hoseok as you whispered to yourself,

“So this is love?”

A/N: I have never written anything quite like this before or in such a short amount of time. Please give me some praise and compliments to provide me with the power to write Mulan ( myg )

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survivingthejungle · 5 years

Text

hopeless wanderer iii—vikings

You got home without so much as a bump in the road and immediately took care of dressing yourself before anyone else. “Listen to me,” you whispered harshly before leaving to the bathroom to change. “Nobody breathes until I get back.” You had been joined by Ivar, Hvitserk, Sigurd, and Ubbe, of course; they were your original “tour group”. But then two others had surprised you when they asked to tag along— Bjørn, and the man himself, Ragnar. You allowed them, of course, because the more the merrier, but it also meant that getting enough clothes to make all of them blend in would be nothing short of a nightmare. “I’m gonna go see if my parents are still home.” They all nodded and you crept down the stairs to scope out the first floor only to find your mother about to walk out the front door. “Are you about to leave without telling me bye?” you asked her, nearly giving her a heart attack.

“Oh my God! (Y/N)! You scared the hell out of me,” she gasped, placing a hand on her chest. “I thought you were still asleep. Sorry, hon.” You hugged her and kissed her cheek. “Bye bye, lovey-dovey.”

“Bye, Mama. Love you.” With that she was out the door, and you and your Viking friends finally could move about freely. You knew your father wasn’t home because he typically left to work at about 5 A.M., and it was at least 8 currently. You watched through the peephole in the front door until her car left the driveway before calling upstairs. “You can come down now! My mom just left!” A band of footsteps swiftly followed—except for Ivar, who was aided by Hvit and Ubbe— and they all joined you at the bottom of the staircase.

“You live in a castle!” Hvitserk exclaimed. “I’ve never seen a house this big. Is your family royalty?”

“Oh, absolutely not. No such thing as ‘royalty’ around here,” you reminded them. “My parents just have pretty decent jobs, so we make enough money to live comfortably. This is a pretty average house compared to the rest.”

“I would like one of these houses,” Ubbe mused, looking around at everything he could see.

“Are y’all hungry?” you asked them, already walking towards the kitchen.

“Will you make us those sweets from yesterday?” Hvit asked you, pushing through his brothers to get next to you.

“No. I’ll make breakfast. Cookies are for after dinner,” you mildly scolded like a mother would a child. “If you guys want eggs I can do that. Or waffles, or bacon, or whatever. Whatever you want.”

“Next time you come back to Kattegat, (Y/N),” Ivar piped up from the floor—I really need to grab that wheelchair—, “We might not let you go.” He said it in the tone of a joke, but part of you knew he could also be serious. “You cook for us and give us clean clothes and know the future; I might make you my wife.”

Sigurd scoffed. “Yeah, and then what?” His brother shot him a hardened glare; it was obvious there was some deep, unresolved tension between them.

“Attitude. Sigurd, stop. Ivar, shut up. I’m not marrying anyone anytime soon; end of story, thank you!” You opened up the fridge door, indicating for them to take seats either at the kitchen table or the island. You grabbed a carton of eggs, milk, butter, cheese; pretty much anything you could use in breakfast foods. From the pantry you brought out waffle mix, oatmeal, and cereal, and found the waffle iron and skillet in a different drawer. After setting everything out on the counter, you turned to open the door to the basement. “‘Kay, breakfast is coming in a minute. I’ll be right back!” you called, already halfway down the steps.

It took a few moments, but you finally found where your mom’s old wheelchair had been stashed away and hauled it back upstairs. “Someone help me get this thing set up,” you suggested to no one in particular. Ragnar and Bjørn were the closest to you, so they got up to help. After stabilizing the wheels and locking the leg rests into place, you wheeled it over to Ivar and they followed, ready to get him settled. It took a minute or so, but they managed to get him seated and you got his legs propped up into place. “Do you wanna give it a test run?” you asked him. He looked at you blankly, clearly not understanding. “You can try to move it yourself, if you want. Just push the wheels.” The three of you backed away from him as he tested it out, rolling himself forward a couple feet.

“This is amazing!” he exclaimed, grinning at you. You smiled back, glad to be able to help your new friend.

“Ya think you can turn it?” You let him try to figure it out on his own, and after a couple fumbles, he managed to turn his direction to the right. “Nice!” You paused. “To make it easier though, we can just push you around for today. You can work on self-propulsion later.” Everyone nodded in understanding and you returned to your post in the kitchen, ready to get cookin’.

They fell into what you assumed was normal morning conversation for them, but you paid little attention to the words being exchanged. You were too focused on trying not to let anything burn; you were working on multiple dishes at once and couldn’t be watching them all at the same time, after all. You were only one girl. You heard the echo of your name and looked up from the eggs you had scrambling on a skillet. It was Ubbe trying for your attention.

“What are we doing today?” he asked you. “What is part of this ‘visit’ you are taking us on?”

