#so happy she came back and my husband managed to trap her inside

[inserttemptitlehere]

How a kitty sleeps after going on an unauthorized adventure outside.

[lyon-amore]

The half of me Epilogue

Chapter 33

Since the two culprits in Daliah's murder were dead, the case was finally closed. They had no one to question except Jane and me, with our testimonies. It was assumed that Grace and Daliah must have met after filming some scenes and, with that excuse of talking, Grace set a trap for Daliah in which Ralph was also involved, being him the one who murdered her, while Grace recorded everything to continue with the plan to torture me. Jane's explanation to the police was that while Ralph was busy with me trying to kill me, she tried to defend herself against Grace, kicking her, making her throw the knife into the van and from there, drag it into her hands to untie herself. The rest is that they fought each other until they managed to kill Grace and then she went after Ralph, catching him off guard. I know they doubted that story, but it was what she could say to avoid saying that Jake was there to help her. And more so because they found traces of a still unidentified motorcycle. So, there was only the case of Irma Roth and her accusations that she drugged Daliah and me, the accusation being a crime of passion, because she said that her husband and Dalilah had an affair, something that thanks to Daliah's diary it was proven that they didn’t have an affair, thereby causing Mr. Serrano to divorce Mrs. Roth, not helping her in her defense. He wanted nothing to do with this woman after having committed such a horrible crime. Ironic coming from him right? And he thought he was going to get away with his crimes? In the end Carter decided to speak to the police about Serrano's second job, which got him arrested as well. A family of criminals is how I see them. Of course, I eventually had to give Daliah's computer to the police, but not before I had printed something important that certain people needed to read. My sister had written very well about each of my friends, feeling happy to have met them. I want them to read that little piece that she left me, I'm sure it will make them happy.

I've spent a few weeks at my parents' house until things have calmed down and I'm finally going to Duskwood tomorrow, so it's time to go home to pack. I get ready a bit and go downstairs to go to the kitchen. I see my mother sitting in the dining room, with a cup of coffee. So I change direction, to go towards her.    “Well, I’m leaving mom” I say kissing her hair “, I have to pack my suitcase.”     I adjust my bag and walk away, but her words stop me.    “I knew Janis Krebs.”     I freeze in the dining room, then turn and look at her.    “What are you saying?”     My mother sighs and moves the chair next to her for me to sit. I walk over and place the bag on the back, sitting in the chair.    “It was summer and all my friends always went to Mount lake, including Janis Krebs” she begins to narrate, with a calm voice “. One year, he came with his little brother, he had to take care of him. He would be six years old” I take a deep breath in fear, crossing my arms in front of me, shielding myself “. He left us in his care for a moment while he went to get some drinks that we had forgotten to buy, so we started joking with the child.”    “Joking?” I ask confused "What do you mean joking?"     She swallows, her lip trembling.    “We passed around his favorite toy, trying to get him to take it” I bite the inside of my lip, controlling myself and preparing myself for the worst “, so, as a joke, we threw the toy into the lake and encouraged him to go look for it-“    "You killed a child?" I ask incredulous of what she was hearing.    "I know how it sounds, but it wasn't like that, honey" she reaches for my hand and I pull it away, angry with her ", it was an accident."    “An accident that caused the creation of a monster.” I say harshly, clenching my fists “You pissed off Krebs to the point where he decided to take revenge for what you did!”    "He and his family moved after what happened. How did you want us to know years later that he was the one who was killing our children?"    “I don't know, perhaps because the children who died were the children of those who caused the death of their brother?” I raise my voice, banging on the table “And dad is also involved in that murder?”    "No, he wasn't in the group yet when it happened" responds by rubbing her hands “and don't say it that way, MC, it looks like we killed someone, it was an accident.”    “But that's how I see it.” I get up from the chair furious. Not that I feel sorry for Krebs now, of course, I just want to go. She's the spark that got my sister killed. Or at least one of those people.    "MC, wait!" I hear her call my name and drag herself out of the chair, but I don't stop.     I reach the door and my mother stops me, placing her hands on my cheeks. Crying.    “I'm so sorry, darling, I know that you and Daliah have suffered a lot because of me” she caresses my hair, placing her hands on my shoulders “. Please, don't hate me, I'm not to blame for what happened to those children or to Daliah, nor for the fact that that child died, we were just playing, we weren't doing anything wrong.”     I stare at her, not knowing exactly what to say. Or so I believed. I lower her hands, pulling away from her.    “I think I have decided” I tell her with a neutral voice, without any emotion “. When the whole Irma Roth trial is over, I'm leaving Rosenschwarz forever-“    "No, please, MC, don't leave me too." she tries to hug me, but I push her away.     I take a deep breath, trying to calm down. My emotions right now are all confused, I love my mother, but I don't know what to think about what she has told me. I know that people change over the years, that they mature, but I can't see her now as the loving mother I had after what she told me.    "I don’t leave you, mom" I try to answer as calmly as possible “, I just want to go my own way, away from here” I place my hand on the knob, opening the door.    “No, MC, wait, please, don't go” my mother tries to stop me, but I break away “Forgive me! Please!”     I stop in the middle of the porch, letting out a sigh. I turn and look into her eyes.    "It's not with me that you should apologize, but with Daliah" I answer harshly ", and I hope that one day you can forgive yourself for everything you put her through."     My mother falls to her knees, crying. I avoid looking at her so it wouldn’t hurt me. I know, she's my mother, but I can't think straight now about how I feel about her now. The protective figure of my mother has vanished and I don't know when she will return. But for now, I will decide what I finally want to do: Break the glass that I created by closing myself in.

When I got home, the first thing I do is put my new phone card in Daliah's, taking photos that weren't there on the computer. At the moment I have not changed the lock screen background, I haven’t found something appropriate or that inspires me, but the wallpaper at least I will leave it. After all, my family is in it. My friends. I put the first phone number in contacts. Well, rather, a special chat. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MC Hi Jake, here I am again after a long time with a new phone number 😊 I just wanted to add you the first one, I'm going to pack my suitcase

------Nym-0s has connected-----

Nym-0s Hello MC. Such an honor to be the first :)

MC Hello 😊 Of course, it’s the only number I know from memory Although I am ashamed to say it…

Nym-0s Ha ha. The girl who makes songs does not know the numbers of her friends from memory.

MC Oh, don't make me feel worse 😮‍💨

Nym-0s ;) And what is that to pack the suitcase?

MC Yes, I’m going to Duskwood for a few weeks before I prepare everything for the Roth trial I need to get away from Rosenschwarz for a bit

Nym-0s I understand. What time will you leave?

MC I guess I’ll go to the station early The sooner it is, the better Why do you want to know?

Nym-0s To calculate when you arrive at Duskwood.

MC Hmm... That's a bit scary...

Nym-0s It would not be good if you get into another case without wanting to, don't you think?

MC I hope so, I need some peace 😩 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And I hope not, I’ve had enough. This is the last one I will do. The investigations are over for me. I see that Jake calls me and I accept it.    “What's up?” I ask worried.    “I just could not stand not hearing the sound of your voice again.”     I smile noticing my cheeks burn. I can't deny that I missed him too. And it is then that I remember the conversation this morning with my mother and I understand that I cannot keep it to myself, I need her support.    “I can tell you something”? I ask thinking maybe I'm breaking the mood.    "Sure, what is wrong?"     I tell him everything that happened, leaving nothing. Little by little I'm feeling better and I hear Jake telling me to keep going when I stop sometimes, thinking that I'm boring him or that it wasn't something he expected to hear now that we're on the phone.    "Do you think you will be able to talk to her again?" she asks me in a concerned tone.    “For now I need to get away from her” I finish packing my suitcase and lie down on the bed, looking at the ceiling “, I don't know what to think now.”    "I understand" his voice sounds calm, I like it ", after all, if she had told you earlier, we would have understood this whole thing much better."    "I guess in time I'll forget about it." I reply with a grimace.    "She is your mother after all" he says and I hear a soft laugh ", she is always going to be there for whatever you need."    “Yes, but for now we both need some time to think about what has happened” I let out a sigh, determined to change the subject “And how are you doing fixing the building?”    "Luckily I am more focused now than before and Rudy has told me that I am always welcome if I ever need to hide somewhere."    “She won’t get in trouble if you do that?”    “According to her, she is used to problems.”     I laugh at the way he said it, it sounds funny.

We continue talking until nightfall, about everything that has happened with the Rosenschwarz group. Although Jake doesn't admit it, his questions make him curious about everything I explain. And he's even fine with the idea of ​​Jane and Carter taking time off after what he did. When I tell him that Jane asked me if he had a twin brother, he laughed and replied:    “Who knows? You already know that I still keep many secrets so as not to expose my life from before.”     He really knows how to keep me in suspense. Then he shared a screen with me, saying he had a moment to relax and we watched a movie. By the time it was my turn to sleep to wake up early, I left the phone next to it, with a smile.    “Goodnight Jake” I say as I pull the blanket around me, closing my eyes “, I had a good time today, thanks for cheering me up.”    "Thank you for making me forget about my problems for a few hours" I look at my phone, smiling affectionately “. Good night, love.”     I sigh beginning to fall asleep, without erasing the smile. It feels amazing when you don’t have a heavy load with you.

When I got up to get dressed and have breakfast, I saw that the call was gone. This time he didn't stay on call all the time. Better, I don't want to be a burden either, he has things to do.

Arriving at the station, I wait for the train. I'm nervous, I don't know why, it's just going to Duskwood as usual. The warning sounds that the train is about to arrive, my heart beats fast. I think part of me knows that the next time I come here, it will be to leave forever.    "Were you leaving without saying goodbye to us?" I hear behind me.     When I turn around, I see Mason, Seo-ah, Carter, and Jane walking towards me. I smile when I see them, and then hug them, surprised.    “Aren't you shooting the short?” I ask confused.    “We've all been talking about it” Carter says, looking at the group and then back at me, “, we've decided not to finish it, so we have to find another topic in the little time we have.”    “We did it for Daliah.” Seo-ah continues, and I watch Mason take her hand.    “Thank you very much” I smile at them, happy to hear their words “, it means a lot to me.”    “Even if you want you can participate” Mason tells me with a laugh “Would you participate in a horror short that is musical?”     I let out a laugh, but shake my head.    “I'll continue to stay behind the cameras.” I say, and he rolls his eyes.    “Will you return?” Jane asks me and I watch her and Carter's hands control each other by holding onto them. I think they will be back soon.    "Yes, I'll have things to do." I turn my head as soon as I hear the train approaching and I look at them “. Well it's here...”    "Let us know when you're back." Seo-ah hugs me and I remember then that I don't have their numbers.    "Oh wait, give me your numbers." I pull out my phone, preparing to add contacts.    "I'll start." Mason says.     The train stops opening the doors, while I continue writing down the numbers. I still have time yet.    "Ah!” I look up when I hear Jane scream and see Seo-ah's face as if she's seen a ghost.    “What's wrong?” I ask worried.    "Jane?" Carter calls her, placing a hand on her shoulder, making her react "Are you okay?"    "I…" shee looks at me and then at Seo-ah and back at me "YES! Perfectly!”     Mason looks at me, raising an eyebrow, and I shrug, not understanding anything. I finish writing down the numbers and they hug me again to say goodbye.    “Take care while you're there.” Mason tells me, waving goodbye.     Carter hugs me and I feel less tense. That's when he whispers something to me that makes me happy.    "Thank you for your advice" I understand what you mean ", I'll do everything possible to take care of my brothers."    "I hope so." I reply, pulling away slowly.     He smiles at me and signals to the girls, who come up to me in a big hug.    “Do everything I wouldn't do.” Jane whispers to me, and I hear a teasing tone in her voice.    “What?” I ask separating myself from them.    “Have a good vacation!” Seo-ah nudges Jane "You deserve it."    "Thank you." I smile, releasing charged air on my chest.     Yes I need them. Get away from everything. I then go to the train, while Carter helps me with the suitcase. Once inside, I look at the four of them. I had a totally different image of them and now, I can already say that they have become my friends.

The warning that the doors are going to close begins to sound and I leave the suitcase in the cargo area. I see that the train is empty, except for one person sleeping. It's still early for it to get crowded, that's why I chose to come at this time, to be alone. I try not to make noise and sit next to the window, taking out my phone. I put my headphones on and watch a video of the ones Daliah had. I've been watching them on repeat since I got the phone, it makes me laugh. We are the whole group together, having fun at the Aurora bar. Though I see her zoom out the window, taking in the street, Thomas and Hannah, in one of their quiet moments.    "Now is when he puts his hand on her shoulder and looks at her with those loving eyes." Daliah says and I see that Thomas does what she says "I never fail!" You're predictable Thomas Change tactics!”     I let out a laugh and the focus shifts to Dan, Jessy, and I at a table, chatting. Cleo was coming over later, because she didn't want to step foot in the bar.    “Hello, hello” Daliah says in a singsong voice, “Here we have the future couple!” she says zooming in on Dan and Jessy, which she rolls her eyes at and he's bothered by the recording. If it wasn't because he recorded himself, he wasn't interested “And the great MC!”     Instead of zooming in, she puts the phone up to my face and I push her away with a laugh. Which makes me actually laugh at her response.    “Boring.” I watch as I stick my tongue out at her, because she did it to me.     She records the surroundings covertly, to later focus on Phil. He is talking to a girl, or rather, flirting.    "I'm sorry Phil, but she's not going fall," she says in a whisper, to focus herself “, I have warned her about you, someone has to stop you sometime or you will end up being chased with torches by all the women of Duskwood, but Ssssh” she makes the hush gesture with her hand "you'll never know it was me."     I roll my eyes. Of course, since she really wasn't in love with him, she used her manipulation tricks for something else: Keeping all the girls away because she really interested in him.    “What are you recording?’ I ask in the background.    “Nothing” Daliah focuses on us and laughs “, I was just filming the bar.”    "You're going to bother the customers, sit down now." I replied without much interest, while Jessy laughed. I think maybe she had noticed.     I guess that's what happens when you've never noticed the signs. I laugh again as she focuses one last time on Phil. It was truly unbelievable that she actually did. I move on to another video and it's from the same night at Cleo's house, at a dinner. We laughed, we said nonsense... Daliah then focuses, with a mischievous smile.    "You know who's going to pick up all this later, right?" she asks as if signaling that she's not going to do it.    "You'll all help me." Cleo replies, appearing on camera.    “Of course!” Cleo shoots her a look and walks off, then Daliah shakes her head that she wouldn't.     I laugh again, amused to see the scene.    "You are too scandalous, you know that? You just woke me up.” a shiver runs through me when I hear the voice. I hadn't realized that they had removed the earpiece.     I turn and find myself face to face with Jake. Although he is wearing a mask, I can see from his eyes that he is smiling.    “What are you doing here?” I ask between surprise, happiness and concern.    "I am going to Duskwood" he gets up from his seat and sits next to me “, with you.”     I open my mouth to say something, but close it quickly, giving him a look.    "Couldn't you go from the Colville stop?" I ask him worried "The FBI is still in Evergreed." I whisper, looking at the next stop.    “Do not worry, is all fine.”    "You risk it again." I cross my arms, angry with him.    "And I am glad to see you, love.”     I roll my eyes, relaxing. He takes my hand and caresses my cheek. I notice how my cheeks are starting to feel hot. I said I was going to change, but this is beyond me. He will always make me nervous for everything he does with me.    "Glad to see you, too." I admit with a sigh.      We arrive at Evergreed and I start to get nervous when I see that an agent is about to go upstairs to inspect. I look into his eyes, he winks at me, what will he have done this time? I see Rocco appear and he approaches, flirting. The agent then stops from his duties and I see how Rocco looks at us with a smile. Finally the doors close and I lean back, breathing in and out deeply.    "You played with the luck, Jake." I frown at him angrily.     Jake does the same, leaning back in the seat, still not lowering his mask.    "I know, sorry" he tells me clearly feeling guilty ", last time I do it."     I bite the inside of my cheek, not taking it anymore. I hug him tightly and he reciprocates me. His scent comforts me, it's like he feels more at home than my own. I separate myself looking into his eyes, I almost find it hard to breathe. I swallow hard and then blurt out my question, a little nervous.    "Can you... can you kiss me?"     Jake lowers his mask slowly, placing his hand behind my neck, pulling me closer to him.    “My pleasure.” he whispers against my lips, and I tremble.     I receive a kiss very carefully, but unlike last time, I don't push it away. I feel much better and I had been dreaming of kissing him again for a long time. I place my hands on his shoulders, squeezing hard. I was deprived of this feeling that now I need it. Him. I pull away for air and see how he smiles.    "You really missed me, MC." he tells me, making me blush.     I hide my face in his jacket and he laughs, stroking my hair. But I keep smiling.    "I need to ask you a favor" I listen to him then nervously and look up to see him ", I am not only going to Duskwood for you, but also because Lilly asked me to."    “Something has happened?”     Jake takes a breath, running a hand over his neck. Uncomfortable.    “She wants to see me”his voice shakes a little “, and also for me to see Hannah.”    “And you want me to come with you to the meeting.” I say, cocking my head.    “If it is possible.”    "Of course I do" I take his hand, squeezing it lovingly, but he does it hard. I lean back a bit in the seat, placing my head on his chest ". Don't worry, it'll be fine."     Jake kisses my head, stroking my hair. I know that everything will be fine. I trust it.

We're supposed to go to Schwarzwasser Lake to meet them. Luckily I'm not terrified of being around, I'm not afraid. But the one who seems to have it is Jake, who's holding my hand so hard it looks like he's going to break it. We had gone after leaving our bags in the motel room, and he has not stopped shaking. I had never seen him so nervous. When Lilly sees me and sees that I’m with a boy, she begins to understand who he is even though they’ve never met.    "You..." she starts to say, putting a hand to her mouth, "My God... are you..."    “Yes” Jake says sheepishly “, I am Jake.”     Lilly keeps her distance not knowing what to do either. It's like that moment in the chat, when they were nervous. Slowly, she approaches him, hugging him. Jake hugs her back as well, beginning to relax. Then they slowly separate. Lilly's eyes are red from crying.    “And Hannah?” Jake asks.    "In the car" her sister glances back, where we see Hannah sitting in the passenger seat “, I told her to come over, but she wants to talk to you alone.”    “Alright” Jake exhales and looks at us “. Then leave us a minute.”    “Sure.” I reply, watching him slowly approach.     Lilly stands next to me, watching as well. Hannah gets out of the car slowly, moving closer to Jake at her own pace. When they are in front of each other, at first they don't talk, they just look at each other. Hanna reaches for her hand to his face, but pulls back. They start talking and I watch the conversation flow.    "Do you think she's going to take it well?" I ask doubtfully, knowing that Hannah in the past had feelings for Jake.     Hannah puts her hands to her face and I can see how she shakes. In the end, she ends up hugging Jake tight.    “Apparently so.” Lilly replies, with a smile.    “Lilly! MC! come near!” Hannah exclaims, not letting go of Jake's arm.     We let out a laugh and began to get closer, paying attention.

The four of us spend the day alone on the lake, listening to how Hannah feels and what she wants to do. It is very clear to her and even more so after what has happened to me. She doesn't want to keep leaving things behind, she wants to face what she did. Lilly still thinks it's a bad idea, but accepts her decision, Jake just nodded, telling her that he understands her position and will support her even from afar. I feel like an outsider right now, watching them spend some sibling moment. Maybe I should have gone. Hannah then looks at me and then looks at Jake, smiling.    “You are together?” she asks us.     I feel my cheeks burn at that question. Jake takes my hand, caressing it lovingly.    "Could be said so" I answer shyly ", if you don't mind."    “If I don’ mind?” Hannah shakes her head and hugs us "I'm glad to know he's not alone."     Jake and I looked at each other and smiled, returning Hannah’s hug. Lilly joins us, with a laugh.

After the meeting, we stayed a little longer in the lake, watching the movement of the water. I take a breath with a smile, not letting go of Jake’s hand.    “They found out it was not an employee who sent Roth's video.” Jake says, breaking the silence.     I look at him with fear then.    “What do you mean by that?”     Jake takes a deep breath, looking into my eyes.    “They suspect that it was me, knowing that we have a connection and that the case revolved around you.”     I bite the inside of my cheek hard, shaking my head.    “Does that mean you're going to have to leave the apartment?” I ask confused "You said it was safe!"    "And it is" He places his hands on my cheeks, caressing himself carefully “. It will just be a while until things calm down, then I will be right back.”     I nod trying to understand. Well, I have to understand, after all, I'm dating a “criminal” right? I look into his eyes with a smile, Jake has never broken his promises. In the end he came back right?    "Will you miss me when we're not together?" I ask despite knowing the answer. I have known it for a long time.    “I have not left yet and I am already do it, love” he says, whispering against my lips “. I love you MC, I promise you will not lose me again.”    "I love you too, Jake" I answer biting my lip "and I know I'll never lose you, you're already part of me."     He lets out a small laugh, kissing my forehead. I give him a small kiss that ends up becoming a long one, noticing his hand on my waist. I didn't want to part with him, but I understood. I trust that he will return.

Not only after that day he gave me one of the best days, but also one of the best nights. He left every trace of his on my body, I think it even made me forget who I was. And even if it didn't see it, I have his name tattooed all over my body. There is no one else in my life but him. And there never will be.

It was hard saying goodbye to him, watching him get on that train heading the other way from Colville. But that's how our lives are and we have to live this way. I then decide to set out on my mission. I carry a printed part of Daliah's diary in my bag, ready to give it to him. I walk into the Aurora and see Phil cleaning the bar counter. As soon as he sees me, he nods in greeting.    “Are you ever going to be in the crosshairs of the police?” he asks me in a mocking tone "Good girls shouldn't get into trouble, you know that?"    "If it worries you so much, there won't be any more cases" I answer, approaching, taking out the folder “. I've come to give you this, I think you need to read it.”    “What is it?” he asks, lowering her sunglasses a bit.    "I want you to know that Daliah was actually the only person who really appreciated you" I say while adjusting my bag “, I think that you better than anyone will understand what she wanted to say about you” I tighten the strap tightly “. Well, that's it, I'm leaving.”    "Wait a moment, MC" he stops me and looks at me, then nods “. I'm glad Daliah's killers are dead” he puts the glasses on his head, moving the folder around as he talks “. I'm going to miss her a lot, I liked her better than the whole town.”    "I know" I smile fondly at him “. See you around here then.”    "You're invited to a free drink anytime." he winks at me and I roll my eyes.    "Bye Phil."     I walk away and when I get to the door, I turn to see him. He has started to read the sheet, he has even sat down. I see his smile as he reads her words. Proud, I leave the bar, hoping that it has been of some use to start leaving a legacy of her in all the people she loved.

Four months have passed since everything that happened. Irma Roth's trial went even faster than I expected, all her employees testified against her, although she also pleaded guilty, but because she had no other way out. She had lost everything. She said it while glaring at me, but I didn't care. I stood my ground the whole time, not showing myself weak.

Now I live in Duskwood, working in a small music academy, teaching children to play the guitar. Every Friday we get together to make a dinner, remembering the good times and the bad, also supporting Hannah, in her upcoming trial. We will be with her no matter what, despite the fact that it is a tough situation, we have all accepted her decision. It's funny, I had never thought about living here, with a group of friends who love me just the way I am, who have supported me through all the bad times. Daliah, if you were still here, you'd probably still be pretending to like Dan's memes, eating Cleo's delicious food, listen to the dark stories that Jessy writes, talk to Lilly about the latest vlogging trends and come up with an idea together, having to listen to Thomas's slightly geeky conversations and nod as if you understand him, braid Hannah’s hair when she was feeling down and you listened to her. You should have seen them argue over who was your favorite when they read what you wrote about them, it was… Like that video of the rats fighting! Is the comparison a little weird? It was too much fun to see them talking about their qualities as friends.

Jake and I have been texting and talking on the phone like I've never done in my life. Once I didn't even realize it was dawn, I had spent the whole night talking to him! Can you believe it? I ended up falling asleep a bit in class and my students laughed. I made them promise not to say anything. I blamed him because he's capable of staying up all night, but I'm not.

About Phil… Well, he's kind of business as usual, but I think he's a lot less flirtatious than I expected. Or rather, he behaves differently towards girls. I think he liked knowing that you saw something good in him… Although I don't know exactly. I don't even know what happened, what happened to him for wanting to talk to Jessy in private and it seems that they are siblings again? Perhaps your death made him understand that family must be valued because we never know when it's time to say goodbye. Seriously, did you get that deep into him? And then you say that I was the amazing one.

I'm still talking to the Rosenschwarz group. Mason and Seo-ah are officially together, you should see the photos they have from their profiles, they are from those shared photos. And I'm sure their wallpapers must be the same too. In a certain part, they are a little worried about how some people look at them, but they try not to let it affect them too much. When Mason's mother found out, Seo-ah told me that she asked her a lot of questions, but not the uncomfortable ones, but asking about her life, knowing if she has been well with her father. So, after telling her the truth, they denounced his father for mistreatment for years and now, Mason's mother has decided to make a documentary interviewing transgender people in order to raise money to help them. Mason tells me that unlike him, she's angry about what he did to her classmates. So she treats Seo-ah more like her own daughter than him. But he laughed when he told me, so the situation must not be that bad, because she has put him to work bringing materials to her films, so he can earn yourself some money if he want to make his own short cleanly. They are a united family.

Carter and Jane… At the moment, they are not together yet. I thought they would, but no. Still, Jane helps Carter because she's still fond of him after years of being together and knows all the good he does for her brothers. So, her father found him a job in a store with a lifetime contract. Which quite possibly if he continues to work well, he may get promoted. I have faith in him, because if it's for his brothers, I'm sure he'll continue to make an effort. Sometimes they both confess to me that they miss each other, that they want to be together, but Carter knows that he has hurt Jane a lot and Jane is not ready to go back to him yet. I think the time spent being friends will make them better in their relationship again, I'm confident of that at least.

