#she jumped from the dock to me (and then gently placed in the water) and then did two hesitant jumps on her own which I was not expecting

[tea-time-terrier]

The growth of this little creature even just compared to last year (but especially her first months home) is wild!

Her confidence is ever growing and this weekend she participated in multiple swim times, walking over her first suspension bridge, and jumping off her first dock!

[gemini-sensei]

Mates Are Forever | Merman!Eli Moskowitz x Chubby!Reader

● MerMay 2024 ●

CW: mermaid smut, breeding kink, minor blood, biting, tentacle dick (unedited).

Reader carefully traversed the wet rocks as she made her way toward the water. It had been a little hard at first, and she still had to be careful of the slippery surfaces of the rocks, but she was practiced at this point. No terrain was going to keep her from seeing her boyfriend. Even if she did have to use the light of the full moon to see where she was going and the crashing waves seemed to hit a little harder than usual.

Despite the obstacles ahead of her, Reader made it to the flatter rock that reached far into the water. It was the perfect place to sit and wait for her oyfriend to arrive. So when she reached the tip of the slate, she sat down with her feet in the water.

She passed the time star gazing, but as these meetings usually went, she wasn't waiting long. She heard a disturbance in the water as something broke the surface and splashed. She looked out to the ocean with a smile, catching the last glimpse of a pretty iridescent tail before it disappeared in the water.

A moment later, Eli popped his head out of the water. She smiled and kicked her feet, splashing him with water. He laughed and splashed her back. The playfulness continued until she was ready to dive into the ocean. He stayed close as she jumped in and immediately went to her. For that one moment, between being submerged and him grabbing her waist, she watched him. The waters were dark but his tail caught the bright light of the moon and shone beautifully. It illuminated the water around him, making him glow under the water. He was magically beautiful and dangerously handsome, but it was his shining smile made up of sharp teeth and his sweet personality that had pulled her in. He was charming and funny and smart and passionate. She loved everything about him.

He grabbed her waist to ensure the waves didn't whisk her away. He pulled her in for a kiss as they rose to the surface, only breaking their seal of love when she needed air. She panted hard and smiled wide as he pulled her against his chest. She let out a laugh of excitement at finally getting to see him again.

But there was little time for formal greetings. Their play was nice and seeing each other was great, but as she held onto him and gently kicked her feet, she noticed something change in his eyes. His pupils were dilated to the point they were so big, she couldn't see his pretty blue irises, especially in the dark of night. However, before she could ask if he was okay, he said,

"I want to take you someplace where it's just the two of us." It didn't take long after that Reader understood the look in his eyes. Hunger. He continued, "Just you and me."

"We are alone, babe," she told him and looked around. The beach was a little way out, the rock she waited for him on far from the sands as if it were a peer or dock. And even if someone were to come onto the beach, she doubted they would come close to their little bit of beach. It wasn't a popular spot because of its rocky terrain. "No one's gonna bother us."

"No other humans," he said and leaned into her, diving for her neck. His lips tickled her skin there and she closed her eyes, his teeth barely scratching that special spot at the juncture where her shoulder turned into her neck. It was sensitive and he always liked to tease it. "Other merfolk may come."

"They've never followed you here before," she told him.

He grinned. "It wasn't mating season before."

That statement came with Eli pressing his hips into Reader, her thigh rubbing against his slit. He was aroused, so his slit was naturally opening up, pushing hot slick into the water. He groaned with a certain sensitivity as he rubbed his slit against her thigh, a small act of trying to get some friction on the area. It made Reader get flustered.

It wasn't as if they hadn't done it before but he'd never been so eager. It wasn't "mating season" before, as he had called it. That ravenous look was never in his eyes. However, none of that deterred Reader from slipping a hand into the water and teasing his slit with her fingers, rubbing his opening with a grin.

"Is that right?" she asked, smirking at him.

His eyes seemed to darken as he looked at her. "Don't. Not yet. Wanna take you away from here first."

He spoke in short sentences as if he needed to just get the words out because if he didn't, they'd go unsaid. He pulled her closer against him, his arms wound tight around her.

She smiled at him. "Then take me away."

This gills on the sides of his neck bristled and he let out a low grunt from the back of his throat. "Deep breath, I'll try to make the trip short."

So Reader did as told and took a deep breath of the salty air before he pulled her under the water. She wrapped her arms around his neck tightly just before he began swimming as fast as a bullet through air. The rush was intense, forcing Reader to close her eyes as he took them away from the shore, away from the civilization she knew and lived in day in and day out. It was nice to think about getting away from it all, even if for one night.

He swam deeper into the water. The pressure was mounting but before it could hurt, before her lungs could burn, Eli pivoted and swam into the mouth of an underwater cave. They swam the length of it in a matter of seconds, making it impossible to know how long it really was. Then he swam up and they were pushing their heads through the surface of water before she knew it.

Reader gasped as her head breached the surface. She panted hard, but smiled nonetheless at her merman partner, thrilled. She grabbed his face and kissed him heavily, exhilarated by the high speeds he managed the swim even though she did little more than hold on for the ride. It was still fun.

It was only when she pulled away from him did she realize they were in a small grotto of a cave. There was no opening leading outside or to land, but there were tall rocks for walls and an opening in the top allowing the moon to shine down on them. The rocks were decorated with all sorts of greenery, vines and flowers creeping up its walls as if one purposefully put them there. Knowing they were natural was part of their beauty in Reader's opinion.

"This place is beautiful," she said, a little starstruck.

Eli gently led her over to a small collection of rocks she could hold onto to rest, knowing her human energy wasn't the same as his. He kept a hand on her waist and his eyes on her the entire time, mesmerized by her. Her compliment only fueled him as the seasonal instincts were kicking in. "This is my home."

"You live here?" she asked, turning to look at him with wonder and happiness.

He nodded. "Well, it's part of my home. I live in the underwater alcove part of it, but this is my favorite place to come to when I'm thinking of you."

She became flustered and lightly shoved his chest. "You do not just think about me here. How could you?"

"You said it yourself, it's beautiful here, and the beauty of this place reminds me of you. You're absolutely gorgeous, though, and nothing can ever come close to how beautiful you are," he told her, pulling her close.

She smiled, unsure of how to accept his compliment. So she kissed him. She wouldn't tell him as much because it would inflate his ego, but he was a smooth talker. He really knew how to make her heart skip a beat and sing. She loved it though.

Soon, their kiss turned hungry and needy. His hands began to wander her body and she pulled him close and felt up his chest. His tongue was in her mouth and she tasted the sea. He tasted sweetness on her tongue and wanted more of it, more of her. Soon they had to break the kiss, sadly so, and she whined about it, but he dropped his head and kissed along her neck. It tickled and she couldn't help but let out a giggle.

Then he was toying with her bikini bottom. His long fingers got tangled in their simplicity and she helped him pull them off, tossing them onto the nearby rocks. They hit the rocks with a splat and clung to the wet surface, quickly forgotten.

There was nowhere for her to lie, so she was unsure of how they were going to do this. Every time they'd fucked before, it was on the shores of the beach where the waves could lap at his tail and she could lay under him. There was nowhere to do that here, so she was following his lead hoping he knew what he was doing.

Well, she learned soon that he did know what he was doing and how he wanted to do it. He turned her around to face the rocks and grunted lowly about how she needed to hold on. So she found purchase on the rocks as best she could while he pulled her ass back against his front. He rubbed his slit against her, hips lightly thrusting into her.

His slit opened wider and his cock slipped out, immediately going to her fat ass and exploring the soft surface in search of a warm place to be. She spread her legs and bit her lip, ready for what was to come - or so she thought.

Mating season was a different story than what she was used to. It was intense and needy, unrelenting. So when his dick found her pussy and shoved in with little warning, she arched her back further and let out a loud moan. Eli pulled her hips flush against his as his dick reached depths she hadn't known were possible, wriggling and feeling up her velvet walls as if it had never entered her before. She swore it had a mind of its own but Eli just said it was his instincts.

Once it was reacquainted with her, it pulled back but now out, bunching up at her entrance before thrusting back into her. She moaned and shifted under Eli's hold, the pleasure too much to keep in. He leaned over her and pressed his chest to her back, one hand on her hip to hold her in place while the other felt up her curves and belly. His lips descended upon her neck and shoulders, using his sharp teeth to try to pull the strap of her bikini off. He just broke it but she didn't care as his hand came to her uncovered breast and squeezed it hard. The way he was pounding her cunt was making her dizzy and she gripped the rocks harder, sure that she needed a little more to hold onto.

He said nothing the entire time, grunting and groaning. Something like her name left his lips every once in a while but her mind was too foggy to figure it out despite him being right in her ear. She mostly heard herself moaning and babbling his name among praises.

"Ohmygod, Eli! Feels so good. Ohmygod, fuck me, fuck me, fuck me," she let out in one breath. He was fucking her so well, she couldn't think of anything else. He was the only thing on her mind and she didn't care. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck!"

Before she knew it, she was coming on his cock. Her legs were shaking in the water, her grip was so tight on the rocks, and she let out his name in a long moan. Her head fell back onto his shoulder as he continued to kiss on her neck. He'd left a few hickeys on her shoulder but they were of little importance in that moment as her cunt tried to milk him for everything he was worth and it just pounded her through it, elongating her orgasm and turning her brain off for a little while.

It wasn't much longer after that his dick thickening and stretching her out. That had never happened before and she was a little confused, head so foggy that she forgot what he'd said before about it being mating season. She closed her eyes and enjoyed each throb of his cock as he came inside her, the tip pressed tight against her cervix. But even that got better when he bit the spot on her neck - the sensitive spot on the juncture of her neck and shoulder. His teeth sunk in and she cried out, scream echoing off the walls. The shockwave of pain mixed with pleasure and she came again as his dick went off like a firehose in her cunt.

She started to feel full after a while and only realized he wasn't coming anymore when he let go of her shoulder and began licking at the blood he'd drawn. His swollen cock was still lodged in her cunt and added to the mounting pleasure she felt. She was warm all over, a little bloated, and completely satiated. Her eyes wanted to close but she had nowhere to rest, so she forced them to stay open. Especially when Eli started muttering against her skin.

"Mine forever. My mate," he started, pressing gentle kisses against the bite he'd given her. "We're gonna have perfect guppies. You and me. They'll be beautiful and smart like you and strong like me. They'll be perfect."

She couldn't really comprehend what he was saying, but it sounded sweet. She rested her head back against him and he looked at her. He shook his head, knowing in the back of his mind that he couldn't take her back like that... he probably couldn't take her back at all. Not that he wanted to. No, he wanted Reader to stay with him, in his arms, forever. That's what mates did after all. They stayed together forever.

He pulled out of her when his dick finally went down. It went back into his slit, though he knew for the rest of the mating season, he would be insatiable. For now, he was fine and eager to take care of his mate. So he turned her around and wrapped his arms around her securely. He floated on his back and held her against him, making his body a place for her to rest. Humans didn't have as much stamina as merfolk, he had learned, and she needed to rest. He watched as she fell asleep with her head on his chest, completely trusting him to watch over her in the water.

When Reader awoke, things didn't feel quite the same. Instead of floating on the water's surface, she and Eli were cuddled up on the ocean floor. For a split second, she panicked and tried to pull out of his arms. However, she quickly realized something very important: she was breathing underwater.

Her fear turned into confusion as the startle faded and she was left with so many questions. She looked down at herself, not knowing what to expect. It certainly wasn't a long tail intertwined with Eli's. His was iridescent - reflecting colors she thought were so pretty, whilst hers was a beautifully contrasting orange.

She reached a hand down and touched it, feeling each scale with her finger. She ran her hand over it multiple times as she tried to tell herself this was a dream, it had to be. Magic like this didn't happen, didn't exist, did it? Was she really a mermaid now? Could she finally have to stop sneaking out into the dead of night to see her boyfriend? Was this a dream come true?

"I'm so sorry," a gruff voice said beside her. It was raspy naturally but more so now due to just waking up.

She looked up at Eli with soft, confused eyes. "Why are you sorry?"

"I shouldn't have bitten you, not without asking..." he said, sounding a little embarrassed and ashamed of himself. Nevertheless, he continued to hold her close as he went on to explain. "I-I didn't even really know that worked. I mean, they say it does under the full moon but I-I've never met anyone who was turned... It was all legend before."

Reader smiled gently and leaned in, kissing him sweetly. Then she said, "I'm just happy I get to be with you."

He smiled back. "Really?"

"Of course," she giggled and kissed him again. "I love you, Eli."

"I love you too," he told her, then shyly admitted, "I mean, I already thought of you as my mate."

She was flattered and hid her face in his chest. "Aww, that's pretty serious, huh?"

"The most serious thing any mer-person has to consider," he told her. He realized there was a lot of merfolk society that she didn't know. He'd always shared with her a part of his life but it was different to experience it, and now she could do that. Hell, he could finally introduce her to his friends and family. "There's so much I want to show you."

She looked up at him. "Well, then show me."

He pulled her impossibly close to his chest and shook his head. "Oh no, I'm not taking you out there right now. There's still merfolk on the prowl for a mate and I'm not letting them see you until you're full of my guppies."

He rolled over on top of her and she felt tingly below her hips. He pressed his tail against her and she moaned, feeling sensitive there. She was quickly growing needy as she realized that if she was a mermaid, the mating season probably affected her now as it did him. She stared up at him, unaware her eyes were dilating with hungry need like his did.

She spoke hotly, "Then lets give them something to look at."

"The pleasure is all mine," he told her and dove in for a kiss.

She moaned into his mouth, putting a hand on the back of his hand and into his hair. He grunted as he pulled her close, their bodies tightly pressed together as their tails entwined. Then she felt his dick press against her slit, with was puffy and open and slick. She moaned louder as it pushed into her and it felt a thousand times more pleasurable than the night before.

She pulled out of the kiss to moan his name. "Eli!"

He grinned down at her and tilted his head, exposing his neck. "Mark me as yours, Reader. Make me your mate forever."

She wanted that more than anything. It was all she's been wanting since they started dating but thought it would never be possible. But now there was nothing stopping them, no barrier between land and sea that prevented them from truly being together.

So she leaned forward and kissed his neck, searching for the right spot. She knew when he groaned loudly that she had found it and didn't hesitate to bite him, sinking her teeth in to make a mark that would last forever.

[highvern]

In the Lake

Pairing: Yoon Jeonghan x fem!reader

Genre: romance, light horror, greek mythology!au

Warnings: drowning, mention of drunk Hannie (once), talk of a dead body, briefly suggestive moments

Length: 2.5k

Note: not proofread, just me spitballing. monster!reader is a hybrid of a naiad and a siren

Bonus

Monsters live in the lake.

That’s what Jeonghan’s dad tells him.

Monsters with round wet eyes and needle teeth. Who will drown anyone who comes too close to their shores with a laugh of glee. Monsters that will gorge on a man’s heart, and decorate their underwater gardens with his bones.

Jeonghan is never allowed to visit the lake.

And he doesn’t.

Until he turns eight.

—

Breathing glass.

The inky blue surface of the lake can only be described as breathing glass, reflecting the heavy full moon that illuminates the skies about and the ring of black trees circling the shore.

A perfect reflection. Clear enough Jeonghan is convinced that if he jumped in, his body would shatter the smooth surface into crystals of glass rather than clapping waves.