“Oh! I’m so glad you asked!” you responded, taking the eggs off of the heat and attempting to deposit them evenly among the seven plates in front of you. “First order of business, I say we get coffee. There’s a little cafe in town—it’s my favorite—, and then we can… probably…” you trailed off, trying to think of how else you could fill the time. “Oh, my mom needed me to go grocery shopping,” you remembered, glancing at the credit card taped to a post-it note on the fridge. “So we can do that. And then we can go to the park! My friends and I are meeting there today to play soccer for a little bit. You can watch; or we can teach you if you want!”

“What… what is that?” Bjørn asked.

“Soccer?” He nodded. “It’s a sport, like a game. You— you’ll get it when you see it,” you assured him. You were also half-busy piling chocolate chip waffles onto everyone’s plates, so your explanation wasn’t necessarily adequate.

“You said your friends will be there?” Hvitserk asked you. You nodded and gave an mmh-hm. “How are you going to explain... us?”

“Oh, wow, good question,” you pondered. You racked through ideas in your head for a moment until a decent solution came to you: “Family friends. I’ll just say your family’s friends with mine because of business and stuff. And you’re visiting from Norway. Problem solved.” You walked around to everyone, handing out plates and silverware; and when you had finished doing that you brought them orange juice. Finally finished serving them—that sounded downgrading— you seated yourself on the kitchen counter and dug into your breakfast. After the first few bites, Bjørn broke the silence.

“This is delicious! What is it?” he asked, mouth stuffed and eyes wide.

“Chocolate chip waffles! Aren’t they great?” He nodded, taking another bite. You had drizzled syrup onto everyone’s just to ensure that they were extra sweet.

“Please, never stop bringing food for us,” Ragnar laughed. “This is much better than what we have in Kattegat.”

“That’s the beauty of the twenty-first century, my friend.” An idea crossed your mind. “Speaking of which…” you glanced at Ivar. “Hey, Google!” They looked at you like you had two heads. “Good morning!” The confused stares continued until the ‘assistant’ responded.

“Good morning, (Y/N),” the robotic voice responded. The stares of your friends intensified about tenfold as the robot continued to speak. “The weather today will be sunny, a high of seventy with a ten percent chance of rain. There is no traffic on the highway this morning. You have no new reminders.”

“Cool,” you said, more for yourself than for the robot’s sake. “Hey Google? What are diseases that make your bones weak?” Ivar looked at you with suspicion in his eyes; he knew you were asking because of him, but he wasn’t sure what your goal was.

“Here are some diseases with the symptom ‘weak bones’: low bone density, osteoporosis, osteogenesis imperfecta—”

“What’s osteogenesis imperfecta?” you asked, interrupting the list.

“Also called ‘brittle bone disease.’ A group of inherited disorders characterized by fragile bones that break easily.”

Ivar’s eyes widened along with the rest of his brothers and his father. “That’s me!” he told you excitedly, “That’s what I have!” He was grinning; he looked like a puppy.

“Then that’s what we’ll tell people you have, if anyone asks,” you responded. You smiled back at him. You weren’t expecting to help them make a big life discovery today, but you were glad that it had turned out that way.

—

You had a car full of ninth century Vikings in your car within the next hour, all wearing clothes that you had lent them from your dad’s closet. In the passenger seat was Hvitserk, followed by Ivar and Ubbe in the middle two seats; Sigurd, Bjørn, and Ragnar were sitting in the back three seats. You’d had to teach them all how to put on a seatbelt, and once that fiasco had been dealt with, you started the car up and connected your speaker system to the music on your phone. “Where is that coming from?” asked Sigurd,”Where are the instruments? Who’s playing this music?”

“It’s coming from my phone. I don’t really get how it works, either, but it’s going through the speakers in my car; there’s not actually anyone playing it right now.” He nodded as if he understood; it was obvious he didn’t, but he pretended to anyways.

The song in question was Edge of Seventeen by Stevie Nicks, one of your favorite songs in the world. It was playing at medium volume, but you were in the mood to scream-sing along.

The weather had been beautiful that day. It was the middle of summer, it was warm outside, and the sun was shining. You rolled all the windows down and grabbed your sunglasses off of the hook on your sun visor, sliding them onto your head before cranking the volume up—not too loud, you didn’t know how sensitive they’d be to the noise, but a noticeable amount higher. Your eyes were trained on the road, like any good driver, but when you glanced to your side or in your rearview mirrors, you could see the awe written on their expressions because they’d never had an experience like this before. “How are you moving this?” Hvit asked you, voice slightly raised above the music and the hum of the wind.

“Gasoline!” You told him, not looking too far away from the road ahead of you. You were a fast driver. That isn’t to say you were going sixty miles above the speed limit, because you were still getting out of your neighborhood; but you were definitely going about forty in a fifteen zone. “Are we having fun?”

Ivar, clearly, was not. “This is worse than being at sea,” he groaned, looking like he was going to be carsick.

“Ooh. Sorry. I’ll slow up.” You let off the gas and slowed down, turning the music down as well and turning up the A.C. for him. “Better?”

“Yes.”

“Damnit, Ivar, why do you always ruin everything?” Sigurd was explicitly pissed off at his brother, which was not too unusual. Before the fight could escalate you shut it down.

