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mego42 · 4 years ago

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hi! a song inside the halls of the dark is an absolute masterpiece of plotting and pacing (and prob my fave fic I’ve read for the show so far), so for the ask a writer meme, I’d love to hear about your planning process(es). the idea of even plotting out something like that, let alone actually finishing it, just breaks my brain lol. do you do a lot of outlining? how much does the outcome end up looking like the ideas that sparked it?

adsfghgsj okay well first off, thank you! that is unspeakably flattering and i don’t know how to cope! my weird robot emotions are misfiring! but also, thank you for this question bc this is the kind of nerd shit i LIVE FOR and up until, idk, 5? 6? months ago my answer would’ve more or less been ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but sometime in between now and then i leveled up how much of a nerd i am.

okay so, the short answer to your (first) question is yes, i do a lot of outlining though the scale of outline varies based on the complexity of the story. in song’s case, how i outline actually evolved significantly over the course of writing it (see that level up) and if i were to outline it today, it would look very different from what i originally started with.

the short answer to your second question is in song’s case, the original idea was a v short, almost fluffy stuck in a hotel room for a night one shot i daydreamed up while listening to a halsey song (is there somewhere, if you were wondering). obvs what it turned into was uh, v different.

digging into how i outline is going to get long, excessively nerdy and borderline terrifying so i’m hiding the rest of this under the cut, read at your own risk.

I preface everything here with a couple of reminders:

1. i am a crazy person who straight up does not know how to have hobbies like a normal person

2. i am actively trying to push myself and grow as a writer including developing new skills and training myself to practice certain habits bc at some point I would like to push myself out of the nest and try my hand at original fiction one day with a vague goal of maybe seeing if i could get it published. idk if i’ll ever actually do that BUT in the meantime, i do stuff like the nightmare that follows to myself

initial outline / what happens next list

okay so the most basic of my outlines (and how i originally outlined song) are p much just lists of what happens next. i do them as bullet lists bc my brain finds them less intimidating and i just start with one and then ask myself what happens next. sometimes the bullets are v vague, sometimes they get so specific i end up writing what becomes dialogue, i try not to think too hard about it, i just keep asking what happens next.

it’s really specifically about what happens next, not asking myself what i want to happen in the story, bc next implies the bullet before informs the one after, so you end up with an overall picture of what you want with a base level of causality built in. it also gives you room to surprise yourself (i think literally every what happens next outline i’ve done has had me going oh, okaaaaaay at some point).

sometimes, this is all you need. for trade my heart for honey, i started and stopped here bc at the end of the day, the skeleton for that fic is super basic: beth and rio attempt to play pool without tripping over their horrendous sexual tension. they fail. the end.

for your monster looks like mine, i did a version of the what happens next list, but i brought in some of my tricks from the pace structuring method i’ve been honing for the multi-chapter i’m currently planning. instead of mapping tentpole beats by story pace, i mapped tentpole beats for what points i wanted beth and rio to be scoring against each other and then mapped out the lead-up and fallout to connect the two and also what they were doing to each other physically at the same time so i could see how it all played together so the conversation supported the smut and vice versa. it was a TOTALLY normal approach to writing pwp. not over the top at all.

song’s original outline was basically a SUPER long what happens next list and if i could go back in time i would slap myself upside the head like bitch you have no idea what you’re getting into and you are WAY TOO COCKY ABOUT IT, but it’s okay i learned.

the spreadsheet method

somewhere around when i was in the middle of i want to say ch 9 of song, @pynkhues posted about her outlining process including a super awesome spreadsheet she uses (i cannot for the life of me find the original post, forgive me but know that it was hers) and i immediately jacked a version of it to use as my own and oh my god it changed my whole life.

iirc hers was a bit more in depth but since i was sort of baby-stepping into it, i stripped it down into the following and did a sheet for each of the remaining chapters (well, ch 10 and ch 11, ch 11 ended up getting wildly out of control so i split it in two and mushed the epilogue i’d been planning onto the end of it as a closing breakout scene:

plot

character

it’s a lot of repetition, tbh BUT once i started using it, i found the repetition was incredibly clarifying and by making myself take the time to go through each column and go through the same stuff over and over, it honed in on the strongest, most relevant bits of what i was planning and helped me see patterns and connections i maybe hadn’t been thinking of on the onset.

when i outlined swear i used this method and added a layer to my chapter overviews where i track the lies and corresponding truths worked into the chapter narratives (bc that’s a key theme of the story), and color-coded the beats that corresponded to the main plot vs individual character arcs vs foreshadowing so i’d have an at a glance visual reference to make sure nothing was getting lost and all of the characters (even minor ones) had stuff happening to them and didn’t just feel like cardboard cutouts coming in and out of the story as i needed them

pace structuring

these are all fine and dandy but one thing they’re missing is pacing! for song’s pacing, i will be real with you, i v much went a lot with my gut. i’ve spent most of my life consuming and paying a lot of attention to stories. i’m fascinated with how they come together and literally cannot shut off the part of my brain that likes to pick them apart to examine the pieces to see how they all fit together. as such, it’s left me with a p instinctive grasp for how a story should feel when it’s working which is fantastic when it is, but really useless when it isn’t bc i struggle to identify where and why sometimes so i can fix it.

for the buffyverse, once i started to realize (with no small amount of horror) the scope of what i wanted to write, i realized p quick i needed some kind of tool kit to help me figure out the arc and pacing bc this was going to be a lot closer to trying to plot a whole novel from the ground up (which is great bc one of the things i want to practice is pacing and plotting out novels from the ground up, hahaha)

i’ve been working with a two main docs (and neither of them are spreadsheets, yet, bc one thing the spreadsheet method taught me it’s that while i find them very soothing, my brain works in bullet lists so i’m starting with bullets and then i’m gonna strain it through a spreadsheet):

1. Thoughts:

just a doc where I word vomit out anything I’m thinking, I don’t worry about keeping it organized, I just throw whatever I’m thinking in there so it’s memorialized and I can sort through it later.

2. Act Timelines / Scene Breakdowns:

basically, i have a basic three-act story structure with tentpole story beats broken out by general ballpark percentages of how far into the story/act they should occur for the pacing to feel right. i use that as the framework i run my plot and character beats through and do it in a couple of passes:

high level: i go through and break out what’s happening in the story for each tentpole beat (what the specific story and plot focus is)

by character: i go through and fill in (at least) one sub-bullet beneath each plot tentpole beat with what’s happening with each main character in their individual subplot, how they got there, what their general feelings and mindset is, if they’re having any revelations, etc (one thing i fucked up with song is not making sure i had stuff going on for all of the characters, the plot was super focused on beth and while i generally knew what rio was doing and why, ruby and annie more or less floated in and out of the story at whim and i hate that, so i’m trying to be better about it going forward)

by relationship: now i go in and fill in a layer of bullllets with how the plot and character beats are shaping relationships and how they’re progressing through each tentpole beat

at this point i’ve got a pretty fleshed out outline hitting on plot, character and relationship development at least in broad, general terms. i can look at it like a map and see how characters are growing and changing throughout the story and look for areas where the plot is pushing the characters vs the other way around and places where it seems weak or poorly connected/supported and i tinker with that for awhile until i feel like it’s in good shape.

next step is applying the what happens next approach to the scene by scene breakdowns. i’m trying an experiment with this one where instead of breaking the fic into chapters first, i’m breaking it into scenes and working out the beats of them so they incorporate all of my outlined stuff and then i’m gonna go back and see where the chapter breaks look like they fall.

I’m like, 75% of the way through my scene breakdown for this particular fic and once I’m done with that, I’m going to take everything and plug it into the spreadsheet I worked with for the last couple of chapters of song and highlight/color code like I did for swear to make sure my chapter breakdowns align with everything I’m trying to do and I’m tracking all of my themes and details and setting things up to pay them off later.

so, you know, an absolutely normal amount of planning for a hobby i do entirely for funsies in my largely nonexistent spare time.

(sorry this was i am assuming WAAY MORE INFORMATION than you ever wanted or needed to know but once i started i couldn’t stop)

(and seriously, thank you, am truly verklempt that you love song like that 💖)

bts fic writing q’s IF YOU DARE hahaha

#welcome to my brain #every time i show people this they either freak out #or expose themselves as giant nerds #which i love bc i too am clearly a giant nerd #idk how to tag this #how i write #meg's mental nightmare menagerie #fic writing q's #ask me stuff #lindybot #shut up meg

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thewriting-corner · 4 years ago

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‘Renegades’ trilogy by Marissa Meyer: review

Welcome today to a post I have been waiting to do for months. I never do entire posts for book reviews, but since this was a trilogy (and one of my favorites I read this year) I decided it would deserve a little more.

Note: I will be doing a spoiler-free review first and then I’ll put a warning before talking about each individual book :)

Synopsis: The Renegades are a syndicate of prodigies—humans with extraordinary abilities—who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society and established peace and order where chaos reigned. As champions of justice, they remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone... except the villains they once overthrew.

Trilogy Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I honestly think these are the best books I’ve ever read. The description was fascinating, easy to follow and gave amazing imagery without that heaviness that a lot of fantasy books have (this is more sci-fi/dystipia-ish but still).

The characters felt real and their individual voices were clear from start to finish. I loved every single character, even the ones I hated.

However, there is one thing that bothered me BUT it does align with their world and that is the lack of accountability certain characters recieve (but I will be talking about that in my Supernova review).

Then the PLOT OH MY GOSH. I mean, it’s superheroes. It’s nearly impossible to be original with a plot that isn’t the same as any Marvel or DC comic/movie/show. And yet Marissa Meyer that such a beautiful job of taking a common conflict (heroes vs villains, villains wanting to take over the world) and turning it into a unique plot with amazing twists.

I mentioned the world-building before, but I’ll do it again. Third person POV is not my favorite and neither is heavy world building like the one this book needed and had. Still, it was written in such a simple way that I didn’t feel like she was trying to confuse me, it was just a story.

Overall, this series was amazing and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fast paced, mind-blowing world building and compelling characters that will make you feel single to the core even in a relationship.

🚨Spoilers Ahead🚨

Renegades ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“We were all villains in the beginning.”

I went into this book with low expectations because I didn’t think I’d like Marissa Meyer’s style and boy was I wrong.

The first few chapters were a bit confusing but the moment Adrian fixed Nova’s bracelet I KNEW this would steer towards romance and it sold me. And then Nightmare making fun of the Sentinel for his comic book phrases and poses was my favorite thing ever. That would be me as a superhero, no doubt.

I really liked the way the plot progressed “slowly” without feeling dragged on. In fact, despite it’s slower pace of the story, the book still felt quick and that just won a million points with me.

Don’t even get me started on the Anarchists. I LOVED them. I like how they weren’t presented as villains from Nova’s POV, just enemies of a totalitarian state. Not even just in her point of view though. I genuinely didn’t think any of them were bad until Ingrid decided to show up at the library and almost killed Sketch’s crew.

And speaking of Sketch’s crew … the minor characters??? Hello??? Who writes side characters that are SO good?? Oscar is my favorite though. He wins. Danna being the only one to question Nova about Adrian’a feelings for her was hilarious, although it stressed me out that Nova put her to sleep. Counterpoint: it was very cute that the only way she could stop thinking of Adrian liking her was by putting Danna to sleep. Very on point teenage reaction. I would’ve done the same thing if only I wasn’t trying to remain anonymous in the organization that indirectly killed my parents.

The climax, on the other hand, felt a teensy bit rushed but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy Nodrian in their not-date. It was adorable, especially when they stopped at the kid’s party and then Nova panicking over the mere thought of going on the ferris wheel with Adrian. All the carnival chapters where my favorite thing ever and I really wished they hadn’t ended with Nova killing the woman who raised her. But I did like the irony of it being Ingrid who told her she didn’t have the guts to press the trigger and then she died at the hands of Nova’s gun.

AND THE ENDING WITH ACE BEING ALIVE. That shook me. I suspected it, of course, but it shook me to my core. 10/10 plot twist there.

Archenemies ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“I guess I figured you deserve to have good dreams every once in a while. Even if you never sleep.”

This one gets six stars because somehow I read it in 11 hours and I’ve never read such a large book in one day. The entire story was just fast-paced action, superhero world building and Nodrian flirting and eventually kissing. Best book ever.

I liked how in this book we got a closer look into other character relationships like Oscar and Ruby and then Danna’s suspicions over Nova. I would’ve liked to see more of Danna’s friendship with the team though, since at times it seemed she was only there to send passive aggressive comments at Nova. And the Sentinel’s “death” was amazing. Pure comic book material right there.

There is this thing though that I mentioned in the general review that bothered me and it’s when they reveal Agent N. This weapon they created using Max’s blood is a great example of how the Renegades had obtained way too much power. It’s when we start to see that maybe Nova and the Anarchists are right. The Renegades are slowly becoming a dictatorship and it’s bothersome that nobody except Nova and Adrian notice. Especially when it was so obvious with things like them using Agent N “against every prodigy who didn’t follow the Renegades code”. Sure, they were criminals, but that wasn’t about arresting them. It was about changing the DNA of people who made one mistake and were immediately deemed enemies of the state.

Back to the good stuff, Nodrian flirting was the highlight of this book. They’re both so awkward and adorable, especially when Nova’s teaching Adrian how to shoot and then when they’re in his room later on. The whole “you want me to ignore everything?” and “you’re not allowed to have girls in your room?” quotes KILLED me. Those were peak flirting moments and I’m immensely surprised by the way that Marissa Meyer manages to write teenagers realistically as an adult and not even having teenage kids of her own. Also, Nova opening up to Adrian was just. No. It killed me. My ghost is writing this btw.

The ending, once again, amazing. I loved it. Not only did it once again show Frostbite’s true colors, show us how much hate Adrian actually held against Nightmare and the way Nova had softened by the Renegades’ influence. And Ace Anarchy’s capture goes into the good things pile.

Supernova ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“To be honest, I’m not sure there are such things as villains anymore. Maybe there never really were.”

Is it a bad review if I just insert the word “AH” for the next ten lines? Yes? Damn it. I admit that I was expecting something much different, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I have never cursed and squealed so much by reading and had I not bought the hardcover with my own money, I would’ve thrown that book against the wall. It stressed me out. First of all, getting Nova and Adrian kissing in the tunnels a few chapters before Adrian arrests her for being Nightmare was another level of messed up. Clearly, she did everything in her power to save him from her house’s explosion and he threw it out the window in blind anger. And then the whole execution thing??? That was horrifying and it’s when the Renegades’ incompetence really showed its true colors. They couldn’t bring the people back to their side - because they failed - so they sentenced a broken, dying man and an underage girl who acted under the manipulation of her entire family, to death. If Hugh had ever even attempted to find out what happened to both Artino girls, none of that mess would’ve happened, but instead Lady Indomitable died and he went “WELL, can’t do anything about her last task, can we?” I get he was preoccupied by her orphaned son and the Ace of Anarchy, but it was as simple as going back into the house and searching. In fact, this entire book was just showing how their society was crumbling and in the end they went “we were all heroes”. I’m surprised Nova forgave the entire Renegades organization for what they did because even if it was Ace who sent a hit after her and her family, the Renegades were still willing to overuse their power.

And once again back to the good stuff before I end up bashing the Renegades even more, I never thought I would be on board with Adrian and Nova’s relationship at the end of the book. I try not to ship toxic relationships in YA because they happen a lot and I wouldn’t like younger readers to think that it’s okay, but I loved how both Nova and Adrian were willing to make a change for their relationship to work. They compromised because they loved each other so much it didn’t matter who had tried to kill the other person and their dad or who hadn’t advocated against the other’s execution, you know, the ups and downs of every relationship. While I do wish we had seen them talking about everything, I get a book can only have a certain amount of words and I was glad just the same with how it ended. Also, Leroy’s threat to Adrian is iconic, just like Oscar proclaiming his undying love for Ruby at the arena were they almost witnessed multiple murders.

The epilogue. Just. Wow. I knew it before because I’m smart and I spoiled it but I NEED another Renegades book. You can’t just end the series saying Evie Artino was Magpie and her being as angry as Nova once was. Like, no. You just can’t. That was a crime against humanity, tbh, but overall the series was amazing and I have never been more grateful to spend almost $80 in books.

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emospritelet · 5 years ago

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Heatstroke - chapter 11

In which Gold and Lacey’s loved ones try to reason with them

[AO3]

Gold watched as Lacey scuttled across the diner behind Miss Lucas, very pointedly not looking at him. Neal glanced at him, then turned, following his line of sight.

“Oh, hey,” he said. “It’s your neighbour. Least we know she has clothes, I guess.”

“That was her?” Emma craned her neck, staring as Lacey disappeared through the door. “Holy crap! Go, Pops!”

“I’m not going anywhere,” said Gold repressively. “And certainly not with Miss French.”

Emma shrugged, turning back and slipping out of her jacket.

“Just saying, she’s very pretty.”

“And as I’ve already mentioned,” said Gold patiently, “she detests me.”

“You don’t know that!”

“She left the diner as soon as I came in,” he said. “That seems pretty clear-cut to me.”

“Poor thing’s probably just embarrassed,” said Neal.

“Yes, anyone prepared to get naked in someone else’s house is clearly a shrinking violet,” remarked Gold, in a very dry tone.

“She was prepared to get naked in front of you,” said Emma. “She wasn’t prepared for someone else being the audience. It would be like me thinking Neal was in the kitchen and doing my sexy dance, and it turns out to be you. Pretty sure I’d go to bed for a week.”

Gold closed his eyes.

“I - really didn’t need to hear about the sexy dance…”

“Embarrassing, right?” said Neal. “Imagine how she feels.”

“Well, maybe it’ll teach her not to flash people,” said Gold. “I have no sympathy. She was probably trying to embarrass me, anyway.”

“Fine,” sighed Emma. “I’m falling back on my ‘you’re both as bad at flirting as each other’ idea. Why don’t you just ask her out, save the poor girl any more humiliation.”

“Ask her out?” Gold stared at her incredulously. “She’s a bloody disaster! And I very much doubt I’m her type.”

“Why not?”

“Because…” He flapped a hand at the door that Lacey had just hurried through. “Look at her! And - and look at me!”

“You’re both short and stupid,” said Neal. “Match made in heaven.”

“I thought you two weren’t going to tease me about this,” snapped Gold, as Emma laughed.

“I see you’re not denying the fact that she’s hot,” she said. “How do you know what her type is, anyway?”

“I don’t,” he said shortly. “I just know it isn’t me.”

“Did she tell you that?”

“Can we just order dinner?” snapped Gold, snatching up the menu. “I have no desire to spend the evening in a futile discussion about Miss French, thank you.”

“Whatever you say,” said Emma, winking at him. “But you know what I’m like after a couple of drinks, so you’d better brace yourself for some questions later on.”

“What can I say?” Neal shrugged as Gold shot him an exasperated look. “I married an investigator. You’re screwed.”

Lacey slumped in a chair at The Rabbit Hole, shrugging out of her jacket and draping it over her bag beneath her feet. She watched Ruby weave her way back from the bar, a drink in each hand.

“Here you go.” Ruby put down the glasses, and took the seat across from her. “Let’s see if we can beat last night’s total. It’s not often I get Friday and Saturday off, so I plan on getting wasted.”

“My usual weekend,” remarked Lacey, and Ruby chuckled.

“Granny’ll probably wake me up at six tomorrow morning on purpose,” she said. “Apparently the best hangover cure is deep cleaning the grills. According to her.”

Lacey shuddered, taking a drink.

“Think I’ll limit my morning activity to yoga and coffee drinking,” she said. “I have to recover by Monday, I have a breakfast interview with that West woman.”

“Zelena?” Ruby’s mouth twisted in amusement. “You’re interviewing her?”

“Sidney’s idea,” said Lacey. “Something about her charity dance thing. I’m hoping she doesn’t remember that I told her to go screw herself when she cut in line at the Dark Star.”