The bright moon lights up the clearing, making Jeonghan privy to every detail from one shore to the other. No one is here. Nothing is here. Not an single animal looking for a cool drink in the late night, the thicket of trees obscuring the hideaway silent. Even the wind seems to hold his breath here, unnaturally yielding.

But Jeonghan is eight and he’s not afraid of the stories his dad tells him around the hearth.

And as eight year olds are wont to do, Jeonghan steps in the dry rotted dock with a sure foot, and peaks over the edge.

Only to meet the eyes of the monster his dad warned him about.

Jeonghan scrambles back, the shrill scream of fear breaking the fragile silence. Nearly toppling into the water in an effort to escape the demon, only to have splinters bite into his hands as he manages to regain his balance.

The monster is on this side of the water too.

Only a hair away from Jeonghan’s face, his breath disturbing the beads of moisture clinging to its forehead.

It reeks of death and fear.

And when Jeonghan makes it to the tree line, it’s gone as if it never existed in the first place.

—

The second time Jeonghan comes to the lake, he’s sixteen and forgets the childhood nightmares that came to life one autumn night.

The daughter of the village baker asked him to meet her there, with droopy eyelids and a bitten lip. 

But the moon is high in the sky, a waning sideways grin, and she’s nowhere to be seen.

Vague memories of a night years ago attempt to surface, but Jeonghan can’t decipher reality from the realm of sleep. But he distinctly feels that this place, this eerie wrong place, is frozen in time. That the hedge of trees is a portal between worlds, and this lake is a pocket beyond any.

The dock creeks under his soft steps, gently bobbing ripples across the water with each shift of his weight.

At the end of the dock waits the baker's daughter. Only her eyes visible above the water, milky hue eclipsing the swampy green; flesh swollen and bloated.

And behind her is the monster, eyes crinkled in horrific amusement as Jeonghan untangles what happened.

And the monster is gone when he looks back from the safety of the trees, just like when he was a child.

—

The parchment bleeds ink from rushed sketches of the horrific creature Jeonghan encountered.

None do his terror justice.

Oil slick hair clinging to its scalp, eyes round and horrifically human. Two times he’d seen the monster of the lake, and both only from the bridge of its nose up.

But the fables of his childhood form in his memory and his dreams once again.

Below the surface of the glass lake was a mouth full of quilled teeth, eager to eat his heart and suck his bones. Webbed clawed hands, to snatch him underwater when it got the chance.

None of the drawings are right.

So Jeonghan goes back.

—

Apparently the monster talks.

And the monster has a lovely voice.

It’s waiting at the end of the dock this time. In the same place Mina’s body floated weeks ago.

You’ve returned. She laughs in his mind, light like the chime of a tin bell. 

And for a second, Jeonghan thinks he might have dreamt everything. How could this creature kill Mina? How could it be the subject of nightmares, yet sound like an angel?

But he knows he’s not smart enough to imagine any of this.

“You talk?”

Of course I talk. Do you listen?

“You drowned my friend.”

We were just playing.

Her eyes don’t leave Jeonghan’s face, and her nose remains beneath the surface of the water, but she tilts her head as if she’s innocent.

We can play too.

Her voice croons, and his blood heats at the breathy tone.

Jeonghan musters all the venom he’s capable of. Hatred on Mina’s behalf, on her parents behalf. “I don’t play with monsters.” He spits, turning to leave.

Pity. She pouts. You’d look great in my garden.

—

The moon calls Jeonghan to the lake again a few months later. Silent and expectant, she reaches her peak as he breaks into the clearing.

His monster is waiting for him too.

I was wondering when you’d return.

Jeonghan would say he doesn’t know why he’s here. But that’s a lie.

His room is filled with drawings of this place, drawings of her. A stack of books he bought with his measly salary at the mill, stories about demons and monsters who call water their home. 

None of it compares to the eerie serenity of being here.

“What are you?” He asks from the safety of the earth at the mouth of the dock. 

Standing on the dock had been foolish, the only sure thing he’d learned in his patchy research. Jeonghan will stay out of reach and out of her stomach.

Come here and I’ll tell you. She whispers, voice tickling through his ears and down his spine.

“No.”

Boo. She pouts. Jeonghan can almost imagine a childish stomp and cross of her arms below water. But all he can see is her eyes.

“What’s your name?”

What's your name?

“What will you give me if I tell you?”

I can show you the bones of your friend.

Rage flares on his tongue, white hot and acrid. A step on the dock sends a giggle through his mind.

You humans are so simple. The monster admonishes.

“Would you be happy if your friend was drowned by some ugly beast?” He screams at where she floats, veins popping on the side of his neck, the whites of his eyes visible.

My friends don’t drown. She sniffs, as that’s the problem at hand. And I’m not ugly.

“Must be if you hide your face.”

The wet squelch of her hands hitting the wood of the dock shocks Jeonghan. Human hands, distinctly human except for the necrotic tint to her fingertips. And her human-like hands lead to human like arms, feeding into a very human-like torso.

She smiles beautifully as Jeonghan averts his gaze from her breasts, nipples peeking through the long matted tresses of sopping hair.

Am I a beast, boy? 

“Yes.”

Her lower body remains obscured below the dock, dangling to the water. But Jeonghan spots the flare of her hips, the bite of her waist.

Not a beast at all.

She stays perched on the dock long after he’s gone.

This time, Jeonghan doesn’t look back.

—

Jeonghan dreams of her.

Fantasies of her rising on to the dock, beckoning him with a black tipped finger to come closer.

Imaginations of her mouth, how her unmistakably human body would feel in his palms.

And when she’s sucked his breath away, she pulls him under the water and into darkness forever.

—

A drunk trapeze through the forest is a fool's errand. But Jeonghan knows each tree by name, every trail by its curves. 

He’s at the lake again.

And she’s not here.

The urge to call for her arises, but what does he call her? Beast? Monster?

I don’t have a name. She whispers to his mind, forcing Jeonghan to scan the surface lake with the grace of a ragdoll.

“So what do I call you?” Jeonghan asks to nothing.

Come here and I’ll tell you. 

Eager for an answer, Jeonghan stumbles forward. “Where?”

Here. She calls, head slowly rising in the same spot at the bottom of the dock.

Jeonghan’s feet stop before they touch the wood.

“You’ll drown me.”

Not a question but a truth.

She drags herself up at the end of the dock, this time sitting. Her lower body is human like too; legs glistening in the moonlight.

But her face fills with curiosity.

Would that be so bad? She argues. Then you can stay with me forever.

“How long is your forever?”

For the first time, Jeonghan senses her hesitate.

“How old are you?”

Time means nothing to me.

Jeonghan is familiar with her tone. The same tone he used when he lied about Mina. A lie he’s convincing himself is the truth.

“Have you always been here?”

Yes.

“Are there others?”

Am I not enough for you, human? 

If Jeonghan could believe it, he might argue she sounds jealous.

“Seems lonely.”

I have plenty of company. Would you like to see?

His silence at her threat gets her to speak again.

My sisters left. They abandoned this place because humans were interesting enough.

“You can leave this place?”

None of his books mentioned that. But none of the books mentioned anything like her.

If I wish.

“And you don’t?”

I don’t find humans that interesting.

“I think you’re interesting.”

She disappears into the water without a splash. 

—

It becomes a routine.

Under the watchful eye of a full moon, Jeonghan sneaks from town to visit his lake. Sometimes she’s waiting for him, body forming puddles on the ancient dock. Others, doesn’t rise beyond the bottom curve of her eyes. And a few times she stayed deep below the surface.

Jeonghan refuses to dwell on the stench of rejection that reeks through his blood on those nights.

Humans age and wrinkle. I will stay beautiful forever.

She explains why she doesn’t want to leave her home, rolling onto her belly and pushing her breasts together tantalizingly; as if proving her point. Jeonghan would like to claim her attempts to charm him have lost their luster. 

He sits a safe distance away, firmly out of reach of her hands but not her words.

“What’s beauty if no one else gets to enjoy it?” He asks, munching on an apple from his cottage. There meetings stretch into hours now, and he’ll need the fuel for his early call into the mill.

Do you believe you're the only human to find me?

Deep in his gut, Jeonghan realizes he had. The idea of another person, another man, talking with her, being charmed by her, boils his blood. But she’s a demon, and he can’t claim jealousy to something beyond his understanding. So instead, he plays with her.

“Did you play with them?”

They look lovely in my garden! She claps, a macabre type of glee.

Jeonghan reclines on his back, watching the sky above. The earliest tinges of sunlight are starting to bleed into the dark night, signaling his time to leave.

What's your village like?

The question shocks him. She’s never asked about the world beyond the trees. A comment about something he brought with him such as a book or a treat for her to try. But she only cared about what came into her realm, not what existed outside it.

“Like any other I suppose.”

How do you explain something as familiar as the back of your hand, to someone who doesn’t even know what a hand is?

She snorts, continuing to brush her hair with a comb Jeonghan refuses to think more of. Very helpful.

“It’s a village, with lots of people. And when the spring comes, people hang garlands of flowers everywhere. It’s beautiful.”

Beautiful…

She ponders the imagine, silent for the first time this night.

Pressing his luck, Jeonghan continues.

“You’d just have to see it to understand.”

When she dunks into the water as he leaves, there’s a sadness hanging around her shoulders like a lead weight.

—

“Hannie! Jeonghan!” The gruff of his father’s shouts floods his ear. “Wake up boy!”

Bolting up, Jeonghan throws his eyes around the room wildly, expect a fire due to the urgency of his rising.

“What?” He croaks.

“There’s a girl downstairs. Says she’s your friend.”

Eyebrows curled in confusion, lips twisted sourly, Jeonghan responds. “A friend?”

Perhaps one of the girls in town misinterpreted his kindness again. But Jeonghan hadn’t give any of them more attention than was due since regularly visiting his lake, consumed by the being who ruled it. Whoever this “friend” is should pray his exhaustion will stifle his reprimand.

Shouldering around his father, Jeonghan stomps down the rickety stairs to the foyer. A biting remark hot on his tongue, shoulders square with anger.

But it all melts into shock when he sees a a head of inky hair, wide curios eyes, and legs dripping onto the wooden floor in front of the fire. A familiar brown wool blanket cloaks her figure, the one Jeonghan tucked into a tree by the lake for colder nights.

She isn’t looking at him, but rather the blazing hearth heating his home. She stares as if there’s never been a larger miracle than the flames licking towards her, round face illumined with the warm glow. 

Jeonghan’s grunt of surprise turns her around swiftly. 

And he’s greeted with the same beautiful smile and bell like voice he’d recognize anywhere.

“I wanted to see.”

—

There were monsters in the lake.

That’s what Hwamin’s mom tells her.

Since the beginning of the earth, the monsters dwelled in the lake, blessed to laugh and play for eternity. However, overtime, they would leave one by one, exiting the line of trees without looking back. Until only one monster remained. She vowed never to forsake her watery kingdom like her sisters before her.

And she didn’t.

Until the monster fell in love with a man who visited her every night under a sly moon. 

And when his words weren’t enough, when she wished to see his world beyond her own, the monster left her lake and married him.

Hwamin’s eventually stops listening to her mother’s bed time stories because her father always interrupts from the door of her room with a laugh before crossing to kiss her mother in the gross way grown ups do that makes Hwamin green in the face.

She doesn’t really understand what’s so special about the lake in the woods anyway. Or why her mom pretends she isn’t crying when they visit it on her birthday.

[indigofyrebird]

We Should all Burn Together

634 words

Warnings: angst! swearing!

Crosshair stood watching the flames as they died down into ash, the wreckage of the Marauder sinking into the ocean. Wrecker was in recovery. Crosshair had watched his shallow breaths for some time, eyes glazed over with a bone deep fatigue, before excusing himself. Hunter remained at his bedside. 

The night felt endless. Darkness moved around him like an organic being, stalked him. Bits of ash floated around him, settling on his armor, sliding off. Fire, reflecting in his eyes, danced orange and yellow. Crosshair shivered.

The shot. What made him think he was going to make it in the first place? By now, he'd realized his shooting hand was worthless. Omega had trusted him, and instead, he had watched, helpless as she was loaded up, taken. 

He wished that Hunter had berated him, cursed him for his error, but he hadn't. His silence was much worse. Crosshair could read between the lines of silence. He had known Hunter all his life, knew what dark thoughts must be churning behind his eyes. The shake began slowly, and Crosshair clamped his left hand down on his right. Fucking hand. 

Turning slowly from the scene, he walked. The further he got from the wreckage and the docks, the quieter it became. The darkness stretched out over the ocean, smoke and fire at his back. Waves moved in and out with no moonlight to show their existence. 

He walked until he couldn't see the light from the docks. The ocean surged gently, the sound quiet, peaceful. 

Crosshair held his shaking hand close, cursed it. He wished he could tear it off, be rid of it. 

Loneliness was his companion tonight, and he leaned into it. He thought of their ship and then of their pilot. Tech's face, behind his large goggles came to mind. Gone, like the Marauder. Crosshair closed his eyes, swallowing painfully around the lump that had formed. 

He didn't see the dark shape that appeared at his side until Hunter spoke.

"You should get some sleep, Cross," Hunter's voice was impossibly gentle. 

Crosshair made a dismissive snort. "I'm fine."

"Sure you are." Hunter took his arm, and Crosshair looked at him. The tattooed half of his face was barely visible, but his eyes shone in the dark. Tired eyes, Crosshair thought. 

"Why aren't you asleep?" 

"Can't sleep." Not until I know everyone's safe, went unsaid. Hunter, their ever vigilant leader. Crosshair sighed. 

"Wrecker...?" Crosshair asked, glancing back up the beach.

"He'll be fine. You need sleep."

Crosshair looked at the arm still linked with his, heard the care in his words, and tears came. He didn't deserve care. He didn't. With a shaking hand, he wiped his face. 

"Hunter, I have a plan. Tomorrow..." his voice shook. "Tomorrow, I'm contacting Rampart. He..he can get me into Tantiss." 

"What do you mean...alone?" Hunter's eyes were wide, his hand a vice on Crosshair's arm. 

"Like FUCK you're going alone." Hunter's voice was loud enough that Crosshair jumped, startled out of his thoughts. "We're waiting until Wreck is up and then we'll do it. TOGETHER." 

Crosshair stared at Hunter, mouth attempting to form words, failing. 

He could tell the time by the way the sky over the water had just started to lighten. They'd been up all night. He knew he wouldn't argue with Hunter, not here. He wanted Hunter to sleep. 

He allowed Hunter to lead him back the way they'd come. The fires that still burned reflected off the wet sand as they walked. Fumes and smoke from the burnt engine parts swirled around them, and they coughed, wiping their eyes. 

Together, they watched as more and more of their ship disappeared into the sea, Hunter leaning on Crosshair just as much, and they turned their backs on the wreckage as one.

[afewproblems]

In My Heart is a Memory (And There You'll Always Be) Part One

So! Awhile back now I received an anonymous prompt - which I can't post all of (yet) since it will spoil this new WIP which has gotten away from me in terms of length (as always). Needless to say we begin with Steddie childhood friends AU and continue from there!

Thank you to the nonny who sent me this beautiful prompt, I can't wait to take you on this journey!

Steve never thought it would end this way. 