Dad still works in real estate, he was the one who even helped me find an apartment in Duskwood because the company he runs in Rosenschwarz, It's also in Duskwood, so they talked to each other and got me a little apartment, near Jessy's. You could say that we are neighbors. Dad was happy when I told him I wanted to leave Rosenschwarz, supporting me in my decision to find my own life away from town. He said I needed it, because he knows my friends live here and that would make me much happier. About the relationship with mom, it’s still a bit cold. From time to time we talk to each other, to find out how we are doing, how the store is running or how I am teaching. I'm still waiting for her to tell dad the truth, though. Perhaps she is afraid that he will divorce her if he knows that it was all her fault. But if it does happen, at least I'd be proud of her for having the courage to do it. I just want her to get rid of that guilt that she has inside.

I guess for now, things are flowing pretty well.. Life in Duskwood is a bit like Rosenschwarz, people like to gossip, but is there a town that doesn't? The only difference is that here I have the people I've loved the most in the world, so it doesn't bother me. Oh! And yesterday I went to leave a bouquet of flowers in the cabin where Richy showed me by video call. Even though he did horrible things, I think I can't help but think of him and our good times we had. Were they true? were they fake? I don't know, I just know that they were important to me.

I’m preparing the garden table for dinner. There's a barbecue tonight. I hear the notification sound and see that it's Jake. I smile when I see that it has his name in the Nymos chat. He could have improved it. But what he sends me is what surprises me the most. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jake Do not be mad at me, alright? [Nicolas Amstrong.PDF] It is your nephew's adoption file. I know, you did not want me to get in any more trouble, but I thought you wanted to know about him when I read the files. Now it is your decision to choose whether to talk to his parents or not.

MC Jake, this is it! I don’t know what to say!

Jake Do not say anything, just think about it. Whatever you choose, I will agree with you. Although maybe not Mike, who is the one that has cost him money. ;)

MC Oops, so I can't refuse to take a look in the archive 🤭  But I’ll have to think it over They will ask a lot of questions

Jake Tell them you are a professional investigator. I am sure that after everything you have done, you get them to trust you :)

MC You say it like it's easy

Jake And it is. For you. It is easy to trust you when they know you well. I do :)

MC Silly… ❤️  Thank you for this

Jake You are welcome, love. Enjoy dinner with your friends.

MC Thank you And… I miss you

Jake Me too. But do not worry, we will see each other again soon. I promise you.

MC I know See you tomorrow jake 😊 

Jake See you tomorrow, MC. :)

-----Jake has disconnected----- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I put the phone away with a smile. The group starts to go out into the garden and I look at them with tears in my eyes.    "MC? What happened?” Jessy asks me, running up to me.     The rest also come quickly and I dry my tears.    "Nothing bad" I reply with a laugh “, I'm just so glad I met you all and…” I take a breath and laugh nervously “Maybe I'll meet my nephew.”    “WHAT?” My friend screams in my ear and then hugs me, happy.    “That's great!” Thomas exclaims, giving my loving arm a squeeze.    "I guess we have to celebrate then." Dan begins to uncork the bottle of wine, beginning to pour us into the glasses.     Daliah, I know you wouldn't want me to meet him, but I want to, I need it. I want to at least know if he's okay or if I can be of help to him at some difficult time in his life, like we both did with each other.

Daliah…

Thank you very much for all the life we ​​have had together. Now I finally know what you wanted for me and it was this. Have a life. Friends. One Love.

Live my own life.

And I will do it intensely for both of us.

✨ The End✨ 

[themerrypanda]

For this year’s Grapefruit Sky gift exchange, I wrote a fic for @purpleandgreen13 about their OC Jerusha Howard and Harvey. You can read their main fic Harvey and Jerusha on AO3!

Title: At Last

Word Count: 3,780

Summary: Dr. Harvey Brennan and farmer Jerusha Howard have been married a little more than a year. Extreme weather foils Jerusha’s grand plans for celebrating her husband’s birthday. Still, they manage to have a pleasant day with each other.

The morning sun brightened the room through a slit in the curtains. Harvey slowly stirred at Jerusha’s waking, and smiled when she rolled over to hold him in her arms.

She yawned, then kissed his cheek. “Happy birthday, handsome.”

“It is happy when you’re with me, Jerusha.”

Softly she giggled. “I’ll start breakfast.”

He embraced her more snugly. “No…” he mumbled as he held her closer. Then his stomach grumbled in protest. Traitor.

Jerusha laughed at the sound. “I promise, I’ll be right back, honey.”

She gave him one more squeeze, then she rolled out of their bed and left the room. Harvey listened to her footsteps pause, then walk again.

“Oh.” She sounded surprised, but also a little disappointed.

“Oh?”

“Harvey, do you recall how yesterday’s forecast predicted snow for today?”

“Mm hmm?”

“Take a look.”

Slowly, he rose from the bed, muscles protesting, and he grabbed his glasses from the nightstand. He placed them on his face, then stretched his back before rising up to look out the north-facing window next to the bed. Harvey drew the curtain. He didn’t see anything remarkable at first. It was white, which nearly blinded him. Was he missing something? He blinked several times.

Oh.

There was nothing remarkable to see because snow covered the entire window.

He heard Jerusha flip a switch, turning on a radio in the next room.

“…That’s right, people of Stardew Valley: We have two feet now, and the snow just keeps piling up! Even my neighbour is saying this is looking more like the blizzard of ‘78 by the minute. My suggestion: Stay home, and stay inside! You can get turned around in a storm like this even if you’re only ten feet from your door. Unless you can see your destination, stay inside, and stay warm. That means in the car too! If you are trapped in your car outside, stay put. Emergency vehicles and snow ploughs will be on their way to find you as soon as possible.”

“St… Stay?” Harvey’s jaw dropped. “But… I have appointments today! Three flu shots and an annual checkup.” He looked at the digital clock on his nightstand, only for it to have cleared its time entry. There must have been a brief power outage while he slept. Next he rummaged in a drawer for his analog watch. It read 8:04 AM. “And I’m running late!”

His cell phone vibrated where he had left it the night before, on an end table in the living room area. Jerusha reached it first and picked it up.

“Hello?” A pause. “Oh, hello Maru! Yes, Harvey’s here.”

She handed him the phone before picking up her own cell to make a series of messages.

“Hello?” Harvey said.

“Happy birthday, Doctor Harvey!” Maru sounded rather chipper. “I guess we’re both taking the day off work, right?”

“I suppose so.” Harvey chuckled nervously. “It seems we have no choice but to close today.”

“Hey, if it’s the day’s appointments you’re worried about, there’s no need. I connected my cell to the clinic’s line. The voicemail message is already set to reach me for scheduling and basic questions and you only for emergencies. I’ll call today’s patients to reschedule their appointments. You just enjoy your day off. A birthday off, for once. Yoba knows you deserve it.”

“I…” Jerusha came to his side and squeezed his free hand with hers. Harvey reminded himself to take a deep breath and relax. “Thank you, Maru.” He willed his heartbeat to slow and steady.

“Of course, Doc. I’m impressed you’re taking this so well.”

Jerusha smiled up at him, which he returned. “As am I, Maru.”

“That’s good. I’ll see you later, Doc, hopefully tomorrow if the storm lets up. Again, happy birthday!”

“Thank you, Maru. You have a good day as well.”

“Thanks. Bye!”

She hung up. Harvey placed his phone back down on the end table. He allowed a wave of relief to come over him, but was then met with another wave of concern, one that struck him like a freight train.

“Jerusha!”

“What?”

“What about the chickens and pigs?”

At that moment, Bear, the German shepherd, began to whimper at the front door.

“And Bear.” Jerusha agreed. “He can’t take his potty breaks until we can clear enough snow from the door.”

They quickly donned their coats, boots, and gloves. Jerusha retrieved two snow shovels from the tool rack next to the door. Thank goodness she thought it better to store them inside the farmhouse rather than in the greenhouse nearby.

When Jerusha signalled she was ready, Harvey slowly pulled open the front door. Thankfully, snow was not piled up nearly as high on the south-facing porch than the north-facing windows. But it was still knee-deep, despite the farmhouse serving as a cover against much of the snow.

“It’s a good thing snow was blowing in from the north.” Harvey exhaled. “We would have been trapped.”

“Unless we use a window upstairs.” Jerusha grinned slightly.

“You… have you had to do that before?”

“No,” Jerusha shook her head, “but I heard a story from Linus from when he lived in the tundra past the Frozen Sea.”

“Will he be alright?” Harvey couldn’t imagine that his tent would provide the man with much cover from the cold weather.

“I hope so.” Jerusha said. “He said he would be at the spa when I saw him last night. I think he had a feeling the snow would be pretty heavy last night.”

Jerusha began to shovel snow off the porch. The shovel filled itself quickly, taking a few shovels full to clear up a square foot of patio.

Harvey followed after her, clearing snow from the other side of the patio. His arms grew more sore as he shovelled. Shovelling and shovelling until–

“Ah!” A yelp, followed by a whump.

“Jerusha!”

He whirled around, turning behind himself, and found his wife half-buried in snow, one arm still gripping her shovel while the other extended upward.

“Help?”

Harvey noted snow prints on the patio indicating she likely tripped and fell. Careful not to slip on ice, he walked over and pulled her up.

“Thanks.” Jerusha panted. “I forgot we had steps down from the porch.”

She embraced him, and Harvey hugged her back.

“I’m just thankful it wasn’t anything worse.” He breathed into her ear, warming her face just a bit.

“The snow certainly cushioned my fall better than the porch would have.” Jerusha chuckled softly, which only resulted in Harvey hugging her for longer. “I’m alright, honey. Thank you for being here.”

“Of course. Let’s take a break and get you inside.”

Jerusha nodded in agreement. She pulled the door open, and out rushed a barking Bear. He quickly descended the steps into the Jerusha-shaped imprint on the ground– still snow-covered ground, but ground nonetheless– circled the imprint’s perimeter a couple times, and did his business.

“Well, at least one thing is taken care of.” Jerusha sighed. She waited for Bear to dash back inside before closing the front door.

Carefully, she and Harvey removed snow-covered winter gear so as to reduce how much melted snow soaked their clothes and dripped onto the floor. Finally, boots were removed, and Jerusha managed to keep from stepping her wool-socked feet into any small unseen puddle. Harvey was less fortunate.

“Well, I had plans for us to go out and celebrate your birthday, but I predict shovelling snow off the barn and coop roofs is going to take all day.” She frowned and looked at him apologetically.

Harvey hugged her reassuringly. “It’s not like you could control the weather. I don’t care what we do today, as long as I get to spend the day with you. I won’t let you rescue your animals alone. Now, let’s have breakfast. Perhaps something heartier than toast and a cup of coffee? You’ll need your strength.”

Jerusha smiled up at him. “That sounds lovely.” She went into the kitchen and burrowed in the refrigerator and cupboards for ingredients. “How about blueberry pancakes and hashbrowns?”

“That sounds wonderful. I’ll go scramble some eggs.”

“Harvey, it’s your birthday.”

“And we’re going to be working all day. I can’t offload all the work onto you. Please, allow me.”

Jerusha smiled. “Very well.”

Methodically they worked together, lending each other ingredients as needed. A pause to allow food to simmer was occasionally used to hug the other around the waist from behind them. Harvey smiled as he listened to Jerusha hum as she worked. He hadn’t quite gotten the hang of timing cooking various items at once like she had, but he could admire her talent and observe, hopefully gleaning some tricks.

Finally, they settled down for their complete breakfast. Jerusha raised her cup of earl grey tea, chinking it against Harvey’s mug of Gus’s special blend of black coffee before drinking. “Cheers.”

In a comfortable silence they ate, cleaning their plates. Jerusha insisted on washing the dishes herself, but Harvey found ways to assist her in the meanwhile. He filled up water bottles and stashed field snacks and various treats in her coat pockets. His own pockets held another water bottle, more snacks, a battery-powered torch, and his cell phone zipped up in two layers of clear sandwich bags. He glanced out the window once more. The snow looked as though it might be beginning to let up. He could barely see the shadows of the barn, coop, and greenhouse. He would make sure to leave the house lights on while they ventured out, but he also packed a spool of thick, sturdy red fleece thread just in case, ready to compensate Emily for the loss if it was used and damaged today.

Jerusha embraced him, then slowly began to gear up once more, this time adding snow goggles, hats, and scarves. “You don’t have to help, you know. It’s your birthday after all.”

“I’d rather not risk losing you to the storm today.”

This elicited a laugh from Jerusha. “I thought you would say that. Come along, Ariadne.”

Then their arduous day of shovelling snow began.

~

The storm did finally let up after a couple hours in it. Still, Harvey and Jerusha returned to the farmhouse thoroughly worn out.

The sun barely hung in the sky by the time their task was finally complete. After sluggishly prying off coats soaked with sweat and melted snow, Jerusha and Harvey warmed themselves under a shower, dried off, then put on clean, warm clothes before collapsing onto the farmhouse sofa. Slowly, they shifted as they regained energy to snuggle more closely. Bear rested underfoot, where he liked to be best it seemed.

“I’m starving.” Jerusha yawned. “I know I should start on dinner soon, but… just five minutes.”

Five minutes stretched into ten. Harvey contemplated getting up to start a pasta dinner himself, but the effort required too much prying Jerusha from on top of him. It wouldn’t work, not without waking her as well. And he was just out of reach of a medical journal sitting on the end table. So he dozed too.

Another fifteen minutes for himself did the trick. Restfully, he stirred, waking to Jerusha’s soft snoring. He smiled and brushed bangs from her forehead with his fingers. She sighed contentedly at the touch. A few minutes later, she finally woke, smiling lazily at Harvey until she gasped in surprise.

“How long was I asleep?”

“Not very long.” Harvey reassured her.

“Sorry about that! I didn’t mean to pin you underneath me. You couldn’t even reach your journal.”

“Jerusha, I promise, I’m not upset about that. Honestly, nothing else could happen today, and I would still consider this one of my best birthdays ever.” The best, he would have said, if it wasn’t for the spectacular birthday she prepared for him last year.

Jerusha smiled and hugged him. “Oh, Harvey.”

“I mean it! I know you would chalk it up to me having such low expectations for my birthday, but I do enjoy a night of peace and quiet with you.”

She shook her head playfully. “You get those every other night, love. But I suppose I shall respect your wishes today. It’s not like I have any other choice.”

Jerusha winked. There had to be some other birthday plan cooking in her brain; Harvey knew how she worked.

Still, she allowed herself for now to focus on dinner. She pulled out a cutting board and knife and began chopping up a variety of colourful vegetables.

“Anything I can do to help?”

“Just lay down and rest, Harvey. You worked more than you had to today.”

“I’d have worked either here or at the clinic, Jerusha. And you’ve worked just as hard, if not more so. Please, isn’t there anything I can do?”

“Hmm… could you pick out a wine for dinner?”

“What are we having?”

“Veggie curry.”

Harvey’s stomach rumbled at the splendid idea. Jerusha could whip up a perfect curry. Harvey feared the repercussions if he confessed to Gus he enjoyed hers more than his. Muscles aching in places he didn’t know they could ache, he willed himself to join Jerusha in the kitchen. This time, she didn’t protest when he volunteered to make naan to go with the curry. Carefully, he followed the instructions in the Queen of Sauce recipe book.

As he kneaded the dough, he pondered what he could add to their evening that would both make him happy and assure Jerusha his birthday was not wasted today. He thought of previous birthdays, his and Jerusha’s, and of their anniversary just last season. Something to make today seem less like an ordinary night in. He set the dough aside, covering it with a towel to let it rise.

“Are you alright?” She asked. “You can take a break, you know.”

“I know. I’m just thinking.”

“About what?”

“I…” He said the first lie that came to mind. “I haven’t heard from anyone about any medical emergencies today.” While true, it distracted her from his wondering how to complete their evening.

“Is that worrying you?”

“Only a little. I know I can’t be held accountable if someone isn’t able to make contact, but I still worry about the town in general. I know I can’t do anything about it yet either, so I’m trying not to worry too much. Let it be tomorrow’s concerns, you know?”

Jerusha paused her work to embrace her husband. “You’re a wonderful person, Harvey. It’s amazing to see how much you’ve changed. You’re more confident, less fearful. And yet, still the caring man I fell in love with.”

Harvey could feel his face blushing red as he smiled. He turned to kiss her tenderly. “I thank you for that, you know.”

“And still humble, too.” Jerusha winked. She returned to the tomatoes she chopped, bright red against the wooden cutting board.

There the perfect idea came to him. He grinned to himself while he pulled out the necessary pots and pans. Then he kissed Jerusha’s temple, careful not to disrupt her process.

“I’ll be right back.”

“Take all the time you need.”

Harvey entered their bedroom, almost climbing over Bear who loved dwelling near the kitchen when cooking was taking place. He found his record player and placed his selected vinyl album in place, selecting the correct speed and even putting the needle at just the right place on the vinyl for a certain track. He then checked inside the closet, hoping he wouldn’t accidentally find Jerusha’s intended present for him, and that he would instead find what he came for.

He succeeded.

In the back of the closet, buried behind and under many other articles of clothing, Harvey spotted it. He pulled it out and placed it on the bed, out of Jerusha’s line of sight into the bedroom. He then found shoes that matched, and placed them on the floor beside the bed. Next he searched his own section of the closet for formal tweed slacks, a matching suit jacket, and a white button-up shirt. He knotted a vibrant red tie and hung it in front of his chest. He took some time to comb his hair, even if it would inevitably curl against his will soon anyway.

Finally, he returned to the kitchen. Jerusha was nearly finished with the main course, and she gave Harvey space to cook the naan in a pan.

“Oh my, don’t you look dashing?” She purred.

Harvey beamed. “If you don’t mind, I picked out an outfit for you to wear as well. I placed it on the bed. Once you’ve finished the curry, you can put it on. If you like, I mean.”

Jerusha raised a sceptical but friendly eyebrow. “Alright. I’ll indulge you. It is your birthday, after all.”

Minutes later, Harvey was finishing up cooking the last naan, and Jerusha removed the rice and her finished curry from the stove, placing them on trivets at the dinner table. She then dared enter the bedroom.

Harvey held his breath, suddenly worried if he overstepped. What if she didn’t like–

Cackling. Jerusha was cackling.

“Harvey! I can’t– you– Hahaha!”

He could hear her climb on top of their bed, using a pillow to stifle her loud guffaws. Slowly, he smiled as well.

“I’ll still wear it, of course. But…” She laughed again. “Harvey, do you enjoy tormenting me?”

“Tormenting you?” He feigned offence at the claim. “I would never.”

Harvey finished setting the table, placing down the naan and a bottle of his favourite wine from Jerusha’s first creations. Vintage, he thought, and he chuckled to himself.

Five minutes later, Jerusha returned from the bedroom wearing her hair down, a little makeup, and the vibrant red dress she wore to her first Flower Dance in Pelican Town. Though smiling pleasantly, her eyebrows were scrunched slightly, as if to ask why. Why this dress?

“You look beautiful in that dress. I thought you might like to make a better memory with it.” Harvey answered the unspoken question.

“Well, that’s one way to do it.” Jerusha gave him a mirthful smile. “Now, let’s eat!”

The meal was scrumptious. How to convince her to prepare this rather than return to Chez Adèline for his future birthdays, Harvey wondered. But for now, they enjoyed the soul-warming, filling meal.

Having eaten his fill, Harvey stood up. He was going to turn on the record player, but–

“Wait!” Jerusha protested. “I still haven’t given you your birthday present.”

She got up, burrowed in a less-frequently used kitchen hutch, and pulled out a box wrapped in pine-coloured paper and a violet ribbon. Beside it lay a homemade card.

On the front Jerusha hastily drew a bowl with some orange inside it. ‘I absolutely mean to curry favour with you.’ And inside the card was a more steadily drawn picture of a spine and the text: ‘Thanks for always having my back. Happy Birthday Harvey!’

“Sorry.” Jerusha smiled. “It’s kinda hard to top ‘We be-lung together!’ on the anniversary card.”

“It doesn’t matter to me.” Harvey said with a twinkle in his eye. “Your puns leave me in stitches anyway.”

Jerusha grinned, then turned their attention back to the gift. “Open it up!”

Carefully he untied the ribbon and tore the tape that held the paper together. He peeled the wrapping paper, then opened the box.

“It’s a Sopwith Camel!” Harvey beamed, and inspected the box at each angle. It was a brand new build-it-yourself model kit of the plane they saw at the Zuzu City Wheels and Wings Spectacular last year. “I’m impressed you remembered!”

“You mentioned it was the most famous aeroplane of the First World War. That was my biggest clue. I’m glad my research paid off!”

Harvey set the box down on the table and embraced Jerusha again, giving her another slow kiss. “Thank you, love.” They kissed once more.

“Oh yeah! I have dessert too!” She pulled away to dig for something buried deep in the freezer, then pulled out three tiny boxes.

“If you’re daring to try something sweet, I made tiramisus last night. A coffee one for you, and an earl grey one for me. And if not, I also made this!”

She opened one box. Inside lay a round cake consisting entirely of sliced pickles.

Harvey laughed at the sight. “You’re amazing, Jerusha.”

They each enjoyed a few bites of the desserts. Harvey even managed to sample a few bites of his tiramisu, and, to his pleasure, it wasn’t too terribly sweet.

He boxed back up his two unfinished desserts, and Jerusha, with a pout, followed suit.

“Now, before I do anything else tonight, do you have any other surprises for me, my dear?” Harvey asked.

“Nothing that can be done tonight.”

“Too tired?”

“No…” Jerusha slyly smiled. “I may have convinced everyone to move all of your birthday surprise plans to tomorrow.”

“What?”

She giggled, almost maniacally. “You didn’t think I was going to cancel all my plans, did you?”

Harvey shook his head, smiling. “I wouldn’t have expected otherwise, Jerusha. Anything else besides that?”

She shook her head.

“Good. Follow me.”

She followed him into the bedroom, all the way to the record player. A familiar tune began to play from the Etta James album, and Jerusha grinned. He extended a hand, and she accepted it, and slowly they began to sway.

“When we first heard this song, Jerusha,” Harvey said, “At the jazz orchestra concert last year, I thought of how wonderfully the lyrics conveyed my feelings about you. And still I feel this way, and plan to stay this way as long as I live.”

He quietly hummed along, barely on pitch. Jerusha seemed to be enjoying it anyway. She rested her head against his chest, and Harvey found himself falling in love with his wife yet again, as he does every hour of every day. There they swayed until the song finished At Last.

Jerusha wiped a tear from her eye. “You have me here forgetting it’s your birthday, not mine. Silly.”

“You can do your best to remedy that tomorrow.” Harvey winked.

Jerusha smiled as she slowly loosened his tie. “Or tonight.”

“Or both.”

Jerusha delicately placed a kiss where his cheekbone and jawbone meet. “Thank you for taking care of me today.”

“And thank you for spoiling me. Every day.”

Harvey and Jerusha enjoyed the peace and quiet the night brought. They never knew what mayhem life would throw at them each day (and believe them, life gave them plenty of mayhem), but the two knew– twelve hours away from discovering they two were three– they could always count on each other to make it through.

[abbyfmc]

Yandere Sculptor! x Wife! Reader:

No one has asked me. This came as an idea of ​​mine from my second book of yandere things.

Yandere: Raymond (One of my Oc's).

Warning: Mention of kidnapping and killing. The images is not mine.

*Narrator PO.V*

There was recently a case of a disappearance of a 30-year-old woman. Her name was (y/n) (y/ln) Sanchez, and she was the wife of the young sculptor of the town, who was about 34 years old, Raymond Sánchez. It is said that Mr. Raymond is very distressed and desperate for her disappearance, because according to the town, they were the "perfect couple".

Too bad nobody knows the background of all this.

NO ONE knows that she is no longer human.

NO ONE knows where she really is.

She was in the basement of the museum with the statues of Raymond Sánchez. She was Ray's most beautiful and gleaming creation. So much so that she couldn't let any other human being see or touch her.

--Oh honey. Forgive me for being late, honey-- He kissed her lips while gently holding her chin and then stopped kissing her and smiled like a lover.

--God, you are so beautiful and pretty, I love you so much, so much that I would hate for others to see you-- He ran his gloved hands through the hair of his silent wife, who followed him with her eyes, apparently not very happy with her husband.

--What's wrong my love? Why are you looking at me like that?-- His wife didn't respond, she just continued to watch, since it was the only thing she could do since her fatal accident at the cement factory that Raymond manages, with that accident hushed up.

--Forgive me for not being able to save you in time when you came to visit me that time, I already told you that I tried everything to get you back!-- She had gone to visit him at the cement factory and other materials for his statues, and after passing through one of the upper floors that, when looking out, gave a view of the large cement mixer where she slipped and unfortunately fell into the large mixer where she died due to the machine being turned on, and although Raymond tried to turn it off and rescue her, it was too late.

For this reason, he decided to use that same cement and sculpt a statue in his image and likeness, however, he quickly realized that the statue of his wife was not an ordinary statue, since he followed him with his eyes, his expressions changed from very limited way and sometimes tears could be seen falling from the eyes of the statue.

--I'm the only one who knows the truth of everything, calm down. No one else knows what really happened-- He looked for a cloth on one of the basement shelves to clean a little the face of the beautiful statue of his wife, which he verified was still alive, but with many limitations in itself, such as not being able to move her entire body or speak.

--No one knows how much I loved you to make you my most beautiful statue-- He proceeded to touch up certain areas of her with paint, such as her cheeks and her hair. But still, she looked at him with indescribable hatred.

Well, she thinks he pushed her into the machine.

She thinks he turned her into it on purpose.