“Hey! Shut up. If he’s feeling sick I’m not gonna just let him throw up in my car. Get over it. And stop fighting, Jesus! You two are acting like children! Be mature!” They both glared at each other, and then Sigurd glared at you through the rearview mirror. You’d had enough of their bickering, and his attitude. “Sigurd, I will turn this car around and march you all straight back to where you came from. Don’t make me regret this.”

Ragnar, Bjørn, Hvitserk, and Ubbe erupted into laughter. They’d never seen either of the boys ever put into place like that, especially not by a woman who wasn’t their mother. They couldn’t’ve been more amused.

“You will have my boys trained like dogs in no time with that attitude,” Ragnar laughed. You couldn’t help but chuckle with the rest of them. A few minutes passed by, filled by your singing along to your music while the Vikings looked around their new surroundings, fascinated. You pulled into the parking lot outside of the coffee shop.

“We’re here! My favorite place in the world. Do you guys ha— well, no I guess you wouldn’t. Who wants to try coffee today?”

“What is it?” Bjørn asked you.

“A drink. It’s made from coffee beans and it gives you energy. But it is a bit of an acquired taste, so you might not like it at first.”

“It sounds strange,” Hvit noted.

“It is. But I love it. I’ll just get two drinks and you all can try it and see if you like it,” you said, opening your door and getting out of the car, keys, phone, and wallet in hand. The Vikings managed to unbuckle themselves after a few moments and followed after you. You grabbed the wheelchair out of the back for Ivar and he Ragnar got him situated. When you walked in, it was relatively calm and quiet, and you sincerely hoped not to disturb the peace— or rather, you hoped that they wouldn’t disturb the peace. A few heads turned to observe the six gigantic men trailing after a young girl, but you paid them no mind. The Vikings looked all around the building, very confused by it all. You told them you’d tell them all about it once you were seated—outside, so that no one heard you. You ordered two iced caramel lattes from the barista, paid her, and waited for your drinks to be prepared. “I ordered them cold, because it’s too hot outside to be drinking hot coffee, in my opinion. And I got it flavored so it isn’t too bitter for you all. …I hope.”

It wasn’t a busy day so your drinks were ready soon after, and you popped the straws in before handing one to whoever was closest to you, who happened to be Ivar. He looked up at you blankly before grabbing the cup from your hand. He eyed it for a moment, took a sip, and grimaced. “I don’t know if I like it or not.”

Hvitserk rolled his eyes. “Give it to me. Make your mind up.” He took a sip, considered it, then took another. “It’s...good, but very strange.” The rest of the boys all tried it, didn’t know how to feel about it, then tried it again. Your favorite comment came straight from the man himself, Ragnar:

“I want to hate it, but… I like it.”

“See what I mean? Acquired taste. Anyone wanna finish it?”

Hvitserk grabbed it. “Yeah, I’ll drink it.” You chuckled.

Back in the car, you grabbed the shopping list your mom gave you and read over it for a moment. Hvit remained in the passenger seat and looked over your arm, trying to get a look at the list as well. You showed it to him. “Can you even read this?”

He stared at it for a few seconds before shaking his head. “No. What language is that?”

“English. But—” Ivar interrupted you.

“I can speak the Saxons’ language. Give it to me, I will read,” he demanded.

“You aren’t going to be able to read this, but I guess you can try,” you relented, and handed the list back to him. He flipped it around a couple times before handing it back. “That is not English.”

“Yes it is. But, as I was about to say, it’s not the same English that you know. The language has evolved over the past thousand years, and so has the writing.” You had pulled out of the parking lot and were now on the highway to where the nearest supermarket was.

Ubbe spoke up. “Where are we headed now?”

“The store, to go grocery shopping. It’s like a market, except everything is all sold in one place, and you buy it from the store, and not from another person.”

“That seems stupid. Where does the money go?” asked Bjørn.

“The people who own the stores. And the people who work there, but they don’t get as much as they should. You’re right, it is stupid; but it’s how the Western world does things.”

The closer you got to the store, the less keen you were on bringing six ancient Vikings to your local Kroger. You’d stick out like a sore thumb with them all trailing behind them, regardless of whether or not they were dressed to blend. And you couldn’t send them off to fetch items for you, they couldn’t read and they probably wouldn’t know what to look for, anyways!

You pulled into the parking lot and found a spot, putting the worries to the back of your mind. Get over it, (Y/N), this is your life now. You gave them all a warming before anyone get out of the car. “First thing: Automatic doors. There’s a wall of glass at the front that’s gonna open when you get close to it. Don’t let it freak you out. Second thing: absolutely no eating the groceries until they’re bought. Just… follow me and don’t act weird. Try to blend in.”

#vikings #vikings imagine #ragnar lothbrok #ragnar imagine #bjorn ironside #bjorn imagine #ubbe ragnarson #ubbe imagine #hvitserk ragnarson #hvitserk imagine #sigurd snake in the eye #sigurd imagine #ivar lothbrok #ivar the boneless #ivar ragnarson #ivar imagine #i! hate! tagging!

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blackjacketmuses · 6 years

Text

hc; poe 3

Bibliography

Poe has written nine mystery novels between the ages of 13 and 22 --- they’re very popular and sell very well, usually near the top of the best-sellers list in the mystery genre, and he makes a good bit of money of the royalties.