“Well, she certainly likes her fundraisers,” remarked Ruby. “Maybe focus on that.”

“What can you tell me about her?” asked Lacey, and Ruby shrugged.

“Not much. She moved up here from New York a few years ago. There was some sort of rumour going around that she was hiding from something, but I don’t know if there’s any truth in that. She’s kind of - intense. I get the feeling she doesn’t like the Mayor.”

“Why not?”

“No idea. Just caught her giving Regina the stink-eye a few times.”

“Okay.” Lacey hesitated, stirring her drink again. “Sidney said she flirts with Mr Gold.”

“Oh!” Ruby cackled, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “Boy, does she ever. It’s embarrassing! He used to come in the diner for coffee at seven-thirty each morning, and I’m almost positive the reason he’s moved to eight-thirty is because she kept fawning over him.”

“Ugh.” Lacey shuddered. “So I guess the feeling isn’t mutual.”

“No, but she’s not taking the hint,” said Ruby, still grinning.

Lacey took another drink, enjoying the smooth heat of rum on her tongue, and Ruby rolled her shoulders with a contented sigh, glancing towards the bar.

“Pretty quiet for a Saturday, huh?”

“You mean we managed to get a table?” Lacey looked around. “Guess it’s early. Hadn’t planned to leave Granny’s so quickly.”

“Yeah, what’s up with that?” Ruby stirred her drink with a straw. “I get you being embarrassed about the whole kitchen nakedness thing, but Neal isn’t a jerk. Or a creep. He wouldn’t have said anything to you.”

“It’s not him I’m worried about,” muttered Lacey, stabbing at the ice cubes in her drink.

“You’re still worried about Gold?” Ruby shook her head. “I told you, just act like nothing happened. He’ll be fine.”

“And if he isn’t?”

“Why do you even care?” asked Ruby. “You don’t strike me as the kind of person who gets hung up over stupid mistakes. If you were you wouldn’t come out drinking with me.”

“I don’t know!” said Lacey, feeling frustrated. “I’ve done stuff that’s way worse. I once streaked the length of the football field for a dare. In the middle of the last game of the season. The number of people that have seen me naked is actually pretty high.”

“Well, there you go.” Ruby gestured at her. “So why the hang-up over what Gold thinks?”

“I told you, I don’t know!”

Ruby sat back in her chair, brows lowering a little before shooting upwards as she leaned forwards, mouth open.

“Oh my God!” she whispered. “You like him!”

“What?” Lacey stared at her incredulously. “I do not!”

“Oh you so do!” Ruby’s expression was half delight, half disbelief. “This is amazing! You totally have the hots for Mr Gold!”

“Would you shut up?” Lacey snapped, glancing around anxiously to see if any of the Rabbit Hole regulars had overheard. “I don’t have the hots for the guy! I don’t know anything about him, except that he’s really comfortable with getting his cock out.”

“That’s not a bad thing…”

“Ruby!”

“Okay, fine!” Ruby rolled her eyes. “I won’t say anything else about it.”

“Good.”

“Guess you’re in denial. I can wait.”

“Ruby!”

“Okay, okay!”

Ruby picked up her glass, grinning at Lacey over the rim.

“Any bright ideas about that interview you want to do with him?”

“No,” said Lacey grumpily. “If you can think of any, now’s the time to tell me.”

“You could always do it over a nice romantic dinner…”

“Oh my God…”

Lacey slumped back in her chair as Ruby giggled, snatching up her drink and taking a gulp.

“Alright, I’ll stop teasing,” said Ruby, taking a sip of her own. “How about this? Send Darcy over with an invite. Since he’s so adept at breaking into Gold’s house.”

Lacey had to chuckle at that.

“Wouldn’t be surprised if that’s where he’s been eating,” she admitted. “If so, at least I know Gold likes cats.”

“And you’re interested in this little piece of trivia why, exactly?” enquired Ruby, raising a brow.

Lacey opened her mouth, then closed it again.

“I am not interested in him,” she said flatly. “And - and even if I was it wouldn’t matter.”

“Why not?”

“Because he hates me, that’s why.”

“You don’t know that!”

“I do!” she insisted. “He threw a bloody drink over me!”

“You threw one over him!”

“Yeah, but there were reasons!” said Lacey. “And - and besides, we have nothing in common!”

“You’re both blind idiots,” said Ruby bluntly. “Match made in heaven.”

Lacey sighed in exasperation, and drained her glass.

“Right, I’m getting another round,” she said. “The sooner we’re too drunk to even mention Gold’s name, the better.”

#fic: heatstroke #golden lace fic #golden lace #my fic

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mayquita · 5 years ago

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Damn You For Making Me Love You (11/15) - I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing

Thank you so so much, for your likes, reblogs, kudos and comments. It means the world to me.

Beta-Reader: Thank you so much, @ultraluckycatnd I couldn’t have asked for a better beta. Thank you for all your effort, your suggestions, your advice and for always being there when I needed you.

Special mention to @saraswans and @onceuponaprincessworld, thank you so much for your perpetual support and for believing in me and in the story. Thank you again to the moderators of the event, @captainswanbigbang for giving us this opportunity and making this possible. You all are the best :)

Summary: Emma Swan and Killian Jones are close friends and co-workers. And both are in love with each other. The problem? They keep their feelings secret not only to the other but also to the rest of their friends. When Elsa, Emma’s best friend and Liam, Killian’s brother and Emma’s boss find out, they decide to form an alliance and work as a team with a clear goal, to get Emma and Killian to take the next step in their relationship and confess their love for each other.

Rating: M

Word count: ~ 7100 (98k total in 15 chapters)

Ao3 / FFnet

About this chapter: Welcome to Storybrooke... Last flashback of this story. In fact, almost the entire chapter is a huge flashback, which makes me a little nervous about your reaction. Still, I had a great time writing it and it felt like it was kind of a tribute to the show as I tried to include several significant elements from Storybrooke. I hope you like it :)

Chapter 10: I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing

Killian - December 2019

Killian couldn't believe what just happened. It was as if by the time Emma finally pressed her lips to his, his brain had stopped working properly, his mind plagued with pictures coming in flashes while he felt like his body might combust.

Although it had been a few minutes since Emma ran away, he hadn't yet been able to recover, not when he still had difficulty catching his breath. Not when his lips still tingled, craving for more; not when he could still feel a soft humming under his skin. But above all, he felt slightly dizzy, the memories that clustered in his head too powerful to be stopped, making him unable not only to process what had just happened but to react to Emma's sudden departure.

He would have gone after her if his legs had responded to him, or at least would have tried to stop her or talk to her, but he hadn't even been able to utter any sound. Instead, he remained paralyzed and in a state of astonishment that he had not yet recovered from.

After letting out a deep breath, he leaned on the door, letting his head rest against the smooth surface as he put a hand to his mouth and brushed his lower lip with his fingertips. He then closed his eyes, his tongue licking his lips in a desperate attempt to retain the vestiges of her taste while an unstoppable wave of memories took up residence in his mind. Unable to fight them, he simply gave up and allowed that incredible moment that he had treasured as the most precious of dreams to finally come true.

Storybrooke - Fifteen months ago

When Liam announced that they would take an unexpected trip over the weekend, Killian could barely contain his enthusiasm, especially when he learned that Emma would also accompany them.

Killian didn't even care that the absence of the three of them during the weekend would imply that they would be depositing the reins of The Kraken in the hands of Robin and Ruby. But if his brother, who was the business expert, considered it feasible, he wouldn't be the one to complain. Especially since, after all, as Liam had assured, it was a business trip.

Emma didn't think it was, apparently. Something that Killian found amusing in a way, since she seemed to care more about the success of the business than the owners themselves, or at least one of them.

"I don't quite get it. Wouldn't it be more appropriate for us to travel in the middle of the week?" Emma asked, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Killian watched her reaction carefully, praying silently that she wouldn't want to stay behind and not travel.

"I'm afraid it's not possible, lass. I already have an appointment scheduled for Friday afternoon," Liam explained without giving further details. Killian internally thanked Liam that he hadn't suggested that Emma stay behind. "In addition, there's this place that we are going to visit that is only open on weekends. So, there is that," his brother added, giving his voice an enigmatic tone while raising an eyebrow.

That's how they ended up in Liam's car on Friday morning with Storybrooke, a small town in Maine, as a destination. The trip did not start well for Killian, since last night he hadn't been able to chain together more than two hours of sleep in a row. Probably because of the nerves generated by the prospect of spending three whole days with Emma in a different environment, for once.

Emma had spent the night in their apartment so they could leave earlier the next morning. So when he had risen sporting the obvious signs of lack of sleep, far from showing a little commiseration for him, Liam and Emma had found in him a target for their jokes. To make matters worse, his brother had decided to betray him, offering Emma the passenger seat, so he had to resign himself to occupy the back seat, all alone.

"It's too early to be in a grumpy mood, little brother," Liam addressed him through the rearview mirror. "Don't take it personally, but Emma is a better co-driver than you."

On that, he agreed with Liam. Emma was better than him, not only as a co-driver but practically in everything, except perhaps in singing, but he wasn't going to admit that out loud. "It's younger. Besides, you're using the bloody GPS, why do you need a co-driver?"

Killian heard giggles coming from Emma, but at least she kept silent. The last thing he needed was the two of them allying against him once more, taking advantage of his moment of weakness.

"You're right, I'll put it another way. Since Emma has already ingested her morning dose of caffeine, her company is much nicer than yours. Better?”

In response, he let out a huff of annoyance as he grabbed his phone and connected the earphones, ready to ignore the other two throughout the trip. Emma decided to join the party before he even had time to put the earbuds in his ears, though.

Even from his position, Killian could see her playful expression through the mirror in the sun visor. "Come on, Killian, you're such a drama queen. We did it thinking of you, so you can sleep all the way."

He was tempted to do just that, but the lack of sleep was wreaking havoc on him, pushing him to act like the immature person he was sometimes. So instead of sleeping, he dedicated himself for the rest of the trip to keep Emma busy in her co-driver job.

"I'm hot, turn on the air conditioner."

"It’s cold now, can you turn up the temperature?"

"The radio's volume is too low."

“I hate that station, can you switch to a different one?"

Killian wasn't sure what was driving him to act in such an impertinent way, but he seemed unable to stop, to the point that he soon managed to spread his bad mood to the other two occupants of the vehicle.

Only when the Welcome to Storybrooke sign came into view did he manage to relax and remain silent, focusing instead on observing the landscape through the window. His brother and Emma probably appreciated the break as they also remained silent, the music of his favorite station the only sound that resonated inside the car.

Even without getting out of the car, Killian detected a particular aura in the streets. It was as if the thick forest that bordered the town had functioned as a kind of time portal sending them back to the 80s. It was a quaint place, no doubt, so he was immediately attracted, his tiredness and his previous irritability gradually fading as they moved along the main street.

That improvement in their moods was fleeting, though. It lasted exactly five minutes, the time it took to park the car in front of the bed and breakfast where they would be staying and discover that there was a misunderstanding with the rooms booked by Liam.

"See? Here, Mr. Jones, a double room." The person behind the counter, an old woman with gray hair looking at them over her glasses, insisted, an exasperated expression on her face as she pointed to the hand-written reservation on a notebook, which seemed to be at least the same age as the woman. No sign of any technological device on the counter, unless we consider a phone that looked as old as everything else around.

"Excuse me, ma'am, I don't know if I explained myself correctly. I contacted by phone a week ago to reserve two rooms, one single and one double." Liam raised a hand with two fingers up, to emphasize his words and then waved the other hand to encompass the three of them. "Besides, as you can see, we are three people." Although Liam maintained a polite tone, Killian did not miss the hint of irritation in his voice.

"That won't be a problem, Mr. Jones." The woman waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "There is enough space to place an additional bed."

"And what about if you get us an additional room instead?" It was almost fun to watch Liam struggling to stay polite but gradually losing his patience.

"I'm afraid it won't be possible, sir." The old woman affirmed, her tone not apologetic at all.

Killian exchanged a furtive glance with Emma, who kept her lips pressed together as if trying to hide an incipient grin. Liam instead seemed increasingly annoyed. He pinched the bridge of his nose before addressing the woman again. "And may I ask why?"

"We're celebrating a festival in the village during the weekend. It is quite popular in the surroundings, so we already have all the rooms reserved, I'm afraid." Just when Killian was about to intervene, suggesting Liam to let it pass, that they would find another accommodation, the woman continued as if she had read his mind. "I must also add that this is the only establishment of this kind in the town."

"Of course it is," Liam grumbled under his breath, though not low enough that Killian wouldn't hear it. Emma, on the other hand, let out a snort before speaking.

"Come on guys, it's not like it will be the first time we sleep under the same roof. It's not a big deal," Emma assured as she shrugged one of her shoulders.

"So a double room then?" the woman behind the counter asked as she held what looked like a heavy metal key in her hand. Liam simply nodded in silence. "Good. And now if you are so kind as to wait here for a few minutes, I will inform my assistant to install the additional bed."

"Uhm, thank you," Liam muttered as he grabbed the old key.

"I guess there will be at least two beds," Killian commented a few minutes later as they climbed the stairs after they were told that the room was available for them.

There was one king-size bed.

And a tiny cot.

After leaving their belongings in a corner, Killian and his brother began to inspect the room while discussing possible sleeping arrangements and tried to locate an alternative that could function as an improvised bed.

"At least the bathtub is an adequate size."

"Guys..."

"And that armchair seems quite comfortable."

"Guys..."

"Look, there are several blankets inside the closet."

"GUYS!" The two men snapped their heads in the direction of Emma, who remained in the middle of the room with her arms crossed over her chest, a scowling expression on her face. "Are you guys seriously discussing sleeping options when we already have full space for all three? What is this, a kind of old fashioned chivalry act or something?” She didn't even give them time to reply, since she immediately added, "I'm the one who will sleep in the damn cot."

They had managed to piss her off, if the tone of her voice and her sulky expression were an indication, but Killian felt a special predilection for the fire in her gaze that appeared on these occasions. He was tempted to continue teasing her, but he thought better and instead tried to offer an explanation.

"Swan..."

"Don’t Swan me," Emma cut him off abruptly. "You two can share the large bed. That's final." Killian and Liam exchanged one last look and then Killian looked back at her with an apologetic expression, scratching behind his ear, while his brother remained quietly beside him. They knew it was better not to argue with Emma in these situations. "And now, can we continue with our plans?"

"Just for the record, Swan. This wasn't about you. Rather, I wanted to avoid sharing a bed with him. Believe me, sleeping with Liam is probably more torture than sleeping in that awkward contraption."

His comment got a smile from Emma. Liam, on the contrary, let out a snort while rolling his eyes, although that wasn't enough to stop Killian. "Can you imagine hearing a constant snoring in your ear while he keeps stirring in bed while he sleeps? That's my brother." Killian kept teasing Liam, nudging him with his shoulder as he stifled a laugh, earning a glare from his brother.

"Of course I'm the one to blame here. Why doesn't that surprise me?" Liam shook his head, a heavy sigh escaping his mouth. "Now that the sleeping arrangements are made, can we get out of this room now? We have an appointment." Liam's voice revealed that he was upset, not only because of Killian's comment but because of the previous awkward situation with the old woman. "And I don't snore."

This time Killian couldn't suppress a chuckle bubbling in his throat while Emma also burst out laughing, approaching Liam and tapping him on the shoulder. "Sure, Liam."

This weekend was going to be definitely interesting, to say the least.

They went to have lunch at the diner adjacent to the B&B. The place had a retro air that seemed consistent with the rest of the town, but at least the food was delicious, so tasty and greasy. It turned out that the diner was also run by the same old woman who had attended them in the other establishment. Liam's face of disbelief when he saw the same woman behind the restaurant counter was hilarious. This time, she —Mrs. Lucas, they learned — was much kinder to them.

Still, she subjected them to visual scrutiny from behind the counter while they placed their orders. Whatever it was that she observed, she must have been satisfied because she didn't hesitate to serve the dishes herself while offering first a speech about the town and its inhabitants, and then go on to question them in a not so subtle way about the reason that had led them there, as well as to inquire about more personal issues.

Although it might seem odd, Killian didn't feel uncomfortable with the interrogation and, if the expressions on their faces were an indication, neither of his two companions seemed to be either. It might be the atmosphere around them, or the spirit of these small towns, where everyone knew each other and looked after the others. In addition, the interrogation allowed them to finally know the real reasons for their trip to Maine. Or at least one of them.

Liam planned to carry out some remodeling at the bar, including installing a new bar counter with an even more naval look. That's why they were meeting Marco and his son, August. Following the footsteps of Mrs. Lucas, these inhabitants of Storybrooke seemed equally welcoming, immediately engaging them in an animated conversation where the trio were told part of their story. Marco was a master carpenter who worked in a small workshop located on the ground floor of his house. Despite his age, he was still active, receiving sporadic help from his son August, who was also a writer.

Killian was not sure how Liam had known about their existence, but he only needed a simple look inside the workshop to know that his brother had made the right choice. Not only because of Marco's evident skill working the wood, but also because he seemed like a really kind and considerate person.

Once they finalized the details of their request, they found that they would have the rest of the day free, so they decided to integrate with the rest of the population and discover more aspects of the quaint town and its inhabitants. And what better way than to go to that popular festival that was being held there?

The festive environment was evident with a simple glance at the streets. Killian was surprised because he hadn't noticed those details when they first entered the town a few hours earlier, but now he could see how the facades of the shops were decorated with pennants and colored garlands. Following the crowd, they arrived at a square where they had installed numerous stalls offering handicrafts and food.

Everyone seemed friendly and, except for some suspicious looks, they were treated kindly and even were encouraged to participate in the numerous activities developed at the festival's heart. It was a pleasure to see both his brother and Emma enjoy themselves in such a carefree way, without worries, without pressures, just being carried away by the rest of the people around. Liam couldn't have been more correct in getting them out of their usual routine for once.

They were even introduced to the local sheriff, Graham Humbert, a guy who, like the rest of the people around, seemed kind and welcoming. There was something about him that Killian didn't like at all, though. He didn't particularly enjoy seeing how his eyes lingered on Emma more than necessary or how the smile on his face seemed to widen every time he addressed her. An unpleasant sensation settled in his stomach as his lips drew a tight smile. Killian had to resist the urge to place one of his arms on Emma's shoulders and draw her towards him in a possessive manner.

To his relief, the encounter with the bloody sheriff was quite short since he was on duty, working to ensure the safety of the event.

"If I didn't know you so well, I'd say you were jealous." Emma's words in his ear caught him off guard. He had remained so distracted watching the sheriff walking away that he hadn't even realized that she had approached him until she almost touched him.

"Good thing you know me so well then, don't you?" he managed to reply in a careless tone as he waggled his eyebrows and his lips curled into a grin.

In response, Emma gave him a skeptical glance before turning away again in search of his brother, who had stopped at one of the stalls. After letting out a sigh and shaking his head, Killian had no choice but to follow her.

Killian woke up early the next day when the sun had just begun to appear. He was not surprised to see Liam lying beside him sleeping soundly, soft snores escaping between his partially parted lips. At some point, he might have kicked the covers away, since he laid on the mattress with nothing wrapped around him.

His eyes then turned to his other side, seeing Emma lying asleep on the cot. Unlike his brother, she was wrapped up, only her head remained exposed. Although the contraption didn't look particularly comfortable, that didn't seem to have affected her, since her relaxed features denoted that she was having a restful sleep. Killian allowed himself these moments to delight in the serenity that radiated from her as a well-known song began to play in his head.