--Done, I already touched you. My love, I know you're angry about that day, but seriously forgive me, you're so cute and beautiful that you even make me go crazy, that's why I couldn't let you leave my side, so I made you my statue most beautiful and perfect-- He put his paints aside and kissed her lips, while she looked at him with disgust. Too bad she was made of stone, so Raymond can't have sex with her as much as he wanted to.

He was happy having her only for himself, while she feels trapped inside a body that is not hers, inside a prison where it is impossible for her to breathe again.

From a prison she wishes to be free.

-The End.

[shemarmooresfedora]

Rebuilding Family

Summary: Y/N and Spencer were college sweethearts at Cal-Tech but once Spencer got accepted to the FBI Academy, he ended things deciding it was not fair to make Y/N wait for him. When they meet again years later, he discovers something unexpected.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

Warnings: mentions of gun violence, PTSS

A/N: before you have a heart attack, the angst is resolved by the end of the chapter

Masterlist

Chapter 35

“Elephant,” Spencer read from the list.

“E-L-E-P-H-A-N-T,” Jo recited.

“Correct!” Spencer picked her up and hugged her, “That’s the last word on the list your teacher gave as practice. You’re my little genius.”

“This spelling bee is going to be a P-I-E-C-E of cake,” Jo beamed.

“Speaking of cake, what kind do you want, Baby J? We have to celebrate your last day of 1st grade.”

“Chocolate!” she smiled.

“You got it,” you gave her a thumbs up, “Daddy and the babies are going to go with you to school to watch the spelling bee and I’ll be there as soon as I pick up your cake. I need a final hug and kiss from my first grader before I go though.”

“Bye, Mommy!” Jo kissed you on the cheek.

“Remember you don’t have to win. Just have fun, baby,” you reminded her.

Jo nodded.

“Bye, love,” you gave Spencer a quick kiss, “Save me a seat!”

-

“Can I get a chocolate cake that has ‘Congrats Jo!’ written on it in purple frosting?” you asked the baker.

Once the cake was decorated, you headed to the front to check out.

All of a sudden, two men with black ski masks burst through the door with guns.

One of them fired off two shots towards the ceiling to get everyone’s attention. You dropped Jo’s cake in sheer panic.

“Everyone, get to the floor now! If the cashiers cooperate, this will all go smoothly and no one gets hurt,” one of the men yelled.

You couldn’t get enough oxygen to your lungs as you dropped to the floor. The events from Jo’s seventh birthday party kept replaying in your head.

Then, you felt something warm seeping down your front. You looked down to see your white shirt quickly darkening into red.

Spencer dropped the cake on the ground, running over to you, “Y/N!”

You fell to the ground just as he caught you. You could hear the muffled sounds of screams, kids crying, and people running away.

-

“Jo, your word is environment,” the teacher announced.

Spencer looked around the crowd in the auditorium. It was already the second round and you still weren’t here. He would have texted you but unfortunately, carrying both twins inside, he managed to leave his phone in the car.

What he didn’t know was it was blowing up with messages from the team who were at the hostage situation and had seen you on the security footage.

“E-N-V-I-R-O-N-M-E-N-T,” Jo stated into the microphone.

“Correct.”

-

You were trembling on the floor with the palms of your hands covering your eyes.

The robbers must have planned their timing wrong because the cops showed up earlier than expected, turning the robbery into a hostage situation.

They didn’t have a plan though so they denied all forms of communication. You were trapped.

-

“Okay, we are entering the final round between Jo and Mason.”

“Mason, your word is neighbor.”

“N-A-B-O-R,” Mason said.

“I’m sorry, Mason. That is incorrect. Good try though. Jo, the word moves on to you. If you get this correct, you will be the winner.”

“N-E-I-G-H-B-O-R,” Jo stated confidently.

“That is correct! Congratulations to Jo!” the teacher cheered as the audience applauded.

They handed her a little trophy and Spencer ran up to her and gave her the biggest hug he could with his baby carrier on.

“Where is Mommy?” she whispered.

“I don’t know, Princess, but I’m sure she has a good excuse because she wouldn’t miss this for the world,” he whispered back.

“JJ, can I use your phone for a picture? I left mine in the car,” Spencer asked.

“Sure, hold on. I just need to power it back on, I didn't want it making any noise during the competition.”

They waited for JJ’s phone to turn on and her face noticeably shifted to concern as she shuffled through the missed calls and texts.

“Will, watch Jo and Henry please,” JJ said, pulling Spencer into the hallway nearby.

“Spence, I need you to take a seat.”

“Why?” Spencer asked, slowly sitting down with the baby carrier holding the sleeping twins.

“There is a hostage situation at the nearby grocery store and Y/N is inside. She is physically okay but she seems to be having some sort of breakdown.”

“Well assuming the unsub or unsubs have a gun, that would make sense because her last encounter with a gun, she was shot at Jo’s birthday party and almost died. She is most likely suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome. We need to get down there right now,” Spencer stood.

“Okay, leave the babies with Will and he’ll watch the kids for now. I’ll explain it to him later.”

-

Glass shattering. Yelling. Gunshots fired.

You closed your eyes tighter and pressed your hands to your ears to block out the sound.

Someone put their hands on your shoulders and you screamed loudly. The hand began to rub your back soothingly.

You opened your eyes to see Spencer crouching down in front of you. He was saying something to you but you couldn’t hear because of the deafening ringing in your ears.

You opened your mouth to speak but nothing came out. You were still paralyzed in fear even though you were now safe in your husband’s arms.

Spencer’s lips were moving again but you couldn’t make out a single word. He scooped you up and carried you outside to one of the ambulances. They placed a blanket around you and you curled up into yourself again, putting your head in your knees.

Spencer’s hand never left your back.

-

It had been a day since the incident and you still hadn’t talked. You wanted to but it seemed impossible. You had only left the bed to use the bathroom, barely touching the food Spencer brought you.

“I want to show Mommy my trophy but she isn’t leaving her room,” Jo frowned.

“Mommy went through something really scary so that is why she missed your spelling bee and why she won’t leave her room. Two bad men tried to rob the store she was in and it reminded her of when she got hurt before and had to be in the hospital for a while,” Spencer spoke softly to her.

“Oh. What can I do to help?” Jo asked.

“How about we all go in there and just lay with her? She might not be in the mood to talk but you can talk to her, Princess,” Spencer had Ollie on one hip and Ophelia on his other.

He was right behind Jo when she knocked on your bedroom door.

“Love, can we come in and sit with you for a bit?” Spencer asked, cracking the door open.

You slowly sat up and extended your arms, inviting Jo in for a hug. Jo ran into your arms.

“Hi, Mommy,” she whispered.

You kissed her head in response. Jo laid down in your lap and proceeded to tell you all about the spelling bee as you stroked her hair.

Spencer took his spot in the bed with Ophelia on his chest and Ollie in his lap. He smiled softly when you reached for Ollie, cradling him in your arms.

Jo put some Looney Tunes on to cheer you up. Spencer ordered pancakes from the local diner and you all ate in bed together. Spencer couldn’t stop smiling when you finished your entire stack of pancakes.

By late afternoon, you all had moved on to ‘Tangled’ but all the kids were napping on top of you. You grabbed Spencer’s hand and interlocked your fingers. Spencer brought it up to his lips and kissed the back of your hand.

“I love you,” you croaked.

“I love you too, my brave brave girl,” he whispered with happy tears in his eyes.

A/N: congrats, you made it through the last angst plotline in this fic!!! i hate to say it because i’m so attached but i will probably be wrapping this fic up soon (maybe 4 more chapters or so). also, send me some asks! i’m bored!!! i have been writing all day!

taglist (just ask to be added or removed!): @samuel-de-champagne-problems @g0lden-cth @spencerreid9 @averyhotchner @coldlilheart @k-k0129 @ickleronniekinsemotionalrange @harrystylesandthegoobs @cmily @jswessie187 @rem-ariiana @hoodpankow @mochionly @doctorreiding @reidsfish

[iceprincessviviane]

Flowers of the peace

Pairing: c!Technoblade x Fem!Nymph!Reader

Type: Romantic/fluff; oneshot.

Warnings: mild swearing, mention of angst and injury and silly jokes created by me.

Summary: Technoblade is travelling to the center of smp to get some buisness done. He met Y/n and finally decided to talk with her about a very important case for him. Including more characters.

Words in red colour are Technoblade's voices.

My first x reader fic, spontaneous one.

Today was a quite warm day even in tundra, small layer of snow was covering the ground and sky was half covered by the clouds, which weren't moving a lot. Around was very quiet despite the time, it was almost noon. Animals were resting or sleeping, deadly hound lied calmly around. It seemed, it was such a lazy day. Technoblade went outside holding small backpack and putting something into it. He tied his hair into small bun, rest of them was falling on his back and he was wearing part of casual armor. Phil seeing that, also went outside.

"Hi mate, where are you going?" He asked curiously with gentle smile.

"I'm heading to main Smp part. I have some buisness to finish with Ranboo. I hope in that time it won't be crowded." He responeded and closed backpack.

They both looked at old Ranboo's home in mountain wall. Actually there still were some basic stuff, active farm and some villagers. Enderman hybrid moved to his and Tubbo's mansion in Snowchester two weeks ago. They kinda missed him, but he promised to visit them a lot of times and even stay for some cold weather and fresh air. Also he was still involved in Syndicate stuff.

"Be careful mate then." Philza said with serious tone.

'We miss Enderboy.' 'Let's do it fast.' 'Who will we meet else?'

Technoblade nodded and took Karl. He put a small backpack near the saddle and check everything. Diamond armor was shinning brightly in the sunlight.

"I will don't worry, I just hope to not meet Tommy..." His eyes narrowed. He still didn't forget and forgive young boy.

"Well just avoid bench area. You are going to meet Ranboo in Snowchester?"

"He said that he will be around Community House or Prime path."

"Tell him my sincere greetings." Phil smile widened.

Technoblade jumped at Karl and waved to his companion. Soon he was headed to main Smp part. Today wasn't the day for using a portals. Beautiful weather was conductive for horse riding. Karl seemed to be happy at sudden trip.

}*{

After a two hours Technoblade reached the Community House. He could go to Snowchester first, but honestly he wanted to avoid that area, which smelled like government. He dismounted Karl and took his bridle. Not a chance leaving his horse alone. Here was much warm then in tundra, not coulds and even wind stopped. Around wasn't even a single soul, so he sighted and started to walking down on Prime path. Karl was complelty calm, so he trusted him, but checked his sword, if he can take it fast. When he got near to Tommy's dirt house, he heard Tommy's loud laughing. After reaching the top of the hill he spotted Bench Trio standing there and chatting. Suddenly three pair of eyes looked at him. There was dead silence. Tubbo moved near to Ranboo when Tommy put a hand on Axe of Peace, which hanged of his bolt. They don't have armour, clearly having a good time in this lazy day. Technoblade nodded to them.

"What are you doing here?" Tommy asked with sharp tone.

Since Dream have been in the prison Smp was more calm, most people was minding their buisness, the biggest war was over and it seemed like everyone sighted with relief. Even now this Eggpire cleaned awful vines. Tommy started building his hotel, none was fighting.

"I came here to finish buisness." Techno responed slowly moving his eyes on Ranboo.

Tall teenager looked at his clock, gave himself a facepalm and sighted.

"Oh I am so sorry, I wasn't watching the time..." He said with embarrassment.

"What the fuck man? What deal did you make with him?" Tommy spoke with anger.

'Why he need to be so loud?' 'Just make it done.' 'Cut him.'

Technoblade moved a little bit closer and Ranboo started to search something in his backpack, mumbled to himself.

"Oh... hi everyone...!"

On the path leading to La'Manhole now was standing Y/n with basket full of field flowers and some saplings of roses, tulips and pansies. Her light dress was waving a little on sudden wind and bright smile caused everyone to smiled back.

"Hi Y/n!" Tubbo said and get closer to look at flowers. "Where did you get them?"

"Filed flowers around the... La'Manburg and saplings are from my own flowerbends. You asked me to bring some to your garden and rooms." She responed slowly.

"Oh yes! We asked Foolish of possible ways to decorate garden and flowers for a bees!" Tubbo said with excitement.

When it comes to the bees, Tubbo could talk over and over. Y/n was patience and describe in details flowers which she brought. Meanwhile Tommy moved his eyes again on Technoblade only to rise eyebrows with surprise. Piglin hybrid was like frozen, carefuly observing Y/n. Teenager lips formed into mischief smile.

"I found it!" Ranboo screamed in victory, holding something like gold in his big hand.

Technoblade snapped back to reality and nodded to Enderboy, to move away. He didn't want rest to know, what about deal is. They moved to bench. Karl snorted a little bit.

"Here it is." Ranboo opened his hand, Totem of Undying was inside. Technoblade smiled and nodded to him with satisfied smile.

"As we agreed emeralds and netherite ingot."

They made an exchange, Technoblade quickly hid Totem in his pocket and Ranboo put stones and ingot inside his backpack.

"Pleasure making buisness with you." Blade said with teasing tone.

"You too and I have more, if you want."

" We will see in the future."

Enderman hybrid moved his eyes on his husband and Y/n, there were still chatting peacefuly. Tommy was listening quietly and seemed that he lost interesting at their deal.

'Finally!' 'Let's go home.' 'Maybe stay for a while...'

"Deal is done?" Tommy asked loudly causing Tubbo and Y/n to look at Technoblade and Ranboo.

"Yes. We are done." Piglin hybrid confirmed in neutral voice.

Ranboo moved closer to group, leaving Technoblade with Karl. They stepped again on path after that.

"I think we can head to Snowchester then. Y/n has everything to make gardening and I am willing to help her!" Tubbo clapped hands.

"Yup. I am going to choose my room finally." Tommy emphasized last word strongly.

"Oh you shloud do the same Y/n. As we promised, you can decorate it as you wish." Ranboo said with warm smile.

Y/n lifted head and her eyes meet Techno's. His cute ears dropped a little, but he moved closer to them. Tommy stepped a little to avoid crash with Karl. Soft smile appeard on Y/n lips.

"Technoblade."

"Y/n."

Bench Trio silenced immediately, they could feel the tension in the air. After La'Manburg destruction Y/n lost her home, actually she was neighbor with Ranboo there, but she managed to build one small house in wild fields full of flowers, which was quite away. The closest things were Kinoko Kingdom and Niki's Underground City. Sometimes she wandered to La'Manber ruins and after that usually hanging up with Tommy. She visited Ranboo couple of times in tundra and even had a small talk with Phil. But when Technoblade showed up... they shared awkward silence and shy glances, which were speaking instead of words.

In his retirement they spent a lot of time together, despite the cold in tundra. Her peacefuly pressence caused voices to melt, only quiet whispers appeard. When she was speaking, they were always silence. Technoblade could listen and observe her for ages. They were so diffrent, but something connected them and attraced them to each other. She was standing with Phil on balcony, holding his hand so hard and tears streaming from her beautiful eyes, when Technoblade have been lead to execution. He later told him that Y/n almost fainted when he survived and escaped. She stayed in threshold, knocking sotfly at cottage doors, same day, late night and silence around. When he opened, he immediately put a finger on her mouth and whispering explained that Tommy somehow escaped exile and was sleeping in cellar. So Y/n said nothing, when Technoblade let her in, just hugged him so tightly and burried her face in his chest. With smelling her scent, he calmed himself and slowly forget about rage and happenings on that day.

But after Doomsday everything changed. Technoblade was busy with revenge, deep inside he didn't want to involved Y/n for her safety... but they moved away from each other. She need to build new house, didn't want to completly leave her friends around. Especially when Tommy and Tubbo found in her big comfort. She visited Tommy in exile couple of times, always bringing warm words and usefull advices. After Discs Finale, when Dream have been put into a prison, they needed her a lot. Tommy would never confessed that he had nightmares about Tubbo's death and himself being trapped in cell. Technoblade was busy with forming Syndicate, spending days on planning, building and searching stuff. He heard from Ranboo how Y/n was doing, but there always weren't time to talk.

And now they were here.

'We miss her angelic voice.' 'Stop staring, do something.' 'Stab Tommy.'

"I really don't want to interrupt this strange moment, but..." He couldn't even end, because Technoblade stepped at his foot. His shoes had small heels and was shod with metal.

Y/n giggled softly breaking eye contact with Technoblade and blushed a little bit.

"Can we talk?" Blade asked with deep voice.

"Of course." She nodded then handed her basket to Tubbo. He immediately straigthed his back, because of this important task. Technoblade gave without hesitation Karl's bridle to Ranboo, which eyes expanded and he grabbed it with his full strenght. When horse would run away... oh boy.

"It looks like we got important tasks." Tubbo said with full serious in his voice.

Ranboo nodded to him, when Tommy literally rolled his eyes.

Technoblade and Y/n moved slowly and silently aside, stepping away from path and walking on grass. She faced the sun, pulling her hair together, it laid freely on her back. Some strands still stayed on her face and Technoblade had to use his all strenght to resist taking them off. He just couldn't. Her scent full of flowers reached his nose, taking deep breath felt like heaven.

"Weather is very good." He started slowly and little unsure.

Y/n turned back to him with shy smile, studing hia posture. "Oh yes, it's warmer this days. My flowers age growing fast and I really enjoy the sun." She glanced at him. " Isn't too hot for you in this cape?"

"Well, I am still living in tundra and come on, style is breathtaking "Technoblade spread a little his arms.

Y/n could easily spotted part of armor on his arms and legs. It wasn't his best one, but he was still prepared for any fight. Yes, he looked very good, handsome. She couldn't help her slighty blushing cheeks.

"Are you moving to the mansion?" Techno finally asked, his voice was dead serious.

Y/n looked directly at his eyes with surprise. She didn't expect such a question. "No, I mean they offered me room, to stay in longer visits or if I would like to have a nap. I really enjoy their company."

He made a step closer and lean down, almost forgot how small she was compared to him. They both felt burning glances of Bench Trio.

"I miss you." He whispered honestly.

'We are missing her voice, scent and pressence.' 'We need her.' "We want her.'

"I... I miss you too." She responded quietly.

Pleased smile crawled at Technoblade's lips. Deep inside he was really happy about that, but didn't want to show it in front of Bench Trio. Y/n looked down with sudden shyness.

He took gently her small, compared to his hand. She squeezed lightly his fingers in response. "Would you like to...?"

"Y/n! We need to go, hurry up!" Tubbo screamed while was holding her basket.

"Yeah come one, we have a lot of stuff to do!" Tommy agreed.

Technoblade sighted after this rude cut, but Y/n shrugged with helplessness and playful smile. She hugged him tightly for goodbye, his second hand rested on her flabby waist.

"Meet me here after sunset." She whispered before letting him go.

He nodded before he let go of her hand. Y/n waved to him and went to Trio Bench. Ranboo gave Techno Karl's bridle. He observed while group was heading to Snowchester, then he jumped at horse and started to moving into tundra's direction.

}*{

Technoblade left Karl in hurry, then almost ran into a cottage. Phil frowned observing this from his window, but then shrugged and went take care of his cases. An hour passed and he heard some suspicious sounds from Techno's home, also him swearing. He decided to see what is going on, so went outside and knocked loudly. His friend opened. "Hi Phil, I'm a little busy right now..."

"What happend mate?" Winged man asked looking inside.

"I need to clean whole area..." He sighted with awkward smile.

"But why?"

Technoblade said nothing, it was a little too early to talk about it. "You... need some help honestly?"

"I will be so greatful!" Techno said and went beck to cleaning. Actually he successfuly tided first floor and kitchen, for now put food into a chest and cups into cupboard.

"Chests in magazine too?" Phil asked looking at his friend with confusion. Technoblade made facepalm. "I completly forgot about them... she would like to have order there!" He dropped everything and went down. His companion rose eyebrows with surprise. She?

}*{

Heading second time to main Smp part was faster and full of unsure feelings for Technoblade. Karl seemed to be happy of another trip. When they again reached top of the hill, she was there. Y/n stood near bench in his old crimson cloak, hemmed by fur, watching the sunset. Slowly crimson glow was turned into grey. Horse snorted and she turned head to greet him with warm smile. Technoblade responded with lazy smile and dismount Karl. Moving slowly to her, spotted that she was holding avaraged size, lether backpack and near the bench was closed chest.

"Hi again." Blade said with smile. "I am little bit late but I hope that you wasn't waiting long."

"I actually just came here. Boys let me left mansion three hours ago." She giggled softly.

"You got your room in mansion?"

"Yes... we decorated it with Ranboo's and Tubbo's furnitures."

"So... you have in this chest more personal stuff to put there?" Technoblade asked taking deep breath.

Y/n ignored the question and smiled softly to him. "What did you want me to ask earlier?"

"Well... I think it doesn't matter now." His shoulder dropped.

She looked directly into his eyes. "It matters, because the answer is yes."

Technoblade moved closer with visible confusion. "What?"

"Yes. I am ready for a trip, I have this cloak if it happen to be very cold and even have gloves in pocket."

He studied her figure quickly, under cloak she was wearing warm, woolen dress, completly diffrent that early, light one. High boots and hair braided tightly.

"No." Technoblade looked at her in disbelief.

Y/n nodded and her smile widened. In a blink of eye piglin hybird hugged her tightly. She rested her head against his chest, feeling heat from his body.

'She is going with us.' 'We can't belive.' 'Hurry up, before someone will show up.'

"Let's go, you have to be tired." Technoblade said after a few minutes. He took her chest and pinned it to saddle, Karl stayed calmly. She pated his neck, smiling softly. Blade mounted horse and offer her his hand to help. She grabbed it strongly and sat down sideways.

"Karl can lifted us both?" She asked unsure.

"He lifted heavier things than you sweetheart, you can belive me, he will be good." Techno smiled, he always was impressed by her caring way.

Y/n hugged his waist and again rested her head against his chest. The trip was quietly, they enjoyed each other pressence, when they reached tundra, night fell and snow started slowly rain. Finally they stopped in front of Technoblade's house. Deadly hound didn't even react to new person nearbay and bears was sleeping peacefuly around. Piglin hybrid first dismounted Karl and help Y/n by grabbing her waist and put her on the ground. She nodded in gratitude and grabbed his hand. He took her chest and they reached the stairs.

"You didn't introduce me new visitor?" Phil's voice caught them near doors. Winged man stood in his threshold with crossed arms and playful smile.

"Hi Phil." Y/n said and blushed hardly.

"Tomorrow my friend. You shloud go to the sleep old man." Technoblade teased him.

"I hope you will be gentelman and offer lady a separate bed." Phil winked to them and then went inside his house. "Goodnight lovebirds."

Blade rolled his eyes and opened doors for Y/n. She went inside and looked around carefuly. Nothing changed at all, but maybe one thing...

"You... cleaned whole house." She giggled softly.

"Oh yes and I even created some spare place in cellar for your flowers." He put her chest on the ground and closed door. Their eyes met. Technoblade quickly had covered the distance between them, then cupped her face and gently pressed their lips together. Y/n breathing quickened, same as his heartbeating. After a kiss, their hands found themselfes, when Techno lean his forehead against her.

"I love you." He whispered softly.

"I love you too." She responded quietly.

'We love her.' 'We are going to take care of her.' 'Never, ever let her go again.'

[random-imagines-blog]

Blood Games {John Blake x Reader Oneshot}

Requested by: Anonymous Wordcount: 2484 Summary: Yours and John’s children never come off the school bus.

Deep in your heart, you were always afraid. Afraid of what would happen to John on the job, afraid of some sort of retaliation against your family because he really was such a good cop, afraid of the corruption inside of the department making it’s way into your husband’s heart. John was one of the good ones. That’s why you married him. But there was just so much of it, shown by the way that the villains had been taking over Gotham. It seemed like it was only one thing after another. If you didn’t have so much love for the potential that this city really could be, you would have packed your family up years ago and tried to hit the road, go somewhere safer. But Gotham was home. It was where John’s heart was. It was where your kids seemed happy. 

Any minute now, they would be getting off of the bus, and running into your arms. You were waiting at the stop, looking down the street with a couple of the other mothers, listening to the latest gossip. Something about a stepmother over-stepping their bounds. You were lucky you never had to deal with that. You were one of the few undivorced mothers on the block. You had no complaints about the father of your children. Your marriage was still a happy one.

Five minutes went by. Still no bus. You were starting to feel anxious. Started to pace back and forth. “It’s okay, you know how traffic is,” One of the other mothers said to you, putting their hand on your arm. You weren’t the fondest of being touched but you knew she meant no harm so you put a smile on your face.

“I’m sure that’s the case,” You said, trying to convince yourself. You kept on checking your phone. There was nothing from John. Surely he would tell you if there was some sort of case by the school. It wasn’t so far away that you wouldn’t  have been able to hear if there was some sort of bombing, like there had been at the hospital not too long ago. You texted John, not being able to help it. He texted you back right away.

‘Nothing called to us at the station. Call the school?’

You’d wait another minute. And then you would. The secretary picked up, though she sounded out of breath, like she was on her way out. “Hi, this is Mrs. Blake,” You introduced, though they knew you well. You were very involved in their school life, taking part in all of the fundraisers and the field trip. Your family really was your life.

“Hi y/n, how can I help you?” She asked.

“Sorry to bother you, but has there been any sort of delay with the buses? I’ve been waiting at the usual stop for about ten minutes now and it hasn’t shown up yet. Or is there some construction near the school that I’ve managed to miss?”

“Oh, that’s odd. Let me just see if I can track it down for you. You know what Gotham is like, there’s construction everywhere. I’m sure that there’s a reason for it...”

You heard some tapping of a keyboard on the other line. Some clicking of the mouse. And then a hmmm sound. “No, I can’t see any reason why there would be any delays. Are you sure that it wasn’t early?”

“I’m positive,” You said. You looked around at the other mothers who were turning to you, the policeman’s wife, for information. You were the only one who was thorough enough to make the call. “If they circle back for any reason, would you give me a call please?”