The books star a detective named Benjamin Lapin, an amateur mystery writer just out of university with a fascination with the occult and a brilliant mind, able to see things a way most others can’t and pick up on things others dismiss. He’s friendly and cheerful and charming, a bit too eager to discuss his interests, and a bit unable to understand what’s not appropriate to talk about cheerily (ie gory murder details); but he can get serious when it comes time for the reveals, and he has a very strong sense of justice. He doesn’t have any assistants, but the main police officer he works with, the stiff and uptight but honorable Detective Pym, is a recurring character, as is the mysterious woman named Annalise.

The mysteries themselves are always incredibly well-written, tight, and very clever, with no room for any plot holes or errors. There’s always a last minute twist and a shocking reveal that seems out of nowhere, but when the mystery is explained, one can look back and see every single clue was there the whole time, and an attentive reader can catch and figure out the mystery perfectly well, even before Lapin himself. In his later books, starting with the third, he begins to incorporate mild supernatural elements that don’t detract or ruin the mystery, but add an layer of intrigue and something to think about once the book is over, whether or not it really was supernatural, as a rational explanation is given and it’s up to the reader to choose whether or not to believe.

The books are as follows:

The Black Theatre -- Rumors have begun to spread that a local theatre is cursed, given two people have died there mysteriously, so Lapin --- curious about this curse more than anything --- goes to visit, and a third death happens while he’s there. Drawn into the mystery at that point, especially when the detective on the case seems to think they’re just accidents, Lapin ends up uncovering an old scandal that had remained buried for a decade and reveals that the killer is the cleaning man, who had had an affair with a popular actress who was tormented for her fame and killed herself. The cleaning man kills himself on stage when caught out, to join her, but the mystery is solved and Lapin and Pym become friends.

The Town of Clocks -- Lapin is called out to an old college friend’s wedding, to a town in the middle of nowhere, and it seems the town is very odd, as there are clocks on nearly every surface available, all telling the same (incorrect) time. Apparently it’s tradition, and the friend has no idea where it began. The father of the groom, however, is murdered horrifically, and so the investigation begins. The clues as more people die begin to point towards Lapin’s friend, but in the end the twist comes in that it was his fiancee (whom he had not met until now) the whole time...or was it? She in turn reveals that she is not the fiancee, but someone else, and the real fiancee is, in fact, the killer --- seeking to reveal the grisly truth behind the clocks. After the chaos of the reveal, the false fiancee (a woman named Annalise) disappears with some important documents, fascinating Lapin, but the mystery is solved.

The Ninth Circle -- It’s winter, and Lapin heads up to a mansion-style vacation hotel in the mountains for some time to write. His trip coincides with a theatre troupe’s visit to the same hotel to practice their next play. They get snowed in, and murders start to happen during the blizzard. Whispers start circulating among the guests that it’s the doing of a local legend, an evil monster that lurks in the mountains to hunt prey, and at first it seems that’s the only option, given some of the inexplicable circumstances of the murders. However, it turns out to be one of the troupe members, using the legend to their advantage to take revenge on the leader of the troupe by taking everything away from him. The mystery is solved, though it’s left a little ambiguous how some of the finer details of the murder were committed, and maybe some of it was supernatural, after all. (Hint hint ability user hint.)

The Witch’s Island -- Lapin is dragged along by another old college friend to an island off the coast, where a treasure hunt is occurring for what’s said to be a stockpile of gold. The guests are all rather eccentric, and it’s revealed that the clues to the treasure’s whereabouts are hidden in a vaguely creepy old nursery rhyme. The rhyme gets creepier when people start to die in ways relating to it, and it’s linked to the legend of a witch on the island, who was burnt at the stake for reasons involving the treasure. Eventually, though, one of the so-called treasure hunters is revealed as the culprit, a self-proclaimed descendant of the witch trying to clear her name and reveal the true story, but also protecting the treasure from any who dare try to take it. During the climax, one of the other treasure hunters is revealed to be Annalise, and it’s implied that she made off with some of the treasure, or at least the monetary part of it, as the rest is not what it had been implied to be, being something only valuable in sentimental terms. It’s never determined either way whether the so-called witch really was a witch or not, however.

The Schoolyard Murders -- Detective Pym requests Lapin’s help on a personal matter; his niece, Madeline, a high school girl, goes to a school in which there has been a murder. Lapin agrees to assist him, and the two go to investigate the school. Almost all the students insist that it’s the ghost of a boy who killed himself decades ago, the school’s legend, because the school is trying to tear down the old building where he died. During the investigation, a few more people die, and a very strange black cat is seen on the premises, that people think is an ill omen. Eventually, however, it comes to light that a teacher is murdering the students who had stumbled across an innocuous thing in the old building that ends up proving the student had not killed himself, but was killed by the same teacher for discovering his illicit relationship with another student, and now the teacher is trying to cover it up. In the end the case is solved, and it seems that the cat had been helpful after all, as it wanders off into the old building and seems to vanish after having helped reveal the damning clue.

