#small children are fair game now? how about we have your son watch you die rhaenyra?

[whitegownsandflowercrowns]

The Red Wedding 🤝 Blood & Cheese

Being horrendously brutal and seeming smart in the moment, but actually being poor decisions in the long run due to turning the smallfolk against you and eliminating the rules of war

(Credit to @kirby.alice on TikTok for her analysis of The Red Wedding)

[liptonsbabe]

My dear [S.U]

Sam Uley x Fem! reader!

Summary: “Did you have a hard day? You can complain to me. Did something make you almost cry? It’s alright, look at me. Starting from now, think of three really good things: the warm air, the dazzling weather, and me outside your window.  I told you, you can see brightness only when it gets dark”

Word count: 2.5k

Warnings: Mentions of abuse, death, heart dissease and such. English not my mother language so pls let me know if something’s wrong

gif’s not mine

"Sorry to bother you, Chief," you said following the man's moves through your house. Charlie Swan was carrying a reclining chair with ease leaving it in the middle of the living room while you stood at the bottom of the stairs with your little four year old daughter in your arms. Cassie was exhausted. It had been a long plane ride and a bit more road travel, which knocked your little girl out as soon as you set foot in your new home in Forks. It was a long time since you had seen that place but of course you remembered Charlie Swan as kind as he had always been. Even when you were just starting to think about moving back to Forks he was the first to help you get a safe home for you and your daughter. You remembered looking up for Charlie's old phone number hoping it was still the same and when you dialed and heard the man's voice behind the phone you sighed in relief. At last life seemed to be smiling on you after a long time and Charlie was quick to offer to help you if you decided to return to town.

He told you about a house for sale next to his. The owner was elderly and preferred to live with one of her children and earn income from the house near the forest that could be bought by curious tourists so Charlie convinced her to sell you the house and at a lower price than she was originally asking because the house needed some repairs that he could do. So you thought no more about it and packed your things to return to Forks after the horrible years you had lived in Brownsville.

Charlie picked you up at the airport in his police cruiser and avoided turning on the siren cause Cassie was already half asleep in your arms when you got off the plane and he didn't want to disturb her, but Cassie had the strength to stay awake long enough to make him promise that next time he would turn on the siren as they drove around town.

The truth was that Charlie Swan was an angel. He arranged everything so you would have a quick return and even now he was bothering to get all your stuff out of the moving truck so you wouldn't have the worry of doing it later.

"Nonsense, I'm happy to do it. Besides, it's my day off."

"And that's why you shouldn't be doing all this. I know vacations for police officers are non-recurring."

"I'm the chief, I have certain privileges."

"Still."

"Well, I wasn't going to let you do this on your own" he replied, carrying the boxes with your and Cassie's clothes. He set them down on the kitchen island and leaned back against them to rest. You walked over and settling Cassie better in your arms you sat down in one of the chairs Charlie had given you "Billy and Jacob will be here in a little while to get all this settled so you can have your first night here without any problems."

"I still think it's too much. Stop spoiling me like this, Charlie, you even gave me part of your dining room!"

"Ah, it was nothing. Bella and I recently bought a new one and we didn't want to take it to the dump cause it still has some use. The table is made out of good wood and the chairs are freshly upholstered. Look at it, it suits perfectly!"

"That's not the point" you said, glancing sideways at the newly arranged dining room near the kitchen "The point is that you're doing a lot for me and it's not fair."

"Your father would have done the same for Bella if it had been about me" he replied reaching for a bottle of water from the installed cooler. A sudden tension appeared in the room as you both remembered what your father's life was like in Forks "Jackson was my best friend for a long time and when he died...I promised him that I would seek you out and support you as if you were my own and that is precisely what I am doing."

"You wouldn't have if I hadn't left and hadn't abandoned him. He died because of me"

"That's not true."

"He was left alone when I left. He died of grief"

"He died from the heart valve disease he had. Your father suffered it from a young age and even so, you had a right to look for your mother"

"I wish I hadn't" you murmured, cooing to Cassie who was beginning to get annoyed by the noise of your voices "I abandoned my father and didn't find anything worthwhile"

"Well, that doesn't matter anymore, stop tormenting yourself and thinking you killed your father. I was with him. He loved you and he died peacefully, remember him as the good man he was, child."

You sighed. Cassie went back to sleep peacefully

"You're right. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, sweetheart. I know it's not the same, but you have me now and I'd rather die than let you leave again, do you hear me?"

"Easy, I have no intention of doing that" you half smiled "I'm running away from the tracks I left in Brownsville, I have no desire to go back under any circumstances. What I'm worried about is that the tracks won't rub off and show the way to the one I'm hiding from"

Charlie clicked his tongue.

"That should be the least of your problems. I have a gun and I know how to use it. He'll have to deal with that first before he gets to you."

"Thanks, Charlie."

"Although, if Chief Swan is as good at shooting as he is at fishing then you'll have to learn how to handle a gun yourself, honey" a voice appeared from the doorway followed by a young man's laughter.  You looked up meeting the unmistakable face of Billy Black next to his son Jacob. Billy entered your house being pushed by Jacob leaving him next to Charlie as he rolled his eyes "Be a little more modest, buddy."

"There's nothing wrong with bragging once in a while."

"Yeah, but you do it all the time."

"Shut up."

"Make me"

Charlie got up from his spot lunging towards Billy who ina swift movement spun the wheels of his chair avoiding Charlie's attack thus beginning a chase through the house dodging the obstacles of boxes on the floor. Jacob laughed taking Charlie's place in front of you.

"I thought we were coming to help with the move, not to watch them play like preschoolers?"

"Me too. I think Cassie will get along with them."

"Your little girl will beat them up right away"

"Probably."

You giggled quietly avoiding waking Cassie as Charlie and Billy finished their game to go back to the truck and get the last boxes, then you could finally get everything settled at home. Jacob smiled, looking at you

"I'm Jacob. You may not remember me but..."

"Are you kidding? I used to give you the bottle."

"No you didn't."

"Of course i did! My dad used to visit your parents a lot and he used to take me with him. You were a newborn baby and I used to volunteer to help Sarah feed you. You were the worst baby ever. You cried too loudly and squeezed the bottle with your swollen gums. Then you'd throw the milk back and you used to get really messy. Your poop was the smelliest I could remember."

"Don't say that!" he replied, embarrassed "I see you do remember me."

"And Quill and Embry. Tell me, are they still the same old fools?"

"They haven't changed at all."

You laughed.

"Perfect."

"Ok, these are the last boxes" announced Charlie walking into the house carrying with him a small box with Cassie's toys. Billy came in behind with some boxes on his lap "I think now we can get everything organized and finishing in time for you to get some rest."

"I'll clean up the little girl's room" offered Jacob standing up "then I'll fill the closet and set up the bed so you can lay her down, you must be tired from carrying her around for so long. is that okay with you?" he asked you. You nodded

"Yes, thank you Jacob."

"You're welcome. Give me that" The boy took the boxes off his father's legs and picked up Charlie's, all with one arm and with the other he carried the folding base of the bed. You opened your eyes wide 

"Easy, big guy, when did you get so strong?"

"I don't know. It just... showed up" he replied disappearing up the stairs

"It showed up" said Charlie "Ah, I hope shows up something like that to me"

"Don’t hold your breath as that happens" Billy joked.

"I should do something for lunch" you said trying to stand up. You were going to put Cassie down on one of the couches and put some cushions around her, but Charlie won't let you. Billy agreed 

"None of that. We'll order something."

"But..."

"Nothing" interrupted Billy "We'll buy pizza"

"You guys really need to stop doing this" you reproached. Billy picked up his phone

"Ah, sorry, you had to say that earlier, I'm already on the call."

"You guys are unbelievable"

Charlie smiled

"We know. oh I'll get Bella, she hasn't said hello yet" Charlie walked out before you could say anything else and closed the door dismissing the moving truck. Billy smiled complicitly, placed the order, gave the address and left the cell phone on the kitchen bar

"Dinner is served."

"Thank you."

"They had children's menu, so I ordered it for Cassie. I hear their brownies are delicious. Maybe I'll steal it for myself."

"I'll keep it as a secret"

Billy nodded with a smile and as the food arrived you chatted animatedly about what had happened in your absence, he also told you things about your father and all the times they went fishing together before his death. You were enjoying Billy's stories when time began to pass and Charlie didn’t return with Bella as he promised. Jacob was finishing Cassie's room and when the pizza arrived he came downstairs immediately, asking about Charlie's whereabouts.

"He went to get Bella, but he hasn't come back yet."

"That's strange, his house is right next door."

"Maybe something came up for him at the station" Billy shrugged.

You  decided to wait for the Swans to eat, but seeing that they didn't show up Jacob offered to investigate what was going on when suddenly the door opened and a very worried Charlie Swan walked in wiping the sweat from his brow

"Bella’s missing."

"What?"

Jacob suddenly became alert and Billy remained static in his place. You felt a knot in your stomach. While riding in the police cruiser that morning, you had heard something about tourist disappearances and wild creatures killing people in the woods and you feared Bella might be in that kind of danger. You were never close, but you knew her and occasionally went out together to talk or share a movie night. You still hadn't seen her after the years you were away and the least you wanted was for something bad to happen to her.

"Did you talk to any of her friends?"

"She was with them during classes, but they lost track of her on her way here. I'll call the Cullens, maybe..."

"You didn't know?" asked Billy "The Cullens left Forks, Charlie."

"Where did they go?"

"We'll find her" encouraged Jacob "But we have to go out and look for her before dark."

"I'll go with you" you said "I'll take Cassie to her room and..."

"No, no, stay" Charlie asked you "I left a note for Bella at home in case she comes back she’ll know that she has to come here and wait for me. If she does, call me right away, please" you nodded

"I'll call Harry and ask him to join along with the boys" Billy said and wheeled away down the hallway holding the phone to his ear. Charlie and Jacob left and you decided to take Cassie to the room, go down to the kitchen and make some coffee for the Brigadiers and Bella. If she was alone in the woods and the night was catching up with her then she was going to need something hot to get her strength back. 

You hoped with all your heart that she was all right. For her, for Charlie.

.

.

.

Hours passed one after another with no sign of Bella. Your driveway was carpeted with people and police cruisers specially brought by Charlie to search for Bella. The entire town was scoured by officers from the early hours of the night, yet there was no trace of the chief's daughter. You decided to join the search taking the opportunity that Sue Clearwater was playing with Cassie - who was awakened by the ruckus of the patrol cars - asking if it was a good idea to search for her in the woods, but Harry refused.

"It's too dangerous, we don't know what might be among the trees. We can't risk losing any more people."

You were about to object his words when Jacob came up to you putting a hand on your shoulder telling you that he was right and that the forest was something not to be taken lightly. So you gave up, deciding to go back inside and refill the coffee pot when Jacob alerted Charlie that someone had found Bella.

A tall man walked in a straight line toward the Brigadiers where Billy and Harry watched him with restrained relief. He had a stocky frame and Bella unconscious in his arms seemed to weigh no more than a feather. His cropped black hair was messy and his lack of a shirt told you that the icy cold of the city didn't affect him at all

You knew him. His face was very familiar yet strange at the same time. You were back in Forks after a few years, but you knew that no one could change that much in that period of time.

Sam Uley was holding Bella and Charlie took her in his arms as he came out of the stupor and relief of having found his daughter. The Brigadiers sighed in unison and Billy thanked them all. You wanted to do something, to approach Charlie, to ask him if he needed help with Bella, but your eyes were caught in Sam’s. 

They were dark, wild, like the forest behind him. You remembered him perfectly. 

Before you left Forks you two were close friends and came to like each other as something more, but your leaving ended that and what you might have been up to that point.

You tried to look away, but then Sam's huge body began to shake, his knees buckled and he fell to the ground resting his hands on the dirt. Harry Clearwater reacted and approached him asking if he was okay.

"Tired" you heard him whisper causing you to shudder. Harry helped him up, whispered something in his ear and after taking one last look at you he disappeared into the woods. Harry walked back towards you.

"I thought the forest was dangerous"

"For us."

"What do you mean?"

Harry looked at you. Then he looked at his wife with Cassie in her arms standing at the doorway . He smiled.

"You'll find out soon, child"

[raineydays411]

The best of friends pt3

Peter Parker x Stark!reader

Summary: So it turns out that you do have other friends. Who would’ve guessed? 

A/n: Hello! So.. because i don’t feel like writing the whole fight scene, the events of homecoming already happened before the actual dance and Liz is moving after the school year ends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Am I dreaming or is that you Jason Todd?”

“Yeah its me, don’t cream your pants.”

You laugh, running to embrace your friend, and he catches you spinning you around then putting you down. 

“What are you doing here?” You ask breathlessly, “Doesn’t your dad hate leaving Gotham?”

“Well he had a meeting with your dad today, so we made him bring us.” 

“Ohh, so that’s the meeting dad didn’t want to go to” You think.

“You’re brothers are here?” You look around for the boys, but not seeing any.

Jason laughs, “Just Tim and Damian, I kind of ditched them at the Tower, I think I would’ve gone crazy if I stayed another second.”

“Aw, were you expecting me to be there?” You tease, grinning wide as the boy turned a light shade of red.

“Oh please, if you were there I think I’d die of boredom” He teases back, a matching grin growing on his face. But before you can answer back you hear Mj shout at you. 

“Y/n! Are you gonna keep flirting or can we go on some rides?”

“Yeah Iron baby, are you gonna keep flirting?” 

You roll your eyes at the nickname, despite your protests you know he’s not going to stop calling you that. 

“Hey you’re not here with anyone are you?” “Um no why?” 

You grab his hand and pull him towards Mj and Ned, who were looking at the both of you in shock.

“You’re Jason Todd..” Ned says, surprised to see him here.

“Uh..hi” Jason responds, not knowing what to say.

“Jay and I are friends” You say, “ We hang out at the galas and judge people.”

Jason laughs, “That is not what we do.” 

“Oh? So then why do you mean mug people from the corner of the room?” 

Mj and Ned make eye contact, having a silent conversation as you and Jason banter. 

“So, you’re one of Y/n’s ‘friends that don’t live in the city’?” Mj asks, eyeing Jason and you. 

He slings and arm on your shoulders, “ Is that what you call us Y/n?” He turns to Mj to respond but before he can answer Peter and Liz finally make an appearance. 

“Oh so you two finally decided to grace us with your presence?” Mj drawls 

“Sorry guys, I really wanted this Spiderman plush and Peter was trying to win it for me” Liz says with a giggle. Peter blushes, not taking his eyes off Liz. 

You frown at the sight. Frustration growing in your head, this was supposed to be your day with Peter. And now it was ruined. 

“You spent over an hour trying to win a little doll?” You said bitterly, making everyone stare at you. 

“Ah come on iron baby, we all know those games are rigged.” Jason says from beside you. You tear your eyes away from Peter and Liz, “Rigged or not, I bet I can win a prize before you, Jay-Bird”

“Oh is that a bet?” “Um yeah, I literally just said that.” “Okay fine!”

Then you and Jason are off, running towards the nearest booth that gives out prizes. 

“Umm, who was that?” Peter asking, looking in the direction you ran off. 

“That was Jason Todd” Liz responds, “ You know, Bruce Wayne's son.”

“What was he doing with his arm around Y/n?” he asks with a frown.

“Well apparently they’re friends, he just showed up. We didn’t even notice him until we saw him spinning Y/n around like a washing machine.” Ned says with a laugh.

“What, so they’re like...close?” Peter asks. Mj and Ned look at each other. 

“Um I guess...” Ned says hesitantly.

“Well, I for one, haven’t heard Y/n talk as much as she has been now.” Mj says, a knowing look on her face. Peter made a face, not understanding what Mj was talking about. 

“That's true” Liz adds in, “She’s pretty quiet, it’s kinda weird.”

“Well to be fair you two haven’t been exactly talking to her.” Ned defending you, “ She opened up quite a bit after she got comfortable.”

“Yeah, besides, Peter is the one who she knows the best, I wouldn’t be comfortable hanging out with people I just met.” Mj says, glancing at Peter. 

Peter didn’t know how to feel. At first he was psyched to be spending time alone with Liz. He didn’t even think about how you would feel when he invited her and his friends on your shopping day. This whole day he was trying to get closer to Liz, he forgot that you hardly knew Ned and Mj.  But it was okay, you gained two new friends, and now Peter has a chance with Liz. 

He looked at Liz, 

“She looks so pretty” He thinks, but deep in his mind, a voice kept bringing up an image of your face.

“Oh shoot” Liz says, “ Hey guys, my mom is here to pick me up.”

“I’ll walk you to the car!” Peter shouts, startling Mj and Ned. 

‘Okay thanks Pete!” Liz says, wrapping an arm around his. Peter turns back to Ned and Mj with a grin. 

Ned winks back and Mj just rolls her eyes, going to find you and Jason. 

As Peter and Liz walk, he starts to get nervous. This whole day he has been alone with her, but now...now he has to leave an impression. 

“I had a lot-” “It was really coo-” 

The two laugh

“You go first” Peter says.

“It was really cool of you to invite me, I had a great time.” Liz says with a smile. Peter grins, happy that she had a good time with him. and his friends.

“Yeah? I’m glad, I had fun too.” 

They finally make it to the parking lot where Liz’s mother is waiting.  Liz’s face suddenly looks nervous.

“Hey Peter,” Liz turns to Peter, “ Do you have a date to homecoming?”

Peters breath hitches, “Um..no-no why?” 

“Well, I was wondering if you wanted to come with me?”

He...he isn’t as excited as he thought he’d be. In fact, this was kind of anti-climatic. 

“Y-yeah, of course!” Peter says forcing enthusiasm.  Liz’s face brightens and she smiles, pulling Peter into a hug.

“Awesome! I’ll text you with the details later?” She asks, pulling away to get into the car.

“That sounds great” Then without warning, Liz grabs Peters face and gives him a quick peck. 

“I’ll see you later Peter Parker.” and with that, she hopped into her mom's car and drove away. Peter stood there, hand on his mouth looking at the spot Liz stood. 

For some reason..he didn’t feel as happy as he should’ve. 

“What is wrong with me?” He asked himself. He shakes his head and turns around. Ready to walk back to where he last saw his friends. 

Turns out, they were all at a booth near the parking lot. And saw the whole thing.

“Dude!” Ned said running up to Peter, “Liz Allen just kissed you! You’re going to HOMECOMING with Liz Allen!” 

“Yeah..I am” Peter says, forcing excitement for his friend,” I can’t believe it.”

“Dude! You’ve been pining over her for YEARS! “ Ned shouts, “ You did it!” 

Meanwhile, Mj is rubbing your arm in comfort as you hold back tears. You saw everything. Peter really didn’t like you the way you thought. You felt defeated, betrayed even. All those moments...they meant nothing to him.  Every moment you held close to your heart. 

“Hey, are you alright Y/n?” Jason whispers, sensing your sadness. 

“um..no not really...” you whisper back, feeling a tear run down your face. Jason wipes it away before you could. 

“Hey, come on lets get you something to drink.” He pulls you away from Mj with a nod. But before he could get far, Peter called out

“Y/n..are you okay?” 

You don’t say anything, your back turned to him so he doesn’t see your face.

“She’s not feeling too hot, I’m gonna get some water and food in her, see if she perks up” Jason responded for you, wrapping an arm around your shoulder.

Peter looks at the arm, “I can do that” He steps closer to you but before he can touch you, you speak up.

“Don’t touch me, I want Jay to take me.”

And with that, Jason adjusts his grip on you and walks you to a food truck. Leaving behind a disheartened Peter. 

You sit on a bench as Jason orders you some food. Alone, you’re able to gather your thoughts and think about what just happened.  

“Did Peter really not like me? If he didn’t why did he act so flirty with me?” 

It made you mad. It wasn’t fair that he made you feel special then dropped you as soon as someone else came along. He ignores you all day for her, then acts innocent? Screw that.

“Here you go, one greasy ass burger and a bottle of water. We dine like true kings.” 

Jason plops down next to you, “So are you gonna tell me whats wrong or what?”

You scoff, “ Wow, you sure have a way with the ladies.” 

“Whatever.” the raven haired boy rolls his eyes, “ So what’s up? Is it that Peter kid?”

You sigh and explain everything. From when you first met Peter to now. After you were done, Jason stayed quiet. Digesting what you just told him and trying to find the right words to say.

“Fuck him.” He says simply. 

“What?” You say surprised at his comment. 

“Fuck. Him” He repeats looking you in the eye, “ Why are you going to waste your time on someone who doesn’t want you? It’s his lose anyway.”

You stay quiet, not exactly knowing how to respond. 

Two of you eat in silence, watching parents run after their children, and take in the atmosphere. 

“Hey.. we never did finish our bet.” Jason says, standing up. 

You look up at him, a small smile forming on your face. “No, I guess we didn’t.”

“Well come on, I don’t have all day.” He holds out his hand, refusing to look at you. You take it, interlocking your fingers.

You walk in silence, faces red but its comforting. It was nice to see this side of Jason. When the two of you see each other, you both have a this fake persona for the media. You couldn’t truly show who you really were. You only caught glimpses of each others true self when you’d sneak away from the crowds. You both hated those stupid galas Bruce threw. Your dad would force you to go so he wouldn’t be alone, and Jason had to go as Bruce Waynes son. 

A match made in heaven.

“Here we are.” Jason says, releasing your hand. “Ready to get your ass handed to you?”

“Oh you wish Todd.”You scoff, walking up to the man running the booth. 

“Hello little lady, three bucks for a three chances.” 

You hand him the money and get the balls. It seemed simple enough, toss the balls, knock down the clowns, win the prize. 

You wind your arm back, and throw the ball with all your might. You end up knocking down two out of the five clowns down. You go again, getting the other three.v

“You got a good aim little miss. What can I get for ya?” 

“The Iron man please.” You hear Jason scoff from his place behind you, “ Oh, is someone a little salty he lost the bet?”

“Whatever princess, it was pure luck.”

“Luck? or years of training with an expert marksman?” You say referring to the times you trained with Clint.

“Whatever.” He says rolling his eyes.

“Aw come on Jay bird, don’t be so salty.” You coo, “ Here, something to remember me by.” You hand him the Iron man with a smirk.  He takes it with a sigh, trying to hide the smile forming on his face. 

“Yeah yeah, come on let's go play that booth with the balloons.” He takes your hand, dragging you to the booth. 

It turns out to be a game with water guns. You both race to make the balloon pop. Jason wins at this game 

“Ha” He says turning to you with a smirk. “ Aw, come on Princess, don’t be so salty.” He turns to attendant “ yeah can i have the Red Hood, thanks” 

He hands you the Red Hood doll, “ Here, something to remember me by” 

You roll your eyes, “ Don’t you use my words against me.” You take the doll, looking it over, “ Hey, why the Red Hood?”

Jason freezes, as you caught him in a lie or something. “Uhh, cause...he’s from Gotham, and so am I...” 

You squint at him, finding his response weird, “Um, okay?” 

He looks relieved with your acceptance. Weird. 

He takes your hand again and you both walk around, catching up on stuff you’ve missed in the months you haven't seen each other. While you were talking, you could’ve sworn you saw a flash of light from the corner of your eye. 

Oh well.

“Hey guys, over here.” 

You both turn to see Ned and Peter. 

“Hey, where’s Mj?” You ask as the two boys walk up to you and Jason.

“She had to leave, her dad picked her up a few minutes ago.” Ned replied, “We were coming to look for you guys.”

“Oh, are you ready to go?” You asked, “ Is anyone picking you up Ned?” 

“Nah I’m spending the night at Peters, we’re gonna watch Star Wars.” He says excitedly. 

Jason snorts, and you elbow him in the stomach, “ I happen to like Star Wars very much. And even if I didn’t, don’t be a dick to my friends.” 

“Sorry man, you just reminded me of my...brother, Tim. Sounds like something he’d like.” Jason says apologetically. 

“I’m friends with Y/n Stark..” Ned whispered.

Peter was quiet, he hasn’t said a word since he saw you and Jason laughing together. His mood worsened when he saw your intertwined hands. 

“So, you’re feeling better.” Peter states, avoiding your eyes. 

“Um, yeah...guess I just needed some food in me.” You mutter. An awkward silence coming over the group. 

“Hey are we going to ride the subway? It sucks going on there at night.” Ned says breaking the silence. 

“Is it? I know I hated walking around at night back home.” Jason says with a frown.

“Yeah man, my mom had to work late one night and she said she saw two homeless people getting it on.”

The four of you cringe at the thought.

“I’ll call Happy” You say pulling out your phone. You walk away, letting go of Jason's hand.

The three boys are left alone, not exactly knowing what to say to each other.

“So...how do you know Y/n?” Ned asks

“Oh uh” Jason goes to say how he knows you when he stops, he noticed how Peter’s mood seemed to worsen when he saw him with you. 

“Me and Y/n ditch galas together.” He says, “ We sneak into my room and...play games.” 

Peters face darkens, “Play games?” 

“Yeah, you know”

“No. I don’t.” 

“Interesting..” Jason thinks to himself 

“Like poker and shit”He replies, “ She’s shit at it, but i like seeing her get all happy when she wins so I let her.”

Peter smiles, knowing how happy you get when you win at games. Then frowns, knowing that Jason has seen you the same way he has. 

“Hey, whos that?” Ned asks, “ He’s been looking at Y/N for a while now.” 

Peter and Jason whip their head towards where Ned was pointing. Low and behold, there was a guy staring at you. You, too busy on your call with Happy, weren’t paying attention to your surroundings. 

The guy looked like a creep. His eyes roaming your body as if you were a piece of meat. It was disgusting.  But before Peter could do anything, Jason was already striding towards you. 

Now, Peter was strong, but he wasn’t too intimidating out of his suit. But jason? Jason was massive, even for an eighteen year old. He was tall, very well built, and just had this dark aura around him. 

Peter didn’t like him. 

Meanwhile, you were chatting to Happy about the where you were, apologizing for calling him so last minutes. 

“Thanks so much Happy, I’ll see you right now.” 

“Yeah yeah.” He hangs up. You chuckle putting your phone back into your purse. Looking up you see Jason striding towards you. 

“Hey i just-” He cuts you off, harshly slamming his arm above your head and leaning in close. 

“Theres a man staring at you.” He whispers, “ Right over there.” 

You follow his gaze, seeing the man who has a frightened expression. Jason was sending a death glare his way that could have frightened Batman himself. The man scurries off without a second glance.

Jason gently thumps you on the back of your head, “See what happens when you stand there like a space cadet.”

‘Oh..I was?”

Peter and Ned walk up to the two of you

“Y/n, you have to be more aware when you’re by yourself.” Peter scolds. 

“He’s right, or its going to be your own damn fault when someone kidnaps you.”

“Oh right.” You say standing up straight and alert. Jason rolls his eyes.

“We said when you’re alone.” “Right.” you say still alert.

“You don’t have to worry about it when you’re with me, you can space out whenever you want.”

“Oh? You gonna protect me Jay-bird?” 

Jason just smiles, not responding as he looks away from your face. 

“So, is Happy coming or what?” Peter asks rudely, taking you by surprise. He’s never talked to you like that before. 

“Um..yeah he’s on his way.” You respond, “ He should be here in a few minutes.”

Peter nods. Yet another uncomfortable silence falls on the group. 

You start walking to the entrance, and without a word the boys follow you. 

You don’t get it, first Peter ignores you all day and now he’s mad at you? What the hell is he playing at? 

“So I’m assuming you’re staying at the Tower?” You ask Jason, “ Your dad would be blowing up your phone if you weren’t.”

“I turned it off” Jason says with a smirk, “ I’m sure they’ll be alright.”

You laugh at his antics, knowing that he’s gonna get an earful when he gets back. Then. from the corner of your eye, you see Peter roll his eyes and glare at Jason.  Ugh, what a weird day.

Finally Happy, shows up. You pile into the car, a tight fit with all four of you, but you make it work. 

The tension in the car is so thick you can cut it with a knife. Happy doesn’t even make any comments, he just drives to Peter’s house to drop him and Ned off. As soon as he gets there, he jumps off the car as if something bit him. Going into the building without a goodbye. Ned just awkwardly smiles and says bye, then follows Peter into the apartment. 

“Okay...That was weird.” Happy says, “What happened? Usually the kid won’t shut up.”

“I have no idea. He’s just being a dick I guess.” You respond sourly. Looking out the window, signaling that you were done with the conversation. 

You finally get home, exhausted physically and emotionally. As you ride the elevator, you think about today's events. So much has happened today it makes your head spin. You were,’t even paying attention when you got to your floor, Jason having to nudge you to get you to move.

“Jason.”, you hear a deep voice rumble. You look up at the sound and giggle

“Looks like you’re in trouble Jay-bird.” “Shut up, please.” 

You laugh again, “It’s lovely to see you again Mr. Wayne, are you staying at the Tower tonight?”

“Hello Y/n” Bruce says, “ It seems so, seeing as my son has been missing all day and we’ve missed our check in time.” He glares at Jason. 

“Aw come on Bruce, we’ll all have a sleepover, bread each other’s hair and tell secrets” You dad says coming out of nowhere. He pecks the top of your head. 

“Hey kid, how was it?” 

“Ugh, don’t even get me started” You say rolling your eyes, “ How was the meeting?” 

“Ugh don’t even get me started.” Then he turned to Jason, “ Hey, didn’t know you were a fan.” 

You laugh, knowing he’s referring to the plush you won for him. “Where’s the rest of the boys?” 

“Damian fell asleep and Tim is in your fathers lab tinkering.” Bruce responds, “ I was about to head to bed.” 

“Oh me too, I’ve had quite the day.” You hug your dad, “ Night pops.” 

Then you turn to Jason, “ I had fun today Jay, thanks. Good night Mr. Wayne.” 

And with that, you walk off to your room, desperate to shower and sleep this day away. 

“So, care to explain why your phone was shut off?” 

Yikes, poor Jason.

[pastpatientlywaitingforimagines]

Starlight | Spencer Reid x Reader Platonic

WC: 1410

A/N: This is for @wesleeporstudy who requested a Found Family!Hotch x Reader fic! I intended for this to be a drabble but I was having too much fun and got a little carried away... enjoy!

GALAXY MASTERLIST (not needed to understand the plot but there’s similar content here if you liked this fic!)

“Are you sure you can’t come with me?” Spencer didn’t have to clarify his question for you to know he felt better about speaking at conferences when you were there. You were standing toe to toe in front of your car at the airport parking lot, dropping him off for his flight. Everything about his body language showed hesitation, including the way he was clutching his go bag.

You felt bad, truly. You wanted to go with him, but you had an obligation in Virginia that you couldn’t reschedule. “I have some things I have to take care of here. You know I’d only miss one of your lectures for something extra important.”

The corners of Spencer’s lips turned down at your answer, though you both knew you were right, “and you still won’t tell me what it is?”

“If I did, you wouldn’t go to your conference. Don’t worry about it though. You’re going to knock the socks off of those criminology professors,” you reached up to brush a piece of lint off of his jacket lapel, “you should go before you miss your flight.”