“Of course,” The secretary assured. You hung up and felt all of the eyes upon you. You shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant but your heart was beating a thousand times a minute. Sweat was beginning to come down on your palms. You didn’t like this. You did not like not knowing where your children were. You moved a couple of steps away, and you called John. He picked up at the second ring.

“Where are you?” You asked immediately, hoping that he was near the school. But your heart sunk when he told you that he was on patrol in the downtown area. “Nobody knows where the school bus is. John - John, I feel like I’m going to be sick. I have a really bad feeling about this.”

“I’ll be there soon,” John said, and ended the call. You stayed. You weren’t going anywhere, just in case there was a chance that the bus would be coming. That’s what you were hoping for. What you were praying for. Any glimpse of yellow and you were standing on your tiptoes, looking down the street. But nothing. The bus didn’t come. The other mothers called their husbands. Called the school. Called the police. And were looking to you as the policeman’s wife on what they should be doing.

You tried to hold strong. You kept your back straight, kept looking down the road. Any second now, any second your babies were going to be back in your arms where they belonged.

John pulled up in the cruiser, the lights flashing but the siren wasn’t on. “No sign of them?” He asked. You shook your head. Oh my god, how you just hoped that he would hop out of that thing and would hold you. Would tell you that everything was going to be alright. You always believed it coming from him. He was the most honest person that you knew. And the fact that he wasn’t saying that, wasn’t doing that, told you that maybe everything wouldn’t be alright.

“Look!” One of the other mothers said, pointing down the street. You turned and to your great relief, you saw a yellow school bus making it’s way down the street. You’ve never felt so happy to see the color yellow in all of your life. Your hand went over your heart, but you still felt that sick feeling. What on Earth had happened? You had some words for the bus driver. And by the looks of things so did John. And the other mothers. John finally got out of the car. But he kept the lights on.

The school bus pulled to the side. The door opened. The driver looked pale. The kids coming off looked sick. Three kids - four - five - sometimes yours liked to come off of the bus last because they were saying a long goodbye to their friends but-

But they weren’t coming off of the bus.

John marched on up those stairs, going straight to the driver. Stared at them, and asked his questions. The other mothers were looking at you, holding their own kids tight. Nobody seemed to move. Two of the younger kids were starting to cry. Your hands were shaking. The mothers were asking their kids what happened but they were too upset to say. They kept on looking at you, bottom lips trembling. You crossed your arms in front of you, waiting for John to come out, waiting to find out what happened to your babies. Was there a medical emergency? No, they would have reached out. You had your cellphone with you. There was no excuse.

John eventually came down the stairs. The door closed behind him. The bus continued on. “We need to go down to the station, now.” He told you, taking hold of your hand. He didn’t look so good himself. He was about the same shade of pale as the bus driver. He then seemed to take notice of, for the first time, the group of women who were looking to you, to him. “It’s okay guys, you can head on home. We have your numbers if there’s anything we need.”

“Okay,” The one closest to you said. They put their hand on your shoulder for a moment, giving it a reassuring squeeze, and then they all went to take their children back home. You knew that they were good people, but you also knew that they were glad they were not in your position right now. You gave them a little wave, and that was the end of you holding yourself together. As soon as you were in the front of the police cruiser, your first time in one of these actually, you let loose, tears flooding your eyes, your body turned entirely to your husband.

“Where are they, John? Where are our babies? What the hell happened?” The questions were coming out before you could stop them. And John, although he was nervous to say anything - he told you what the driver had told him.

Agents of Bane. Coming onto the bus. Calling for your kids by their names. Bane knew their NAMES. And the reason for the hold up was because your children were smart and they didn’t give themselves up. And none of the other children on the bus gave them up either. Nor the bus driver. It took them rustling through the bags to find something with their names on them to find your children. And then they were taken. The bus driver was so shaken, not knowing what to do, that their body went into autopilot, taking the rest of the kids home.

“He’ll be coming by the station after to get a statement,” John said, one hand on the wheel, the other on your thigh. Normally that would be pretty sexy, you loved when he touched you, but nothing in this moment felt good. Nothing felt like it would be good again.

-

The Batman was dead. But with him went the bomb that would have destroyed Gotham as you knew it. And those that had brought the bomb into the city. Bane. Talia Al-Ghul. The same people who had taken your children. The same people who had trapped most of the city’s police underground - but thankfully, not your husband. You didn’t know what you would have done if he had been missing too. You would have lost everything.

You and John were rushing to one of the precincts in the city. Your children. They had found your children. You were a nervous wreck, biting on your nails until they bled. John was driving a little more recklessly than usual. Swerving around traffic. Sirens blaring on the top of the car despite this not being a city emergency. But it was a family emergency. You couldn’t wait much longer.

John, with his longer legs, went in ahead of you, but you were close by on his heels. Your eyes scanning every face inside of the precinct. The weary and tired and underfed cops were milling around, trying to catch up on their work. Trying to deal with all that had happened inside of the city during the last couple of days. But then you saw him - Jim Gordon, out of the hospital, looking older than you had ever seen him, sitting on a bench with your daughter and your son, their little legs to small to even reach the ground from where they were sitting.

You heard their names being called out. It took you a moment to realize that it had been you, without realizing it. Their heads turned toward you and it was like the world was going in slow motion. Your daughter’s braids were frazzled, but still somehow being held together. You had done them for her days prior, when she wanted to look pretty for school. Two falling down around her shoulders. And your son with those eyes that he had inherited from his father - those dark brown eyes that one could just fall into endlessly. The wide smile. Two missing front teeth. That was a new development. They stood up, crying out, ‘Mom! Dad!’

Tears welled up in your eyes making everything blurry. You fell onto your knees and felt your daughter wrap her arms around your shoulders. You took in the smell of her hair, that natural sweetness that little girls seem to have. The smell that you had inhaled through her pillow each night because you needed something of her close to help you drift off. Your son, too. He was beside you, and then you were enveloped in an even bigger hug by your husband.

“They’re unharmed, we had a doctor check them over,” Gordon was saying, but it was in one ear and out the other. “A bit malnourished and in need of a bath but they’ll be fine.”

“Thank you,” You said into the fabric of your daughter’s jacket, your voice coming out muffled. But Gordon seemed to have heard you either way. You felt a pat on your back and then the old Commissioner limped away, given you and your family some somewhat private time. There were plenty of looks from other officers, but most of them were friendly. They were smiling. This is why they had gotten onto the police force. For moments like this when everything turned out okay.

John’s lips brushed past your forehead, and then on that of your daughter, and then your son. “Thank God. Thank God,” He muttered over and over again. Looking at you. Looking at your kids. Checking them over despite Gordon’s words. He had to  be certain that they were okay. “I’m never letting you go again. Any of you.”

“How am I going to take a bath then, daddy?” Your son asked, looking up at him with a scrunched expression. “I’m not taking one with you or her-” He pointed at his older sister. You almost rolled your eyes. Leave it to them to start bickering after being rescued. Siblings. They never change.

“Your daddy will give you a bath when we get home, and I’ll give your sister one,” You said, rubbing his back up and down. “And then we’ll have a big dinner. Whatever you want baby.”

“McDonalds?” Your daughter ventured hopefully.

“Pizza?” Your son asked.

You and John looked at each other and for the first time in days, started to laugh. “McDonalds and pizza,” He confirmed with a nod, getting back onto his feet, lifting your daughter up  in his arms the way that he used to when she had just been a little girl.

True to his word, John didn’t let any of you go for a couple of days, until it was time for school. This time, he took them each morning. He picked them up each afternoon. No more school buses. No more fear of where they could be. No more waiting by the street for the yellow bus to come. It was rough going forward, trying not to helicopter parent but when your father is a cop, you get sort of used to that thing. Your kids were strong. Resilient. They bounced back despite their fear.

Just like their father.

[soulmate-game]

I was feeling angsty. Read at your own risk, there is very little comfort in this and a whole shit ton of hurt. Probably a bunch of emotional triggers, so seriously be careful guys.

—*—*—*—*—*

Liquid pain ran down her arm like poison, the slash in it burning hot and spreading it’s agony like an invisible waterfall inside her flesh. But she did not grip her bicep where the wound had been inflicted, her gaze blank as she forced herself to hide her turmoil behind glass eyes. Her brother’s snarling face was only inches in front of her own, his katana moving from her arm to her throat.

“Useless! To think we share any blood relation is humiliating!” He growled at her. She did not move, did not emote. Her blades fans, the weapon she was loved most, lay half-opened on the ground beside her. Abandoned. But she knew Damian’s sword would not kill her. Blood family was a bond that was not to be severed by murder unless ordered by Ra’s or justified by the murdered family member in question betraying the League. She had done nothing to betray the Shadows, and Ra’s would not waste time and energy, or the breath it would require, to order her death. Just as he would not waste the precious waters of the Pit to bring her back again. She would not die today, and she knew it.

Sure enough, it was only a few more insults in various languages before Damian Al-Ghul stepped back and scowled down at the blood on his blade. Her blood. “If you don’t even have the stomach for real combat, you do not belong here,” he spat.

“That is where we agree, Grandson,” Ra’s sharp voice echoed through the room, his beady eyes never once bothering to glance at his granddaughter. “Maria, you are hereby stripped of the name Al-Ghul. Banishment from the League is the only mercy you shall be granted for your dishonor on our blood. Be useful and use whatever is left of your mistake of a life to stay out of the League’s way. Shall I, Damian, or your mother ever see your face again, your burial will follow shortly after. Am I understood?”

“Yes Gr— yes, Ra’s Al-Ghul.”

—*—*—*—*—*

Maria Al-Ghul was seven years old when she was disowned and sent away from the League of Shadows without so much as a penny to her name. She was only allowed to take the change of clothes she carried, and one small backpack’s worth of items. Her mother— Talia— had watched vigilantly as she packed those items, assuring that Maria did not take anything of worth.

The girl traveled by foot, too small to get away with driving a vehicle. Unless she could manage to steal a motorbike— she knew how to adjust the seats and pedals on most models to accommodate her size. But she was far too far away from civilization for that.

She knew that most of the League expected her to die in the jungles that surrounded the temple. After all, there were ninjas scattered throughout it with strict orders to kill anyone who was not one of them. And Maria now fit that description.

But if there was one thing Maria knew better than anything else, it was how to hide. How to hide feelings, intentions, involuntary movements, or her whole body in almost any setting. She covered herself in mud, matted her hair with dirt and took off her shoes. Barefoot was always quieter, and her feet would be more sensitive to any change in terrain. She would have to move more slowly and be on the lookout for traps, ground litter that could harm her, or dangerous wildlife, but she would be much harder to track.

It took her a month, but she made it to her first Tibetan city alive and decently healthy. She begged for food for a day before snatching a child’s outfit off of some hanging laundry lines and stealing the first decent vehicle she found. It was an old moped, but it beat walking and was already built small. She made it work.

That was how she spent the majority of the next year. She traveled from town to town, stealing what she needed until she could earn money normally. She used that money to buy herself a fake identity, even if she had to use the skills she had hoped to never need again in order to afford it.

Marinette Shiwang was born when she was already eight years old.

It was only a year after her new identity was created when she bumped into a woman in a street market. That was nothing new, those places could get crowded. But when Marinette looked up and saw valuable bracelets and necklaces of gold and jade, she knew she needed at least one. The money she would get for it would have her living comfortably for a short while. So Marinette’s theft-experienced fingers darted out and unclasped one bracelet in a fluid movement. It took less than a second. She barely had the piece of jewelry in her hand before she started to take off, hoping to lose herself in the crowd.

But a small hand clamped around her shoulder, a sturdy thumb pressing against a very vulnerable spot right at the back of Marinette’s neck, at the base of her skull. A clear threat from somebody with experience.

The sweet voice that followed didn’t match the gesture at all.

“Oh, I need that back dear. It was a gift from my husband, you understand.”

Marinette did. She cared about survival more. The small girl twisted, knocking the hand away from her before it could do damage and darting down a side street. The woman followed. It took three hours, but Marinette decided she had finally lost her pursuer before slumping down in the tiny, closet-sized bedroom of her cheap apartment. Her eyes closed for only a second before the window opened, and the smell of newly-baked sesame buns filtered through.

It was the woman and a much taller, much more masculine man. He was practically a giant, reminding Marinette of a certain member of the League that she used to know. They were both smiling.

“My wife figured you would be more open to an exchange than just giving up the bracelet for free,” the man’s voice was deep and inviting. “You can eat as many buns as your stomach can handle, if you give it back.”

Marinette accepted. Mostly because of her fear for people who could track her to her home so easily, when she had been certain she had not been followed. The League has tuned her senses well, there was no way the couple had been close enough to see her when she made it to her apartment. Yet they were still there somehow. Then, it also had to do with the promise of food, and the heavenly smell of the food itself. And then, lastly, Marinette was tired. She didn’t like stealing, it was just a necessity. She would not hurt these people over a mere bracelet that she wished she didn’t have to take in the first place.

Useless, she thought. So much of a bleeding heart that she just gave up what could have paid for two months rent. Too soft to even protect herself. The Al-Ghuls has been right. She was a waste of space and time.

Marinette was ten years old when she became a Dupain-Cheng. Somehow, that strange, dangerous couple had become her new family. Not even she knew how. But she was grateful— they took her back to Paris with them and she didn’t have to worry about rent, or food, or money anymore.

She vowed, that day that she received her spacious attic bedroom, that she would repay them. She would make herself useful, for the first time in her life. She would stay out of their way, be the perfect most unobtrusive daughter ever. She would help in the bakery, keep a smile on her face so that they never doubted that they were doing a good job. So that they never wasted time worrying about her. She smiled, and laughed, and became successful for them. Competent and reliable even though her memories would sink into her dreams every day and make it near impossible to drag herself out of bed in the mornings.

And then, when Marinette Dupain-Cheng was thirteen, she was given a pair of magical earrings and a tiny fairy-god. And Tikki was thorough, at least. Diligent in her explanation. Marinette listened to every word, dread seeping in as she doubted her ability to carry out such an important task. Save a city? Defeat someone much more experienced and magically powerful than her?

Useless little Maria could never. Slightly less useless Marinette could never.

She was only ever meant to play a support role. Stay on the background and make everyone else shine, without ever succeeding in anything worth noting. That was who she was.

But then Tikki gave her the Warning. The catch that came with the Ladybug abilities, and Marinette felt the long-rusted determination in her begin to fire up again. Maybe she could be Ladybug. Maybe she could be useful, at least this once. At least for just this one scenario. She could fight and win the war against Hawkmoth, and that achievement alone could make her happy. Let her die knowing she did something worthwhile.

—*—*—*—*—*

Damian Wayne was seventeen when he and his family found out about the Paris Situation, and immediately went over to offer help. Damian Wayne was seventeen when he watched Ladybug stumble at the sight of him, and immediately run away. But the two of them were twins, and though twin telepathy might be a myth they always did have a certain instinct when it came to one another.

Damian Wayne was Seventeen when he said, aloud on the top of a random Parisian building and surrounded by his family—

“My sister is Ladybug.”

Damian didn’t wait for their reactions, having entirely forgotten about the existence of his father and brothers, before taking off after his spotted sibling.

—*—*—*—*—*

“I knew you were alive.”

In hindsight, those probably weren’t the best words for him to say when Maria clearly thought he was still an assassin.

Damian watched as Marinette spun to face him, her face so much more expressive than he remembered. He could actually see the resignation in the slump in her shoulders, he could feel the fear in her bluebell eyes. The eyes she was lucky enough to get from their father while he was cursed with their mother’s green irises. He used to envy that about her, especially after joining the BatClan. But now he only felt comfort when he looked into her eyes. Comfort that she was different than him, and always had been. In the best of ways.

He watched as his sister was enveloped by a bright flash of pink light, detransforming right in front of him. And without the mask, it was impossible to ignore the relation between them. She had their father’s eyes and nose where he had their mother’s, but other than that they were almost carbon copies of one another. Her blue-black hair was pulled back into twin braids though, something he noted distantly as oddly fitting. They suited her, he thought.

But all those thoughts instantly turned to dust as she dropped to her knees in front of him, head bowed in complete submission.

“Tom and Sabine are innocent,” she told him. “They adopted me out of nothing but goodwill, and they have been nothing but good to me. I never told them a single word about my origin, I swear it on our blood. They think I am just an orphan that was abandoned in Hong Kong—“

“Maria—“

“—so please, don’t harm them. I’m begging you. And there is no need for you to waste energy killing me. You are welcome to stay in Paris as long as no harm comes to Tom and Sabine, but just wait and watch. I know who Hawkmoth is, and our final plan is almost ready. I’ll have him taken down by next week. Just— wait until then, please. My death will take care of itself afterwards, but Paris deserves to be free, and killing me now will set this entire war against Hawkmoth back by at least a year. And I also need that time to pick my successor—“

“Maria! I am not here to kill you!” Damian had to yell to get her to stop babbling and begging. She froze, but didn’t dare to sit up or even raise her head. So Damian took the initiative and sat down on the ground with her, though he kept his distance so that he didn’t scare her too badly. He couldn’t blame her for her reaction, it had been ten years since they had seen one another and their parting hadn’t exactly been pleasant.

But he had changed a lot since then, matured a lot.

“I am completely disconnected from the League,” he admitted. Of the blurry memories he had of her, he did remember that being blunt was the best way to handle information with her. Beating around the bush had always done nothing but make her exceptionally nervous and jittery. Sure enough, his admission was enough to make her look up at him with disbelieving eyes. He risked a small grin. “I didn’t come in my old uniform, did I?” He gestured to himself in the bright Robin colors. Sure enough, Marinette’s rapid blinking proved his theory that she hadn’t even registered his clothing at all to be true. She had run as soon as she recognized his face.

But Marinette did not speak. She sat up a little, still eyeing him cautiously. But her silence helped him finally realize where they were— where she had led him.

The sounds of traffic and other big city noises were all muted, as if muffled by several layers of cloth. Shadows fell over them abundantly, and they were surrounded by dilapidated concrete walls.

She had brought him to an abandoned area far from any activity, where a body would take ages to find. She had then disarmed herself of her only weapon, her magic suit, and had gotten on the ground in total submission.

She had purposely given him the perfect setting to kill her, where there would be no witnesses and plenty of time before her body would be found for him to escape. That realization hit Damian square the chest, leaving him breathless for a moment.

“I am not here to kill anybody,” he reiterated, his voice noticeably much gentler than before. “Not you, not you adoptive parents, nobody. I left the league when I was eleven. Mother—“ he took a breath, but Maria deserved to know. “— she cloned me. Her clone killed me. He no longer exists, but that is of no consequence. She killed me, she and Grandfather disowned me when I made it clear I was not returning. Father— our father,” he was insistent as he leaned forward, not continuing until she met his gaze. “You remember who our father is, right? Bruce Wayne? Mother had dropped me off to be raised with him when I was ten, but of course it was all just one of her plots. It was her miscalculation though, because I ended up growing close to them. To Father and his adopted children. You would get along with Gra— with Dick, the best I think. Although T— Jason would also be a prime contender as your favorite brother, I think. He shares your love of motor bikes, if that hasn’t changed?” She just stared at him, clearly confused and experiencing a lot of feelings at once. He stayed silent for a moment to allow her to sort through them a little.

“I’m Robin now,” he made his voice quieter, but still easy for her to hear. “I’m a member of the Bats. I’m sure they would all welcome you, if you chose to meet them. Though be warned, they can be quite in—“

“Why are you doing this?” Marinette’s voice was barely above a whisper, Damian almost didn’t hear her. But he did, and fell silent. He watched as his sister licked her lips and tried to find the right words to say. “If what you say is true… you have a perfectly good family. Brothers, Father, a comfortable life. Why follow me then? Why offer me… any of that?”

Damian frowned. He didn’t remember Maria being so gloomy, but then again she had been raised to never show her emotions. Maybe, after years away from the temple like him, her true feelings were just easier for him to see now. Closer to the surface.

“I want to get to know you— to get to know my sister, again,” he told her. “Don’t tell them, but Father and the others have taught me to appreciate family. The way I treated you when we were children was not right, and though it was heavily influenced by Mother and Grandfather, I want to make up for it nonetheless. Maybe we can get to know the new us, together?”

Marinette’s eyes went wide with disbelief, but then she clenched her jaw and shook her head.

“We can’t.”

“... right, I understand if you do not forgive me. I didn’t even consider—“

“It isn’t that,” Marinette was quick to correct him. “When I said that my death will handle itself, I mean it, Damian. The Ladybug… the earrings that give me my powers, come with a price,” she absently ran her fingertips over the unassuming black studs in her ears. “If a Ladybug uses the miraculous for more than three years, the powers of Creation will demand to be balanced. Already, the Miraculous is powering itself on nothing but my life force now. Once I defeat Hawkmoth, there will be no need for Ladybug anymore. The moment I take the earrings off, they will cease keeping me alive.”

Damian’s face fell. No— no, that wasn’t right. He was finally able to find her, finally able to apologize and try to fix his past mistakes. This couldn’t be how the reunion went. This couldn’t—

“Not even the Lazarus Pits can bring me back from a Miraculous death,” Marinette went on. “So you and your family should go. You don’t need to be here when I—“ Marinette paused, gasping. “Damian, why are you crying?! Stop that!” Her voice became desperate, Marinette crawling over to him as quickly as she could and wiping away his tears as if they were something terrifying. Damian wasn’t sobbing or making any noise, it was just a silent stream of tears running down both cheeks as he stared at her wordlessly.

“I…” he finally managed to choke out. “I wanted to make up for everything. I wanted for us to be twins again, together.”

Marinette paused, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. “I know a magic user who can erase your memories of me,” she offered. “But you don’t have to feel guilty for anything. You never said anything that wasn’t true.”

Damian’s green eyes widened. He had said nothing but cruel things to her, that last year they spent together as children. Did she really believe all of that? Did he and their childhood really affect her self worth this severely and irreversibly?

“Maria—“

“My name is Marinette, actually,” she corrected him with a small smile. “I’m not Maria Al-Ghul anymore. Marinette Dupain-Cheng is actually useful, Damian. I can actually do things right— I’m doing something right right now. Beating Hawkmoth will be the first worthwhile thing I’ve ever done, don’t you see? Once it’s all over, I will have brought honor back to our blood. I’ll have proved to you that I really am your twin, that I wasn’t a mistake. That I was born for a reason,” Marinette’s eyes got dreamy even as Damian just felt like he was impaled again, this time by a spike of ice rather than a sword. “And I’ll be able to die before I ruin it. It’s a perfect scenario.”

“A perfect scenario implies that nothing important is going to be lost,” Damian breathed. Marinette just blinked.

“Yeah, I know. That’s the plan. Defeat Hawkmoth, save Paris, and nobody dies.”

“But you’re going to die!” He growled. Marinette leaned back, bewildered by his violent reaction.

“Yeah, but it’s not like I actually matter. Nobody needs me. Tom and Sabine might be hurt for a while, but they will recover just fine. And it’s not like I have friends or any—“

“Stop worrying about other people, damnit!” Damian surged forward, grabbing her shoulders hard enough to bruise and shaking her a little. “Even back then! Even when we were seven, you threw down your blades because you were more worried about hurting me than you were about how Grandfather would react, even though you knew he would be tempted to kill you for what he thought was cowardice! You never put yourself first, and it’s finally starting to piss me off!”

“Damian—“

“No, listen to me!” He shook her again, his tear stained cheeks only making his glare all the more potent as he stared right into her eyes. “You are alive, and your life matters! You were never worthless or useless, you just didn’t fit what our abusive situation wanted of you. They wanted a cold hearted killer, a tool they could use, and you were always too warm hearted and clever to fit either of those goals. But I did, I was the killer they were looking for and the pawn they wanted. If anything, that makes you better than I ever was! I was too young and naive to see it back then, but I’m trying to make up for it now. You are my sister, whether you go by Maria or Marinette, Al-Ghul or Wayne or Dupain-Cheng, I don’t give a damn! And so help me, even if I have to surgically attach those earrings to your skin, I am not letting you die before you gain at least a modicum of respect for yourself. Do you understand me?”

A wet sniffle met his ears, and he pulled Marinette in for a hug. She returned it weakly, sniveling and sobbing into his cape.

“D-d-Damian?”

“Yes, Shaqiqa?”

Another sniffle.

“I-is it really o-okay for me to stay with you?”

“Of course.”

“I-is… is it really oka-ay for… for me to live?”

Damian’s arms tightened around her. “Always. Always, always.”

Marinette buried her face into his shoulder, taking a deep shuddering breath.

“Th-then… I wanna try.”

—*—*—*—*—*

Not sorry. Ha 😎

[ohmygoodnessgraciouss]

Reality Check - Chapter 3

Thanks for the love!  It’s insane to me how quickly this blew up!  And I’ve loved hearing theories by you guys! The show must go on, so let’s not wait any longer ;) 

Summary: Y/N and Wanda were very close after returning in 2023.  The two bonded over the loss of their partners.  It wasn’t enough to keep Wanda grounded after she found Vision’s body though, and Wanda wants the best for her friend.  Unfortunately for Y/N, this means she’s going to be thrown into a reality she wasn’t expecting.

Missed the first part?  Read it here! Need chapter 2?  Go down to the tags and click #Reality Check Masterlist ! 

Scott led you to a nearby park.  You never managed to get those guitar strings for Loki, so you hoped he had more at home that he didn’t know about.  You sat down on a bench with Scott, who looked around carefully, as if to ensure there were no wandering eyes.  Not a person was in sight, but you assumed that was because it was the middle of the weekend.  Everyone was at home, spending quality time with one another.  

“I don’t understand still.  What is it that you wanted to ask me?” You asked him, once he finally turned back to look at you. 