He tries desperately again to loosen the fishing line that has wrapped itself around his foot, trapping him in the frigid grey water. Steve paddles up again to take a deeper breath only to find that he's unable to fully breach the surface enough to breathe.

He gulps down a mixture of water and air, sputtering as it hits his lungs and chokes his throat. He realises, deliriously, that he might actually die here, alone in the woods at twelve years old. 

This is why his mother had forbidden him from swimming in the lake, especially by himself; she had told him a million times not to go down there alone. 

Steve slips under again, watching as the last few bubbles of air fly towards the surface above him, his vision begins to tunnel as he belatedly wishes he had thought to tell someone that he was going to lovers lake that afternoon. 

Two strong hands suddenly appear on both sides of him, grasping Steve by the arms, hauling him out of the water. 

"Shit, he's caught on something, Ed, hand me my knife, hurry," a gruff voice says as Steve is dragged into a boat, he sputters and coughs, gasping for air as his lungs burn and seize.

"Is he okay?" another younger voice says anxiously. 

Steve opens his eyes just enough to find a wide pair of brown eyes staring back at him, a boy with a mop of curly hair sits beside Steve, he chews his lip nervously as the older man works on cutting away the tangle of old fishing line that had caught Steve earlier.

"This is why we always take our lines with us instead of leavin' em in the lake," the older man huffs as he severs the last knot holding Steve's leg, "he should be okay, you're lucky we were here kid".

All Steve can do is nod, his chest and throat still sore from his near drowning.

The other boy, Ed, inches closer but doesn't touch him, he looks around the boat with raised hands as though looking for some way to help.

"I think we're done fishing for today," the old man huffs, if he's anxious his voice doesn't show it, but Steve can see the worry in his dark eyes. 

"Give him your coat Ed, let's bring our catch home to warm up".

The words seem to jumpstart the other boy as he hurriedly shrugs off his jean jacket and draps it clumsily over Steve's shoulders.

"You got a name kid?" the man asks gently before his expression finally shifts to one of panic, "aw hell, we gotta warm you up, you ain't even shivering". 

"His lips are blue," Ed blurts out, his brow pinched with worry, "Wayne--"

"I see it, sit with him would ya, I'll get the engine going again," Wayne grunts out as he switches places with Eddie. The boat tips slightly as they move making Steve hiss as cold water tips over the side and onto his legs. 

"My name's Eddie," the teen yells over the roar of the engine motor as it jumps to life; he sits down on the bench across from him, "what's your name?"

"S-Steve," he manages to get out between chattering teeth, his body finally beginning to shake in an attempt to warm itself back up.

"Don't worry," Eddie murmurs sagely, "we'll take care of you, right Uncle Wayne?"

Wayne nods with a tight smile as he begins to steer the boat back to shore.

"I don't need the hospital," Steve grumbles from the back seat of the pickup truck, eliciting an exaggerated eye roll from Wayne in the rearview mirror.

Heat blasts from the vents as soon as they pull away from the dirt side road by the docks and Steve is finally starting to warm up. Wayne had helped him step his shaking limbs into his discarded clothing they found on docks, but his damp swim shorts had soaked through his jeans, leaving a small persistent shiver running through him.

"We ain't leaving it to chance kid," Wayne grouses at him, "you inhaled a lot of lake water back there and I've spent enough time in a boat to know you need to be checked out by a professional".

Steve pouts in the back seat next to Eddie who looks between Steve and his uncle with a sharp furrow between his brow.

"Couldn't we take him to our place Wayne, we can look after him there," Eddie says with a toothy grin, he winks at Steve before catching Wayne's unimpressed glare in the rearview mirror.

"No, hospital first," he grumbles but the words are without heat and if the fond smile is anything to go by, Wayne seems more exasperated than angry.

Which is good. 

Steve can't begin to picture how angry his own dad will be when he gets home. 

Maybe enough for the belt again.

He shivers again and feels a bony shoulder connect lightly with his own; Steve looks up to find Eddie staring again, this time with a shy smile.

"You good," Eddie asks, a hint of nervousness in his voice, "sorry 'bout him".

He holds up one hand to block Wayne's vision of Eddie's face and points towards his uncle into the palm of his hand, "the old man’s stubborn sometimes".

The absurdity startles a wild giggle out of Steve that Eddie soon matches.

Wayne keeps driving, his eyes travelling between the road and the rearview mirror at the two boys giggling in the backseat. Wayne shakes his head and smiles slightly as they pull onto Main Street.

"Are you at Hawkins Middle? I don't know if I've seen you there before," Eddie asks abruptly, interrupting the laughter.

"I'm going to the highschool next year which is kind of cool," Eddie continues, not waiting for Steve to answer which is almost a relief given the strange exhaustion settling in Steve’s bones the longer they sit there. 

"I heard from one of the other older kids at the tra--the park that there are a ton of clubs to join and even one for Dungeons and Dragons --you heard of it?"

Steve shakes his head, "is that like a board game or something?" 

Eddie barks out a laugh and launches into an explanation, the words tumbling out at a mile a minute to the point that Steve isn't sure what he's even talking about anymore.

"And you use your character traits to help decide what to do, then the roll you get from your dice determines if you are successful or not!" 

Steve frowns slightly, it doesn't sound like any board games he's ever heard of but it has dice, what else could it be? 

"It's hard to explain without like showing you the books," Eddie admits, picking at a stray thread from the hole in his jeans, "I'll show you later at school, maybe?" 

Steve can count on one hand the number of times he's actually been invited to hang out or play with another kid over the years that wasn't orchestrated by his mother.

He's not much for board games, but if that's what Eddie's inviting him to play, who is Steve to say no? 

"Do you get to fight Dragons? Like a knight?" Steve asks quietly, his throat still sore from earlier. He laughs when Eddie nods so excitedly his whole body practically vibrates before jumping into a new explanation of the different characters people could play.

Steve spends the whole time listening with a wide grin on his face. He doesn't think he's ever met someone who talks so much, but Eddie has so much to say and he wants to tell Steve of all people. 

He's too tired to add anything himself, the adrenalin from earlier seems to flow out of him, sinking into the back seat.

"Do you have Newson for English?" Eddie asks as they enter the hospital and Wayne takes them to the counter, he speaks with the nurse at the Emergency Room intake desk in a hushed voice, letting Steve and Eddie continue their conversation.

Steve shakes his head, feeling suddenly warm, much too warm and tired.

"Maybe we have the same lunch period, I want to show you the players handbook on Monday," Eddie practically vibrates beside him with excitement, "you can sit at my table and…Steve?" 

Eddie suddenly sounds so far away, Steve struggles to stay upright and sways heavily into the other boy's side. 

"Steve?!"

There's a commotion around him, people yelling and touching him suddenly, but he doesn't want that. He's so warm, it's hard to think, his vision begins to tunnel again.

The last thing he sees as a pair of gentle hands lay him down is Eddie worried brown eyes staring into his own as his world goes dark.

***

The first thing Steve realises when he wakes up, is that he's in a hospital bed.

The second is that he's alone.

The steady beat of the heart rate monitor almost lulls him back to sleep but he fights to stay awake. 

Steve peers around the room, spotting his mothers coat and purse on the chair in the corner. 

Shit. 

This is what he was hoping to avoid, his parents finding out he deliberately disobeyed their rules and landed himself in the hospital. 

Steve tries to sit up but the movement pulls at the strange tubing around his face and the IV in his arm. He hisses at the tug of the needle and flops back down against the flat pillow behind his head.

The heart rate monitor ticks up slightly at the movement, seemingly calling out to the nurses at the station outside.

As if on cue, a nurse steps into the room, followed by his mother. 

Diane Harrington always looked put together. Pearls, heels, never a hair out of place.

Today however, Diane's pale wane face stares at Steve in stony silence. No makeup, her hair sits flat against her head. A fine tremor runs over her clenched hands but she smooths down the front of her shirt to hide it.

"Looks like someone's awake," the nurse says with a kind smile. 

She picks up the chart at the edge of the bed as his mother walks around to the chair that has been pulled up closest to Steve's side. She doesn't sit.

The nurse is around his mom’s age, maybe a little older if the laugh lines around her mouth are any indication. Her blond hair is streaked with grey as well and pinned back to let the small white hat sit properly on top. Her light brown eyes trace over the page of his chart and a slight crease begins to form between them as she frowns slightly.

"What is it?" Diane says, the words come out smoothly; Steve tries to make eye contact with her, to see just how mad she is about this, how mad his dad will be when they get home, but she ignores his gaze.

"The doctor will be in shortly, he'll explain," she says apologetically before placing the chart back down at the edge of the bed.

"Steven," the nurse says softly as she walks towards him, on the side opposite his mother, "my name is Claudia, and myself and Doctor Sattler will be taking care of you today".

Steve nods, suddenly shy as Claudia reaches into the pocket of her white apron and shows Steve a long black tube with a shiny metal circle at one end, the other is split down the middle into two angled sections at the other end.

"Steven, this is a Stethoscope, I'm going to use it to listen to your heart and your lungs, so I'm going to need you to sit up, can you do that for me?" 

He nods and begins to shift, slowly this time to avoid jostling the IV this time. 

"Steven," Diane says sharply from her place beside the bed, she still isn't looking at him, "you need to answer when you're asked a question."

"Sorry," he mumbles, abashed at his mother's words.

Claudia's frown returns as her eyes dart between Steve and Diane, but she remains silent and simply places the stethoscope into her ears.

"This will be a little cold," Claudia warns as she lifts up his shirt to place the metal against his back, "okay, you're going to give me a big deep breath," she instructs softly, giving him a smile.

Steve breathes in, it's not painful, but there's an awful pressure in his chest that makes him wince, the strange whistling sound his breath makes also doesn't help.  

Claudia must notice because she tuts and tells him she just needs a few more breaths from him.

She moves the metal from his back to his chest and asks him to take two more deep breaths for her, on the last one his chest spasms and his throat constricts just enough to make him begin to cough horribly. 

Steve doubles over, uncaring this time of the pull on the IV, he can't seem to catch his breath this time.

Steve registers his mother and Claudia trying to speak to him and a gentle hand on his back rubbing in a soothing circle but all Steve can think is, I can't breathe, as he coughs up a glob of frothy pink liquid into the sheets covering his legs.

The steady beep of the heart rate monitor begins to increase to a constant frantic pulse, I can’t breathe, he wants to scream but his throat constricts around the words, it feels as though an elephant has sat itself in the middle of his chest as he registers something being pressed to his mouth and nose.

"Try to take a deep breath, one mississippi, two mississippi, that's it sweetheart," Claudia pats his back gently and keeps a steady hold of the mask over his face.

The pressure in his chest slowly begins to relent as he follows Claudia’s direction, one mississippi, two mississippi, in and out. The constant puff of air around his nose and mouth seems to finally be helping.

"You're going to give us even more grey hair before we discharge you huh kiddo," a new voice rumbles from the door.

Steve looks up wearily at a man in a white coat with horn rimmed glasses staring down at him. There is a kind smile on his face, much like the one Wayne had when he helped Steve exit their truck earlier that day. 

Was it still Saturday? Steve looks around again for the window, he could have sworn it was still light out.

"What are you giving him?" Diane whispers above Steve, she hazards a brief glance at him before looking back at the doctor who lifts a syringe to pump something into the IV tubing, but Steve isn’t paying attention, he’s trying to find the clock he had seen earlier on the far wall.

"Just something to help him breathe a little easier, that's all," the man says gently as he takes Steve's chart from the end of the bed where Claudia had left it.

"BP is a little low," Claudia murmurs, she lets go of the mask and lays Steve back down onto the bed, smoothing his hair back lightly as she leaves his bedside.

"Steven, my name is Dr. Sattler, I heard you had an interesting morning today?" 

Dr. Sattler gives Steve and his mother a warm smile as he places the chart back down on the bed, he eyes the machines at the bedside for a moment before taking Steve’s wrist gently in his hand and lifting the face of his watch up to meet his eyes.

He nods and lays Steve’s hand back down onto the bed, above the covers. 

Suddenly a bright light is shining into Steve's eyes, he winces slightly as it moves quickly, “Steven, can you tell me if you hit your head at all when you were in the lake today?” 

Steve tries to think back to the lake. He remembers getting his foot caught in the discarded fishing line, the feeling of water running down the back of his throat, filling his nose; the way the light began to fade as he sank down--

“Steven?” Dr. Sattler prompts again, his brow creases in the barest of frowns.

Steve swallows once and shakes his head as a shrill beeping noise fills the room, everyone flinches, whirling around to the machines before Steve's mother snatches her purse from the nearby chair and rips the buzzing pager out to turn it off.

She glares at the message, "I need to make a call, I'll be back". 

Dr. Sattler frowns but steps aside to allow Diane to sweep out of the room.

"Well Steven-"

"Can you call me Steve?" He asks, the words so quiet that Dr. Sattler and Claudia both tilt towards him to hear.

The doctor reaches for the chart again, his eyes flick to Claudia once before landing back on Steve with a small patient smile.

"Of course, Steve," he says deliberately before clearing his throat, "I'll wait for your mother to come back to go over our plan for you okay?" 

"Are you," he whispers, "am I going to need a shot?" Claudia tuts this time, coming around to the side of the bed to brush his hair away from his forehead, "you were so brave for your IV," she says brightly, "if you need another I'll hold your hand, how does that sound?" Steve blushes as his little face scrunches into a grimace. He knows he wasn't awake when they gave him the IV.

After a beat, he shakes his head, "It's okay, I'm not a baby". Claudia purses her lips and pats his hand gently, "I don't like needles either, sometimes I need someone to hold my hand, no shame in it, okay?"

Steve chews on that thought for a moment, rolling it around in his head, why would adults be scared of anything?

His dad had made it perfectly clear over the years what real men were like, and being afraid of things never once made the list.

Steve looks up at the nurse and meets her kind eyes, a softer brown than he'd ever seen before with fine lines in the corners creased into a smile.

"I'd hold your hand, Miss Claudia," Steve agrees eventually.

She smiles at him and pats his hand again before stepping away.

"I'll go find your mother, there's only one payphone on this floor so she can't be far," she asserts to Steve before making her way to the door. She whispers something to Dr. Sattler on her way out before disappearing through the door.

"While nurse Henderson tracks down your mother, I'll see if radiology has your scans ready, sit tight kiddo”.

Steve nods as the doctor tries for a small reassuring smile but the effect is lost in the tightness around his eyes. Dr. Sattler pushes open the door which swings back and forth as he disappears into the hallway, leaving Steve to lay back against the flat pillows and scratchy hospital sheets, with only the steady sound of the monitors and the clock on the wall to keep him company.  

A new wave of exhaustion sweeps over him suddenly, now that he’s alone. 

He wishes Eddie had managed to convince his uncle to let them just go back to their place, he would have been okay if they had just stayed in the truck - he probably wouldn’t have passed out if they had just gone to Eddie’s house.

Steve glares at the ceiling at the unfairness of it all, a small part of him knows that it’s for the best that Dr. Sattler and Miss Claudia are looking after him now, but what will his dad say about the hospital bills, or the bed rest?

He’s not sure how much time has passed. It’s been harder to keep track of here without a proper clock in the room but the sun has moved, carving long shadows in his room in between the copper evening light. He must have drifted off at some point since his mother has suddenly returned as well as Dr, Sattler. 