I could stay awake just to hear you breathing Watch you smile while you are sleeping While you're far away dreaming I could spend my life in this sweet surrender I could stay lost in this moment forever Every moment spent with you is a moment I treasure

It was as if the lyrics had been written to describe that precise moment. Of course, they weren't sharing the same bed, and they weren't even lovers, but the feeling was the same, nonetheless, at least on his part. He was grateful that he still had the music and the possibility of expressing his feelings through the lyrics. He made a mental note of including that song in his repertoire. Maybe there would come a time when he could dedicate it or another equally romantic one to her.

The need to reach out his hand to touch her, even if it was to remove a strand of hair that partially covered her face, was almost irresistible to the point that he needed all his willpower to look away and curb his creepy stalker behavior.

After one last look at her, he finally got up from the bed and walked stealthily toward the bathroom. Emma might not seem uncomfortable while she slept, but it was more than likely that she would wake up with her usual moodiness. So, taking advantage of having woken up so early, he thought that a visit to the diner was in order, at least to provide his sleeping beauty with her daily dose of caffeine.

Several hours later, the three of them were already walking through the streets of Storybrooke, this time with a new destination, the docks. The stroll was quite pleasant, not only for the good company, but for the warm temperatures and the sea breeze that caressed their faces. He definitely liked this little town, where time seemed to have stopped or at least seemed to pass more slowly, allowing them to enjoy the small pleasures of life.

Killian suspected that it wasn't a walk through a random place, but one that had a specific purpose. But Liam, showing off his usual stubbornness, had refused to reveal the mystery. "Be patient, little brother, all in due time."

Well, it seemed that the time had finally arrived. The first thing Killian's eyes fell on when they reached the docks was the magnificent vessel moored there, occupying a privileged place that made it stand out from the rest of the boats.

"Is that...?"

"Aye. An actual restored pirate ship." From his expression of ill-concealed pride, it seemed as if he owned the ship instead of being a simple tourist who had been fortunate to find out about its existence.

That didn't imply that he downplayed his merit. After all, they were here because of him. There was also no need to feed Liam's ego, though. Emma thought differently, of course.

"For real?" She looked surprised, her eyes traveling intermittently from Liam to the ship while her mouth hung open. "This is awesome."

"For real." Liam nodded his head vigorously to emphasize his words. "And what's better, they organize guided tours every weekend. That's the reason we couldn't travel here any other day."

"I wonder if they will allow us to take pictures of the interior, to get inspiration, you know." Killian couldn't help a smile of affection from spreading on his lips. Emma was so involved not only in their lives but in the business that she had ended up adopting their passion for the sea.

"There's only one way to find out. Shall we?" Liam asked as he offered Emma his arm in a gentlemanly manner.

The Jolly Roger. That was the name of the ship. It seemed obvious that this wasn't its original name but rather it was the one that its owners — or the people in charge in the town — had adopted to be in accordance with the place. Still, the name couldn't be more appropriate.

When they arrived at the pier there was already a group of five people waiting there. They didn't take long to be called and shuffled by way of the access ramp onto the main deck of the ship where they met with three other people. The smile Killian was sporting faltered a little when she saw that one of those people was none other than the bloody sheriff.

Killian clenched his jaw and resisted the temptation to take a look at Emma to check her reaction. Instead, he focused on the three guys in front of him.

"Hello everyone and welcome aboard the Jolly Roger!" Graham was the first to speak, addressing the group with an affable expression and a broad smile. "As a town representative, I would like to make a short introduction before the tour begins." Graham's eyes traveled through all attendees, probably to make sure he had their attention before continuing. Killian didn't miss that his gaze lingered a little longer on Emma than on the rest — Or maybe he was imagining things — Bloody hell! He needed to pull himself together and stop those thoughts.

"As you may have already learned thanks to my uniform, I'm not the captain of this ship, but a mere sheriff. Unfortunately our captain was indisposed." Killian heard a murmur of disappointment from the other members of the group, but Graham hastened to continue. "But that won't prevent you from enjoying this magnificent visit to a true pirate ship that is completely restored."

"Too bad. I was waiting for someone dressed as a pirate," Emma whispered at his side, ignoring Graham's explanations, a mischievous smile on her face, so Killian had no choice but to play along.

"At least the guy with the red beanie looks like a sailor. Doesn't he remind you of Mr. Smee, by the way? You know, the one from Peter Pan?" Killian muttered back, getting a quiet chuckle from Emma in response.

Then, she moved closer to him, resting a hand on his shoulder and standing on tiptoe to reach his ear. "The other guy, the charming one, looks even less like a pirate."

"The charming one?"

"Yeah, the guy with blond hair. He seems more like a prince, or something."

"So he would be Prince Charming?" This time Emma's laugh was loud, causing some faces to turn in her direction.

"Shhhhh," Liam hissed, addressing them with a scowl. "Are you going to behave like two adults for once?"

"Aye, aye Captain," Killian replied mockingly and then turned his head and winked at Emma, who had her lips pressed together as if she was making an effort not to burst out laughing again.

Killian's lips drew a triumphant smile when he turned his attention back to Graham. At that moment, he couldn't care less about acting like the immature person he was if he managed to get Emma's attention and make her laugh.

"I would like to introduce you to William, who is the one with more knowledge about this ship, and my deputy, David Nolan, who has quite the experience in these type of tours since he has attended several of them. They both will be in charge of guiding you on this tour. I trust it will be to your liking. And now without further delay, I leave you with them. Duty calls." After a small bow of his head, the sheriff went to the exit ramp but not before giving Emma a final smile — this time he wasn’t imagining things. To his delight, after offering a brief smile back, she turned back to Killian, the spark of mischief still present in her gaze.

"So no Prince Charming, then. A pity."

"Not to worry, Swan. With this town, you'd never know. Maybe there is some prince out there. Or a pirate." Killian winked at her, causing a new laugh to escape between her lips; a delicious sound that he would never tire of hearing, although this time it was also accompanied by a glare from Liam.

The guided tour to the pirate ship proved to be a pretty interesting experience. The two guys knew what they were talking about, although, according to Graham, they were nothing more than substitutes for the usual guide. William, the one who looked like a sailor, was in charge of introducing them to the history of piracy, narrating numerous anecdotes and curiosities. The other guy, David — the not prince — detailed instead the aspects related to the ship itself.

There was even a small stall on the deck that served as a kind of souvenir shop, where they were able to acquire some naval-style decoration items that would allow them to redecorate The Kraken.

The trio got along well with David to the point that, once the tour was over, they extended the visit a little more, chatting animatedly on the deck with the two improvised guides while all the other tourists left the ship.

"Are you sure you've never come here? I feel like I've seen you before." David turned to Killian, his eyes narrowed as if trying to figure out why he seemed familiar.

William came forward before Killian could respond. "He looks like our Captain, don't you think?"

David's eyes widened in recognition. "That! You do look like our captain, but a much softer version."

"So you're telling me there's a guy dressed as a pirate around here who looks like Killian?" Emma asked with a funny tone and a hint of interest in her eyes. "A pity he's sick, I would have liked to see it. And compare."

Killian tilted her head in Emma's direction as he raised an eyebrow. In response, her lips curved into a smirk. He was about to drop an innuendo, but he thought better of it and instead turned to David. "And what would be his name, Captain Hook?"

"Sure, who else could be the captain of this fine vessel?" David replied with a serious expression on his face although his voice revealed a playful tone. Both Emma and Liam snorted while Killian smirked at them. No doubt this town and its inhabitants were a continuous source of entertainment.

"Can you imagine Killian and an even more cocky twin together? If it's hard to tolerate one, imagine two of them," Liam joked as he tapped him on the shoulder. For once, Killian didn't mind Liam messing with him, not when his stupid jokes made Emma laugh so carefree. That sound was like music to his ears.

After chatting a little more with the guides, they said goodbye, taking with them the promise that they would visit the town again so that Killian could meet his twin and with the recommendation that they visit The Rabbit Hole, the most popular bar in town.

At this point, none of them were surprised by the name of the bar, although Killian was curious to know what they would find. One thing was clear, both he and Emma were willing to fully enjoy the experience. It was not usual for them to visit bars other than their workplace, so the prospect of being served for once and not worrying about drinking too much alcohol was too appealing to miss. Liam did not seem so convinced to go out that night, though, claiming that they would have to get up early the next day to make the journey back home. On this occasion, Emma decided to ally with Killian so Liam had no choice but to follow them.

The first thing Killian noticed when they entered the bar was that it was quite crowded even though the festival in the streets still had plenty of people gathered outside. The décor inside the establishment kept the common retro theme seen throughout the rest of the town.

"Look, there’s a dartboard," Liam pointed out, his previous reluctance giving way to an obvious interest.

"And there is also a pool table," Emma added, gesturing to a corner of the bar, a spark of challenge in her gaze. "What do you say, Jones, are you up for me to kick your ass?"

"I'm always up, Swan."

He was about to add another suggestive comment when his gaze caught something — or rather someone — that made him harden his features. Graham, the bloody sheriff, was also at the bar. Luckily, the guy was turning his back on them, so he probably hadn't realized their presence yet.

Taking advantage of the fact that the two of them had been left alone since Liam had approached the counter to order drinks, Killian's first impulse was to grab Emma and get her away from Graham with the excuse of playing pool. He was so tempted to do it, but he immediately changed his mind. He had no right to keep off Emma from speaking to whomever she wanted, among other things because he himself was a damn coward who didn't dare to express his feelings towards her. The guy seemed interested in her. Who was he to prevent any chance of happiness for her? After taking a deep breath, he nodded almost imperceptibly and approached Emma, whispering in her ear.

"I just spotted the sheriff, Graham, in case you want to go say hello."

Emma's reaction was not as expected; it was much better, to his utter relief. She looked at him first, frowning slightly in a confused expression, then her gaze drifted to the place where Graham was and finally her eyes fixed on him again. "Nah, I'd rather beat you." Without further ado, she began to walk in the direction of the pool table, swaying her hips in a very distracting way. "Are you coming or not?" she asked, turning her head and casting him a glance too tempting to be rejected.

From there the three of them dedicated themselves to enjoying the night to the fullest.

They played pool and Killian lost all the games to the delight of both his brother and Emma. Not that he was bad, but rather that there was something hypnotic in the way Emma handled the stick. Not to mention the portion of cleavage that was exposed every time she leaned on the table.

They also played darts, with more luck on his part, although he did not enjoy his victory as he would have liked, since that was the moment when Graham decided to approach them.

"I see you are making the most of your stay in our town. I'm glad about that." Although Graham addressed the three of them, both his posture and his gaze denoted that his words were intended only for Emma.

"Yeah. We're doing some kind of research since we run a bar. Well, rather they are the owners, I just work there." Emma replied, a soft smile on her face, her gaze pausing for a moment on Graham and then traveling back to Killian and Liam.

Emma's comment was all Graham needed to turn his torso further in her direction, focusing all his attention on her. "Ah! So you work in a bar. May I ask what's your task there?"

"She is our saving angel," Liam replied before Emma even had time to open her mouth, placing an arm around her shoulders in a gesture of affection. It seemed that his brother remained oblivious to Graham's attempts to flirt.

Graham seemed to take his brother's gesture in the wrong way because his expression changed subtly, his features marked with a hint of disappointment. After continuing to chat a little more, he politely excused himself, expressing his hope to see them before they traveled back home. And suddenly, they were three again.

They continued playing and drinking maybe too much, except for Liam, who once again proved to be the most mature of them, not only in age but in behavior. But Killian liked a challenge and given Emma's competitive side, she also found it difficult to refuse a competition, even if that meant there was alcohol involved.

He wasn't aware that perhaps there was too much alcohol in his system until Liam practically had to drag them out of the bar. Emma wasn't in a better state, although she didn't seem to care, her eyes sparkled, there was a permanent smile on her face, and her cheeks had a soft blush, making her irresistible to his eyes. Both ignored the expression of reproach on Liam's face as they walked towards the B&B singing and giggling while his brother followed them a few steps behind.

It had been a while since he felt that way, with a kind of liberating energy, very different from the effect that alcohol had had on him in his darkest moments. On this occasion, a kind of fog had settled in his brain preventing him from thinking clearly. But in return he felt that his inhibitions had disappeared, pushing him to act like a teenager.

Once in their room, they continued laughing and messing with Liam who acted once more as if he were a responsible father standing before his two mischievous children, forcing them to change clothes, put on pajamas and cool off before getting into bed, despite their protests.

"You'll thank me when you wake up tomorrow with a hangover."

"You're not funny, Liam," Emma complained, her arms crossed over her chest and an adorable pout on her lips. Still, she did what she had been told and locked herself in the bathroom after grabbing her pajamas and toiletries.

Once Liam made sure that Killian also changed clothes, he turned to him again. "We should have eaten something instead of drinking so much. I've seen a vending machine in the hallway near the reception. I guess I will only find junk food, but that's better than nothing. You two are going to behave in my absence, aren't you?" he asked in a not convincing tone.

"Yes, Dad," Killian responded, trying, and failing, to maintain a serious expression.

In response, Liam shook his head, giving him one last intimidating look before grabbing the key and leaving the room. That was also the moment that Emma chose to leave the bathroom, her hair in a loose bun, no traces of makeup, an adorable expression on her face. Her eyes then turned to the large bed while a naughty spark crossed her gaze.

Killian watched in amazement as she crossed the room and practically threw herself on the large bed. She then patted the empty space beside her. "Hurry up, before Liam arrives."

He hastened to obey, although his clouded mind prevented him from processing Emma's true intentions. Even so, the prospect of sharing a bed with Emma instead of Liam was too appealing to be rejected, consequences be damned.

"Do you think if we pretend to fall asleep like that Liam would wake us up?" Emma asked while snuggling under the covers.

"Nah. I don't think so." He also got under the covers, lying on his side facing her. "He's not gonna wake you up, at least. I'm not so sure about myself, though. Maybe he kicks my ass and sends me to sleep on the floor while he takes the cot."

Emma giggled beside him, but then her features twisted as she let out a groan. "Gods! This room won't stop moving. It's like we're on the deck of a fucking ship."

"We're a little drunk, love."

"Only a little?" She snorted while poking a finger into his chest. "You're a bad influence, Jones, and—" Whatever she was going to say, it was interrupted by a loud yawn, causing him to burst out laughing hysterically as she tried unsuccessfully to kick him out of bed. In the end, she gave up and instead began to laugh too.

Once the laughter subsided, she approached him, their bodies separated by only a few inches. "I think I'm gonna try to sleep." She mused in a slurred voice and then she brought her face close to his and pressed her lips to his. It was the briefest of kisses, her touch almost imperceptible, like a feather, but with the ability to shake him whole. "Good night, Killian," she whispered against his lips before turning her back to him.

Killian remained motionless for a few seconds, feeling a pleasant tingling in his lips, while his heart pounded frantically in his chest. There was a single thought in his cloudy mind. What had just happened? Had it been real, or just a product of his imagination driven by alcohol running in his veins?

He shook his head in a futile attempt to clear his mind. Giving up finally, he snuggled under the covers and closed his eyes. His last thoughts before succumbing to sleep were occupied by Emma and his attempt to commit to memory all the events that had happened on that wonderful day. None so glorious, though, as the kiss they had shared.

When Killian woke up a few hours later, he felt completely disoriented for a moment, having no idea where he was. The latent headache he started feeling did not help in the least to clear his mind, so he was tempted to close his eyes and try to sleep again.

It was then that he noticed a warm body beside him. When his eyes adjusted to the poor lighting in the room and observed a few strands of blond hair on the pillow, he gave such a start that he almost fell off the bed.

After releasing a quiet sigh, he dropped his head on the pillow again, trying to pull himself together. His mind gradually cleared up, the reminder of what happened last night coming in flashes, although he had the impression that there were still several gaps in his memory. He vaguely remembered the reason why the two of them had ended up sharing the bed, but everything else was so blurry that he felt unable to reach it.

The last image his brain registered before falling asleep again was the notion of a kiss. Killian supposed it was the memory of one of his usual dreams about Emma. The mere possibility that he might not remember the first kiss shared with Emma was so frustrating that he didn't even dare to consider it.

Present day

The muffled noises coming from the bar brought Killian back to reality. It was then that he realized that he had been locked in the office for longer than necessary. Still, he remained reluctant to get out of there and see Emma's reaction.

He felt a growing frustration taking hold of him. The recent kiss had somehow served as the trigger that had allowed him to recover the memory of a kiss that had been hidden in the form of a dream. Even so, he seemed unable to catch the details, the memory remaining more like a notion rather than a true experience, which only increased his frustration.

To make matters worse, he didn't even know what was going through Emma's mind. He wasn't sure if she had had the same feeling, if she had also completely forgotten that first kiss. By her reaction, he sensed that she had experienced something similar, which, joined with her reluctance to open her heart, had prompted her to run away.

A heavy sigh escaped between his lips as he ran his hand down his face and rubbed his chin in an attempt to control his fears and regain enough determination to face whatever it was that was about to come.

When Killian finally dared to get out of the office, his gaze inevitably traveled to Emma. She was chatting with Elsa so she didn't notice him at first. When their eyes met, he wasn't able to decipher her expression. Still, just before she looked back at Elsa, Killian detected the hint of a smile on her face. It was an almost imperceptible movement of her lips, but enough so that the flame of hope in Killian's heart began to burn strongly once more.

Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think :)

What to expect in the next chapter? Christmas is coming which means a perfect setting to see how they face the consequences of their first (second) kiss.

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#cs ff #csrt #captain swan #cs au #damn you for making me love you #cs au ff #captain swan rewrite a thon #mayquita writes #my cs writings

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searchingwardrobes · 5 years ago

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The Early Leaf’s a Flower: 7/11

In this chapter, Emma sets off on a search for home, but is she only running? Meanwhile, Killian learns that a voyage may be in order to stop Pan’s evil schemes. I promise, this is the last chapter that Emma and Killian will be separated! I think (hopefully) your wait will have been well worth it ;) At any rate, this chapter has some really important revelations. Oh, and don’t try to make this story fit canon. Just don’t. Storybrooke really is just a normal town, and the only Once characters in it are the ones I have named. I haven’t forgotten about Snow and Charming, I promise. You just have to trust me! (I’ve said that a lot, haven’t I?)

Much thanks as always to the mods of the csrt event at @captainswanbigbang. Also thanks to @optomisticgirl and @shippingtheswann for their beta skills.

Summary: She saw eyes that were the blue of the forget me not peering at her through the cracked door of the wardrobe. He saw hair as gold as the buttercups. Why does the wardrobe keep bringing them back to one another, if fate keeps tearing them apart? Or maybe fate has her reasons …

Rating: M for eventual sexy times, violence, canonical character death, and attempted rape

Trigger warnings: vague references to child abuse (physical and sexual), violence, and positive Millian

Words: About 3k in this chapter

** Complete and updated every Monday** Also on Ao3

Emma: Age 21

Emma wedges the last cardboard box into the backseat of her Bug, and Graham grunts as he slams the trunk shut. She’s honestly surprised he managed it. For someone with no roots, she sure was able to pack this car tight. Not that it takes much in a VW Bug, but still.

“Are you sure about this?” Ruby asks as Emma shuts the door.

“Yeah,” Graham says coming around the front of the car, “Tallahassee is an awfully long way from Maine.”

Emma shrugs. “There’s farther.”

Ruby rolls her eyes. “But you have a life here. Plus, if you stay, you get to be one of my bridesmaids.”

Ruby nudges Emma’s elbow, making her smile despite herself. “And I so want to wear those lovely dresses Bertie at Modern Fashions designed for you. What color was that again?”

“Salmon,” Ruby laughs, “but if you stay, I could convince her to do them in magenta instead.”

Emma chuckles too. “Now, that changes everything!”

“Now, Emma,” Graham cuts in, “it’s a long drive from here down to Florida. Pull over if you get tired, and make sure you check the oil regularly, and -”

“Would both of you stop?” Granny admonishes, shooing Ruby and Graham away so she can pull Emma in for a hug. “Don’t listen to them, sweetheart. You’re young, and you need to spread your wings.”