“Do you remember how you first got here?” 

“Well, yes, you pulled us outside of the store,” You laughed.  

“No-” He shifted in his seat, “-Do you remember when you first came to this town?” 

“Of course, I moved here with my husband when...” You drifted off.  “When we...” 

He looked at you expectantly.  “Do you remember?” 

You shook your head, almost upset with yourself for not remembering.  

“No, I don’t.”

---

“Wanda, what do you think you can do about it?” You asked your friend who was pacing around your shared apartment.  She had her hair pulled back in a low ponytail and she was dressed in leggings and a sweatshirt.  It was clear she hadn’t been taking care of herself.  Some of the injuries she sustained during the final battle were still visible.  They complimented the dark circles under her eyes, showing you exactly how she felt on the inside.  

“Y/N, we have to go take him back.” She said, finally stopping in her tracks.

“You don’t even know what S.W.O.R.D is doing though!  Maybe they’re trying to extract important data from him.” 

“Or they’re trying to weaponize him.  Exactly what he didn’t want.” Her voice was stern, and she was trying to control her anger.  You knew she was right, but you wanted to believe it wasn’t true. 

“And you believe you could bust right in there, take his body, and get away with it?  Wanda, I know you’re hurting but this is absurd!” 

“You say it as if you wouldn’t do the same for Loki.” 

“Because I wouldn’t!” You hissed.  You stood up and walked over to the girl, whose eyes were starting to glow a dim red.  “Vis wouldn’t have wanted you to keep going after him like this.  He would want you to move on.” 

“That’s what everyone keeps telling me.  Y/N, I know you understand this feeling.  You said it yourself, you nearly went after Loki in that timeline after he took the tesseract.” 

“But I didn’t.  The opportunity presented itself but I knew deep down that I couldn’t do it.  This is our reality.  Our universe.  Our timeline.  My Loki is gone.  I can’t do anything about it.” 

“But what if we could?” She asked, zoning out rather quickly.  Wanda was no longer looking at you, but rather looking out into the open as if there was an opportunity that presented itself. 

“What are you talking about?” You asked nervously.  

“There’s nothing grounding us right now, Y/N.  Everyone is out there, partying, celebrating, having fun with their loved ones.  We don’t get to have that.  Not in the same sense at least.  But with my powers-” 

“Don’t you dare say what I think you’re going to say.” 

“We deserve happiness.  Even if it’s only temporary.” 

“You’ll trap yourself in there.  It’ll be your dream world and you’ll never want to leave.  I know you, Wanda.  You can’t do this.” 

“Can’t I?” She stormed out of the room before you could say anything more.  You wanted to run after her, but maybe some space was what she needed. 

You regretted that decision three days later. 

--

“Neither do I,” He said, breaking you out of your trance.  He sighed dejectedly.  “You’re the first person I’ve had a chance to ask about this.  Anyone else runs away to do something else before I have the opportunity.” 

“What are you trying to say?  This is a perfectly normal neighborhood.” 

“I’m trying to say it’s the exact opposite of that, Y/N.  There is nothing normal about this town.  Nothing.  How did you get here?  Why did you come here?  Doesn’t it feel like everything is dull?  Colorless?” 

“Why would it be anything other than normal, Scott?  Are you trying to say magic is real or someone has this whole town hypnotized or something?  It’s madness!” You exclaimed.  “And if you believe that so much then why don’t you just leave?” 

“That’s the thing, I can’t.” 

“What do you mean you can’t?” 

“I mean there’s no way out of this town.  If you want me to leave, you first.  I’ll follow your lead.  But you’ll understand what I mean as soon as you get to the border.  It seems like it just goes on and on and you never reach the sign that says you’re leaving Westview.  There’s no way out.” 

You stood up from the bench quickly, like a lightbulb finally lit up in your head.  You shook your head and turned to leave.  “I don’t know what you want me to do here.  I’m happy with my life.  You just sound insane.  No wonder everyone tries to avoid you.  I have to get to the talent show.  My husband needs me.”  

“Then go to him, but mark my words Y/N.  Something is wrong.” 

---

“Loki, I’m so sorry!  I got caught up with someone at the store!” You gave him an apologetic smile.  He was standing behind the stage, tuning the guitar once more before he went on.  He smiled back at you when he saw you walking up. 

“It’s quite alright, love.  I’m just happy you’ll get to see me perform.  I think you’ll love the song I have picked out.  It’s one you haven’t heard from me yet.” 

“You mean I haven’t heard this one a dozen times this morning already?” 

“Not at all,” He grinned.  

“Well, I’m looking forward to it.  Break a leg, hon.” You kissed his cheek as a woman motioned for him to go up on stage.  She had her hair up and she carried a clipboard with her.  You realized you didn’t know her, so you walked over to her as you watched Loki.  

He introduced himself and began playing a song.  “Hey Good Lookin’” to be specific.  You laughed lightly as he glanced over to the end of the stage, giving you a small wink.  

“He takes my comments too literally sometimes,” You shook your head.  The woman smiled politely.  

“He’s a very good singer.  You’re lucky to have him.” 

“Oh, I am.  Sometimes I wonder what I would do without him.  He’s been my best friend for God knows how long.” You watched him turn to look at the crowd, a bright smile on his face as he sang the lyrics.  The crowd watched with light smiles as the man played. 

“That’s the best relationship you can have.” 

“Oh!  I’m sorry, I just realized I never introduced myself.  I’m Y/N,” You introduced yourself. 

“I’m Geraldine.  I’m one of Wanda’s friends,” She replied.  

Wanda seemed to pop up at the mention of her name because the next thing you knew you saw her next to you.  “How wonderful!  Hey Wanda, how are you adjusting to the town?” 

“Well, it’s been quite a big adjustment but everyone here is so welcoming that it’s easy!” She said, straightening out one of her gloves.  “Now it would be a little nice if my husband decided to show up soon.  We go on right after Loki.” She started fidgeting with her fingers.  

“Oh you two have met?” You asked her.  She seemed to freeze for a moment, before relaxing again and responding. 

“Yes, right before you showed up.  He’s so sweet!” She gushed.  

“Well, he is quite charming.  As I’m sure you can see by what he’s singing right now.  I mentioned Hank Williams once this morning and this is what I get for it,” You giggled. 

“Aw, that’s so romantic of him.” 

“It truly is.  But enough about me and Loki, Geraldine, when did you arrive in town?” You asked, turning towards her. 

“Oh, I’ve been here for a while, I just haven’t had the time to participate in any of these fun events until a few days ago. Perhaps we should have an evening out with just us girls one day, get to know each other,” She responded, 

“That would be great!  We could go out, find something fun to do, get a break from our husbands,” You said, laughing.  Wanda laughed a little as well.  

“I’ll have to see when I’m free,” Wanda mentioned.  “We’re still trying to settle into our home so life has been a little chaotic.  I feel like I need some magical stone or something to reverse time and give me a chance to relax.” All three of you chuckled at her statement. 

“Now that would be a wonderful tool.  If only it existed,” You groaned dramatically.  

“Well, either way, if you ever need any help settling in, let me know Wanda.” Geraldine mentioned.  You nodded your head in agreement.

“Yeah, don’t ever hesitate in reaching out.  We’re here to assist in whatever you need.” 

“You girls are so amazing!” She exclaimed, hugging the two of you.  You smiled and hugged her back.  

As she broke the hug, Loki walked off the stage and back to you.  “You were amazing, honey,” You complimented him. 

“Oh please, you weren’t even listening all that much.  But thank you anyway,” He kissed the top of your head.  Wanda and Geraldine watched with small smiles. 

“Wanda, Vision needs to get here in another five minutes otherwise I can’t do much more.  They’ll tolerate another break but that’s all I can do,” Geraldine mentioned, walking up to the stage.

“Thank you Geraldine,” She sighed, clearly frustrated.  

“He’ll show up.  He must know how much this means to you Wanda, so I have no doubt he’ll be here in time,” You said.  She nodded her head.  

“He’s never late.  He’s always on time, always punctual.” 

To ease her panic and worry, Loki decided to change the subject.  “I don’t believe we’ve met yet.  I am Loki,” He introduced himself.  You furrowed your brows in confusion. 

“I thought you two already met,” You asked.  

“Well I know she’s been in the neighborhood for a few days now, love, but I haven’t had the opportunity yet to properly introduce myself.” He responded.  

“I’m Wanda,” She smiled nervously.  She was trying to figure out a way out of this situation.  Fortunately, Vision was running over just in the nick of time.  He seemed out of breath, with his full magician’s suit on.  “Where have you been?!” She began to yell at him. 

You walked away a little, giving them space.  Loki followed closely behind you.  He seemed confused, but only by your expression.  It didn’t seem like he was concerned by Wanda.  “What was that about?” You asked him.  

“What do you mean?” He tilted his head slightly, much like a dog.  

“Wanda said that you guys met already, while you were on stage.  And then you act like you didn’t know her at all.” 

Before he could respond, you noticed a glint in his eyes.  It was like a red mist reflecting in them.  The color faded quickly, back to the grey you were used to.  He seemed phased out, like something else caught his attention.  “We briefly talked right before you arrived, so maybe that’s what she meant.” 

You nodded absentmindedly.  You didn’t believe him at all.  Too many things were becoming too suspicious at this point.  Loki saw how you reacted, hurt flashing in his eyes.  A part of you would’ve felt guilty if you didn’t feel like you were being left in the dark constantly.  

“Loki I wish I could believe you, but so many weird things have been going on lately.”  You muttered under your breath.  

“Y/N, what’s wrong, love?”  He asked, placing his hands on your waist.  He was concerned, but he didn’t know what to do. 

“It seems like everything is off.  I’m seeing weird things around this place, weird people.  It all started when Wanda came to town, and now there’s some weird guy that I met at the store and-” 

“Wait, what weird guy?” 

“The one that I bumped into a few days ago.  He talked to me today and he sounded absolutely insane.”  

“What did he talk to you about?” 

“He started asking me questions I didn’t know the answers to.  He started spouting out some weird stuff about the town.  I ended up walking away because he wouldn’t stop pressing about it,”

“I don’t trust that man,” He said, almost afraid. 

“Me neither.  But with the other weird and strange things happening now, I wonder if there’s any substance to what he’s talking about.” 

“Y/N, don’t start with this.  Don’t get yourself caught up with someone like him.  You’ll drive yourself mad with this.” He pulled you closer to him by your waist as you avoided his eyes. 

He lifted your chin with one hand, forcing you to look at him.  “There’s something wrong here, Loki.  Do you remember how we got here?” 

“How we got here?” He echoed. 

“When did we move here?  When did we get married?  When did we decide to get married?” You asked him. 

“That doesn’t matter, love.  The important thing is that we’re here now, together.” He pressed. 

“You’re avoiding answering the questions.” 

“We deserve happiness, don’t you think?” You froze when he asked that.  Something about that phrase, those words, were eerie.  

You pulled away from him quickly.  “Don’t say that.  Loki, I deserve to know how we got to this point in our lives.  I can’t remember what we did to get here.  If you won’t tell me, then I need some time alone.  I’ll be home later tonight, but please don’t follow me.” 

You started walking away, refusing to look at Loki.  You know you’d run right back if you saw the heartbreak in his eyes.  

W̵̲͓̱̹̻̜͖̟̺̲͕̍̉͑̀̈͜͝ͅh̴̨̻̠̫̫̲̟͖͊̃̐̓̈̅̄͜a̶̢̛̜̝̯̩̻̾́̐̓͛́͜ț̵̡̜̗͓̱̠̝̖͚͕̹̗͚͖͗'̶̧͙͉̜͈̖̹̠͍̓ş̴̢̡̥̰̤̱̩͓̹̦̠̥̞̎̾͊͘͜͠ ̴̡̙̬͓̻͉̭̗͎̙͕͌̈́g̶̛͉̜̯̥̍͒ö̴̢͙͇͍̮̮̝̗͈̲̬̪̯́͋ͅͅĩ̶̧͕̜͖͖͎̌́̂̐͗̏́͛̃̄͘͠͝n̴̨̢͙̼̩͕̼̮̬̪͙̊̽͊̓̇̈̀̈́͒̈́̓͘͜͝ǧ̸̱̮͕̮̻̻͇̖̪̯̳̂̈́̉̾͐͜͠ ̸̭̼̃͂̇͗̓̆͐̓͗̀͋̑̉͊͛ơ̶̡̡̧̩̤̙̤̯͇̝̞̫̤͓̆͑̓̉̌͂̃̓̍̋̄͘ͅņ̶̯͓̭̺̹̪̅̓̍́͗̅͗͘͝ ̶̢̡̼̗̙̤̫̳͇͓̻͉̼̯͈͐̔̄̄͊̈́̐̿̔̄̈́̕ṋ̴̭̫͖̜̫̦̀͆̒͘ͅo̸̗͊̋̏̇̊̾̿́̆̇̈́̑͝͝w̶̛̛̼̓̍̀͐̄̀̈́̈́̿̽̚͘͝?̷̳̜̜̺̼͙̜̰͊͊͗̆͒̋͜

“Darcy?” 

“What’s Wanda doing now?” 

“She’s performing a magic show.  It’s just like any other sitcom.  She’s trying to hide her powers because Vision has decided to go haywire.” She said, taking a sip of her coffee. 

“Wait, what’s that?” Jimmy asked, pointing to the background.  

“It looks like Y/N and Loki.” 

“It looks like they’re fighting,” She responded, pointing out their frowning expressions, their stiff body language.  

“Would Wanda script that?”

“I doubt it.  She’s apparently living the perfect little sitcom life after all.  She’d never want people fighting like that.” 

Suddenly, the television screen flashed for a moment.  The camera panned to the talent show, pointing directly at Wand and Vision.  You could no longer see the other couple. 

“She must’ve noticed.”

“And she doesn’t want anyone else seeing.”

.

.

.

.

Taglist: @emberfulclass @momoneymolife @high-priestesss @hailey-the-heathen​ @mochminnie @dpaccione @intricate-melody @lindseyrae20 @storminateacup15

[pigeon-princess]

TYBALT MONTAGUE’S BACKSTORY

It’s been a long time coming but here is the compiled backstory of my DnD Half-Orc Bard/Fighter Tybalt, tracing his life up until he joined the adventuring party known as The Tresspassers. I’ve also included drawings by me and other party members below the cut! 

(CW: SEXUAL ASSALT, RAPE) A small portion of Tybalt’s backstory contains some traumatic events, however they are not described in detail.

There is a collection of Islands off the coast of the continent of Iona, known by many as The Isles of Thiva. The culture of the islands is very Medditeranean, Italian and Greek inspired, so as you travel through you’d likely be seeing beautiful cliffside cities, lush wineries and lively street culture. 

For people living in Thiva, Orc pirates from across the seas are a serious problem, especially for certain villages on the Eastern coast. When an Orc raid passes through a city there is always a wave of destruction from the pirates, resulting pillaging, raping and murder thoughout.  

For the few women who survive their traumatic assault, only a handful of them are strong enough to survive and give birth to Half-Orc children. Because of this, Half-Orcs in Thiva are often looked down upon and shunned, almost as if they are a walking reminder of the trauma that the Isles have suffered. 

TYBALTS EARLY YEARS

Tybalt was one of these children. His mother was an Elven woman called Marina, from a small fishing village called Alta Maria. At the time of the Orc raid she had a husband and two, young half elven children called Mercutio and Benvolio. After surviving the attack, everyone thought she had gone mad for wanting to keep the child, but she was determined to love the baby despite the slander her husband threw at her. For her, the child was her own and one she wanted to protect them at any cost. Young Tybalt barely ever left his mothers side for the first 6 years of his life, his older brothers never wanted to play with him and his mothers husband couldn’t stand the sight of him. Despite all this he was happy by his mothers side. 

Marina - Tybalts Elven mother (Art by @lulii999​) 

Marina’s Drawings -  A young Tybalt finds a crab, Mercutio, Benvolio and baby Tybalt nap together, A grown up Mercutio and a grown up Benvolio (Art by @lulii999​) 

When Tybalt was around 6 years of age, his older brothers who are now 10 and 12 years old, invited him to play with them for the first time. He excitedly followed them to the docks where they managed to trap him in a fishing net and throw him onto a small fishing boat. Unable to escape the rope, the ship left port leaving Tybalt alone, trapped and afraid. He managed to survive the two day journey and the fishing boat arrived in the port of the capital city, Santiados.  When the boat made port, Tybalt made a run for it. He was lost and confused, but managed to survive by stealing food, avoiding the other Half-Orc kids that lived on the streets and sleeping in a barrel at night. Unable to find a way back home, and at this point thinking that perhaps his family didn’t want him anymore, Tybalt stayed living on the streets for 6 years. 

ON THE STREETS

During his time on the streets, when Tybalt was around 10 years old, he got into an altercation with an older Half-Orc boy who was picking on him. In a rage Tybalt pushed the teenager away from him, causing the boy to slip and stumble down a flight of stairs, cracking his head. When the other Half-Orcs saw that Tybalt had killed this kid, he became infamous and reveared among the Half-Orc street gangs. All Tybalt wanted to do was stay out of it. 

A NEW FAMILY 

At the age of 12 Tybalt decided to break into one of the larger merchant estates in the capital, thinking that he’d be able to steal a good amount of things from within. While rummaging through the mansion’s pantry, he was discovered by the family's 10 year old son, Romeo Montague, a human boy with bright blue eyes and blonde hair.

Tybalt threatened that he was going to hurt the kid if he came any closer, and instead Romeo suggested that if he is looking for food he should take the biscuits that they have at the back of the pantry. Tybalt hesitantly went further into the pantry to grab the biscuits, giving Romeo enough time to push the doors closed and lock him inside. Romeo immediately ran upstairs and called his parents to come down and see the kid in the pantry, his parents definitely thought he was making up some kind of imaginary friend until they heard angry yelling from behind the doors in the kitchen. 

Eventually the couple, Lorenzo and Helena Montague, sat Tybalt down and asked him about himself and why he was stealing from their pantry. With a bit of probing he told them that he lived on the streets and almost against his will Tybalt was given a bedroom to stay in and one day turned into a week. Before long Tybalt had a new family. 

Lorenzo and Helena Montague (Art by me) 

Teenage Romeo Montague (Art by me)

Growing up with his first ever friend, Romeo and Tybalt would get up to so many things together. They would spend their time pulling pranks, running away from lessons and throwing their tabaxi friend Antonio (Against his will) off the balcony to see him land on his feet (The tabaxi friend’s full name is Antonio Banderas). 

During their teenage years, Tybalt realised that his feelings for Romeo were beyond friendship and he developed a very deep, long standing crush for his best friend. He’d write poems and songs about his angst, about how much he loved him and how he was always chasing girls and never looked at him that way. 

Adult Romeo Montague and Antonio Banderas (Art by @lulii999​)

A TERRIBLE STORM 

By the time Tybalt was 21 and Romeo was 19, Romeo had started working for the family business in the merchant trade and Tybalt worked full time as his personal bodyguard and right hand man. Things took a turn for the worse when they sailed out to a business meeting with a man called Lord Magnus Kraus, an extremely well known merchant sailor in charge of an armada of sailors known as the Magdolina. 

As Magnus controls a large portion of the trade routes between certain ports, it was vital that Romeo secure this business deal in order for the Montagues to open up further trade. During the times negotiations seemed to be going poorly, Tybalt was starting to be very wary of the way that Magnus was looking at Romeo. It was like he was some kind of creature in an exhibit, and in a way that was extremely sinister and sexual. As Romeo appeared to be completely oblivious to this Tybalt confronted Magnus alone and threatened him. 

Magnus was curious about Tybalt, and offered a deal, if Tybalt agreed to sleep with him, he would agree to the trade deal and he wouldn’t lay a hand on Romeo. Tybalt was stuck in an awful situation, he knew that if he refused Romeo could be in danger and the trade deal would completely fall apart. Magnus Kraus is an extremely powerful man and one bad word from him could run their whole business into the ground. He agreed, and the next night he showed up at Magnus’s quarters. 

That night Magnus sexually assaulted him and treated him more like a beast than a person, using ropes to restrain him and whips to beat him with. Calling him awful things and breaking him both physically and mentally. There was terrible thunder and lightning that night, and from this day on Tybalt has a fear of storms as it always reminds him of Magnus. When Tybalt thought it was over, Magnus ordered him to come again tomorrow night or the deal was off. 

Terrified, beaten and bruised, Tybalt did just that and the ordeal continued every night for the next week. He even lied to Romeo that he was going to do extra work for the Magdolina so Magnus could get Tybalt alone on his ship for another 2 weeks. When all of this was done Tybalt returned back to the Montagues and swore he’d never tell a soul what he’d been through. The new trade routes were going extremely well and his parents were over the moon at Romeo and Tybalt's successful trip. 

It was shortly after this that Romeo met a beautiful red haired woman called Juliet Capulet, and Tybalt watched the love of his life fall head over heels in love with someone else. Juliet was extremely smart and insightful, early on she could see how Tybalt felt for Romeo. She tried to confront him about it to say she wasn’t sorry for loving Romeo but was sorry about how it was affecting Tybalts feelings, but he continued to deny anything of the sort. 

A few years later Romeo and Juliet announced their engagement and asked Tybalt to be their best man.  On the night before the wedding, Tybalt couldn’t bear to ruin their day with his own heartbroken feelings. Without saying goodbye or even leaving a note, Tybalt fled Santiados and sailed away to Estredios across the sea. 

A SAILOR AT HEART

Heartbroken, and lost, he spent all of his savings on food, alcohol and plent of company. When he was properly broke he hopped on a boat and started working on the open ocean as a sailor. 

During his time is Estredios and at sea, Tybalt did what he knew best to escape his heartbreak. He flirted and slept with people to his heart’s content over the next 2 years, learning not to get too close with people to keep his heart safe. He made a few good sailor friends who managed to pull him out of his darkest times and allowed him to enjoy his time on the seas. His memories of his time on the ocean are some of his favourite, although it was tough work at times Tybalt felt truly at peace when he was aboard a ship. 

Wanting to explore beyond the sea, his escapades eventually lead him to arrive at the docks of Finras, a port town on the coast of the continent of Iona. And it was there in a tavern where he picked up a job to help find a dwarven woman’s missing father, and that’s where his adventure with the party began…..

Thank you so much for reading Tybalt’s backstory! I’ve been playing this dnd character for over a year now and he means so much to me. If you have any further questions feel free to send me an ask! I’d love to answer them.

[marblesphere]

I want happy ending😂, so I continued the one shot. The first part is on the link above this.

Xiao x reader part 2

*3rd Pov*

He finally found her, right in the middle of a flower patch. Xiao drops his spear. He quickly cradles [Your Name]'s body. Warmth quickly slipped away from her body. For the first time after the Archon's war he felt fear again. Lifting her, he quickly rushes back to the inn.

Verr Goldet quickly called for a doctor the moment Xiao showed up with badly injured [Your Name]. After putting her in the care of Verr Goldet. Xiao wastes no time to visit Zhongli. His Archon must have some kind of way to cure [Your Name].

The doctor shook his head, Verr Goldet clamps her mouth, his husband quickly catches her and lets her sit down in a chair.

"...You should clean her up and… we'll wait for Lord Xiao." Huai'an said.

"...How? Why? She is still so young…" Verr cried.

All Huai'an could do was comfort her without a word. After collecting herself, Verr cleaned up [Your Name]. She prays that Xiao will bring whoever that can cure her.

Not long after she finished, Xiao came back with Zhongli in tow. Zhongli takes a look at [Your Name] and shakes his head. Xiao is shaken. His whole body is trembling. Slowly he walks to the bed, caressing her cheek, his thumb swipes the part under her eyes and then her lips. How strange, she looks like she is just sleeping peacefully.

Once again, his karmic debt stole someone precious to him. He really can't take it anymore. The angry voices of his karmic debt are getting stronger and louder. Even though it was less painful when [Your Name] stayed by his side. "Foolish mortal…" He pressed his lips to her cold one as a tear slipped down from his eye.

"Wait.." something caught Zhongli's eyes. "Xiao, did you ever give something to her?" The Geo Archon asked.

"...I gave her an amulet and trinkets made from sage skill, to keep malicious intent away…" Xiao answered.

A small glowing light finally caught their attention. "...This is… the amulet I gave to her last year." Xiao said.

"...There is a way to save her now."

Xiao snaps his eyes to his Archon. His being is full of hope.

"...We need to turn her into an adeptus. She is not dead yet. Her soul hasn't completely left her body. But even so, the chance is small." Zhongli spoke out.

'Turn her to an adeptus and let her suffer from that very own immortality?!' His mind is reeling. Part of him doesn't want to turn her into an adeptus. Being an adeptus and attaining immortality is not as enjoyable as those foolish mortals thought to be. But another part of him doesn't want her to die.

"...Is there no other way?" Xiao finally uttered out.

"No. This is the only way. We also need to hurry. Right now part of her soul is inside that amulet. You subconsciously put a small piece of your soul there. That amulet is anchoring her soul. But this won't last long. We need to call for the other adepti to help if we are going to turn her into one." Zhongli said.

"....Understood." Xiao gritted his teeth. Even if after [Your Name] woke up and hated him for it. So be it. It's his fault in the first place, he shouldn't have softened up to her and rejected her from the start. It's all his fault that [Your Name] is in this condition.

Usually when someone is going to be an Adeptus, they will need to take a trial of earth and heaven. But there is another way to turn to an Adeptus without taking the trial. Of course the risk is way higher than the trial. You need to directly take some blood and a lot of energy from an Adeptus. It needs to be pure Adeptus, that's why Yanfei and Ganyu won't cut it. The most important factor is, the blood of the Adeptus has to be compatible with the human or the human will definitely die. Humans can't stand the power of adeptal energy, so they need the blood of an adeptus to mix in their body. With mixed blood, hopefully they can withstand it.