An Ancient Curse -- One of Lapin’s favorite teachers, also a famous archaeologist, invites him to the opening of an exhibit of a bunch of artifacts he’d discovered on a dig in Africa. The exhibit goes well, but after hours, the teacher is killed, and the camera footage shows that it seems as if it were some kind of ancient spirit that did it. The staff flies into a panic, but Lapin, fascinated and excited, dives right into the mystery. Several more members of the archaeological team are killed, and it seems like there really is a curse, or that the foreign member of the team is doing it as revenge for the artifacts’ ‘theft’, but in the end, it is revealed that the head of the museum is committing the murders and intending to frame the foreign team member and use the entire incident as a publicity stunt. He is arrested, but at the end it is revealed he died in custody, seemingly of a heart attack over the stress of the ordeal, but...was that really it?

The Siren’s Call -- A college friend of Lapin’s, a reporter, calls him telling him excitedly that he has a big scoop on something strange happening in a coastal town, a clue to a big mystery, but then something happens and the call is cut off. Concerned, Lapin heads out to the town in time for them to find his friend’s drowned body. The town doesn’t seem to like outsiders, but he finds a friend in the innkeeper and his teenage son Ernest, who tells him that a lot of people end up drowned around here, and they say its because of the nasty currents around the beach. But there’s also a legend of a sea monster in the caves beneath the town. As Lapin investigates, he discovers that the whole town believes in the sea monster, the Siren Mother, and treat her as a local deity, and the deaths are sacrifices to her. Ernest, too young to know about this, helps Lapin investigate further, and they discover beneath the town a large cavern with the mummified body of a woman, as well as Lapin’s friend’s bag, in which there is evidence that the town’s founder murdered a local native woman over land disputes and fabricated the Siren Mother to cover it up and control his people. The current mayor/leader of the ‘cult’ knows this, and he’s the one who killed Lapin’s friend to hide it. He shows up in the cavern, and during the struggle, both he and Ernest fall into the water. Somehow, however, Ernest survives, and he swears he heard someone humming a lullaby as they pushed him out of the water. There is no proof of that, though, and it’s written off as luck, and in the end, Ernest’s father becomes the new mayor, and the secrets are all revealed. It will take a while for the town to readjust, but Ernest and his father are willing to try.

The Red Death -- Lapin is shocked one day when Annalise appears on his doorstep, inviting him to a party at a very rich art collector’s house, implying both that she intends to steal something and that something worse might happen. Intrigued, he accepts her invitation, and they go together to the party. At the party, one of the major guests dies of a ‘strange illness’, and a murder case begins. Lapin and Annalise investigate, more guests die, and it’s uncertain whether or not it’s poison or something else, exacerbated by the mysterious man in a red coat seen around the mansion. It turns out that it is poison, the daughter of a painter who was exploited by the collector to make counterfeits taking revenge on those who abused her father. She takes her own life with the poison and jumps off the balcony, but her body is not there, and the man in the red coat is seen vanishing into the forest. Her body is found later on, laid out in the collector’s gallery beneath her father’s real paintings, with a red coat over her like a shroud. The man is never found, and Annalise does make off with a painting, but not before she says farewell to Lapin and disappears, seemingly into thin air.

The Circus Act -- Lapin goes with Pym and Madeline to a circus, and at the magician’s show, the festivities are interrupted when one of the acrobats dies in the middle of the show. An investigation begins, then, and it’s not long before a web of deceit and affairs and secrets come to light that makes it so that almost everyone has a motive for everyone else’s death. A few more people die, all in ways befitting their act in the circus, and the surviving acrobat, Berenice, fears that she is next. Lapin is in her room investigating when the killer attacks him and nearly kills him, and he wakes up bound and gagged in a box during the magician’s magic show, and realizes the magician himself is the killer. He barely survives the trick he’s stuck in, and at the climax of the show bursts out of the box to accuse the killer. The magician tries to kill Berenice, motivated by an obsession with her, and chases her up into the top of the circus tent. He tries to grab her, but falls off of the platforms above and dies. Berenice was nowhere near him, but insists that he was pushed, and wonders if it was her partner’s ghost protecting her. Either that, or he fell. Lapin is taken to the hospital, still wounded, and in addition to the get well presents from Pym and Madeline, a single rose finds its way to his hospital room with a tag reading ‘From A’.

#;hc: poe

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blackkudos · 6 years

Text

Rick James

Rick James (born James Ambrose Johnson, Jr. February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004) was an American musician, composer and actor.

Influenced by singers such as Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson, James started singing in doo-wop and R&B groups as a teenager in his hometown of Buffalo, New York. After entering the U.S. Navy to avoid being drafted, he deserted to Toronto, where he formed the rock and R&B band, The Mynah Birds, whose lineup once included Bruce Palmer, Neil Young, and Nick St. Nicholas. James' tenure with the group was interrupted after he was discovered recording with the group in Motown in 1966. Surrendering to military authorities, he served a one-year prison term. Upon release, James moved to California to resume his duties with the Mynah Birds, although the group eventually split. James began a series of rock bands in California and worked with Motown under the assumed name "Ricky Matthews" as a songwriter.