Miss Claudia is nowhere to be found and Steve finds himself feeling rather bereft at her absence. 

Diane Harrington stands beside his bed, her hands wrapped so tightly around the strap of her purse that her manicured nails dig into the palms of her hands and her knuckles have been stained white.  

Dr. Sattler stands in front of a large box affixed to the wall, it’s lit up with two translucent black and white images on it that the doctor keeps pointing to different areas of the strange lumpy white images while he talks.

“To put it simply, Mrs. Harrington, it’s not good”.

Oh.

Steve feels as though the bed beneath him has dropped away while Doctor Sattler continues speaking. 

Steve had aspirated a lot of water into his lungs while in the lake and was already in the beginning stages of pneumonia because of it. So Steve would need to stay on his course of antibiotics and oxygen for at least a week to let his lungs heal and rest as much as possible. 

Diane’s expression does not shift during the conversation, remaining artfully neutral the entire visit. She nods and asks questions about Steve’s medication and when he would be allowed to come home.

A flicker of something crosses her face when Dr. Sattler mentions the inhaler Steve would likely need to carry with him at all times.

“For how long?” she asks sharply as Dr. Sattler flips through Steve’s chart once more.

He hums and purses his lips, “honestly, it depends, he could need it for a few months, he could need it for the rest of his life,” he shakes his head and sets down the chart, “we need to see how his lungs look after the inflammation goes down to really be sure”.

“What does that mean?” Steve blurts out, drawing their gaze towards him. 

Steve bristles slightly as Diane shoots him the barest of glares. He’s the one in the hospital bed, he can’t even ask questions about what will happen to him?

“The tissue in the lungs is very sensitive and delicate,” Dr. Sattler continues, his words come out slowly as though he is carefully sifting through to choose the best ones, “so, what that means is you may need medication to help your lungs function properly”.

“Steven’s father was hoping for him to join the varsity swim team in the next few years,” Diane says wearily, the first hint of emotion finally seeping into her voice as she sinks into the chair holding her purse. 

Steve winces. 

It’s no secret that his father’s goal for Steve, his…expectation, is for his son to follow his example to the letter. 

Varsity swimming --perhaps even basketball if he takes after his father’s lithe frame of six foot two. Get into college on an athletics scholarship, graduate with a business degree to eventually take over the family business --not that Richard has ever once explained just exactly what he does for a living. 

Steve would then marry a nice girl, one he'll meet at college since Hawkins won't have any girls good enough for the Harringtons, and eventually pump out two grandkids for Diane to fawn over.

This was the plan for Steve’s life, there was no room for error.

“Mrs. Harrington, there’s no reason to think he won’t be able to do these things--”

But the words fall flat as Steve’s mother gets up from her chair and stalks out of the room, leaving a wake of disappointment and silence behind her. 

A lump begins to form in Steve’s throat and he tries to blink away the harsh sting in his eyes. He knew he shouldn’t have gone to the lake that morning, he’d been told so many times never to go by himself, not when the Harringtons had their own beautiful inground pool installed just three summers ago. 

Dr. Sattler breathes out a long weighty sigh and lifts a hand to scratch at a missed patch of stubble on his chin.

He looks between the closed door and back at Steve, seeming to make a decision.

"Okay son," Doctor Sattler sighs, "you're going to hear things over the years about what you will or won't be able to do".

Steve lifts his hand up to wipe at his eyes as discreetly as he can with the doctor at the edge of his bed and nods.

"This does not need to define you, there are plenty of athletes out there with lung conditions and I would encourage you to keep active, it might actually benefit you to do so". 

Steve manages to hold back a scoff just barely and nods, dropping his gaze to his feet beneath the blankets.

"I'm not saying you need to go out and run a marathon," Doctor Sattler says dryly at the incredulous expression on his face.

"But you will need to keep them strong and exercise will help with that, so if you like swimming, keep swimming, okay kid?"

He pauses again and adds, "no smoking while you're at it". 

Steve's mouth drops open in protest, he's never smoked, well, not a full cigarette at least.

One of the neighbour kids, Tommy, had smuggled cigarettes out of his dad’s pants pocket and taken them to school for everyone to try. Steve had nearly thrown up at the taste and the feel of acrid smoke filling his nose and mouth.Tommy had laughed so hard about Steve spitting into the grass outside the baseball dugout and proceeded to tell everyone he could find. 

Steve still associated the taste of cigarettes with Tommy's laugh, the sound turning his stomach just as easily now.

Steve shakes his head under the doctor's unimpressed gaze, "I-I dont--"

Doctor Sattler raises his eyebrow and cuts Steve off with a sweep of his hand, "sure son, just make sure you don't continue, especially because your lungs are still growing and we want to capitalize on that as much as possible".

The doctor pats Steve's shoulder awkwardly, letting his heavy hand rest briefly before he turns away towards the door once more. 

"Anyway, I have a feeling you'll be getting a few more lectures in the future so that's enough out of me, you best settle in kiddo, you'll be here for at least a week".

Steve nods tiredly, he can hear his dad's voice in his head now, 'this is the stupidest thing you've ever done Steven--'

"Get some rest, no sense worrying about it now," Doctor Sattler says as he slips out into the hallway without a knowing furrowed brow.

And with that Steve is alone once more. 

The light outside his window is beginning to fade into the horizon; he wonders belatedly if Eddie will look for him on Monday.

Steve rolls over, ignoring the new sting behind his eyes and the heaviness in his lungs as he wonders how he can miss someone he just met this much.

Part Two Now Up!

[dahliarosebud]

- Love Is A War Series - Aemond x Reader

• Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

Part 7 Part 8 Part 9

• MAIN-MASTER-LIST

• HOTD-MASTER-LIST

Warnings: gore, death, kissing, fighting/violence

Synopsis: You have just arrived from your morning outing only to be told by your father you have to go back to King’s Landing for court. There you see your secret lover, but more pressing matters arise - the true heir of Driftmark and when the Jace and Luke’s legitimacy is questioned tension suffocates the room.

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

As I landed on the courtyard and jumped from Selene’s saddle my father stomped towards me. ”Come Y/n we are going to court.” He grabbed my wrist gently and dragged me behind him.

“What father why? I have only just gotten back surely I should change?” I rushed exasperatedly behind him as we continued onto the docks. We stopped as people were finishing up loading the ship. 

The boys, Rhaena and the nurse stood with Rhaenyra as they waited patiently. My father pulled me over and stood next to his wife. She leaned over and smiled at me in a motherly sense. She has tried to take over the role of my mother and provide me that comfort, but it wasn’t the same.

We boarded the boat the waves already softly swaying us. The wind was harsh and bitter. I stood on the deck and let my hand skim the breeze over the rails. Humming softly at the occasional splashing spray of water, fresh and awakening.

I pulled my hand back over as I heard the familiar footsteps of my cousin Jacerys. We had gotten closer over the years, forgiveness is a virtue. His hand met my shoulder with a gentle squeeze. 

I turned and smiled at him, which he returned. “I heard you’re learning the old tongue.” He looked down and I laughed. 

“Hardly. I keep forgetting or can’t get my words out fast enough,” he confessed with a frustrated sigh. “Where were you this morning, you missed breakfast and you usually join me for my lessons with the maester?”

“I just went for a ride with Selene, to get away from Dragonstone for while,” my voice was quiet as I turned back around. The boy behind me hummed and walked away back to his brothers.

I did feel guilty for keeping secrets. I mean my stomach drops every time my father catches me returning or asks where I have been. I looked down back to watching the sloshing sea. Skimming my fingers over the scar that remains on my forehead.

The boat jostled as it came to a stop and we all piled off. I stood and watched amidst the chaos of people unloading the ship, the bustle of the red keep, the chatter of King’s Landing. 

The carriage rocked as we arrived at the dreaded place. “All hail Rhaenyra of house Targaryen. Princess of Dragonstone and heir to the Iron Throne and her royal consort, Prince Daemon Targaryen.” Rhaenyra pushed open the carriage door. We all filed out after her and my father awaiting to be received. 

My father and Rhaenyra walked away with baby Aegon and Viserys to go meet the king. Suddenly I felt myself being pulled along again. I walked in tow with my two cousins as we ventured down to the training yard. 

I giggled as we raced down the steps. Our feet slapped down onto the all to familiar gravel ground. I remember how my day was a constant beige and grey when my father sent me here to live: I was separated from those I loved , but my heart grew to love another in the end.

People turned and looked - their burning eyes trailed the path where our feet once were. Luke and I stopped at the weapons table as Jace laughed aloud seeing the dent where Luke had once injured him self. 

He sauntered back over, shoulders still shaking from reminiscent giggles, “See? I told you this would still be here. And you thought you could swing Criston’s morning star. And you almost took your own head off,” he spoke boisterously as he ruffled his younger brother’s hair.

My eyes followed the way my finger dragged across the rusted blade. Inhaling the permeated air deeply as I remembered how we would all have to spar each other. I looked up my gaze catching the way Lucerys’s eyes lingered on the people bustling in the yard.

“What is wrong,” I spoke gently resting my hand onto the younger boys shoulder. I chewed the inside of my cheek as I felt him tense under my touch. Jace’s head popped into the corner of my eye, my concern catching his attention.

“People keep staring at us,” he whispered lowering his head in un-hidden shame. He turned to look at his brother who had jumped into a mocking fighting stance, a sword in hand. I covered my mouth as I laughed at his antics. 

I turned away from them as the peering people began making a crowd. I squinted trying to get my eyes to focus, I smiled once I saw that blonde hair. I quickly walked forward, pushing my way through the crowd. My hands clasped in front of me, a feverish smile painted on my face.

The crack of wood from his shield made me jump, my heart racing in excitement. I felt the boys join my side. Their gasps and gawking faces made me chuckle inwardly. 

He had finally swung around so we could see his face. The eye patch stuck out as a sickening reminder. I could basically feel their anxiety, the way their chest squeezed as they realised it was Aemond.

I felt pride as he dodged every blow and the way he pressed his sword into the prick’s collar bone. “Well done my prince. You will be winning tourneys in no time,” Ser Criston panted. Aemond pressed the tip of his blade further into his clothed collar bone.

“I don’t give a shit about tourneys,” he spoke clear and loud, “Nephews...have you come to train?” He lowered his sword allowing the handle to spin in his hand. I felt Jace shift uncomfortably next to me. Aemond’s eye imprinting itself into his fear.

“Open the gate!” A guard called. The old creaking wood was heaved open. The whole yard stood and watched as Lord Vaemond Velaryon walked in cockily, banner men surrounding him in a nod of his immense pride. My eyes followed him, not missing the way he stared down Luke.

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

I giggled as he pulled me through the large doors. His chambers were a warm orange from the glowing fire. He gently pushed me into the wall staring deeply into my eyes as I looked at him under my lashes. 

A love sick smile on both of our faces. He leaned in closer to my faces, hesitating for a second, drinking in my presence. Finally he planted his lips onto mine feverishly, heavy and lustful. His arms bracing him, hands either side of my head. My mind swimming with the imagination of how the muscles of his back contorted at this lude position. 

His lips left mine to kiss under jaw. Continuing to trail kisses down my neck till he reached my slightly exposed collar bone, “Aemond.” I whsiperd as I threaded my fingers into the silver hair at the back of his head. He pulled away, reaching forward and pulled my necklace from under my garments. 

The cold sun pendent, dainty between his finger tips. He smiled softly as he admired the jewellery. Dropping the small golden sun, now opting to twirl a piece of my hair around his finger, enjoying the way my soft hair wrapped around him.

“I missed you,” he whispered sweetly. His breath fanning across my face. I observed the way his glowing skin passionately received the glowing orange of the warming fire . I watched the way he focused on playing with the section of my hair, to savour the moment.

“You only just saw me this morning,” I sighed contently. Brushing my thumb gingerly across the soft supple skin of his cool cheek. If you looked closely they were still splattered with freckles, not as prominent as when we were younger, but still just as breathtakingly beautiful. 

He pulled away leaning back in. This kiss was slow, something so unspoken about this kiss like if we questioned it fully we would be entering dangerous water. The loving mystery behind it was so enamouring why would I want to question it? 

We pulled apart, hardly any room left between us. My body yearning for more. His slim fingers lifted my chin, thumb pulling down my bottom lip ever so slightly. So teasing, but so good. It has me swooning.

“Come on my love, time to go to court.”

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

The room was stuffy as we entered the great hall. All sides of the room cramped with nobles, and those with high blood status. I ground my teeth in a slow burning annoyance seeing Otto Hightower sat on my uncle’s throne.

“Though it is the great hope of this court that Lord Corlys Velaryon survive his wounds, we gather here with the grim task of dealing with the succession of Driftmark. As hand I speak with the King’s voice on this and all other matters. The crown will now hear the petitions. Ser Vaemond of House Valaryon.”

The man’s heavy steps vibrated the room. HIs mean gaze ghosted across my family and I. I ground my teeth harder as vile words came to mind. Oh so many to describe him with, such a shame I must hold my tongue. 

“My Queen. My Lord Hand. The history of our noble houses extends beyond the Seven Kingdoms to Old Valaryia. For as long as House Targaryen has ruled the skies, House Valaryon has ruled the seas. When the Doom fell on Valyria, our houses became last of their kind. Our forbearers came to this new land, knowing that were they to fail, it would mean the end to their blood lines and their name. I have spent-”

I rolled my eyes as he began promoting his claim to Driftmark as if we have all never heard it before. I tilted my neck awaiting that delicious pop. “AS it does in my sons, the offspring of Laenor Velaryon. If you cared so much about your house’s blood, Ser Vaemond. you would be so bold to supplant its rightful heir. No, you only speak for yourself and for your own ambition,” Rhaenyra cut in, through Vaemond’s ever so ‘reverting’ speech of claim.

“You will have chance to make your own petition, Princess Rhaenyra. Do Ser Vaemond the courtesy of allowing his to be heard.” The Queen cut-in in turn. There was such thick tension it was unbearable.  I felt my eye twitch in annoyance as I saw Aegon’s patronising smirk form across the room, and suddenly we’re eleven again and he is being cruel - like the vile cunt he is and will always be.

“What do you know of Velaryon blood, Princess?” I observed the way Rhaenyra turned her head in disgusted humility. “I could cut my veins and show it to you and you still wouldn’t recognise it. This is about the future and survival of my house not yours. My Queen, my lord hand. This is a matter of blood, not ambition. I place the continuation of the survival of my house and my line above all. I humbly put myself before you as my brother’s successor...the Lord of Driftmark and Lord of the Tides.” 

The room was filled with a mixture of satisfied and snarky faces. My family and I stood cold and firm, yet wavering in the cold wind that brushed past us in appending realisation of who Otto will choose. “Thank you Ser Vaemond,” Hightower’s poison dripping words slipped form his lips. “Princess Rhaenyra, you may now speak for your son, Lucerys Velaryon.”

“If I am to grace this farce with some answer, I will start by reminding the court that nearly twenty-years-ago, in this very...” The doors squealed open, wailing in ancient misery. We all turned to look at the disruption. 

Two metal men adorned with white cloaks accompanied the dead man walking, pausing just outside the large double doors. The right one bellowed, “King Viserys of House Targrayen, the First of His Name, King of the Andals and the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, and the Protector of the Realm.” The room grew silent, but the echo of the rotting man’s cane haunted it falling on deaf ears. 