“Actually, based on the number of departing flights today and the amount of foot traffic in the airport, it takes approximately 45 minutes to get through security at this time of day, and another ten to find the assigned gate. I could stand out here with you for another thirty minutes before I’m late enough to miss my flight.”

“Spencer,” you chided, “go get on your plane, I’ll be here when you get back. Do you want me to pick you up?”

Spencer nodded eagerly, “could you?”

“Of course. Now go!” You put your hands on his shoulders and turned him to face the entrance of the airport. You watched him walk through the sliding doors, then got back into your car. Spencer would be ok on his own, you reminded yourself as you drove to the nearest grocery store. You had to pick up a few more things before continuing on to your final destination, including a birthday cake and some sports themed napkins.

Hotch seemed relieved to see you when he opened his apartment door.

“Here, let me help you with that,” he offered, reaching out to take some of the many items you had managed to balance in your arms.

“Thanks, where’s the birthday boy?” you asked, following him inside. Before Hotch could answer, your legs were attacked in a hug from Jack.

“Hi (y/n),” he chirped, looking up at you with a toothy grin.

“Are you ready…” you asked him slowly, then quickly changed your tone, “for the best birthday party ever!?”

“YES!” Jack screamed, matching your excitement level.

“Oh phew,” you dramatized, wiping imaginary sweat off of your forehead, “can you help me and your dad put up some decorations? They should be in that blue bag over there.” Jack scrambled over to the bag, pulling out the various decor items you had purchased. He helped Hotch put up streamers and banners while you put out tablecloths and bowls of snacks. You also set up a gift table, putting the wrapped box you brought in the center.

Just as you finished setting up, the first of Jack’s friends started to arrive. You left talking to the kids’ parents up to Hotch, instead entertaining the herd of second graders with a game of Twister. After Twister you facilitated a game of freeze dance, then took a break for pizza, cake, and presents. You then produced a box of small Nerf guns, told an elaborate story about how you stole a priceless gem, and tasked the group of tiny FBI agents to hunt you down after giving you a thirty second head start.

“You’re very good at this,” Hotch tried to look nonchalant leaning against the counter as to not give away your hiding spot next to him. You adjusted your makeshift helmet, a colander that you had found in a cabinet, before answering in a whisper.

“My cousin has a whole crew of small children. I used to stay with them during school breaks,” you paused to peek over the countertop, quickly locating the kids strategizing in Jack’s room, “I’ve run my fair share of birthday parties, and done twice as much babysitting.”

“Well, thank you for taking time out of your weekend to help out here.”

“Anytime, Hotch, really. I’ve seen how stressed out you’ve been lately. Our job isn’t easy and I can’t even imagine how much harder it is while also being a single parent.” You had offered to help out with Jack’s birthday party after catching Hotch still in his office at 2 a.m. trying to plan it a few weeks ago. It was the least you could do after Hotch denied your request to take some of his paperwork instead. You glanced over the counter again, a foam bullet whizzing by your ear. “My position’s been compromised, gotta go!”

You dramatically rolled into the kitchen, firing back some more bullets before getting hit by the entire firing squad of eight year old assailants. Out of the corner of your eye you noticed Hotch laughing at your exaggerated performance. It made you happy seeing him smile, it wasn’t something you saw from your Unit Chief often.

“Ahhhhhhh you got me!! I still have one trick up my sleeve though… a partner! Super villain Hotchner, take the gem and my gun!” you slid the “gem” and your Nerf gun across the linoleum floor towards Hotch’s feet before pretending to die. Hotch picked up the items and ran towards his office, the kids chasing after him. You took the opportunity to eat a slice of pizza and drink some soda, effectively refueling yourself for the rest of the party.

You helped Hotch clean up after all of the kids went home. Jack attached himself to your legs once again right before you were about to leave.

“What do we say to (y/n) for helping out with your party?” Hotch asked his son.

“Thank you,” Jack recited, tightening his grip on you.

“You’re very welcome, my friend,” you ruffled his hair, “will you help out with my birthday party this year?” Jack’s eyes lit up and he immediately started spurting different party themes that you could have, which included trains, superheroes, and cowboys.

“Those are all very good ideas, we have a few months so we can think on it, ok?”

“Thanks again for your help, this wouldn’t have been successful without you,” Hotch handed you a tupperware of leftover cake.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, you’re the coolest Dad ever. Like I said though, anytime. Jack is like the little brother I never had, I would do anything for this kid.” You meant it, too. Jack was just as much a part of your found family as anyone else on the team.

“See you Monday, (y/n).”

“See you Monday, boss,” you repeated, finally heading out the door and to your car.

On Monday morning you found yourself back in the airport parking lot, sitting on the hood of your car eating the last of the leftover cake. When Spencer exited the building and spotted you, his pace quickened.

“How was your conference?” you asked, sliding off of your car and getting inside once he reached your vehicle.

“It went really well, there was a fantastic talk on the link between victimization and offending that you would have liked- wait, is that cake?” Spencer stopped mid-ramble when he noticed the dish in your hands.

“It sure is,” you turned to put the container in the backseat.

“Where did you get cake?”

“Jack’s birthday party,” you shrugged, starting the drive towards work.

“Jack’s birthday isn’t until next week though.”

“Brian Trevino’s birthday party is next weekend even though his birthday isn’t for another two weeks,” you explained. Spencer’s eyes narrowed as he thought about what you had just said.

“Who is Brian Trevino?” He finally asked.

“A kid in Jack’s class, that’s why Jack had to have his birthday party this weekend, because they would have invited the same kids.”

“I didn’t realize you were so invested in the drama of the second grade.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Spencer Reid.”

“Actually, I know most things about you.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

“Like the fact that you’ve had blue frosting on your face for the last five minutes.”

Galaxy Taglist: @kermitsaysgayrights @niallthedancingharry @shadyladyperfection @thatsonezesty13 @lexshead @ceeellewrites @howdycharlie @girlycakepops @fantastic-fans @canimarrypizzaornah @daisyflower138 @dyingrexx @taylormobley @bazzleslynn @tj-drinks-tea @willa-wonky @eddiesbifocals @itsafreakingtouque @tee-mbrown @reniescarlett

[closedafterdark]

Past

Dreamcatcher Bora x Male Reader

9453 words

categories: smut, oral, anal, mommy kink, detective! sua

Read on AFF

“... okay oppa, thanks for letting me know.”

Senior Detective in-training Son Jooyeon ends the phone call before sighing deeply. Closing her eyes, she pinches her forehead together as she processes the information that was just received.

“What did he say?” Jooyeon opens her eyes and is met by Lieutenant Hyunjung sitting on the corner of her desk and Detective Jinsook sitting backwards on a chair.

“He was able to rendezvous with the source the Lieutenant provided him. Apparently he ran into one of the prisoners from the high profile Gangnam precinct escape. They’re looking into interviewing her neighbors.”

“So she was the person who lived in that empty apartment we went into?” Jinsook asked.

Jooyeon nodded. “I had a feeling based on this.” She held up the calling card left behind. “But thanks to oppa telling us about what he learned, we might be able to have a solid lead on the case.”

“Hopefully Mudkip’s gonna be alright. That source he asked me to contact did not sound happy to hear his name mentioned.” Hyunjung said, sipping on her bubble tea.

“Did you really have to give him that nickname?” Jinsook asked as she took the bubble tea from the lieutenant’s hand and took a sip.

“He and I are the same age after all,” Hyunjung said as she twirled a pen between her fingers. “I would rather give up bubble tea than call him oppa like the rest of you. Hyunjung hates calling people oppa.”

“That’s probably why Hyunjung is still single…” Jinsook replied, chewing on the soft pearls.

“Hyunjung is single because she wants to be! Hyunjung is not like Jiyeon or Jooyeon who open their legs up for their coworker.” Jooyeon’s eyes widened upon hearing this before her face began to redden with embarrassment.

As Lieutenant Hyunjung and Detective Jinsook began to take turns drinking bubble tea and arguing about the Lieutenant’s love life, Jooyeon stared at the computer screen. It was a series of still images from the CCTV footage of the Gangnam prison escape.

“BlackPink is the revolution…” she said to herself. “Please be safe, oppa.”

“So you’re telling me you slept with this bimbo?”

“... yes. And cut me some slack, how was I supposed to know she was a wanted criminal my precinct is after? It’s not like I go to every woman I meet and say ‘Hey, are you by any chance involved in organized crime?’ I’d probably be left in the hotel room naked and without my wallet.”

“Fair enough. Was she at least tight though?”

“Now I’m starting to remember how much of a pervert you are, Kim Bora.”

You and Detective Bora were currently en route to the apartment Jooyeon and Jinsook searched. Both of you went to the hotel you and Chaeyoung stayed at and unsurprisingly found it completely empty. The concierge informed you that she checked out twenty minutes after you left. The barren streets of Seoul at night made it a lot easier for you to drive without being pressured to increase your speed by someone behind you like during the daytime.

Arriving at the location Jooyeon told you about, Bora got out of the car and winked at you before swaying her hips as she entered the apartment complex. Sighing deeply, you followed suit.

Hearing a firm knock from the outside, a tenant opens their door to be greeted by Bora flashing her badge.

“Sorry to disturb you so late, ma’am. We just wanted to ask you a few questions about your neighbor across the hall.”

“Ah yes, Park Chaeyoung. Such a sweet girl. She kept to herself a lot but always greeted me and asked how my day was going whenever we saw each other. Is there something wrong?”

“We have reason to believe she may have gotten kidnapped.” Bora said, deciding to withhold the information from the elderly tenant.

“Oh my… Chaeyoung is a sweet girl. I don’t know why anyone would try to harm her. I’m sorry I can’t be of any  help, detectives.”

“It’s okay, ma’am. Thank you for your time.” you replied.

“Oh, wait!” The two of you turned around. “Chaeyoung hasn’t been home for a few days. Normally she lets me know when she’s going to be away so I can watch her dogs. But I found it strange she didn’t tell me anything this time.”

You placed your hand under your chin, deep in thought. Bora wrote down the woman’s statement on her phone.

“Are you two a couple?” she suddenly asked, getting your attention. As you were about to say something, Bora immediately responded.

“We are, thank you for noticing! We’ve been together for almost six years now.” She said, taking her arm into yours.

“It must be nice to work with someone you love. Although I can only imagine it gets stressful thinking about them whenever you’re not together, especially in your occupation.”

“It does, but we always promise to come back to each other. Isn’t that right, honey?” Bora asked, blinking her eyes quickly as she flashes you a hauntingly sweet smile. You looked at her and the elderly woman, unsure of how to respond. You end up scratching the back of your neck before smiling back at Bora.

“Have a nice evening, detectives. Make sure to eat something filling.” the woman said as Bora dragged you away, clinging onto your arm tightly.

When the two of you reach your car, you remove Bora’s arm from yours. She gives you another mischievous smirk as you look at her, annoyed.

“Did you really have to tell her we are a couple? And what’s with the whole six years thing?”

“Calm down. It’s not like she’ll do a background check on us. And I did it just in case she’s one of Chaeyoung’s informants. You and I were friends six years ago, remember? Plus, six is one letter away from sex. The very thing I offered you many times in that same timeframe.”

It was a chilly November evening in Seoul. You were playing a video game on your phone as you sat in a parked car outside of an apartment complex. Frustrated at being unable to clear the last part of the mission, you jumped slightly when you heard a knock coming from outside your mirror. You turn your head and are greeted warmly by Kim Bora’s smile and her waving excitedly at you. Motioning her to come inside, you unlocked the passenger side door.

“Hi, Bora.” you said to her the moment she closed the door.

“I’m so excited, I haven’t been to the amusement park in forever!” Bora squealed as she squished her cheeks with her gloves before turning on the seat warmer. Shaking your head, you smiled as you reached over and put the seatbelt on Bora. Her face started to redden from your close proximity to each other, something you failed to notice. After hearing the clicking noise of the seatbelt locking, you turned on the car and headed off.

“Bora, slow down! Hey, wait for me!” You couldn’t keep up with the happy, ball of energy that was Kim Bora as she immediately ran inside the park after getting her ticket scanned. You managed to catch up to her, panting heavily and remembering just how out of shape you were. Bora stood before you in a pair of dark jeans, knee high boots, and multiple layers of clothing under a tan coat. She complimented the look with a thick scarf protecting her neck.

“Hurry! I want hot chocolate!” Bora said to you, smiling widely.

“We… should rest… a bit. About… to die.” you replied.

Bora puffed her cheeks and pouted at you, kicking your leg softly. You laughed in response and removed Bora’s scarf. Before she could protest, you wrapped it delicately, making sure she would be warm. Her cheeks reddened once more as Bora stared at you wide-eyed, looking at how intensely you were focused on making sure her scarf was worn properly. Satisfied with your work, you tapped Bora’s shoulder and walked away.

“Aren’t you coming?” You said to Bora, turning around as she noticed a considerable amount of distance between the two of you. Rubbing her cheeks once more, she quickly ran to catch up with you.

The two of you walked throughout the crowds of people, a mixture of families taking out their children and young couples in love on a date. Colorful lights and various sounds filled the path you were going through as your eyes scanned where to begin. Bora meanwhile was behind you, happily sipping on her piping hot chocolate.

“I was so close!”

The sounds of a target being hit bring your attention to your left as you see a young man disappointed, putting down the pellet gun. His girlfriend next to him is rubbing his shoulders, slightly hugging him and telling him it’s alright. You saw a stuffed teddy bear tied to the wall and realized he was planning on winning it for her. As the couple leaves, you approach the stand and pay the small fee in order to take your shot. Bora catches up to you, slightly confused.

“I thought we were going to go on the roller coaster?”

“We are. But I wanted to see if I have what it takes here first.”

You’ve never played this game before, your only experience with guns being through various video games. But you were certain this wouldn’t be too difficult. Closing your left eye, your right eye focuses on the target ahead. You pull the trigger, only to be disappointed as the ball released from the gun misses and hits the wall behind. Coughing slightly, you turned around to see Bora staring at you intently as she continued to sip on her hot chocolate. Never one to back down from a challenge, your pride got the best of you as you spent an unnecessary amount of money in order to try and win the stuffed bear for Bora. Try being the keyword as by your final chance, you managed to only hit 7 out of the 9 necessary targets. Sighing, you scratched the back of your neck as you approached Bora. She hands you her hot chocolate cup before paying the attendant. You watched as Bora grabbed a hair tie from her wrist and made a quick ponytail. She grabbed the pellet gun and mirrored your earlier actions.

Your mouth was agape as you watched Kim Bora simultaneously hit 8 targets before missing her final shot. You expected her to be sad afterwards, but she surprised you with her patented smile as she took back her cup and walked away. You bowed to the attendant before catching up to her. The two of you ended up going on the roller coaster ride along with many others. 

A few hours later, you tell Bora to wait at a nearby bench as you have to quickly use the restroom. She happily hums to herself, before taking out her phone and going through the photos the two of you took together. Visibly smiling in each photo, Bora takes note of the small things you did for her throughout the evening. Buying her a hot chocolate, fixing her scarf, taking off your beanie and putting it on her. With her focus solely on her phone, she failed to notice you creep up behind her.

You tapped her shoulder, causing Bora to jump slightly. She turns around and doesn’t see anything until she is met face-to-face with a giant white teddy bear. Her eyes widened as she saw you smiling at her.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“I didn’t actually have to use the restroom.” you said.

“How did you get this? We spent so much money and the attendant told me they don’t sell the prizes.”

“What can I say? I used my patented charm to convince him.”

You handed Bora the teddy bear. She held it in her hands, her eyes beginning to well up with tears. She looks at it for a few seconds before getting up and hugging you. You pat her back, a bit surprised at her sudden action, but happy she likes the present you gave her.

“Come on, let’s get you home.”

The two of you were outside the entrance to Bora’s apartment complex, Bora tightly squeezing the teddy bear you got her. The rosy tint of her cheeks failed to hide the feelings she had the entire evening.

“Happy Birthday, Kim Bora.” you said.

“Thanks.” she replied, still blushing.

“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Wait!” You turned around and were met with Bora standing on her tiptoes and planting a delicate kiss on your lips.

“Do you… want to come inside for ramen?”

“How was I supposed to know ramen was codeword for sex?” you asked.

“Gee, I don’t know. Maybe because I actually dressed up to see you? Maybe because you took me out on a date for my birthday? Or is it because I gave you a kiss and told you I liked you? God, you were such a dense asshole back then. How much more obvious did I have to be?”

“Bora, I…”

“Save it. Let’s just focus on the case.”

Bora had you drive her to her apartment, the very same thing you did six years ago. The two of you have changed since then. She was no longer the shy, timid person you remembered. She was still playful, but had a much more mature aura around her. Bora was no longer doubting every decision she made. As the two of you entered her apartment, Bora tossed her bag on the dining room table before removing her coat and tossing it onto the couch.

“Make yourself at home.”

Taking a seat on the couch, you observed her apartment. It had a modest, intimate feel to the place through the use of warm colored furniture and various stuffed animals throughout. Bora made sure guests knew who lived here, with various photos of her framed and placed on the walls.

Hearing a door close, you looked up and were met with Bora sitting next to you. She wore a simple white sleeveless dress, which complimented her curvy features and highlighted her breasts well by displaying a prominent cleavage line. Her hair flowed freely down her beautiful shoulders like a dark brown chocolate fountain, her bangs styled thinly. Bora wore a white snowflake pendant on a pearl necklace that paired nicely with her dreamcatcher inspired earrings. Rounding out the look was a bright red colored lipstick that showed off her triangle shaped upper lip, something you never noticed before.

Despite her cold demeanor, Bora’s soft smile and her warm facial features made you feel welcomed into her home. You found yourself awestruck by her beauty, something you find yourself having taken for granted looking back. Bora brushes strands of hair behind her ear with one hand - a simple act that entrances you.

“So… what did you want to talk about?” you asked, clearing your throat slightly.

Bora grabs a tablet from the nearby table and hands it to you. Unlocking it, you see various case files on the screen at once. Each has a photo and brief description of the information you saw at the cafe earlier.

“They’re split into two subgroups - Black and Pink, hence their name being BlackPink. Kim Jisoo and Park Chaeyoung are the “black” subgroup. Deadly, special forces trained. They execute the plans and are not above using whatever methods it takes to get the job done, including using their bodies to seduce their targets. But I’m sure you know that since you just fucked one of them not even six hours ago. I have to give you props though, that Park Chaeyoung looks like one tight slut.”

“Focus…”

“Right. Kim Jennie and Lalisa Manoban are the “pink” subgroup. By appearance alone, you would think the subgroups should be switched. They are the masterminds of the group. Do you remember that high-profile robbery that caused every traffic light in the metropolitan area to cycle through each color every second? That was them. It was a way to create a distraction so that officers would be assigned to direct traffic as they commenced their heist.”

“Well, now we know one of them is not afraid of being caught undercover.”

“More like caught under your covers, am I right?”

“Kim Bora.”

“Okay, fine. You’re no fun.” Bora said, pouting at you.

“How’s Minji?” finally asking the question that has been on your mind for quite some time.

Bora sighed. “It wasn’t easy for her when you two broke up. She cried for days. You owe me money for the amount of ice cream and tissues I had to spend on her. It took her awhile, but she finally stopped feeling sorry for herself and ran her parent’s shop. We both got into the academy at the same time. She worked her butt off to become Captain. Me… I’m fine being a Senior Detective.”

“Bora, she was the one who broke up with me.”

“And she regretted that decision every day. It’s just… you didn’t only break up with her. You and I were best friends. I never got a text or call from you. Even putting aside my feelings for you, you were always there for me as a friend. I really needed you.”

You processed what Bora just said. The reason you were distant from her was because you didn’t want to accidentally run into Minji. To be reminded of why you weren’t good enough for her. Bora wiped the tears away from her eyes before smiling at you.

“I really missed you.”

“I missed you too, Bora.”

“Just tell me one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Was Minji a good kisser?”

“What?”

“You heard me. Was Kim Minji a good kisser?”

Before you even had a chance to respond, Bora gives you a mischievous smirk and climbs onto your lap, her soft thighs resting comfortably on either side of your own. You felt her arms draped behind your neck as her fingers interlocked themselves together.

“You haven’t been able to keep your naughty eyes off me ever since I changed into this dress.”

“Bora, I…”

“Shh. You still haven’t answered my question. How good of a kisser was Minji?” Bora bit down on her lower lip as you feel her slowly grinding against your lap. “Was it like this?” she said, leaning down until you feel her soft lips finally press against yours.

Your mind goes blank, unable to think about anything but Bora’s lips against your own as she continues to create friction between the two of you.

“Or was it like this?” Bora said, her first kiss followed up by another. The second kiss was a bit deeper than her initial quick peck. Your eyes widened, stunned at how quickly things escalated. You felt your own lips slowly being to reciprocate. It was as if you acted on instinct, wanting to savor the taste of Bora’s sinful lips and the unhindered lust that built up inside you as you fall under a spell cast by the beautiful woman currently on your lap who confessed her feelings to you all those years ago. You haven’t had a drought from the soft touch of a woman, in fact you might have had too much these past few days, but the gaze of pure lust and sexual desire etched upon Kim Bora’s face when her lips part away from yours made you feel like you haven’t been intimate with a woman in years.

“Bora…” you whimpered, a bit frustrated at the loss of her lips against yours.

“You like the taste of my lips more, don’t you?” Bora asked as her tongue licked your lips before she moved in for another kiss. Her soft, creamy lips tasted sweet against your own. When you pulled away from her, Bora planted kisses on your jaw before reaching for your hands and placing them on her chest.

“Oh fuck…” a soft, erotic moan escaping from your lips. Bora’s breasts were perfect, each one seeming to fit perfectly in your hand. You massaged them as you have hunger in your eyes from the delicious looking sight of her cleavage line. You planted kisses on her left breast, each leaving an electric feeling on her body. Bora’s erotic moans of pleasure aroused you even more, as the both of you can feel your cock rapidly hardening underneath her crotch. Once you cover her exposed skin with saliva, you repeat the stimulation on the adjacent breast. Bora’s moans repeatedly fill your eardrums as she pushes her tits on to you, smothering your face. Her lower body is grinding against your lap once again. You caress the feeling of Bora’s soft, silky smooth thighs until your sinful hands find their way to her ass, their favorite place to be on a woman. You gently squeeze both cheeks, causing her to release a steady stream of moans before you give her ass two hard slaps, her body slightly jumping in response.

Kissing her breast tenderly, you continue to stimulate her by massaging the other before making eye contact. Both of you had lust in your eyes, wanting to satisfy each other. Bora’s lips reconnect with yours, the intensity making your head spin. Her lipstick taste was addictive, Bora smiling throughout as she sees the marks she has left on your lips and neck. As your tongues fought for control, Bora’s overpowered yours. She pulls away when she begins to run out of breath. The lust-filled smile never leaves her face as she kneels on the ground, unbuttoning your shirt and removing it off your body along with her to use as a cushion. Making quick work of your belt and pants, Bora tosses them far away from you both. She licks her lips upon seeing the noticeable bulge poking from underneath your cotton boxers. You stared down and caught Bora’s gaze, a hauntingly erotic and almost animalistic hunger in her eyes as she grabs ahold of the hemline of your boxers and pulls the very thin fabric down. Your erect cock almost slaps her in the face, the cool air providing you a sense of satisfaction as her eyes widened with excitement.

“Your cock is so nice, baby.” Bora said, her eyes feasting upon your shaft like it was the only thing that could satisfy her cravings. Wettening her lips in preparation, Bora admires your cock, grabbing the base of it before painting a long, saliva-filled stripe until she reaches your tip.

“Oh god…” you moaned as Bora’s tongue continued to drag across the underside of your shaft, lathering your length until she returned to your tip once more. She needily collects the precum leaking out of your slit, exchanging it with a generous amount of her own spit. The liquid reflects nicely against the lighting above as Bora uses her tongue to spread it across your cock, making sure you were fully covered. Seeing your cock glistening with a uniformed coat of her saliva, she begins to stroke you.

Her soft hand feels wonderful on your throbbing cock, the feeling of your length pulsing in her small hand along with the steady stream of moans being released by you motivate Bora to increase her pace. Her hand travels up and down you with ease thanks to her earlier lubrication. She gives you tightly gripped strokes until she reaches the underside of your tip, her delicate fingers tracing your slit and drawing out more precum. Your moans get louder as Bora giggles at the pleasure she is giving you.

“You like that, baby? How I stroke this hard cock of yours?”

“Bora, I do… fuck.” you managed to reply as she continued to use her hand to give you pleasure. “That feels amazing.”

“Do you want me to suck it now?” Bora asked, winking at you while licking her lips. You were unable to speak from the pleasure, merely able to give her a weak nod in response. Bora knew she had you under her control. Any previous resolve or thoughts to fight her off were long gone as the two of you made eye contact and Bora sees you have succumbed to her lustful temptation. Normally, it would have been easy for you to resist a sinful act of seduction like the one Bora has done to you. But deep down, you wanted Bora. You wanted to make things right, make her forget about your obliviousness all those years ago. And now, as Kim Bora is on her knees between your legs, the last thing you see is a devilish smile on her face as she lowers her head and finally parts her mouth with the tip of your cock.

Bora’s lips form a tight seal around your cock, providing you with a euphoric sensation of being inside her mouth for the very first time. Bora slowly begins to bob her head up and down, her tongue dragging across the underside of your shaft as she takes the top half of your cock in and out of her warm, wet mouth. You bring one of your hands to Bora’s head, running your fingers through her dark brown locks before it rests against the back of her head. Despite having a mouth full of cock, Bora looks up at you and does her best to smile sweetly as she feels your hand following along to her bobbing motions. You feel her spit a large amount of built-up saliva inside her mouth onto your cock before using her tongue to apply it onto you.

“Fuck, Bora… that feels amazing.”

Bora spread the spit across your hard shaft, before removing her mouth and giving you another cute pout.

“Baby, I’m upset.”

“H-How come?”

“Are you only going to call me by my name?” she asked, stroking your cock while placing soft kisses on your tip. “I’m on my knees giving you an intimate act of pleasure and you keep just saying Bora.”

“Do you want me to call you Senior Detective then?”

“No, we’re not really roleplaying yet…” Bora said, pretending to think hard. She sucked on your tip lightly, yet applied a suction-like force before releasing it with a loud pop. “Oh, I know! What really turns me on is being called mommy.”

“Mommy?”

Bora nodded her head. Her sweet smile and soft, innocent features were a fierce juxtaposition to the sinful act she was currently performing on you. You would never say this out loud, but Bora looked even more beautiful with your cock in her mouth. Bora’s head bobbed up and down your shaft, earning her soft moans and cries of pleasure from you. As much as you wanted her to continue, you held onto both sides of her head and regretfully removed her from your cock. A bit disappointed, she looked up at you and saw where your attention was at.

Kim Bora distracted you with her breasts.

Out of the women you’ve been intimate with these past several days, Bora had the clear size advantage. You felt yourself almost drooling at the sight of her delicious cleavage, wanting it to be freed from her white dress. Bora straddles your lap once more and instantly feels your lips pressing against her neck, planting soft kisses on her smooth skin that elicit soft gasps from her. You move lower with your kisses, forming a trail downwards as your hands return back onto her chest and cup the one thing that has had your attention ever since you arrived. You assist her in freeing her of the silky dress.

Bora wraps her arms around your neck as she arches her back and allows you to tilt her head as well. You hold onto her wide hips for support as she reaches behind her and undoes the latch of her strapless bra - letting the undergarment fall onto the ground and giving you the perfect view of her round, full breasts.

“Taste me, baby. I know you’ve been dying to.” Bora said as she brought her chest to your face. Having an affinity for left breasts, you bring it into your mouth first. Capturing her right breast and not wanting it to be unattended, you squeezed the soft flesh, reveling in the feeling of the large mound.

“Oh, baby…” Bora said with a long moan that gradually increases in volume as you explored her chest, sucking on her hardening nipples. You make sure to give each breast adequate attention before switching, making sure each was left soaked by your saliva.

“D-Do you like mommy’s tits, baby?” Bora asked, knowing full well what your response was going to be.

Your mouth was muffled by her warm breasts. As such, you gently bit on her nipple as your response.

Bora removes her chest from your face minutes later. You were thankful to finally breathe properly, but saddened by the loss of her warmth. She straightens her back, leaning down and planting a tender kiss on your lips. She slides her body down yours until she is back to her initial position on her knees between your legs. Taking your cock inside her mouth to lubricate you, Bora releases you with another loud pop before the anticipation builds up inside you of what she is going to do. Giving you another playful wink, she takes both of her breasts in her hands and traps your erect shaft in between her soft, pillowy flesh.

She grinds her chest against your lower body, your cock pumping in and out between the slit of her delicious breasts. The saliva she used from her quick blowjob provided just enough lubrication, as the head and upper half of your shaft appeared and just as quickly disappeared in between her warm flesh.

“You like that, baby? The way mommy’s warm tits snuggle your cock between them?”

“Fuck, mommy… that feels amazing.”

Bora continues to push your hard cock in between the warm, comforting embrace of her breasts as her hands squeezed the flesh tightly. She tries her best to lick the head of your cock as if it was a delicious treat. Making eye contact with you throughout, you watched her heavy, seductive eyes half-lidded with pleasure.

“M-Mommy, I’m gonna cum.”

Bora is too focused on trying to lick the head of your cock that she fails to hear your warning as she rubs her breasts up and down your length.

“Mommy, I’m cumming…”

“Cum for me, baby. Paint mommy’s tits with your cum.” Bora replied, increasing the pace at which her breasts moved, using her hands to squeeze them even tighter around your cock as it appears and reappears from between the soft, pillowy flesh. You moved your hips upward in rhythm with her breasts as you fuck them at a rapid pace.

“Mommy… I’m cumming!”

Your orgasm relieves the heavy weighted pressure that was building up inside you. Your cock throbbed in between her breasts as you felt a burst of semen erupt from your tip. Her breasts covered the head of your shaft as it sent hot, thick cum into her cleavage and lubricated you with each subsequently weakening thrust. Wondering if Bora was going to open her mouth and try to lick your cock like earlier, she instead lets your load splash against her chin and face, the thick liquid coating her creamy skin and beautiful features.

Bora’s innocently sweet smile betrayed the fact her chin and part of her cheeks were covered with your cum. She grinds her breasts against your cock as your orgasm mercifully subsides.

Letting you finally escape her warm, wet cleavage, you watch as Bora’s tongue runs across the base of your cock until she reaches the tip. She draws circles of pure pleasure that send post-orgasm shivers running through your body. Tracing the slit of your cock, she catches the dribbling leftovers of your cum and puts it on her tongue, tasting your sweet nectar. Bora straightens her body to allow you a perfect view of your work. Her smooth, perfect skin and large breasts displaying the large amount of semen you released.

As she rubs the cum onto her skin, the light above you both creates a shiny, slick appearance on her wet chest.