Emma nods against Granny’s shoulder, willing her tears not to fall. When the older woman releases her, Ruby claims a hug. When the brunette releases Emma, she clasps her by both shoulders and gives her a long, intense look.

“If you don’t find what you’re looking for, you’ll come home?”

Emma sighs. “I’m sorry, Ruby. Storybrooke’s been wonderful, but home is something I’m still searching for.”

Ruby shakes her head. “Or maybe you’re running.”

“Maybe. But when you really have a home, and you leave it, you just . . . miss it. I’m gonna keep running until I feel that.”

“Well, if you feel that for us -”

“Then I’ll be back.”

The two young women embrace again, and then Emma gets behind the wheel of the dilapidated yellow car she had saved for two months to buy in cash. Ruby’s ex, Billy, had done a ton of work on it for the cost of parts only, which had taken an additional two months in tips from the diner. Nevertheless, the Bug is now hers, and she has owned precious little in her life. She turns the key in the ignition, puts the car in gear, and waves goodbye as she pulls out of the lot in front of the inn. She watches Granny, Ruby, and Graham get smaller in her rearview mirror until she drives out of downtown Storybrooke.

There’s a stretch of countryside before she reaches the “Leaving Storybrooke” sign. For some reason, she glances in her rearview mirror again as she crosses the town line, but all she sees behind her is a long, lonely road. She sighs as she turns her gaze back out the front windshield.

She isn’t so sure the view there is any different.

Killian: Age 21

Killian picks his way gingerly through the thick foliage that runs along the ravine in the heart of Neverland. He shifts his grip on the parcels tucked beneath his right arm and swings his hook through the braken. Every time he comes to the island, the dreamshade is more prolific, daylight is shorter, and the trees drip with more lichen and moss. The scent of decay and death fill his nostrils. The fairies are right, the island is dying.

He releases a long breath of relief when he reaches the ravine and is away from the danger of the dreamshade. He ducks beneath the moss and vines covering the enchanted entryway, all of it thicker than it was on his previous visit. He taps his hook on the rock wall in the rhythm Tink had instructed, and it dissolves before him, revealing a tunnel lit with fairy magic. Finally he reaches a quaint wooden door covered in fairy runes. He touches them with his hook in the correct order, and then he hears the lock click. A greeting is on his lips, but he holds them back at the sight before him.

Wendy is in a rocker by the fireplace, singing a lullaby as she darns some of Michael’s socks. The boy himself is curled up in the bottom of the two bunks set into the wall, fast asleep with his thumb in his mouth.

She stepped away from me

And she moved through the Fair

And fondly I watched her

Move here and move there

And she went her way homeward

With one star awake

As the swans in the evening

Move over the lake

As the final line drifts over him, Wendy glances up from her mending and lets out a cry.

“Hook!”

She leaps up and races across the room, flinging herself into Killian’s arms. He lets out a grunt at the impact, barely managing to keep hold of his parcels. He glances over her shoulder and is shocked to see Michael sleeping through it all.

“What did you bring us?” she asks, eagerly taking the packages.

“Everything on your list,” he tells her proudly, “and one or two surprises.”

“Candy for Michael?” Wendy shakes her head when she sees Hook shrug. “You don’t need to spoil him.”

“And you don’t need to act like a little mother. How old are you now?”

“Thirteen,” she replies with a tilt of her chin.

Killian frowns. “You should be giggling with your friends and getting into mischief, not darning socks and worrying over how much candy your brother eats.”

“Or attempting to mother lost boys,” says a voice over Killian’s shoulder, and he turns to see Tink coming through an archway in the back wall with piles of blankets in her hands.

“Oh, the linens!” Wendy exclaims, taking the load from Tink far too eagerly. “It’s washing day,” she tells Hook.

“Don’t change the subject,” he reprimands, “what’s this about mothering lost boys?”

“Shh, Michael’s napping.”

“Wendy -”

“Ok, ok,” she huffs, dropping the bedding onto the small kitchen table, “so I sneak out sometimes into Pan’s camp -”

“Pan’s camp!” Killian exclaims, turning incredulous eyes on Tink, who just shrugs and shakes her head.

“When they’re all asleep,” Wendy clarifies, as if that makes it ok, “and I only go because the little ones cry for their mothers. I sing them back to sleep, you see, and -”

“And you could get caught by one of the older ones!”

“There’s no use talking to her, Hook,” Tink sighs, “Tiger Lily and I have already tried.”

Killian narrows his eyes at Wendy, but she avoids his look by ripping into one of the parcels he’s bought. “Lace!” she squeals. “Oh, Hook, you shouldn’t have!”

He turns bright red as she hugs him again. “Well, you said your handkerchiefs were shabby and needed lace, and the king’s navy was carrying this ridiculous gift for the crown princess from the Duke of Glowerhaven. Lord knows that woman doesn’t need any more frippery when her people are starving, so -”

“Just admit Wendy’s got you wrapped around her little finger and stop babbling,” Tink laughs.

He doesn’t even attempt to deny it. He can’t find a way to get Wendy and her brother home; the least he can do is brighten their days in some small way.

“Hook,” Tink says, lowering her voice so Wendy can’t hear, “we need to talk.”

“In my experience, I’m never in for a pleasant conversation when a woman says that.”

Tink just rolls her eyes and pulls on his arm. Wendy is too busy with her sewing basket and the new lace to notice as the fairy pulls him down the hallway and into her room.

“Why Tink,” he teases with a wink, “if you were getting lonely, you could have just said so.”

Tink scowls at him, crossing her arms over her chest. “Funny, but some females are immune to your charms, pirate.”

“Not many,” he can’t help teasing with an arch of his brow. It’s true. He hasn’t lacked for willing and eager company at any port, though none of his conquests have succeeded in filling the aching hole inside him.

“I need to show you something -” she lifts a hand and rushes to add, “in my books of fairy lore.”

Tink pulls a cracked and faded tome from her bookcase. It’s so old that a puff of dust billows up as she opens it. Killian chokes as he waves his hook in the air to clear it.

“Is this about the pixie trees dying?”

“The island dying you mean,” Tink corrects, “which means Pan is dying, too. He and the island are connected.”

“We knew all this already,” Hook says, shaking his head, “and the why really doesn’t matter, in my opinion.”

“What we didn’t know was the connection between that and the little ones the shadow kept bringing to Pan.”

“Like Mason and Michael.” Killian looks over Tink’s shoulder at the book. He can’t make sense of the fairy runes, but he does recognize a sketch in the middle of the page. “Is that a flower?”

“A buttercup, specifically,” Tink answers, “and according to this prophecy there will be a special child with this mark.”

Killian rubs at his chin. “Felix said Mason didn’t have the mark, and then Michael mentioned something about it as well.” He picks up the fragile book, balancing it gingerly on his hooked forearm so loose pages won’t fall out. “What else does the book say about this child?”

“That it will be a boy with the heart of the truest believer. That his lineage will be both royal and common, magical and non-magical.”

Killian lifts his gaze from the page before him to lock it upon Tink. The pale color upon her cheeks makes his heart sink.”What are you not saying?”

Tink moistens her lips nervously. “The worst part is . . . that the heart of this child can restore life to the dying. Renew magic that has been lost. That’s why Pan is looking for this child.”

“But the child dies so that bastard can live?”

Tink nods grimly as Hook slams the book shut. Fury rises in his chest as he thinks of Mason, now nine years old, a fine pirate already, looking more and more like Milah with each passing day. He thinks of Michael, only six years old and sleeping with such easy trust in the other room. He knows from experience how cold-blooded Pan can be, but this?

“Too long have I let this demon elude me,” Killian growls, slamming his hook into the wooden desk before him. “I’ll gut him like a fish; I’ll end him once and for all.”

“But Hook, you and your crew have had how many skirmishes with the lost boys?”

Killian’s eyes flash. “You doubt me?”

“Of course not, but we have to be realistic. Pan has magic, you don’t. It’s why he always gets the -” Tink breaks off suddenly, her face turning deep red. “That is, I mean.”

“You can bloody well say it,” Killian grumbles, “he always gets the upper hand.”

Tink winces, then tentatively reaches out to him. “What it comes down to is this - it’s time you and your crew went on the offense. You have to leave Neverland, and I don’t just mean to visit your favorite ports or wreck havoc on King George’s Navy. I mean leave. Use the pegasus sail to search the realms and find -”

“You’re leaving?”

Hook and Tink whirl to see Wendy standing in the doorway holding a tea tray in her trembling hands. The sight cuts him deep. For some reason, taking care of people is Wendy’s way of coping. She deserves better. Tears well in her eyes as she gazes up at him. She thinks he’s a bloody hero for some reason

“Hook, are you leaving? For good?”

He sighs as he reaches out gently to take the tray from her hands before she drops it. “Nothing’s been decided yet, lass, but I may need to take a lengthy voyage to find someone. A boy like your brother, actually.”

“What about us?” she asks, her eyes wide now and her breaths coming fast. “You said you’d find a way to get us home.”

Killian closes his eyes, silently cursing himself. It was a promise he never should have made. Tink and Tiger Lily have searched every book of magic they own, and he has inquired of sorcerers and enchantresses at every port. They still don’t know of an antidote for the waters of Rainbow Falls.

“This can be good for you and Michael too,” Tink puts in. “Searching different realms means a myriad of magical possibilities.”

“But how long?” Wendy whispers. He and Tink can’t answer that question. In the silence, Wendy does something that takes him completely by surprise. She flings herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist in a tight hug. “I’ll miss you. Please don’t be gone too long.”

Killian lifts his good hand tentatively and awkwardly pats Wendy on the head. He looks up nervously at Tink.

“I don’t even know where to begin looking.”

“Well,” Tink says hesitantly, “all we have to go on is the words of the prophecy. He’ll be very young, like the other boys. He’ll have one royal parent and one who is a commoner. One magical parent and one non-magical. Wait, no, I read this wrong . . . “

Killian steps away from Wendy to look again at the page Tink is perusing. Not that it makes any more sense to him now than it did moments ago.

“Of both a land of magic and a land of none.” Tink murmurs.

“Like my home,” Wendy says casually.

“Wait - what?” Killian asks, his heart suddenly pounding.

“My home,” she repeats, shrugging one shoulder, “there was no magic there. That’s why Michael and I kept going to the window to see the shadow. John told us it was silly but -”

“Wait a minute,” Killian says, shaking his head and taking in a sharp breath, “I’ve been to a land with no magic, too.”

****************************************

Killian stands in front of the old familiar wardrobe for what feels like the millionth time. Not once in the last five years has it led him anywhere. Perhaps it was only waiting for this day . . .

Tink and Wendy had wanted to come with him to see it, but he feels that he has to do this alone. His fingers twitch at his right side, and he has to take several deep breaths before he reaches for the handle. He knows what this means. If he is to search Emma’s realm for the boy, he’ll have to test fate and see what happens when he lets the light that can take him back home fade. He also is unsure how he will explain this to Emma, not that anything about their friendship has ever made sense.

He closes his eyes, counts to three, then pulls on the knob just as he opens his eyes again. His breath rushes out when he sees nothing but an empty wardrobe. Swearing under his breath, he climbs inside, pounds at the inside walls, but finds them sturdy and unyielding beneath his fist.

Killian jumps back out in frustration, slamming the door of the wardrobe behind him. He stalks to his desk, shoving things aside to make room for maps and star charts. He’s heard the names of many of the realms: Wonderland, Oz, Arendelle, Camelot, Narnia. He’s even discovered star charts that can get them there with the aid of the pegasus sail. But a land without magic? There’s only one way he’s ever gotten to a land like that, and it is apparently barred from him.

No matter. Tink said the boy was of a magical land as well. He’ll simply have to start there. He breathes heavily as his gaze sweeps over the stack of maps before him. Ever since he and Liam were lads, he’s been fascinated with maps. They both were. The Brothers Jones, planning adventures across the realms.

“If you were here, Liam . . . “ he trails off, hanging his head as memories wash over him. Then he takes a deep breath and tightens his jaw. “If you were here, you would find this boy. You would be the hero.”

He taps his hook in agitation as he begins to plot a course. He’s no hero, but he’ll do this for Liam. For Milah. For Wendy.

Meanwhile, in a Land Without Magic . . .

Olivia Bridges has been a social worker for twenty five long years, and she’s seen a lot of things in her caseload. Yet she’s never seen a case like this. It should have been a slim volume of straight forward paperwork. Infants given up at birth were always immediately adopted. This one was especially ideal - the birth mother wanted a closed adoption. Those were rare these days. A successful, single woman had adopted the boy, taking him home from the hospital days after his birth.

Then she’d brought him back a month later before she’d even signed the final papers. Colic.

Olivia rolls her eyes remembering. The woman didn’t deserve to be a mother in her opinion. Not that anyone ever listened to her opinion.

Yet the boy’s file still could have ended there. Colic or no colic. But it didn’t.

Olivia pats the boy’s knee now. He is three years old and still has no home, despite his adorable mop of brown hair and large eyes like melted chocolate. The reasons have varied: colic, night terrors, seizures. None of it should have mattered.

She smiles down at him and reminds him that someone is adopting him today. He looks silently up at her, and she wonders if he’s already cynical at three. She rises, takes his hand in hers, and leads him into the next room.

A young man turns and smiles at them as they enter. An adoption by a single man as young as this one is rare, but in this child’s case, it may be the only option left. Besides, the man has gone through every government hoop necessary. He’s invested a considerable sum of money and passed physicals, psychological profiles, and home studies with flying colors. He’s also recently engaged to his boyfriend of the past year (who’s also passed every test). Honestly, Olivia’s only concern is that this one sticks.

“John Darling,” Olivia says, “meet your new son.”

Tagging: @snowbellewells @kmomof4 @whimsicallyenchantedrose @teamhook @bethacaciakay @let-it-raines @welllpthisishappening @wellhellotragic @winterbaby89 @xhookswenchx @courtorderedcake @branlovestowrite @hollyethecurious @vvbooklady1256 @profdanglaisstuff @carpedzem @ekr032-blog-blog @jennjenn615 @tiganasummertree @lfh1226-linda @ultraluckycatnd @spartanguard @shireness-says @scientificapricot @stahlop @resident-of-storybrooke @superchocovian @sherlockianwhovian @snidgetsafan @ohmakemeahercules @thislassishooked @ilovemesomekillianjones @nikkiemms@delirious-latenight-laughs

#cs ff #csrt #captain swan rewrite a thon #cs neverland au #cs canon divergence #magic wardrobe #soul mates #fate #angst #slow burn #childhood sweethearts

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clansayeed · 5 years ago

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Bound by Destiny II, part 1 ― Chapter 11: The Auction

PAIRING: Kamilah Sayeed x MC (Nadya Al Jamil) RATING: Mature

⥼ MASTERLIST ⥽

⥼ Bound by Destiny II, part 1 ⥽

While struggling with nightmares of lives she’s never lived, a shadow from the past looming over her city, and the proposed idea that her life may just be a little bit too weird to handle alone, Nadya makes sure to tell herself that everything is perfect just the way it is. If only. When the self-proclaimed King of Vampires (and Maker of her sometimes-girlfriend and always-boss, can’t forget that little tidbit) Gaius Augustine returns intent on claiming Manhattan as the throne that was promised, she and her friends find themselves forced into the task of saving the world. But with millennia-old vampires and an Order of hunters on their heels as well as allies hiding catastrophic secrets at their backs… it won’t be an easy task. Too bad destiny didn’t exactly ask for her input.

Bound by Destiny II and the rest of the Oblivion Bound series is an ongoing dramatic retelling project of the Bloodbound series and spin-off, Nightbound. Find out more [HERE].

*Let me know if you would like to be added to the Destiny II tag list!

⥼ Chapter Summary ⥽

The Amulet is one bid away, but they aren't the only vampires willing to pay whatever cost. Valdas and Isseya have their own ideas about ensuring Gaius' victory... or is it their own? It's hard to tell.

[READ IT ON AO3]

Taylor reaches the pair of vampires before the rest of them can make it down the stairs.

He approaches with an authority one wouldn’t expect to see from someone as human-looking as he is.

“Is there a problem here?” He doesn’t look at Valdas when he speaks — it’s immediately clear he couldn’t give less of a damn what the man has to say. He only cares about Cadence.

Taylor reaches out and places a tentative hand on the taller man’s arm. “Cade, are you okay?” But he doesn’t get an answer.

When Valdas recovers from the shock of being interrupted, he doesn’t come out on the other end nearly as caring as he’d sounded before. “This doesn’t concern you, halfling.”

But Taylor’s the type to take anything, whether it ‘concerns him’ or not, and stick his nose in it regardless.

“Back off, man. I think it’s pretty plain he doesn’t want you around.”

“He doesn’t know what he wants. Get out of my way.”

“Touch me and see what happens.”

With a scoff the vampire reaches for Taylor’s shoulder, and Nadya almost trips in her haste because she’s seen the way Valdas can get when he’s angry. But even the barest touch and she watches in startled awe as Taylor’s shoulder… sparks? Whatever it is it gets Valdas to back off.

“First one’s a freebie. Next time I’m gonna let my trigger-happy boyfriend up there go to town.”

So behind him Valdas watches, uncharacteristically silent as he takes in the sudden ease Cadence feels at the presence of his friend. As Nadya and the others push their way through to the bar she sees the barest shadow of doubt in his eyes before it vanishes without a trace. Replaced by cool nonchalance and an all-too-familiar smug smile.

Only it’s directed a little higher than Nadya’s glare.

“Adrian, you’re looking well.”

Anger flashes over Adrian’s face and he actually draws his fist back ready to swing. “Don’t,” and when Nadya grabs his elbow she knows if he really wanted to she would have just been hurled along for the ride but thankfully it’s enough to stop him, “he’s just baiting you.”

“If he thinks he can just stand there and get away with kidnapping you —”

The smallest furrow creases in Valdas’ brow. “Did I not ensure her safe return?”

“You think that justifies it?!” Adrian practically roars. Around them more and more guests and eager bidders turn away from their conversations and card games to watch the unfolding events.

But if she doesn’t get to yell right now neither does Adrian. It’s only fair.

Taylor gives her a panicked look. “You guys need to cool it or they’ll kick us out.” Calm him down or something, his eyes scream. And in this Nadya hates it — like really really hates it — but she has to agree.

“We can’t risk it Adrian, please.” Because there’s no question as to why Valdas is here; why Isseya is probably somewhere slithering in the shadows. Which means they need a game plan, like, yesterday. “Please, Adrian, come on…”

But Adrian is still tense under her touch. “He’s not worth it.” Though that she says loud enough so more than just the vampires can hear her. “He’s too pathetic for that.”

It would have been nice to see him look anything even on the spectrum of shamed but Valdas just quirks his brow slightly. “Tactful as ever, Miss Nadya.” Then, voice lowered slightly; “You look in good health.”

“Yeah, no thanks to you.” She darts a quick look behind him. “Where’s Isseya?”

“Why do you care?” Valdas asks, genuinely surprised.

“Because she has a funny habit to trying to kill me.”

“There needn’t be any bloodshed tonight — or ever again.”

“You two are the ones who keep resorting to violence.” She can still feel a phantom of the pain where she’d all but been dragged by the hair…

Valdas chances half a step forward; Nadya refuses to trust the false regret in his eyes ever again. “I told you, Nadya, that going forward my acts will not entirely be of my own will.”

“Like I’m supposed to believe you; like you haven’t lied to me over and over again?”

“Perhaps, but where words can lie I’ve found that memories have no choice but to reveal the truth.”

What — does he want her to look into his head again; to push Adrian aside and take his hand and see some hidden truth? No way.

Nadya’s brow furrows, resolute.

“If you were really worth trusting you wouldn’t need to lie at all.”

The vampire’s sigh weighs heavy on his shoulders. He doesn’t get the chance to lie to her again.