Xiao has called all available pure adepti. After listening to this side of their story. Most of them won't agree to this risky method. Not only the receiver will be damaged even the giver would be too. And there's also the blood compatibility thing.

"I will do it." Xiao said. "I will be the one to give her the blood and energy. All of you just need to give your energy to me. I will convert it to mine and transfer it to her. I will be the one to bear all the burden." Xiao said.

"Have you gone mad, Conqueror of Demon? You are sacrificing yourself to a mere mortal girl?!" Mountain Sharper ridiculed. Never in a million years will they hear the cold blooded Conqueror of Demon willingly sacrifice everything just for a single mortal girl.

"She is not a mere mortal." Xiao hissed.

"Indeed. What kind of mere mortal girl she is, if she can withstand the prolonged interaction with an adeptus." Zhongli chuckled. "And even managed to open the heart of the vigilant yaksha. Which even us adepti couldn't do in our lifetimes."

"...Indeed. From this aspect, she really is not qualified as a mere mortal girl." Cloud Retainer chuckled.

"...It's not like there's no human become an adeptus in the past. Rex Lapis has spoken. We just need to follow it…. And, I am curious how this will end?" Moon craver said.

"Hohoho...Of course it will turn out to be alright. [Your Name] is a gentle child. I am sure all of this will turn out to be alright. You have my full support, Conqueror of Demons." Granny Ping laughed.

The softly glowing amulet starts shining brightly, as if it has been listening to them. It suddenly broke and a glowing sphere entered [Your Name]'s body. Xiao quickly cradles her body to his. He can feel the warmth of the body now.

"Quick! The soul has returned to the body. It will leave soon if we don't do anything." Zhongli instructed.

Xiao bites his wrist, fresh blood quickly flows and drips down to the white mattress. He takes a gulp of his own blood and feeds it to her. After making sure [Your Name] gulped it down. He starts transferring his adeptal energy. [Your Name]'s body starts glowing as it is enveloped by Xiao's adeptal energy. It seems like they are compatible to each other. Granny Ping is the first one to support Xiao by giving him her energy. The rest followed soon.

*1st Pov*

"~~~♪ ~~~ ♪" I hummed the tune as I weaved the flower crown. The smell of Qingxin is really calming. Right now, I am in the middle of the Qingxin flower field, making a flower crown for Xiao. "Finished." I giggled.

"What are you making?" An amused voice of Xiao asked.

"Flower crown!" I exclaimed happily. "Here." I stretched out my hands. Xiao bends down and lets me put the crown on his head. "So pretty." I cooed.

"You are the lovely one." He caressed my cheek using his thumb and then put a crystalfly on my hair. He takes his seat beside me. I lean against him as he loops his hand around my shoulder and stroking my head gently. Just like this, the two of us in this world are the happiest. His skillful hand is really putting me to sleep. He seems to notice me dozing off. "Sleep." And I feel a feather light kiss on the crown of my forehead.

When I woke up. I am in Wangshu inn. The moon is already hanging on the curtain of the night sky. I see Xiao is just looking at the scenery from the balcony. "Xiao…" I called.

"You have awoken." His eyes softened. I join him in stargazing, cozily trapped in his arms. He rests his head on my shoulder.

"~~~♪ ~~~ ♪" I started humming that tune again.

"[Your Name]" He whispered softly.

"Hm?" I closed my eyes, just relishing the fact we are enjoying each other's presence.

"....You should wake up."

My whole body freezes. I turn to look at him. His gaze, full of tender loving and hint of sadness. Xiao tucks a strand of loose hair to my ear. "...Xiao...I…don't want to..." I shook my head.

"[Your Name]... You already know the truth of this world." He pressed my head against his chest. I didn't say anything. I don't want to say anything. "...I am waiting for you."

"...No...you are not…" I clenched my hand.

"I am. You just need to wake up and everything will be alright." He coaxed gently.

"Xiao… already has someone dear to him…. It's not...me." I mumbled.

"Silly mortal. You know that's not true." He chuckled, his chest rumbled, sending a pleasant feeling to me.

"It's true." I puffed my cheeks.

"It's not." He rolled his eyes. "You shouldn't jump to conclusions too quickly." He poked my forehead.

"I...I…But, I have investigated her. She is perfect. Everyone sings praise to her whenever I ask." I sulked.

"That's the problem."

"Problem?" I blinked.

"She is too perfect, almost abnormally so. There's no speck of dust on her. Even adepti are not as perfect as her." Xiao said.

"...Then, what did she do to them? She is just a normal girl. She didn't do anything extraordinary…" I blinked.

"That's why you have to wake up. I have a feeling, "I" know the reason."

"Why can't you just tell me right now?" I whined, shaking his sleeve like a brat.

"Because, if I did. You won't wake up anymore." He rolled his eyes. "Or, do you hate me now?" Xiao cupped my cheek, making me stare at his piercing gaze.

*poof* I blush at the close proximity and bury my face in his chest. "...Not fair…" I grumbled. "You know well I yearn for you. I could never hate you." My voice is muffled.

"I know. After all, this is the world you created." Xiao wrapped his hands around me. "I am but a piece of soul that slipped into the amulet. Go forth. "I" will answer everything you want to ask. Do not be afraid. "I" treasure you more than you know." His voice echoed as I felt a kiss on the crown on my head. The scenery faded, leaving me alone in the darkness.

"How do I wake up?!" I yelled.

""I" am calling for you." His voice faded.

A loud inhuman screech caught my attention. I turn my body. There, standing in front of me is a majestic gigantic bird. "...A phoenix…" I murmured.

The bird of an ancient legend. It's said to be able to reraise itself from the ashes of its predecessor. The majestic bird screeches one more time and lowers itself to me. As if beckoning me to come over. His golden eyes never leave mine. "...I see… It's you." My feet automatically walked toward it. I stretch out my hand and the bird leans its neck to me. I wrap my hands around it as its wings envelop me.

*3rd Pov*

3 days. It has been 3 days since the ritual. Zhongli has told him the ritual is a success. Right now, [Your Name] is only sleeping. As to why and when she will wake up. Not even the Geo Archon knows. All Xiao can do is wait. He never knew waiting was this painful. Not even when he was battling his karmic debt is this painful.

For the second time in his lifetime, he is glad he doesn't need to sleep. The first time is when he is having nightmares. Not needing sleep is quite a solution on its own. And right now, he can keep guarding her, without letting any detail be missed out. His hand on her. He is praying to whatever deity out there, just so she can open her eyes again.

"Adeptus Xiao…" A soft voice called. Xiao frowns when he hears that voice.

"What are you doing here?" His voice was cold without any emotion.

"I…" Yue Mei opened her mouth, but she couldn't say anything. Don't be so cold to me? She should have known what caused this.

"That charm won't work on me anymore." He growled. He really is holding back his anger. That mortal is still Liyue's citizen.

Her eyes widened at his claim. 'He knows.' She trembled. She finally realized how terrifying the vigilant yaksha is. But the previous image of him is still overlapping now. "I.. I love you.." She blurted out.

"You...love me…?" He turned to her, piercing gold eyes meeting trembling toffee colored doe eyes. "You used charm to bewitch me and have the guts to confess your false affection to me." He snarled as he took each step to her.

Yue Mei flinches and takes a step back each time he advances, until her back hits the wall. Xiao stops 4 steps away from her. He is disgusted, he doesn't even want to breathe the same air as her. Then he remembered his actions for the past one month. He groaned inwardly, he felt dirty. This girl is really a troublesome mortal.

"Disappear. Don't show yourself in front of me anymore." He turned his back to her. "You better dispose of that charm. It might work right now, but it won't work forever."

"Then… tell me. What should I do to obtain your love." She cried, collapsing on the floor.

"Nothing…" Xiao turned his back to her, walking back to the bed.

"What?"

"You didn't need to do anything. Because even if you sacrifice everything to me, I still won't look at you." Xiao continued to sit beside [Your Name], using his thumb to trace a circle on her hand.

"Please… don't leave me alone."

"You seems to still not waking up from your dream. The one you love," He quoted. " is the charmed version of me. You only need the nice version of me. Not me entirely."

"It's not true… I…"

*1st Pov*

"...Xiao…" I called softly, surprised at how hoarse my voice is. My mouth feels like I have eaten iron. So disgusting.

"[Your Name]" Xiao hugged me, though making sure not to be too tight. I can feel soreness all over my body. I notice the perfect girl on her knees crying from the corner of my eyes.

"Ummm…" 'Did I wake at the wrong timing? Great job [Your Name], you really have a knack for timing the bad timing.' "...Xiao… can I have water…?" I blinked.

"I will get it from Verr Goldet." He said as he disappeared in a breeze.

"....Um… Miss Yue Mei… are you okay…?" I asked tentatively. I mean having my love rival on the floor crying is not something I expect to see when I wake up. And I do know something is different about me. With those kinds of injuries, I should have never survived.

"...Tell me… why are you not afraid of vigilant yaksha?" She asked.

"...?" I titled my head not understanding her question. "Why should I be afraid of Xiao?" I blinked.

"He is not...as gentle as I imagined to be." She answered.

"If you are talking about how he scares people, then yep, Xiao is borderline rude actually. I mean, he didn't show up at all for the very first month after our meeting. Even though I kept waiting for him. But, Xiao is gentle. Because of his gentleness, that's why he put on a cold exterior. It's all to protect us." I smiled remembering the memory.

"...Do you love him that much? Even though he can kill you in a heartbeat?"

"Yes. I love him the most. If by chance he killed me, then there must be a reason. So, I will stay around as a ghost to find out then." I giggled.

"I will never hurt you." Xiao said as he appeared with a water pitcher and a glass. He hands me a glass of water.

"I know." I answered after I took a sip.

"If by chance, I will hurt you in the slightest… I would rather…"

"You can't kill yourself, okay. If you did. I will kill myself too. In a world without you is the same as death. I don't have anymore to lose in this world. If you are gone. I will follow you."

"You can't!!"

"I can. That's why you have to live." I said.

"You are impossible." He murmured.

"I know. You have told me a lot of times. You also said I am clumsy, an idiot, a foolish mortal, foolish child, snotty brat, stubborn human and…"

"Stop. You don't need to say anymore." He groaned. "You need to rest." He laid me down on the bed.

"Eh? But I…" I protested.

"Rest." He commanded.

"....yes…" I sulked.

The two of us realized there is still one more person in this room when we heard a giggle.

"I see… I finally understood the words that Adeptus told me." She wiped her tears. "Adeptus Xiao, I am sorry for my unsightly behavior." She bowed. "And this… I don't need it anymore. Please tell me how to dispose of this." A charm rested on her palm.

"Just burn it." He huffed.

"Understood. Then...ummm...Miss please get well soon." She smiled and then she exited the room.

"Xiao…" I looked at him.

"Rest."

"...I want to know how I am still alive." I said quietly.

"...I… will tell you tomorrow." He refused to look at me.

"Xiao…" I struggled to sit up. I cupped his cheeks using my hands. "No matter what you do. I am sure you have your reason. Please tell me. I won't hate you. In fact right now, I am grateful I am still alive and can see you." I smiled.

"I… turn you to adeptus…" He whispered, his golden eyes refusing to look at me.

"Adeptus? I thought humans have to take the trials of heaven and earth to become an adeptus." I blinked.

"You...were half dead when I brought you here." He said shakily as if the unpleasant memories surfaced. "Zhongli-dono tells me the only way to save you is to turn you into an adeptus. There is another way aside from taking the trial of earth and heaven. You need pure adeptus blood in your body and pure adeptal energy being pumped to you. I gave my blood and my energy to you. The other adepti help too. They transferred their energy to me and after I converted it, I gave it to you." He said.

I felt a jolt of worry when I heard that. "Are you fine now? Have you recovered your adeptal energy? What should I do to help you recover?" I fired a barrage of questions.

"I am fine. I have recovered. There is no need to worry about me." Xiao grabbed my hand on his cheek and placed a kiss on my pulse.

I feel my pulse quicken as blush coats my cheeks. "You really are weird. You are fine when you approach me by yourself. But everytime I take initiative, you become embarrassed. How cute." The vigilant yaksha is no more, right now in front of me there is only the devious yaksha.

"X...Xiao…" my eyes darted nervously.

"Hm?" He hummed as he placed another kiss on the side of my neck. My breath hitches, I can clearly feel his mouth curls to a smirk.

Then, I heard a gasp that was not mine.

"Hohoho, as I thought. Everything will turn out to be alright." Granny Ping laughed.

I push Xiao away and voila, Granny Ping and other adepti including Zhongli and Ganyu are standing on the entrance. Ganyu is peeking from the gap between her hands.

"I take it you are alright now." Cloud retainer said.

"Y-yes. Thank you for checking me up." I bowed, my voice was clearly too high pitched.

"Hohoho. I am glad you are alright. It seems there are no complications. We should take our leave and leave youngsters on their own devices." Granny Ping laughed.

"...Xiao… don't go too hard on her. She is still recovering. Ah… this is youth." Zhongli spoke like a true old man.

Our faces combust to flames. The adepti quickly dismiss themselves, leaving only the two of us. The atmosphere has turned awkward.

"I will let you rest." Xiao said.

I grabbed his sleeve before he could disappear. "Stay. I… have something I want to talk about."

Xiao sits on the edge of the bed. I clench and unclench my fist on his sleeve. "Xiao… what happened… with Miss Yue Mei?" I asked. "I want to know the truth."

Xiao sighs. "She wore a charm made by adepti. That charm has the power to attract people. The downside of that charm is, it becomes useless if it were known to other people. I...was bewitched by it too. That's why…" He gulped.

"...I see…" A weight I didn't know I have seems to be gone now. "I see…. I thought… I thought you prefer her more than me."

"Foolish mortal." He rolled his eyes. "I will never leave you, [Your Name]. Not now, not ever. I will stay by your side, until you don't need me anymore." He pressed a kiss to my forehead.

"Then, you will have to stay by my side forever. Because, I won't get tired of you." I smiled cheekily.

"I know." He leaned in and closed the gap between us. The kiss is short and sweet. He groans a little after he pulls back.

"...Did I do something wrong?" Now I am worried, I...have never kissed someone. I might be not doing it correctly.

"...No." He put his head on my shoulder. "I don't think I can wait for you to fully recover before I start carving for you." His arms tightened around my waist.

"Xia...nnnn…" I clamped my mouth shut when I felt him nipping my neck.

"[Your Name]..." He murmured, his hot breath is fanning my neck. "You are making it harder to resist." He mumbled as he dragged me down back to the bed. He slips in the cover with me. His arm wraps securely around me. "Sleep."

"Xiao…" I called as my sleepiness started to kick in.

"Hm?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, [Your Name]."

Omake

The moon is illuminating a certain room in Wangshu inn.

"Xiao….what happened to my amulet?" I blinked when I noticed my empty neck.

"It broke." He deadpanned.

"Broke…?" Tears drip down to the mattress.

"W-why are you crying? Don't cry." The panicked yaksha tried to calm me down.

"...rry…"

"Eh?"

"Sorry, I broke it. Even though it's a gift from you." I hiccuped.

"...haahh.." He sighed. "I can just make it again. There's no need to cry." Xiao wiped my tears.

"But, it has a piece of your soul. When I wear it, I feel you are always with me."

"...You have me here, yet you are crying for a piece of soul." He let out a low growl.

"It's not just a piece of soul. It's a piece of your soul." I protested.

"...I will stay with you. You don't need it anymore."

"But, I want it. What if you can't be with me. At least, I will have the amulet accompanying me everywhere I go." I mumbled.

"Everywhere you go?" He raised his brow.

"Yes. Everywhere….I...go…" *poof* A not so innocent thought just passed through my mind.

"What did you think about [Your Name]? The smirk came back. The devious yaksha has come back. Xiao leans so close, that I keep leaning back until I fall down to the mattress. Xiao traps me using his body. I can clearly smell Qingxin from him. My eyes darted around, trying to find a nonexistent escape. And part of me didn't really want to escape.

'So close!!!'

Xiao suddenly leans to my exposed neck. "Xiao...what are you-!!!!" I feel a small sting on my neck, before something wet is lapping on the spot. 'X….Xiao bit me…?' I am sure my face right now is the same as a tomato, my eyes swirling.

"[Your Name]." He breathed out.

"Xiao….nnnnn…." He pulled me to a dizzying deep kiss. His wet muscle quickly establishes dominance in my cavern. I fist his top so hard that I am sure it is crumpled. When he pulled back, I was still not processing it. My head is still dizzy from the kiss, mouth panting, and the mixed drool on the side of my mouth.

"...Irresistible." He wiped the drool on my mouth. He pressed a kiss on my forehead. "Today, I will let you go. Remember, when you recover, I just have to show you how much you don't need that amulet anymore." He smirked.

The blush that has finally faded away, comes back at full force.

[ladyeliot]

Strawberry shortcake

Valentine’s Day (Prompts)

Request:  @imerdwarf​ Ooooh I love your valentine's Day prompts! May I send in a request with dialogue #5 please for Bucky x Reader? I don't mind if you write smut or fluff 💜 thank you so much my dear friend 💜

“I’m your husband; I’m your automatic valentine.”

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female Reader

Summary:  In a completely alternate universe, you and Bucky are an unusually quirky, but completely happy couple set in the 1940s, but nothing is as it seems.

Warnings: 40s. Parallel Universe, Fluff.

Word count: 2858

A/N: Inspired by WandaVision. Sorry for my spelling and grammatical mistakes, English is not my native language, I am learning.

It is known that some people live in a world of dreams, while others prefer to face reality as it presents itself to us; then there is you, who has turned your own reality into a dream.

A dim flame adorned the room from the centre of the table, making warm lights clash against the shadows. Duke Ellington set the melody to that Friday evening, while a sweet aroma of turkey confit wafted from the little nooks and crannies of the oven, drifting out of the kitchen and into every room. The ticking of the wall clock informed you that time was not standing still and that it was getting closer and closer to your arrival. You had taken your time to organise yourself, there was nothing you were better at and even more so when such an important day was about to arrive. You had bought flowers to welcome her into the hall, her favourite wine from the French vineyards and that perfume for you that you knew would melt as she approached to kiss you.

That day was no ordinary day, a red circle was surrounding that 14th of February and although you still hadn't figured out why, there must have been something special about it, that's why you had put your hands to work so that everything would turn out exquisitely. You knew that your husband would arrive tired from work, that that car company would leave him exhausted at the end of the week, but as a good wife you had been foresighted with everything. You wanted him to leave all the worries and problems behind and for that night to be as special as possible, and for that you had to radiate beauty. But maybe there was something else, to be honest you weren't a housewife like any other, that organisation was your forte didn't mean that you knew how to cook, how to keep a house and you were attentive to the care that a traditional husband needed, because neither you nor Bucky were what they call 'traditional'. But for one day in your life you wanted to try to be.

You had every corner of the kitchen under scrutiny, the orange sauce prepared, the potatoes cooked, the strawberry shortcake in the fridge and the turkey slowly cooking in the oven. You were able to nod to yourself and give yourself a smile of satisfaction that you had managed to complete each of those tasks without having to ask for outside help. You took off your apron, you knew it was the perfect time to do the finishing touches before your husband would be home in half an hour. You went upstairs to put the red lipstick on your lips and treat your earlobes to the earrings Bucky had given you for your birthday, you stood thoughtfully staring at yourself in the mirror, it was strange you could barely remember where you went to celebrate.

A roar from outside brought you out of your thoughts for a moment, you knew that sound, it was the engine of Bucky's car. Time had finally caught up with you, you slipped your slender feet into your high heels and sped down the stairs. His figure was visible through the translucent glass of the front door and when the door opened you raised your arms and gave him one of your broadest smiles, standing in the middle of the stairs.

"Good evening dear," you exclaimed in a sweet melody, continuing to pause on the fifth step. "How was your day?

Unlike you, Bucky's facial expression was rather more subdued, as he just looked at you without any encouragement, closed the door behind him and left the briefcase on the floor. In spite of your attitude your spirits hardly waned, and as you had intended, like a good wife you approached him to take his coat and scarf in your arms and give him the pleasure of kissing your lips.

"Is something the matter?" he frowned, letting himself take off his coat.

"Not at all. I'm just giving my husband the welcome he deserves," you argued, kissing his cheek, making Bucky smile in surprise at your behaviour.

"Interesting," he stood there watching you place his belongings on the coat rack in the hall. "Have you cooked?"

"Exactly," you affirmed, offering him passage to the lounge so he could make himself comfortable in the armchair nearest the fireplace, which was alight. "Turkey confit with orange sauce and strawberry shortcake. A glass of wine?"

"Is this about anything in particular?" he asked again after getting her to take a seat. "Am I forgetting something? Because if so, I beg your pardon, darling."

On the one hand you were surprised that he didn't know what that red circle denoted around the number 14 on the kitchen wall calendar either, but on the other you assumed he must have too much on his mind to focus on it. Still, you set out to celebrate in the most special way that night, so that whatever that mark meant, it would be a success.

"I don't think we have to celebrate anything in particular for me to want to cook dinner and help you get rid of work problems," you offered him the glass of wine and sat on the armrest. "I guess that's what you usually do."

"Then I have nothing more to say," Bucky set the wine glass down on a small table next to the couch and wrapped his arms around you causing you to fall on top of him.

The laughter of the two of you projected through you and crashed against the four walls. You were lying in his lap, which made it easier for your gaze to bring his face close to yours and offer you a warm, soft kiss on your lips, taking in much of the reddish lipstick you had just put on.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered for the millisecond he pulled away from you before returning to kiss you again.

The surroundings helped to create such a homely atmosphere, the Duke Ellington solos from the record player, the lights and shadows coming from the fire in the fireplace, the smell of the turkey confit coming from the oven...

"Shit!" you suddenly broke away from Bucky, trying to get up a little clumsily from the armchair to run towards the kitchen, where a smell of burning was coming from.

"What's going on?" Bucky followed you at high speed, stopping your hand that was going to open the oven to do it himself.

When that door opened a greyish smoke invaded the room, taking over as far as your eyes could see. Your emotions ebbed in that instant, accompanied by an insufferable moan of agony. Bucky took over the opening of the windows, allowing the smoke to fade away. You slumped over the counter, all the work of that afternoon had been for nothing, on the contrary, now you barely had anything for dinner. Light laughter came from inside your husband who stood beside you with his hands on his hips watching you.

"I'm not amused," you said, folding your arms as you stared at her lips stained with her lipstick. "I've been working so hard to make something decent for dinner tonight for when you got home. I had it all prepared, I wanted to surprise you and now it's all gone to waste."

"Sorry dear," Bucky stopped his laughter but a smile was still present on his face. He approached you and took your face in his hands. "I don't want you to do all this for me, but I really appreciate it. You know I'm happy with anything, as long as I share it with you. I don't need any of this."

"I know, but today is a special day and I wanted to do something special," you pointed to the calendar, a place where Bucky's eyes landed without taking his hands away from your face.

"I knew I was forgetting something," he whispered to himself and looked back up at you. "You may want to kill me after this question, but what are we celebrating today?"

You brought your hands to his and caressed them, your mind was really blank, you didn't have an answer to his question. You knew it wasn't either of your birthdays, you didn't really remember what day your birthday was, which was a little unsettling for you, but you knew it wasn't your birthday. It wasn't your anniversary either, nor were you pregnant enough to celebrate, there was no promotion at work, nor had you met anyone for lunch or dinner, as sadly you had just moved to that neighbourhood and had no friends. So what could that mark on the calendar symbolise?

"I don't know!" you exclaimed, completely frustrated at the situation. "I thought you would know, I've been preparing for this day all week and I don't know why. I didn't want to ask you because you would think I would have forgotten something important."

Bucky lowered his hands to your shoulders in an attempt to relax you, while his face wore a thoughtful expression, trying to figure out what day it was.

"Maybe..." he said with a blank stare. "No, I don't remember what we're celebrating today." A groan of exhaustion came from inside you. "But it doesn't matter darling, the important thing is that we're together, we have a delicious strawberry shortcake for us, a bottle of wine and Duke Ellington. What more could we ask for?"

You didn't know how but he always managed to make you feel as if you were the luckiest person in the universe, just having those blue eyes looking at you as if you were his life, made him your life. You stood on tiptoe, reaching up to his lips and trapping them between yours, wrapping your arms around his neck and deepening the kiss.

"I love you," you mumbled still with your eyes closed.

"I love you more," he kissed your lips softly again, wrapping his arms around your waist, pulling you close to him tightly and lifting you off the ground. "And now, let's have dinner."

He reached out his right arm, opening the refrigerator door to pull out the homemade strawberry shortcake you had prepared. You had to admit that at first glance it looked very good, you had done a great job in that regard, the problem was that you had tasted it during its preparation and the appearance didn't account for the taste, it had turned out too bland to become the main course. You had hoped that Bucky had lost all appetite with the unsuspecting turkey so he wouldn't want to try the pie, but things hadn't gone as planned.

"It looks great, my dear," he said, slipping a finger inside and popping it into his mouth, you frowned in anticipation of his approval. "And... it's really exquisite."

"Oh, please," you added almost with a chuckle, "it's awful, I know, I've been so dry and clueless. I'm such a mess."

"No!" he exclaimed sticking his finger back into the cake. "It's scrumptious darling, I promise."

You cocked your head to the side watching as Bucky was eating practically the entire cake in front of you, just to please you and make you feel no worse than you already did. That image you knew was going to stick in your memory, your husband with his face covered in strawberry jam, red lipstick around his mouth and his hands all smeared, smiling at you. You couldn't help but laugh, which caused him to pause as he sucked on his fingers.

"What are you laughing at?" he asked with a grin.

"At your face, it's a mess."

"My face?" he pointed to his face and then reached up to march your strawberry jam cheek."Whoops!"