Bora smiles, kissing the tip of your cock deeply as she captures a stream of dripping semen from her cheek and brings it to her mouth, savoring the taste of it. You struggled to catch your breath, having received one of the most powerful orgasms in some time.

“Rest up, baby. We have six years worth of sex to catch up on.” Bora said to you as your eyes began to carry a weight to them. Struggling to keep them open, the last thing you remembered seeing was Bora blowing a kiss at you before heading to her bedroom.

You wake up some time later, unsure of what the current time is. Your body feels heavy and sore. Waiting for your eyes to refocus, you looked down and realized you were currently naked on a couch. The orgasm you had thanks to Bora did a number on you. Seeing that she is not within your range of vision, you slowly get up and begin to look around the apartment.

“Baby!” Bora yelled.

Running for the door, you quickly open it. The bedroom was completely dark. Your hands searched for the light switch. Turning it on, you see Bora tied to the outermost part of her bed frame. She wore a black leather jacket over a black crop top that showed off her trademark cleavage. Her leather material shorts were complimented with black thigh highs. Bora’s simple eyeshadow and red lipstick makeup were highlighted by her soft facial features. She chose to equip herself with a choker and thin necklace running through the bridge of her nose.

She tilted her head up and looked at you, her eyes pleading.

“Bora? W-What happened?”

“Baby…” Bora whimpered. “Minji found out what happened and tied mommy up like this.”

“What?”

“Come closer, baby.”

A bit stunned, you nodded and leaned your ear close to her mouth.

“I want to roleplay. Minji didn’t actually come by, she doesn’t even know my new address.”

Getting back up, you looked down at Bora who shot you an air kiss and winked playfully.

“So Minji learned mommy is a bad girl, right?”

Bora nodded. “She said bad girls deserved to be tied up.”

“Oh yeah? And what else did she say?”

“That since my mouth releases nothing but lies, it should be cleaned properly.”

“Did she say what you should use?” you asked, your cock hardening with each passing moment. You felt it twitch upon hearing Bora’s words.

“She wants you to fuck mommy’s mouth, baby.”

You smiled. “Just wanted you to say it.”

Bora smiled back, shaking her head slightly. “You jerk… you’re lucky I like you.”

She gives your tip a quick peck before you caress both sides of her head and part her lips with your cock. Your initial thrust is anything but soft, slamming your cock into the back of Bora’s wet and anticipating mouth with exceptional force. Gags escape her mouth as your length strikes her throat repeatedly. Tears of joy spill out of the corners of her eyes as you liberally use her for your own personal pleasure. The sight of your cock disappearing into her natural orifice is a sight to behold - a copious amount of spit begins to leak out of her lips and coat your shaft. The messiness of the entire thing arouses you even further, encouraging you to be relentless with your thrusts.

With both of your hands tightly holding the sides of her head, you grab onto her hair and push her deeper to your base. Bora takes every inch of your cock into her mouth as her throat has to quickly adjust to your sudden rapid thrusts. You let out a long and satisfied moan, the feeling of finally being intimate with someone who was once very important in your life made the entire thing even more pleasurable.

You pushed Bora’s head deeper, giving her several more thrusts until you released her, allowing your cock to slide out of her mouth. The saliva glistens in the light as you disconnect the thin string that connects you and her mouth together. You squeezed her cheeks, causing her to look up at you.

“Mommy liked choking on my cock, didn’t she?” you said, giving her cheeks a tighter squeeze.

“As if. You weren’t even fucking mommy’s mouth hard enough. Is that how you fuck Minji’s mouth?” Bora spat back.

Anger welled up inside you, but you decided not to say anything. You went to the mini fridge inside Bora’s room and grabbed a bottle of water. As you took a sip, you processed your next move.

“Is baby mad mommy teased his facefucking skills?” Bora sneered.

Taking a quick swig of water, you let out a satisfied hum and wiped the remaining droplets from your lips with the back of your hand. You kneeled down and untied her wrists. The cloth-like restraints were bound tightly, but were able to be removed with the help of a bit of pressure. Once unraveled, you gently massaged the tender skin.

“Is this a new technique? I’ve never seen someone not have marks.”

“One of the detectives from a different precinct showed me it.” Bora said, rubbing her own wrists more. “Said she learned it from her Japanese colleague.”

“I should keep that in mind.” you said, laughing.

With your cock still glistening thanks to Bora’s juices, you take a moment to catch your breath before turning Bora around and rubbing your cock against her inner thighs. They instinctively sandwich your shaft between them as you begin to thrust once more. Both of you let out a satisfied moan as your cock grinds against Bora’s lips and her delicious thighs.

Her muscular thighs possessed a unique softness to them as you felt her slowly leaking onto your cock between them. And while you certainly enjoyed fucking her breasts, Bora’s thighs were thick, wide - and warm. Your cock was nuzzled comfortably between them as you squeezed Bora’s breasts as support. This allows you to increase your pace, her natural wetness allowing your cock to glide between her suffocatingly thick thighs. Bora’s body was taking the euphoric feeling of sex to new heights - the two of you echoing each other in loud moans. You savored the feeling of her creamy thighs jiggling against your body with each thrust. The tip of your cock grazes against her lips while your balls slap each side of her thighs, causing Bora to whine out in pleasure as you continue to revel in your own. Feeling the build of pressure inside you, you gradually lower the speed of your thrusts and allow the both of you to catch your breath. 

Bora smiles sweetly at you, and although you have seen it many times from her throughout the day, this particular one fully displays her genuine feelings for you. Taking her into your embrace, you bend slightly to kiss her. Her lips were soft, inviting and contained a certain playfulness that made you happy to have her in your arms.

The two of you managed to find your way onto the bed. Bora’s back was against her soft mattress, her arms still wrapped around your neck as you both looked at one another. No words had to be said - you two knew the main event was about to begin. Capturing her lips once more, you quickly go about removing her leather jacket and shorts, leaving Bora in just her crop top and laced purple panties. Unable to breath, Bora eventually breaks the kiss first and presses her forehead against yours. As the two of you heave, your hand makes its way down and begins to spread her legs open before you feel your hand being trapped.

Bora gives you a mischievous smirk. “Now now, baby. Mommy isn’t a convenience store like Minji is. You won’t be able to fuck me that easily. You have to earn it.”

You traced her underwear with your fingers, earning yourself a soft moan from Bora. She was wet, her panties damp with her arousal. Quickly removing it from her wide hips, you were greeted with her moist, wanton flesh. Although you preferred slow, gentle lovemaking, you wanted to prove to her that you could be as rough as she wanted.

“Oh fuck, baby…” Bora said, accompanied by a long, drawn out sigh as you give her a wide lick from the bottom of her slit and go upwards. Despite her earlier claim, it seems the pleasure she seeks allows her to lean back and spread her legs for you. You gave her a knowing snicker, causing Bora to roll her eyes as you see them with drunkenness and need for you as you delve in between her soft thighs.

Her juices were sweet on your tongue. You moved to her dripping clit, using the tip of your tongue to give her several licks, each causing her body to squirm and become a writhing, pleasure-filled mess. You blow hot air in front of her moist cavern, causing goosebumps to form on Bora’s lower body. Satisfied that you have teased her enough, you captured her clit with your lips, using the tip of your tongue to swirl around it with soft circles.

Bora’s earlier demeanor is long gone. Replacing it is need, pleasure, and the desire for an outlet to the copious amount of lust fueling her body.

Her hot, wet flesh is wonderful. You savor the feeling of it on your tongue as you watched Kim Bora give in to the pleasure. You strengthened the pressure on her clit, bringing your right hand to her opening. You teased her splayed, drenched lips, pushing them apart slightly before using two fingers and entering her body.

A long, erotic moan escapes her lips - one that you were sure the entire floor heard. Her hands pushed on the back of your scalp, her hips and thighs quivering with pleasure. You were working magic between Bora’s thighs, as evident by the suffocating feeling her walls are providing on your fingertips.

“Baby… put your fingers deeper inside mommy.” Bora moaned, as failed to keep any resemblance of composure.

You smiled, sliding your fingers deeper inside her body. You curled them, your palm facing upwards. Bora lets out a heavy breath the moment you find a certain piece of flesh inside her pussy. Her fingers dig into the back of your scalp in response.

“Fuck, baby… fuck!”

Upping the pace on her clit, you leave Bora wanting more. Your fingers swirled circles inside her, rubbing and pressing against the specific part inside her pussy.

“Oh my god… baby!”

Bora screams at an octave you’ve never heard from anyone. Her body jerks uncontrollably as the orgasm courses throughout her body. Her thighs instinctively wrapped tightly around your head and covered you with its warm softness. Her juices flowed from her beautiful slit and onto your palm, drenching it in a familiar wetness. You were no stranger to strong female orgasms the past few days, but Bora’s may be the strongest one so far.

Your fingers were still inside the tightness of her body, teasing her before you slowly withdrew them from her body. Her walls had other plans - seemingly not wanting to let you go. Bora’s thighs were flushed with satisfaction. You bring your right hand to your mouth, savoring the taste of them being drenched with her juices.

Bora was an absolute mess, lying in front of you with her legs spread open. Her large chest heaves as she struggles to regain her composure. You smiled at the sight, satisfied with your work on her. You bent down and gave her a kiss, her tongue entering yours as she tastes herself in your mouth.

“Baby…” Bora moaned. “Baby, mommy wants you to fuck her now.”

Bora quickly wraps her legs around your thighs and flips you onto the bed, both of you now switching positions. The lust-filled smile etched on her face caused the baby hairs on the back of your neck to rise as she takes your hard shaft in her hand, stroking you several times before impaling herself on your cock.

Feeling how tight her walls hugged your fingers, the same sensation being on your cock this time was an indescribable feeling. Her hips meet yours, causing Bora to gasp loudly at the feeling of being filled. She arches her body and in an instant, taking you in and out of her wanton body. Your hard cock slides at a pace with zero regard for you or your comfort.

Bora braces herself on your chest with her hands, creating the wonderful side effect of her breasts being pressed together, giving you a delicious looking sight of the very same cleavage that made you salivate when she wore her white dress earlier. Bora’s breasts bounced up and down as she rode you. Her previously satisfied face was now replaced with a determined, almost angry look. She seemed to be working out the frustration and anger that had built up in the workplace, using your cock as an outlet with each thrust of her hips.

She bites her lip in a seductive manner, doubling as a way to prevent herself from releasing a gasp or moan. Bora wanted to show you how hard she wanted to be fucked, how hard she wanted the pleasure your cock was giving her.

“Fuck, mommy…” you gasped, your mind being overwhelmed with pleasure. Based on the pace she was riding you, it was clear that Bora cared little for how hard or fast she was going. Your comfort meant nothing to her, the only thing on Bora’s mind was her own pleasure.

“Mommy, you’re so good at riding.”

Bora slaps your cheek in response, the attack surprising you slightly, but making the sex even better.

“Shut up, baby.” Bora moaned. “You’re just mommy’s little fucktoy, understand?”

You gritted your teeth as Bora grinds hard on your crotch, swirling her hips around while you were fully inside her.

“Fuck!” you gasped. Moving your hands from her hips, you take both of her breasts into your hands. Fondling them, you take her nipples into your fingertips and squeeze them, savoring the feeling of them growing erect. Raising your palms, you deliver a harsh slap onto both of her breasts simultaneously.

“Holy shit… slap mommy’s tits again, baby!”

You raised your hands, slapping them again. And again. And again. You repeat the process several times, watching her milky skin begin to turn a light shade of red.

Bora’s body shook with pleasure, her breathing becoming more erratic as the sensations of stimulating her breasts and pussy were causing her to go insane. The moment the tip of your cock reaches a certain spot, Bora screamed loudly. Her body tenses up as she feels an overwhelming sense of pleasure flow from the top of her head to her toes which were buried under your thighs. Her body shaking once more, you feel your cock flooded by Bora’s juices. Her orgasm hit with such force, it almost pushed your cock out of her.

You bounced Bora’s hips on your cock slowly several more times to allow her to ride out her high. Her muscles loosen up and she looks at you with a fully satisfied smile. She leans down and captures your lips, continuing to be fucked tenderly. Your hands reached behind her, slowly traveling down until they rested firmly on the soft skin of her butt. You squeeze each cheek gently, her round bottom feeling wonderful against your thighs.

“Fuck!” Bora screamed as you slap her ass loudly. “Baby, your cock feels so good inside mommy.”

Bora leans down and presses her lips against yours, moaning inside your mouth as you give her ass another loud, erotically charged slap. The two of you are locked in a heated, passionate kiss.

“Baby… I want you to fuck me.” Bora said, her eyes half-lidded yet filled with emotion. “Please fuck mommy. Can you do that? Can you fuck mommy?”

You smiled, caressing her ass with both hands as your lips connected once more.

You move your hands back onto Bora’s hips, getting ready to bounce her body on your cock once more when she moves her hips forward, allowing your shaft to leave her body completely.

Your cock pops out of her body, covered in her slick juices. As you get ready to re-enter the drenched lips of her pussy, you feel her hand gripping your cock.

“Mommy doesn’t want to be fucked in her pussy, baby.”

Slightly confused, you watched Bora lower her lips slightly, letting your cock rest between her pillowy ass cheeks. You felt it brush against the tight ring of her butt.

“Fuck me here.” she said. “Minji never let you fuck her ass, right? That slut’s always complaining about ‘how much it hurts’. Amateur.”

“A-Are you sure?”

“To tell you the truth, I’ve never done this before. But she said to do it with someone you trust. And I trust you, baby.”

Bora leans her body down and reaches for something under her pillow. Taking it out, you see that she is holding a small vial in her hand. And while you knew what was going to happen, you were filled with a desire you never knew you had.

Bora takes the vial and squirts a generous amount onto the fingertips of her left hand. She spreads the lube around her rear entrance. You would have done so, but thought she was applying it onto your cock. Bora moaned as her fingers dipped into the tight ring of muscle. She does her best to spread it as far as she can. You have never had anal sex before, but made sure she is okay with this.

“We don’t have to do this, Bora. You can get on your hands and knees and I’ll just fuck you from behind.”

“N-No…” Bora said, her voice shaking with nervousness. “I… I want this.

Bora smiles softly, rubbing her thumb across your cheek. It is soon replaced with lust and need as she places her hands back onto your chest.

“Fuck mommy’s ass, baby.”

Figuring she prepared herself for this, Bora grabbed onto the base of your cock and pressed the head against her outer ring of muscle.

To say it was tight was an understatement -  Bora’s vaginal juices mixed with the lube you placed around her ass helped your cockhead penetrate her. Despite the resistance, you are soon able to enter her ass.

“Fuck…” Bora gasped, a mixture of surprise and pain as she experiences a new sensation of you entering her body through a different hole. You do not move a muscle as the tip of your cock impales her. You placed one hand on her ass cheek and the other on her hip, trying your best to comfort her.

“Are you okay, mommy?”

“I… I’m fine.” Bora replied in a nervous tone. “It’s okay, I want this. Don’t stop, baby. Keep going… deeper.”

You raised your hips, inserting more and more of your cock into her backside entrance. The intense tightness of her ass around your cock provides a delightful feeling. While Bora’s pussy was tight, the tense ring of muscle you were currently inside made it seem like loose in comparison.

You managed to get your cock halfway inside her body, wanting Bora to adjust to the new feeling of having something inside her ass. Once you feel she is comfortable, you carefully withdraw your cock until only the tip remains before thrusting back in.

“Oh fuck, baby… you feel so big inside me. S-Slow down… oh!”

The moans and gasps that escape Kim Bora’s lips are at a higher frequency than when you two were having normal vaginal sex. The experience is still a bit uncomfortable for you both, but you are happy that Bora wanted to share this intimate experience with you. You were mindful of Bora’s feelings, not wanting to hurt her. As you only enter her body with half of your cock, Bora’s moans gradually begin to soften.

“Baby… y-you can go a bit faster, if you want.”

Bora’s words inspire you to increase the pace, the both of you enjoying the pleasure radiating inside your bodies as you held her hips and bounced her on your shaft.

Your shaft enters and exits Bora’s ass a little bit easier, the tight ring of muscle gripping onto your cock even more so than her pussy did. The combination of her juices and the lube allowed you to enter her sacred hole.

Bora rocked her hips forward, her clit rubbing against your torso. Her ass cheeks felt silky smooth in your hands as the two of you tried to make the experience comfortable for one another. Bora runs her fingers through her damp hair, pushing it back as her eyes are half-lidded in pleasure and is unable to contain the widest grin on her face.

“Mommy…” you said, your eyes closing as she begins to increase the speed at which her ass was riding your cock. “Fuck, you feel so tight.”

“Baby… your cock feels so big inside me. I want to feel it deeper… keep fucking me… keep that big cock inside mommy’s ass.”

Unlike her pussy that made it easier for you to enter her after she adjusted to you, you were lucky enough to feel her ass expand mere millimeters. The tightest part of Kim Bora provided a new feeling of pleasure the two of you never experienced before. Her hips bounced on your body, and soon enough, your entire cock is inside her from tip to base. Your balls slapped against the lower part of Bora’s pussy, making each bounce of her hips create a wet sound as they hit her wet flesh.

Bora’s nails dug into your skin as the two of you savored the feeling of fullness. A lust-filled growl escapes her lips as her ass squeezes your cock even tighter. The pleasure was beginning to overwhelm you, as you felt her asshole begin to pulse.

“Oh fuck…. Baby, you feel so good inside me. Don’t stop! Keep stretching mommy’s tight ass.”

Your cock leaves her body until just your cockhead remains before fully re-entering her once more. Bora’s soft pleas fo you to fuck her harder do not fall on deaf ears as the intense tightness of her body wraps around your shaft.

Bora’s ass slaps against your thighs with each bounce of her body. Her skin is glistening with sweat, her damp hair clinging onto it. She tries her best to arch her back as the feeling of her tight ass wrapped around your cock and the sounds of her moans to keep fucking her has become too overwhelming.

“Mommy…” you said. “Mommy, I’m going to cum.”

“Cum for me.” she replied, her voice barely above a whisper. “Cum inside mommy…”

Holding onto her hips, you pushed Bora’s body down on your cock as you let out a sharp exhalation of breath. You were buried deep inside her as your orgasm quickly arrives. Your hands gripped her waist tightly as your cock throbbed inside her and released wave after wave of hot, thick cum into her wanton body. At that moment, nothing else mattered. All you could focus on was emptying your balls inside Kim Bora’s asshole. The pleasure radiating from your crotch was so heavy, you thought you were about to black out.

Bora lets out a long, sultry moan as she feels your hot seemen flooding the inside of her body. And while you were sure she’s felt cum inside her pussy, this new experience was not something she could prepare for. Despite the discomfort and uneasiness of you both, Bora was satisfied at the warm feeling of pleasure that you claimed the most intimate part of her body.

It takes you awhile to come down from your high, but the two of you let out a satisfied moan. Nothing more needed to be said. You opened your eyes and are met with Bora’s, hers still filled with heavy lust - and also genuine satisfaction. Kim Bora loved you, and deep down you think you feel the same way. Her dark brown pools capture your very soul inside them.

Bora leans down and kisses you, seemingly confirming the newfound love you two have for each other despite the past.

[altr5312916195]

The Ghoul Boys' Pizza Party

“I can’t believe I let you dupe me into coming to a children's pizza place, Ryan. You really got me on this one.”

Shane told his partner as they stood outside of the abandoned building.

“Okay, yes it’s an odd place to be, but you know there’s been some stories since the opening of Freddy’s.”

“Oh, do tell.”

Shane said, feigning interest as they approached the doors.

“There’s legends of child murders, shady business and family affairs. A few of the restaurants went up in flames.”

Ryan explained. The pair walked up to the doors with the owner, and their crew behind them. The man unlocked the doors.

“Not this one though?”

“Not this one.”

Ryan confirmed as the man pushed the doors open.

“Have fun dudes, I’ll see you at six.” He chuckled.

He handed them pale blue button ups, a golden security badge sitting on top of the folded shirt.

“Great!

Let’s try not to die in a fire.”

Shane said, as he pulled on his shirt, fastening the badge to it.

“No promises.”

Ryan told him, being the first to step inside, buttoning his shirt.

“Oh look at the confidence!

The swagger ole’ Bergara has tonight.”

Shane chuckled as he walked behind.

The door clicked behind the crew as the owner locked them in for the night.

“I got a good feeling about this one.”

Ryan looked back at Shane with a smile.

“As in we’ll find some ghosts, or we’ll be ghoul free and you’ll go home and sleep well?”

“I’m not so sure yet.”

He noted, while dragging his hand across the damp wall. He found some light switches along the way and flicked them on. The overheads failed to power up, but the stage lights flickered on.

“Oh I truly hate that.”

Shane noted as the stage lit up, getting a good look at some tattered animatronics.

“Yeah that’s.. Not what you want to see.”

The Boys stepped to the edge of the stage, while the big three loomed over them.

“So tell me about the lore here. What are we looking at, I seem to recall child murder.”

Shane broke the silence.

“Yes! Lore..”

Ryan broke out of his trance and looked to Shane.

“Fredbear’s Family Diner opened in the early 70’s.”

“Oh they beat Chuck E?”

“Sure did.”

“The old cheese miser, they beat em to it.”

‘No one said they did a good job though.”

“Oh of course not..

Child murder isn’t good for the business,

Ryan c’mon! You should know that.”

“Hey, don’t jump ahead now hold on. So the little restaurant does well on it’s own for a time. It’s owned by one guy, guy decides it’s time to branch out.”

*chuckles* “Does guy have a name?”

“He does.”

*Gasp* “He does!”

“It’s Henry.”

“Henry, no last name?”

*laughs*

That is correct.”

“Oh that’s- *laughs* Wonderful.”

“Right so he teams up with this man.”

“Oh a partnership!

Does he have a name?”

“William Afton.”

“A last name too! What a lucky guy!”

*chuckles* “His full name is in the police report”

“But not Henry’s? He builds this business

From ground up and they don’t even give him

A proper name. What horse shit.”

“The disrespect is real.”

“It is!”

“It gets more real when you find out Afton’s

Pinned for henry’s daughter’s murder.”

*Laughs* “What? No you’re

Fucking with me.”

“Shane, I'm so serious.”

“Stop.”

“Honest to god.”

“That douche, that british douche!”

“Wha- *wheeze*

Why’s he a brit?”

“I just get the vibes.”

Ryan laughed it off, but continued on as they walked the table filled room.

“Freddy Fazbear’s opens about late 70’s right?”

“Things are going steady? No dead kids?”

“No dead kids, then!”

*chuckles* “Oh no..”

“See this is when Henry’s daughter goes missing.

Charlie.”

“That’s her name?”

“Charlette, yeah.”

“Oh okay, that douche Afton kills her.”

“Exactly, and hides her body

In one of the suits.”

“No!”

*nods* “Henry builds these things

And ole Afton thinks it’s a burial ground.”

“What a dick. That’s a new level

Of disrespect Ryan.”

“But wait! *laugs*

He kills five more kids.”

*laughs* “Ryan, that's not funny.”

“Shane, you're laughing too.”

“Well of course! Your delivery

Was so nonchalant.”

*laughs* “So five more kids.”

“Into the suits?”

“Yep.”

“Unrelated to Charlie?”

“Exactly.”

“But why?”

“He never told.”

“So he was taken in for this?”

“Then released because

They never found the bodies.”

“You’re kidding?”

“No, and then after Henry..

Well he kills himself.”

“Henry did? Oh god..”

“Right, Afton takes the rights.

Opens a new Freddy’s.”

“That douche bag..

He’s evil Ryan.”

“Truly, it’s scary.

But he opens this place,

Circus Baby’s.

His own daughter dies by

His animatronic, Baby.”

“That’s Karma.”

“You’d think.

You know his son dies too.”

“Who let this man have kids?”

“His dead wife..”

“OH MY GOD” *laugs*

“How’d she die?”

*laugh* “I’ll give you two guesses.”

“Sweet Satan.

Man’s got the worst luck.”

“Well, yknow

Maybe don’t murder children for funsies.”

“Fair point.”

There was a metallic creek behind them as they walked the restaurant.

*soft chuckle*

“Oh no..”

“I-

I’m not turning around.”

*laughs* “Please do,

We’ll turn around together.”

*Deep breath*

“Okay.”

“One.”

“Two..”

“Three.” The boys turned to face the stage once again.

“Ryan the bear moved.”

“Freddy.”

“Oh, Mr Fazbear himself.”

“The big man..”

Freddy’s eyes glinted as they shifted to gaze at Shane and Ryan.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Shane.. There’s a child in there.”

“A real one?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Can’t be.”

“What?”

“I said what I said.”

“I- wha-

Alright, okay.”

“Can we sit, and finish the story?”

“You’re not scared?”

“No.”

Shane simply told him, and pulled out a dusty chair. Ryan sat next to him, and sighed. Though his eyes often darted between Shane, and Freddy.

“Fine..

So Afton has a few restaurants running.”

“Despite Henry killing himself.

Got it. Douche.”

“Well the first Freddy’s shuts down.

Not because of missing kids, but faulty walk around suits.”

“Faulty walk around suits,

What did a worker almost die

While handing out cake?”

Ryan starred at his partner silently. Shane laughed.

“They did?”

“That’s when they finally bring Afton in.”

“And then let him go?

Five kids, dead.

Business partner, dead

Worker, dead.

They let him go.”

“It’s insane, but yes.

So they shut the first Freddy’s down.”

“This one, right?

They rebuilt it in the 90s right?”

“Yeah, some things happened in between.

Five kids, spring lock accident, bite of 87’.”

“A kid bit someone?”

“An animatronic bit a security guard.”

“Oh.. Oh well that’s us tonight.”

Shane gestured to the pale blue shirt, gold badge shining in the dim light of their flashlights.

“That’s.. Foreboding.”

“Unfortunately, yeah.

You know they’ve gone through

Team of animatronics

After team of animatronics.

They finally decide to put it all to rest.”

“Everything closes down?”

“All of it.

Years later, Afton’s off the grid.”

“He’s dead?”

“That’s a theory.”

“A game theory, got it.

Now we’re here.”

“Right.”

“Let’s get hunting then.”

Shane stands up, and Ryan follows. He looks down at his watch.

“One thirty A.M.”

“Five more hours.”

Ryan sighs nervously. They move from the main dining hall into a hallway. The dim lights of the stage stay behind them. They turn into a new room, a small stage in the middle.

“Who’s that?”

Shane pointed to the red fur, and yellow eye that peaked at them behind a purple curtain.

“That would be Foxy.”

“The pirate.

Chica, Bonnie.”

“And a puppet.”

“Where is that one?”

“Storage.

Lot of people think Charlie is in that one.”

“Oh fun, gotta love living in a box forever.”

Shane walked to the tiny stage and reached out for the curtain.

“Dude! Stop what’s wrong with you?”

*chuckles* “C’mon it’s fine.”

He pulled back the curtain. A sharp creak rang out as the silver hook fell on Shane’s arm. He hissed in pain and pulled back.

“I fucking told you!”

“So the gears are loose, Ryan.

Shut up, I’m not dead.

Just give me a bandaid and an alcohol wipe.”

“We’re gonna need shots after this..”

“Oh please.”

Shane scoffed as one of the crew walked over and wiped at the cut with a small wipe, and slapped a bandaid over it.

“Good as new!”

Shane smiled, and thanked the crew member.

“Now, how bout a good ole spirit box?”

Ryan sighed, and pulled out the spirit box, setting it on one of the tables next to them.

“Alright Foxy, it’s gonna get a little loud in here.

Bet you’re used to it from all the screaming kids though.”

“Well he hasn’t been around em in a while.”

“It has been a bit.”

Ryan clicked the spirit box on. The loud shuffle of noise began as everyone listened in anticipation. Seconds passed and Ryan sighed again, disappointed.

“Nothing! C’mon Foxy boy, you got nothing to say?”

The room was quiet save for the radio channels shuffling.

Then something broke through.

“Save them.”

Ryan’s eyes widened as goosebumps hit his arms.

“No.”

*chuckles* “That.. that was the clearest thing

We’ve heard..”

Ryan looked at the tattered red fox and stepped back.

“Shane what the hell was that?”

The words “Save them” struck the cold air again.

Shane laughed, albeit nervously.

“The kids need help Ryan.”

“Shane stop.”

“Ryan they need you.”

“Shane it’s not funny.”

“It’s a little funny.”

Ryan picked up the spirit box, and turned it off. He quickly ducked back into the hallway.

“Oh come- Ryan come on.”

Shane followed him out. They continued down the corridor.

“Shane it’s not funny,

There’s kids in there.”

“You can’t believe that.”

“You don’t?”

Shane hesitated.

“No, I don’t.”

A dim light at the end of the hall led them to an office.

Computer screens lined the wall.

“I’m sorry I can’t find it

Easy to joke about these kids.”

“Ryan stop.. It’s fine. It’s what we do.”

They looked to the screens as they argued and Ryan stopped mid sentence.

“Chica’s gone.”

“What? No she’s no-”

On the main screen, the stage, there was only two animals up there. Freddy, and Bonnie.

A crash came from the kitchen.

“Is the whole team in the office?”

Ryan asked, and counted the members in the room. They were all there.

“Shut the doors.”

Shane fumbled for a door, there was none. Just a hole in the wall. He muttered in confusion as he hit the red button labeled door. A metal door came slamming shut.

“I don’t think that’s very safe.”

“But the animatronics outside are?”

“Pick your poison Ryan.”

“We are going to die here..”

“Oh stop! *laughs* We’re fine.”

“Shane I don’t think you understand!

So many people died here.

Kids, nightguards, shift managers. Families, Shane.”

“Ryan, it’s not true.”

Ryan shook his head, and turned to look back at the screens on the wall. Shane put a hand on Ryan’s shoulder.

“Come on, Ryan..”

He laughed awkwardly, while Ryan shrugged his hand away.

One of the monitors glitched, coming back to show Foxy in a new position.

“It moved.”

“I see that..”

“What do we do?”

“Nothing, we watch them.

What time is it?”

“Three.”

Ryan sighed, and sunk into one of the roller chairs by the desk.

“Ryan what are we doing?”

“I don’t know! Okay?

We’re stuck here until dawn. Let’s just ride it out.”

Shane sat down next to him, and watched the computer screens. The main screen glitched as Bonnie moved off stage, leaving Freddy alone.

“Shane, why do you think they’re moving?”

“They’re programmed that way aren’t they?”

“You think they do that at Chuck E Cheese?”

“Well, yknow..

I don’t know. I’ve never been in this position.”

Ryan shuffled around again for the spirit box and clicked it on.

Shane groaned and flinched as the sound screeched through the small room.

“Oh you love to hate it..”

Shane joked as Ryan shushed him. Shane pouted and sighed, leaning back in the chair. More banging came from the kitchen.

“Let’s eat.”

“Ryan.. *laughs*

Ryan the chicken is gonna eat us.”

“Shane..”