Otto Hightower stood from the throne in pure shock. Rhaenyra was teary eyed watching as her father descended the steps. Overall it was Alicent’s worry that painted her face that caught  my attention. She seemed scared, fearing for the King, her husband. The candles seemed to flicker more, painting sickly and ghostly shadows over the large expanse of the walls. The fires grew brighter with everyone’s impending shock, drinking it, taking it in like liquor. 

You could feel how each and everyone of us held our breaths as the crown came clattering to the floor. Only now did I notice that my father followed behind my uncle. I chewed the inside of my cheek as I watched him pick up his brother’s crown, proceeding to steadily follow behind Viserys’s haggard steps. 

With a groaning wail the king fell to his throne, mouth agape with heavy breath as my father placed the crown back onto the rightful head. Finally, everyone can breathe again. Cold air flooding back into my lungs as the intoxicated fire dimmed back down to its mellow orange. 

“I must...admit...my confusion. I do not understand why petitions are being heard over a settled succession. The only one present...who might offer keener insight into Lord Corlys’s wishes is the Princess Rhaenys.” The gathering all turned to look at my grandmother. Her held was held high, her back straight. The gracious lady I’ve always known stood tall and strong.

“Indeed your Grace,” she walked out to the front, head still held high. “It was forever my husband’s will that Driftmark, pass through Ser Laenor to his true born son...Lucerys Velaryon. His mind never changed. Nor did my support of him. As a matter of fact, the Princess Rhaenyra has just informed me of her desire to marry her sons Jace and Luke to Lord Corlys’s granddaughters, Baela and Rhaena. A proposal to which I heartily agree.” I smiled at both of my sisters with pride and happinesss at their good fortune. 

“Well...the matter is settled. Again. I hereby reaffirm Prince Lucerys of House Velaryon as heir to Driftmark, the Driftwood Throne and next Lord of the Tides.” My uncle wheezed and rasped out. My grandmother nodded to my step-mother quickly smiling at me as she walked back to stand next to Baela once again.

“You break law...” Vaemond piped back up, anger building and fists balling and un-balling. “and centuries of tradition to install your daughter as heir. Yet you dare tell me...who deserves to inherit the name Velareyon. No. I will not allow it.” I could tell my father was growing bored and agitated by Vaemond’s speech as he shifter from one foot to another. His fingers drumming an unheard beat on the pummel of ‘Dark Sister’. 

“‘Allow it’? Do not forget yourself, Vaemond.” Viserys warned a mighty sneer on his lips. Ready to gut the man in front of him if her dare sully his family’s name, drag his beloved daughter’s name through the mud.

Vaemond turned towards us rapidly. Pointing an accusatory finger in Luke’s face, “That is no true Velaryon, and certainly no nephew of mine!” He turned back to the King, rage bubbling in his voice ready to spill over at any moment.

“Go to your chambers. You have said enough.” Rhaenyra defended.

“Lucerys is my true-born grandson. And you...are no more than the second son of Driftmark,” Viserys panted back, that same calm sneer still on him pale thin lips.

“You...may run your house as you see fit...but you will, not decide the future of mine. My house survived the Doom and a thousand tribulations besides. And Gods be dammed,” he turned back to Lucerys, “I will not see it ended on the account of this...” he stopped him self a wicked smile growing on his lips.

“Say it,” my father practically teased, tempting fate. 

Vaemond’s gazed scanned the two young boys until finally his eyes met their mother’s, “Her children... are bastards!” he called out like a mad man, the insult echoing in  my ears, rattling in my skull. “And she is...a whore.” The court gasps as my family and I bore holes into the mad man’s impertinent head.

“I...” the ‘shing’ of the King’s blade caught our attention, “will have your tongue for that.” The King struggled, but my father had beat him to it. I felt him move quickly from my side, his mighty sword in hand.

He cleanly sliced Vaemond’s head off (at an ugly angle might I add). I covered my mouth with my hand, looking down as I tried to suppress a satisfied chuckle. The court mirrored its earlier action of their horrified gasps. I rolled my eyes lifting my head. My eyes catching Aemond’s who stood across from me, the knowing and admiring smirk on his face as he continued to stare into my eyes before flickering back to my father.

I winced at the squelch the body made as it hit the floor, not missing how Haelena covered her ears and her mother comforted her  daughter. “He can keep his tongue.” my fathers calm and collected voice filled the void. 

“Disarm him!” the guard commanded the sound of their own swords followed in pursuit.

“No need,” my father practically whispered as he walked back to his spot next to me, using his clothes to clean the blade. I looked up at his face offering a smile. His mischievous smirk returned my affections. We all turned back to the king as he groaned in pain people rushing to help him. 

I zoned out as my I watched the way the velvet crimson seeped to the floor. Tainting and staining. A mark shall always be imprinted in the ground and the people present. Always remembered as the man who dared to cross the Targaryens. Fear always following my fathers name a warning always given if it is dared muttered. 

“Y/n,” I was pulled out of my trance as Jace gently grabbed my wrist. “Are you alright?” I turned towards him, my mind clouded by death. I nodded only now noticing how dry my mouth has gotten.

“I feel as if I need to go for a ride with Selene, clear my mind of all...this. Would you care to accompany me?” I questioned smiling over to the young man. He nodded back a caring smile on his face.

[enigmatist17]

Anon Pt 3

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

Ahsoka didn't normally fear her cramped bunk. The Resolute was her home in this war, and being a padawan, she'd been allowed to lightly decorate her space to make it feel closer to her room back in the Temple. However the candles and expansive rug over the floor felt alien, and the bed built into the wall had been raided of its mattress in preference to the floor.

Oppressive heat that climbs as the air grows sparse, limbs growing heavy and fear climbing as they hope the call for help will be answered

Sufficed to say, Ahsoka can't handle the limited space.

So she sleeps on the floor, and for a few weeks just does her best to go back to things as normal. However, when tasked with getting into a fighter for routine flight training, the confined space felt like a death sentence as she managed a few minutes flying around the Resolute.

She's going to die, it's so tight and cold and she has to GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT

"Commander where are you going?!" Rex's voice felt so far away as she sped towards the docking bay, her landing definitely a rough one as some men scramble to get out of her ships way. None of it registers as she heaves herself out of the fighter, collapsing onto the ground while trying to force air into her lungs that screamed for it. There are voices as she's surrounded by a few clones, and Ahsoka hugs her legs to her chest as she ties to make sense of what just happened. It's just all too loud, too jumbled, too much as she presses her forehead against her knees to try and block it all out.

"Okay okay give her some air!" Jesse's commanding voice seems to cut through the clamor like a vibroblade, and his familiar armor is the first thing Ahsoka can look at for longer than a moment as he kneels in front of her and gently nudges her to look up. "Hey, look at me, sir."

"Jesse...?" The other gives Ahsoka a soft smile, and finds himself pushed back onto the floor when Ashoka launched herself into his arms. Propping himself up into a seated position, Jesse motions for someone to get him a canteen while he hugs her close with his other arm.

"You're alright vod'ika, just focus on your breathing." Jesse hopes he's saying the right thing as the commander in his arms struggles to regulate her breathing, but figures he's doing something right when ever so slowly the trembling starts to ease. By the time Rex and the others have all landed and had booked it over, Ahsoka has almost fully stopped trembling as she sipped her water, looking absolutely drained as she's surrounded.

"What happened, is she alright?" Hardcase asked as Rex knelt beside the two, at least relieved not to see any blood or obvious injuries.

"I think she had a panic attack." Jesse replied, the lack of joke from Ahsoka a bit unsettling. "Geonosis if I had to bite."

"How..?" Ahsoka nearly winced at how scratchy her voice was, but was far too exhausted to really care at the moment.

"You've been sleeping on the floor since then, not hard to guess." Fives knelt down, giving a small smile. "If it helps, we get it."

"You know, you're always welcome to come join us." Dogma spoke up, gaining a few looks from the normally quiet man. "It helps us to be around each other for support, and that extends to you."

"Grumpy there is right." Fives grinned, earning a grumble. "Better than being all alone in your bunk right?"

"Well...it does sound nice." Ahsoka hummed, sitting up a little big straighter while remaining in Jesse's hold.

It was the first kind of warmth in weeks that didn't make her skin crawl.

"I'd take them up on it, Rex makes a comfy pillow." Anakin's voice made most of the group jump in surprise, having not seen the Knight come down to the hangar bay. "You alright Snips?"

"i...I've been better." Ahsoka watched as Rex stood to let Anakin take his place, a gloved hand being placed on her shoulder. "It..it was like I was back there, trying to get the stupid comm working and hoping you'd find us."

"You don't have to explain anything to me, I know." Anakin's smile was like a balm, and the dread from a few minutes ago has eased to a reasonable thrum of anxiety in the back of her mind. "Why don't we move to a place that's a little less drafty huh? I'll make some of those biscuits that Obi-Wan makes for you, sound promising?"

"The ones that you make the, what's it called, icing for?" Echo asked curiously, and grins when Anakin nods. "Those are amazing sir."

"I call the first ones!" Hardcase yelled at the same times Fives did, and the two glare in challenge. "I said it first!"

"You did not!" Fives complained, and reaches over to shove Hardcase once he's back on his feet.

"Oh you've done it now!" Hardcase grinned before grabbing Fives and pinning him in a headlock, the others giving the two space to wrestle as Jesse and Ahsoka get up off the floor. Ahsoka watched the good-natured fight while leaning into Jesse's side, laughing a bit when Rex broke them up with an exasperated sigh.

"Come on guys, lets see if you can beat Ahsoka to the first batch." Anakin grinned, and Ahsoka finds herself in the middle of the grouping of 501st soldiers, with Anakin's arm around her shoulders as they walk towards the bay exit. Their laughter and chatter is more soothing than anything Ahsoka could ever hope for, and as they all pile into the elevator, she smiles.

[strangefable]

And the last fic for @detectivelokis's Far Cry 5 Anniversary Exchange, for @sinnerburrito. This one features Sharky Boshaw.

Title: Ponder on the Dock Rating: Gen/light Teen Word Count: 924 3 of 3

The water lapped gently against the shore and the dock. The sky above was littered with stars twinkling merrily. Some distance away, the flicker of the bonfire crackled and danced to its own music. The sounds of laughter and pleasant voices carried across the breeze.

Sharky sank to the wooden slats below his feet and hung his legs out over the edge. He swatted at a stray bug, then set his beer can down beside him. He stared out at the lake, so big and open, but familiar. Too familiar, maybe.

He heaved a sigh. He picked up the beer and took a long pull. He didn't feel nearly drunk enough to go back to the others. To watch her with the new guy. It was embarrassing. He thought this time it had been different, but she hadn't agreed.

He wondered what signs he must have missed. She'd been so harsh when she dumped him, like he should've seen it coming.

Of course he hadn't. Good old oblivious Charlemagne, as always. He grumbled and kicked his leg out, but it met only air above the water.

He grunted. He wanted to throw something. All he had was the beer can. He looked at it. He looked out at the water.

He shook his head at himself. Better not. He took another pull instead. There was hardly any left. He coughed as the air nearly choked him, then crushed the can against the dock.

"This county can feel awful small sometimes."

Sharky jumped at the soft voice behind him. "Wade?"

Wade Fowler smiled and gave him a nod. Then he bent down and sat beside him on the dock. He held out another beer. This one was still dripping from the cooler.

Sharky shrugged and took the offered beer. "Yeah, maybe you're right. But where else is a guy like me gonna go?"

Wade took a sip of his own beer. He lifted one shoulder. "Who knows? Life can be unexpected. You shouldn't worry too much about…" He paused and waved a hand back toward the party. "Well… shit happens, you know?"

Sharky let out a low laugh. "Yeah, I know. Usually it's my fault."

Wade clapped a hand on his back. "Well now, I don't know if I'd go that far."

Sharky gave him a sidelong glance. "You'd be the only one."

Wade grinned. "You're not so bad, Boshaw." He took a drink from his own beer. "Sure, you start a lot of fires, but your heart's in the right place. Mostly. Even Cheeseburger doesn't mind you too much." Wade gave him a wink.

Sharky couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Maybe he just has me confused with a salmon."

Wade let out a long, loud laugh. "See, and you can crack a good joke, too. Like I said, not so bad."

Sharky sighed. He gave a sidelong glance over his shoulder, back toward the party. "She would not agree."

Wade shrugged. "Eh, so what? There's more fish in the lake. Hope County's small, but it's not that small. There's other women. You'll find someone else."

Sharky stared into the water. He didn't speak for several minutes. "I'm not so sure. My luck's pretty shit."

"Being alone isn't the worst, either. Romance isn't all there is to life."

Sharky sighed. Wade was only trying to help. Sharky appreciated it, but he felt hopeless and ashamed. Her words were still rattling around in his head, stinging at him. So many criticisms. Left a man feeling awful unsure.

"Listen, it takes time, I get that. But there's no need to believe when someone shouts their worst opinions of you."

Sharky winced. "So people heard?"

Wade gave a soft laugh. "Yeah, but people would've even if she hadn't shouted loud enough for all the gossips in the trailer park. You know how it is around here."

Sharky nodded. "Yeah, everybody knows everybody. Ugh."

"Again, man, you're not that bad. She's pissed off, don't take it like she's the only one with opinions that matter." He patted Sharky's shoulder. "Let her be mad, but let her go. You're not a bad guy. You're just not her kind of guy."

They sat quietly for a moment longer. Then Wade heaved himself to his feet with a grunt. "Come on back soon, man."

Sharky gave a nod, and tipped his beer can to the other man. Wade smiled and turned and walked away, leaving Sharky to stare out across the water a while longer.

The wind blew softly. The stars kept on twinkling above. The bonfire crackled in the distance. The water lapped against the shoreline and the dock beneath him. Crickets chirped. An owl hooted somewhere in the trees, the sound carrying across the water. The night air was crisp and cool, soothing against his skin.

He had to admit, the view was still beautiful when you stopped and remembered to look. That was one thing to hold onto. He'd try to take Wade's words to heart, but it wasn't like she'd been the first to tell him all his faults.

Still, if Wade Fowler didn't think he was a bad guy, that had to count for something. Maybe other people even thought the same. A guy could hope, at least.

Yeah, he'd go back in a minute. She couldn't scare him away. A man has to have some pride, even if he's only pretending. He gave a nod. He took another drink and smiled to himself as he looked out at the water. Just a couple more minutes.

[griffin-wood]

carpe noctem. elliot x ella.

prompt: adventure for @ockissweek

a/n: a lil too late but, better late than never.✨ also, ella belongs to @eatingyarn. thank you for letting me use ella for this fic!

"There's nothing wrong with swimming at night actually, I used to do it all the time growing up." Elliot smiles as they both walked under the night sky, as his attempt to convince Ella.

Ella is carrying a bag over her shoulder, with her eyes wandering over the scenery. The stone-covered sidewalk, and the buildings around them shines brightly, despite it's almost midnight.

"I didn't say it was wrong, but..."

He stops in his tracks, turning to face her. He smiles gently her way and takes her hand in his.

"Trust me okay? I never let you down before, and I don't think I want to start now." His eyes convincing her, as she nods too.