The clanging of a gong rings high over their heads and echoes through the center of the club manor-house. Now they really need to get going. Nadya jerks her head for Lily to help her pull Adrian back. Eventually — a little too late in her opinion but better late than never — he eases up. The sharper edges of his eyes seem to smooth out.

He shakes his head as if clearing a fog. “I’m sorry, I just…”

“We’ll talk about it later.” But despite her smile Nadya taps him with the back of her hand. “And we are talking about it later, Adrian.”

It’s a threat as much as it is a promise. He’d better believe it.

“C’mon, Cade,” Taylor tries to coax the man forward with a little push; and Nadya’s pretty sure she’s not supposed to hear the next bit but she’s too close not to catch when Taylor mutters under his breath; “what’s up with you lately, man? You’ve been like this for a month now…”

“It’s nothing.” Cadence replies just shy of a whisper.

“It doesn’t feel like ‘nothing.’”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t go poking around in my emotions.”

“I can’t help that. You’re like a bullhorn in a church.”

They almost make it to the stairs — and a waiting, arms-over-her-chest doesn’t-know-yet-if-she-wants-to-hug-him-or-strangle-him Katherine. Almost.

“It was not my intention to cause you such distress… Cadence.” Valdas calls at their backs; he says the name like it’s acid on his tongue but every other word is sincere enough to make Nadya’s heart hurt in an odd way.

She’s pretty sure if it weren’t for his friends practically forcing him forward Cadence might have actually turned back. Even if only for a moment.

But the only one who does is Lily — and that’s just to give him a finger Nadya doesn’t approve of. But this once she’ll just keep her mouth shut.

Before they get back to Isadora, Lily holds her behind from the others. Adrian is too lost in his own thoughts to notice. Taylor throws them a raised eyebrow, but it’s all good.

Thankfully, her best friend keeps her voice to a low level. The fae with his black box is still skirting around the edges of the booths. They must have something to do with the auction. “Firstly, you make some bonkers friends.”

“You know you’re my friend, right?”

“My point stands.” And yeah, fair, Nadya will give her that. “Second, if Gomez is here there’s no doubt Morticia is somewhere nearby. But what if that means…”

Thankfully there’s no Addams Family analogy equivalent for the hellspawn of all evil that is Gaius Augustine, but Nadya presses a finger up against Lily’s lips anyway. “Don’t… don’t say it.”

On some level all of them probably had that same thought during their miniature confrontation. It’s inevitable.

Lily kisses her finger aside. “You know what I mean, though?” And she sneaks glances about as subtle as the hulking Minotaur stomp-stomping his way across the bar floor down below.

“Yeah, I do. But I don’t think he’s here, Lil’.” I would have felt him.

All the way across that long long table where he couldn’t be denied. No matter what he looked like, Gaius didn’t seem the type to see an event as splendorous as this and find himself content to hide away from the spotlight. “It’s his scene, but I think if he were here we would have known it by now.”

“What, we’d be on our knees worshiping him or something?”

Nadya laughs dry and humorless. “No — we’d be dead.”

They arrive back to the booth in time for the lights cast off from the chandelier to glow a rich white-blue. Isadora unfurls the ever-changing parchment of lots and bids and states the obvious; “It’s beginning…” And suddenly there’s a whole new kind of tension hanging around the exclusive vampire club table.

The first lot is a statue that the auctioneer claims is made from solid ruby. It definitely looks that way, but while the prices jump higher and higher, the bids coming in faster and faster in the pursuit of the luxurious, Nadya can’t fathom who would want it — or why for that matter.

It sells for twelve and a half million dollars to a stone troll wearing, of all things, a cape. She looks like she’s made of pure rubies, herself.

From where he’s perched leaning against their booth, Nadya notices Taylor looking a little paler than before. “You okay?” she whispers.

He nods and tugs at his collar. “Yeah, just thinking of how quickly I could pay off my student loans with that kind of money.”

“Preach.”

Lot the second is a brightly-polished sword. When the goblin offering closer looks comes around their way Nadya can see her reflection clear as day in the flat of the blade… if her reflection were that of a much younger girl with close-cropped hair and the weight of ages pushed deep into the sunken parts of her face gaunt with starvation.

“That’s mine…” she mumbles, and almost finds herself reaching out for it before the goblin snatches it away in yellow-skinned clutches with a sneer.

“To look! Not to touch!”

Nadya yanks her hand back as if stung. Isadora isn’t interested in the blade and waves him off, but she’s too good not to have noticed her little exchange. Not like she’s hiding anything though — after all the woman’s been inside her head. She knows the parts of the story Nadya carefully left out.

Wow, the bids scrolling by on the parchment Adrian watches ever-vigilant sure look fascinating…

The sword sells for 3 million and an added black flame candle to a fae with green tones in their skin. Lily watches the unlit candle trade owners and hands with wide eyes. “You think if we light it we’ll summon Bette Midler?”

Nadya shrugs — at this point anything is possible. Taylor grins and leans in conspiratorially.

“Black flame isn’t so hard,” he whispers with a mischievous grin, “it’s actually a type of fae fire. Remind me to show you before you guys book it back to New York.” And judging by the way Lily’s looking at him she’ll hold him to it — like a ‘literally will not get on the plane until she sees it’ kind of deal.

Lots three-through-five she forgets; obviously they weren’t memorable things. That or whatever’s in the little cocktails an attendant keeps bringing around packs a harder punch than she thought.

Lot six is rusty iron nail and that’s when things start to get weird.

“Sixty!—Seventy-five!—Three hundred!” calls out the auctioneer with barely a breath between them.

And these are in the millions.

Nadya still can’t figure out what’s so awesome about something that looks like it rolled under the shelves at a hardware store when it just becomes a repetitive game with the same two players.

The auctioneer goblin raises his aging, sickly green hand and a hushed silence falls over the entire club. “It seems we have our first bidding war for the night…” And he looks way too gleeful for Nadya’s comfort.

“If the bidders would join us down on the floor, come come…”

She looks to Isadora and Adrian, already in intent discussion about which lot the Amulet could be based on how much people have already thrown out. Cadence might as well be asleep and Katherine…

Katherine shakes her head. “You don’t want to see that, Nadya. Trust me on this one.”

Thank god Lily’s just as confused. “What’s so valuable about a friggin’ nail?”

“It’s what the nail does,” murmurs Cadence; and surprises them all by doing so, “it’s a cursing nail. Old magics banned in New Orleans and likely not practiced outside of the birth places of their magical foci. Whoever takes home the nail takes with them the ability to curse anyone they wish unrepentant.

“The curse could be something as simple and clean-cut as death, or something as vengeful and specific as the cursed person losing everyone they hold even the barest affection for.”

Down below and graciously out of sight comes the screech of breaking glass; the crowd roars and laughs in bloodthirsty delight. Nadya’s really glad she didn’t go watch at the railing, now.

“But if it’s banned here, how can they sell the nail?”

“It’s the act of the magic that’s banned; but the curse can be put in place anywhere in the world. Unfortunately it’s like Lily said…” he sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, “there’s nothing illegal about a simple nail.”

Nadya watches as a silent and haunted look passes between the city locals. Katherine jerks her chin towards the other side of the balconies and Taylor barely offers Nadya a smile of farewell before he’s racing away like the Devil is chasing him.

“Lot six for a generous six hundred and thirty!”

She didn’t even catch who won.

Maybe that’s for the best.

“Next up we have here a modest luxury to be certain, very pretty very heavy but don’t let that leave you wanting — lot seven, the famed Amulet of Nero.”

Nadya grasps Adrian’s hand on instinct.

While the auctioneer starts talking up the history of the Amulet, the same goblin as before comes around with a heavy wooden case, the lid propped open and the Amulet resting inside. Large and gold with a pendant piece probably half the size of Nadya’s fist; she has no trouble recognizing it at first glance.

It’s hers. Well — Gaius’, but also hers in a way. It calls to her in the same way the sword did and then some. The dark red center stone catches the light and reflects it across all their faces but she feels it like a siren song. Like she wants the light all to herself.

What Nadya didn’t expect was the way it holds everyone else captive as well. Well — everyone but Katherine. She gives it a glance and that’s that but the vampires? They’re transfixed.

With a greedy grin glinting on pointed teeth the goblin strides away to show it off to the next booth of potential buyers. The moment the Amulet is out of sight the effect is immediate; a held breath released across the booth that leaves the humans meeting eyes with the same kind of confused understanding.

“Okay… you guys felt that, right?” Lily asks, and Nadya hasn’t seen her this flushed since she was alive, “Please tell me that wasn’t just me because there is nothing I own that would match that thing.”

Isadora clears her throat and visibly shifts where she sits. Clearly never a woman out of her own control, having it happen twice in the such a short amount of time has her ill at ease. “No — there is a powerful energy to the thing. At least we won’t have to worry about confirming its authenticity.”

“Which means the Trinity know it’s the real deal, too.” Nadya says. She doesn’t want to, but ignoring the problem won’t make it go away. Trust her — she’s tried.

Adrian runs a hand over his mouth; his expression hard to read and Nadya doesn’t like not knowing what’s going on his head for this long. Frankly he’s been acting strange ever since they touched down in Louisiana but now isn’t the time for her to start up an argument about that. Once they have the Amulet safe and in hand, though…

“Are you ready?” When he doesn’t look up Nadya nudges his shoulder with hers. “Adrian, if this is gonna be too much —”

“Double the starting bid.” He says instead; and Isadora nods in agreement.

That answers that, I guess.

The auctioneer starts at fifty thousand. Isadora scribbles their bid down on the bespelled parchment. Not a breath after—

“Three million.”

The pen breaks in her grasp. Wordlessly Adrian pulls one from his breast pocket and all but shoves it at her.

Awesome. Really just… super great.

Three million. Then four. Then six — ten — one hundred. Every time the number goes up even the slightest bit—bam—a number almost unreasonably high. But there’s no question as to who’s to blame.

But as she watches the Trinity alone in their booth on the far side of the floor it becomes more and more obvious that their calm is nothing more than a ruse. Sure they rest against the richness of Persephone like they belong but their drinks are untouched, the tension enough to deter attendees and attendants alike. Nadya has a feeling you don’t need to be psychic to feel the energy coming off of them in waves of approach and die.

One thing’s for certain: the Trinity’s tactic of throwing larger numbers out of left field works quickly to deter anyone who might have a passive interest in winning. While all the other lots had taken up decent chunks of the passing hours, the Amulet of Nero is already halfway to one billion dollars in under ten minutes.

Isadora bumps up their bid by a meager million. Immediately Nadya looks across the way again.

Isseya and Valdas whisper together, heads lowered and in an intense debate. If she didn’t know any better she might even call it an argument — one that obviously can’t be that bad since it ends in a firm kiss pressed to the vampiress’ forehead.

She eases herself out of the booth shortly after. Turns back and lets one last longing look pass between them before disappearing around a roped-off doorway — and deeper into Persephone’s depths.

Really, Nadya tries not to let herself dwell on the whole thing. After all even vampires have to go powder their noses, right? But then Valdas rolls up his scroll and sets it aside. The auctioneer doesn’t call out a counter to Isadora’s most recent bid.

“In an unprecedented turn of events a bidding war has… been requested,” he says instead, and its obvious his scaling lips curl around the words with no small amount of confusion, “but does the opposing party accept?”

Valdas abandons the booth as well. Nadya is so trained on his every step that she doesn’t feel her body being moved until Adrian is gently pushing her aside; face set grim and determined.

“Adrian…”

But he barely spares her a look back. “Everything will be fine Nadya, I promise.” But there are no promises, not here. Not when there are two thousand years separating him and Valdas and not one of those in Adrian’s favor.

“The bidders will be joining us on the main floor, if they please.”

Nadya nudges Katherine’s leg under the table. “Kathy — quick — what’s back there?”

The Nighthunter follows her eyes to the doorway Isseya had vanished through. “Just the rest of the club,” she answers (unhelpfully), “party rooms, play rooms, bedrooms; that sort of stuff. But it looks closed off for the auction.”

“And what happens to a lot once the bidding is finished?”

“The house keeps it until the end of the night. Gives people time if they bid more than they have on them.” She looks Nadya over with a frown. “Why?”

The two vampires reach the opposing staircases at the same time.

“I suppose there’s nothing that could sway you?” asks Valdas.

Adrian scoffs. “And if I gave you the same offer?”

“I would say yes.”

There’s an unrepentant honesty that almost—almost—makes Adrian falter. It’s brief, and maybe you wouldn’t even notice it if you didn’t know him very well. But Nadya does.

He can do this.

The least she can do is be just as brave. “I think Isseya’s gone to steal the Amulet while everyone’s focused on the fight.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” Isadora demands and all but kicks them up on their feet. “Go, I will keep an eye on Raines, make sure he doesn’t get himself killed. Try and do the same.”

Finding Isseya ends up being easier than they expected. All they have to do is follow the trail of blood and goblin bodies and it’s like breadcrumbs right to her. Through the winding maze of Persephone, down some back stairs and through a literal giant metal vault door just chilling at the end of a corridor like it has any reason being there at all.

The vampiress stands the picture of serene in the center of a bloodbath. The club had spared no expense on guards and she had cut through them all without so much as a snag in her dress.

It’s telling that Nadya isn’t the least bit surprised by any of this. She’s come to expect brazen violence from the likes of them.

Katherine’s the one with the stake but its Cadence who puts himself in front of them. “Give us the Amulet and no one has to get hurt.”

She looks up with a raised eyebrow and a deadpan frown.

“Okay — no one else.”

The Amulet’s golden chain is wrapped around her clenched fist. She could easily carve a path through them all; leave no human, vampire, or Nighthunter left standing. But instead she lets the Amulet hang at her side and stares at them all in disdain.

“I don’t know how he can stand the sight of you.”

There’s no question to whom she is referring, and judging by the way Cadence raises his chin defiantly he knows it just the same.

“Feeble, weak, a bleeding heart…” her words catch in her throat, “but it’s our hearts that are bleeding. And you stand there regardless; an abomination. You don’t care. Nobody does.”

Nadya feels both Katherine and Lily reach for her, try to stop her, but she bats them away. Approaches to stand beside Cadence and the weight and burning rage of the eyes that snap to her is a pain she’s become familiar with by now.

“Please…” Though it would help if Nadya knew what she was even asking for.

Isseya barks a humorless laugh. “Pathetic — the first chance you’re given and what do you do with it? You grovel. I should expect nothing less of a human but maybe… maybe some part of me hoped you would understand. You’re the only one who could.”

Which, okay, now she’s a little insulted. “I’ve been trying to understand, Isseya. I’ve been trying to understand from the beginning. But you guys sure don’t make it easy, do you?”

Baiting the unstable vampire probably isn’t her smartest move. Not that it stops her.

“I just don’t get it.”

“Color me surprised…”

Surprising even to herself, Nadya shakes off her hesitation and fixes Isseya with a stern glare. “Why are you doing this, why are you helping Gaius? You obviously hate him, you don’t need to be a vampire to see that. That whole night he treated you like dirt; you and Valdas both. Why—Why even set him free?”

“Because he is the Godmaker. And we’ve exhausted all other options.”

“Options for what,” asks Lily, bewildered, “world domination?”

“For getting back what we lost.” Isseya fixates on the Amulet, entranced by the way the gemstone catches the light as it comes to a lazy halt.

But Nadya isn’t having it. “Nope, not good enough. I tried to help you — I met with him that night because I wanted to help you. If you think the evil vampire jerkface is your ‘only option’ then that’s just because you keep betraying anyone who might actually want to help.”

“You speak to me of betrayal?”

She flings a hand outward and Nadya feels Katherine tense behind her, ready to spring into action. But no attack comes; just the Amulet of Nero dangling awkwardly from her grasp and an accusatory finger pointed at the vampire beside her. “You stand beside him and dare to speak to me of betrayal?”

Before Nadya can even process what to say to that, a strange look catches in Isseya’s eye. She rolls her wrist and undoes the hold she has on the Amulet’s chain to let it hang on one finger. The world’s most dangerous offering.

“Screw the Godmaker, screw our debt. I’ll give you the Amulet right here and now — with but a single demand.”

Nobody steps forward because nobody trusts that.

Still… Nadya can’t not know. “And that is?”

“Fix him.”

The Trinity vampire nearly chokes on her words; so thick they’re practically in a different tongue and they may very well have been at first. But the disgust written in every inch of her skin radiates of hurt; of loss. Nadya doesn’t want to but she can feel the sting of Isseya’s tears in her own eyes.

“Fix him,” she repeats, “because you are her. You’ve found his memories before and you can do so again.” The Amulet sways with her trembling hand. “Do that, little Bloodkeeper, and we have no more reason to help him, no matter his wrath. He cannot take more from us than we have already lost.”

Shame burns in Nadya’s cheeks when she feels the weight of Cadence’s focus on her. Fear and confusion and anger coming from all sides and she wants nothing more than to fall on the ground and try to bear the brunt of it all without breaking on the inside.

But how exactly does she tell the grieving woman she has no idea what to do, or how to do it? Probably with the same personal responsibility and defeat with which she’s going to have to tell everyone she had a chance… and couldn’t take it.

“There’s nothing to fix, crazy bitch.”

Katherine doesn’t give Nadya the chance to find the right words. She launches the stake over Nadya’s shoulder but it goes wide, too wide, and collides with the wall a few inches too far from Isseya’s head.

Isseya who glances down as the wood clatters to the floor and rolls near her heels; utterly and painfully useless. “What a pathetic weapon.”

“But a decent distraction.”

One second Cadence is there and the next he isn’t; he’s across the room and drops down to swipe Isseya’s legs out from under her. She falls and it would be comical if Nadya wasn’t familiar with what she could do when angered, which means Katherine gets little resistance when she flings an arm out as a gesture for Nadya and Lily to keep back.

And as expected Isseya recovers too quick; grabs Cadence’s exposed ankle and pulls him hard enough to lose his stance and land prone beneath her.

“Don’t make me do this, Cyn’!” she snarls and struggles to hold him down. With a grunt the man wrenches an arm free and grasps her lower jaw in a bone-breaking hold.

“How… dare you!”

Something snaps and Isseya cries out in pain, giving Cadence a chance he doesn’t waste to hurl her away and into the back wall with brute force. Her collision isn’t pretty; large cracks forming in the wall and brick dust kicking up around the fighting immortals.

There’s a clatter… and Nadya catches sight of a red shine out of the corner of her eye. The Amulet.

Before she can rush to grab it though, a strong hand pulls her back by the shoulder. Katherine’s expression is grim-set and trained on Cadence with an uncomfortable stillness. She doesn’t let up on Nadya.

“Kathy, what are you doing? We can get it — it’s right there!”

“Too close,” comes her reply; barely a whisper, “wait it out.”

What it is isn’t clear until she, too, focuses on the fighting vampires. Tension rippling off both of them, Isseya’s dress torn and covered in debris. Yet Nadya’s never seen such a wild look in anything even remotely human. Not even when Vega was hunting her down like a lion to a gazelle.

No, not quite right. She’s seen it before — just not through her eyes; not as herself.

A wide grin blooms slowly around the woman’s fangs, blood between the spaces of her teeth and dribbling wetly from her mouth. Different than all the other times she’s seen that particular look of maniacal delight… Nadya is quickly forced to come to terms with the fact that she’s seeing, for the first time in decades, pure joy lit in Isseya’s face.

Though she has every chance to tear Cadence away from where he pins her just slightly off of the ground, instead a tender hand caresses his cheek.

“There you are… beloved. I’ve missed you so much.”

He waits. Or… she’s waiting. The tension is enough to make Nadya want to choke but no one is doing anything.

“We thought we’d lost you,” the tips of her fingers leave powdery stains over his bottom lip, “but you can come home…”

“Cade.”