"No!" You exclaimed taking a step backwards in laughter, you reached your hands out towards him, in a vain attempt to stop him, as he counterattacked again. "Buck! Hold still."

"Now who's face is a mess?" he asked cornering you in between the countertop and his body, in an attempt to make a Picasso on your face.

His attempts to turn your face into a work of art stopped and you were able to open your eyes again to watch him, playfully reaching out your tongue to taste the jam that was smeared across his cheek, causing a half smile to take over his features.

"You were really right, it is exquisite," you said, unconsciously biting your lower lip.

"I told you so," he whispered repeating your movement, licking your nose very slowly, and then placing a kiss on your lips.

As if on cue, the front doorbell rang, interrupting the moment of intimacy you had forged in the kitchen and bringing strawberry jam into the room. Strangely you both looked in the direction of the front door, wondering if you were expecting a visit from someone in particular. Bucky broke away from you and turned with the intention of opening the door.

"Honey!" you exclaimed after him, approaching him with extreme speed with a napkin in your hands to clean up the mess you had both created on his face.

"Thank you," he kissed you again and placed his hand on the doorknob to open the door.

The situation was that the gesture he brought was quite peculiar, you were standing next to your husband, flashing your sweetest smile, which was instantly wiped away when that door showed you two figures even more smiling than you.

"Happy Valentine's Day from the Pierces!" exclaimed an ostentatiously dressed woman in a pink dress. "We're sorry to disturb you at this hour, I'm Susan, and this is my husband Alexander. We've organised a small barbecue for the nearest neighbours, and we wanted to invite you to join us for dinner, so we can get to know each other once and for all," she looked you up and down with a tiny giggle. "If you're not busy, of course."

They were a rather peculiar pair at first glance, or so it seemed to you, though seen from the outside at the time you and Bucky weren't exactly the most ordinary thing in the neighbourhood either. Your prejudices marked that Susan looked like the neighbourhood gossipy neighbour who offered a smile to your face but then behind your back criticised any move you made, on the contrary Alexander had a rather funny moustache and seemed to be terrified of his wife, what caught your attention the most was a distinctive pin on his jacket lapel that read 'HYDRA'.

"Of course!" you exclaimed with a slightly unfounded tone. "We'd be delighted to attend, I was just talking to my husband today about how much we were looking forward to meeting the neighbours if only they were half as charming as the neighbourhood."

"You'll see we're all one big family," Susan replied, taking your hand in hers. "Well, I'll see you now. The others will be delighted when I let them know you're coming."

After several comments and a long goodbye, the door closed behind you, causing your features to return to their normal state. Bucky watched you with a raised eyebrow, waiting for a response to the strange attitude you had just maintained a few seconds before, but you only gave him a half-smile.

"So Valentine's Day?" you said, walking into the living room, where the LP had ended but the needle was still spinning. "How could we forget something like that?"

Bucky wrapped his arms around your waist and you did the same by wrapping yours around his neck, dancing to the sound of silence.

"Maybe because Valentine's Day is every day for us?" he said moving closer to your lips but not quite touching them.

"Good point," you affirmed, brushing his nose with yours.

But at that moment the discovery that you had forgotten Valentine's Day was a tremendous disappointment inside you, compounded by how disastrous the dinner had turned out.

"So, even though I'm a little late... will you be my valentine?" a wide smile that reminded your husband of childlike innocence fell across your face.

"Darling, I'm your husband; I'm your automatic valentine." he closed the distance to your lips. "And I'll remain so for the rest of your life."

The depth of the kiss deepened, adding gentle brushes between your tongues, rediscovering again and again what your taste was, until Bucky suddenly broke away.

"Wait, do we really have to go to that barbecue?" he whispered in disgust at the thought.

"I think we're in control of our lives," you narrowed your eyes with a smile, "so we can do as we please."

Taglist Open (DM)

MAIN MASTERLIST

[imaginesmai]

Arvin Russell - Bad feeling

Requested by an anon, here it goes! I tried my best, hope you like ❤ Third time I post this, I swear I’m gonna burn Tumblr

Plot: Arvin is worried about Lenora, so he goes to you for advice. You don’t get too far before tragedy strikes the Russell house.

Warnings: SPOILERS OF TDATT, IF YOU DON’T THEM STOP READING THE WARNINGS AND THE FIC, that scene of Lenora’s death.

“So it’s just – throwing up? Nothing else?”

Arvin shook his head as he hid his hands in his denim jacket’s pockets. Looking around as if someone would suddenly pop out of the bushes, he confirmed that Lenora was just throwing up and complaining about feeling a bit bad at the stomach. You knew he hoped you could tell him the solution, even if you hadn’t seen the girl since she started feeling sick. No one had, because she had started feeling that way just before church, and Arvin had been the only one talking with her.

With the vague explanation he was giving you, you had a bunch of possibilities. Being the doctor’s daughter had its good things, like you could help as much as your father. You hadn’t gone to school, as your father had home-schooled you since you were four. So it was normal that Arvin had come to you about the problem with his step sister, who was his whole world and happiness.

“I don’t know, Arv. It could be a stomach bug, or maybe she’s coming down with the flu” you gave him a small smile, trying to cheer him up. “From what you’re saying it’s probably nothing, don’t worry”

“Nah, it’s somethin’. She’s been acting all strange lately, and she don’t wanna tell me bout it” Arvin scoffed.

“Maybe she found out what happened with those boys, and is processing it”

A laughing kid passed by running, followed by her older sister and his cousin. Arvin stood quiet until they were far away. He was trying to keep his voice down, because he didn’t want the whole town knowing about Lenora. The small graveyard before starting the Sunday’s mass wasn’t the best place to avoid it, but he couldn’t wait no longer.

“She already knows, it’s not that”

“Arvin” you placed a gentle hand on his chin, meeting his worried eyes. “I’m sure it’s just some teenage drama. Do you want me to visit her after the lecture?”

“Your daddy won’ mind?”

To erase his doubts, you briefly pressed your lips against his, and he finally relaxed. Everyone ran to the church a moment after, the preacher finally appearing. Grabbing his hand, you dragged him with you into the temple, choosing a bench in the end since the one his family had chosen was already full.

You didn’t have to look at him to know that he was over worrying things. Not only because he couldn’t stand the sight of the preacher because of what he did to his grandma, but because it didn’t matter how many times you assured him how Lenora was fine; he would still worry, that was who he was.

Arvin Russell and you met when you were just kids, kids who didn’t have many friends. You were well known for everyone, but couldn’t say a word without stuttering and only your father had enough patience to listen to what you had to say. Arvin was new to Knockemstiff, his parents dead. He was a shy boy too, who only talked with his step sister. After his grandma asked your father for help, he said the boy didn’t have anything wrong; just a huge trauma. So he gave you the task to talk to him and befriend the new boy, who turned out to be as patient as your father.

Since then, it was rare to see you without the other. You had started dating after he dropped out of highschool, and now you were saving for, when the right moment came, moving in together.

During the lecture, Arvin’s hand, trapped between yours, twitched uncomfortable. He shifted on his seat a few times, earning some glances from the surroundings. You tried to whisper him that he didn’t have to worry so much, but he didn’t listen to you; if anything, he seemed ready to run out of the church. He managed to wait until the preacher said you could leave in peace, and even let you say goodbye to your dad.

The good man just smiled at you and told you to be careful, asking if he was meeting you for lunch. Arvin, who was shaking on his feet, shook his head, so you told him you were grabbing something outside. Once in the car, Arvin drove past all the traffic signals in town.

“I hope they don’t have to scrape my body from the road” you chuckled nervously, and Arvin lowered the speed.

“Sorry darlin’. I’m just – ‘ave a bad feeling bout it”

“You know that she’ll grow up some day, right?” you moved from your seat, closer to him. “She’s gonna have kids, and a husband, and you’re gonna have to sit through family dinner without threats”

“Still a long way there”

“Oh, not so long” you tried to pry something from him that wasn’t worry. “Haven’t you seen the soft smile she has been carrying around? Bet she has someone in her head”

“She doesn’t – Lenora ain’t like that” he scoffed, finally driving in an acceptable speed. “She’s… uh, she’s Lenora. She doesn’t –“

“What? Get crushes and think about boys? You know that she’s turning fifteen in two months, right?”

“Not if I don’ think bout it”

The ghost of a smile appeared in Arvin’s face, and you high fived yourself. He always looked beautiful when he genuinely smiled, not in one of those usual frowns that he always carried around. To you, he looked younger and happier, and made a fuzzy feeling appear in the middle of your chest.

“You asked me out when I was fourteen, and one year later –“

“I’m fuckin’ throwin’ you out the road now” he cut you off, sneaking a glance at you. “Lenora is datin’ no boys”

“And does she know or are you planning on scare all of them away?”

“I work fine by scarin’ them ‘way from you”

“But I only have eyes for certain Russell boy. She’s going to be more difficult”

Arvin finally gave you a belly laugh, and the sun shined brighter. You still had a few minutes in the car, which you filled by useless talk. He was insistent in treating you lunch, since you never accepted money for taking care of him or his family. Lunch with Arvin meant he had to work extra harder the next week to recover from whatever it took, but saying no meant him carrying you like a sack of potatoes to the café. You wouldn’t mind not eating anything, just a stroll around the woods with him was enough payment.

The conversation ended when the Russell’s house came into view. You let loose your seatbelt to reach in the back seat for you bag. It had the basics; some aspirins, bandages, alcohol, meds for the headache and the stomach, syringes and a thermometer. Arvin parked while you searched into it for the last object, that seemed to be buried deep down.

“I think I forgot the thermometer. You still have the one from your grandma?”

“You can look for it, I haven’ seen it” Arvin told you as he moved the car around.

“Damn, I hope she isn’t too –“

You didn’t finish your sentence as suddenly the car came into a stop and you were pushed forwards, with the bad luck of having your seatbelt off and slamming your head against the front part of the car. It left a throbbing pain in the middle of your forehead, a nasty bruise and some swelling in a few hours. Because you were too busy with the bag, you didn’t notice what made Arvin stop the car so suddenly.

The barn had its door open, something unusual since there were a few bad people who didn’t have problem in stealing from the humble houses. It let Arvin see what was inside, that turned out to be a bucket upside down. For a moment, he was ready to tell you to stay in the car or run to call for someone, take the gun for his father and search for any intruders. Then, he saw a body hanging from the ceiling and recognized Lenora’s dress.

He ran out of the car before fully stopping it, leaving you cradling your head. Your eyes lost focus for a solid second, everything turning blurry around and a feeling as if you were underwater. It was Arvin’s desperate scream that had you blinking yourself into the present.

“Y/N!”

The pure anguish on his voice made you stumble out of the car, your knees scraping with the rough floor when you couldn’t hold your balance. You held onto the vehicle until you saw what Arvin was screaming about. He had tears running down his cheeks, horrible sobs racking his body, that was shaking under Lenora’s weight.

You managed to get to him without falling again, messing with the end of the rope until it came loose. Lenora came crashing down on Arvin, who fell to the ground as his knees gave out. His whole body was shaking as he tried to sit right, cradling her head.

“Please, please” he cried out. “Lenora, wake up! Lenora!”

Prying the rope from her neck, you already knew the answer. There was a sickening blue bruise around her neck, with hints or purple. She didn’t move when you shifted her head and checked for a pulse.

Your fingers fell on flat skin.

-

There weren’t a lot of people in the backyard, not even the preacher, who had left shortly after the ceremony. The Russell expected him to stay for a bit longer, seeing the relationship between the young girl and him. He had been the only person who she talked out of her family, and they had been sure he was fond of her too. That came down quickly when he threw into the lecture that suicide was a coward way to go. Uncle Earskell had held Arvin the whole time, preventing him from throwing fists with the preacher; even if the man himself looked close to doing so.

Everyone left eventually, even your father, who had a business to attend. You hadn’t talked with Arvin since his grandma found you with Lenora’s body in the barn, but once your father left and said goodbye to the boy, you were forced to do so. You were dying to go home and lay in bed, sleeping off the throbbing feeling of the gash of your head. But Arvin had giving you a side glance, shy and pleading, and you told your father you would be meeting him later.

While they lowered the coffin, you stayed by Arvin’s side, eventually working your arm through his elbow in an attempt to comfort him. His grandma broke down and his uncle was quick to gather her into his arms, walking away so she could cry in peace. It was then just Arvin and you.

“I’m sorry, Arv” you whispered, rubbing his upper arm.

When your father, who had ran to the barn after being notified by a neighbour, confirmed what you already knew, you felt a crushing guilt it you. Maybe, if you hadn’t been so insistent in comforting Arvin you could have prevented it. Arvin always had a sixth sense to know when something was wrong before it actually happened. And you had ignored it.

“How’s your head?” he asked. You had never heard him sound so small unsure.

“Just a nasty bump and a small concussion. It’ll be healed in a few days”

“I didn’ meant for you to hit your head” Arvin confessed. “I’m so –“

“Hey, I don’t blame you” you turned around and looked up to his eyes. “No one does. What happened wasn’t your fault”

When tears rushed to his eyes you knew he had understood what you meant by it. He trapped you in a bear hug the next second, his whole body hiding between your arms. You shushed him when the first sob appeared, and then they appeared one by another.

Since you had found her in the barn, Arvin hadn’t cried. He had carried his body to the funeral’s parlour, had chosen the coffin when his grandma couldn’t even sit straight, and had put on a stone face through the ceremony. It was hard always being the strong one, to be so weary about everyone and never breaking down. He was glad he had you, so glad it only made him cry harder.

Grandma and his uncle went back to their house just before the sun came down, but you didn’t release Arvin. It was hard to explain how much he loved his sister, because everything he did or thought about was for her security.  

“Don’t leave me” Arvin suddenly said, making you go rigid with the express confession. “Please. Don’t – You’re the only thin’ I have left, and I can’t – I… I love you so much, that – “

“I love you too” you finished for him, the last sob breaking through. “And I’m not going anywhere. Not now or ever”

Arvin nodded against your shoulder a few times, interiorizing the words. The rational part of his brain that always worked before things happen, that was mildly drowned by the sorrow, was starting to understand that there was more about Lenora’s death to know that just a suicide. And he promised to himself, right there and then, that no one would ever take away another important person from him, not if he was around.

He wasn’t going to leave you either for as long as you had him.

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[feanorianethicsdepartment]

the last of my thoughts on the homecoming au, the au where maedhros and maglor are taken back to tirion at the end of the war of wrath and proceed to be relentlessly abused by elves more interested in them being ‘normal’ than happy. it’s pretty much exactly as dark as you’d expect from that description, lots of medical/caretaker abuse towards the mentally ill, just a horrible situation in general. one last time, @sunflowersupremes wrote the original au this is an extrapolation from, and @outofangband listened to me blather on about this for ages and contributed lots of ideas of their own. part 1 is here, part 2 is here. this the last part, it isn’t quite as intense as part 2, but it’s a lot more hopeless. also there’s some off-screen torture

on the first post i made about this au, i got some comments to the effect of ‘oh this will only last until person x bails them out’

there were several suggestions - fingon, nerdanel, any of the ainur. it seems like there are a lot of people who’d want to get maedhros and maglor out of this nightmare

seems. these aren’t necessarily my usual interpretations of their characters, but for the purposes of this au i can easily imagine a finrod who already bore a grudge over the whole letting-their-younger-brothers-steal-his-kingdom incident and subsequently heard the version of the nirnaeth where the fëanorians left everyone else to die. he is the only other person in the palace who knew beleriand, and he loathes them so viciously he can barely stand to look at them. they’re lucky he doesn’t do worse

i can easily imagine a nerdanel who was already having trouble processing what her husband and sons did at alqualondë when eärendil and elwing told her every awful thing they’d done since in the span of half an hour. she smashed all their statues, burned all their gifts, and curled up sobbing in a ruined house, wondering why she was such a terrible mother her children grew into demons

and this isn’t long after that, that wound is still fresh. whatever vain hopes she held that the boys she loved were somewhere in there are shattered when she sees them, and they’re talking and laughing just like they did when they were young

like nothing had happened. like nothing had changed. like the monsters had always been waiting patiently for their chance to strike

(they just didn’t want her to see the things they’d become)

i can easily imagine a fingon who is blazingly furious with maedhros over the later kinslayings. he spends most of their only meeting railing at maedhros, and the apologia his caretakers offer up only makes him angrier

so does the fact that maedhros won’t defend himself, won’t even raise his voice. does none of this matter to him? did it ever?

(it does. but maedhros knows what will happen if he yells at his cousin, and he is just so exhausted)

fingon is eventually asked to leave. maedhros’ minders tell him that if he can’t keep his temper around their patient, they’re going to have to cut off contact until maedhros is in a better mental state. fingon snaps that that’s just fine by him, and storms off into the city, trying to hold back his tears

the ainur, now, the ainur would definitely drag them out of the palace and haul them up to the máhanaxar. finarfin’s managed to get as much out of eönwë

what would happen to them after that, eönwë refuses to say. finarfin suspects he doesn’t know, and none of the valar will until they’ve had a chance to actually, like, hold a trial

even so, it becomes pretty obvious to finarfin fairly early on that the noldor simply can’t give the brothers the help they need. it’s plain to see that they’re very unhappy and they’re recovering slowly if at all. whatever the valar decide to do with them, odds are good they’d end up in some permutation of elf afterlife therapy, with well-practiced carers and the family they’ve lost. for their sake, and the sake of the people around them, handing them over to the valar would clearly be the best option

except finarfin doesn’t. he keeps his nephews in his palace, where they break things and make messes and generally give their caretakers constant headaches. when asked why, he always talks about the soul-deep terror on maglor’s face when he asked him not to give them to the valar

he’s not lying about that. but he does have other motives

there’s lots of suppositions in finarfin’s reasoning. there’s every chance the valar would throw them into the deepest depths of mandos until the second music. there’s every chance maedhros would choose to disappear into the woods and never trouble court again

but if the valar do decide to send them to lórien with no limits on their movement, and if maedhros does still harbour nelyafinwë’s political ambitions...

the closest finarfin has gotten to admitting it, even to himself, is saying that the noldor have enough problems right now, they don’t need a succession crisis on top of everything else. sometimes he’ll joke about not wanting maedhros to set up another functionally autonomous military government out in the wilderness

but it’s hard to deny that a maedhros, free to act, with his head screwed on straight, could potentially be the single biggest threat to finarfin’s crown

not that he doesn’t want his nephews to get better! it’s heartrending to see the pain they’re in, he sincerely wants to see them happy

he’d just prefer them to be happy in a way that's... convenient

maedhros and maglor’s contact with the outside world is kept to a strict minimum and heavily monitored when it does happen. they’re only allowed to visit the public parts of the palace when their caretakers know exactly who’s going to be there and if they can be trusted to not make a fuss about the brothers’ presence

it’s all in the interest of keeping the peace, you understand. maedhros’ followers are difficult to handle at the best of times, if they somehow got it into their heads that the last of their lords were being held captive in the palace...

well, finarfin says over tea. maitimo can see the wisdom in not provoking a civil war, can he not?

(he will not bring death to the blessed realm again. not even if his last baby brother is rotting away to a shell, not even if he’s being smothered to death from the inside out. he will not, he must not)

(if he did, there would truly be nothing left but the monster)

and then, one day, maglor gets the chance to escape

his minders aren’t paying much attention to him, he’s been a lot quieter since they put the gag on him. he’s small and fast and good at sneaking around, by the time they notice he’s missing he’s already found a way out of the palace

he jumps out of a third-floor window, bites down the pain, and runs. he clears the grounds and disappears into the city

he makes for - he doesn’t know where. subconsciously, he navigates towards the craft guild districts, where his family’s staunchest supporters always were

except the city’s changed a lot since he was last loose in it, and before he knows it, he’s completely lost. he wanders the streets half in a daze, his raw nerves unused to the bustle and noise of it all. wherever he goes, people stop and start and turn away

finally someone calls him over. ‘hey, you want that collar off your neck?’

it’s a smith of some sort, he can tell that much. they’re smiling, welcomingly and without pity. he’s rushing over to them, nodding his head, before he can even think about

the trouble is, maglor doesn’t remember the faces of most of the people he saw in beleriand, but they all remember him

the trouble is, this smith was at sirion

back in the palace, who gets access to the brothers is very strictly controlled. which isn’t to say that nobody tries to hurt them; finrod tends to put the worst spin on things when he’s asked for advice, there’s all kinds of minor acts of sabotage, and they come across innocuous-seeming harmful objects more often than mere chance would seem to allow

but even their caretakers can tell that letting desperate revenge-seekers get near the brothers wouldn’t be particularly conducive to whatever recovery they’re hoping for. anyone who might randomly come across maedhros or maglor in a hallway is intensely vetted for ulterior motives, and while this process isn’t airtight it does filter out the most obviously malicious

and outside of that bubble, none of that applies. the smith does take maglor’s gag off, purely to hear him scream

soon enough, the palace guard tracks him down. they take him back to the palace, where he’s bandaged up and comforted and then, as a special treat, allowed to see his brother

(they’re kept apart more often than not these days. being around maglor makes maedhros agitated, being around maedhros makes maglor sullen. they’re just more cooperative when they’re alone)

maglor does the same thing he’s done every time he’s seen his brother for the past year, which is immediately bury his face in maedhros’ chest and shudder. it takes him a moment to remember he can speak now

‘we’re trapped’ he whispers. ‘we’re trapped’

because he was screaming for what felt like hours, and nobody came to help. as he was being carried back to the palace, he saw the scorn and the disgust in the passers-by’s eyes

there’s nobody who will shelter them outside the palace. there’s nowhere on this continent they can go

and that - that’s the end, in a way. maedhros remains stubborn and ill-tempered, never quite letting them forget he doesn’t want to be here and doesn’t like what they’re doing, but the fight goes out of him. he does what they tell him just as biddably as he did before they took his brother’s voice

maglor, surprisingly, takes a turn for the better. he starts acting cheerful again, doing everything that’s asked of him with a smile and a wink. he’s making excellent progress, his minders tell finarfin

(they don’t tell him what maglor looks like when the mask starts to crack)

finarfin is very pleased to hear that one of his nephews is finally starting to recover! it’s been a long, painful journey, but it looks like it’s all at long last working out

to celebrate, he decides to give maglor a gift he’s been holding onto for a while

he calls maglor into his office. the tension in his posture is a bit worrying, but his expression is all makalaurë, a casual, mildly disrespectful grin. he swans into the room, flounces into a chair, and asks what his uncle wants

finarfin praises him for all the progress he’s been making, and hands him a letter

it’s from elros

the first line is ‘how are you doing, you old bastard?’ it calls him a kinslayer six different ways in the first three paragraphs. it asks him how many people he’s stabbed since he got back. it closes off by wishing him some fun loud arguments with maedhros

finarfin was a little concerned maglor still not might be in the right emotional state for it, but the tightness bleeds out of his nephew’s frame as he reads. a couple of times he even bursts into snickering that sounds more genuine than any sound he makes in court

he finishes reading with a truly relaxed smile on his face. then he freezes, and looks up at finarfin

in a tiny, quiet voice, so unlike the way he talks nowadays, he asks, ‘may i write a reply?’

finarfin hates to take the wind out of his sails, but maglor deserves to know. ‘that letter is centuries old. i’ve been holding onto it until you were ready to read it.’ he shuts his eyes. ‘i’m afraid elros passed some time ago’

maglor’s head drops. the letter in his hands begins to shake. little whimpers escape his trembling body. finarfin walks over, places a hand on his shoulder. ‘i’m sorry, we -’

that’s not whimpering, finarfin realises. those are growls. his nephew’s head snaps up, face twisted with rage

maglor tries to tear finarfin’s face off -

and that’s all i have. these headcanons have been exhausting to write, i’ll clean them up and put them on ao3 in a bit, but not now, if for no other reason than it’s 3am. again. i hope these weren’t too incoherent. going to try to unbanjax my sleep schedule now

[imagineyourworld-old]

The Duchess and the Captain (Part Two)

Rex x Fem!Duchess!Reader

Summary: You get to know your husband, Duke Palpatine, and quickly realize what you will be missing in your marriage. Can Captain Rex make you feel better?

Warnings: Mentions of smut (maybe slight smut, I don’t really know, sex is not forced on the reader but expected of her and therefore might be triggering to some, but no detailed descriptions) 

Previous Part, Masterlist

-------

The next few days passed you by in a heartbeat. You spend most of your time getting acquainted with your new home, which wasn’t as easy as it sounded. In addition to the main house there was the orangerie, a small tea parlor in the park and two different gardens just for afternoon strolls. And of course the stables, houses for servants, barracks for the guards and so many other building you didn’t even try to remember.

“You really are lucky”, your mother sighed with a content smile.

The two of you were strolling through the rose garden behind the house, the smaller of the two gardens. It was beautiful, everything was well kept and every flower had its place, but every time you were here you felt out of place. Confined to your life, trapped like the birds that Padmé had told you your husband insisted to keep locked in cages in the garden.

“I will be sad to leave you, but I really do need to get back to your father and brother. Now that you’re happily married it’s Edward’s turn and finding him a wife will be a lot more challenging than finding you a husband, you know how stubborn he can be.”

Though you tried you couldn’t really listen to your mother. All she talked about was how lucky you were to be married to the Duke, how happy she was for you and how excited you must be to see your husband again tomorrow.

You let your gaze sweep through the garden until it halted at General Skywalker. The General had been following whenever you set foot outside the house, and even inside he was never far. The first time you met he had told you that those were your husband’s wishes, that he was only there to keep you safe, but part of you feared he might be reporting your every move back to the Duke. Even the smile the General send you could not easy your suspicions.

“Are you even listening to me?”

Finally your mother’s word rang through to you.

“I’m sorry. I’m just... lost in my thoughts...”