“I’m sorry I can’t help it.”

Footsteps echoed down the hall, and Ryan turned off the box to hear them better. Things went quiet until something slammed against the door. Ryan jumped back with a shout, and Shane pointed his flashlight towards the window.

In the window a purple shadow stood smiling.

“It’s Bonnie.”

“I see him, Shane.”

“What do we do?”

“Everyone stay still, maybe it’ll go away.”

They both spoke barely above a whisper. Minutes passed as the bunny stood unmoving. Humming echoed through the halls.

“Ryan..”

“I know.. I-i know.

What time-”

“Four.”

“This is our purgatory, Shane.

We’re done for.”

“Don’t be so pessimistic.”

After what felt like hours the hulking form finally turned to leave.

Ryan sighed in relief.

“See?”

“Don’t jinx it Shane.”

“I’m sorry.”

He went quiet, eyes falling back on the screens as they watched Bonnie roam the halls. Chica had found her way back to the stage, Foxy was unmoving.

“Why are they moving? What do they want with us?”

“Stop asking questions I don’t have answers to!”

Ryan huffed out. He looked down at his feet, the golden badge glinting in his eyes as a thought hit him.

“William always came in dressed as a guard.

That was his MO.”

“And we’re the guards. What if they’re

scared of us?”

Ryan looked at Shane, dumbfounded.

“What if they are scared of us?”

“One hour left.” Someone from the crew informed.

“We have to get back to the front doors.”

A soft beeping began to ring out. Shane looked around for the source. In the corner of on of the screens a small red battery flashed in time with the beeping.

“We’re losing power.”

“To what?”

Shane shrugged.

“We’re not going to make it.”

“We’re going to make it.”

Something slammed against the door, a dent being pressed into it.

“We don’t get paid enough for this!”

“It’s Foxy, that bitch!

“Shane, you'll make him angier!”

“Yeah? Well he can suck it!

That’s right!”

“They’re kids!”

“Oh please..”

Another slam rang out, as the beeping grew louder, more urgent.

“Five thirty.”

“Shane what do we do?”

“We’re going to get to that door.

He’ll go away soon.”

The banging grew louder, and Ryan moved to cover his ears. He shrank back in his chair, eyes shut.

Despite all this he heard something in the back of his mind as images flash in his head.

It’s me

“Shane!”

Shane stood up, standing between Ryan and the door. The banging stopped. The fox walked away. Ryan relaxed a bit. Until the power went out, and the door opened again.

“We’re going to run for it.”

“We cannot do that!”

“We can.”

Shane grabbed Ryan’s arm and booked it down the halls, dragging Ryan behind him. Foxy wasn’t far off on their steps in the hall.

“Ryan run faster!”

“I ca- I can’t!”

He choked out. His eyes were on the small crew behind them, worried of who may be left behind. Chica met them at the end of the hall as she stepped out from the kitchen. Shane narrowly avoided hitting her dead on and led them into the main room.

“Look there’s the door!”

Ryan laughed in pitiful fear, and small relief. Until Bonnie stopped them in their tracks.

“Oh god, oh fuck.”

Chica, and Foxy had the crew trapped, the doors barely out of reach. All of the voices grew louder around them. Ryan clutched his hands over his ears, his eyes shut tight. He could feel his heart beating out of his chest, and Shane’s tight grip on him released.

“Shane?”

Ryan asked, refusing to open his eyes.

Shane looked at the animatronics as they circled the team. They were so close he couldn’t let it end like this. But he also couldn’t reveal himself. He panicked, his eyes began to turn a deep red as he looked around for another way out. But those kids, they wouldn’t get out of his head. They were so loud.

“OH JUST STOP IT”

He screamed, and they listened. The voices were silent, and Ryan opened his eyes. Shane grabbed his arm again and yanked him to the doors.

The owner opened them up just as Ryan and Shane made it back outside. Though Shane was prepared to barrel through the glass if necessary.

Ryan fell to his knees as they finally made it to the end, and laughed in morbid relief.

“Hey! You guys made it! Did ya have fun?” The owner smiled at them.

Shane helped Ryan up, and glared at the owner. He ripped the badge off his shirt, and slammed it against the man’s chest.

“We’re suing.”

[dreamescapeswriting]

BTS Reaction || Your Child Interrupts Filming [Request]

A/N: I know Namjoon’s isn’t really a Run episode but I just had to include it

Seokjin:

You told Jin you weren't sure bringing your son along to filming would be a good idea but so far everything had been fine. He was sleeping across some chairs while his dad and his six uncles were chasing each other around a giant toy factory, carrying pig balloons and trying to hide away from Hoseok. It was a pretty chill day, every now and then you would catch glimpses of the guys as they ran past you to find a hiding spot but your son was starting to wake up now and you knew it was going to be hard to keep him away from his uncles since they were all acting like children themselves.

"What's daddy doing?" He asked as you sat him down on your lap, Jin running past you and your son, giving him a small wave before turning into a sprint and hiding down a hallway,

"He's playing hide and seek with uncle Hoseok." You told him, but he tried getting off your lap.

"I'll help daddy hide." You managed to catch him before he chased after his dad and you sat him back on your lap, not wanting to get in any trouble with producers or cameramen.

"No, we have to stay here and be good." He nodded and one of the makeup artists came over, holding up some building blocks for him to play with but he was more interested in watching Namjoon and Jungkook screaming as they ran away.

(X)

Jin was hiding behind a child's castle when your son saw him again before you even knew what was happening your son slipped from your grasp and ran out to his dad, hugging him and wrapping his arms around his leg, Jin chuckled and held onto his son looking up when he heard Hoseok coming.

"We have to hide from Uncle Hobi, come on." He bent down and picked up his son, running away from the main area and toward Taehyung who was laughing so hard at Jin and your kid.

"This is cheating!" Hoseok screamed as he caught up to them, Jin knew he wouldn't come after him if he was holding his kid.

"If you get mini Jinnie I get Y/n!" He yelled coming off the set and walking over to you but you were already moving away from him, going to hide behind cameramen so he couldn't get you.

"I made you breakfast this morning, don't touch me." You cried out, making a run for Jin and your son who was laughing at you.

"Hoseok!" You screamed as he caught up to you and picked you up from behind, Jin stopped in his tracks and turned around.

"Drop my wife and I'll bring you Jungkook," Jin promised, gaining the attention from Hoseok who was still holding you off the floor in a backwards hug.

"He'll do it, you know he will." You told Hoseok who gently put you down on the ground and stared at Jin, who in return nodded to you and you made a run for it, in the direction of the main cameras and leaving everyone behind.

"CHEATERS!" Hoseok screamed as soon as you were off the set and he couldn't come for you anymore, you bent over a chair trying to catch your breath and you heard the cameramen laughing and talking about how they should have been filming with everyone's kids for a while now and it would make for an interesting episode.

Yoongi:

Yoongi had invited you to bring your five-year-old daughter along to the filming of a run episode because Jin and his wife were going to be there, along with their kids so he thought it would be nice for you to hang around with another mum for a while and your daughter to make a friend. But what neither of you had counted on was both of your daughters wanting to join in on the fun, especially when their dad brought the guns out and were chasing each other around on giant bouncy castle.

"Come on, dad needs to finish filming. We can play afterwards." You told your daughter as she watched her dad running past her and onto the bouncy castle, laying down and sending her a quick wave.

"Daddy careful!" She yelled as he went to check where Jungkook was standing, the camera crew laughed and you giggled, sitting her down on your lap as she continued to watch her dad. Yoongi was busy laughing along with you to notice that Jungkook had gotten to close and start shooting him, ''killing'' him instantly. Deciding now would be the best time to be dramatic he screamed out and rolled off the bouncy castle and onto the floor, pretending to die there.

"DADDY!" Your daughter squealed running out after him, Jin's daughter running after Jin as soon as she saw your daughter on the run.

"Yoongi!" You cried out trying to get him to catch her but he was sticking to his role of dying soldier, holding his hand across his chest and grunting loudly.

"Daddy, no!" Your daughter screamed hitting him on the chest and looking around, Jungkook was laughing so hard he was now kneeling on the floor and the rest of the boys were too busy playing to have noticed, you were about to reach your daughter when she took the gun from Yoongi and began shooting Jungkook, who then died on the floor next to Yoongi.

"Don't mess with daddy." She pouted dropping the gun onto Yoongi's chest and storming away back to you, you were too busy laughing at her to punish her and it didn't seem like the cameramen were bothered by it either, all of them laughing at Jungkook and Yoongi who was staring at you and your daughter after she'd killed Jungkook and walked away.

Hoseok:

The producers had asked you to come along, secretly, to the shooting of Run with BTS, they'd told you not to tell Hoseok you were going but to bring your son along. You'd spent the whole evening watching from behind screens as your husband, the father of your child, screamed while running away from zombies with his friends. You knew they were scardey cats but you figured they'd be able to make it through easily.

"This isn't fair." Your son said as he jumped, hiding his head in your chest as he heard screaming again. He was supposed to be sleeping throughout the entire thing but Yoongi, Hoseok, Jimin and Jin were being so loud that he'd woken up to see what was going on.

"Dad is going to get eaten by a zombie." He groaned as he looked at the screen, he was old enough to know real from fake but it still didn't stop his overactive imagination and you knew it was going to be bad news later tonight when you had to put him to bed.

(X)

"I have to save Dad from the zombies." He said to you as he tried to wiggle from your lap, but you weren't about to let him go away easily. You would get in trouble if you let him run onto the set while they were filming.

"No baby, he's fine. It's not real remember, we talked about it." But he'd jumped off your lap and was running after his dad who was now playing tag with the zombies to earn more tickets.

"DAD!" He screamed as he saw a zombie chasing him, Hoseok stopped in his tracks and searched around for the source of the voice, seeing your son he grabbed him, picking him up sideways and sprinting away from a zombie with him under his arm.

"Wait when did-" Namjoon couldn't finish his question because Hoseok had already run past him and Namjoon was tagged.

You came out once the game was over and took your son from Hoseok who was laughing along with the boys.

"You only got more because the zombies wouldn't come near you." Jimin pouted looking over at your son who was now holding onto your leg as they filmed the outro.

"Don't be jealous Jimin." You called out, making him blush and shy away from the cameras, you giggled and bent down to comfort your son who was looking at all of the zombies.

"Told you they aren't scary." And he nodded, looking up at one of them who was smiling at him.

Namjoon:

You were sitting in the front row watching your husband, Namjoon, and his band members all play hide and seek with James Corden and Ashton Kutcher and you couldn't stop yourself from laughing. Namjoon had managed to get you and your daughter front row seats and now you were watching him be a big child.

"We have to be quiet now baby," You told her as the music quietened down and James started the hunt for the boys. Ashton walked past you, giving you a small wave since you had been introduced before the show started. He found Jimin instantly and picked him up, carrying him over to his seat and then going to look for another member. James came back with Tae and you couldn't stop yourself from laughing as Tae started blushing a bright red colour and Ashton kept hunting for the other boys.

(X)

After Jin was brought in and everyone was screaming in laughter you lost the grip on your daughter who rushed over to Ashton, they'd bonded earlier behind the scenes when he gave her a cupcake and she pulled him down to her ear level, you shook your head at her wanting her to come away but the cameramen were loving it up,

"Uncle Kookie is over there." She whispered pointing at the cameraman closest to you, Ashton frowned looking closer and slowly made his way over to Jungkook and got him, making everyone laugh and James ended the show. Jungkook came over to you and Namjoon, holding your daughter in his arms.

"I guess snitching runs in the family huh Hyung." He joked putting your daughter on your leg and messing her hair up

Jimin:

Your son had been watching his dad, Jimin and his uncles play video games all day and he wanted to join in on the fun. So when his Uncle Jin came to him and asked if he wanted to play he was more than happy about it.

"But it's a secret, we can't tell anyone except mummy." You nodded along with Jin and he brought you over to the VR room that they were all playing in, sitting you down by the door as Jimin stood with the VR headset on and got ready for his game. Jin nodded at you and you kept hold of your son, whispering the plan to him while the rest of the boys made loud noises so Jin wouldn't hear you talking.

"Are you ready!?" Namjoon yelled over at Jimin who nodded and the game started, bringing up on the screen so you knew when to send your son out to scare Jimin. Jin and Yoongi smirked at you as they watched you giggling, as soon as Jimin was right next to the virtual cake you tapped your son on the back and he slowly made his way over to his dad, acting like a spy. He'd seen way too many movies is what you thought when you saw this, you smiled as he turned to look at you and smiled.

"Do it." You whispered and he pushed his dad's leg, knocking Jimin over a little and making him scream as he felt like he was actually falling in the game and in real life, he ripped the headset off his face and grabbed your son, picking him up and spinning him around in the air.

"Who did it? Who told you to do it?!" He questioned putting him down onto the floor and laughing as he rushed over to you and hid behind your arms.

"Tell me or no ice cream tonight." Jimin threatened and your son came out from hiding.

"Uncle Jin!"

Taehyung:

It was no surprise that, much like his father, your son loved to sleep cuddling up to someone. He would always fall asleep clutching the stuffed rabbit that you'd gotten him when he was a baby and when he could he would fall asleep holding onto you or Tae, unless he was with his uncles he would fall asleep holding onto them.

"Is filming over?" You whispered as you came onto the set looking around only to see each member asleep on giant inflatable bags, you looked at the cameramen and a stage manager came over and told you what was happening. That the boys were asleep for the next fifteen minutes and then they would have to remember the lyrics to a nursery rhyme.

"That's fine, we'll wait over there." You whispered to her, trying to take your son over to some seats but he saw his dad and was trying to make his way over to him.

"No baby, he's sleeping we have to stay over here." But it was no use, he slipped out of your grasp and ran over to his dad, wasting no time taking off his shoes and climbing onto the inflatable bed next to his dad, who in return wasted no time in pulling his son into his grasp and falling back to sleep. You smiled at the sight of them and then looked at the cameramen who were all staring at you.

"It's cute, it'll make the segment cuter." The producer told them and you relaxed a little, wanting nothing more than to go over there and cuddle your husband as well, but you knew that wouldn't be allowed so you stayed behind and waited for them both to wake up in fifteen minutes

Jungkook:

Jungkook had brought you and your daughter along to the filming of a run episode because it was an overnight one and he didn't want to be away from you and his daughter for so long, so you were all staying in one big house together so they could finish filming. All that was left to do was a guess the song, the losers would make everyone in the house, including crew, breakfast. Something you were looking forward to because since being married to Jungkook and having your daughter, no one except you made breakfast anymore.

"Goodnight baby, Dad will be back in the morning." He said to your daughter, kissing her on the head and moving over to you, you smiled up at him and he kissed your lips.

"I'll see you in the morning as well." You nodded and he waddled out of the bedroom, turning off the light on his way out.

(X)

You stood on the balcony the next morning watching as each member came from the house, first was Yoongi who looked really tied, then Namjoon came out in shorts and sunglasses which made you giggle, waking up your daughter who wanted to watch from the balcony.  You both sat down on the floor and watched through the glass to see if anyone would get the song right the first time.

You watched as Namjoon skipped back into the house happily and you thanked whoever it was watching over you all that he wasn't the one to cook that morning.

"Go! Fighting!" You looked down over the bar and Jungkook was being thrown out of the door by Taehyung who was laughing at the younger member.

"It's so bright." He groaned holding his hand over his eyes, you giggled continuing to watch when the door to the balcony opened and Taehyung walked out.

"They're doing so well." You said sarcastically, watching as your daughter crawled back onto her bed, Taehyung stood with you and continued to watch.

"It's boy in luv." The director said to Jungkook who was staring into space, you were about to start laughing when you heard your daughter giggling and running towards her dad.

"Oh god!" You yelled watching as she sprinted out from Namjoon's grasp and straight onto Jungkook's back, whispering the lyrics to him and making him laugh.

"Disqualified." The director laughed making Jungkook one of the cooks for the morning and the next one to be decided between Hoseok and Jimin who was too busy laughing to hear the hint from the director.

tagline:

@yoongisdumplingcheeks​ @yourguessisasgoodasminemate​ @snowy-meowl​ @lynnthevirgo​ @btsiguess-kpop​ @kpopfanfictionhoes​ @lyoongx​ @mitzwinchester​ @rjsmochii​

[dahliax]

Goddess of the Sun

Chapter Two

Description : Zuko x oc Dahila, Goddess of the Sun who was sent by the spirits crosses paths with Ursa, who changes her life forever.

Note : I started this fanfic for fun but now I like it. I haven’t posted fanfic in years but I thought it would be fun to start again. It’s obviously not amazing but I’m hoping to improve with practice. I’m also open to requests in my ask box preferably just Female!Reader x Zuko or Sokka (fluff, smut, oneshots, and headcannons are welcome). Right now I’m character building for the first few chapters soon we will get to the good parts :) Let me know what you think so far! 🌸 (im real soft so pls try not to be too mean)

Warnings : fluff, angst, eventual smut (in aged up chapters).

꧁𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑂𝑛𝑒꧂

꧁𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑇𝑤𝑜꧂

꧁𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑇ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒꧂ Coming Soon

10 years later

“But Zuko, what if I want to be the hero this time!?” Dahlia’s voice echoed through the palace gardens.

With a sigh Zuko turns “I guess you can play the hero this time. But I am NOT playing the princess,” Zuko finally said yes to the little girl standing in-front of him. She gasped and squealed and ran as fast as she could to give her best friend a big hug.

“Yay! But who will play the princess?”

“I will”

Dahlia and Zuko turned around to see where the voice was coming from. Azula.

Dahlia’s stomach dropped. Azula never played fair and someone always got hurt by the time she was ready to quit playing. “Zuko, maybe we should just play with the turtle ducks,” Dahlia whispered so only Zuko can hear but she was wrong. “Well it would only make sense.. I am a princess in real life.. I would be perfect for the role!” Azula slyly slips closer to them igniting the fear in Dahlia she was all too used to here at the palace.

“Okay then I can play the villain!” Zuko faked being excited. He shot Dahlia a soft look seeing in her eyes that she was scared. He hated seeing her this way, she was his best friend after all. This always made Azula jealous seeing her brother constantly playing with Dahlia instead of her like Ty Lee and Mai. Azula knew there was something off about Dahlia, why would her mother bring a random peasant baby into the palace? This made Azula’s blood boil even hotter, mapping out her attack plan quicker than Dahlia could even blink. She’s been dealing with this for too long. She had to end Dahlia.

Azula smirked and pushed out a huge ball of fire at Zuko and Dahlia. Zuko’s heart stopped, “hey! You know we don’t use fire outside of training and around Dahlia you know it’s not fair!” Zuko squeaked after diverting the fire. Dahlia’s heart sank, another reminder that she could never stand a chance against Azula without bending.

“Well Dahlia, you wanted to be the hero, now be one” Azula’s words were like venom in Dahlia’s heart, everyone knew she couldn’t stand a chance. “Don’t hurt anyone Azula” Zuko said lowly. “Now what makes you think I’d do that Zuzu? It’s just a friendly game” Azula smirked and threw another fireball at the two children. It was always fun and games until Azula showed up. Zuko diffused the fireball while Dahlia ducked only to see Mai and Ty Lee coming through the entrance of the gardens. She was in big trouble now.

Zuko was trying to make a plan in his head. But he knew he wasn’t as strong as Azula, she was so much farther in training than him. Before Zuko could think another thought Azula sent another blast knocking Dahlia and Zuko on their butts.

“Guards! Arrest this man!” Azula yelled at Ty Lee and Mai. They ran to Zuko before he could get up and wrapped his wrists with Mai’s hair ribbon. A blush crept up on Zuko’s face from Mai’s touch, he had a crush on her. Dahlia watched, she felt so helpless. The boy she had a crush on was entranced by another girl and her bully was standing right in-front of her waiting to attack.

Deep in Dahlia’s heart she’d hope Azula would show mercy to the little girl sitting there with tears welling up in her eyes. She had no way out. And Azula never showed mercy, she seen it as weakness. And as soon as Zuko looked over from Mai’s eyes a crack of lightning came from the sky and the most disturbing scream rang in Zuko’s ear drums.

Everyone’s heart stopped. But Dahlia continued screaming. Tears immediately hit Zuko’s eyes.

“Finally! My best move yet! Daddy will be so proud” Azula squealed and kicked Dahlia over on her side. Zuko was almost positive she was dead. There’s no way a regular 10 year old could survive but somehow she was still screaming. The fire in Zuko’s heart made him see red and he immediately destroyed the ribbon around his wrists, running over to Dahlia and cradling her head in his small hands.

“Dahlia are you okay?” Zuko managed to speak even though he could barely hear himself. Dahlia thrashed in pain, blood trickling out of her side. Zuko noticed the lighting marks crawling up her hip under the destroyed part of her kimono. His heart sank. She’d have this scar forever if she survives. Soon they could hear frantic foot steps coming from inside the palace. Zuko pushes up from his feet fuming, “Why would you do this?!”

“Azula!” Iroh and Ursa scream in unison seeing Azula above Dahlia giggling. “Look mom you’re going to be so proud! I can use lightening now!” Azula smirked brightly but Iroh and Ursa were less than impressed. Iroh had been visiting and Ursa wanted the kids to be on their best behavior but obviously Azula couldn’t let that get in the way of her plan.

“Get the healers immediately and prepare the royal hospital room,” Ursa quickly said to the guards. “The royal hospital room? She’s a peasant!” the guard talked back. Iroh’s eyes widened, “I don’t think it’s your place to be questioning her royal highness in such a situation. Now go.” Iroh said coldly. Ursa ran to the children trying to ignore the tears threatening to spill over. To say the least Dahlia was the daughter Ursa wished Azula was.

“Azula. Go see your father.“ Ursa had enough of Azula’s antics. And everyone knew if Ursa sent anyone to Ozai that they were in big trouble.

ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

Dahlia’s eyes finally fluttered open to see Ursa sleeping on the chair aside her. Dahlia panicked, she didn’t recognize where she was. Her eyes adjusted to see its the royal hospital room. She grabbed Ursa’s hand startling her awake. Tears lining Dahlia’s eyes as she remembered what happened. “I-I” she could barely speak, her throat felt like it was on fire from screaming, “I tho-thought I was going to die” she finally said with tears flowing down her cheeks like a waterfall. Ursa pulled her into a gentle hug minding her wounded side. “You’re safe now darling, I promise” she croaked out exhausted from crying and all the emotions the day brought.

ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

“You know Zuko would like to see you,” Iroh says to Dahlia while she scans the book he brought for her to read during recovery. “Oh no Iroh.. I look so terrible right now” the redness in her cheeks told Iroh all he needed to know. “Don’t worry ladybug, he told me he thought you’re the most beautiful girl in the palace” he said in hopes to lift her spirits. Somehow Dahlia’s face got even redder, “You’re only saying that to be nice” she said as she crossed her arms.

“Well he’s got a present waiting for you and I’m sure you’d like to see what it is,” Iroh teased. “That might be true but I know he doesn’t think I’m the most beautiful girl in the palace” she said stubbornly. Iroh chuckled, “How are you so sure?” he says challenging her stubbornness as usual. “He told me he likes Mai and that Ozai thought it was a good idea”

Iroh sighed, realizing how quickly these kids were growing up now that Ozai was preparing a wife to marry off to his son when he turns 18. He knew Ursa would have none of it. But now Iroh was confused, Zuko really did tell him that he thought she was the most beautiful girl in the palace. “I’m not lying to you Dahlia, I’m not sure why he would change his mind” but they both knew why. Even if he chose Dahlia the nation believes she’s a simple peasant with no bending abilities who just got lucky. But Iroh knew one day the secret would come out.

“Ladybug, how things are now are not how they will always be. Your destiny is your own not Ozai or Azula can change it. Now, would you like some jasmine tea?” He says getting up to grab the pot. “Yes please! Can you mix the camomile in?” she says excitedly. “Zuko will be out of training soon. I told him to stop by” Iroh said and Dahlia just let out a loud huff, too tired to argue any further.

ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

"Zuko! You're in luck..the tea just finished..How was training?” Iroh said getting the cups ready for them “Fine I guess. It’s weird not having Azula there though,” 

Dahlia almost questioned why Azula wasn’t there but then she saw that Zuko was hiding something behind his back. A blush rose to her cheeks. ‘He really did bring me something’ she thought. Iroh nodded at Zuko and said, “Oh I must have forgotten my cup. Excuse me for a moment.”

Dahlia wanted to crawl in a hole. She knew Iroh did that on purpose.

“So how are you feeling?” Zuko said walking closer to the hospital bed. “Fine I guess. I can’t walk yet.” she said sadly which made Zuko feel a pain in his heart. “I’m sorry I didn’t do better. I failed at protecting you. But I hope these fire lilies make you feel better” he said sweetly. Dahlia’s jaw dropped, the only place you can get pink fire lilies near the palace was to hike the the Eagle’s Volcano. Her lack of response made Zuko falter, “Do you hate them? I-I’m sorry it was stupid-“ “No no! I love them! They’re perfect..” she trails off admiring their rare color.

Zuko was feeling pretty used to rejection. All the gifts he got for Mai she hated. He was tired of trying to impress her for his father even if he had a tiny crush on her because he had a bigger, deeper crush on Dahlia that’s been lingering in his heart for as long as he could remember. She was the most beautiful, fun girl he knew and now that he was alone with her he was going to do something about it.

“You know where they would look perfect?” he said touching the soft petals “Where?” she replied looking into his honey filled eyes as he pulled a flower out of the bouquet. “In your hair,” he said as he pushed her hair behind her ear and placed the flower in her long brown hair. Just as she relaxed into Zuko’s touch, the door opened. “I brought an extra guest for tea, I hope you don’t mind” Iroh announces as Ursa follows in behind him.

The smiles on their faces were priceless, they knew exactly what was going on. “Well don’t you look just like a beautiful doll,” Ursa gushed and pressed a kiss to both the children’s heads. Both of them blushing like mad.

I hope you guys liked this chapter!! idk how I feel about it yet! Requests are open! I wanted to let everybody know that any suggestions are welcome!! Totally helps out when I get overwhelmed with ideas!!

Taglist: @darkskin-buttercup @marvels-gurl @haylaansmi

[conaionaru]

Woman’s game (Ivar the Boneless/Hvitserk)

Does that make me crazy

Synopsis: Skuld is alone with herself and reflects back on her past. Passes the time thinking about murder (as we all do) 

Warnings: insanity, slow descent into madness, toxic relationship, prisoner, flashbacks

Tags: 

@youbloodymadgenius​

Sometimes, time passed slowly; other times, Skuld felt like she had been inside the room for years. She floated above the feeling of consciousness, thinking about everything and nothing at once. She lived her life the best she could, enjoying men, women, money, and alcohol.

In her eyes, there was nothing wrong with her lifestyle. Mother always said to do who and what you love. Being someone's pretty little wife and housewife wasn't for her. She was to be worshipped like a queen and live the happiest life. With Ivar, she could have it all. He looked at her as if she hung the moon and ate out of the palm of her hand.

Give it time, and they would become the most powerful couple alive—Ivar's anger and mind, combined with Skuld's ability to manipulate and flatter. She felt the smile pulling at her lips when she imagined their future—the King and Queen of the World. "All Hail Queen Skuld Ylvasdottir. The most beautiful and powerful of them all." She giggled and brushed through her greasy birdnest of blonde hair.

The grime and dirt were sickening to her, her own waste not that far and no food or water in sight. If they wanted to starve her or were waiting for something, she had no idea. When she wasn't thinking about her future, she planned out Lagertha's downfall, how Skuld would kill her, if she would drag it out or not.

Death and murder were such easy things if you were surrounded by them your whole life. While her brothers were trained in the bolder approach of battle and war, Skuld was taught how to wage war in secrecy. Undermining people, whispering things into their ears, and making them believe it was their idea all along. Her mother taught her five brothers, and life taught Skuld.

The first time she killed, she was not even eleven. Balancing between childhood and womanhood, the girl ran around with the other children. Haldor ran after her like a loyal puppy, the pink-cheeked boy hacking at everything with his wooden sword, saying he will protect her from everything.

The truth was, Skuld didn't need protecting even then. She found out that if you glare at a boy long enough, they will get intimidated and leave. Pretend to be better than them, and their egos make them stutter and curse. Afterward, they are easy prey to ridicule and leave you alone. If not, just threaten them. Years later, the more persistent ones were disposed of during the black of the night and ruled off as an accident.

So at eleven, she ran around carefree, the other shrieking children playing ball. Skuld loved to throw the ball further than the kids could reach or with full force. The stunned face of the child that got hit was always fun, but the crying was annoying. So when the third child broke down crying and run off home, she stopped playing and looked around instead.

The faint chirping of a baby bird could be heard from her left, so she followed the sound till she found the culprit. A baby bird laid under the tree, its wing broken. The mother wouldn't come back for the birdie.

Skuld leaned down to the little thing and cradled it in her palms. It peered up at her, making wounded noises as she looked the wing over. The bone was out, and some feathers were gone. It would survive, but what was it worth if it can't fly. That all a bird is meant for.

It would slowly starve to death and die. What a cruel fate that would be. "Skuld, come on!!! I don't want to play alone." Haldor yelled at her exited, the ball in his hands. The girl's blue eyes watched the distressed animal in her hands. There was no way to help him. She can't just raise it till it dies of old age. 

"Skuld!" She could hear footsteps approaching and her mother's voice calling them for dinner. So Skuld tutted at the small bird in a soothing voice and closed it in her palms. The bird pecked at her soft hands, trying to get free. She tightened her hold and slowly squeezed the life out of it. "Skuld, come eat!"

When her mother found her and looked into her hands, she found the bird with its snapped neck. Her daughter looked at the animal with empty eyes. "Why did you do that?"

"Mercy. It would die anyway. Why let it suffer?"

Skuld chuckled at the memory and looked down at her arms; bloody scratches ran down her arms. She doesn't really remember giving them to herself. She recalls hugging herself from the cold and then the blood running down her arms. 

Maybe she was as broken as the bird she killed. Mercy, that's what she called it. Who would show her the same favor? Would they let her slowly lose her mind before she starved to death? Putting her out of her misery would be nicer. What did she ever do to deserve this treatment? She was a royal guest to Aslaug. What reason does Lagertha have to lock her up and slowly kill her?

Skuld was like a crippled bird trapped and doomed. She killed him, and he got a proper Viking burial. Would they do the same to her? 

"Don't you ever laugh as the hearse goes by,

For you may be the next to die." 

She giggled at the song that she heard when she was small. It was sung by some slave that was sacrificed in her father's honor. The old woman seemed at peace with death, so serene as they cut her throat. Would Skuld die the same way? Without putting up a fight when her body was too weak to save her? She doubted it, all the conflict in her way too stubborn to let go. Fuck them all; they won't take her dignity and sanity. She won't let them win. 

Revenge was something her mother despised. Maybe that's why Ragnar Lothbrok survived, or perhaps Ylva gained more than she lost. After all, an Earldom for a husband was a fair trade. Even if it left you with six children, you have to raise on your own. But no matter who wronged Ylva, she gave them a quick death and never mentioned it again. 