It’s like Katherine’s voice breaks him from a spell. He jerks away from the other vampire’s touch violently, forces himself back and watches in a twisted form of grief as she slumps to her knees.

“I —” she’s crazed, she’s distraught, she’s still the enemy but the way he looks at his hands and doesn’t understand why they are red from brick dust — he would never have hurt her in his right mind, “— I didn’t… I’m sorry.”

The Amulet’s chain crunches under his shoe; Cadence bends swiftly to pick it up and secure the pendant. With every step he takes back, away from her; a little more light leaves Isseya’s eyes.

Slowly Katherine pries the Amulet from him and hands it off to Nadya. Like their win doesn’t even matter — all her focus is on her friend. “It was the cage all over again, Kathy.” He whispers.

“I know,” but she doesn’t sound any less certain than he does, “but… we’ve got it. We gotta go.”

We gotta go.

Adrian.

It’s against her better judgment that Nadya glances back one last time before they close the vault door; the only thing they can attempt to keep Isseya from following them back to the auction.

She sees the woman stand and try to brush the stains from her dress. She sees her toe off her broken heel. She sees her glance up and meet Nadya eye for eye.

Lily helps Cadence shoulder the door closed. The echo of metal sliding into place chills her to the bone.

Twice now Nadya has inadvertently been the reason Adrian ended up injured so severely he couldn’t immediately heal. Which is, in her opinion, two times too many.

“What do you mean he forfeited?” Lily demands, and manages to look at least a little sheepish at the glare her tone gets. “Not that it totally, you know, makes every bit of ass kicked less worth it.”

Adrian glances at her through a purpling eye. “Thanks… I think.”

But even what hoarse whisper he manages seems to be too much, so Isadora answers in his stead. “He gave a rousing good show, Raines too,” she meets his glare with a bemused smirk of her own, “though the violence certainly went on much longer than necessary. But when the crowd came to understand the staggering difference in strengths they quickly lost interest.”

She rests a hand on Adrian’s shoulder. “It seems to me he battered you within an inch of your life so you couldn’t get up.”

Off to the side, Ryder cracks his neck. “Yeah, you’re a lot heavier than you look.”

Nadya fiddles with the Amulet of Nero deep in her jacket pocket. “Then Valdas just… forfeited?”

“Well it was either that or finish the job.”

And she’s glad that wasn’t the case. She pries one hand away from the pendant and reaches out to where Adrian lay, prone and aching, across the short back seat of Isadora’s limousine. “It wasn’t for nothing, but I’m still so sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he rasps, and manages to lift his hand enough for her to grab it, “like you said… it wasn’t for nothing.”

“Just be glad Vera was able to get the house to call an intermission before they put two and two together.”

Taylor leans back in his seat and rests his head on Ryder’s shoulder. If only that alleviated some of the worry in his eyes. “If that Isseya chick killed as many goblins as you say the Council is gonna be called in to deal with it.”

Lily frowns. “But we locked her in the vault. Practically pulled a Batman and handed her to them on a silver platter.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so.”

The occupants all look her way, and with no small amount of worry Nadya recounts the sight of Isseya able to stand on her own two feet right before the door closed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she was gone by the time they even found out what she’d done, or what lot was missing.”

Adrian shifts and winces in pain. “That kind of strength… would definitely be enough to knock down a brick wall.”

And yet Cadence held her back like she was a rag doll. A thought Lily and Nadya both share in uncertain glances.

Ideally she wants to follow Katherine and Cadence into the night, off to where they secreted away while everyone (read: Nadya but loudly) was fussing over Adrian’s wounds. But he needed to heal so they could leave for New York as soon as possible, and that meant returning to Flechette with Isadora.

The woman glances out of the tinted window by her head to watch the French Quarter pass them by. “Relish your victory, however temporary,” she says with a sigh, “and ensure that it is made permanent when you return home.”

Nadya’s grip tightens on the Amulet so hard the metal bites at her skin.

“We will.”

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goldleafacrossyourlips · 5 years ago

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Uneasy Lies the Head - Dark Lord/OC - Chapter 4

Chapters - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13

Chapter 4 - Thyme and Glamour

Samara didn’t get to attend many weddings. She didn’t have many friends outside of her family. Any she had made during the Academy were lost when she began homeschooling. The Witch community in Vail wasn’t as large as the Greendale one and besides, Witch communities weren’t fond of bringing in outsiders. So as she sat amongst her former Coven members Samara faintly wished she was a part of a community as large as this one.

She tuned out most of what Blackwood was saying. He stood before them in his ornate robes and rambled on about their loss of the Anti Pope. Samara smoothed her black lace dress over her knees, picking off some stray fox hair as she went. She’d spent the morning getting ready and brushing Phlox. Her Aunts had been away at the Academy, Ambrose was still in hiding and Sabrina was with Nick. She had wanted to arrive at the Academy early and help her Aunt Zelda prepare but when she’d called she was told to simply arrive with the rest of the guests. So she’d busied herself at the Spellman house and waited until the time arrived to head to the Desecrated Church. It had felt odd to leave Phlox behind since he’d been stuck to her hip since she’d moved to Vail. She felt uneasy being alone but her Shadows were often to remind her they were still with her.

The deep rumbling of drums caused her to turn and look towards the doors of the Church. She felt her eyes prick and blur as she caught sight of her Aunt Zelda. Aunt Hilda was beautiful as she marched down the aisle in front of her sister, a grin gracing her face as she went forward. Samara was slightly confused as to why there was a strange girl walking in front of them but assumed she must have been related to Blackwood in someway to be a part of the wedding.

Aunt Zelda was a vision as she glided at the end of the small line. Her black and ruby dress accented her figure beautifully. The golden crown she wore was draped with a black veil both which caused slight want to well within Samara. Gold and black had always been her two most favourite colours. To see her Aunt adorned with them made her warm. Within her Aunt’s hands was the ceremonial blade. An intrinsic thing of beauty in and of itself. Never to be wielded for harm or battle, it’s sole purpose was for rituals like it attended now.

“In the name of Satan I call forth the demons who rule marriage and lust. Astaroth, Furfur, Hathor, and Ishtar. Saleous, Uvall, and Vassage. Be here and forge this union like fire forges the blade. Demons of the deep, accept this gift of blood.” For all that Samara hated the man, Blackwood could command his power like no Warlock she’d met. His voice reverberated throughout the Church and demanded unerring attention.

Samara kept her focus off of him and instead continued to look at the visage of her Aunts. Aunt Hilda stood proudly by Aunt Zelda’s side. She made eye contact with Samara and her grin grew bigger. Samara could tell she wanted to wave, but couldn’t break the ritual. Aunt Zelda looked regal and proud. Her head craned high and a pillar of beauty. Her gaze was locked ahead. Samara knew that her Aunt was nervous and this was why she refused to glance around the crowd.

She saw the girl that had walked up the aisle take the dagger from Aunt Zelda. Samara watched with dispassion as she slit the throat of a dead animal and let it bleed into the chalice below it. As she handed the chalice to Blackwood, his words once again rang through the air.

“My bride and I will fortify our physical bodies with the blood of this sacrificed being.” Faustus and Zelda each took a sip from the chalice. Samara held in a squirm at the thought of having to drink straight blood.

“The hand of my bride will now be sheathed with mine under the skin of a mortal. Hilda.” Samara’s Aunt Hilda wrapped the piece of flesh around Aunt Zelda and Faustus’ hands. Samara wrinkled her nose as she could hear the flopping and squelch of the flesh.

“Now, Sister Zelda, in the name of Satan, you shall respect me, obey me and submit to me. As Lilith served Satan, so will you serve me. You will forsake all others, lift me up and exalt me for all eternity. And now by the onholy power invested in me-” Samara felt her teeth grind at how misogynistic the vows were. But before Blackwood could finish his vows he was interrupted.

“Murderer!” Samara whipped around at the familiar voice that shouted. She felt all the blood in her body rush towards her feet and her chest seized with grief and disbelief. Her believed dead Uncle and Aunt, soaked to the core with water and faces pruned almost beyond recognition, stormed through the doors of the Church. She heard mutters of astonishment around her.

“It is I, Edward Spellman, returned.”

“And I, Diana Spellman, returned.” Samara once again felt tears threaten to fall as her hand rose to her lips. Their voices were just as she remembered, even if they held anger within them now.

“I accuse Faustus Blackwood, who brought down our plane that took our lives. I accuse Faustus Blackwood who killed the Anti-Pope while he slept under the very same roof. Confess Blackwood, or face my wrath!” Edward’s voice held just as much power as Blackwood’s. Samara could sense why her Uncle was held with such great esteem. The congregation murmured around them.

“Your wrath….Indeed. You forget girl. I knew your father. And whatever the circumstances, Edward Spellman would never disrespect our ceremonies and traditions as you do. And so this petty trickery comes to an end. Detegant istos ostenderet falsa.” Where Diana and Edward once stood, now stood Sabrina and Nick. Samara felt some betrayal cross her heart. Blackwood was right for once in his life. Even though Samara despised that her Auntie was marrying the worm, never would she think to sabotage the ceremony. To do so was to only invite in bad karma. Samara knew that Sabrina was raised with better judgement and respect than what she was currently showing.

Samara watched the shock cross her Aunts’ faces as her cousin was revealed. She too felt shock as Blackwood called for his lackeys to seize both Sabrina and Nick. Satisfaction curled within her at Nick warning the boys off to protect both him and his girlfriend.

“I am Sabrina Spellman. I shall speak and I shall be heard. You, Faustus Blackwood, are a fraud.” Sabrina’s voice rang through the Church. While Samara was irritated with her cousin’s actions, she felt a low sort of elation as her cousin called out the man.

“Sabrina, what are you saying?” Samara felt herself cringe at the barely concealed rage within her Aunt’s voice. She grasped her dress that laid against her thighs and held it within tight-knuckled fists.

“I’m sorry, Auntie. But it’s true. He killed my father and mother, and I believe he killed the Anti-Pope too.” Sabrina’s words only caused Samara’s thoughts from the night before to feel more solidified. Again the Church was a buzz with murmurs.

“And why would I have done that?”

“Because you were afraid His Eminence wouldn’t approve your repugnant, misogynistic reformations.” Sabrina spat her reply.

“Which you haven’t even read, have you? Hm. Let it be known there is no proof to any of this. Yet your very own cousin was covered in His Eminence’s blood.”

“Ambrose Spellman is innocent!” The shout echoed throughout the Church. The silence that followed was quickly cut short by the man in questions materializing on the altar himself.

“Die Blackwood! Die!” Ambrose looked like a crazed man with blood still saturating his clothes and a dagger in hand. The girl at Blackwood’s side froze Ambrose before he could commit the act he arrived to do. Blackwoods lackeys were quick to tackle and subdue Ambrose.

Samara jumped to her feet and began to stagger forward to help her cousin but Nick grabbed her arm before she could continue. She looked on helplessly as they escorted Ambrose out of the Church. She wanted nothing more than to free him, but his recent actions only confirmed many suspicions the Coven held. It would take an Unholy miracle to help him now.

Samara stood at her Aunt and Sabrina’s side as they sat outside the High Priest’s office at the Academy. Her black coat was draped over her arm as her other hand picked at the skin of her thumb. Her gaze was locked on the carpet before her. Her thoughts were lost in remembrance of what happened the last time she was near this office. She felt her Shadows nudging against her back that was resting against the wall. She splayed her hand against the wall in reassurance to them. Before she could get lost in thought again, her Aunt Zelda stalked out of the office.

“Congratulations. You ruined my wedding day, Sabrina.” Aunt Zelda’s eyes were full of fire. Samara felt herself shrink away and her Shadows rise to shield her. Samara never dealt well with reprimand from her family.

“Aunt Zelda-”

“A day of greatness for the Spellman family shall now, instead, go down infamy.” Aunt Zelda always held public image on a pedestal. She was constantly worried about how the Spellmans were perceived in the Coven.

“Where’s Ambrose, Aunt Z?” Samara kept her voice soft as she peered at her furious Aunt.

“Your cousin has been thrown in the Witch’s Cell for his treasonous crimes.” Aunt Zelda’s voice was steady but Samara could detect a small amount of sorrow for her nephew.

“No!” Sabrina cried out.

“What of Sabrina?” Aunt Hilda finally spoke. Samara stole a quick glance at her cousin before focusing back onto her Aunts.

“She and Nicholas have been expelled from the Academy of Unseen Arts. And they deserve it. It was all I could do to convince Faustus not to lock you in the dungeon too.” Aunt Zelda’s words held all the disappointment she surely felt. Samara could only imagine how upset her Aunt truly was.

“Well at least I stopped your wedding.” Samara closed her eyes at her cousin’s words. Some tact would’ve been nice at the moment but Sabrina had always been a bit thick-headed when other’s feelings were involved.

“Oh! Stopped it? Sabrina, Faustus and I were just married in his office.” Aunt Zelda stalked away to the office as she finished her sentence. Sabrina, Samara and Aunt Hilda all stood, shock freezing them from moving.

#caos #Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #dark lord x reader #dark lord x oc #dark lord #lucifer morningstar x reader #lucifer morningstar x oc #lucifer morningstar x ofc #lucifer morningstar #oc #ofc #spellman #sabrina #hilda #zelda #ambrose #still hate tagging #fanfiction #fanfic

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for-gold-and-glory · 4 years ago

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Weekly Events for Feb 8th to Feb 15th

Here are some events G&G Members will be involved in during the week. Or just events that I think are really cool and you should definitely go to. If you’re interested in joining these events just show up or send a message to Aegir, Lirilith, or Aedwen Or join our discord: https://discord.gg/dCRSWTx

Monday - SUNcat Solidarity Night at the DRUNKEN MOOGLE! @ 9:00pm EST - Lavender Beds W12, P33 Thursday - World of Light: Chapter 2: "Down, Drowned, and Disposed @ 7:00pm EST - Longmirror Lake, Il Mheg Thursday - World of Light 2: "You Want Thingamabobs? I've Got 20" @ 9:30pm EST - Venmont Yards, Khoulsia (Have Tempest Unlocked) Thursday - Radiant Plume Fight Night @ 9:30pm EST - Lavender Beds W15, P49 Friday - Valentoine’s Auction @ 9:30pm EST - Mist, Ward 11, Plot 2 Saturday - Garlean Weekly: Swarm, Salt, and Scourge Part @ 3:00pm EST - Ala Gannha, The Peaks Saturday - Festival of Roses @ 6:00pm EST - Amethyst Shallows, Ward 9 Lavender Beds Sunday - The Vault of Professor George Edward Cienfuegos and the Kingdom of the Crystal Dragon Skull, Chapter 2: The Wailing Woman in the Blue @ 3:00pm EST - The Ruby Price, Ruby Sea Sunday - Valentione’s Prom @ 7:00pm EST - Mist W13 P45 Monday - Treasures of Uznair: Ghosts of the Past @ 7:00pm EST - Roll20

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Monday - SUNcat Solidarity Night at the DRUNKEN MOOGLE! @ 9:00pm EST - Lavender Beds W12, P33 https://savothesewercat.tumblr.com/post/642111570189631488/savothesewercat-savothesewercat-suncat - Music for Seekers of the Sun! Status: Open RP, please join us Type: Performance GM: Drunken Moogle!

Thursday - World of Light: Chapter 2: "Down, Drowned, and Disposed @ 7:00pm EST - Longmirror Lake, Il Mheg - After a quick cutscene at the Inn, the Sinners wake up to day two of their investigation. Okay, so the king has been murdered. There's several suspects. The Princess is a werewolf (or something of that nature). The twin princeses are both acting twitching. And the princess was secretly wed to a low born knight (Prince Veo's best friend) by one of the council members. There's a lot of motive flying around. Will they find the try culprit? Or get a game over. Status: Open to Fan of the Fae Type: Investigation GM: Aegir

Thursday - World of Light 2: "You Want Thingamabobs? I've Got 20" @ 9:30pm EST - Venmont Yards, Khoulsia (Have Tempest Unlocked) - Back on track! with the ability to breath underwater, the Sinners return to the First and Khoulsia. It's time to dive. A Kingdom under water... they find that and more under the waves of the Tempest. But something bigger is lurking in the deeps. They are about to stumble upon a threat perhaps even greater than what they set out to explore. Status: Open to World of Light Type: Adventure GM: Aegir

Thursday - Radiant Plume Fight Night @ 9:30pm EST - Lavender Beds W15, P49 - Ever wanted to chow down on some grub, and sip on primal’s blood while watching two of your fellows beat each other to a bloody pulp? Well, we don’t have actual primal’s blood but we do have the other two things and a pretty damn good substitute for the other! The Radiant Plume is a new tavern opened in the dusty recesses of the Shroud, once a dliapidated cottage revitalized and renovated for your pleasure! The upper floor of the establishment houses a simple tavern with hearty fare and a vast array of alcohols. Just below that in the depths of the Plume you’ll find an open arena that showcases bloody brawls for your enjoyment! Weapons can be used upon agreement and for a price (IC gil), just in case our more lawful patrons decide to cause a fuss, but try not to kill one another. Your mess, your problem. That’s right. The Radiant Plume is a completely neutral ground, where anyone can shed their moral bindings for an evening of bloodsport and a little bit of drinks and dining. The owners only have a few rules: You break it, you buy it. No unsanctioned brawls on the premises. If you kill it, it’s your problem.

Status: Open RP, please check the link Type: Social/Tournament GM: The Radiant Plume

Friday - Valentoine’s Auction @ 9:30pm EST - Mist, Ward 11, Plot 2 https://discord.gg/VJmX5CEAAm - It’s time for the third annual Valentione Day Auction! With over 40 treasures on stage, it’s sure to be a night of love! There’s also a chance to win fabulous prizes! Jump in the discord to get a sneak peak at the auctionee’s profiles. Status: Open RP, check the link! Type: Date Auction GM: Ashemmi

Saturday - Garlean Weekly: Swarm, Salt, and Scourge Part @ 3:00pm EST - Ala Gannha, The Peaks https://fustuarium.tumblr.com/ - It isn’t an ark, it isn’t a temple, the Mhachi ship in Pla al Anwyd is a biological weapon. And the sands counting down to detonation are slipping through the hourglass. The imperials rush back to the dig site to get answers. They’ve captured Xylmius as their prisoner, but will he be enough to lure the Rector from his guardian statue? And will stopping the Rector be enough to stop the count down? Status: Semi-Open, message Aegir Type: Investigation, Horror? GM: Aegir

Saturday - Festival of Roses @ 6:00pm EST - Amethyst Shallows, Ward 9 Lavender Beds https://aniew.tumblr.com/post/639951437100711936/in-celebration-of-the-season-of-love-the-festival - In celebration of the season of love, The Festival of Roses is set for Saturday, February 13, 2021, beginning at 6:00 EST/5:00 CST/3:00 PST! This event is set to offer a date auction, vendors, and a couples fighting pit, and we’re still looking for help staffing the event! In particular, we are looking for merchants or game booths with a Valentione’s themed twist! All vendors will have their own slide to be decorated as they’d like.We are also searching for interested healers for the tournament, and security to staff the event! We will begin accepting applications for the date auction soon. Status: Open, check the link! Type: Celebration GM: Livia Crane

Sunday - The Vault of Professor George Edward Cienfuegos and the Kingdom of the Crystal Dragon Skull, Chapter 2: The Wailing Woman in the Blue @ 3:00pm EST - The Ruby Price, Ruby Sea - The adventurers split into teams with one heading to the Ruby Sea to investigate the whereabouts of one of the known Crystal Dragon Skulls. Gifted to him by a Hingan princess who ran away from the Empire with several ancient family relics, reknown collector (and Hoarder), Lord Tomo is said to have one of the skulls in his possession. But with a mysterious voice following them as they venture into the Kojin’s vault, the adventurers may find that they have more than spooky teleporting Garleans following them. Status: Open to the Ruby Sea Group, if you would like to join and haven’t been sorted, please message Aegir Type: Adventure GM: Aegir

Sunday - Valentione’s Prom @ 7:00pm EST - Mist W13 P45 https://for-gold-and-glory.tumblr.com/post/642137657460293633/valentiones-prom-february-14-7pm-10pm-est-mist - The feverish young love, nervous and bubbling with enthusiasm, is a central charm of House Valentione.Come gather ye rosebuds with that spark of youth at the Valentione Prom! Various Eorzean academies are partnering with House Valentione to present the best social event of the season of love.Got what it takes to be the King or Queen of Valentione? Put yourself out there and run for the title! Get your prom photos taken, and enjoy the amazing music from DJ Deast.! Share your prom night story with us! Post on your platform of choice and drop it in our Discord server! https://discord.gg/WJwjjVWWK4 Your story will be compiled into a storybook PDF with illustrations! Status: Open RP, please join us Type: Social GM: Rommie Monday - Treasures of Uznair: Ghosts of the Past @ 7:00pm EST - Roll20 - The Royal Puppeteer has tasked the adventurers with an important mission: to investigate rumors of the famed ghost ship, the Black Coffin, appearing on the coasts and ports of Uznair. Their investigation will take them into the bowels of the haunted Arrapago Reef, where the Black Coffin was thought to have run aground over 300 years ago. But the adventurers and the dead aren’t the only things inside the Reef, as they soon realize, they will have to dodge the lamia as well, as the Undead Swarm amasses for a massive besieged! Status: Semi-open, message Aegir to join Type: Adventure/Action GM: Aegir

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carrotsofavonlea · 5 years ago

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Drive Me Crazy

Chapter Four: A clean slate

[AO3]

"And then we can get the alumni to come." Anne scanned over the list, the planning committee for the Centennial looking on with indifference in their eyes. "Ok, I know this isn't that exciting but we need to talk about this."