Your mother put a reassuring hand on your arm. You leaned into the familiar touch, a small piece of home in this strange new place.

“Are you thinking of your husband? Do you miss him very much?”

Sometimes you were sure your mother had to be joking. She must realize that you didn’t love, didn’t even like, Palpatine. And it wasn’t just the age difference, which in itself made every interaction with him awkward, he was just so cold. It was obvious he cared as little for you as you did for him and that might have been what bothered you most. You had been more or less forced to marry him, for his money, his title and because no one else had asked to marry you, but he could have had anyone. Half the girls in the country would have married him in an instant, so why did he choose someone he didn’t have any feelings for? Why did he waste his one chance at happiness and propose to you?

“I... I was just thinking that our marriage might not be as it should. We’re nothing like you and father”, you finally said, hoping this would both voice your concerns and not be too obvious about them. But your mother just laughed.

“Darling, that is normal. Relationships take time and work, your father and I didn’t instantly fall in love, but when you’re raising a family together and spending your lives together love will come. And you are so easy to love, it will be alright.”

You should have known your mother would not understand your concerns, she had never shared your dreams of marrying for love, of being swept off your feet in a fairytale like romance. Before you could pretend to agree with her, however, you were interrupted.

Obi-Wan came to a halt before you. He inclined his head in a small bow before addressing you and your mother.

“Your Grace, my lady, the Duke has returned and wishes to see you.”

At first you thought, though you knew it was wishful thinking, that he was talking about another Duke. Maybe one of your husband’s friends had come to visit and wanted to meet you for the first time. But you knew you would have had to face Palpatine, even if he was a day early.

“Thank you, Kenobi. Thought I would like to change before greeting my husband. If you would be so kind as to send Padmé up to my room.

The butler nodded.

“Certainly, my lady.”

-------

-------

Half an hour later you were sitting in the drawing room with your husband.

“I take it the house is to your liking”, he said.

Those were the first words either of you had spoken since your “Good afternoon” ten minutes earlier.

You sat your cup down on the saucer and smiled at him. A smile you hoped seemed happy and sincere.

“Very much, thank you.”

Silence took hold of you again. You refrained from playing with your spoon or the hem of your dress, two of your nervous habits your mother had told you a thousand times to drop.

You looked around the beautiful room. The curtains were moving ever so slightly in the wind that came through the open windows, one of your husband’s ancestors was staring at you from the huge portray above the fire place, his eyes seemed to follow your every move.

“I will only be here one night. Urgent business calls me away my estate in Naboo tomorrow, technically I should not even be spending the night and go there right away, but I suppose we should get to work.”

You turned away from the picture to look at the Duke. He was staring at you with an unreadable expression in his cold eyes, so cold and calculating, they almost made you shiver.

“I’m not sure I understand”, you said, hating how weak and uncertain you sounded. “What ‘work’ are you referring to?”

For a moment your husband’s masked moved as he looked at you in shock. You hated how he could make you feel dumb and inferior without saying a single word, but you knew it was not your place to say anything about that.

“I am of course talking about producing an heir.”

Now you couldn’t stop the shiver. You knew you had to give your husband an heir, multiple if possible, but part of you had hoped he would forget all about that part of your marriage after your wedding night. But you knew your duty and you had heard more than enough stories about women who refused their husbands, or even had lovers, and the terrible things that happened to them and no matter how much you didn’t want to, you would rather get it over with than suffer the same fate.

“Yes, I... of course. I am looking forward to it.”

Another cold glance from Palpatine and the very forced smile fell from your lips.

“It is not for you to look forward to or to enjoy, it’s is your duty.”

All you managed to do was nod. What else were you supposed to do? Where you supposed to answer anything?

Palpatine seemed content with your reaction though. He placed his tea on the small table between you and got up.

“One more thing”, he said as he reached the door. “I will be taking General Skywalker with me from now on, there were some... disputes the last couple of days and I will be needing more protection. Captain Rex will be your personal guard from now on.”

Without so much as a goodbye he left the drawing room and closed the door behind him.

With a loud sigh you leaned back on the couch, ignoring where your corset dug into your ribs uncomfortably. You closed your eyes and took a few deep breaths.

“It’s just one night, he’ll be gone again tomorrow”, you whispered, knowing that it might just be one night this time, but that your husband would always come back for more and there was nothing you could to to stop him.

“My lady, are you alright?”

You hadn’t heard anyone entering the room, but even without looking you recognized the familiar voice. Though the words were professional, the tone made it clear that Rex wasn’t just asking because it was expected of him, he really cared, at least to some degree. 

You opened your eyes to find his own focused on your face, an uncertain look in them, as if he wanted to step closer but didn’t dare to. 

“No”, you whispered. 

Abruptly you sat up straight again. Panic flooded through your veins. You were supposed to say “I’m fine”, not tell anyone, especially a guard, a servant, that you were not alright.  

“Is there something I can do?” 

Now the Captain really did take a step towards you. He wasn’t close exactly, definitely not as close has he had been that night in the kitchen, but you could have sworn you could see the different shades of brown in his eyes and smell a mixture of leather, horses and something you could only describe as sunshine. 

You shook your head. There was nothing he, or anyone, could do. You had gotten yourself into this situation, and not just the having to sleep with the Duke part, but the whole entire marriage. Though it had been expected of you, you could have declined his offer. Your mother would have been disappointed, your father mad, but they would have come to accept your choice. 

After taking another deep breath you decided it was time to get up. But for some reason even something as simple as standing seemed like an impossible deed right now. The Captain instantly noticed your struggle. He stepped even closer, close enough for you to take his hand when he offered it to help you up. 

His skin was rough, making it obvious you were holding the hand of a guard, someone who saddled horses and shot guns all day, but that roughness felt realer than any of the soft fabrics you had touched all your life. 

You knew you should let go the moment you were on your feet, you knew what this would look like should anyone walk in on you, but your thumb seemed to have a mind of its own when it started softly stroking the Captain’s hand. 

He let out a sound that was something between a sigh and a growl while tensing and relaxing within a single second. At first you feared you had overstepped a boundary, a personal that is, because this was without question overstepping any professional boundaries. Your eyes had been focused on your hands, but you slowly lifted them to meet his gaze. The Captain’s eyes were darker than they had been just moments before, but there was an warmth in them you had not seen before. 

“You know”, you whispered in a soft voice as not to interrupt the moment. “I feel better already.” 

And you really did. The guard’s touch and the warmth in his eyes made you feel more comfortable, more relaxed, than you had been for days. 

He opened his mouth, closed it again and then cleared his throat. His voice was deeper than it had been moments before and it made your body tense in unfamiliar places. 

“I’m glad.” 

It seemed as if he wanted to add something when the door burst open. 

“There you are, I’ve been looking everywhere for you! Skywalker needs your help, he lost something and keeps mumbling about how you’re his only hope”, the intruder, another guard you recognized as Rex’s brother Fives, exclaimed. 

You hadn’t noticed the Captain had let go of your hand until he took a step back. His cheeks were slightly darker than they had been before, but his expression hasn’t changed. 

It was only then, when the blonde moved away from you, that his brother realized you were even in the room. He shot the Captain a look you could not read, no matter how much you wanted to, before bowing slightly. 

“Your Grace, I did not see you there.” 

A soft laugh found its way out of you. You couldn’t help but instantly like Fives. He was more relaxed than his brother, though they shared a light in their eyes that told you how much alike they could be. 

“It’s alright, Fives.” 

The guard’s eyes widened in shock. 

“You know my name?” 

“Your brother told you a bit about you, about your other brothers as well. I myself am very close to my older brother Edward, so... Sorry, I... I should probably stop talking.” 

The times your mother had told you not to discuss family with anyone, especially servants, came to your mind and after already breaking protocol with the Captain earlier you though it best to be quiet. 

Fives didn’t seem to notice your awkwardness as his eyes moved between you and his brother, which you, on the other hand, didn’t notice. 

“We should get to General Skywalker then”, the Captain finally said, interrupting the silence. 

With a nod, a “Good day, my lady” and a bow Fives left the room. His brother followed, but turned around to face you once more. 

“I hope you’ll feel better soon”, he said with a smile. A smile that told you that he didn’t regret what had happened between the two of you earlier. 

You knew you shouldn’t, but you felt the same and tried to show it in your next words. 

“Thank you, Rex.” 

This time he heard you calling him by his name, the most beautiful sound he had heard in his life. But instead of closing the distance between you again, to touch your hand one last time before returning to his duty, he just bowed and hurried to leave the room. 

-------

That evening dinner was a quiet affair. Your husband barely talked, even though your mother tried her best to strike up a conversation. But the hardest part came after the meal when you had to say goodbye to your mother, who would be leaving early the next morning. 

“I will miss you so much, my darling. But you will be just fine, I know it. You’re going to be a great duchess and a good wife.” 

Your mother had tears streaming down her cheeks as she said this. She had the same proud look in her eyes as she did when you had accepted the Duke’s proposal and when you had exchanged your vows, after all, having your daughter marry a rich duke was every mother’s dream and her’s had come true. 

You told her that you would miss her as well, to give your love to your father and brother and that you would write as much as possible and then, after tearful hugs and kisses, your mother was gone and you were all alone. 

With tears still drying on your cheeks you sat at your vanity table and stared at your reflection. In the few days since the wedding you seemed to have aged a lot, not in the positive maturing sense either, you simply looked exhausted. Dark bags were under your red eyes, the colour has left your skin and even your hair seemed lifeless. 

“Pinching your cheeks should help”, Padmé offered as she stepped into the room. 

You turned around to face your maid. She was holding a candle in one hand and a piece of cloth in the other. Before stepping closer to you she laid the cloth down on the foot of the bed. 

“I have brought you a nightdress your husband wants you to wear.” 

The look in her eyes spoke of sympathy and pity and even though you knew she was being kind you resented her for it. If Padmé ever got married she could choose her husband, choose someone she loved and who loved her and not marry a cold old man because it was expected of her. 

“Is there”, Padmé started but hesitated to continue. Only when you looked at her and nodded did she speak again. “Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable tonight?” 

You took a moment to think about it but ended up deciding that there really wasn’t. You had already downed more wine than usually at dinner and it had done nothing to calm your nerves and in the end you decided that you would rather be fully present for what was about to happen than give your husband the opportunity to do whatever he wanted without resistance. 

“Thank you, but I think I’ll manage.” 

Call it women’s intuition, but both you could tell that Padmé didn’t really believe you. 

“Forgive me for speaking so boldly, but if you ever want to talk about what happens in the bedroom between husband and wife, or anything else for that matter, I am here for you.” 

In that moment you realized that just because your mother had left didn’t mean that you were alone. Yes, Padmé was your servant, but you knew other girls who were good friends with their lady’s maids, so why shouldn’t she be your friend as well as your servant? 

“Thank you very much for the offer, but I doubt there is anything you know that I don’t. After all, you’re not married.” 

She raised an eyebrow and seemed to consider something before ultimately shaking her head. 

“I’m not”, she said in a tone that made you question whether there was someone who held a special place in her heart. “But I have heard that some women think of other men when in bed with their husbands.” 

For some reason you didn’t want to investigate any further Captain Rex popped into your head. The feel of his rough hands against your soft ones, the warmth in his gaze, the sound of his voice and laugh. You quickly shook your head, both to get rid off the thoughts and to hide the colour rising to your cheeks from Padmé. Fortunately your maid knew not to press the issue any further. 

“Should I help you change into your nightdress?”

-------

You supposed you should consider yourself lucky that your husband seemed to be in a hurry to get his visit to your bedroom over with. He was in and out of your room within minutes. The time he was with you, and inside you, still felt like hours rather than minutes. The entire time your husband didn’t speak a word, not even a “good night” when he left again and if it hadn’t been for the noises he made you would have thought it was just as much of a duty for him as it was for you, but your mother had told you enough for you to know that the noises meant he was enjoying himself. 

As soon as you heard the door from your sitting room to the corridor close you hurried off the bed and to your bathroom. Padmé, as if she’d know you would need it, had left a second bowl of water and piece of cloth next to the one you used to wash yourself in the morning. You tried to clean your nether regions as best as you could before returning to the bedroom, where you covered as much of the bed as possible with the two clean towels you had brought from the bathroom. 

Though you didn’t feel as clean as you would have liked it would have to do for now and it didn’t take as much tossing and turning for you to fall asleep as you had anticipated. 

-------

The next morning Rex didn’t see you until a few hours after Palpatine had left. He had asked Echo to stay with you while he arranged for the General’s absence, but around midday he finally managed to relief his brother and take on his duty of watching over you. 

You were seated on a small chaise in the rose garden and Rex tried not to stare at how the sun shone on your hair and made your skin glow. Your eyes were closed and he couldn’t tell whether you were sleeping or simply relaxing, all he knew was that you looked more peaceful than you had the day before. 

“What were you doing all day? I thought you were supposed to always be with me”, you asked. 

Rex didn’t know how you could tell it was him standing in the shade of the cherry tree and no longer Echo since your eyes were still closed. For a moment he entertained the thought that you could sense him as much as he could sense you, but he banned that idea from his head almost as soon as it appeared. You had probably just opened your eyes for a split second and seen him, that had to be it.

“I had to sort through the General’s notes for training and timetables to keep everything running smooth while he is gone, that took a while.” 

You hummed in acknowledgement. Finally you looked at him. He felt as if your eyes could look straight through cloth, flesh and muscle to into his soul, and find something growing there you were never supposed to see. 

“I’m glad you’re here now, Captain.” 

The almost teasing way in which you pronounced his rank reminded him of how you had said his name the day before. He had heard beautiful instruments, stunning voices and the exoctic birds the Duke kept around the gardens, but nothing compared to how you said his name. To him it no longer sounded like a name, but a beautiful song, something to cherish, to think of before falling asleep at night and to haunt one’s dreams. 

Though Rex wasn’t what you would call shy, he was very reserved, especially when dealing with his employer, so he did nothing but nod at your comment and then stare straight ahead. He had already allowed himself too many liberties with you and now, as your personal guard, he had to remain professional, or else risk losing everything. 

You, however, did not seem to get his subtle hint, because you just kept talking. 

“I must admit, I much prefer the other garden, what was it called again? The rose garden is beautiful and everything, but it’s just a little too close to the house, I much prefer something more private. But it is too hot to take a single step more than necessary. I really don’t know how you manage in your uniform, you must be melting. Though, if you want, you could take off your jacket. Only if you want, maybe you’re cold, maybe it’s just me who cannot take this heat, but if you want to -”, you stopped your rambling mid sentence. 

Rex risked a short glance at you. Your face was red, as was your neck, and a single drop of sweat was running down your temple to your neck and even further down towards an area he would not risk looking at. 

“I’m sorry”, you said after a bit of silence. “I often find I cannot stop talking when I’m nervous.” 

He tried, he really tried, not to show his surprise, but his eyebrows seemed to have a will of their own when they lifted in confusion. Though Rex managed not to look at you when he spoke, a small victory. 

“What do you have to be nervous about, my lady?”

Part of Rex knew that this conversation could go in a direction it shouldn’t, meaning anything other than the most basic small talk, but another, larger, illogical part, wanted you to keep talking and to listen to every single word you said. 

Your shadow and your footsteps on the gravel told Rex that you were coming closer. Still he did not turn around to face you, not even when you stopped and stood next to him, close enough that he could touch you if only he moved a few centimeters. 

“Everything, to be honest. And nothing at the same time. I am married, living in a big house and should be the happiest girl alive, but it’s just not what I imagined. I feel so out of place, event though this is my home now, and my husband -” 

Rex felt you taking a deep breath rather than hearing it, your whole body relaxed after your exhale. 

“I guess I should stop talking now. After all, my husband is your employer and the only person who should talk about him even less than me, is you.” 

It was your resigned tone that finally made Rex turn to face you. Your blush was gone, instead you had gone quite pale. Only your bright eyes and your lips, the bottom of which you were currently biting, gave your face pops of colour. 

“Did he hurt you?”, Rex asked against his better knowledge. Yes, he was supposed to protect you, but that protection did not extend to the Duke, who, as your husband, was legally allowed to do with you whatever he wanted. 

You hesitated for a fraction of a moment before shaking your head. 

“No, he didn’t. It’s just... My marriage simply isn’t what I had been expecting.” 

Both relief and sadness flooded through Rex. Of course he was glad the Duke hadn’t laid his hands on you, but his heart was also breaking for you. 

“I suppose I was simply holding out hope for a knight in shining armor for so long that even now I can’t get rid of the idea. But that’s on me for reading too many books and wishing for a fairytale.” 

A twinkle was back in your eyes. Maybe, Rex thought, you were thinking of your childhood dreams or even a childhood love. And though he didn’t like the thought of that, a feeling he shoved down as deep as possible, he was glad to see some of your sadness gone. 

“I’ve heard of other women who gain their happiness through their children instead of their husbands”, he said in a low voice. It was something he had seen with his mother, who gave all her love and care to him and his brothers and didn’t seem to have much for her husband.

“Children...”, you stepped closer to Rex after whispering the word. Your (y/e/c) eyes settled on his honey coloured ones. “That’s the whole reason the Duke even married me, to give him an heir. I guess that really is all I’m good for.” 

Rex’s eyes widened in shock. Did you really think that? Did you not see that there could be so much more to your life? 

“I am sorry, my lady, but I disagree. There is so much more to you than the ability give the Duke an heir. You have your whole life ahead of you and-” 

Suddenly Rex noticed the way your eyes hung on his lips, the astounded expression on your face. 

“I... I’m sorry, it’s not my place to say such things.” 

One second you just stared at Rex, the next you reached out and held his hand in yours. A soft smile was on your face and just like that all his worries of getting scolded disappeared and were replaced by a feeling of content and warmth spreading from his hand all the way to his heart. 

“Thank you, Rex”, you said, your voice soft and sincere. “No one has ever said anything like that to me. You’re a kind man.” 

Rex had gotten compliments before, from his mother, his brothers and his General, but never had they meant as much as the four simple words coming out your mouth. He could have sworn his heart stopped at the combination of your smile, your touch and your words. You were giving him so much by simply being with him and he knew, deep down, that nothing he could say would ever repay you for the way he felt in that moment. 

I finally managed to continue this story. Sorry it took so long, but I wanted to take my time to do this right and with uni starting again time is something I don’t have a lot of recently. 

But a huge thank you to everyone who read and commented on the first part! It really means a lot, even though I haven’t figured out how to reply to you using this blog I have read the comments and they warmed my heart. I hope you’ll enjoy this part as much as the first one and are looking forward to part three. 

Taglist: @and-claudia @pinkiemme @callme-eds

[saksukei]

prince joshua au

masterlist

you loved your job more than anything,, serving the king and his family as a knight, was an honor that wasn't bestowed upon many so you considered yourself lucky

the king was looking for a husband for his wonderful daughter,, and she had rejected so many princes

the king had then called on to some palm readers and soothsayers that had said that the ‘prince’ destined to be his daughter's husband is currently trapped in a tower

the king did more research and came in contact with a small country, who's king and queen had died and their own child, the prince, was locked in a tower guarded by a dragon

the king then appointed you to find the tower, rescue the prince who would marry the princess as a sign of gratitude and they could rule the smaller country together

you agreed obviously

you were cheered on by everyone as you embarked on the journey, alone, with nothing but your horse to listen to your mindless chatter

and honestly, everything was going well like the trip wasn't too tough it was just really long

when you finally reached the castle, instead of causing a scene and all to you know ‘slay the dragon’ you simply found a back way to get up to the tower

you opened the door and then you heard someone singing, “prince joshua?” you called out and the singing stopped

then you came across one of the most handsome men you had ever seen,,, he had black hair, the face of a Greek god with well toned arms and hE LOOKED MORE LIKE A KNIGHT THAN YOU DID??

“are you here to rescue me?” he asked, nonchalantly, as he flipped open a book.

“yes!” you answered, in an unusually chirpy tone.

“cool– get out of here right now because I'm not going anywhere,” he told you quite bluntly

and you were like ??? this mf I crossed half the fuckin land but this ungrateful bitch eye

“i'm sorry,,, but don't you think that I would be rather capable of escaping this shit hole if wanted too?” he hissed. “but I don't– because I don't want to escape and I don't need anyone's help either.”

“prince joshua, I understand what you mean,,, but the princess is waiting to marry you!” you replied.

“oh great– another stuck up princess who wants to marry me.”

“actually,, our princess is great. she's an absolute sweetheart and she's one of the finest bachelorettes in the country,” you explained.

“then why has she rejected,,, fifty other princes and wants to go after the one trapped in a tower?” he deadpanned.

“because–the palm reader said so,,, but this isn't important–”

“i don't need your princess– so just go away,” he told you.

after thinking for several minutes, you came up with a solution

“look how about this? you come back with me, meet the princess and if you like her you can marry her, if you don't, well– I'll help you escape back to this tower,” you suggested, finally catching his attention.

“how do I know you'll keep your word?” joshua asked, setting his book down.

“i am a knight, sir, loyalty is one of the few idiosyncrasies we can offer.”

“alright then,, I trust you– you better not let me down,,” joshua spoke as he grabbed a backpack with all of his belongings.

you used the same way to avoid the dragon and started on with your journey

at first,,, you truly thought joshua was some stuck-up prince but the more you spent time with him,, the more you realized that joshua was literally a gentleman who would be the perfect ruler of the country

he acted like an asshole before because he was sick and tired of people trying to rescue him and take all the glory

you understood his anger and ever since then joshua had been so sweet,,,

joshua wouldn't let you carry his bag, he'd make sure you were getting enough rest during the journey and one day he even offered to keep an eye out so that you could sleep

you on the other hand, taught joshua on how to light a fire etc and even some basic etiquettes,, cause I mean even if he was a prince he was trapped in a tower for so long

one time, you guys had stopped to stay by the river for the night and soon it was early morning and you woke up and saw joshua wasn't near you??

sO YOU PANICKED BEC OBVIOUSLY DID HE JUST RUN OFF BECAUSE IF HE DID THAT MF WAS IN FOR A RIDE

and you immediately ran around the place only to find him in the river,, waist deep into the water, except– he was half naked??

and boi where you shocked

cause joshua was so damn gorgeous

his perfectly chiseled jawline with that broad chest of his, his adam's apple poking out, his abs, his arms, his wet hair jUST HIM???

FUCKING MALFUNCTIONING

AND YOU WERE SO RED SO YOU JUST RAN BACK TO STOP YOUR HEART FROM RACING AND PRAYED THAT JOSHUA DIDNT SEE YOU BECAUSE JSJXJSISJSKSK HES SO HOT

you were lucky, because he didn't bring it up so you assumed he never noticed you standing there and gawking at him lmao

but all in all, you had fun with joshua he always managed to make you laugh but you could always have those late night talks with him

like when he asked you why you became a knight ,,,,,

“well, as a kid, when the knights would come back from winning the battle and the streets would be lined up with roses and people cheering from them, I knew at that point that, that was who I wanted to be.”

and he was like wow you're so cool omfg

also joshua gets impressed every time you hold your sword

HIS EYES LITERALLY LIGHT UP

he says he wants to learn how to use a sword too because he's a prince but he's really scared

you: josh hold my sword, it's literally not gonna do anything just hoLD IT

josh: wHAT IF IT FALLS ON MY FOOT AND SLICES IT OFF

and you were like I think staying in the tower for too long has lowered your IQ level

but you also told Josh that if he didn't like holding a sword, then he doesn't have to, because you were there to protect him with your life

and you didn't realize but Joshua was looking at you with HEART EYES

soon enough, reached the palace and you were kinda upset that you know joshua had to go and well,,, get married and part of you really wished it wouldn't work out

because you had bonded with him so well you just ,,,,, started liking him and it broke your heart knowing you couldn't have him

besides, he didn't reciprocate anything either so it'd be useless to even imagine

but when you told the king and queen and they met joshua

they were like ??? you didn't get the message??

and you were like what message??

“the princess already found someone she liked and she's getting married in like a month–?”

and you were pissed more than you were happy

not because all this effort was for nothing but the fact that poor joshua,,, he might have been looking forward to this

so you talked to the king and queen and they said that joshua should go back to his country now

you left the room and started crying because you felt as if it was all your fault

“hey, are you okay?” you heard a voice behind you say,,,,, it was joshua

you wiped your tears, “y-yeah I'm good,” you managed to choke out.

and before you could leave, joshua wrapped his arms around you and pulled you into his chest, where you broke down and told him everything

you especially kept on apologizing to him and said that you'd make everything right and even find him a princess if you have too

“its okay if the princess doesn't want to marry me,,,, cause I found my princess right here,” he cooed and you chuckled because he was so cheesy,, typical Joshua

“but still josh, I'll take you back to the tower and all,” you told him

“nope, no need too– I need to go back to my country and look after my people as well, I've done enough damage as it is.”

“right”

“are you going to come with me if I go?” he asked, hoping you'd say yes

“I'm a knight, i can't leave the country....” you answered.

and then Josh was like okay hollup I'll talk to the king and the queen

and boi went into the room where the king and queen were while you waited outside and they called you inside eventually

and the king and queen were like,, “we would like you to resign,,, so you can marry joshua and go rule his country.”

and you were like ??????HOW DID HE SWEET TALK THEM INTO THIS EYE

the king and queen said they'd like to give you an official good bye if you could stay for another two to three days and you and Josh agreed

Josh had to stay in one of the palace rooms

and it was 7am you were going to talk to joshua about something very important and you knocked and opened his room door

anD HE WAS STANDING WITHOUT A SHIRT

“o-oh my god,,,, IM SO SORRY!” you yelled, as you covered your eyes and bowed profusely

and Joshua chuckled, as he walked towards you, removing your hands from your eyes, eventually pining you against the door,,,

“darling– don't like act like this is the first time you've seen me naked,,,,, we both know you've been quite scandalous.”