The faster it was over, the better. She would gather her warriors, wage war, and win the battle. Quick revenge, expected, but easily won. Skuld wasn't like that. When someone wronged her, no matter how dire, she would wait and then strike. 

When she was a child, not younger than ten, a boy made fun of her for not having a father. Carefully she made her plan and waited for her moment. Within the year it came. The next winter, the boy was an outcast, ridiculed for his destroyed reputation. 

Destroying a man's reputation was essentially harder than a woman's. Call her a whore, pay off a few people to say she did bad deeds, or was a witch, and she was done for. With men, it was more difficult. Loose morals were, for some reason, praised in boys and men. The more women he slept with, the better. But if he has no honor and no fighting skill, then he is shunned.

So she set him against Haldor, dressed as a commoner. The twelve-year-old boy believed he lost against a smaller thin farmer's child. Haldor had better training and thought the fight to be a game. A good excuse to be as dirty as he wanted. 

The other boy was laughed at, and when news came out to the young girls of Yugar, he couldn't charm any girl for years after. The other men and boys ridiculed him, and the rumors grew worse. Now he fights alongside Skuld's brothers in the shield wall. Sometimes she still wonders if he ever found out it was Haldor who beat him and not a farmer. 

Skuld's revenge on Lagertha would take time as well. She had all the time in the world to plan it. Undermining the bitch and killing off her shieldmaidens was a good start. Make her doubt her security and allies till she went grey from worry. Skuld giggled at the thought and hid her face in her hands.

The door to the hut opened, and the sun burned her eyes. She hissed at the bright light and shielded her eyes with her hand, till a figure did the job instead. Lagertha stood before her in a red gown, surrounded by her shieldmaidens. "Lady Skuld of Yugar. The little lion cub. I am sorry for the lack of hospitality. I had a lot to do."

"I am sure overtaking a kingdom is a lot of work. You could have spared yourself the responsibility and stayed Earl Ingstad." Skuld mussed with a shrug, looking up at the Queen from her spot on the ground. She shakily stood up and glared at the shieldmaiden.

"I took what was rightfully mine."

"And what do I have to do with it? I didn't take your kingdom or husband. All I did was fuck his son. Not yours, of course. I do have boundaries." Skuld chuckled and watched Torvi glare at her. What's her problem? I said I didn't fuck Bjorn. 

Lagertha smiled at her and signaled with her hand. Two shieldmaidens walked in, one holding a dress and another a tray with food and drink. Neither was fitting for someone of Skuld's status or hunger. "It is simply a precaution. Your mother may be on good grounds with Bjorn, but she hated Ragnar. I do not know how she stands with me. Keeping you safe is my priority now."

Skuld chuckled and stepped closer, the shieldmaidens moving to protect Lagertha. What do they think I would do? Throw shit? Now that's a thought she could save for desperate times. "Ah yes, and starving me in a dark room with no chamber pot or water is so nice of you. If you think this will help your relationship with my mother, you are an utter fool."

"You haven't been exactly compliant either. You killed my shieldmaidens. Two, to be exact." Astrid answered for Lagertha. Skuld scoffed and shifted on her feet to seem less threatening.

"I come from a line of warriors. So I tend to attack and kill those who try to kidnap me. Sorry." Skuld obviously meant the last word to be mocking as she wasn't sorry at all. 

"You were close to Aslaug and her sons. Keeping you secluded is the safest option, especially with you acting out. It is better for everybody. With your history." She sat down in her old spot and raised the cup of water to her cracked lips.

She looked at Lagertha with a raised eyebrow. "My history? Are you calling me a whore?"

"I am calling you a dangerous woman with love for violence and death. My actions didn't warm your heart to me either. So it is best to keep you in here till your mother returns."

"That could be months."

"So you better get used to your new home." Astrid mocked, causing Skuld to smirk and sip at the water. 

"I hope you will mention my actions to your mother. After all, I could have had you executed."

Skuld chuckled and leaned back against the wall. In a fast movement, she threw the cup at Lagertha. "Get out, you hateful bitch! I hope you rot in Hel for eternity!"

The Queen turned on her heel, offended, and left with some of her warriors. The door closing behind them. Skuld sat there for a while, breathing heavily. Astrid looked at the girl with soft eyes, frowning at the dirty state she was in. "If you do as you are told and reign your temper in, you will get out of here faster."

Skuld chuckled and looked at the female with disdain clear in her eyes. "Manipulating me into liking you isn't going to work, Astrid. It wouldn't work either. It isn't my mother, Lagertha fears. She fears me." Skuld hissed, leaning forward, spit flying out of her mouth as her blue eyes grew wild. She looked like a rabid animal about to pounce.

"Nonsense."

"I fucked Aslaug's favorite son; I won her favor and Ivar's interest. I got my claws into Kattegat's population, the very people that your precious Queen wants to rule over. If I willed it, I could make them overthrow her. Which is no intention of mine, but Lagertha can't be certain of that. So she locks me up, maybe to starve me till my mother returns. Until then, she will gather a big enough force to beat an Earl."

Astrid smirked at her deduction and turned on her heel to leave. "You would have never been a hostage if you just didn't sleep with Ivar. Lagertha would have never noticed you if you didn't strive so high." She laughed, and Skuld shared her amusement.

With a creepy smile on her dirty face, the Earl's daughter sung the verse that gave her hope. 

"Don't you ever laugh as the hearse goes by,

For you may be the next to die." 

Astrid frowned at the threat and left the room, closing Skuld in the darkness again. She sighed and looked up at the ceiling to calm her racing heart. "Since when had getting laid such a high price? I should have gone to bed instead." She groaned and collapsed back on the floor to catch some sleep.

[galacticguppy]

Warm Moments in Cold Rain

Words: 2,029

Summary: After Marble Hornets, Tim and Jay moved on with their lives. They got married and adopted five kids- Vinny, Evan, Jeff, Alex, and Steph. Things are going well, but then the Operator starts showing up again, and the Merrick-Wright family is forced to go on the run.