"No, what we need to talk about is you and Gilbert Blythe." Tillie said, "Since when did you become friends again?"

Anne sighed, she'd been through this hundreds of times. "Things happen. He's changed since we last hung out."

"Are you dating?" Ruby had panic in her eyes.

"No…" Anne looked down, pretending to smile dreamily. "Well...who knows. Maybe there's something there that wasn't there before…."

"I don't buy it." Josie said, "I think he'll get bored as soon as Winifred wants him back."

"You don't know Gilbert like I do." Anne shook her head, but she knew that was exactly their plan.

"They've lived next door for years, Josie. Sooner or later they were bound to make up again." Diana suggested.

"It's odd. Gilbert Blythe is finally single again but he goes for Anne."

"And why wouldn't he?" Anne felt defensive over her fake almost-relationship.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?"

Anne's stomach dropped to her knees. Gilbert was stood behind her, holding his tray and a smug smile on his face at the expression of Anne's friends.

"Uh, well…" Josie awkwardly mumbled, looking around for help from the others, but they just gawped at Gilbert.

"Anne, can we talk?" He said softly, and Anne nodded, letting him lead her a few steps away from the table.

"What's up?"

"Nothing." He laughed, "I just wanted to see their expression at us talking together. Act like I'm saying something important."

"That'll be an acting challenge." She said through gritted teeth as she touched his arm, making the conversation look flirtatious from an outside perspective.

"Now act like I've asked you on a date."

"What?" Anne's mouth dropped and Gilbert smiled.

"There, just like that!" He spun her around and pushed her back to her friends. "See you tonight, carrots!" He called and fled the scene before Anne could ask anymore questions.

"I…." She looked over her shoulder at him but he'd got lost in the crowd.

Ruby looked like she was about to burst into tears. "Did Gilbert just ask you on a date?!"

"I... yeah. He did."

Diana gave her a look that said "I know what you're doing".

"I'm happy for you Anne…." Ruby tried to smile but she could see her friend's heart breaking. If anything Anne was doing her a favour, Gilbert certainly didn't have feelings for Ruby and it would only hurt her more if she held out hope.

"Thank you Ruby. I know it's sudden but... sometimes things just hit you. Life's unpredictable."

"Yes, unpredictable." Diana raised an eyebrow at Anne who shrugged pretending she didn't know what Diana meant.

*************

Anne was in her room when she heard a tapping on her window. She opened it and saw Gilbert across from her, dressed fairly nicely.

"What are you doing?"

"Hello? We have a date." He gestured to his outfit. It was only one of his typical dorky sweaters, but he'd thrown a denim jacket over it.

She looked down at her pyjamas, "That was a fake date."

His face creased and she knew something was coming, "Yeah...about that."

"Gilbert…."

"A bunch of people are going to the diner, and by "people" I mean my friends but also Winnie…"

Anne sighed, this was after all the whole reason they were doing this.

"I know we said we'd start small but Winnie is going to be there with someone new, I can't turn up by myself."

"Fine. Give me five minutes."

"Great." He smiled, and Anne realised she hadn't seen him smile this much (at least not directed at her) for years. All these things she had missed since their friendship ended suddenly came back, and she was secretly enjoying it. It felt nice to be on speaking terms again, but she was not about to admit that to him.

"Where are you going?" Marilla looked up from her book when Anne passed her on her way out.

"Uh...just to see some friends."

"I thought you were seeing Roy, you're dressed like a date."

"Roy broke up with me remember?" Anne awkwardly shuffled towards the door. "I'm just going with some friends to the diner. I'll be back before 11."

"Well, have fun." Marilla gave her a sly smile, peeking out the window to see Anne getting into Gilbert's car.

Marilla still helped whenever she could with Gilbert, but since his friend Bash moved in, he didn't need it as much. It was sad to see how Gilbert and Anne's friendship had disappeared, but it looked like things were finally changing for the better. She was glad, she'd missed having the boy around and hopefully she'd be seeing a lot more of him.

*******************

When they pulled up outside the diner, Anne could see for the first time something in Gilbert's eyes...panic?

"Are you ok?" She followed his gaze to see Winifred sat in a booth, a tall blonde boy with his arm around her as they laughed with a group of Gilbert's friends.

"I just...didn't expect to see her moving on so quickly." He said quietly, and Anne put a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll just have to show her what a huge mistake she made."

He gave her a small smile, climbing out of the car.

"Do we walk in holding hands? Or is that too much?" Anne asked before they started walking.

He thought about it for a second, but shook his head. "No one's seen us together even as friends, let alone on a date. We'll keep it low-key."

Anne laughed, "Low-key? Ok."

He rolled his eyes, walking ahead so she had to run slightly to catch up. But ever the gentleman, Gilbert held the door open for Anne, making sure Winifred saw.

"Gilbert!" Moody stood up to greet him, but then raised an eyebrow at Anne's appearance. "And... Anne?"

"Hey…" Anne awkwardly waved at everyone, seeing Charlie Sloane, the two Paul's (which was which she still didn't know), and two other girls she had seen around school but never spoken to.

"So you're Gilbert's...friend?" Winifred was the first to speak to Anne.

"Uh, yeah. We lost touch for a couple years but lately we just got talking again and...well here we are." Anne gave Gilbert a smile and he returned it, as if to say 'nice acting'.

"Well, I'm glad things worked out for you two in the end." But from Winifred's tone they could tell she wasn't that glad.

Anne grew bold, "I suppose it's lucky you broke up with him, or we might never have the chance to reconnect. So thanks I guess-"

Gilbert's eyes grew wide and he wrapped an arm around Anne's shoulder, lightly pulling her head against his chest to stop her talking. "Ah haha, isn't she funny?"

Anne felt herself blushing, being this close to Gilbert. She could smell his cologne; it was more subtle than Roy's, but it was enough to notice.

He finally let go of her and whispered in her ear "She'll get suspicious if you don't chill."

Anne nodded, still reeling from that brief and sudden interaction, but pretended like he'd said something sweet and put a hand on his chest briefly as she giggled. Winifred's eyes were locked on her hand, but Gilbert pretended like he hadn't noticed.

"Do you want a soda?" Gilbert shuffled out of the booth, removing his arm from Anne.

"Sure." She watched him leave with Moody and the other boys, suddenly feeling awkward at being alone with the girls.

****************

"I didn't know you two were so close." Moody nodded to Anne while he and Gilbert were waiting in line.

"I told you, we just connected the other night. Some things just happen and you can't explain it."

"It doesn't happen to do with the fact that Winnie dumped you?"

"No." Gilbert's voice raised an octave. "I mean, no. Winnie dumped me and I'm over her, trust me. With Anne it's different, we're just... seeing where this goes. She's actually kind of cool now."

He looked across the diner and saw Anne at the table, the rest of the girls were laughing, including Winnie. Anne was dramatically speaking, obviously telling some funny story. He found himself smiling without realising. Maybe that wasn't a lie, she was kind of cool.

"She's always been cool. I just lost sight of that a long time ago."

Moody rolled his eyes, "Ok, you don't have to declare your love for her."

"What? I'm just…" Gilbert shook his head, "nevermind."

"Since you and Anne are now... you know," Moody leaned an arm on Gilbert's shoulder, "Do you think you could get her to get Diana to go out with me?"

"I'm not using Anne so you can get a date." Gilbert shoved him off, "Ask Diana yourself."

He grabbed the soda and left Moody to return to the table.

*******************

"Here." Gilbert passed Anne her drink, sitting back next to her.

"Thanks."

Winifred's new boyfriend sat back down as well, kissing her in front of everyone. Anne glanced at Gilbert and saw his jaw was clenched as he stared intensely out the window to avoid the scene before them. She thought about maybe she should kiss him too, but then she remembered the first rule on their list: no kissing.

"Say, Anne." Moody shuffled in the booth next to her, pulling Gilbert's attention from the window. "You know Diana?"

"My best friend?"

Gilbert shook his head subtly behind Anne, directed at Moody, but the boy ignored him.

"Do you think you could convince her to go out with me?"

"Well I...I could ask her? But I can't guarantee she'll say yes." Anne shrugged, "Why don't you ask her yourself?"

"Because he's being a baby." Gilbert leaned across Anne to poke Moody. "If you like a girl you should say something."

"I suppose it worked for you." Moody gestured to Anne.

"I don't-" he started to say before he remembered what they were doing, "I mean, yeah. I told Anne and now look."

Winifred made eye contact with Gilbert but his eyes swept over hers. He could tell it was getting to her, the plan was already beginning to work.

Suddenly Anne's eyes grew wide and she gasped, grabbing Gilbert's arm.

"I love this song." Anne jumped up, pulling Gilbert's hand with her. "Dance with me."

"Here?" He looked around the diner, no one was dancing.

"Please?" She leaned close, whispering into his ear "It'll drive Winifred mad."

He sighed, but nodded, allowing her to pull him into the isles between tables.

Everyone turned to watch them, and Gilbert felt a little awkward at first. But Anne seemed a natural to having people stare at her, and danced like she didn't care. She grabbed his hand, swinging it about, turning herself around as he stood still.

"Come on." She laughed, and grabbed his other hand, making him move. "There you go!"

He slowly gave in, and soon they were dancing up and down the diner, not caring that people were watching. He couldn't help himself laughing, feeling at once so stupid but not caring in the slightest.

After a few moments, other people slowly started to join in, and Anne cheered.

"See? Isn't this fun?" She laughed, throwing her arms into the air.

Gilbert stopped dancing for a second, caught in a weird moment where he couldn't pull his eyes from her as she twirled around. She was so carefree, so different from everyone else, it was refreshing to be around again. For just a moment he felt like they were kids again, before everything changed.

She caught him staring and tilted her head as if to say "what?"

But he shook his head, and grabbed her by the waist, picking her up as she shrieked with laughter. She glanced over and saw Winifred turn away, eyes cold.

*****************

"You were a little genius tonight." Gilbert said when they arrived outside their houses.

"As always." Anne put a hand under her chin as if to show off and Gilbert laughed.

"I mean about the dancing. Winnie was so jealous, even though she had her new boyfriend there."

"What about you, and the lifting? Who knew you were so romantic?"

"I try." He ran a hand through his floppy hair, pretending to be suave.

They were both laughing in his car, neither had gotten out yet.

"Gilbert…" Anne said quietly, suddenly getting serious. "I'm sorry about everything."

He couldn't look at her, knowing where this was going. "We don't have to…" his voice was quiet. "It was a long time ago."

"I know, but I want to. We used to be so close, but when your dad was ill I just couldn't bear it. I know that's nothing compared to how you were feeling, and I was selfish. I just couldn't imagine losing someone you love, I never knew my parents so I didn't understand. But I do now. I wasn't there for you when I should have been and I let us grow apart. I'm sorry Gilbert. I really, really am. I hope we can be friends again."

He wiped a tear from his eye before facing her again, she also had watery eyes. "It wasn't just your fault, I shut you out. I had Bash so I didn't think I needed anyone else. But I think we should call it a clean slate. Start over."

Anne nodded, "I'd like that."

Gilbert laughed softly, holding out his hand, "Then hi. I'm Gilbert."

Anne shook her head in mirth, but played along, shaking his hand, "Hi, I'm Anne."

**********

Tag List: @rohaintahquil @hakunamademons @thxnderclouds @awaeforlife@m1rkw00dpr1ncess @mrs-shirley-cuthbert-blythe @nerdybrunette @i-ammischiefmanaged @sarahisatotalgeek @neomikaha @etsatymton @parkeroffline

if you’d like to be added to the tag list let me know x

#awae #shirbert #anne shirley #gilbert blythe #awae au #shirbert au

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misstrashchan · 5 years ago

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The Man With Two Souls, Pt. 2

Okay, so this ended up being a fucking long part 2 to my previous meta post. There was a lot I wanted to get down, and if it doesn't make sense or you don't agree with it, that's fine, I'd just be happy if you read it. Now I can rest until the finale comes and beats me up.

So, there's a few more Salem and Adam parallels to start off with like

(8) Having the same reaction to hearing someone mention Blake and Oz and the possibility of them getting the upper hand against them

(9) Chronologically after this happens (we see Adam destroy the throne room in Volume 6 episode 2, but we see him lose his mask at the end of the Adam trailer) deciding to go after Blake on his own while Salem creates the winged Beringel grimm and plans to go to Atlas herself, presumably to go after Oscar/Ozpin so he doesn't get in the way of her plans (as well as Ruby since she clearly needs her as well)

"If you want something done right, you do it yourself" - Volume 6 Chapter 13

(10) Adam and Salem telling Blake and Oz about how they're going to destroy them and those around them

"The ability to derive strength from hope is undoubtedly mankind's greatest attribute. Which is why I will focus all of my effort to snuff it out. How does it feel? Knowing that all your time and effort has been for nothing. That your guardians have failed you. That everything you've built will be torn down before your very eyes."

"So you send your guardians, your huntsman and huntresses. And when they fail and you turn to your smaller soul, know that you send her to the same pitiful demise. This is the beginning of the end, Ozpin. And I can't wait to watch you burn." - Salem, Volume 3 Chapter 12

"What you want is impossible! But I understand. Because all I want is you, Blake. And as I set out and deliver the justice mankind so greatly deserves, I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love. Starting with her." - Adam, Volume 3 Chapter 11

(11) Salem and Adam's perception of Oz and Blake affecting their perspective of themselves... and the audience.

Okay, this one's honestly kind of weird. For so, so long there were a lot of people who bought into the idea that Ozpin was secretly evil or somehow worse than Salem, or that he'd done something terrible and unforgivable to Salem. I fully admit, I was one of those people. I mean, I didn't think he was evil, but the way Salem talked to him at the end of volume 3, listening to the song Divide, I thought, he must have done something bad to Salem, right? How could she hate him so much otherwise?

And the worst thing he did... was leave her. When he couldn't go along with being a genocidal dictator of the whole world alongside Salem, and didn't want their children to be a part of that either.

And as for Adam, he tells Blake that she hurt him more than anybody because she left him.

"All sorts of people hurt me in all sorts of different ways. But no one hurt me quite like you, Blake. You didn't leave scars. You just left me alone." - Adam, Volume 6 Chapter 12

And Salem would also have been hurt from Ozma trying to leave her. Especially when you think about her backstory, how she was kept isolated in a tower, and instead of finding freedom in the outside world, found it in Ozma. And then he died, and she was alone again. And then the Gods destroyed humanity, and Salem is left alone one again for god knows how long.

"Once again, Salem was alone." - Volume 6 Chapter 3

And weirdly, similar to Ozpin there were people who bought into Adam's false perception of Blake too. That Blake is somehow the one who hurt Adam more than he hurt her (which is, completely insane).

And Salem and Adam want Oz and Blake to feel that way. To be paralyzed with self hatred and doubt, to be stuck in the past, and feel as if everything is their fault. That Salem and Adam are their responsibility, at first to save them, and then to stop them.

You see it with Adam's gaslighting, trying to paint her as an unfaithful coward. And I mean, just listen to the song Divide. The whole song is Salem trying to make out Ozpin to be the villain, that she's killing people but the real murderer is him for trying to give people hope, even if it was hope based on a desperate lie.

"It was you who ended their lives! Made them to dig their own graves! With your dark, sick, cruel design, convinced them their world could be saved." - Divide

And there were a lot of people convinced by Salem's song Divide that Ozpin was far worse than he really was, to the point it was surprising that he hadn't wronged Salem in some way like most people were expecting.

And Adam tries to make Blake believe that she's a coward, that she's selfish and weak, that running away from her problems is all she knows how to do.

And for a long while, Blake believed he was right. That she was toxic to the people around her, that she made things worse for them. And there were some people in the fandom who thought that she really was this toxic person.

It's actually kind of scary, but Salem and Adam managed to manipulate not only Blake and Oz's perception of themselves, but also the audience as well in how they saw them.

I don't doubt for a moment this is going to extend to Oscar as well if she meets him, that she'll likely try to convince him that he's just Ozpin and that he, Oscar, doesn't matter, and he'll fail and make the same mistakes as their past lives. Which undoubtedly parts of the fandom are going to take Salem's false perception of Oscar to heart as well and believe her.

Which brings me to move on from Blake's parallels with her first "soul" and Ozpin, to her second "soul" and Oscar.

Now Blake alluding to the Man with Two Souls is metaphorical, while in Oscar's case it's very literal, and it's no coincidence she's the one who first introduces us to the concept to us with the book she's reading during the Shining Beacon.

"...It's about a man with two souls. Each fighting for control over his body"

(It's important to note that the conflict between the two souls is not one of Good vs Evil)

Blake's conflict of her two metaphorical souls fighting for control, is the false perception Adam had of Blake and who she used to be with him, her past that she can't escape, and the struggle for her smaller, more honest soul, trying to define herself and decide who she wants to be. And for Oscar, he's struggling to define himself and decide who he wants to be, because of the merge with Ozpin, and that his past will become Oscar's too.

Both of them want to do the right thing and rise to their challenges, but it seems like such an impossible task to them that they're afraid to meet it.

"I'm... scared. I'm more scared than I've ever been. Than I ever thought was possible. I always knew I wanted to be more than a farmhand. But this? Who would ask for this?" - Oscar, Volume 5 Chapter 5

"I joined the Academy because I knew that Huntsman and Huntresses were regarded as the most noble warriors in the world. Always fighting for good. But I never really thought past that. When I leave the Academy what will I... How can I undo so many years of hate?" - Blake, Volume 2, Chapter 10

But the person who sees Blake's "other soul" the person she's truly capable of being, who she really is, even when she can't herself, is Yang.

"I'm sure you'll figure something out. You're not one to back down from a challenge Blake." - Yang, Volume 2 Chapter 10

And the one who sees Oscar and who he's capable of being even when he can't himself, is Ruby.

"Hey Oscar? I know this isn't going to be easy. But the fact that you're trying says a lot about you. You're braver than you think." - Ruby, Volume 5 Chapter 5

Blake and Oscar are also the first people we see Yang and Ruby open up to about their past trauma. The difference between the two being that in the Burning the Candle scene Yang is more willing to be vulnerable around Blake, to let her guard down and open up to her about her abandonment issues and how they've affected her.