"I trust you." She agrees, of course she trusted him. She wouldn't be here without him.

"Now let's continue, we're almost there."

-

A few minutes followed, as they both arrived at the side of the docks. He smiles at the night sky, before placing their bags down. Ella founds herself gazing on the starry skies, and in disbelief on how clear it is from here.

-

"Welcome to my secret swimming hole."

"Why is it a secret?"

"I never really invited anyone here, well you're the first." He rubs the back of his head, as he stuttered the final syllables of the sentence.

Ella felt her cheeks warm, at the confession.

"I like it, it's very stunning."

"Thank you." He smiles her way, making her chest tingles somehow; something about the way he smiles makes her feel some sort of way. An unknown feeling, but she isn't opposed to it at all. She is curious to see how it goes, and before she goes travel back, it seems like an interesting adventure to explore.

"Now, let's jump in. Are you ready?" Elliot says as he takes off his shirt, leaving him with his shorts, that stands out to her.

"I'll...you should go in first. Show me how it's done." She says, while rubbing her sides over the night breeze.

Elliot looks at her for a moment, before nodding. Ella stands by his side, as he countdown to his jump.

"I'll see you on the other side Ella." He smiles before jumping in, with a loud splash that follows.

Ella stares at the splash, following Elliot's silhouette, as he swims a few laps. She decides to dip her toes by the end of the dock, watching him from afar. He stops from time to time just to wave at her, and every little gesture made her smile and much more curious on the jump as well. She reminicse the last few days, how everything with him feels like adventure. And she realizes, once she's back home. These adventures would be impossible to find again. And with that in mind, she calls out to him. Only for him to resurface a second later.

His blonde hair is dripping with water, as he smiles. Quite a smile for someone who was once a stranger in her life.

"I think... I'm going to do this."

His eyes widen in surprise, "are you sure?"

"Not really, but what the hell. Summer isn't going to last forever. So, here I come." She says to him, taking her t-shirt off, revealing a swimsuit underneath. She stands over the edge of the docks, with Elliot looking up on her.

"I'll be here" he says, and she believes it. She takes a deep breath, amd jump in with her eyes close. Only the splash of the water can be heard, as she resurface. Two pair of hands held onto her, and as she open her eyes. There he was, waiting and cheering for her. She did it.

"You did it!" He exclaims excitedly, and in that moment. The adrenaline kicked in for them both. They swam around together, viewing the city from a different angle. And as they reached the middle, Elliot held onto her.

"I think this is a perfect." She says to him, overlooking the moon that's shining their way.

"Very. Thank you for trusting me tonight." He says, sweetly enough that she felt the need to memorize his voice before this adventure ends.

"I trust you. I do." She says, before wrapping her arms around his neck, holding him close. His arms were wrapped around her waist, looking into each other's eyes for a moment. Time stops, and it felt too good to continue.

-

His eyes silently asking a question that they both know the answer to. And, their lips met in the middle. A mixture of adrenaline, excitement and want were evident in the way their lips move. They never wanted to let each other go, but they did for the sake of the air needed. They kept on holding one another, under the night sky, watching the stars and moon above them until the sun begins to set. With swims that followed until they are exhausted.

As dusk occurs through the rays on sunlight resulting into a shadow in the a.m. They stood side by side at the docks, with her head laid on his shoulder, as he placed a gentle kiss on the side of her face.

Their gazes met again, before he whispers to her, "anyway, don't be a stranger." A weak smile on his face, as they both watch the sun begins to rise on their final days together.

Something about the night before, left them both with a hopeful feeling of what they've been through. Despite, the fact that it wouldn't last forever, but they got right now. And that's hopefully enough to last for one lifetime.

THE END.

[amethystandemma]

Freddy’s First Date

Part 3 (the finale)

Please tell me what you think!

. . . . . . . . . .

“Why do we need…” Mercy scrunched her nose. “Worms?”

Freddy hooked the worm onto the hook, his hands moving on instinct as if he had done this dozens of times, which he had. “It’s bait.”

“Are they going to die?”

“Uh…”

Elvy chose that moment to run off the dock and jump into the water. Freddy exhaled, relieved.

I’m really starting to love that pup, he thought.

“Elvy!” Mercy yelled.

She jumped in after the dog, swimming with speed unusual for her age. The two started splashing around, Mercy laughing and Elvy barking happily.

“She’s a strong swimmer,” Freddy said, sitting down next to Azalea.

She stared out onto the lake, watching her buoy bounce up and down with the ripples from the splashing. “Yeah, it’s a law back home that all kids need to learn how to swim.”

Freddy cast his line. “More places need to do that.”

“Mhm.”

Azalea reached for Freddy’s hand without taking her eyes off of the water. He could feel the heat rush to his face and guessed he was as red as a tomato. How she was doing all of this so casually, he would never know.

“Is this okay?” she asked.

“No, don’t worry.” Freddy winced. “I mean, yes, it’s okay.”

Azalea gently squeezed his hand. “I get flustered too.”

“You do?”

She nodded.

“But you’re so… calm.” Freddy said. “You always look amazing.” He blushed even harder, which he didn’t know was possible.

“I’ve had a lot of practice,” Azalea said quietly. “My mom isn’t in the best place since dad was dishonorably discharged. I don’t want to give her more to worry about, y’know?”

“He was dishonorably discharged?”

Azalea nodded again, sighing. “He was turned into a vampire by Varrick Valentine and attempted to murder the King Consort.”

“Oh.”

Azalea’s fish shaped buoy went underneath the surface. The two teenagers leapt up from the bench.

“What does that mean? What should I do?” Azalea asked.

“Pull up!”

She yanked her rod with so much force, the hook flew behind, looping around a nearby tree branch. The hook had no fish, no worm, and was completely straight. Freddy smirked, trying his best not to laugh.

“I don’t understand.” Azalea looked at the dangling line. “Where is the fish?”

Freddy couldn’t hold back his amusement and started to laugh. Azalea looked at him, her fists on her hips and a very confused look in her cocoa eyes. That made him laugh even harder.

“What’s so funny, Freeman?” Azalea asked.

“You pulled… so hard…” Freddy gasped between laughs, “that the hook… was ripped…” he wheezed, “out of the fish’s mouth!”

Azalea rolled her eyes as Freddy fell onto the planks of the dock, laughing so hard he was crying. After a few seconds, she snorted.

“You look so stupid,” she said.

“And yet, you wanted to come on a date with me,” Freddy said, smirking.

She held out her hand and looked away. Freddy took it, pleased to see that she was blushing. He glanced back out at the water and saw that his buoy was submerged.

“I’m going to help you this time, alright?” Freddy handed her his fishing rod, keeping his hands over Azalea’s. “Now, we’re going to pull back on the rod.”

Together, they pulled back quickly but not with as much force as before. Freddy could feel the strain that he grew accustomed to when fishing with Grandpa Jacob, and felt a familiar adrenaline rush.

“Real it in, nice and easy,” Freddy said, moving her hand to the reel.

Together they quickly spun the reel. The fish got closer and closer, splashing everything around it as it moved. The two lifted up the pole, a large bass flailing around from the line.

“We did it!” Azalea laughed.

Freddy smiled, taking the fish from the line and hooking it onto the stringer.

“Congratulations Azalea,” he said. “You caught your first fish.”

Azalea kissed his cheek, making him blush. “Thanks to you.”

“You missed,” Freddy muttered, leaning in close.

Azalea wrapped her arms around his neck, closing the gap, and kissed him.

“What are you two-” Macy started to say, holding Elvy. She wrinkled her nose. “Ew.”

[quinnthebard]

home

Home. What a strange word. It could be defined simply, she supposes. The place one returns to, their own, shelter, and so on. Q’wynn chews on the word. It repeats endlessly in her head until it loses meaning, instead sounding like some strange onomatopoeia that she wouldn’t be able to place. Every so often on her journey, or even just over the course of her life, she’s been asked about her home. Has she been home recently? What’s her home like? And often, she’s brushed it off.

For the longest time, home was La Noscea—eastern, specifically. The rainforest where her tribe lived being the place where she’s from and in the most base sense of the word, her home. It’s not a place she’s particularly fond of though. So long as she remembers she just wanted to get out. Out from the small community. Out from under her mother’s thumbs. Out from under the pressures to follow tradition. Just out, away, gone. Never to return.

And she has escaped. Grimly, she smiles before tossing the smooth stone across the surface of the sea. It skips once, twice, three times. On the fourth attempt it finally plummets to the depths of the water. It’s by choice she has returned. Her choice. No one else’s.

It’s only right that he gets to meet her family—right?

She sighs as she watches the ripples reflect and distort the colors of the setting sun. The cowardice she kept shoving aside, creeps to the surface as the water stills. She needed a break from her mother. She needed a break from the suffocating atmosphere of disappointment and in an impulsive move, she stomped out of her childhood home deaf to the words of protest called after her.

She half expected him to follow her.

She’s half hurt he didn’t.

Well now that you’re done gallivanting around, time to do us proud. Do as you were born to.

Her mother’s words still sting as they echo, ringing in her mind. Her protests unheard. G’raha’s own cast aside. It didn’t matter that she found happiness or love. She wasn’t doing what her mother expected or prepared her for and so she was a failure.

She still doesn’t even know the lengths I had to go to in order to even return.

She shakes her head. Stop dwelling. She doesn’t matter. Hasn’t matter. Has no part in my—

“You know, you can be rather hard to find when you don’t want to be found.”

The soft tenor voice behind her makes her jump slightly, goosebumps forming on her skin, her ears flicking upward before she realizes who intrudes on her moment of reflection. “I’m sorry if I caused concern.”

“No concern.” Footsteps approach, the rubber thudding gently on the wood of the dock. “Well—not for your well-being at least. I know you can take care of yourself.”

She feels his hand rest gently on her shoulder and the simple act of care brings the sting of tears to her eyes. Her nose twitches in a vain attempt to combat her oncoming display of weakness. “I’m fine.”

“Ah yes. That’s why you fled across Eastern La Noscea.”

“Hmm.” She doesn’t have a response to that.

“I’m just going to say it.” G’raha steps to her side, moving his hand from her shoulder down her opposite arm, stroking it gently in an attempt to soothe. The featherlight touch smooths the goosebumps that rose and the heavy beating of her heart. Her nose itches. “Your mom’s a bitch.”

The laugh that bursts from her chest breaks her facade, the tears starting to fall in a complex mix of mourning and joy. She sniffs between chuckles, her sobs punctuated with the occasional giggle. I must look mad. Wiping her face on her sleeve, she tries to still the storm inside.

“I’m sorry, I just—” A snort interrupts as she tries to sniffle and clear her runny nose. “I’ve never heard someone call her that. No matter how many times I may have internally.”

“Well, she is. Once you left, we argued for a good long time. She shouted at me for corrupting her daughter and filling your head with fantasies, stifling reality, preventing you from leading a fulfilling life.” He squeezes her lightly in a half hug before pulling her to sit in his lap on the dock. Their legs dangle above the water and his chin gently resting on top of her head. “Did you know she had no idea what you’ve accomplished?”

“I—”

“A rhetorical question, Wynn. It was your information to divulge, I suppose, but in my fury I laid into her. I explained all you’ve gone through, all you’ve done. I shared how many people you’ve helped, inspired and the lives you’ve saved.” There’s a brief pause before he continues in just barely above a whisper. “Including mine.

“None of it. She knew nothing. She stood in shock. I took that opportunity to tell her off and that if she refused to be proud of her daughter, well, then I’d gladly support you and be proud of you as my mate because so long as you’ll have me, that’s what I want to be. We’re family as far as I’m concerned. What I’m saying is, I told her where she can shove her expectations and that if you never wanted to return, I wouldn’t blame you. And then I left.”

“That’s it?”

“What? Did you expect me to fight her for your honor? We both know who’d win.”

“My mother would, of course. No wonder you fled. She’s quite good with a frying pan.”

He chuckles. “And here I thought I could hold my own.”

“I thought I could too.” Whatever levity had been gained is lost with just those five words.

“Wynn.” She doesn’t respond. Emerald eyes peer into the depths and she hugs herself, attempting to be small. In response, his strong arms wrap around her, shielding her from whatever he can. “You don’t have to ever see her again if you don’t want to. Blood family isn’t always your true family. Sometimes it’s okay to say ‘that’s enough’ and protect yourself.”

“I just wish I was good enough for her.”

“At risk of sounding crass: fuck her expectations. You’ve done far more than any one woman can be expected of and you have earned the right to live as you wish. Stop worrying about what she wants for you and think on what you want for yourself.”

“I want to go home.”

“Then we will.”

The certainty with which he accepts her desires warms her heart and in that moment, she returns to her initial thoughts on home. His hand takes hers as they walk and she feels comfort. His presence brings stability and safety. She feels reassured and content. Then it dawns on her: yes, home may be a place but for her it’s a person.

For her, it’s him.

[azvolrien]