Thanks @yourpersonaljaskier for helping me come up with the title!

~~~

        Tim hated hotels. He had spent far too many nights curled up under crappy sheets, afraid to go to sleep because he didn't know if he'd be safe when he woke up, didn't know if he'd be himself when he woke up, to regard them with anything but anger and dread. 

        He had never wanted to spend another night in a hotel, scared for his life. And he had definitely never wanted his kids to have to.

        It wasn't fair. He thought it was over.

        It was supposed to have been over. It had been years since Brian and Alex died, and he and Jay had been doing well. They had stayed on the road for a while afterwards, still looking over their shoulders, but nothing seemed to be following them. No masked men, no murderous former friends, no horrifying creatures. And so eventually, they stopped looking.

        They got jobs, and they rented an apartment. They started putting their pills in the medicine cabinet instead of under their mattress. They started sleeping in the same bed, with Jay's camera tucked away in a drawer instead of set up to watch over them. They started going on dates, and instead of being nervous about getting lost in the woods, Tim was nervous about impressing his boyfriend.

        Things had been normal. Things had been wonderful. They'd gotten married, and adopted kids, and Tim had never been happier. His whole life he'd been pretty sure he was going to die young and bloody, but now here he was, with a beautiful husband and five amazing kids, a house and a good job, like some kind of- some kind of normal person.

        He'd made it. It was over.

        Or at least he thought it was. But now he was here, in a shitty hotel room with Jay and all five of their kids, and he felt watched in a way he hadn't in years.

        "Why are we staying in a hotel, Dad?"

        Tim was startled out of his thoughts by one of his kids, Vinny, sitting down on the bed next to him. The rest of his children were crowded on the other bed, watching over Evan's shoulder as he played some DS game.

         Vinny's glasses shone in the too-bright light of the hotel room, and for the barest fraction of a second, Tim felt a familiar fear curl in his gut. But then he blinked, and it was just Vinny- his son- and he immediately felt guilty for having been afraid. Alex was gone. That, at least, was over.

        "Are we running from the monster in the window?" Vinny asked.

        Oh boy. This was not a conversation that Tim was looking forward to. But Vinny was looking up at him expectantly, and the others had started to take notice of them talking.

        "Yeah, Vin, we're here because of the monster." Tim put his arm around Vinny's shoulder and beckoned the rest of his family over to the foot of the bed. Jay sat down on the other side of Vinny, and the other kids piled on around them. The mattress dipped under the weight of five preteens and two fully-grown men.

        "So, you kids have all been seeing something that looks like a tall, faceless man around the house recently, right?" Tim asked.

        The kids all nodded.

        "And you said that you've seen it before, too, when you were still in the system." That was frightening. Tim hated to think that there might be more kids out there who were suffering because of this thing.

        "That's why we left the house. That thing is dangerous, so we're trying to get away from it. We'll probably be on the road for a while. We might have to..."

        Tim trailed off. He had thought about this before, but this was the first time he was going to say it out loud.

        "We might have to move away."

        When Tim and Jay had bought their house, they had made sure that they were far, far away from Rosswood Park and the old hospital. Apparently, it wasn't far enough. They would probably have to leave the state to get away from it. Of course, that was assuming it couldn't just follow them anywhere they went.

        Tim felt shaky. For the first time in five years, he wanted a smoke.

        Jay reached around Vinny to squeeze Tim's shoulder. He gave his husband a small smile and then turned to address the children.

         "We might be on the run for a while, but I promise you we'll keep you safe. That thing is- well, it's really bad, it's dangerous- but your Dad and I have beat it before," Jay assured them.

      "Really?" Steph asked. "When? Before you adopted us?"

        Jay nodded. "When we were younger, it followed us and some of our friends for a few years."

        That was one hell of an oversimplification, but it was probably best to leave out most of the details. They didn't want to scar the kids for life.

        Though, there were a few things they should probably tell them.

        "Evan, you know the episodes you have sometimes?" Tim asked. Evan nodded. They all remembered the panic of trying to find Evan after he'd disappeared, and how distraught he'd been when they found him, sobbing over the already long-cold body of a rabbit. He had woken up screaming for weeks after that.

        "Well," Tim said, "when your Poppa and I were dealing with this- the first time- something similar happened to me."

        He took a deep breath before continuing.

        "I had episodes where I wasn't in control of my own body, and when I woke up, I couldn't remember what had happened. It was like I had been sleepwalking."

        It hadn't happened for years, but he hoped to god his medicine didn't run out while they were on the run. Tim wasn't keen on finding out if he could still tackle Jay to the ground.

        "I tried to ignore at first," Tim said, "but that didn't go so well." He gave Jay a wry smile. The look that he got in return was closer to a grimace. Tim wondered if he was thinking about all the times they'd almost died.

        "And I'm not going to let my kids handle this as poorly as your Pop and I did. If something weird happens- memory loss, someone acting strange, headaches, anything- you tell us, ok?"

        The kids nodded.

        "Dad?" Jeff asked. "The monster can teleport, right? What happens if it gets in here?"

        Jay shot Tim a worried look, but Tim just got up from the bed and said, "Wait here."

        He walked across the hotel room to where their hastily-packed suitcases stood next to a dusty green pull-out couch. After digging in his suitcase for a few minutes, he pulled out a dented metal bat.

        "If you see it, run," he said. "But if you can't, hit it with this."

        Jeff's eyes lit up.

        "Will that work?"

        "Who knows," Tim replied. "But it's better than not doing anything, right?" He handed the bat to Jeff, who took it with an excited smile.

        "Do you think that it might leave us alone if we beat it up?" Jeff asked, turning the bat over in his hands.

        "Uh, I wouldn't-"

        "Maybe!" Evan cut Tim off before he could object to his kids trying to fight an eldritch monster.

        "I bet we could take it in a fight," Evan continued, puffing his chest out. "I mean, it's just some tall dude in a suit, right? I've fought tall people before."

        Steph rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but this isn't a person, dummy. It's got powers and stuff, you're not going to beat it in a knife fight."

        "Don't call your brothers names, sweetie," Jay reprimanded, his voice more fond than lecturing.

        "She's right, though," Alex spoke up. He had taken his hat off when they got to the hotel room, and now he was worrying the edge of the earflap between his fingers.

         "We'd probably need a lot of force to stop it," he said. "We could shoot it or something?"

        "Maybe we could run it over!" Vinny suggested. The room exploded with chatter as the kids started talking over each other.  The anxious tension in the room had dissipated, and now the kids were chatting excitedly. The conversation quickly turned to discussing how to get the creature to stand still long enough that they could hit it with the car.

        Tim sighed. Vehicular manslaughter probably wasn't their best option, but he was glad that the kids were having fun. He turned to give Jay a smile, only to find his husband completely engaged in the kids' conversation, which was getting less plausible by the minute. Tim had to stifle a laugh. Jay was listening so intensely Tim thought he might start taking notes.

        The springs of the old hotel beds creaked and groaned as the kids began to move between them, still talking about how they were going to defeat the monster. Eventually, the plan got so convoluted that Jay couldn't follow it, and he got up to go take the first shower, giving Tim a quick kiss on his way to the bathroom.

        Tim lay back on the bed and stared up at the hotel room's bumpy ceiling as the kids talked. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't scared- terrified, even- of what was ahead. If his past experiences were anything to go on, it wouldn't be easy.  It might be a long time before this was over. Hell, it might never be over- that thing might follow them until the day they died.

         But Tim would be damned if he wasn't going to go down fighting tooth and nail to keep his family safe. Even if that thing followed them forever- if it followed them to the ends of the earth- he was going to protect the people he loved. 

        Tim closed his eyes. The kids were still chatting, though their conversation had moved on from the monster. It was past their bedtime by now, but Tim wasn't going to say anything. They could sleep in the car tomorrow if they got tired.

        The sound of the water running in the bathroom was loud in the hotel room. It was soothing. Tim yawned. He was getting really tired; maybe he'd take his shower in the morning instead. He wanted to get up early tomorrow so that they could get on the road.

        He must have drifted off at some point, because he woke to Jay gently shaking his shoulder. He blinked groggily and looked around the room. Jeff and Alex were curled up on the pull-out couch, already fast asleep. Vinny, Evan, and Steph were sitting on the other bed in their pajamas, quietly arguing about who was going to have to sleep in the middle.

        "Hey, honey," Jay said, smiling down at Tim. "Do you want to actually get in the bed, or are you just going to lie on top of it?"

        Tim grinned and leaned forward to catch Jay in a kiss.

        "Hmm, I don't know," he hummed. "I'm pretty happy here."      

Jay rolled his eyes, smiling fondly. Tim slid off the bed and got back in under the covers. Jay got in next to him and tucked his head against Tim's chest. Tim wrapped his arms around him and pressed a kiss to the top of Jay's head. Jay was warm, like his own personal space heater.

        On the other bed, the kids had finally settled down. A quiet settled over the hotel room, broken only by the occasional creaking of the bedsprings as the kids shifted.

        Tim sighed happily and nestled closer to Jay. He didn't know what the future was going to bring, and that scared him. But he wasn't going to worry about that tonight. Tonight he was content to cuddle up with his husband and listen to his children's breathing even out as they fell asleep. Let the future come. Tonight he was safe, with his family beside him, and that was all he could have asked for.

[aboveallarescuer]

Dany telling herself hopeful stories

As I was rereading ASOIAF, I made it my goal to compile all* the book passages demonstrating either certain key attributes of Daenerys Targaryen (e.g. that she's compassionate and empathetic) or aspects of hers that are usually overblown (e.g. that she's violent and ambitious).  Doing such a task may seem exaggerated, but I'd argue it's not, for many, many misconceptions about Dany have become widespread in light of the show's final season's events (and even before).

It must be acknowledged that it can be tricky to reference, say, ADWD passages to counter-argument how she was depicted in season eight (which allegedly follows ADOS events). Dany will have had plenty of character development in the span of two books. However, whatever happens to Dany in the next two books, I would argue that there is more than enough material to conclude that her show counterpart was made to fall for flaws that she (for the most part) never had and actions that she (for the most part) would never take.

Another objection to the purpose of these lists is that Game of Thrones is different from A Song of Ice and Fire and should be analyzed on its own, which is a fair point. However, the show is also an adaptation of these books, which begs the questions: why did they change Dany's character? Why did they overfocus on negative traits of hers or depicted them as negative when they weren't supposed to be or gave her negative traits that were never hers to begin with? Another fact that undermines the show=/=books argument is that most people think that the show's ending will be the books', albeit only in broad strokes and in different circumstances. As a result, people's perception of Dany is inevitably influenced by the show, which is a shame.

I hope these lists can be useful for whoever wants to find book passages to defend Dany's character in analysis or even conversations.

 *Well, at least all the passages that I could find.

Also, people may interpret certain passages differently and then come up with a different collection of passages, so I'm not arguing that this list is completely objective (nor that there could ever be one).

Also, some passages have been cut short according to whether they were, IMO, relevant to the specific topic of the list they're in, so the context surrounding them may not always be clear (always read the books!). Many of them appear in different lists, sometimes fully cited, sometimes not.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm not including quotes that misrepresent Dany here because I couldn't find them on a quick glance and, frankly, I didn't want to find them. But we know that some people like to paint Dany in an overly negative light for taking pride at her ancestors (never mind the numerous double standards) or for not being completely aware of their history. And we know that she should be defended from these accusations. I interpret Dany as someone who, sometimes, needs to tell herself hopeful stories to keep going, especially for having had no family but an abusive brother. Her bias in regarding her relatives and Westeros in an idealized light and her enemies in an overly negative one is part of that pattern (which is contextualized by the universe she lives in, in which familial bonds are the most important ones). And so, I'm listing passages in which we see that pattern come up.

A Dance with Dragons

ADWD Daenerys X

She might have wished for colder, clearer water ... but no, if she were going to pin her hopes on wishes, she would wish for rescue.

She still clung to the hope that someone would come after her. Ser Barristan might come seeking her; he was the first of her Queensguard, sworn to defend her life with his own. And her bloodriders were no strangers to the Dothraki sea, and their lives were bound to her own. Her husband, the noble Hizdahr zo Loraq, might dispatch searchers. And Daario ... Dany pictured him riding toward her through the tall grass, smiling, his golden tooth gleaming with the last light of the setting sun.

Only Daario had been given to the Yunkai’i, a hostage to ensure no harm came to the Yunkish captains. Daario and Hero, Jhogo and Groleo, and three of Hizdahr’s kin. By now, surely, all of her hostages would have been released.

~

It makes no matter. By now the Yunkai’i will be marching home. That was why she had done all that she had done. For peace.

~

But none of those things had happened. Bells, Dany thought again. Her bloodriders had found her. “Aggo,” she whispered. “Jhogo. Rakharo.” Might Daario have come with them?

 ADWD Daenerys IX

The boar was a huge beast, with tusks as long as a man’s forearm and small eyes that swam with rage. She wondered whether the boar that had killed Robert Baratheon had looked as fierce. A terrible creature and a terrible death. For a heartbeat she felt almost sorry for the Usurper.

 ADWD Daenerys VII

“And my father? Was there some woman he loved better than his queen?”

Ser Barristan shifted in the saddle. “Not … not loved. Mayhaps wanted is a better word, but … it was only kitchen gossip, the whispers of washerwomen and stableboys …”

“I want to know. I never knew my father. I want to know everything about him. The good and … the rest.”

“As you command.”

~

How beautiful, the queen tried to tell herself, but inside her was some foolish little girl who could not help but look about for Daario. If he loved you, he would come and carry you off at swordpoint, as Rhaegar carried off his northern girl, the girl in her insisted, but the queen knew that was folly.

 ADWD Daenerys V

The day might come soon when she would have need of every knight. “Will they joust for me? I should like that.” Viserys had told her stories of the tourneys he had witnessed in the Seven Kingdoms, but Dany had never seen a joust herself.

“They are not ready, Your Grace. When they are, they will be pleased to demonstrate their prowess.”

 ADWD Daenerys IV

“One day I will want to return to Westeros, to claim the Seven Kingdoms that were my father’s.”

“One day all men must die, but it serves no good to dwell on death. I prefer to take each day as it comes.”

Dany folded her hands together. “Words are wind, even words like love and peace. I put more trust in deeds. In my Seven Kingdoms, knights go on quests to prove themselves worthy of the maiden that they love. They seek for magic swords, for chests of gold, for crowns stolen from a dragon’s hoard.”

~

“Ninety days and ninety nights without a corpse, and on the ninety-first we wed?”

“Perhaps,” said Dany, with a coy look. “Though young girls have been known to be fickle. I may still want a magic sword.”

~

“I saw your father and your mother wed as well. Forgive me, but there was no fondness there, and the realm paid dearly for that, my queen.”

“Why did they wed if they did not love each other?”

“Your grandsire commanded it. A woods witch had told him that the prince was promised would be born of their line.”

[...] “What became of her?”

“Summerhall.” The word was fraught with doom.

Dany sighed. “Leave me now. I am very weary.”

~

“Most queens have no purpose but to warm some king’s bed and pop out sons for him. If that’s the sort of queen you mean to be, best marry Hizdahr.”

Her anger flashed. “Have you forgotten who I am?”

“No. Have you?”

Viserys would have his head off for that insolence. “I am the blood of the dragon. Do not presume to teach me lessons.” When Dany stood, the lion pelt slipped from her shoulders and tumbled to the ground. “Leave me.”

 ADWD Daenerys II

Dany shut her eyes and tried to think of home, of Dragonstone and King's Landing and all the other places that Viserys had told her of, in a kinder land than this ...

~

“Tell me a tale, ser,” Dany said as they climbed. “Some tale of valor with a happy ending.” She felt in need of happy endings. “Tell me how you escaped from the Usurper.”

“Your Grace. There is no valor in running for your life.”

Dany seated herself on a cushion, crossed her legs, and gazed up at him. “Please. It was the Young Usurper who dismissed you from the Kingsguard …”

~

“[...] I was gathering my things when it came to me that I had brought this on myself by taking Robert’s pardon. He was a good knight but a bad king, for he had no right to the throne he sat. That was when I knew that to redeem myself I must find the true king, and serve him loyally with all the strength that still remained me.”

“My brother Viserys.”

~

“Stark was a traitor who met a traitor’s end.”

“Your Grace,” said Selmy, “Eddard Stark played a part in your father’s fall, but he bore you no ill will. When the eunuch Varys told us that you were with child, Robert wanted you killed, but Lord Stark spoke against it. Rather than countenance the murder of children, he told Robert to find himself another Hand.”

“Have you forgotten Princess Rhaenys and Prince Aegon?”

“Never. That was Lannister work, Your Grace.”

“Lannister or Stark, what difference? Viserys used to call them the Usurper’s dogs. If a child is set upon by a pack of hounds, does it matter which one tears out his throat? All the dogs are just as guilty. The guilt …” The word caught in her throat.

 A Storm of Swords

ASOS Daenerys VI

“Your father is called ‘the Mad King’ in Westeros. Has no one ever told you?”

“Viserys did.” The Mad King. “The Usurper called him that, the Usurper and his dogs.” The Mad King. “It was a lie.”

“Why ask for truth,” Ser Barristan said softly, “if you close your ears to it?” He hesitated, then continued.

[...] The truth is, I wanted to watch you for a time before pledging you my sword. To make certain that you were not ...”

“... my father’s daughter?” If she was not her father’s daughter, who was she?

“... mad,” he finished. “But I see no taint in you.”

“Taint?” Dany bristled.

~

“Was my father truly mad?” she blurted out. Why do I ask that? “Viserys said this talk of madness was a ploy of the Usurper’s ...”

“Viserys was a child, and the queen sheltered him as much as she could. Your father always had a little madness in him, I now believe. Yet he was charming and generous as well, so his lapses were forgiven. His reign began with such promise ... but as the years passed, the lapses grew more frequent, until ...”

Dany stopped him. “Do I want to hear this now?”

Ser Barristan considered a moment. “Perhaps not. Not now.”

“Not now,” she agreed. “One day. One day you must tell me all. The good and the bad. There is some good to be said of my father, surely?”

“There is, Your Grace. Of him, and those who came before him. Your grandfather Jaehaerys and his brother, their father Aegon, your mother ... and Rhaegar. Him most of all.”

“I wish I could have known him.” Her voice was wistful.

“I wish he could have known you,” the old knight said. “When you are ready, I will tell you all.”

 ASOS Daenerys V

“...Your war is in Westeros.”

“I have not forgotten Westeros.” Dany dreamt of it some nights, this fabled land that she had never seen. “If I let Meereen’s old brick walls defeat me so easily, though, how will I ever take the great stone castles of Westeros?”

~

“Why are you here?” Dany demanded of him. “If Robert sent you to kill me, why did you save my life?” He served the Usurper. He betrayed Rhaegar’s memory, and abandoned Viserys to live and die in exile. Yet if he wanted me dead, he need only have stood aside ...

~

“...And since the day you wed Khal Drogo, there has been an informer by your side selling your secrets, trading whispers to the Spider for gold and promises.”

He cannot mean ... “You are mistaken.” Dany looked at Jorah Mormont. “Tell him he’s mistaken. There’s no informer. Ser Jorah, tell him. We crossed the Dothraki sea together, and the red waste ...” Her heart fluttered like a bird in a trap. “Tell him, Jorah. Tell him how he got it wrong.”

“The Others take you, Selmy.” Ser Jorah flung his longsword to the carpet. “Khaleesi, it was only at the start, before I came to know you ... before I came to love ...”

“Do not say that word!” She backed away from him. “How could you? What did the Usurper promise you? Gold, was it gold?” The Undying had said she would be betrayed twice more, once for gold and once for love. “Tell me what you were promised?”

“Varys said ... I might go home.” He bowed his head.

I was going to take you home!

 ASOS Daenerys IV

“Tell me more of my brother Rhaegar, if you would. I liked the tale you told me on the ship, of how he decided that he must be a warrior.”

~

“...He never loved the song of swords the way that Robert did, or Jaime Lannister. It was something he had to do, a task the world had set him. He did it well, for he did everything well. That was his nature. But he took no joy in it. Men said that he loved his harp much better than his lance.”

“He won some tourneys, surely,” said Dany, disappointed.

~

Dany did not want to hear about Rhaegar being unhorsed. “But what tourneys did my brother win?”

~

“But that was the tourney when he crowned Lyanna Stark as queen of love and beauty!” said Dany. “Princess Elia was there, his wife, and yet my brother gave the crown to the Stark girl, and later stole her away from her betrothed. How could he do that? Did the Dornish woman treat him so ill?”

~

“But I am not certain it was in Rhaegar to be happy.”

“You make him sound so sour,” Dany protested.

 ASOS Daenerys II

“Yet I must have some army,” Dany said. “The boy Joffrey will not give me the Iron Throne for asking politely.”

“When the day comes that you raise your banners, half of Westeros will be with you,” Whitebeard promised. “Your brother Rhaegar is still remembered, with great love.”

“And my father?” Dany said.

The old man hesitated before saying, “King Aerys is also remembered. He gave the realm many years of peace.[”]

~

“Viserys would have bought as many Unsullied as he had the coin for. But you once said I was like Rhaegar ...”

“I remember, Daenerys.”

“Your Grace,” she corrected. “Prince Rhaegar led free men into battle, not slaves. Whitebeard said he dubbed his squires himself, and made many other knights as well.”

“There was no higher honor than to receive your knighthood from the Prince of Dragonstone.”

“Tell me, then—when he touched a man on the shoulder with his sword, what did he say? ‘Go forth and kill the weak’? Or ‘Go forth and defend them’? At the Trident, those brave men Viserys spoke of who died beneath our dragon banners—did they give their lives because they believed in Rhaegar’s cause, or because they had been bought and paid for?” Dany turned to Mormont, crossed her arms, and waited for an answer.

“My queen,” the big man said slowly, “all you say is true. But Rhaegar lost on the Trident. He lost the battle, he lost the war, he lost the kingdom, and he lost his life. His blood swirled downriver with the rubies from his breastplate, and Robert the Usurper rode over his corpse to steal the Iron Throne. Rhaegar fought valiantly, Rhaegar fought nobly, Rhaegar fought honorably. And Rhaegar died.”

 ASOS Daenerys I

“Did you ever meet my royal father?” King Aerys II had died before his daughter was born.

“I had that great honor, Your Grace.” “Did you find him good and gentle?”

Whitebeard did his best to hide his feelings, but they were there, plain on his face. “His Grace was ... often pleasant.”

“Often?” Dany smiled. “But not always?”


“He could be very harsh to those he thought his enemies.”


“A wise man never makes an enemy of a king,” said Dany.

~

“Along with a thousand others at some harvest feast. Next you’ll claim you squired for him.”

“I make no such claim, ser. Myles Mooton was Prince Rhaegar’s squire, and Richard Lonmouth after him. When they won their spurs, he knighted them himself, and they remained his close companions. Young Lord Connington was dear to the prince as well, but his oldest friend was Arthur Dayne.”

“The Sword of the Morning!” said Dany, delighted. “Viserys used to talk about his wondrous white blade. He said Ser Arthur was the only knight in the realm who was our brother’s peer.”

Whitebeard bowed his head. “It is not my place to question the words of Prince Viserys.”

“King,” Dany corrected. “He was a king, though he never reigned. Viserys, the Third of His Name. But what do you mean?” His answer had not been one that she’d expected. “Ser Jorah named Rhaegar the last dragon once. He had to have been a peerless warrior to be called that, surely?”

~

Dany turned back to the squire. “I know little of Rhaegar. Only the tales Viserys told, and he was a little boy when our brother died. What was he truly like?”

The old man considered a moment. “Able. That above all. Determined, deliberate, dutiful, single-minded. There is a tale told of him ... but doubtless Ser Jorah knows it as well.”

“I would hear it from you.”

“As you wish,” said Whitebeard. “[...] Until one day Prince Rhaegar found something in his scrolls that changed him. No one knows what it might have been, only that the boy suddenly appeared early one morning in the yard as the knights were donning their steel. He walked up to Ser Willem Darry, the master-at-arms, and said, ‘I will require sword and armor. It seems I must be a warrior.’”

“And he was!” said Dany, delighted.

~

I am still half a world from Westeros, Dany reminded herself, but every hour brings me closer. She tried to imagine what it would feel like, when she first caught sight of the land she was born to rule. It will be as fair a shore as I have ever seen, I know it. How could it be otherwise?

 A Clash of Kings

ACOK Daenerys III

“The Arbor makes the best wine in the world,” Dany declared. Lord Redwyne had fought for her father against the Usurper, she remembered, one of the few to remain true to the last. Will he fight for me as well? There was no way to be certain after so many years.

~

“If you go west, you risk your life.”

“House Targaryen has friends in the Free Cities,” she reminded him. “Truer friends than Xaro or the Pureborn.”

~

“Illyrio believes in no cause but Illyrio. Gluttons are greedy men as a rule, and magisters are devious. Illyrio Mopatis is both. What do you truly know of him?”

“I know that he gave me my dragon eggs.”

He snorted. “If he’d known they were like to hatch, he would have sat on them himself.”

That made her smile despite herself. “Oh, I have no doubt of that, ser. I know Illyrio better than you think. I was a child when I left his manse in Pentos to wed my sun-and-stars, but I was neither deaf nor blind. And I am no child now.”

~

“Sellswords have their uses,” Ser Jorah admitted, “but you will not win your father’s throne with sweepings from the Free Cities. Nothing knits a broken realm together so quick as an invading army on its soil.”

“I am their rightful queen,” Dany protested.

“You are a stranger who means to land on their shores with an army of outlanders who cannot even speak the Common Tongue. The lords of Westeros do not know you, and have every reason to fear and mistrust you. You must win them over before you sail. A few at least.”

 ACOK Daenerys II

It felt good to close her eyes and float, knowing she could rest as long as she liked. She wondered whether Aegon’s Red Keep had a pool like this, and fragrant gardens full of lavender and mint. It must, surely. Viserys always said the Seven Kingdoms were more beautiful than any other place in the world.

[...] Viserys had believed that the realm would rise for its rightful king ... but Viserys had been a fool, and fools believe in foolish things.

~

The Usurper will kill you, sure as sunrise, Mormont had said. Robert had slain her gallant brother Rhaegar, and one of his creatures had crossed the Dothraki sea to poison her and her unborn son. They said Robert Baratheon was strong as a bull and fearless in battle, a man who loved nothing better than war. And with him stood the great lords her brother had named the Usurper’s dogs, cold-eyed Eddard Stark with his frozen heart, and the golden Lannisters, father and son, so rich, so powerful, so treacherous.

~

“A gift of news. Dragonmother, Stormborn, I tell you true, Robert Baratheon is dead.”

Outside her walls, dusk was settling over Qarth, but a sun had risen in Dany’s heart. “Dead?” she repeated. In her lap, black Drogon hissed, and pale smoke rose before her face like a veil. “You are certain? The Usurper is dead?”

“So it is said in Oldtown, and Dorne, and Lys, and all the other ports where we have called.”

He sent me poisoned wine, yet I live and he is gone. “What was the manner of his death?” On her shoulder, pale Viserion flapped wings the color of cream, stirring the air.

“Torn by a monstrous boar whilst hunting in his kingswood, or so I heard in Oldtown. Others say his queen betrayed him, or his brother, or Lord Stark who was his Hand. Yet all the tales agree in this: King Robert is dead and in his grave.”

Dany had never looked upon the Usurper’s face, yet seldom a day had passed when she had not thought of him. His great shadow had lain across her since the hour of her birth, when she came forth amidst blood and storm into a world where she no longer had a place. And now this ebony stranger had lifted that shadow.

“The boy sits the Iron Throne now,” Ser Jorah said.

“King Joffrey reigns,” Quhuru Mo agreed, “but the Lannisters rule. Robert’s brothers have fled King’s Landing. The talk is, they mean to claim the crown. And the Hand has fallen, Lord Stark who was King Robert’s friend. He has been seized for treason.”

“Ned Stark a traitor?” Ser Jorah snorted. “Not bloody likely. The Long Summer will come again before that one would besmirch his precious honor.”

“What honor could he have?” Dany said. “He was a traitor to his true king, as were these Lannisters.” It pleased her to hear that the Usurper’s dogs were fighting amongst themselves, though she was unsurprised.

 A Game of Thrones

AGOT Daenerys IX

She told herself that there were powers stronger than hatred, and spells older and truer than any the maegi had learned in Asshai. The night was black and moonless, but overhead a million stars burned bright. She took that for an omen.

 AGOT Daenerys VIII

She was the blood of the dragon, she would not be afraid. Her brother Rhaegar had died for the woman he loved.

 AGOT Daenerys VII

Slaves, Dany thought. Khal Drogo would drive them downriver to one of the towns on Slaver’s Bay. She wanted to cry, but she told herself that she must be strong. This is war, this is what it looks like, this is the price of the Iron Throne.

 AGOT Daenerys IV

And sometimes she found herself wishing her father had been protected by such men. In the songs, the white knights of the Kingsguard were ever noble, valiant, and true, and yet King Aerys had been murdered by one of them, the handsome boy they now called the Kingslayer, and a second, Ser Barristan the Bold, had gone over to the Usurper. She wondered if all men were as false in the Seven Kingdoms. When her son sat the Iron Throne, she would see that he had bloodriders of his own to protect him against treachery in his Kingsguard.

[dionysia-ta-astika]

Sing, O Muses, 

of the son of Zeus and Maia, 

Lord of Kyllene and Arkadia rich in flocks, 

The Luck-bringing Messenger of the Deathless Gods…

Sure-footed and swift, the son of Maia paused to survey the wide plains of Troy. All around him the sounds of battle rang out, mingled with cries both mortal and divine. Many long years of war had left scars upon the land and the Earth herself bore witness to the conflict that now engulfed gods and men. From the edge of the Dardanelles, across the wounded plains and farmlands, to the very walls of Troy, armies readied themselves or were engaged in battle.    

Rising behind the city far to the southeast, ancient Mount Ida loomed over the battlefield leaning towards Troy in anticipation. Though the topmost peak was obscured by clouds, Wily Hermes was not fooled. Zeus, King of the Gods, was surely keeping a close eye upon the progress of the war from atop the sacred mountain.       

A sigh escaped the Slayer of Argos. More often than not he was privy to his father’s mind - after all, being the Messenger of the Gods had its privileges - but Zeus’ deeper purpose for this war escaped him. Hermes’ queries had gone mostly ignored.      

“You will know your part when the time comes.” 

Zeus could be as cryptic as the Morai. 

“Not even the gods can escape their fate; we must show the way until the mortals are ready.”    

Very few of the gods remained outside the conflict. Hestia maintained the fires of Olympos while trying to keep one eye on Dionysos, but most of the other gods had been forced to take sides in the war. Hermes had lobbied to remain neutral, but Zeus and Hera were both adamant. Hermes was on the side of the Achaeans and that was that. War was always a hectic time, even for the god called ‘The Busy One,’ and he was needed. While the battle raged many prayers were said to Diaktoros, but Hermes had the most to do between battles. Conducting souls to the Underworld had kept him so occupied the last ten years he hardly had time for anything else. The fires of Olympos seemed far, far away.    

Hermes cast his gaze wide resuming his search for Eudoros. Being on the side of the Achaeans had given him the chance to check on his son now and then. The Luck Bringer had enjoyed spending time with Eudoros and watching him distinguish himself among the Achaean commanders. There were many mortals on the battlefields of Troy with divine protection, but few were as swift as Hermes’ son.

In the distance Keen-Sighted Hermes could see the river Skamandros rising up against its banks. Achilleus and the River God were dueling amidst a throng of Achaean and Trojan colors. Hermes could see his son not far from Achilleus, marshaling his command to reinforce the general. Even the Son of Thetis would not last long toe-to-toe against a god and all the Achaeans were in danger of being drowned by the wrath of Skamandros.    

“So, Achilleus has rejoined the battle.”    

The voice startled Hermes, few indeed could steal upon the God of Thieves unaware. Hermes turned, curious which god or goddess had gotten the better of him, to find a veiled figure looking toward the melee on the far river bank. Her veil, held in place by a small starry diadem, covered her entire upper body and fell well past her waist. The fabric was not opaque but seemed to shimmer as if it were a pool of water reflecting a dark starry sky before dawn. Her bearing was regal, assured, but without pretense.    

“Yes, Fair Leto, perhaps we are nearing the beginning of the end.”    

“Son of Maia, though we stand on opposing sides of this war, allow me to advise you. You must call your son away from the battle of Achilleus and Skamandros, or else he will meet an untimely end.”    

Hermes gauged Leto’s words. There was no untruth in them, but Hermes the Deceiver knew that truth told the best lies. It was not yet Eudoros’ time to die. Leto could be trying to trick him, to call Achilleus’ forces away, tipping the battle in favor of the Trojans. The ancient titaness often came across as aloof and formal, but she was never known to be insincere. Eudoros’ forces were gathering under his command, readying to bolster Achilleus’ flank. Whatever happened next would determine the course of the battle.    

Hermes made his decision in less time then it took to blink.    

Across the vast Ilion Plains, over the heads of Achaean and Trojan forces alike, past the raging Skamandros, the words of Hermes flew directly to the heart and mind of Eudoros.    

“Draw your forces back, my son. Beware the river.”    

Eudoros, startled for only a moment, quickly began to rouse his men to higher ground. Calling out, he led his company away from the flooding Skamandros. The banks of the river seethed and churned while the trees twisted in a rising gale. The sudden storm shook everything along the river with a dry, hot wind. What had been drenched and flooded just moments before became parched and desiccated.    

“Behold the wrath of Hera. She has loosed the forge of Hephaistos against the river god Skamandros.”    

Wind and fire rained down along the banks of the river consuming tree, flower, and bush. The water itself seemed to catch alight. Both Trojan and Achaean perished in flame and flood. The heat cracked and charred the riverbank forcing Skamandros to abandon Achilleus and recede.    

Hermes watched Eudoros gather his forces and follow Achilleus. The battle would continue, but everything had changed. The truce that had stayed the hands of the gods from engaging in direct conflict had been broken. From this point on the war could only become more brutal and more desperate.      

Leto’s gaze had not left the banks of the river. Hermes considered her history with the Mighty Hera. Officially, Leto lived on Olympos with Apollon and Artemis under the blessing and protection of Zeus himself. In reality, Hermes rarely saw her in public. She never drew attention to herself and her reputation for modesty was hard earned. Whether learned or instinctual, knowing the moods of Hera and predicting her movements must have served Leto well.    

“Thank-you.”   

Leto gave Hermes a silent, veiled nod. Her focus remained fixed on something happening far away. Hermes followed her gaze, though he could guess what held Leto’s attention. Near the banks of the now chastened river stood Apollon and Poseidon. The gods were locked in a heated argument, though neither made a move to attack the other. Further beyond, the outer walls of Troy rose up behind them. Poseidon gestured to Apollon and then towards Troy. Apollon shook his head in refusal, neither advancing nor retreating.    

“My brother will not be goaded into breaking our Father’s command. He will not attack first.”    

“Poseidon knows that if my son were to enter combat on behalf of the Trojans, Zeus himself would be forced to aid the Achaeans.”    

Leto spoke no idle boast. Of all the gods that sided with the Trojans, Apollon was by far the most formidable. Even while caught in a stalemate with Poseidon, Apollon’s influence spread far over the battlefield. His presence strengthened the Trojans, giving them courage to face the mighty Achaean forces. His priests tended to the wounded and even the most gravely injured Trojan warriors often made miraculous recoveries. Within the walls of their city the Trojan people called out to Paean and were comforted, while outside the Achaeans suffered plague and famine. 

“Still, he will not strike first.”    

Leto nodded silently and continued her vigil.    

Hermes cast his gaze further down the Ilion Plains. Battles raged, large and small, up and down the fields of Troy. A trail of wounded and dying followed Achilleus making him easy to spot. And near the Achaean champion two other Olympians circled intent upon testing each other.    

“Athene and Ares, however, already have weapons drawn. The gods of war will not let this chance to spar slip their grasp.”    

Leto did not turn or acknowledge Hermes’ words. Resigned, he turned his attention back to his siblings’ contest. The battle games of Ares and Athene were legendary, but Leto would not be distracted or take comfort while one of her children remained in peril. Hermes, however, was eager to see who would emerge victorious. He had wagered on Athene while Dionysos had placed his bet on Ares. Athene seemed like the safer of the two, especially if Nike was with her, but Hermes knew better than to discount his brother. Ares was far better at strategy than he was given credit for and Athene far stronger than she looked.     

For what seemed like hours, the siblings sparred neither giving ground. Though he was watching from a great distance, Hermes’ keen eye could see every spark that flew from sword or spear upon shield. Sweat poured off the bronzed brow of Ares as his sword pummeled again and again upon his sister’s aegis. The gray eyes of Athene narrowed searching for advantage which never seemed to come, despite her longer reach. Hermes pondered how evenly matched they were; their speed and ferocity reminded him of two great dragons locked in combat.      

“Like two dancing serpents…”    

Leto did not acknowledge his musings, but continued her veiled watch.    

The armies of both the Acheans and the Trojans had reformed around the gods of war, though Hermes knew the mortals could not see them, and reengaged their own conflicts. The gathered armies seemed to sway to the time of the siblings’ battle. Athene thrust her spear and the Acheans charged forward. Ares dodged while his sword landed a blow that shook Athene’s shield, the Trojans flanked the Achean’s charge and pressed them back. Hermes could hear cries of “Pallas!” and “Ænyalios!” rising up from the battlefield. Even though they could not see them, the mortals surely felt the presence of the warring Olympians.     

“And so the hearts of men are swayed.”    

Leto had not turned toward the battle but she could sense the divine influence upon the mortal armies just as keenly as Hermes could. Hermes wasn’t sure she could actually see anything through that veil, but he knew better than to bring it up. He was about to ask if she would be interested in placing a little wager on the outcome but he didn’t get the chance.    

“No.”    

Leto’s whisper pulled Hermes’ attention away from the battle. Poseidon and Apollon were still locked in a stalemate, neither making a direct move against the other, but something had changed. The air seemed heavy, as if a hot fog enveloped them. The two Olympians retreated from each other, making room for some unseen presence. And then, as if she had always been, Hera was there.    

“Potnia.”    

It occurred to Hermes that even after all Hera had done to impede the birth of Apollon and Artemis, Leto always showed Hera the utmost respect and honor. She was cautious, yes. Reserved, definitely, but she never gave even a veiled slight to the Queen of Olympos. Would all her care be undone in a moment, Hermes wondered. Unlike Leto, Hera’s mood seemed anything but restrained as she joined Poseidon in taunting Apollon. Leto’s normally regal bearing had become tense and stiff. Hermes was certain she was holding her breath.      

“Even the jibes of Queenly Hera will not find their mark upon my brother. Be at ease, Gracious Leto. Or if you will not, go to him and stand by his side.”      

Leto seemed torn, it was obvious that she wanted nothing more than to be with her children. But something kept her from joining them. Hermes turned his gaze back to Mount Ida, clouds still obscured the peak but now and then a flash of lightening broke through the darkness. The mountain seemed even closer than before, it loomed over the battlefields of Troy silent and unflinching. The Mighty Zeus was surely watching everything and Hermes wondered if he was pleased.    

“Father!”    

Hermes turned his gaze from Mount Ida to the source of the call. Eudoros, separated from his command, was swiftly approaching the hilltop where the two deities surveyed the battles of the plains below.     

“We are ever bound up in our children; are we not, Herald?”    

Hermes sighed. Eudoros’ presence could be problematic. It was easy enough for an Immortal to safeguard their children from most mundane dangers. Throw another Immortal into the equation and outcomes tended to become much less predictable and far messier. Hermes gauged his reply carefully.     

“Though my children may not shine as splendidly as yours, Honored Wife of Zeus, they are no less dear.”    

Hermes could hear the sound of air being sucked quickly across veiled teeth. While technically accurate, using that title could be misconstrued as a power play on Leto’s part. Hermes’ formal tone barely masked the threat.    

“Father, are you well? We could use your hel—“   

Eudoros stopped short as he came close. He had not seen Leto as he approached and her sudden ‘appearance’ had startled him.    

“Do you need my assistance, Lord Father? My sword is ready.”    

Eudoros’ hand moved to the hilt of his sword but Hermes’ gesture put him at ease.    

“No need for that, son. Little good it would do you anyway. You stand in the presence of a wife of Zeus: Leto the Mild, Mother of Phoebus and Phoebe.”    

“But Father?”    

“Yes, Eudoros?”     

“Isn’t she…”    

“A goddess? Yes.”    

“No. I mean, yes she is. A goddess. But isn’t she…”    

“Fair? Oh yes, one of the fairest on Olympus, my son.”    

“No! I mean, yes. I mean, I don’t know. Oh…”    

Whether Eudoros’ blushing was from embarrassment or frustration, Hermes wasn’t certain. Either way, it was fun to watch.    

“Isn’t she on the side of Troy?”    

“Oh, that. Yes, yes she is. What of it?”    

“Father, the Trojans are our enemy.”    

“Hmmn? Well, yes, I suppose you are right. This ‘enemy,’ however, is partly responsible for you being here.”    

“What do you mean?” Eudoros’ narrowed his gaze. He could tell when his father was up to something, one didn’t survive as a son of Hermes without developing a sixth sense for trouble.    

“Gracious Leto warned me of Queen Hera’s attack. You and your men may have perished otherwise.”    

Eudoros paused to consider the implication of his father’s words, but only briefly. Hermes was pleased his son came to the only sensible conclusion.    

“Then I owe a debt to you, Blessed Leto. For my life and the lives of my men, many wives and children will make offerings to you.”    

“Children are my especial care, Son of Hermes. It pleases me to hear the prayers of your son and daughter.”    

Leto had not moved or turned to face Eudoros, her veiled gaze remained firmly fixed on her own son, but the kindness of her voice disarmed him. Leto’s beauty was not just in her appearance. Eudoros was so taken by the sound of her voice that it took him a moment to respond.    

“Daughter? But I have only a son.”    

“A daughter you also have. And she prays for your safe return every night, as does her brother. Barely nine years and yet she has never seen her father. So long, this war…“    

Before Eudoros could get a confirmation from his father, a great cry rose up from the Trojan forces and drew their attention back to the battlefield below. Ares had disarmed Athene and pressed her downriver. The Acheans were falling back to their camps by the sea as the Trojans began to close in. Spearless and using her shield as a bludgeon, Athene managed to catch Ares off balance. The Trojan forces were being led, without knowing it, exactly where the Acheans wanted them. Ares fell but leapt up again almost instantly, in a moment he would be upon her. Certain in victory, the Trojan army charged the Achean encampments. In one swift motion Athene threw a handful of ash and dirt in Ares’ eyes. The Achean archers shot flaming arrows igniting pits of tar and debris that smoked and blinded the Trojan advance. Laughing, Athene moved to disarm her brother before he could recover. The Achean army began to flank their pursuers, turning the hunter into the hunted.    

The laughter of the goddess was cut short by the blast of a salpinx echoing off the walls of Troy and down the Plains of Ilion. Hermes turned to see a great race of Trojan chariots riding quickly to cut off the Achean ambush. So swift was their approach that a cloud of dust obscured the city behind them. The lead chariot had outpaced the others and nearly reached Athene and Ares. Hermes could see two armored figures, both female, urging their team of horses forward.  

“No mortal chariot could ride so swiftly!”    

Eudoros’ tone of disbelief made Hermes smile. He could not know that a goddess drove the chariot, it was too far for mortal eyes to discern, but he could see the line it cut across the Plains of Ilion clearly enough.    

“The Daughters of Ares will not abandon their father upon the field of battle, though they must fight Pallas herself. And neither will his lover, for she has taken his name, Areia, and speeds to his side.”    

Hermes could see that Leto was right. Aphrodite and Penthesileia, armed and armored, were driving directly for Athene. The other chariots carrying the Amazonian reinforcements were heading for the Acheans. It seemed the day’s battles were not yet done.     

The speeding chariot forced Athene away from the recovering Ares and pulled around for another pass. Aphrodite’s intentions were clear, she meant to plow Athene into the dusty plains. But she was unaccustomed to driving the clumsy vehicle of war, each turn and charge of the chariot was more erratic than the last. Penthesileia could do little more than hold on for her life.    

Hermes could already see a strategy forming and he knew that Athene would not be disadvantaged for long. Athene’s moves were calculated and pragmatic, Aphrodite’s frantic and impulsive: one acting from the heart, the other from the head. Pallas had already maneuvered close to where her spear had fallen, one more pass from the chariot was all she needed. With one fluid motion she dodged, picked up the spear, turned, and threw. The speed and force of her throw took Hermes breath away. This spear would not be denied, it was seeking flesh and it was heading straight for the exposed back of Aphrodite.     

Penthesileia was prepared. Raising her shield, she covered the back of the unsuspecting Goddess of Love. It was a desperate move, no mortal shield could turn aside a divine weapon thrown by a goddess herself. Penthesileia knew this, but the daughter of Ares was a soldier. She was prepared to sacrifice her life without regret.    

But Penthesileia was not the only one to correctly read Athene’s strategy and she was not the only one prepared to sacrifice. Leaping in front of his lover and his daughter, the Mighty Ares caught the spear of Athene in both hands even as it dug into his abdomen. Bleeding, he collapsed onto the chariot.    