In 1977, he signed with the Gordy Records imprint of Motown as a recording artist, releasing his debut, Come Get It!, in April 1978. The album sold over two million copies and launched his career into the mainstream as a funk and soul artist. His most popular album, 1981's Street Songs, launched him into superstardom thanks to the hit singles, "Give It to Me Baby" and "Super Freak", the latter song becoming his signature song for the rest of his life, and the basis of MC Hammer's biggest hit, "U Can't Touch This"; James eventually sued for back royalties. After being credited as writer of the song, James became the 1991 recipient of a Best R&B Song Grammy for composing the song. Due to this success, James was often called the "king of punk funk", for his mix of funk, soul and underground-inspired rock music. In addition to his own success, James emerged as a successful songwriter and producer for other artists, such as Teena Marie, The Mary Jane Girls, The Temptations, Eddie Murphy and Smokey Robinson.

An addiction to drugs hampered his career by the late 1980s. In the 1990s, his legal troubles, which included kidnapping and torturing two women while under the influence of crack, led him to serve a three-year sentence at California's Folsom State Prison. James was released on parole in 1996 and resumed his musical career releasing the album, Urban Rapsody, in 1997. A mild stroke suffered during a concert in early 1998 interrupted his career for a brief time. James received new notoriety in 2004, when he appeared (as himself) in an episode of Chappelle's Show, in a Charlie Murphy "True Hollywood Stories" segment that satirized James' wild lifestyle. James died later that year from heart failure, at age 56.

Biography

Early life and career

James Ambrose Johnson, Jr. was born on February 1, 1948, in Buffalo, New York, to Mabel (née Sims) and James Ambrose Johnson, Sr. He was one of eight children. James' father, an autoworker, left the family when James was ten. His mother was a dancer for Katherine Dunham, and later ran errands for a Mafia-connected mob, just to feed her family. James' mother would take him on her collecting route, and it was in bars where she worked that James got to see performers such as John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Etta James perform. James claimed later in the autobiography, Glow, that he lost his virginity at "age 9 or 10" to a 14-year-old local girl, claiming his "kinky nature came in early". James eventually attended Orchard Park High School and Bennett High School prior to dropping out. James was introduced to drugs at an early age and, as a young teen, was busted for burglary. Due to his stints in jail for theft, James entered the United States Navy at 14 or 15, lying about his age, to avoid the draft. During that time, he also became a drummer for local jazz groups in New York City. Due to him missing his twice-monthly Reserve sessions at the USS Enterprise, he found himself ordered to Vietnam.

In 1965, he fled for Toronto, where he made friendships with then-local musicians Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. To avoid being caught by military authorities, James went under the assumed name, "Ricky James Matthews". That same year, James formed the Mynah Birds, a band that produced a fusion of soul, folk and rock music. In 1965, the band briefly recorded for the Canadian division of Columbia Records, releasing the single, "Mynah Bird Hop"/"Mynah Bird Song". At one point, Nick St. Nicholas of later Steppenwolf fame was a member; eventually bassist Bruce Palmer replaced him by the time "Mynah Bird Hop" was recorded. James and Palmer would recruit guitarists Tom Morgan and Xavier Taylor and drummer Rick Mason to form a new Mynah Birds lineup, and soon traveled to Detroit to record with Motown. Before the group began recording their first songs for the label, Morgan left, unhappy about the label's attitude towards the musicians. Neil Young eventually took his place. It was while in Detroit that James met his musical heroes, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. After meeting Wonder and telling him his name, Wonder felt the name "Ricky James Matthews" was "too long", and instead told James to shorten it to "Ricky James".

After James got involved in a fight with the group's financial backer in Toronto, the Navy was given a tip regarding James' whereabouts and the singer was soon arrested. Afterwards, Motown dropped the band from the label, and James spent a year in prison. After his release, James moved to California where he resumed his musical career. After forming a duo with musician Greg Reeves, Reeves was soon hired to work as a musician for the rock supergroup, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. James returned to Motown as a songwriter in 1968, under the assumed name "Rickie Matthews", and worked with acts such as The Miracles, Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers, and The Spinners. According to James, he briefly got involved in pimp activity during this time, but stopped because he felt he wasn't qualified for it due to the harsh activity and the abuse of women there. Returning to California from Toronto in 1969, James got involved with hair stylist Jay Sebring, who agreed to invest in James' music.

In late 1968, James formed the rock band Salt and Pepper. James and S&P member Ed Roth later were included in Bruce Palmer's solo album The Cycle is Complete. The duo also recorded as part of the group Heaven and Earth in Toronto. Heaven and Earth eventually changed their name to Great White Cane and recorded an album for Los Angeles label, Lion Records, in 1972, though it was later shelved. James formed another band, Hot Lips, afterwards. In 1973, James signed with A&M Records, where his first single under the name Rick James, "My Mama", was released, becoming a club hit in Europe. In 1976, James returned to Buffalo, New York, and formed the Stone City Band and recorded the song "Get Up and Dance!", which was his second single to be released. In 1977, James and the Stone City Band signed a contract with Motown's Gordy Records imprint, where they began recording their first album in New York City.