Fire and Water

I've wanted to go into a bit more detail about the mysterious Sea People for a little while now, and since I've established in supplementary materials that Roan's mother was one of them, that gave me a convenient jumping-off point for some conversation. Nothing graphic, but a few Implications about what life out in their islands is like.

~~~

It was a quiet night. The air was still, with only a light breeze stirring the sea; the water lapped gently at the sand, washing in and out without ever breaking into a proper wave. A far cry from a few nights before, when the sea had suddenly risen in a tide higher and faster than anyone could remember, engulfing small fishing villages all along the coast. There had been a prosperous harbour just a couple of miles to the south, but it was deserted now, houses inundated and boats crushed against the docks by the force of the water. Some of the people had survived, scrambling to higher ground and the roofs of those buildings sturdy enough to withstand the flood, but others would never be seen again. Already people were calling it the Great Wave.

Lorna sighed and added another twisted branch to the driftwood beacon before she sat back against the remnants of a swept-away dune and gazed up at the sky. There were no clouds that she could see, but the stars had a veiled, wavering look to them that night, in keeping with the dim, reddish tint that the sun had taken on all day. An owl flew soundlessly overhead, a pale shape in the gloom heading for the trees behind the dunes. Those had survived, at least; the dunes had taken the worst of the wave, sparing the woodland most of its fury.

Another while went by in silence before, at last, she heard the sounds she had been waiting for. The splash of oars, then the crunch of sand as the hull of a ship ran up on the beach. With a low groan of effort, leaning heavily on the staff Bruide had carved for her, Lorna got to her feet and squinted into the dark beyond the fire. If the wrong crew had spotted her beacon… But no, she was in luck. The long, sleek raiding ship drawn up on the sand looked much like any other from the Fire Islands, but its mast carried the black-and-white pennant of the Orca Clan. Even better, the prow was carved with stylised designs of the same animal, mixed in with rolling waves and running wolves. A second ship floated a little further from the beach, too far into the dark to make out many details but definitely bearing another Orca pennant.

One tall, powerfully-built woman vaulted over the ship’s rail and waded through the shallows to the beach. She carried no weapons except a short hatchet slung through her belt, but her pale face was marked with flowing tattoos in deep green ink, some fresh enough that the skin around them was still pink and raised, and a short mantle of thick, yellowing white fur was tied around her shoulders. Both marked her out as a raider captain, and the old bloodstains on the fur said that she was the latest in a long line of them. She drew closer to the fire, one suspicious hand on the axe at her hip, until finally she saw Lorna’s face.

“It is you!” she said, her grim look disappearing. “I didn’t think any of our crews had been stranded in these parts. How long has it been, little sister? Seven years? Almost eight? By the Deep, we’d given you up – thought for sure that the land-walkers would’ve got rid of you.” She stepped forwards, resting her hands on Lorna’s shoulders. “I don’t know what trouble you thought you were in back then, but that doesn’t matter any more – you’ve come to your senses now. You can come home and take your rightful place.” She paused. “Well, there’s no free benches on Sea Wolf,” she admitted, “but Whale Sister out there has a gap in her company that you’d be welcome to fill.” She sighed and ruffled Lorna’s hair. “It’s good to see you again, Sela.”

Lorna took a step back. “I don’t use that name any more, Vala. I’m not sailing away, not with you or with Whale Sister. I’m never, ever going back to the Fire Islands.”

“But- you lit a beacon?”

“I wanted to talk to you. That’s all. Just talk. I…” Lorna broke off. “With the wave earlier, and this haze in the sky… Something’s happened out in the Islands, hasn’t it? I suppose that… Well, you’re still my sister, whatever else happens. I wanted to know you were all right.”

Vala was silent for a few seconds, then took a deep breath. “So what name do you go by among the land-walkers?”

“‘Lorna’. My name is Lorna now.”

“‘Lorna’…” said Vala slowly, frowning. “Where did you get that from?”

“Never mind that.”

“Hm.” Vala squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. “Grandfather is dead,” she said, opening them again. “Mother leads the clan now, sits in the keep in Hestvik. She passed Sea Wolf’s company on to me.” She waved behind herself, where a few other warriors from the ship had disembarked and were gathered on the sand.

“Grandfather is- how? Was he ill?”

Vala shook her head. “Grandfather, King Einarr, and most of the old clan-heads in the Islands with them. Se- Lorna. The King’s Island… It’s gone.”

“Gone?” echoed Lorna.

“The seer-priests knew something was going to happen,” said Vala. “The ground had been shaking, the mountain smoking. The King summoned the clan-heads for an assembly to prepare for an ashfall. You know the sort of thing – planning out a few mainland raids, hashing out some land- and thrall-rights on the other islands to help tide the clans over until the sky clears again.” She paused again and took another deep breath. “And while they were in the meeting-hall… We’d expected an ashfall, maybe some fire-flows. Instead, the whole mountain exploded.” Lorna swallowed and said nothing. Vala nodded. “The loudest roar I’ve ever heard. Maybe you even heard it from the mainland, it was that loud. An ash cloud like… Like nothing I’ve ever seen before, like it turned day to night. More rock than I’d ever imagined, blasted into the sky – the whole island just… What was that fancy word that skald-thrall used? You’ll remember. During that festival, years ago.”

“‘Obliterated’,” said Lorna quietly.

“That’s the one. All the way down to the water and beyond, just left a sort of ring of rock spikes sticking above the water. Sent that wave you saw, rushing out in all directions, before the sea came in to fill the space and started to boil, sending steam up to join the ash. If the rest of us hadn’t set up camp over on the next island… We were lucky to escape the wave as it was!” She closed her eyes again to compose herself. “So. Yeah. You wanted to know about the wave, and the sky? That’s what happened.”

“I… Gods, Vala. I know they’re the Fire Islands, but I never thought…”

“No, nobody did,” said Vala. She folded her arms. “So. You’re sure that’s a no on sailing with us?”

“It’s a no,” said Lorna firmly. She unbuttoned her heavy oilskin coat and pushed it back, resting one hand on her hip. “I’m blood-bound to the land now.”

Vala looked down at her belly, curving outwards beneath her knitted jumper. “…Oh.”

“Yes.”

“Who…?”

“My husband. His name is Euan. The baby’s due in another two months, give or take the odd week.”

“Euan. Not a name from the clans. A land-walker, then.”

“Of course.”

“Oh, Selaaa…” Vala raised one hand to her brow and dug her fingers into her hair. “A warrior, at least? So far as they have warriors on the mainland…”

“A shepherd,” said Lorna flatly.

Vala’s lip curled in distaste. “A thrall.”

“This isn’t the Islands,” said Lorna. “The people here aren’t split into warriors and thralls. Free people herd livestock and grow crops too.” She straightened her back, gripping the staff more tightly. “And if he were a thrall, so what? It wasn’t one of the warriors who saw how miserable I was in Hestvik and helped me to get out. It was a thrall from the fishing docks. Nobody in the Orca Clan would help – all they thought was that I was nervous about sailing on my first raid.”

“Mother had set aside a bench on Sea Wolf for you,” said Vala, smiling fondly despite herself.

“So all I got from the clan was ‘Oh, spend some more time in the training hall, you’ll feel more prepared after a few rounds with the weaponmasters’. Nobody listened when I tried to tell them that I didn’t want to be a raider, that I didn’t want to hurt people, to steal from them, to enslave them. Nobody but her. Somehow word had got down to the harbour that I wanted to leave – I don’t know how, maybe a servant heard me and passed it on. She helped me to take a boat, a small one, and sail away for good. Her name was Lorna. The gods know there was nothing else I could do to repay her.”

Vala glanced uncomfortably to one side.

“What?”

“Uh… Yes, Mother found out about her.”

“So she’s…”

“Very dead,” one of the other raiders cheerfully confirmed. “Slipway tithe for Whale Sister’s launch.”

“Shut up, Bjarni,” said Vala wearily.

“And I don’t suppose you spoke against it,” said Lorna after a brief, shocked silence.

Vala shrugged, folding her arms. “Oh, I’ve always thought it’s a waste of a working body, but you know how the priests get about the slipway tithe and paying the Deep’s dues. And… well, she was only a thrall, Sela.”

“My. Name. Is. Lorna.”

Vala stepped back at the look on her face. “…Lorna. All right.”

Lorna let out a snort like a bull about to charge and allowed her shoulders to relax slightly, but her scowl remained.

Vala went on, clearly having realised her misstep, if not completely understanding why it was one. “Where are you staying these days? Not here, I can tell – there’s not much grazing, if you’re herding sheep.”

“Euan’s family have a farm some way inland. A little fortified steading, up in one of the glens that lead north off the nearest sea loch.” She waved an arm in the right general direction. “The grazing’s decent there. His father usually gets a good price when it’s time to take the sheep down to the market.”

“Another shepherd.”

“He is now,” said Lorna. “But he was a bit of a warrior in his younger days. He said they used to call him Bruide the Brute, back when he was running with a sellsword band.”

Somebody gasped back among the raiders on the beach, but Vala just nodded. “That’s something, at least. And… You’re happy among the land-walkers? Up the valley with your shepherd?”

“Happier than I ever was in Hestvik.”

Vala shook her head, smiling ruefully. “I don’t pretend I’ve ever understood you,” she said. “But… I am glad you’re doing well. Look, I’ll keep Sea Wolf out of your loch on our raids, how’s that?”

“I suppose that’s as much as I can hope for,” muttered Lorna.

Vala reached forwards again, paused for the briefest instant, and patted her shoulder. “Maybe it’s for the best,” she said. “You never did do very well in the training hall, eh? Go back to your farm, little sister. Herd your sheep. Birth safely, and wait out the winter. If you need me – well, you remember how to make a beacon.”

Lorna nodded. “Goodbye, Vala.”

Vala nodded back and turned away, shouting for the ship to head back to sea. One of the raiders – not Bjarni – paused, giving Lorna a strange look, before one of his fellows grasped his arm and they all gathered to shove Sea Wolf back off the sand into deeper water, scrambling back aboard once the ship was floating again. Vala took her place at the tiller, raising a hand in a final farewell as the others ran out the oars. Before long, both Sea Wolf and Whale Sister had disappeared into the dark.

Lorna sighed, kicked sand over the last embers of the beacon, and trudged away from the sea to her tent behind the dunes.

When dawn came, she packed up the tent and began the walk home to the steading. It was a long one – she would have to camp for another night before she got there – but not particularly strenuous. The track of packed earth and scattered gravel was mostly on the flat, following the bank of Loch Dubh inland until, just after the small lochside town of Inverbeg, a side-road turned inland and sloped gently upwards into the glen. Although it was still cold, barely a month after Midwinter, only a few patches of snow lingered in sheltered spots and the road was clear. Lorna paused to catch her breath on an arched stone bridge over the river, gazing up the glen towards a thin plume of smoke in the distance. She smiled and kept walking until, near sunset on the second day since leaving the beach, the steading came into view, perched atop a small rise above the river. A sturdy stone wall about eight feet tall protected the main house at the highest point, while a bank of earth and a wooden palisade encircled the farmyard with its byre, storage sheds and other outbuildings. The gates were still open as she approached; Bruide was outside, leading a small, shaggy pony carrying panniers filled with blocks of freshly-cut peat towards one of the sheds.

“That’s you back from your stroll, then,” he said when he noticed her. He pulled back the bar securing the shed door and began to carry the peat inside. “Find what you were looking for?”

“More or less,” said Lorna. “The staff was useful, thank you.” She cast an eye around the farmyard. “How are we doing for winter feed?”

“Well enough for this time of year. Why?”

“I think… Winter will be a bit longer than usual. You’ve noticed about the sky, and heard about the Great Wave.”

“Aye, I have.” Bruide glanced upwards. The sunset was an unusually vibrant shade of red. “Hm. Might have to sell off a few o the flock to buy fodder for the rest, but we’ll survive. Wouldnae be the first long winter I’ve seen. Now, I willnae tell you to help in your condition, but if you could lend a hand wi a few o the wee blocks…”

Lorna chuckled. “Don’t worry, old man, I’ll help you out.”

“Cheeky besom,” said Bruide with a smile, the old blue tattoos on his face crinkling with his laugh lines. “Here’s a wee one for you.”

“Where’s Euan?” asked Lorna once they had finished stacking the peat and seen to the pony.

“Och, he’s away up in the top pasture. One o the yowes has a bad foot – he wanted to see if that salve you picked up does it any good. Should be back down in time for tea – couple o the bairns from the next croft are lending him a hand taking the sheep in for the night. Morag’s got a stew going.”

Lorna smiled again. Bruide’s wife was an excellent cook. “I’m sure the smell will lure him in if he’s lost track of time.”

“Aye, that’s the plan. Anyway, away in out o the cold. We can crack on wi some o the mending while tea’s on the go.” Bruide locked the storage shed behind them and walked up to the house, pausing to kick the worst of the mud from his boots on the metal scraper by the door before he hung his long woollen cloak with its wolfskin mantle up in the porch. Lorna hung her coat on the hook beside it and followed him in to the main room, where a pile of torn clothes and old sheets awaited their attention. Morag, busy in the kitchen, peered through the door and jabbed her wooden spoon pointedly towards the sewing basket before she returned her attention to the stew-pot.

Bruide stirred the fire with an iron poker, settled in his armchair by the hearth, and selected a worn sock from the top of the pile and a needle and spool of thread from the basket. “C’mon, then, lass,” he said with a grin. “I’ll race you.”

Lorna sat down in the next chair and picked up a tunic with a tear under one arm. “It’s only fair if we measure it by number of stitches,” she said. “If we go by things mended, you always win by grabbing all the little ones first!”

Bruide stuck his tongue out. “You’re just jealous I’m faster at sewing.”

“Just fix them!” shouted Morag from the kitchen.

Bruide and Lorna shared a glance, gave a snort of laughter in perfect unison, and began their mending. A while later, when the sun had disappeared behind the hills but the sky had not yet lost all its light, Euan finally got back from the pasture and Morag called everyone through to the dining table once the gates were locked for the night.

Outside, a gentle snow began to fall.

~~~

Yeah, that guy who looked back? He's important.

The Sea People - who don't, I think, even have a collective name for themselves; they're just 'the clans' as far as they're concerned - are pretty used to volcanoes. As the name implies, they get quite a few eruptions out in the Fire Islands. Unfortunately, they'd gathered to prepare for an Eyjafjallajökull, and got a Krakatoa instead.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[vexeswriting]

I look at her and see everything that was and could have been:

I see that moment together, on the docks, and we are holding hands as we run, our feet hitting the wooden planks below us in thuds that carry through the musky air that is dredged up by the river’s light current. Her laughter echos amongst the trees, sending the birds flying in a fit of anxious chitters, and I think it startles her as she trips and it sends me plummeting into the water and rocks below,

I see us lying in bed together when she asks, “Will you?” With her hand against my cheek I tell her no, in this moment of softness in my bed with the rain knocking on my bedroom window. She turns away from me and I turn towards her to gently place my arm over her waist, craving her touch, and when she refuses to respond I ask her, “What’s wrong?” and she tells me, “If you loved me, you would,” and I move carefully and dutifully because I do love her and this if this is how she wants me to show her, I will shower her with gentleness in these soft violent acts,

I see when she is sitting in the driver’s seat of her car, looking at me with something in her eyes that I can’t, won’t, place, after I said I love her. The wind pushes through my hair and I remember how soft hers is when I rake my fingers through it. My shirt blows up, slightly, exposing the vulnerable skin of my stomach and the soft line of hair that runs down the center, and I long to feel the gentleness of her palm against it instead of the full weight of her body. She drives away from me without another word and as she leaves, the air left behind is tinted with the scent of her perfume, just as lovely as her but sticking in my throat all the same,

I imagine her jumping into the water beside me, sending a wave across my body and stretching a smile over my face. I imagine her apology for stumbling and all I say in response is, “It’s okay, we’re in this together,” and that’s all we need to say,

I imagine her being satisfied after a long kiss, where our lips had melded together for a moment until we separated and we were separate but together. I imagine her pushing my hair from my face with a smile and reassuring me and all I tell her is, “How about tomorrow?” and we lay down to sleep with her nose pressed into my neck,

I imagine her staying, her eyes relaxing and her perfume lingering because she has lingered as well. I imagine her saying it back with the same tone before closing the window of her car with a wave, and when she pulls away, it’s with a smile on her face and a second glance back.

I look at her and see my heart in her hand and my flesh between her teeth and I cry. 

[luminescenc1e]

The wooden pier was moving over the small waves, or maybe he could not draw in a breath that made it seem so. The second task appeared to be simple enough, the Black Lake would be used, and there would be one person for each champion trapped under the water, the goal to save the person and be as quick as you can. The morning was cold and the stands were packed with students from all three schools, there were banners and flags, colors depicting houses and champions. He already knew that Pansy would be under the water, and for a brief moment, he was relieved, at least it wasn’t the person that was the most important to him, it wasn’t Granger.

But she wasn’t in the stands, nor was she anywhere near Potter, and the more he glanced around, the more it became obvious, that she was under the water, she was who Potter would be saving. The whistle blew and he jumped in, transforming his body fully into an animal that resembled something close to a serpent. Merpeople floated around, some coming closer,  but not one of them touching him.

He reached Pansy, and slowly coiling his body around her, pulled her with him back to shore. As soon as he had reached the surface, Draco transformed, now one hand around her waist pulling her back. The screams and clapping were muted as he was wrapped in a heavy cloak and Pansy taken to be dried.