Quickly securing her father despite her surprise, Penthesileia adjured Aphrodite towards Troy. Ares would do no more fighting this day. Turning the chariot back the way they came, the Foam-borne Goddess lifted a large conch shell to her lips. Nearby Trojan and Amazonian forces lifted their own trumpets. The sound of horns echoed down the plains and what was left of the great Trojan army began to retreat.    

Hermes wondered if Dionysos would dispute Athene’s victory, when he noticed Leto was shaking. Knowing better than to ask, he turned his attention back up river toward Troy and the trio of gods gathered outside her walls.

Apollon was cornered. By their gestures and body language, Hermes could tell that Poseidon and Hera were jeering and taunting his brother. In any other situation Apollon could not have ignored such blatant attacks to his honor, but the Will of Zeus bound him and he refused to disobey. He endured the insults and without reply turned to leave. Hera seemed to take great offense at his retreat and moved to cut off his escape. With all the force of a hurricane the Mighty Hera slapped Phoebus in the face. The sound of her strike cracked the air twice as it echoed off the walls of Troy. Immortals and humans alike paused in their warring and looked for the source of the cloudless thunder. Hermes could not read Leto’s expression, but it seemed she stiffened in both anticipation and pride.    

Apollon had not flinched.    

Hera and Poseidon seemed taken aback. The full force of Hera’s strike had landed squarely on Apollon’s face, yet he did not yield or even recoil. Hermes stifled a laugh as he watched Hera nurse her hand. Poseidon suddenly seemed less eager to engage his nephew in direct combat. Apollon had not moved, and Hermes wondered if Hera’s blow had dazed him after all. Then the Far-Reaching Apollon turned to the southeast, his eyes resting on the sacred mountain.    

Following his brother’s gaze, Hermes looked for some clue hidden under the clouds that had gone dark and quiet at the mountain’s peak. No light escaped from the summit. There was no doubt that Zeus, King of the Gods, was there and intently watching the scene below. Even the average mortal could sense the unusual power emanating from the sacred mountain. But for what purpose that power moved, few could tell. Hermes could augur no answers and wondered if Apollon was having better luck divining the will of their father.    

“He goes.”    

The relief in Leto’s voice was like a single ray of sunlight breaking through a cloud of worry. Temporary, perhaps, but welcome all the same.    

Apollon had begun to move back towards Troy. His presence there would bolster the city and help reinvigorate the Trojan forces for the next battle. Hermes watched as Hera turned her back on the retreating son of Zeus. Her gaze spread far over the Plains of Ilion. Hermes was certain that, unlike her son Ares, the Queen of Olympos was not done with battle.    

A word from Hera snapped Poseidon to attention. Her right hand curled into a fist and she began barking orders. Poseidon lifted his trident and struck the ground. The earth rippled in a wave that spread out across the plains, down the river valley, and finally to the sea. The quake was not large, but every soldier, every phalanx, every retreating chariot, and every Immortal had stopped in their tracks. In the space a few seconds Hera had captured the attention of everyone from the walls of Troy to the Aegean Sea. The words she spoke filled every ear, Achaean and Trojan alike:    

“Crush them.”    

It was a command to the loyal and a promise to the defiant. Even Apollon had stopped in his tracks, hesitating to abandon the Trojans still on the plains. Hera had found a way to test his resolve, and it was no empty threat. The armies had begun to move again, and Hermes could see they had a renewed sense of urgency. The retreating Trojans had quickened their pace, desperate for the safety of the divinely built city walls. Behind them the Achaean forces had begun to stir from the safety of their encampments. The Amazonian chariots had won the Trojans a significant head start, but the Achaeans had received a direct order from Hera herself; none of them had any intention of disappointing the Queen of Olympos.      

“Kori, no…    

Leto’s voice trailed off, she had not moved but suddenly seemed small and frail. Hermes looked back toward Troy to see Artemis, Protectress of the Young, his sister, leaping from the walls of the city to the plains below. The Huntress had been charged with maintaining the city’s fortifications but the events unfolding outside were too dire for her to remain on the sidelines. Hermes suspected that Artemis would have preferred leading the charge of Amazons but Aphrodite had beaten her to it. Golden bow in hand and quiver at her side, the Huntress was closing in on Apollon’s position.    

Hermes did not hear the words that Artemis said, but he could see Apollon’s face redden.     

Striding past her brother Artemis placed an arrow to her bow, raised it high, and released it without pause. As if waiting for her cue a cloud of arrows rose from the walls of Troy. With uncanny accuracy the bolts of the Trojan archers speedily found their marks. The Achean pursuit of the retreating Trojans began to falter as soldier after soldier fell wounded, crippled, or dead. A second and a third cloud of arrows rained down from the walls of Troy. Artemis’ arrow, however, had arched high above the battlefield. Reaching its apex the arrow seemed to hang weightless above the Plains of Ilion. Then, as if guided by some unseen hand, the arrow turned downward and, like a falling star, began to plummet toward the battlefield below.    

Hermes scanned the plains looking for his sister’s intended target and nearly knocked Eudoros over when he found it.     

“Father!”   

“Whoops. But my, that’s bold, even for your aunt!”    

“What, Father?”    

Eudoros squinted, searching for what his father saw. Eudoros had better eyes than most humans, but his vision was not as keen as a god’s. Hermes passed his wand through Eudoros’ line of sight and pointed toward the retreating Trojan and Amazonian forces.    

“There! Can you see your cousin and uncle? Their chariot is being pursued, can you see?”    

“Yes! Mighty Pallas is gaining!”    

Eudoros’ voice was full of wonder for now he saw across vast distances; but more than that, he was also seeing the deities battling amongst the mortals. The gods and goddesses were both larger and grander than life itself, yet somehow removed and distant. The human armies flowing around them seemed like children’s toys in comparison. He could now clearly make out that Athene was not just in pursuit, she was nearly upon the trio - despite being on foot.     

“Father, we must warn her! The arrow will hit her!”    

Eudoros was right, the arrow of Artemis was plummeting to the exact spot where Athene would overtake the chariot. Hermes knew that Athene was so intent on her goal that nothing would deter her, save the command of Zeus himself. Direct intervention on his part wasn’t possible, but the Lord of Luck also knew that a serpent has many skins. Raising his wand again, Hermes began to mutter words under his breath that Eudoros could not understand. Then as quickly as he had begun the chanting stopped. Hermes smiled smugly.    

“Some of my best work, if I do say so.”    

“Father?”    

“Watch.”    

Eudoros turned back toward the scene below. Athene was now close enough to jump into the chariot. She crouched low, muscles tensing for the pounce. Just as she was about to close the distance, the serpents on Hermes’ caduceus hissed as if about to strike. The horses pulling the chariot suddenly lurched in a different direction, spooked by some unseen threat. Athene tried to pivot and adjust her jump, but the best she could manage was to desperately reach for her target while falling in the opposite direction. Athene began to rise only to immediately fall over again. Hermes stifled what sounded like a giggle. The heel of Athene’s sandal had been pierced and firmly pinned to the ground by Artemis’ arrow. It had missed the Goddess of War by a centimeter or less. Cursing, Pallas pulled the bolt out of her sandal and tossed it aside. Lifting herself up Athene resumed her pursuit, but the opportunity had passed. Ares, Aphrodite, and Pentheseleia would reach the safety of the city before Athene could overtake them again.    

“Ah, well, so it goes. It’s a thankless job.”    

Hermes seemed very satisfied.    

“Father! You helped them get away.”    

”Yes, well it was either that or let your aunt get skewered. Which would you have preferred?”    

“'Boldness is the beginning of action…’”    

Leto’s words cut off whatever Eudoros had been planning to say in retort. She hadn’t turned to watch the chase, but Hermes knew she kept at least one keen eye on her daughter’s arrow. He was learning that very little escaped the veiled gaze of Leto the Mild, and Hermes never had to learn a lesson twice.     

“'But Fortune determines the end.'”    

Hermes finished the proverb with a sly nod to the titaness. He would have to gauge his next few moves with great care.    

“Father, Lord Apollon is gone!”    

Hermes could see that Eudoros was correct. Apollon has slipped away while everyone was distracted by Artemis’ display. Hera, too, was realizing that Phoebus had escaped her grasp. Left unchecked Apollon’s influence alone could tip the tide of battle. Hera barked another set of orders to the Earth-shaker who turned and disappeared, presumably to search for his nephew.    

Leto’s silent tension was beginning to crescendo again, though she made no movement or sound. Hermes was getting better at reading her moods, and Leto’s worry could only mean one thing: Hera had set her sights on one of Leto’s children. Hermes watched as the Queen of Olympos turned to confront his sister with a frenzied madness in her eyes. Artemis was focused on inspecting her bow, trying to find an explanation as to why her shot had missed its mark. Hera’s assault took her completely by surprise.     

Grabbing the bow from Artemis, Olympia began to use it as a bludgeon. Artemis was knocked down, stunned at first, and then swiftly rolled away from her attacker. Hera pursued, waving the bow wildly.     

Hermes whistled low. Having been denied Apollon, Hera set all her rage on Artemis. It was not a pretty sight.    

“Our good Queen may have just lost it…”    

“Look, Father!”        

Eudoros pointed toward the top of the city walls. The Trojan archers had ceased their assault on the Acheans below. They were too busy fending off an unexpected attack themselves. Birds of every sort pecked, scratched, and clawed at the stunned archers. Hermes could even make out a few harpies in the frenzy. This was beginning to get out of hand.    

“Father?”    

All the color had drained from Eudoros’ face. His enhanced sight was taking a toll. There was too much to see, most of it gruesome. The din of battle was no stranger to him, but wherever he turned Eudoros saw every conflict, every exchange, every blow as if he was standing in the midst of it. The divine assaults overlaid upon the mortal conflicts were proving more taxing for his mind than was probably safe. Hermes blocked his son’s vision with his wand once again.     

“Father, is that what you see all the time? Is that how we look to you?”    

Hermes put a steadying arm around his son’s shoulder while helping him to sit.    

“Oh no, my son, we see so much more. We see you as you are, as you were, and as you will be.”    

“And as you could be.”    

Leto’s words were so soft Hermes doubted Eudoros heard them.    

“Rest for now, son.”    

“Yes, Father.”    

With Eudoros safely sidelined, Hermes rose and returned his full attention to the conflict on the fields below. Hera’s assault continued, but Artemis was no meek maiden. Her guard was up and she began to weave a dance around her attacker, dodging and blocking blows with a boxer’s weathered experience. She was bruised, but not beaten. Ducking a wild swing, Artemis used her shoulder to ram Hera and both went tumbling. As they rolled, the goddesses struggled for the bow, each trying to lever it against the other.    

The Trojan archers were beginning to regroup and train their arrows on their assailants. Wounded birds began to fall to the ground below. Those that survived the fall were greeted by roaming packs of wild animals. Feather and fur collided on the dusty Ilion Plains. Things were getting desperate, Nature was being pitted against Herself as the two goddesses struggled to gain advantage. Their battle devolved into a tug-of-war over the golden bow, each pulling or pushing, trying to wrench the weapon out of the other’s hands. Then one goddess pulled while the other twisted sending the bow flying from both their grasps. It arched high into the air, propelled by the might of two immortals. Both divinities watched for a brief moment before resuming their struggle. Their contest continued regardless of where the bow landed.    

But land it did, at the feet of Leto the Mild.    

“The time is come, Son of Maia.”    

With her back still to Hermes, Leto moved to pick up her daughter’s golden bow. As she straightened, she gathered her veil draping it back and to the side. She turned and for the first time faced her opponent squarely. Eudoros’ gasp revealed that he needed no divinely enhanced eyes to appreciate the majesty of the goddess before him.     

She had come dressed for battle. Her veil had completely concealed her armor; now exposed, it caught the light in a dazzling display of craftsmanship. Hermes recognized Hephaistos’ handiwork at its finest. The breast piece was decorated with a scene depicting Apollon and Artemis, bows in hand, surrounded by the bodies of seven men and seven women - arrows in their sides. At the shoulders wolves howled and a row of mongoose bordered the bottom edge of the plate. At the goddess’ hip hung a full quiver of arrows fletched with quail feathers. She met Hermes’ gaze without a hint of meekness or reservation. Her voice held only resolve.    

“You have delayed me here long enough, Lord of Thieves. Engage me in battle so that I may aid my daughter. The Will of Zeus compels you.”    

Eudoros was glad he was already sitting down. Leto’s starry diadem was glowing brighter and the sky behind it seemed to be slowly spinning.    

Hermes sighed.    

“Why should I stop you? I would rather you did help my sister.”    

“Do not toy with me. You well know I cannot. Only the winner between us may remain on the battle field.”    

Hermes had wondered why he and Leto had so many rules added to their duel. Zeus hadn’t been very forthcoming, but Hermes had guessed that Hera had something to do with it. It was just like the Queen of Olympos to arrange for Leto to watch helplessly from the sidelines as her children went into battle. Even now, as she and Artemis wrestled in the muck, Hera was probably gloating. Hermes could appreciate the planning and calculation that went into the scheme, if not the outcome.    

“Eudoros.”    

“Yes, Father?”    

“Lend me your sword, son.”    

Eudoros unsheathed his sword and handed it to his father. He looked as if he was going to say something further, but decided against it. Hermes looked at the simple but well-made weapon. Taking the corner of his chlamys, Hermes used his cloak to polish the blade. Eudoros gasped as Hermes lifted the sword up to inspect it; instead of a battle-weathered weapon of bronze and iron, a golden blade shone with a piercing, divine light. An uneasy feeling swept over Eudoros as his gaze moved down the length of the sword. Embedded into the hilt sat a single, golden eye.     

“Panoptes!“    

Hermes winked at his son.    

“Don’t stare, Eudoros. It’s rude.”    

Hermes gave the weapon a single slash through the air, testing its balance. Eudoros wasn’t able to keep his eyes on the sword, it moved so fast in his father’s hands.     

“Hypnos, Thanatos: bring my armor.”    

The serpents on Hermes’ staff unwound themselves and slithered to the ground. Eudoros blinked and instead of serpents two winged youths - one light, the other dark - stood in front of his father holding a set of armor. Without a word, they began to dress the god for battle. Thorax secured, one youth reattached Hermes’ chlamys while the other knelt to fasten the god’s winged greaves. Eudoros could make out a crouching, muscular figure on his father’s cuirass which dominated the breast plate. The figure held a sphere of seven stars on his shoulders that adorned the nape of the armor, while one foot rested on the back of a tortoise. Eudoros thought he could make out several small, dancing figures around the giant’s foot; maybe a satyr with a syrinx, but he wasn’t sure.    

Their task complete, the two winged youths stepped backwards and were gone. The wand in Hermes’ left hand was once again serpent-twined. Turning to face his opponent, the Son of Maia pulled his petasos down over his brow and disappeared. Only the golden sword and its unblinking eye were still visible as it moved towards the waiting Leto, arrow docked and bow drawn.    

“Now you will learn, Atlantiadon, from she who taught the Archer and the Huntress their skills!”    

Leto trained her arrow on the spot where Hermes had disappeared and released. The golden sword bobbed playfully in the air while Leto’s arrow sailed off into the distance.     

“I am a quick study, Koiogeneia.”    

The god’s voice seemed to have no origin, giving Eudoros no clue as to his father’s location. But Leto did not hesitate. A second arrow ready, she aimed at another spot and fired again. Hermes’ laughter burst from all directions. The golden sword began to swing wider and faster and then disappeared altogether. Leto grimaced as she loosed another arrow, and then another. Her eyes darted frantically searching for her invisible opponent.    

The golden sword reappeared behind the goddess, an invisible hand raising it to strike.    

“Father! No!”    

Eudoros’ cry took both deities by surprise. Rising to his feet, Eudoros steadied himself as he called out again.    

“Father!”    

Hermes reappeared beside his son.     

“Eudoros, best not to interfere in the affairs of the gods. You’re not thinking clearly right now.”    

Hermes’ tone was stern but still warm. Concern showed on the god’s face. Eudoros might be more disoriented than he realized.    

“No, you’re right, Father. I shouldn’t get involved…”    

A familiar twinkle danced across Eudoros’ eyes. Hermes wondered where he had seen that look before.    

“…that’s why you can’t use my sword.”    

“What do you mean, I can’t?”    

“If my sword harms the Fair Leto, I am partly to blame..”    

“I suppo…”    

Eudoros didn’t let his father finish the thought.    

“So then won’t Lord Apollon have to avenge his mother? And since you are using my sword, he’d most certainly have to punish me. Like you said, Father, better to not get involved in the affairs of the gods.”    

Hermes couldn’t help smiling at being quoted back his own words.    

“And don’t forget that I am indebted to Blessed Leto, Father. You told me she helped save my life. What honor would there be in me letting you use my sword against her?”    

Hermes put one hand on his son’s shoulder.    

“Are you sure about this, Eudoros? It means a victory for the Trojans, she’s the ‘enemy,’ remember?”    

Eudoros shook his head as his gaze passed over the plains below. His vision had returned to normal but the memory of the day’s battles - both mortal and divine - still haunted him.     

“Very well.”    

Hermes turned toward the goddess and laid his son’s sword at her feet.    

“I concede victory to you, Leto the Fair.”    

Thunder pealed across the sky followed by a single word:    

“ENOUGH.”    

Eudoros was sure that he woke up several hours later. The sun had fallen low in the sky and night was near. Fires were beginning to dot the plains and he could tell that the fighting had ceased for now. The grim job of collecting the dead and wounded had begun.     

“You should rejoin your men, son. It should be safe enough.”    

Eudoros turned to see his father sitting beside him. There was no sign of Leto or any other Immortal, though Eudoros knew he couldn’t trust his own eyes on that account.    

“Was that?”    

“Yes. It was him. All Immortals called back to Mount Ida. Well, all but me, obviously. 'No more interfering with the affairs of mortals,’ or something to that effect. ‘Let things play out as the Fates decree.’ Probably for the best, things were getting out of hand.”    

Eudoros found that he could stand without feeling nauseated. He felt completely normal, in fact.    

“General Achilleus will be wondering where you are, as will the men under your command.”    

Eudoros nodded, but didn’t make any move to depart.    

“Come, I’ll walk with you a ways.”    

Father and son moved down the hillside in the direction of the Achean encampments.     

“Father?”    

“Yes, son?”    

“When the gods go to war, do they ever get tired of fighting?”    

“Yes, we do, Eudoros.”    

“What do you do?”    

“We try to find another way.”    

Eudoros walked in silence, thinking on his father’s words. Reaching the bottom of the hill, they paused.    

“I’ve been thinking a lot about home lately and it makes me…”    

Hermes waited as his son found the words.    

“It makes me want to find another way.”    

“I think you will, Eudoros.”    

Lost in thought, Eudoros resumed his walk without realizing his father had stayed behind. The mortal’s day was coming to an end, but for Hermes a long night lay ahead.    

Hermes watched his son moving across the wounded fields of Troy before turning briefly toward Mount Ida. Ambrosia was being administered to the wounded Ares while Athene debated battle tactics with him. Leto had dressed her daughter’s wounds and offered to do the same for Hera. The Queen of the Gods had surprised everyone and accepted Leto’s offer. Hermes sighed again and turned back to the waiting dead.    

“Was it enough, Father?”    

In the distance a crash of thunder answered him.     

Satisfied, Hermes - the Guide of Souls - resumed his work.

“Against Leto, Hermes stood, grave guard, in peace and war, of human beings…” -The Iliad, Book XX

“Meanwhile the Guide, Hermes, addressed Leto, ‘Leto, I will not fight with you; since it is a hard thing to come to blows with the brides of Zeus who gathers the clouds. No sooner you may freely speak among the immortal gods, and claim that you were stronger than I, and beat me.’” -The Iliad Book XXI

[imagine-loki]

Gifted

Title: Gifted (Sequel to Giftless)

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: 61/?

AUTHOR: nekoamamori ORIGINAL IMAGINE: 

Imagine that you are Stark’s niece and you secretly share a strong relationship with Loki since he entered the crew. One day you get hurt so bad during a mission that you are about to die.  Loki knows a spell that will save you and share his immortality with you but you and he will be linked forever sharing thoughts, pain, emotions…

RATING: T NOTES/WARNINGS:  Also on AO3 click here

Your magic spiked again and you clutched onto Loki, trying not to retch. “Shh, darling,” he whispered, stroking your hair as he held you to him. “Mother, what is going on?” Loki asked Frigga panic in his frantic voice.     

“How many of those powers did Balder put into you, Daughter?” Frigga asked gently when the wave of powers and nausea eased. 

You curled yourself in Loki’s arms, letting him hold you. You didn’t want to lose contact with him. You had nearly lost him. He’d almost died. He’d also almost died and taken you with him, but that was a completely different problem.  “I lost count, but at least fifty of those spheres, probably more,” you finally answered, trying to remember what had happened. It was all lost in the haze of magic and pain.

“No wonder your powers are so far out of control,” Frigga commented sadly.

“These powers aren’t mine,” you reminded her. You’d only been studying magic for two years, but Loki had been studying his entire life, and you had the knowledge he had gained thanks to the soulbond.

Frigga inclined her head in agreement. “That is the other problem. Your body is trying to adjust to all of these powers that are not yours, as well as the second souldbond. It is a lot of strain, especially all at once,”

“It’s true, then? Balder really did manage to establish a second soulbond?” Loki demanded, holding you tighter.  You were both horrified by the very thought of it.  

Frigga nodded. “He did,” she indicated the blood red line of power that ran up your arms.

“Why are the soulbond marks on both arms now?” Loki asked, displaying his own decorated arms.

“You broke the original soulbond, darling. Reforging it takes more. More of your soul, more magic, more effort, more sacrifice. You will not get a third chance. If it breaks again, the backlash of the break will kill you both,”

“How do we break Balder’s soulbond?” you asked. “We can’t let him keep it. He has access to all of the powers he put in me, plus my own and maybe Loki’s too. We can’t let him keep access to all of those powers,” you reminded them both. Neither of them would look at you. “Tell me,” you directed that comment to Loki. You couldn’t order his Mother around, but he was fair game.

“The only reason I could break the bond was because I was dying. It split my mind to do it. You did the healing. You know exactly what happened to my mind,” Loki reminded you.  You’d had to go through his mind putting shards of him back together. 

“I know. I put you back together.” You turned to Frigga. “Thank you for teaching me to do that, by the way.” She inclined her head. You turned back to Loki.  “We can’t let Balder keep this soulbond. We can’t. I won’t!” You insisted with tears in your eyes. You would not allow yourself to continue to be bound to him.  It was a violation and felt wrong and slimy, his being leeched into yours.  

“I know, darling, I know. We’ll come up with a solution, I swear. We can’t allow him to have continued access to all of our powers,” Loki told you softly, holding you firmly and kissing the top of your head. He held you safe in his arms, but for the first time, you didn’t feel safe there, not with Balder having complete access to everything you were.

“Did anyone tell Uncle Tony we’re alive?” you asked them, remembering that small detail as well.  There were too many plates you were spinning and too much going on. 

Loki nodded and gave you a reassuring look.  “I sent him a message. He has rudely demanded to come see for himself. I wanted to wait until you were awake before allowing that request. I would prefer for your uncle to not attempt to kill me. It is bad enough that my own brother is attempting such nonsense,”

“Is Thor home too?” you asked. He was left on Earth the last you had seen him.

“Yes, Heimdall brought him home after your battle with Balder. He should have burst through the door by now. Surely someone had told him you are awake…” Frigga pondered, but didn’t have to worry much longer. A moment later, Thor and Sif appeared, bursting into the room to come hug both you and the very reluctant Loki. You laughed and welcomed their presence while Frigga looked on amused from the safety of the sidelines. She looked immensely pleased that four of her children were currently cuddled in a pile on the bed.

“What happened during the battle?” you asked them. You had been so busy healing Loki that you hadn’t noticed what they were up to.

“We lost. Spectacularly.” Thor replied with a sheepish smile. “Balder always was a good fighter, and he has only gotten better. He also had backup. I do not know why he let us survive, though…”

“I do,” you told them softly, embarrassed. “Balder is an asshole,” you glanced at the queen, horrified by cursing in front of her, especially about her son. “Apologies, your majesty,” you told her formally.

“I seem to have gone temporarily deaf and have no idea what you said,” she replied with a kind smile.

“Anyway,” you continued quickly, your cheeks still red in embarrassment. “After you were defeated, Balder ripped me from the spells while I was healing Loki. He told me he’d make me a bargain, if I agreed to go with him, he’d let you live and let me keep Loki. It was the only way…” You’d hated that you’d had to agree to go with him, but you’d made the only choice that you could. Thankfully, they all agreed with your logic and that it had been the only way.

“He really sewed your mouth shut?” Frigga asked Loki, horrified, while you were all telling her everything you remembered from that night. 

He stiffened at the memory, but nodded. “He wanted to silence the infamous liar,” Loki finally said softly. “I am just glad he did not decide to remove my tongue, as that would have been much more difficult for my lady to heal.” He kissed the top of your head again

“I nearly lost you as it was,” you reminded him. “And don’t you dare break the soulbond again.” you grumbled at him, jabbing a finger into his chest.  You weren’t letting him forget that lesson anytime this century.

“I will not, darling. You heard Mother. We would not survive a second breaking of it.”

“Children,” Frigga said to draw our attention back to her. “We need to know if Balder has access to your abilities, Loki,” she told you all gently, though her words were directed to Loki. You all looked equally confused at her.

“How are we supposed to know that?” Loki asked when she didn’t clarify. “We don’t know what powers he put into Kat,”

You thought over the experience. “What are his original powers?” you asked them.

“Water manipulation, like the water benders from that cartoon you made me watch,” Loki replied automatically, obviously wondering where you were going with this.

You thought it over a moment longer. “The powers he was collecting were to add to his own, he wouldn’t have given me water bending since he already has that one,” you’d latched onto Loki’s explanation. “So if I can do it now…” you directed that comment to Loki, questioningly. Logically, he would have access to the powers Balder had forced upon you, but Balder’s original powers he would only have if he could access them through Balder’s soulbond through you. If he could, then the opposite would work as well and the worlds were even more screwed until you took Balder down for good.

Loki looked impressed with your logic, but horrified by the implications. You saw him focus on the basin of water next to the bed.  He gestured at it in a very water-bending way and you gasped as the water rose out of the bowl. 

The emotion in the room was palpable as everyone’s hearts sank at the realization of what that meant.

[esabri]

German in English wie as ich I seine his dass that er he war was für for auf on sind are mit with sie they sein be bei at ein one haben have dies this aus from durch by heiß hot Wort word aber but was what einige some ist is es it Sie you oder or hatte had die the von of zu to und and ein a bei in wir we können can aus out andere other waren were die which tun do ihre their Zeit time wenn if werden will wie how sagte said ein an jeder each sagen tell tut does Satz set drei three wollen want Luft air gut well auch also spielen play klein small Ende end setzen put Zuhause home lesen read seits hand Hafen port groß large buchstabieren spell hinzufügen add auch even Lande land hier here muss must groß big hoch high so such folgen follow Akt act warum why fragen ask Männer men Veränderung change ging went Licht light Art kind aus off müssen need Haus house Bild picture versuchen try uns us wieder again Tier animal Punkt point Mutter mother Welt world in der Nähe von near bauen build selbst self Erde earth Vater father jeder any neu new Arbeit work Teil part nehmen take erhalten get Ort place gemacht made leben live wo where nach after zurück back wenig little nur only Runde round Mann man Jahr year kam came zeigen show jeder every gut good mir me geben give unsere our unter under Name name sehr very durch through nur just Formular form Satz sentence groß great denken think sagen say Hilfe help niedrig low Linie line abweichen differ wiederum turn Ursache cause viel much bedeuten mean vor before Umzug move Recht right Junge boy alt old zu too gleich same sie she alle all da there wenn when nach oben up Verwendung use Ihre your Weg way über about viele many dann then sie them schreiben write würde would wie like so so diese these sie her lange long machen make Sache thing sehen see ihm him zwei two hat has suchen look mehr more Tag day könnte could gehen go kommen come tat did Anzahl number klingen sound nicht no am meisten most Menschen people meine my über over wissen know Wasser water als than Anruf call erste first die who können may nach unten down Seite side gewesen been jetzt now finden find Kopf head stehen stand besitzen own Seite page sollte should Land country gefunden found Antwort answer Schule school wachsen grow Studie study noch still lernen learn Anlage plant Abdeckung cover Lebensmittel food Sonne sun vier four zwischen between Zustand state halten keep Auge eye nie never letzte last lassen let Gedanken thought Stadt city Baum tree überqueren cross Bauernhof farm schwer hard Beginn start Macht might Geschichte story Säge saw weit far Meer sea ziehen draw links left spät late laufen run unterlassen Sie don’t während while Presse press Schließen close Nacht night realen real Leben life wenige few Norden north Buch book tragen carry nahm took Wissenschaft science essen eat Zimmer room Freund friend begann began Idee idea Fisch fish berg mountain Stopp stop einmal once Basis base hören hear Pferd horse Schnitt cut sicher sure beobachten watch Farbe color Gesicht face Holz wood Haupt- main geöffnet open scheinen seem zusammen together nächste next weiß white Kinder children Start begin bekam got gehen walk Beispiel example erleichtern ease Papier paper Gruppe group immer always Musik music diejenigen those beide both Marke mark oft often Schreiben letter bis until Meile mile Fluss river Auto car Füße feet Pflege care zweite second genug enough Ebene plain Mädchen girl üblich usual jung young bereit ready oben above je ever rot red Liste list obwohl though fühlen feel Vortrag talk Vogel bird bald soon Körper body Hund dog Familie family direkt direct Pose pose verlassen leave Lied song messen measure Tür door Produkt product schwarz black kurz short Zahl numeral Klasse class Wind wind Frage question passieren happen vollständig complete Schiff ship Bereich area Hälfte half Stein rock bestellen order Feuer fire Süden south Problem problem Stück piece sagte told wusste knew passieren pass seit since obere top ganze whole König king Straße street Zoll inch multiplizieren multiply nichts nothing Kurs course bleiben stay Rad wheel voll full Kraft force blau blue Objekt object entscheiden decide Oberfläche surface tief deep Mond moon Insel island Fuß foot System system beschäftigt busy Prüfung test Rekord record Boot boat gemeinsam common goldenen gold möglich possible Flugzeug plane statt stead trocken dry Wunder wonder Lachen laugh tausend thousand vor ago lief ran überprüfen check Spiel game Form shape gleichsetzen equate heiß hot Fehl miss gebracht brought Wärme heat Schnee snow Reifen tire bringen bring ja yes entfernt distant füllen fill Osten east malen paint Sprache language unter among Einheit unit Macht power Stadt town fein fine sicher certain fliegen fly fallen fall führen lead Schrei cry dunkel dark Maschine machine note note warten wait Plan plan Abbildung figure Stern star Kasten box Nomen noun Feld field Rest rest richtig correct fähig able Pfund pound getan done Schönheit beauty Antriebs drive stand stood enthalten contain Front front lehren teach Woche week Finale final gab gave grün green oh oh schnell quick entwickeln develop Ozean ocean warme warm kostenlos free Minute minute stark strong besondere special Geist mind hinter behind klar clear Schwanz tail produzieren produce Tatsache fact Raum space gehört heard beste best Stunde hour besser better wahr true während during hundert hundred fünf five merken remember Schritt step früh early halten hold Westen west Boden ground Interesse interest erreichen reach schnell fast Verbum verb singen sing hören listen sechs six Tabelle table Reise travel weniger less Morgen morning zehn ten einfach simple mehrere several Vokal vowel auf toward Krieg war legen lay gegen against Muster pattern schleppend slow Zentrum center Liebe love Person person Geld money dienen serve erscheinen appear Straße road Karte map regen rain Regel rule regieren govern ziehen pull Kälte cold Hinweis notice Stimme voice Energie energy Jagd hunt wahrscheinlich probable Bett bed Bruder brother Ei egg Fahrt ride Zelle cell glauben believe vielleicht perhaps pflücken pick plötzlich sudden zählen count Platz square Grund reason Dauer length vertreten represent Kunst art Thema subject Region region Größe size variieren vary regeln settle sprechen speak Gewicht weight allgemein general Eis ice Materie matter Kreis circle Paar pair umfassen include Kluft divide Silbe syllable Filz felt groß grand Kugel ball noch yet Welle wave fallen drop Herz heart Uhr am vorhanden present schwer heavy Tanz dance Motor engine Position position Arm arm breit wide Segel sail Material material Fraktion fraction Wald forest sitzen sit Rennen race Fenster window Speicher store Sommer summer Zug train Schlaf sleep beweisen prove einsam lone Bein leg Übung exercise Wand wall Fang catch Berg mount wünschen wish Himmel sky Board board Freude joy Winter winter sa sat geschrieben written wilden wild Instrument instrument gehalten kept Glas glass Gras grass Kuh cow Arbeit job Rand edge Zeichen sign Besuch visit Vergangenheit past weich soft Spaß fun hell bright Gases gas Wetter weather Monat month Million million tragen bear Finish finish glücklich happy hoffen hope blume flower kleiden clothe seltsam strange Vorbei gone Handel trade Melodie melody Reise trip Büro office empfangen receive Reihe row Mund mouth genau exact Zeichen symbol sterben die am wenigsten least Ärger trouble Schrei shout außer except schrieb wrote Samen seed Ton tone beitreten join vorschlagen suggest sauber clean Pause break Dame lady Hof yard steigen rise schlecht bad Schlag blow Öl oil Blut blood berühren touch wuchs grew Cent cent mischen mix Mannschaft team Draht wire Kosten cost verloren lost braun brown tragen wear Garten garden gleich equal gesendet sent wählen choose fiel fell passen fit fließen flow Messe fair Bank bank sammeln collect sparen save Kontrolle control dezimal decimal Ohr ear sonst else ganz quite pleite broke Fall case Mitte middle töten kill Sohn son See lake Moment moment Maßstab scale laut loud Frühling spring beobachten observe Kind child gerade straight Konsonant consonant Nation nation Wörterbuch dictionary milch milk Geschwindigkeit speed Verfahren method Orgel organ zahlen pay Alter age Abschnitt section Kleid dress Wolke cloud Überraschung surprise ruhig quiet Stein stone winzig tiny Aufstieg climb kühlen cool Entwurf design arm poor Menge lot Versuch experiment Boden bottom Schlüssel key Eisen iron Einzel single Stick stick Wohnung flat zwanzig twenty Haut skin Lächeln smile Falte crease Loch hole springen jump Kind baby acht eight Dorf village treffen meet Wurzel root kaufen buy erhöhen raise lösen solve Metall metal ob whether drücken push sieben seven Absatz paragraph dritte third wird shall Hand held Haar hair beschreiben describe Koch cook Boden floor entweder either Ergebnis result brennen burn Hügel hill sicher safe Katze cat Jahrhundert century betrachten consider Typ type Gesetz law Bit bit Küste coast Kopie copy Ausdruck phrase still silent hoch tall Sand sand Boden soil Rolle roll Temperatur temperature Finger finger Industrie industry Wert value Kampf fight Lüge lie schlagen beat begeistern excite natürlich natural Blick view Sinn sense Hauptstadt capital wird nicht won’t Stuhl chair Achtung danger Obst fruit reich rich dick thick Soldat soldier Prozess process betreiben operate Praxis practice trennen separate schwierig difficult Arzt doctor Bitte please schützen protect Mittag noon Ernte crop modernen modern Elementes element treffen hit Schüler student Ecke corner Partei party Versorgung supply deren whose lokalisieren locate Rings ring Charakter character insekt insect gefangen caught Zeit period zeigen indicate Funk radio Speiche spoke Atom atom Mensch human Geschichte history Wirkung effect elektrisch electric erwarten expect Knochen bone Schiene rail vorstellen imagine bieten provide zustimmen agree so thus sanft gentle Frau woman Kapitän captain erraten guess erforderlich necessary scharf sharp Flügel wing schaffen create Nachbar neighbor Wasch wash Fledermaus bat eher rather Menge crowd mais corn vergleichen compare Gedicht poem Schnur string Glocke bell abhängen depend Fleisch meat einreiben rub Rohr tube berühmt famous Dollar dollar Strom stream Angst fear Blick sight dünn thin Dreieck triangle Erde planet Eile hurry Chef chief Kolonie colony Uhr clock Mine mine Krawatte tie eingeben enter Dur major frisch fresh Suche search senden send gelb yellow Pistole gun erlauben allow Druck print tot dead Stelle spot Wüste desert Anzug suit Strom current Aufzug lift stiegen rose ankommen arrive Stamm master Spur track Elternteil parent Ufer shore Teilung division Blatt sheet Substanz substance begünstigen favor verbinden connect nach post verbringen spend Akkord chord Fett fat froh glad Original original Aktie share Station station Papa dad Brot bread aufladen charge richtig proper Leiste bar Angebot offer Segment segment Sklave slave ente duck Augenblick instant Markt market Grad degree besiedeln populate küken chick liebe dear Feind enemy antworten reply Getränk drink auftreten occur Unterstützung support Rede speech Natur nature Angebot range Dampf steam Bewegung motion Weg path Flüssigkeit liquid protokollieren log gemeint meant Quotient quotient Gebiss teeth Schale shell Hals neck Sauerstoff oxygen Zucker sugar Tod death ziemlich pretty Geschicklichkeit skill Frauen women Saison season Lösung solution Magnet magnet Silber silver danken thank Zweig branch Spiel match Suffix suffix insbesondere especially Feige fig ängstlich afraid riesig huge Schwester sister Stahl steel diskutieren discuss vorwärts forward ähnlich similar führen guide Erfahrung experience Partitur score apfel apple gekauft bought geführt led Tonhöhe pitch Mantel coat Masse mass Karte card Band band Seil rope Rutsch slip gewinnen win träumen dream Abend evening Zustand condition Futtermittel feed Werkzeug tool gesamt total Basis basic Geruch smell Tal valley noch nor doppelt double Sitz seat fortsetzen continue Block block Tabelle chart Hut hat verkaufen sell Erfolg success Firma company subtrahieren subtract Veranstaltung event besondere particular viel deal schwimmen swim Begriff term Gegenteil opposite Frau wife Schuh shoe Schulter shoulder Verbreitung spread arrangieren arrange Lager camp erfinden invent Baumwolle cotton geboren born bestimmen determine Quart quart neun nine Lastwagen truck Lärm noise Ebene level Chance chance sammeln gather Geschäft shop Stretch stretch werfen throw Glanz shine Immobilien property Spalte column Molekül molecule wählen select falsch wrong grau gray Wiederholung repeat erfordern require breit broad vorbereiten prepare Salz salt Nase nose mehreren plural Zorn anger Anspruch claim Kontinent continent

[hungrywhovianjedi]

Twin Moons

Chapter one of my Star Wars A/U fic

read the epilogue here  also find the full fic on my FF.net and AO3 here FF AO3

premise:  Obi-Wan never took Luke to Tatooine in fact they overshot the force forsaken dustball completely and instead Luke grew up on the planet Lothal being trained to become a Jedi like his father before him. Ezra Bridger is an orphan loner who only makes an exception to his solitude for one boy. The boy who helped him out when he was seven, and that Ezra always seems to get into trouble.

Chapter summary: snapshots into the life of Obi-Wan and Luke as the boy grows up on Lothal, and a meeting with a hungry little boy who really wants a jogan fruit

Lothal wasn’t an unpleasant planet, but from the start one thing was clear to Obi-Wan, it wouldn’t be somewhere they could stay forever. The one blessing of the place was the abundant amount of untouched countryside. It was in this countryside, a fair distance from Capital City, that he purchased a small hut that he and Luke could live in. 

Luke… Luke was everything he believed Padme would have hoped for. His blonde curls and bright blue eyes were a spitting image of Anakin, and Obi-Wan would have been lying if he said that it didn’t send a pang of grief through his heart. Then there was raising the boy. Sure he had practically raised the child’s father, but that was from the age of nine on, he wasn’t unfamiliar with the needs of an infant, he had taken time in the Temple to assist Master Yoda with caring for the younglings that was not to say he was particularly good at it however. 

Exactly how bad he was at caring for younglings became clear when Luke began crawling, and he realized how hazardous everything was, that was also when the old jedi had stopped carrying his saber with him in the house. These things truly come into focus, when a nine month old, trying to pull himself up your leg accidentally activates your lightsaber nearly losing his toes. No no he wasn’t very good at this. 

When Luke was two, he began to train the boy. Luke was a natural, already he was able to call a toy from across the room, or even hold full conversations with his “uncle” through the force. Obi-Wan thought that better. He was Luke’s uncle, had loved his father like a brother. So he became Uncle Ben. The first thing that Ben needed to teach him, was something not commonly taught in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, shielding. It was something Masters taught padawans before taking them on risky missions, but now it had begun to be a necessity of life. 

He had seen the propaganda being streamed on the holonet, had seen Vader, a ghastly specter in all black, flanked by his enforcers. The inquisitors, force sensitive beings whose only driving goal was to hunt down the last of the “treasonous jedi” Vader’s robotically deep voice had informed the galaxy. He and his inquisitors would not rest until the galaxy was safe from the Jedi at last. It was horrifying, each one wore a mask but one, a tall man that Ben knew well. He had been a kind man, a guardian of the temple one he had spoken with often. He didn’t know his name, but his sorrow at seeing what he had become was great. The others were likely fallen Jedi as well, he didn’t want to know who else might be behind those masks, it was bad enough the force screamed at him who was behind the mask of Vader. The flashing lights on the front, others would assume were a control panel, likely thinking the man was no more than a machine, but Ben knew could hear the labored breathing of a man who would die without that mask. He did that. 

Luke stirred in his arms, the toddler having fallen asleep while they watched Holo-programs for children. A stab of guilt went through him. He had cursed this child’s father to a fate worse than death by leaving him on the shores of Mustafar. 

“I’m sorry Anakin, I failed you. I failed you” he looked down at Luke, “but I won’t fail him. I promise now I will not make the same mistakes with your son that I made with you”

Attachments were forbidden in the Jedi order, yet, despite trying his hardest to keep to the code, when he felt the love of attachment to his padawan, and even his grand padawan Ahsoka, he never saw what harm could come of it. He did however see the other side of it. Luminara... her padawan Barris, he had seen the hands off way she handled the girl, and in the end it led to her destroying the lives of not only those injured or killed in the blast, but Ahsoka and Anakin as well. He knew that the way the Council had ruled at that time had been one of the final blows to Anakin’s trust in them. That was the action that had lost him his padawan, it was why he didn’t go to the council for help when things got bad. 

Luke wouldn’t have an easy time being raised in the ways of the force, but Ben knew he had little choice in the matter. The boy must learn to protect himself, especially if Yoda was right, and this boy and his sister were the last hopes of the galaxy. 

The third year came and went quickly, and Ben crafted Luke his first practice Saber, really it was a wooden rod, since they didn’t have access to the Kyber needed to make a real practice saber, and began teaching the boy his forms. They did it by moonlight outside, as the hut was too small and doing it during the day would draw too much attention. 

He taught the boy his basic Katas, he began with form one, and realized how difficult it would be to teach a three year old child the patience needed to learn saber forms. Instead the Jedi Master made a game of it. 

It took months of their “game” Luke called it clack. Ben and Luke would each take a training saber, and they would clack them together, the goal was to break through and touch the other, and to avoid the “clack” of the sabers. Soon, he noticed Luke picking up some of his forms, as he had been careful to feed the basic stances of Shii cho into the game, and by the time his fourth birthday came Luke had learned all of the Kata’s of form one. It was then that Ben told him. Taught him that the game they played was really training to use a lightsaber. That was the first time he showed the boy his father’s saber. That was also the night that Ben told Luke a story. 

He told a story of a young queen from Naboo, and a brave slave boy from Tatooine. He told the boy the story of an army of brothers, who became like family a young woman who became their sister, and for now, he left out all the heartache that went with it, let the little one live with the happy memories of the family who would have loved him. 

By the time Luke was five, he was a natural of form one and had easily began to learn form two, it wouldn’t be long before he moved into form three Soresu, which Ben was looking forward to, his own mastery of the form making it the one easiest for him to teach. It was also when Ben began teaching Luke the way to find peace inside of the force. 

Meditation had always been Anakin’s worst skill, the boy had always had a nervousness about him, that caused him to seek out alternative methods. Luke however seemed to have Padme’s patience, as he found it easy to dive into the force. Ben barely had to guide him. 

He guided the boy with recitation of the Jedi code. 

“There is no emotion, There is peace”  Luke took a breath, “take all of your emotions, and release them, Luke” 

“There is no ignorance, there is knowledge” Ben closed his eyes taking hold of Luke in the force and guiding him, “release your questioning mind to the force, allow it to answer you” 

“There is no passion, there is serenity” The force flowed through him, “release your control, allow the force to guide you” 

“There is no chaos, there is harmony” he felt Luke relax, allowing the force to take him deeper, “in the force all is equal, feel it there balanced before you” 

“There is no death, there is only the force” Luke let out a breath, and Ben felt it too, a gentle sigh in the force, he could almost see the hands of Padme reach out and wrap around Luke. it shouldn’t be possible, non force sensitive people shouldn’t have a presence as such, even jedi do not keep their own energy when they die, yet there was no  denying Padme’s presence, just for a moment then she was gone. 

That wasn’t to be the last time he felt Padme in the force, the senator appearing that night as he did his own meditation 

“Hello Master Jedi” came the soft voice of his friend. 

“Padme, how is this possible? You were not sensitive to the force, yet I felt you with Luke and can tell you are real now” 

Padme simply smiled and sat beside him, his meditation scape the room of a thousand fountains, “I’ve never known the great Obi-Wan Kenobi to question the force” she chuckled. “I suppose you could say I’m not truly here, but part of me is. It’s hard to explain, like a piece of me stayed behind when I died, I just remember being so scared, so cold. I reached out and someone answered, and it was like I split then. A part of me, the part speaking to you now, went with Luke, I suppose as some sort of guardian. The other with Leia”

Ben rubbed at his beard, “it is somewhat of an unknown what really happens when we die. Master Yoda says we rejoin the force, yet nobody has ever spoken with someone who is dead before” 

“Now you have, I wanted to say something to you” Padme began, “Thank you, thank you for taking care of my son” 

Ben didn’t know what to say, instead he just smiled, and nodded. 

He came out of his meditation then, feeling lighter than he had for five years, confident in the fact that at least one of Luke’s parents was proud of what he was doing for their child. It was good that he came out of meditation when he did, as a sleepy Luke walked into the doorway, rubbing his eyes. 

“Ben, I had a bad dream” 

Ben smiled and opened his arms, “come here Luke, tell me about it” 