Solo career

In April 1978, James released his debut solo album, Come Get It!, which included the Stone City Band. The album launched the top 20 hit, "You and I", which became his first number-one R&B hit. The album also included the hit single, "Mary Jane". It eventually sold two million copies, launching James' musical career to stardom, and helping out Motown Records at a time when label fortunes had dwindled. In early 1979, James' second album, Bustin' Out of L Seven, followed the previous album's success, eventually selling a million copies. A third album, Fire It Up, was released in late 1979 going gold. Around that same period, James launched his first headlining tour, the Fire It Up Tour, and agreed to invite the then-upcoming artist, Prince, as well as singer Teena Marie, as his opening act. James had produced Marie's successful Motown debut album, Wild and Peaceful and was featured on the hit duet, "I'm a Sucker (For Your Love)". James was credited with naming Marie, "Lady Tee", on the song, a nickname that stuck with Marie for the rest of her career. The Fire It Up tour led to James developing a bitter rivalry with Prince, after he accused the musician for ripping off his act.

Following the end of the tour in 1980, James released the ballads-heavy Garden of Love, which became his fourth gold record. In 1981, James recorded his best-selling album to date, Street Songs, which like his previous four albums, was a concept album. Street Songs featured a fusion mix of different genres, including rock and new wave, as well as James' brand of crossover funk, enabling James' own style of "punk funk". The album featured hit singles such as "Ghetto Life", the Teena Marie duet "Fire and Desire", "Give It to Me Baby", and his biggest crossover hit to date, "Super Freak", which peaked at number sixteen on the Billboard Hot 100, and sold over a million copies. Street Songs peaked at number one R&B and number three pop, and sold over three million copies alone in the United States. Following up that success, James released two more gold albums, 1982's Throwin' Down and 1983's Cold Blooded.

During this period, envious of Prince's success as producer of other acts including The Time and Vanity 6, James launched the acts Process and the Doo-Rags, and the Mary Jane Girls, featuring his former background singer Joanne "JoJo" McDuffie as the lead vocalist and background performer, finding success with the latter group, due to the hits, "All Night Long", "Candy Man", and "In My House". In 1982, James produced the Temptations' Top Ten R&B hit, "Standing On The Top". In 1983, James recorded the hit duet, "Ebony Eyes", with singer Smokey Robinson. In 1985, James produced another hit for entertainer Eddie Murphy with the song "Party All The Time". That same year he appeared on an episode of The A-Team with Isaac Hayes. After the release of his ninth solo album, The Flag, in 1986, James signed with Warner Bros. Records, which released the album Wonderful in 1988, featuring the hit, "Loosey's Rap".

James' controversial and provocative image became troublesome sometimes. During his heyday, James had presented his songs to the then-fledging music video channel, MTV, only to be turned down because James' music didn't fit the network's rock playlist. James accused the network of racism. When MTV and BET both avoided playing the video for "Loosey's Rap" because of its graphic sexual content, James considered the networks hypocritical in light of them still playing provocative videos by Madonna and Cher.

In 1989, James' eleventh album, Kickin', was released only in the UK. By 1990, he had lost his deal with Warner Bros. and James began struggling with personal and legal troubles. That year MC Hammer released his hit signature song, "U Can't Touch This", which sampled the prominent opening riff from "Super Freak". James and his co-writer on "Super Freak", Alonzo Miller, successfully sued Hammer for shared songwriting credit and all three consequently received the 1990 Grammy Award for Best R&B Song. In 1997, James released Urban Rapsody, his first album since his release from prison on assault charges, and he toured to promote the album. That same year, he discussed his life and career in interviews for the VH1 musical documentary series, Behind the Music, which aired in early 1998. James' musical career slowed again after he suffered a minor stroke during a concert. In 1999, James accepted an offer by Eddie Murphy himself to appear in his film, Life.

Personal life

Relationships and children

James had three children. With Syville Morgan, a former singer and songwriter, he had daughter Ty and son Rick, Jr.

In 1989, James met 17-year-old partygoer Tanya Hijazi. The two began a romance in 1990. In 1993, the couple welcomed the arrival of their only child and James' youngest, Tazman. Following their releases from prison for assaulting Mary Sauger and Frances Alley, the couple married in 1996 and divorced in 2002.

James was very close with Teena Marie, whom he met and began collaborating with in 1979. While James had denied that the two were romantically involved, Teena Marie stated they were romantically involved and engaged "for two weeks". Their professional partnership lasted into 2004, when Marie released her comeback album, La Dona, which included her and James' duet "I Got You". When James died, Teena Marie said she struggled to come to terms with his death.

Notable friendships

James became close friends with Eddie Murphy after the two met in 1981. Following his exit from the United States Navy in 1984, Murphy's older brother Charlie Murphy, whose first post-Navy job was working as security for his famous brother, began hanging out with James, and he bonded with the singer. Murphy would later recall on Chappelle's Show his sometimes strained relationship with James, which helped to revive James' name in the public eye after years of seclusion, following his mild stroke in 1998. James also appeared in the episode recounting his memory of the experiences shared by Charlie, such as starting impromptu fights with him and staining Eddie Murphy's couch with mud.