Diggory was already there, and soon Fleur was swimming to the wooden dock. Time moved slowly and Potter was nowhere to be seen. It was taking too long, and what was annoyance at the complete incompetence was turning into terror. Maybe his father had found out and done something, it was very much something that he would do, maybe Potter was just as bloody stupid as he looked and he had mucked it up. Maybe, maybe….maybe.

He stood frozen, eyes looking at the calm surface, thinking that he should just go in and do it himself, but then his head bobbed above it and he recognized Potter, quickly another body was there. But she wasn’t moving, the spell broke by the time the person reached the surface, and as Potter approached Granger remained lifeless, eyes closed, pale. From then on, there was a commotion, she had been sent to the hospital wing, the rest of the champions informed of their points and he had been ushered onto the ship, it was late at night when he managed to sneak out, waited until everyone left her side before approaching the bed.

She appeared to be sleeping as he sat on the bed by her side, one hand on her forehead. She had a fever, it would break by the morning but he still wasn’t able not to panic. That this was something his fault, that this was somehow more dangerous than what he was told. Applying the cold compress by the bedsite table, he placed it gently on her forehead and then on her cheeks and neck, to help cool her off along with whatever potion she received. " Wake up Granger, you need to tell me how impressed you were with me. "

mugglebrn asked: [ 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 ] receiver tends to sender's wounds.(Durmstrang verse!) / MEME - accepting.

[soggykookiesandcream]

𝕟𝕠𝕩𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕠𝕦𝕣 - 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟡

3rd Person's POV

Jungkook's face flushes red slightly as Lia gives him an intense gaze. Somehow breaking away from it, he manages to spot his car.

"We have to go," Jungkook says before swinging his one leg over to the side which he had to jump out. He slowly slides off the wall and motions for Lia to jump. She swings her leg over copying Jungkook's actions. Jungkook looks around for zombies and sees a few rushing to them. He grabs onto Lia's legs gently and helps her down. 

"Run!" He yells at her before pulling his gun out and shooting down a few zombies which were coming their way.

"Jungkook! Come fast," Lia yells as she looks behind for Jungkook. She bumps into a zombie and screams stumbling back.

"Lia!" Jungkook shoots down the zombie next to her, "Just fvcking run!"

She scrambles forward to the car which was approaching them quickly. Hoseok holds the door open for them and Lia climbs in.

"Lia, are you okay-"

"Jungkook!" She yells holding the door open as Jungkook runs to the car as fast as possible dodging all the zombies crowding ahead of him. 

"Move," Hoseok says as he pulls out his gun and shoots down a bunch of zombies in front of Jungkook.

"Jungkook, faster!" Lia cries out holding her hand out. Jungkook grabs her hand and Hoseok helps him in. Jungkook pants as he tries to calm down from all the running.

"Jungkook!" Lia's eyes were already water, hands all over him checking for injuries.

"I'm fine, baby," Jungkook says rubbing his thumb over her cheek, "I'm fine, see. Just tired from the running."

"You scared me so much," Lia smacks Jungkook's arm before moving aside to give him some space but he didn't seem to want any and pulled her right back into his arms.

"I'm sorry, baby," he kisses her forehead, "Hyung, where do we go?"

"The government has set up a camp in Japan for the uninfected," Hoseok explains, "They have set up testing in the docks. We'll go there."

"What about Korea?" Lia asks, "What about your business?"

"The government and military will take care of the country," the driver says, "Till then they're trying to rescue whoever is left and bring them to safety."

"We have our branches in Japan too," Jungkook says with a small loving smile at Lia, "We won't lose everything."

"I'm sorry your company you worked so hard for-" Lia starts with a frown and Jungkook rolls his eyes pulling her into a kiss. She whimpers in shock before melting into his arms welcoming and replying to his kiss. She shyly smiles after he pulls away. 

"If I have you, I don't want anything else," he says caressing the back of her neck, pulling her into another soft kiss, "I missed this so much. I miss you, your lips, your body, your everything," he snakes his arm around her waist pulling her closer. 

Hoseok and the driver just sit in the car uncomfortably next to the couple making out like there's no tomorrow.

"Ahem," Hoseok clears his throat trying to make his presence known but it goes in wain as Jungkook continues advancing with his girlfriend. He kisses down her throat as moans spill out of her. 

"J- Jungkook, we should stop," she taps on his shoulder softly, "Not in the car."

"But I miss you," Jungkook looks up at her with his lips still pressed against her neck softly delivering sweet kisses. 

"I want you to save your energy for when we get somewhere safe and when you'll," she pauses recalling his arousing words, "Uh," she looks away trying to find words.

"Fvck you into the mattress?" he whispers a chuckle which sends shivers down her spine. 

"Gosh, Jungkook," she says with a sweaty forehead and previously reddened cheeks from making out, "Get off me!" She pushes him back slowly and sits straight clutching her thighs together. Jungkook notices her flustered actions and grins. He places a hand on her thigh and moves closer to her, "You do know that I have long fingers, right? I wouldn't mind helping you out."

"Shut it, you horny man!" She bursts out laughing, "You want your assistant and employee to see me moaning and screaming?"

"No," Jungkook says sternly, "Didn't think about them," Jungkook states earning a scoff from Hoseok.

"I saved your ass, Jungkook. I also helped save your girlfriend's ass," Hoseok rolls his eyes.

"I pay you for it," Jungkook sasses back only wanting to give his attention to Lia who's been deprived of it.

"Jungkook!" Lia swats at his arm, "I'm sorry, Hoseok. You're one of the greatest people I've seen- Like if you weren't here, I probably would have died in the locker."

Hoseok smiles softly, "Was it scary?"

She nods pursing her lips, "I don't know. Everyone just started running and tackling each other."

"It's okay," Hoseok replies, "You're safe now. Do you know how all around the place Jungkook was? He was so worried."

"I honestly didn't think you'd come for me," Lia states throwing back to all of the times Jungkook had left her behind and alone. All the times that Jungkook said that he was too busy to pick her up when it was raining cats and dogs and she wasn't able to find a ride home; all the times she felt lonely and bored at home; all the nights she'd spent alone doubting their relationship.

"What are you saying, baby?" Jungkook frowns, "Why wouldn't I come to get you?"

"Because you never have," Lia whispers tears threatening to fall, "I thought you didn't want me. I thought you found someone new."

"I would never!" Jungkook scowls pulling her into a hug.

Lia chuckles painfully and Jungkook's heart crushes to see that he'd broken her so much. But not anymore. He'd fix it. He'd take her away to safety and make sure to be with her. He pushes her head into his neck whispering sorry and pats her back softly. 

"Are we there?" Jungkook asks.

"No, we're taking a shortcut since the highway is filled with zombies," the driver replies, "I'd say another hour and we'd get there."

Jungkook nods and looks down to notice Lia asleep. She must be really tired. 

"Hyung?" Jungkook calls for Hoseok, "Do you have a blanket or something? I want to cover Lia," he says noticing a few tears on her clothes.

"No, but I can give you my suit coat," Hoseok says stripping the coat off him and handing it over to Jungkook. He drapes the coat over Lia softly and makes sure she's fully covered and warm. He sighs watching the world outside burn and crumble. The city he called home was now dark and uninviting. 

"I'll miss this place."

1100 WORDS

[firewolfphoenix]

Zarya's origin

It was a wonderful sunny day on the beach in Hawaii, a young girl is on holiday with her dad, step mum and step sister, the young girl is called Zarya, she loved her dad and step mum and sister, she had a great relationship with her dad, who took care of her by himself for 3 years until he met Zarya's step mother.

Zarya's dad Kailua, told stories to Zarya about her mother of how he still misses her and how wonderful she was. They moved from Hawaii to the US when Zarya was 3 years old when Kailua met Jenny, she was very nice and motherly to Zarya and she knew that Kailua misses her mother so much.

Zarya now 6 years old, was building sandcastles with her 2 year old step sister Maren having a good time. While Maren is building sandcastles Zarya started to work on the moat that went around the sandcastle. Then after building the sandcastles, they went to look in the rock pools to spot any crabs or any other sea creature in the water pools.

After a while Jenny called to Zarya and Maren over to have their picnic.

"Zarya! Maren! It's time to have lunch now!", Jenny called.

"Yes mum!", Zarya called back.

"Ok mummy!", shouted Maren.

Both Zarya and Maren ran over to eat their favourite sandwiches, while eating they watched the sea and the birds diving into the water. Kailua told them they were going to go on a boat to somewhere special, this got Zarya excited but Maren was scared to travel on the boat, but Jenny assured her that it was going to be fine.

After eating lunch, then packing everything up, they went to the dock to wait for the boat, to take them to the place Kailua has thought of. After 10 minutes of waiting, the boat finally arrives so they aboard the boat. They carefully got on board the boat and sat down on the seats to get ready to go.

The boat left the dock a minute later, sailing gently across the water, Maren was holding onto Jenny because she was scared to fall in, while Zarya was at the edge of the boat watching out for whales or dolphins. Kailua was at the front of the boat with the driver talking about stuff, then 20 minutes later the boat stopped.

"That's weird, the boat was full when we left, it can't run out that fast.", the boat driver said looking confused.

"Maybe something tripped.", Kailua suggested.

"Yeah, maybe.", the boat driver agreed.

The boat driver went to check the engine, after he went some dark clouds started to form above them. Not even a few seconds later, it started to get really windy and raining really heavily down onto the boat. The boat driver came back up from looking at the engine and looks around frantic trying to process whats going on.

"I managed to turn the engine back on, it looks like it was intentionally turned off!", the boat driver shouted through the wind.

"Can you try to get us back to land?!", Kailua shouted back.

The boat driver nodded back to Kailua, then started the engine for the boat, it started to move quickly through the storm. Not even 5 minutes later, a big wave appeared and hit the boat knocking Zarya over the boat, and into the water making her sink quickly.

"Zarya! Stop the boat please, we need to get her!", Jenny pleaded.

Jenny was about to jump off the boat, but Kailua stops her from doing it, he holds her comforting her while she was crying.

The storm was slowing down after Zarya gets knocked off, Maren looks over the boat looking for her big sister, she sees a dolphin swimming towards them, it approaches the boat and looks up to Maren.

"Please help me get my sister back.", Maren whispered to the dolphin.

The dolphin disappeared down into the water quickly.

"Maren get away from the edge of the boat now.", commanded Kailua.

Meanwhile in the water, Zarya struggles to swim back up, she feels like the water is pulling her down, she was started struggling to breath, then suddenly Zarya felt she could breath properly again. Before passing out she saw a dolphin swimming towards her, she reached out to it and grabbed its fin and starts to pull her back towards the surface.

Back on the boat, Kailua and Jenny are looking over the edge of the boat frantically looking for Zarya, but they were having no luck finding Zarya. Then suddenly Maren started shouting because she saw a dolphin swimming towards the boat.

"Mummy! Daddy! There's a dolphin coming towards the boat!." Maren shouted excitedly.

Kailua and Jenny joined her and see a dolphin swimming towards them with someone hanging onto one of it's fins, it got closer and Kailua saw that it was Zarya but she looked a little different. When the dolphin got closer to the boat, it helped Kailua get Zarya onto the boat.

"Thank you Mr. Dolphin.", Maren said happily.

The dolphin responded back with a few clicks and whistles back to Maren and swam away from the boat, Kailua watched as the dolphin disappeared into the water while holding Zarya. Kailua gently put Zarya down onto the boat floor and told the boat driver to quickly drive back to shore to have Zarya checked out.

A few days later, Kailua is with Zarya at their hotel, she was still tired from the frightening boat trip and she just slept the past 3 days, because she had no energy to do anything. Jenny and Kailua have been taking turns to keep an eye on Zarya, Jenny came into the bedroom.

"Hey, it's now my turn keep an eye on her, get some rest ok.", Jenny told Kailua.

"Yeah you are right, i'm gonna take a nap. Wake me up if anything happens.", Kailua said.

Kailua got up from the chair and walked out the room to his and Jenny's bedroom next door, when he walked out Maren came into the room and sat down next to Jenny.

"When will Zarya come play with me?", Maren asked.

"I don't know sweetheart, she is just very tired and has no energy.", Jenny explained.

"I may be a help with that.", said a mysterious female voice.

The mysterious voice made Jenny and Maren jump, they both look around and saw a women standing next to the window, looking out through it.

"Maren sweetheart, go wake up your father please.", Jenny whispered to Maren.

"Ok.", Maren whispered back.

Maren walked out of the room and went into Jenny and Kailua's room, she walked in and shook Kailua awake, he sat up groggily, rubbed his eyes and looked at Maren.

"What is it Maren?", Kailua asked in a groggy voice.

"Mummy told me to get you because, a women appeared out of nowhere by the window in Zarya's room.", Maren explained.

When Maren said that, Kailua jumped out of bed and rushed to Zarya's room, he entered and saw Jenny staring at the women. The women turned away from the window to face Kailua and Jenny who hasn't moved from her spot.

"Sorry for startling you.", apologized the women.

"Who are yo-.", Jenny began to ask.

"Wait a minute, Nāmaka? What are you doing here?", Kailua interrupted.

"I came to see Zarya and explain something to you and Jenny.", Nāmaka replied.

"Ok but first can you explain who you are please?", Jenny asked.

"Yes of course, I am Zarya's mother, also I am the Hawaiian Goddess of the sea if you believe that.", Nāmaka explained.

"I knew there were more things to this world.", said Jenny.

Kailua looked at Nāmaka, she still had those bright green eyes, brown hair with blue streaks in the hair, he had missed her so much in the days where they swam together in the sea.

"Nāmaka, where have you been? I missed you so much.", Kailua asked.

"Sorry I had to leave you Kailua, I had to return my sea duties or Pele would get mad at me.", Nāmaka explained.

"It's fine but can you help us with Zarya, like for the past 3 days, she had no energy to play with Maren at all and why her hair and eyes changed colour", Kailua pleaded.

"Yes I can explain Zarya's tiredness and her appearance changing, I know you guys were going on a boat trip so I had Maui follow you guys, he turned into a dolphin to keep an eye on Zarya pacifically.", Nāmaka explained.

"Were you the one who made the storm happen, and make a wave knock Zarya in the water?", Jenny asked.

"No I didn't and I would never hurt my own daughter.", Nāmaka said angrily.

Jenny stepped back from Nāmaka from the angry outburst.

"But I can explain Zarya's appearance change. When that wave knocked her out of the boat, I could sense her drowning so I gave her powers a little push to save her.", Nāmaka explained. "Now she has blue hair which will glow in the dark and her eyes are now green like mine, which will give her night vision. But at some point when she is older, I want to take to her, to help her control her powers more."

Jenny and Kailua looked at each, then looked at Zarya to see her hair glowing a bit from the under the covers of where she is sleeping.

"Yeah I understand now. Do I tell her about you yet or you tell her when she is older?", Kailua asked.

"I will tell her myself, when she is older.", Nāmaka replied.

"So we still have to keep you secret for a little while longer?", Jenny asked worriedly.

Nāmaka nodded, told them that she was going now so she walked out the door, ask she walked out Maren walked into the room.

"Who was that strange lady?", Maren asked.

"She is a friend, who was checking up on Zarya.", Jenny explained.

Maren believe Jenny, after a few minutes, Zarya woke up having the energy to play, so she asked Kailua and Jenny to play outside with Maren, Jenny said yes and so Zarya and Maren ran out of the room to go outside.