~~~~~~~~~

Luke Skywalker knew he several things fir certain. One he had no parents, Ben told him they were heroes, his father a Jedi knight. Two nobody could ever know he was a jedi, Ben hid from him the worst of it, but he was aware that they were hunted. Three Ben Kenobi was the best father figure he could have asked for. Those of course were the obvious things, he knew he was loved. He knew he was safe, but he couldn’t help but be lonely. Sure he had Ben, and he enjoyed training to become a Jedi like Ben and his father were before the purge, but Ben was the only person he knew. He was seven years old, and he had no friends. He had tried talking to the person from the dormant tether in his mind, but they didn’t seem to like him, or they didn’t know how to talk to him more likely. Ben wasn’t very willing to tell the seven year old Luke why he had a quiet tether in his mind or why it was clearly a little girl his age, maybe Ben would tell him when he got older. 

Until then, he helped Ben run the little garden behind their hut, and trained his saber katas behind the fence Ben built last summer. 

Today he was doing his katas while Ben went up on the bluff to trade with one of the traveling farmers for some of the things they didn’t grow, that he heard the hum in the force. It was odd, sounding almost like the hum that came when Ben lowered his shields to teach Luke a new skill, but different. It wasn’t a very strong hum, and he didn’t think whoever had it had been trained at all. At least not by someone like Ben, his shielding was awful! At least he assumed it was a boy, as he hooked his father’s saber back to his waist and climbed up the fence to look over. 

Huddled behind a boulder nearby, was a boy around Luke’s age, with black shaggy hair, and a dirty old orange jumpsuit. He was eyeing Ben’s Jogan tree hungrily. Luke dropped down and snuck around to the gate of the fence, and opened it. Continuing to move quietly, he moved so he was behind the same boulder as the boy. 

“Are you hungry?” Luke asked.

The boy shot up into the air with a loud scream, that made Luke giggle, and hold out the tart he had brought out for a snack after his training.

“Here, it’s a jogan fruit tart, it will be better than a raw one off of my uncle’s tree” for a moment Luke wondered if the boy spoke basic, and started to try and think of other ways he may word it, he didn’t know many languages yet, it was one of the few things that Ben had any trouble teaching him. 

“Wait, you’re just giving it to me?” oh good, he did speak basic, less struggle for him then.

Luke nodded, “Yes, Ben always says when people are hungry you should help them… so are you hungry?” 

The boy nodded enthusiastically and wolfed down the tart. Luke was shocked how quickly the sweet treat disappeared.  Then the boy grinned at him when it was gone “you’re right, that was really good”

Luke grinned back “I’m glad, my name is Luke Skywalker by the way” 

The other boy held out his hand, “Nice to meet you Luke Skywalker, my name’s Ezra Bridger” 

Luke shook his hand, he had a good feeling about Ezra Bridger, and when he reached out to the force, it seemed to have  a good feeling about him too.

[trvelyans-archive]

lost time

a commission for the lovely and ever iconic @dauntless-necromancer of their cousland and morrigan and kieran and kieran’s Bae <3 thank you very much for commissioning me again, you’re the absolute best and i appreciate it a lot <3 i hope you enjoy the fic as much as i enjoyed writing it !!!

-

Kieran did not have any friends in Orlais.

He did not know why. Mother said it was because he scared them too much, but he didn’t know what it was about him that scared them. He was quiet and shy and rarely raised his voice – how did that scare everyone so much? He didn’t know his place in the noble children’s friendship circles, so he did not want to push his luck or speak when he wasn’t supposed to when they already looked at him the way that they did, but they didn’t like him no matter what. It felt like there was no winning, like his Mother would be his only friend forever. And he loved Mother, but… she had jobs to do for the Empress and she was not always around. Sometimes he sat alone in his room all night, deciphering ancient writing as best as he could and playing games with his wooden toys by himself. He didn’t have any friends, and he was lonely.

Until Satine came along.

He was roaming the Hall of Heroes in the Winter Palace when he saw her the first time. After a while, he spent almost all soirees and balls and other parties by himself, so this time he was so focused on the statues in front of him and the low-burning candles at their feet that he barely noticed her peeking out from behind one of them, watching him with a small smile and bright, intelligent eyes. She had a nice dress on – she certainly wasn’t one of the serving girls who occasionally tried to play with them when they said he looked sad – and was watching him carefully.

“Hi?” Kieran said when he realized she hadn’t looked away, frowning.

“Hi,” she said. “What are you doing?”

“Looking at the statues,” he answered, pointing at them. “I like this one.”

It was a lion, big and broad and shining gold. The girl crept out from the statue she had been hiding behind and looked at it. “Do you like lions?”

“I like all animals.” Kieran turned to her as she approached. “I think I’d be scared of lions if I saw one in person, but I like statues of them. They’re very elegant.”

That was one of Kieran’s favourite words.

She walked over to the lion and ran her fingers over the edge of the statue. “What’s your favourite animal?”

“I don’t know,” Kieran said genuinely, tilting his head as he thought. “I like dragons, but I think I’d be scared of them if I saw one in person, too. They’re very strong and very old.”

She glanced over at him and studied him for a second and then suddenly, just as Kieran realized that perhaps that was an odd thing to say, she grinned. “I like dragons, too,” she said. “I like birds the most.”

“I like birds, too,” Kieran replied. “I wish I could fly. Maybe one day.”

“Maybe one day we will become great dragon tamers and ride them across Thedas,” she said.

“Yes,” Kieran said. “Thedas and whatever lies beyond it.”

She was fiddling with the skirts of her dress. “You think there’s something across the ocean?”

He shrugged as he nodded. “I think so,” he admitted. He should learn how to stop saying such weird things, he thought. He’d have a lot more friends if he did. “I’d like to stay here, though. Mother is here, and I don’t want to leave her.”

“Who’s your mother?”

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, debating whether or not to tell her. It wasn’t like either of them could get in trouble for it – the Empress hired Mother to be her Arcane Advisor willingly, it wasn’t like she didn’t know that Morrigan was a mage – but he knew people didn’t understand what Mother really did in Orlais and he didn’t know if this newfound friendship would last through him trying to explain it.

“The Empress’ arcane advisor,” he answered finally.

She blinked at him before smiling again. “That sounds very interesting,” she said.

“Oh, it is.” He was always proud of the work Mother did – the things she’d show him, anyway – and it was nice for someone else to think so, too. “Very interesting.”

She held her hand out to him and wiggled her fingers. “I want to show you something cool I found in the library earlier,” she said. “And you can tell all about it while we explore, okay?”

He looked down at her hand. “Do you… Are you asking to be my friend?”

“Yes,” she said. “I would like to be friends with you. What’s your name?”

“Kieran,” he said, placing his hand in her palm. She squeezed it, hard.

“I’m Satine,” she replied, pulling him along behind her as she began walking up the stairs. “I think we are going to be good friends, Kieran.”

He wanted to say ‘me too’, but he didn’t. He didn’t want to get his hopes up only for them to get dashed on the ground again.

… He did have a good feeling about this, though.

-

Kieran taller than most of the guards at Castle Cousland. They shrink a little as he walks by – though whether it’s because he’s tall or it’s because he’s the son of a Witch of the Wilds, he can’t tell – but when he offers them as friendly of a smile as he can manage they seem to relax somewhat. Not all of them do that, though, and they don’t do it all of the time. Every time he wanders through the fortress at night and, admittedly, catches them a little off-guard, they seem to be scared of him even when he smiles; even when he tries to make conversation. Perhaps he should pull his hood down on those occasions, but he doesn’t really feel comfortable doing that just yet.

He can’t blame them, though. He definitely doesn’t look like an average Ferelden. The rest of them are tanned, strong – he’s pale, or paler than them at least (though he’s tanner more now that he’s spending more time outside), he’s freckly, and he has a shock of dark brown hair that hangs down over his wide forehead, which Mother says is “unforgivingly mysterious”.

And then, one night, Elrich asks him if he wants a haircut, so he says yes.

“I wish there were other people my age here,” Kieran comments, half-heartedly flipping through an Elven text while watching his father out of the corner of his eye in between falling clumps of hair.

Elrich is sharpening his sword, but stops when he looks up at Kieran and smiles, eyes softening. “I know, pup,” he says gently. “And if things in Thedas were different –“ He glances over at Morrigan – “and if your mother allowed it, I’d suggest you go travelling, but…”

“My son is not going to die in Tevinter,” she says. Kieran can hear the frown in her voice. “Or the Anderfels, or Antiva, or wherever a boy his age would travel to.”

“Not even Denerim?” Kieran asks.

“Maybe Denerim,” Elrich says, leveling an even stare at Morrigan over Kieran’s head that Kieran hears her respond to with a groan. “Next summer, perhaps. If things die down.”

Morrigan snorts but says nothing, and Elrich just smiles at her before looking down at his sword again. Kieran watches them for a moment, stomach twisting with unease, before glancing back down at his book.

… He really needs some friends his age.

-

One day, when Mother was away visiting some city called Serault on important business for the Empress, Kieran had free reign of their quarters in the Winter Palace.

Granted, that didn’t mean much – their quarters were, rather simply, three adjoining rooms in a very dusty, disused hallway – but still, it meant something. Though the servants came in every once in a while to check up on him, and he kept all of the doors open in case someone needed to get him for something, he liked how free he felt. He felt so free that he occasionally dared to touch the relics on Mother’s desk, but then found it too overwhelming and started keeping away from them after that.

On a rainy morning, Satine came to visit. She was carrying a small pack of dainty Orlesian cakes and cookies. Kieran welcomed her into his and Mother’s quarters with a smile, and closed the door tightly behind her as she sat down on the table.

“I know you said you were lonely without your mother,” she began, “so I thought I would come visit while Papa had business with the Empress.”

Could she really tell that easily?

He did like having control of their quarters without her, but he did miss her, too. She said they probably couldn’t exchange many letters while she was gone, and he missed her jokes and her smile and the way she sung him to sleep when everything else around and in his head were far too loud. He winced, glancing away. “I don’t miss her that much,” he said defensively.

Satine opened the pack and drew out a single white cookie. “Of course you do,” she replied. “I would miss Papa if he left for a while. He’s my favourite chess partner.”

“I play chess with Mother, too.”

He walked over to the table and sat down beside her, grabbing a cookie that was the same in appearance to her’s but didn’t taste the way he thought it would.

“We should play chess together sometime,” she said, playfully wiggling her eyebrows at him. He smiled and took another bite of his cookie.

“I think you would beat me,” he replied.

“No way! You’re much smarter than I am.”

“I am not.”

“Are too.”

“Are not.”

“Yes, you are,” Satine said, rolling her eyes as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Though I guess we will just have to agree to disagree.”

Kieran sighed but, eventually, gave in, because who was he to say no to her?

-

Kieran has very big quarters in Highever Castle.

He has more room than he initially knew what to do with, but he fills it up quickly. After all, he’s allowed to travel down to the market whenever he wants to (since his mother and father know that no one would lift a finger to try anything with him) and he certainly does not take those opportunities lightly. Though he probably should, considering how much money he’s spent on various interesting things that make him curious – but e earns his keep, and his mother gives him a fair enough allowance to buy what he wants since, for the first time in his life, they live in an actual city he can explore without fear.

That’s all he’s wanted for so long, even if he doesn’t have the friends – or any friends at all - to explore it with as he’d like.

His newest toy is a small hawk claw that hangs from the end of a golden chain. The man at the stall said the hawk was very old and have a good life, which Kieran felt relieved about. He’s fiddling with it at the dinner table, smiling, thinking about the creature that it belonged to.

“Hawks are such fascinating creatures, aren’t they?” he asks.

“Very noble,” Elrich says from the head of the table. “We could get you one, if you’d like, to take care of.”

“I do think he’d be quite good at that,” Morrigan adds in.

“I would like that a lot, Father.” Kieran smiles at him and rests the necklace against his chest again, smoothing the chain out over his shirt. “How was your day?”

“It was good.” Elrich glances over at Morrigan. “It was certainly nice to spend some time with your mother, since I didn’t have very many duties to attend to. We took a stroll through the garden, ate lunch on the battlements and watched the city…”

“I miss living in the mountains, but seeing that drunken man stumble around in the street earlier before face-first into a pile of horse droppings…” She smiles wistfully, thinking back on the memory. “Ah, there’s nothing like it. And spending time with you, of course, my dear,” she hastens to say, looking at Elrich with a playful glint in her eye. He winks at her and brings her knuckles up to his lips, kissing them gently.

Kieran smiles and looks down at his plate, giving them a moment to themselves.

“Actually, Kieran, I was thinking we could go somewhere together tomorrow.” Elrich looks over at his son. “There’s a beautiful viewing point a few miles away from the city, and though it’s a small hike through the forest to get there, it’s well worth it. We might as well do some hunting on the way there to get dinner for tomorrow night, as well.”

“You should go,” Morrigan says. “Spend some time with your father, Kieran. I will take care of everything here – I’m sure the guards will love that.”

“Fergus, too,” Elrich adds, chuckling.

“You’re sure, Father?” Kieran asks. He still hasn’t spent much time with his father, just the two of them, and a part of him is slightly nervous for it.

“Absolutely sure,” Elrich says, grinning. “Besides, I’ve been working hard for half my life. I can take a little more time off to go out and explore my childhood home with my son, hm?”

“Okay,” Kieran agrees. He can’t say he’s not looking forward to it, despite his nervousness – and it’ll certainly be good to get out of the castle.

-

The last day Kieran saw Satine was a bit of a blur.

The scouts from this ‘Inquisition’ came to him and mother’s quarters to pack up their things to take to some place called Skyhold, a supposedly grand fortress in the mountains where they would be living for the foreseeable future while Mother worked alongside someone named the Inquisitor. Satine came to the palace as soon as she received Kieran’s letter – he sent it the night of the ball and the peace talks, when his hands were still shaking from the events of the evening – but they were already almost gone, and would not have much time left to spend together to say their goodbyes, a thought that made Kieran more sad than he remembered ever feeling before.

“I can’t believe you’re leaving,” she said, sitting on the windowsill across from Kieran as the soldiers carried some furniture out the door to the front gardens where their carriage was waiting.

“I can’t either,” Kieran replied, looking over at Satine with a frown. “I don’t want to go.”

“I know you don’t, but… It’ll be an adventure, right?” She nudged his leg with hers, smiling. “And you can still write to me. I’ll pen a response as soon as I hear from you to make sure you’re not waiting around for a reply.”

“Mother says that she doesn’t trust the Inquisition entirely yet,” Kieran said, tipping his head back against the wall and looking out the window at the rolling hills outside of Orlais. “I don’t know if she will want me to be sending very many letters.”

“Oh.” Satine’s face fell, her bottom lip crumpling. “Well… Send them when you can. I’ll write you a letter about everything exciting that happens and then send them all to you at once when I hear from you.”

Kieran looked over at her. “I’m going to miss you, Satine.” He leaned forward, swinging his legs down from the windowsill. “You know that you’re my only friend, right?”

“You’re mine, too.” She pursed her lips. “The other noble children don’t like me very much. I was so happy when we became friends, Kieran.”

She reached out to tangle their fingers together and Kieran, at a lost for words, squeezed her hand as gently as he could without hurting her.

“Kieran,” Mother called from the other side of the room, “we have to go soon.”

He knew Mother felt bad telling him to prepare to leave soon, but she couldn’t do much about it besides give him an understanding nod and leave the room.

Letting go of her hand, Kieran pushed himself off of the windowsill and landed on the floor. Satine followed, the skirts of her dress swishing. “I suppose this is goodbye,” Kieran said quietly.

“Don’t be foolish, Kieran.” She smiled. “I’m going to see you off. I’m not wasting a single second I have left with you.”

He grabbed his bags, filled with gifts Satine had given him over the past two years as well as all of his clothes and other treasured belongings, and declined her offer to help him as he left his room in the Winter Palace for the last time. He would miss it. There were many things he would miss about Orlais.

Satine did see him off, even though the sky was growing dark and trip back to the city would be long. Still, she waited for the soldiers to pack everything into the carriage and did it all standing at his side, holding his hand, and when it was finally time to go, she turned to him tearfully.

“Goodbye,” she said quietly.

“Goodbye,” he replied, hugging her tightly through tears of his own before hurrying to the carriage where his mother was waiting.

-

His father is marching ahead of him through the woods while Kieran lags behind, listening to the sound of happy birdsong while looking up at the trees.

They’re thick and full, and the dark green leaves tremble in the occasional gust of summer wind. He swears he’s never seen a place so beautiful before, nor one so peaceful, even when he and his mother lived in the mountains. At one point during their walk, a small creature scurries out from the undergrowth and into the hollow of a large tree where it disappears somewhere in the shadows. It was a mouse, Kieran thinks, but he didn’t get a very good look at it.

“Kieran?”

He looks up at his father, standing higher up the path with a concerned look. It’s a wide path, with shallow cuts on either side where wheels of carriages from years past have traversed the long road to Highever. He’s more surprised that they haven’t encountered a carriage so far today, especially considering that Ferelden is in the height of summer and it’s the perfect time of day for hunting.

“I’m fine,” Kieran replies, hurrying to catch up. “I was just distracted by a creature.”

Elrich smiles. “You’ve always been a curious boy,” he says fondly, then tilts his head. “Though I suppose you’re a man now, hm?”

Kieran nods. “It doesn’t always feel like it, but yes, I suppose I am.”

Elrich takes a step down the path towards Kieran, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You’re going to be a good man, Kieran,” he says. “I see a lot of your mother in you, and she is… well, she is very special.”

A smile curves his lips, and Kieran blinks, unsure what to say other than ‘thank you’ which seems unfitting for the sentiment.

“And I want you to know that I’m proud of you.” He shifts to place his other hand on Kieran’s shoulder as well. “You’re going to grow into your own soon enough. I know you will. I was going through…” Elrich laughs, glancing away. “Well, a lot when I was your age. But I grew into my own, too, with time.”

“You had a few more things to contend with than I do,” Kieran points out with a smile.

“That’s very true.” He squeezes his son’s shoulders softly before letting his hands fall down by his sides. “In any case,” he begins, “we should –“

Whatever he was going to say was cut off by the sound of a voice distantly calling for help.

Elrich and Kieran shared a look before springing into action, both of them hurrying down the road towards the source of the noise (thought Kieran was lagging behind due to his heavy pack). Quickly he starts huffing, feeling a sheen of sweat on his brow, but the person sounds distraught, and he is not going to let someone get hurt when he could have helped.

His father reaches them first, and when Kieran crests the hill he can see them – an older man and a shorter woman who Kieran guesses must be around his age, wearing a dress that seems to be Orlesian in style. Elrich is helping the man push their carriage out of the mud from the back while the woman pushes from the front, her face tilted to the ground with effort.

With one final shove, the carriage glides up onto the path once more, and the three of them stumble forward from the momentum as Kieran rushes down towards them. The older man begins thanking Elrich profusely, to which Kieran’s father waves off with a warm smile, and the woman turns to Kieran as he approaches while wiping sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.

When his arm drops to his side and he can get a good look on the woman’s face, his stomach drops, too.

No. No. Surely it can’t be her. Of all people, of all places…

“Kieran?”

Suddenly, he feels like his knees could give out from underneath him.

“Satine,” he breathes softly, and he doesn’t get a chance to say anything else before she hugs him.

-

“I just… I just can’t believe it,” Satine says, leaning back in her chair and smiling.

“Me neither,” Kieran replies, running his thumb over the pads of her delicate fingers. “Are you sure you don’t want my cloak? Or to move closer to the fire?”

“Kieran.” She tips her head towards him and looks at him from underneath her eyelashes, a bemused smile on her lips. “I’m fine, here, with you. And you’ve barely gotten a chance to talk about yourself yet! Where did you go after you moved away from Skyhold?”

His story is much less exciting than her’s, and he tells her as such. After it, it took her their whole meal to describe what had happened to her life since he had last seen her. A few years after Kieran left Orlais, Satine’s father died and, as the oldest child, she inherited the family name and fortune. She was even betrothed for a while when she was 17 – before he died, too, apparently. After that, it wasn’t long before she was deemed a weaker member of court with little to no resources to her name (which was blatantly untrue, she explained to Kieran, but people found the lies to be much more appealing) and blackmailed into leaving Orlais.

“We were going to travel to my father’s old estate in Denerim which he bought when he was very young,” she told him, “as it’s the last place I have claim to, but… well, the wheel of our carriage broke, and you know the rest.”

He can still barely believe she’s here. Their carriage could have broken down anywhere, but it broke down here, with him. If they had come even six months earlier, Kieran and Satine never would have crossed paths.

He tells this to her, too, and she asks why, and he explains how he spent the last several years living in the mountains with his mother, and they only just made the trip to move to the city when Elrich returned to them, cured of the Blight and shed of his Warden duties.

“I still can’t believe he’s your father.” She’s holding his hands, now, running her fingers over the back of his hand and drawing absentminded shapes on his skin while she glances across the room to where Elrich and Morrigan look suspiciously like they’re watching them. “The Hero of Ferelden. How could you never tell me?”

“I tried. Once.” Kieran smiles. “You didn’t believe me.”

Satine rolls her eyes, blushing briefly. “That doesn’t sound like me,” she replies with a hint of sadness. “I was a foolish child – I always played into those foolish fantasies…”

“Like what?”

Kieran’s question catches her by surprise – she meets his gaze and shrinks a little, dropping her eyes to their hands. “Like I could be the head of my family at such a young age,” she says. “Like I could do that and be a good person. Ha! There’s only so much you can spend on resources while paying your servants ten times what other nobles do… It worked for a while, but not for a whole life.” Satine ducks her head, then frowns. “I wouldn’t take it back, though. I hope you know that.”

“You’ve always had a kind heart,” Kieran tells her. “It’s one of my favourite things about you.”

She blushes, biting her lip. “Thank you, Kieran,” she says quietly.

Across the room, Elrich drapes his arm over the back of Morrigan’s chair. “He’s never mentioned her before,” he says. “I’m surprised that they seem so… close.”

Very close. Elrich is surprised that they haven’t snuck away to some shadowy alcove yet, all things considered.

“You should have seen them together when they were children.” Morrigan sighs, running a hand over her forehead. “I could not keep them away from each other, no matter how hard I tried. I think he was in love with her the first day they met. He was so pleased to finally have a friend…”

“It seems he feels the same way now,” Elrich replies, gesturing to where Kieran clasps both of Satine’s hands in his. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him smile like that.”

“Well, thankfully, she is a brilliant girl.” Morrigan smiles wistfully at the sight of the two of them but, when she sees her husband beaming at her, clears her throat. “She used to be, anyway. Only time will tell if she’s still good enough for him.”

He leans over and presses a kiss to her temple. “We have to let him make his own decisions sometime, love.”

She sighs in annoyance, swatting his arm playfully as he wraps it around her and hugs her close. “Don’t tell me that,” she says. “Hearing that as a mother is worse than being run through with a sword.”

“It’s hard for me, too.” Elrich looks over at Kieran again, where he’s opening one of the books out of a stack of many that he brought down to show Satine after dinner. “Now that we’re all together again, it’s hard not to want to spend all my free time with him after missing out on so many years.”

He heaves a regretful sigh, but before he can turn his head, Morrigan reaches up to cup his cheek. “He understands,” she says. “And I know he wants to spend time with you too.”

“I hope so,” Elrich replies. “And I hope I’ve taught him well enough in the short time we’ve had together to make a good decision.”

“He will,” Morrigan says. “But not because of your teaching…”

He kisses her forehead again, chuckling. “Now that’s just cruel.”

“Perhaps.” She leans against his shoulder. “But you love me despite it.”

He laughs. “That I do, love. And either way,” Elrich continues, “I hope everything turns out well for all of us.”

Watching Kieran and Satine on the other side of the room, however, sitting so close together they might as well be in each other’s laps and still holding hands all the while, it’s very hard to believe that it won’t.

-

Within a few months, Satine is moved into the castle.

Her caretaker moves into the city, and after Elrich sets him up with a job working for a baker in the thick of Highever, he occasionally comes by Castle Cousland to bring the four of them food. Kieran and Satine have left piles of crumbs in every room and down every corridor, depending where they set up camp to read books or play chess that day, but Satine always convinces Kieran to clean it up instead of sweeping it into holes in the walls for the mice to get (and then they leave out fancy Orlesian cheese on plates for them, instead). Within a year, Satine moves into Kieran’s quarters; within two, they’re more or less officially betrothed.

“We’ll get married at some point,” Satine says to Morrigan and Elrich one day at dinner, holding Kieran’s hand under the table. “But it’s not our biggest concern right now.”

At the same time, of course, Kieran and Elrich are trying to make up for lost time. They go hunting together for game even though the soldiers try to convince Elrich to let them do it instead, and even when they’re not hunting they go on walks together, just the two of them, where Elrich tells Kieran stories of his time in the Blight and Kieran talks about whatever his latest interest is. They do end up buying a hawk for him that Elrich helps Kieran take care of whenever they have an hour or two to spend together. It becomes quite a popular member of the household, and with Satine around to draw him out of his shell, Kieran follow in its path. He has a few friends now, even without counting the soldiers who greet him warmly every time he walks by holding Satine’s hand.

She’s a perfect addition to the family. Elrich and her are very close, Kieran notes, and his father even teaches Satine how to shoot a bow and how to sword fight (neither of which Kieran is particularly good at himself). In turn, Satine tries to teach him how to sew – it doesn’t end very well, but it certainly made for an entertaining attempt.

Kieran can scarcely believe it most days, how he came from being such a lonely child to having a loving mother and father and a best friend who tells him she adores him every day despite his oddities. (“Of which you have none,” she always protests.) He is incredibly lucky, he thinks, to be end up with a life like this considering where he came from. He only hopes it can stay this way.