James was also a friend of fellow Motown acts Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye, one of the singers James idolized as a teenager. Additionally, he befriended Gaye's second wife, Janis, and he was godfather of Gaye's daughter Nona. James' relationship with Robinson began shortly after James signed with Motown and, in 1983, the duo recorded the hit "Ebony Eyes."

James also idolized former Temptations lead singer David Ruffin and Ruffin's self-proclaimed uncle, bass vocalist Melvin Franklin, and grabbed at the chance to produce the hit "Standing on the Top" for them in 1982. Before that, the then-current lineup of the group recorded background vocals on two James-associated projects – James' Street Songs (singing "Ghetto Life" and "Super Freak") and Teena Marie's It Must Be Magic (singing on the title track). In "Super Freak," "It Must Be Magic," and "Standing On The Top", James famously shouted out, "Temptations SING!"

Drug abuse and health problems

James' lifelong drug abuse began in his teens, first with marijuana and heroin. James began using cocaine in the late 1960s. His cocaine use became an addiction by the 1980s, and he began freebasing by the end of the decade. James recalled smoking crack cocaine in his Beverly Hills mansion and often had aluminum foil on the windows to escape onlookers.

His drug use led to health issues that impacted his life. In April 1984, he was hospitalized after being found unconscious in the middle of his house by a friend. James claimed he quit cocaine when he entered prison, although cocaine would later be found in his bloodstream following his autopsy.

Legal troubles

The start of the 1990s brought with it a string of bizarre and sometimes horrific troubles for James. His drug use was by this time public knowledge. He was mainly addicted to cocaine and later admitted to spending about US$7,000 per week on drugs for five years straight. In 1993, he and future wife Tanya Hijazi were accused of holding 24-year-old Frances Alley hostage for up to six days although accounts vary on how long she was actually held, tying her up, forcing her to perform sexual acts, and burning her legs and abdomen with the hot end of a crack cocaine pipe, during a week-long cocaine binge. In 1993, while out on bail for that earlier incident, James, under the influence of cocaine, assaulted music executive Mary Sauger at the St. James Club and Hotel in West Hollywood. Sauger claims she met James and Hijazi for a business meeting, but said the two then kidnapped and beat her over a 20-hour period.

He was found guilty of both offenses but was cleared of a torture charge in the crack pipe incident that could have put him in prison for the rest of his life. He served two years in Folsom Prison and lost a civil suit to Sauger, who was awarded US$2 million. He was released from prison in 1996. In 1998, James was accused of sexually assaulting a 26-year-old woman, though charges were later dropped.

Final years

Chappelle's Show

In early 2004, James participated in a comedy sketch on Chappelle's Show, in a segment called "Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories". James and Murphy recounted humorous stories of their experiences together during the early 1980s. During the sketch, James' character, played by Dave Chappelle, utters the now famous catchphrase, "I'm Rick James, bitch!" The sketches were punctuated by James, as himself, explaining his past behavior with the phrase, "Cocaine is a hell of a drug!"

Autobiography and final music projectsAutobiography

At the time of his death, James was working on an autobiography, The Confessions of Rick James: Memoirs of a Super Freak, as well as a new album. The book was finally published toward the end of 2007 by Colossus Books and features a picture of his tombstone.

David Ritz, who had been employed by James to work on the book with him, later said that this version did not truly reflect how the musician wanted it published. In 2014, Ritz published his own, re-edited version, Glow: The Autobiography of Rick James.

Final music projects

He was also supporting Teena Marie's tour of her album La Doña and toured with her in May 2004, playing with her at the KBLX Stone Soul Picnic, Pioneer Amphitheatre, Hayward, California.

Death

On the morning of August 6, 2004, James' caretaker found him dead in James' Los Angeles home at the Oakwood Toluca Hills apartment complex, just outside Burbank. He had died from pulmonary failure and cardiac failure, associated with his various health conditions of diabetes, a stroke, pacemaker, and heart attack. His autopsy found alprazolam, diazepam, bupropion, citalopram, hydrocodone, digoxin, chlorpheniramine, methamphetamine, and cocaine in his blood. However, the coroner stated that "none of the drugs or drug combinations were found to be at levels that were life-threatening in and of themselves".

James was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York. His two-ton, jet black headstone is engraved with the following lyrics to an unreleased song: "I've had it all, I've done it all, I've seen it all. It's all about love – God is love."

Digital releases

James' entire Motown Records back catalogue was released in 2014 on iTunes for the very first time in digitally remastered form. This marks the first time many of his albums have been widely available since their initial release. Physical copies of James' albums, namely Fire It Up, Garden of Love and The Flag, have become rare and highly sought after by fans.

Discography

Studio albums

Come Get It! (with the Stone City Band) (1978)

Bustin' Out of L Seven (1979)

Fire It Up (1979)

Garden of Love (1980)

Street Songs (1981)

Throwin' Down (1982)

Cold Blooded (1983)

Glow (1985)

The Flag (1986)

Wonderful (1988)

Kickin' (1989)

Urban Rapsody (1997)

Deeper Still (2007)

Wikipedia

#Rick James

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