Because as a more emotionally mature character she understands she needs to do that in order to properly relate to Blake so she can offer her support. She gets frustrated however when Blake still refuses her support, and so she has to give her a push to accept it.

Ruby, however, isn't as emotionally mature as Yang, and doesn't find it easy to let down her guard and talk about her emotions. Her mentality being described as "I don't have time for my emotions, I've got to make sure everybody else is okay" - RWBY Rewind: Ruby Rose Rewinds With Us

She feels like she constantly needs to be a pillar of strength and support for everyone around her as a leader. She has a hard time opening up about her own feelings and being vulnerable around others. For her, it seems much more natural to internalize those feelings rather than face them head on. As a leader, she feels she isn't supposed to show fear or doubt. If she admits how she's hurting or how scared she is, she'd be afraid of those around her losing faith.

Ironically, it's Ozpin's words of advice to her that enforce this mentality

"But if you aren't constantly performing at your best, what reason do you give others to follow you?"

So even though only a minute ago Oscar saw that Ruby was clearly upset over something (being reminded of Penny's death)

Ruby then goes on to act like nothing's wrong when she then attempts to reassure Oscar. And it feels like a performance, and though Ruby genuinely does want to reassure him, it comes across as insincere to him. He's frustrated because Ruby isn't being honest about how she's feeling, and is only concerned with his feelings.

So in the Dojo scene we have Oscar start to push Ruby past that flawed mentality that Ozpin enforced, to be more honest about how she's feeling, to talk about how the Fall of Beacon and the loss of Phyrra and Penny affected her, how she's afraid of Salem killing people she cares about, and that she'd kill anyone regardless.

And with both Ruby and Yang opening up about their past experiences they can relate to Blake and Oscar's own fears, doubts and insecurities. Blake's need for answers and Oscar's fear of the fight with Salem, and Yang's need for answers and Ruby's fear of the fight with Salem.

"I told you! I'm not telling you to stop! I haven't. To this day I still want to know what happened to my mother and why she left me. But I will never let that search control me. We're going to find the answers we're looking for Blake. But if we destroy ourselves in the process what good are we?" - Yang, Volume 2 Chapter 6

"I am scared! But not just for me. What happened at Beacon shows that Salem doesn't care if you're standing against her or not. She'll kill anybody. And that, scares me most of all. Phyrra... Penny... I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt. That I didn't think about them every day since I lost them. That I didn't wish I had spent more time with them. If it had been me instead, I know they would have kept fighting too. No matter how dangerous it was. So that's what I choose to do. To keep moving forward." - Ruby, Volume 5 Chapter 5

And by demonstrating their own resolve, as well as their belief in the kind of people Blake and Oscar are capable of being that inspires them to be that person.

"I'm. Not. Running."

"You. Will." - Blake and Adam, Volume 3 Chapter 11

"She made a choice. To put others before herself. And so do I."

"Then you've chosen death." - Oscar and Hazel, Volume 5 Chapter 12

There's also Blake expressing her doubt in Yang during volume 3 after she attacked Mecury, causing Yang to question her own judgement.

She compares it to how Adam used to attack people, and of course she knows Yang wouldn't do something like that without good reason, but she can't but feel like the situation is very familiar. And Blake knows Yang isn't Adam, and makes it clear that she's decided to trust Yang.

"I want to trust you. I will trust you." - Volume 3 Chapter 8

But despite that, Blake's words do still weigh on her mind even when she's alone, where Qrow comes to talk to her about what happened and reassure her, and then they end up talking about her mum.

And then with Ruby in volume 7, Oscar expresses his doubt in Ruby in her decision to lie and hide the truth from Ironwood, comparing it to how Ozpin did the same to them, which, similar to Yang, causes Ruby to question her own judgement. And obviously he knows Ruby isn't Ozpin, that she probably had a good reason for lying. But again, the situation just feels so familiar.

But ultimately he decides to put his trust in Ruby, even before Ironwood.

"I do believe in you. But not only you." - Volume 7 Chapter 7

And by episode 9 they're both on the same page in deciding to choose the truth over fear. (if only James could have stayed on that page too)

Similarly to Yang, we see Ruby alone in episode 4 of volume 7, and you can tell Oscar's words are still weighing on her mind, as Qrow comes over to talk to her and she asks him if she is like Ozpin, and he reassures her that she's not, and then they end up talking about her mother.

Okay, so I'm going to go out on a limb here, and you can call me out on my bullshit if you like, but I'm making a prediction (like, 12 hours from the finale, but hey, it might happen later in the series for all I know)

If we're going full in on the parallels here, remember how Yang lost an arm trying to protect Blake from Adam, and afterwards Blake ends up leaving Yang like Raven, believing she'd be better off without her?

And how Salem is on her way to Atlas after hearing Ozpin had reincarnated, the foreshadowing for Ruby losing an eye and them bringing up her trauma around Summer in Chapter 11?

On top of her wanting Ruby alive?

I'm gonna guess Ruby loses an eye trying to protect Oscar, and then afterwards either Oscar or Ruby tries to sacrifice and give themselves up to Salem, except it ends up being a hollow sacrifice like Summer's

"I didn't have a choice I did what I had to do I made a sacrifice but forced a bigger sacrifice on you!" - Red like Roses Part 2

Because Salem would end up taking both of them either way. I actually can't imagine a scenario where she doesn't, because she needs both of them. But one of them has a worse fate, a "bigger sacrifice" in store for them when they reach Evernight (which I'm still thinking is Ruby)

#rwby #ozpin #oscar pine #yang xiao long #ruby rose #salem #blake belladona #adam taurus #trash meta #thank FUCK I can finally sleep #thanks to anyone who read this to the end #I don't think I'm any good at this but it feels good to just waffle sometimes

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let-it-raines · 6 years ago

Text

Catch Me If You Can (23/?)

298 days. That’s how long Killian Jones was away from a baseball field. It’s less than a year, only part of a season for him, but it might as well have lasted a decade as he alternated between physical therapy and spending an excessive amount of time sitting on his couch.

But then he came back and won the World Series.

It’s something no one saw coming, and it’s certainly not something anyone who knows about his arm would predict. Now it’s a new season with new possibilities, and anything could happen. On-field reporter Emma Swan will be there to cover it all even if she is not his biggest fan right now.

Asking her out live on-air will do that.

Rating: Mature

a/n: I wrote this entire story in some kind of pregnancy-fueled Mexican-food-craving haze, and I didn’t realize just how much time was between some certain big plot points until I was proof-reading this. That said, I’m not changing any of that and am literally impatient to share all of the upcoming chapters with you wonderful people! @resident-of-storybrooke has assured me that they’re actually good. lol. Not entirely sure that I trust her 😉

Found on AO3: Beginning | Current

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-/-

I need your post-series comparison report by nine this morning.

You were late with it last time, and that made me late with my report. This is why you should probably stick to on-air reporting instead of continuing to write articles when we have people for that.

W.O.

“Asshole,” Emma mutters to herself after reading that blatantly condescending email from Walsh.

She’s been in the office for approximately fifteen minutes, most likely a little less than that, and the first thing that Emma saw after logging into her computer was an email from Walsh about her report on the difference between playing at home and away, specifically when it comes to playing the Red Sox. Two weeks ago, the Yankees lost every single game they played in Boston, especially that epic game where they lost 3-17 the night Killian was the starting pitcher, and then over the last four days, they’ve won every game while in New York.

Home team advantage taking on a whole new meaning because it is seriously in play this year.

And Emma doesn’t want to get too excited, doesn’t want to get too ahead of herself because anything can happen for the rest of the season, but only a month and a half of the regular season is left and there’s no way the Yankees aren’t making the playoffs. Once they get there, who knows if they’ll make it to the Series?

There’s a chance, though, and that’s all that matters.

As a fan, she’s excited. As Killian’s girlfriend and a reporter for the team, she’s over the freaking moon. It would be insane for them to back it up, but she’s got to slow her roll.

Slow her roll and send Walsh this report so that she doesn’t have to deal with him anymore today. Working with her ex is fine since it’s not an everyday thing, only an office day thing, but the man has got to get the stick out of his ass. He cheated on her, belittled her out of jealousy for her success in her job, and yet he acts like it’s an inconvenience for them to have to spend a miniscule amount of time together. He’s probably sitting at his desk thinking of ways to torture her while drinking a giant bottle of Mountain Dew. She always hated that he did that. He could have at least had the diet version instead of consuming all of that extra sugar.

But whatever. It doesn’t matter. None of it does.

Ruth: Do you think you’d like to come to Portland in October? Or maybe sometime before Thanksgiving? I was thinking you could bring your boyfriend so that I can meet him.

Emma reads the text, but she doesn’t answer it quite yet. She needs time to look at her calendar and have time to ask Killian if he wants to go. Hell, she needs time to figure out if that’s what she even wants because, wow, bringing a boyfriend home is not something she’s ever done. Neal literally never wanted to come home with her, never wanted to go to David’s, never wanted to do anything that wasn’t in his control, and Walsh was just…

Shit. She needs to email him now and stop letting her mind go down this path.

Today is a good day. Nothing is going to ruin it. If she repeats that enough times it’s sure to come true.

“Oh my God,” Ruby groans as she steps into Emma’s office, barely able to squeeze in past the chair that’s keeping the door open before sitting in it, “I am ready for this season to be over. Why is it always so jam-packed? Do people really need to watch this much baseball? There are so many damn games.”

“Nope. They really don’t.”

“I feel like you should not be able to say that because of your job and the fact that your boyfriend is a freaking baseball player.”

“Rubes,” Emma hisses, twisting in her chair and looking out the small glass window in her office, “shut up.”

Ruby’s eyes widen, her hands immediately going to cover her mouth, and that might be the fastest Ruby has ever stopped talking in the entirety of her life.

“Sorry, sorry,” she apologizes before getting up from the chair and moving it so that she can shut the door behind her. Damn this small office. “I didn’t even think about it.”

“It’s fine. It’s not like you have a giant poster saying that I’m dating him. There are just a lot of people constantly walking by this door, so we can’t really talk about it with the door open.”

“My lips are sealed. Also, are you ever going to get a bigger office?”

“I don’t even know why I have an office. Like, honestly. I keep waiting for them to realize that I don’t need it and to give it away to someone who works here more than once a week. Then I could do all of this stuff from home.”

“That is the life. Though, I think you would probably never put on real pants again.”

“Yoga pants are real pants, and that’s a hill I’m willing to die on.”

“Whatever,” Ruby yawns, covering her mouth with her hands. “I’m ready to go home already. Do you think we have time to go home before the game?”

“Considering we have to get out to the stadium in less than an hour and I still have to finish this report for Walsh, I’m thinking not.”

“Ugh,” Ruby groans, propping her feet up against the walls like she owns the place, “why does he continue to exist? Can’t he go work in another department or something?”

“I imagine,” Emma sighs, twisting back in her chair to actually get work done on the report, “that he stays simply to annoy me, but I tend not to think about him too much.”

“Yeah, well, that’s because you’re getting fucked much better now.”

Emma huffs. “Why are you the way that you are?”

“You know, I think it comes from being raised by my grandmother instead of my mother, and I –”

“Rhetorical question,” Emma hums, pulling up her file with her notes from the last few games up so that she can fill the last bit of information in while they talk. “So, Ruth has asked me if I want to bring Killian to Portland.”

“I thought you just said that we couldn’t say his name.”

“We can’t yell it with the door open. We can say it quietly in here.”

“Gotcha, gotcha,” Ruby sighs as Emma keeps working. “How do you feel about the boyfriend going home to meet Ruth? That’s kind of a big step. I mean, he’s already met David and Mary Margaret, but that’s different. They’re more like friends than anything else.”

“Yeah, I’m aware of that.”

“This is, like, ‘I see a future with you and want everyone I love to love you’ kind of stuff.”

“Are you trying to freak me out?”

“Only a little. I could have brought up marriage and babies, but I figured that would have you jumping through the ceiling to escape the conversation.”

Emma’s heart kind of feels like it’s going to jump through the ceiling of this conversation. Why did she even bring this up? Probably because she does actually want to talk about it, and Ruby will be the most honest with her because she doesn’t seem to have any kind of filter in that wonderful brain of hers.

‘Yeah, let’s avoid the marriage and babies stuff.”

“Okay, so barring those things,” Ruby sighs, getting up from the chair to perch herself on the edge of Emma’s desk so Emma can actually see her while talking, “how do you feel about this? I know you love Killian because you guys are ridiculously adorable together, which makes me happy for you even if I sometimes find it disgusting, but I also know that you like to freak out about relationship stuff.”

“I’m…” Emma rolls back in her chair and tilts her head up to look at Ruby while she tugs her bottom lip with her teeth. “I don’t think it’s that big of a deal, really, because Killian has met everyone else and we do travel pretty often together. But that’s for work, you know? This is…this is moving forward in a way.”

“That’s a good thing, hon. People in good relationships move forward. Graham and I dated for awhile, then moved in together, even if you do live with us because rent is ridiculous, and then one day we’re going to get married. When you love someonesomeone,who is good to you, that’s what you do, even if every relationship roadmap is different with different destinations. It’s scary as hell, but sometimes you’ve got to do scary shit.”

Sometimes you’ve got to do scary shit.

“You sounded really philosophical until you got to the end there.”

“Eh,” she scoffs, flipping her hair over her shoulders, “I think all great philosophers should talk like me. It’s real. Good advice doesn’t have to be poetic. It’s just got to be good.”

Emma hums in response, crossing her legs over each other and readjusting her position while she thinks over everything that Ruby has just said. “So, you think I should talk to Killian about it and then text Ruth back?”

“That’s exactly what you should do. And then you should finish this damn report, send it to your asshole ex with a picture of a middle finger attached, and then we should get something to eat on the way to the stadium.”

-/-

The Yankees win an easy game against the Orioles that afternoon, as they usually do, and it’s a smooth day at the office for all involved. Killian is particularly cheeky in his post-game interview, he and Will bantering off each other, and Emma has to bite her tongue to keep herself from telling Killian that she loves him live on-air.

Talk about a disaster waiting to happen there.

-/-

“Darling, can you get me a napkin?”

“Get it yourself, Jones.”

“Emma is literally standing in the kitchen.”

“You are a big boy. You can get your napkin yourself.”

“You just asked her to bring you a glass of water.”

“That is different.”

Emma rolls her eyes at Ruby and Killian bickering with each other. It’s honestly how they talk. Emma doesn’t think that they’re capable of speaking in normal terms, and as obnoxious as it can be, it’s kind of hilarious. Those two are pretty much a friendship made in heaven because of their wit and ability to make anything a dirty joke, but it results in a hell of a lot of bantering.

Or bickering.

Emma’s not sure which one, but if the look on Graham’s face is any indication, it’s a combination of both.

“We’re going to have to stop allowing them to spend time with each other, aren’t we?” Graham asks as he reaches over her to grab a napkin that the restaurant provided them with when they ordered take-out. “I think they might kill each other.”

“Eh, it might just be the natural progression of things.”

“True. Might as well just let it happen.”

“I can hear the two of you,” Ruby huffs, leaning over from the couch so that she can get a handful of chips out of the bowl before standing and walking to the kitchen, “and it’s totally not cool that you’d just let the two of us die. You are supposed to love us.”

“To be fair, I just met Killian, so I’m not sure that we love each other quite yet,” Graham teases.

Killian winks, the biggest smirk stretching across his lips, and it makes Emma’s stomach flutter. “Give it time. I’m irresistible. Ask Emma.”

“He’s not,” Emma sighs, taking the napkins out of Graham’s hands and walking them the few feet over to Killian before sitting down next to him on the couch, plucking a chip from his plate instead of the bowl. “He pretty much had to beg me to get me to date him.”

“Um, no, you definitely asked me out, Swan.”

“Only because you wouldn’t ask me out.”

“We have talked about this,” Killian breathes, scooping up a forkful of his rice. “And besides, it’s a moot point now.”

“Maybe. Are you going to eat the rest of your queso?”

Killian hands her his bowl in answer. Him watching his eating habits more carefully is quite possibly the best thing that’s ever happened to her even if she has to cut down on the pop-tarts in the morning. That’s probably for the best. She’d rather waste her calories on things like queso and grilled cheese. Killian has learned to make a really good grilled cheese sandwich, and that may be the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for her.

Obviously she has some really high (low) standards, but it’s the little things.

Cheese is the way to a woman’s heart. At least to hers. There are some crazy people out there who don’t like cheese.

Crazy.

“Why didn’t we get margaritas with our food again?” Ruby asks as she and Graham both settle back into the living room. They barely have enough room for the three people who live here, let alone four. “I really want a margarita.”

“We’ve got an eleven o’clock game tomorrow.”

“You two do. I don’t.”

Emma reaches to the side to slap Killian’s shoulder, nearly spilling her queso dip, and what a tragedy that would be. “You have training.”

“Not at eleven in the morning.”

“Poor people having to wake up and be at work before nine in the morning to start work at eleven. However do all of you live?”

Everyone’s eyes move toward Graham, evil stares likely there, and instead of backing away, he shrugs his shoulders and takes a bite of his taco, completely unbothered.

“Shut up and eat your tacos, babe.”

He holds up the taco he just took a bite out of. “Don’t mind if I do.”

Killian chuckles beside her, lifting his arm over Emma’s shoulder so that she can lean into him and into his warmth. “And you say Ruby and I bicker.”

“I’m starting to think maybe it’s Ruby that’s the problem.”

“I,” Ruby scoffs, reaching forward to grab the remote to turn the TV on, “am picking the movie we watch tonight because all of you are assholes, and I deserve this.”

They watch Pride and Prejudice because it’s the first thing Ruby finds on TV, something that Emma definitely isn’t going to complain about. She’s usually not one for period romances, most of them a little too damsel in distress with no backbone for her, but this is one that she can appreciate. Plus, Keira Knightly is pretty much the greatest at being in movies that aren’t modern. The woman wouldn’t know how to act in a movie where cell phones exists.

(Okay, maybe she would, but that’s entirely beside the point.)

Ruby and Graham go to bed before the movie is even over, Ruby falling asleep on the couch with chip crumbs on her shirt, and Graham has to coax her into getting up, telling her that she’s not going to be able to move her neck in the morning if she doesn’t move. Ruby pretty much tells him to fuck off in that charming way that she has, but she does get up, slowly wandering back down the hallway to their bedroom until the door shuts behind her.

She and Killian manage to make it until the end, and even though she’s been up since early this morning and spent so much time outside, Emma’s not tired. She’s not tired as she and Killian move to clean up their food, wrapping up the leftovers and putting them in the fridge, before moving back to her own bedroom so that they can go through their routines to get ready for bed. Emma kind of feels like they’ve been spending most of their nights together even though she knows that it’s not true. It’s been two or three times a week, mostly depending on her schedule or Killian’s game schedule, and it’s not something they ever really plan.

But she likes having him here or likes being over at his place, even though she isn’t the best at sharing the comforter or not sprawling out in the middle of the bed, and it’s a nice thing to get to have someone to spend time with like this.

Today has been a good day.

Killian is in bed before her, the white of her comforter pulled up over his lap to cover his sweatpants, and instead of getting under the covers herself, Emma moves to straddle his lap, placing her knees on either side of his thighs while her hand plays with the chain around his neck, moving the cool metal back and forth in her palm.

Killian arches his right brow at her, that side of his lips tugging up to, and it makes her laugh before she places her hands on his bare shoulders all the while Killian reaches up to tuck her loose strands of hair behind her ear, thumb running across her cheekbone in a gentle motion.

His eyes could not possibly be more blue.

“What is it that you think you’re doing, Swan?”

“What do you mean?”

A low hum comes from Killian as the hand that’s not caressing her cheek moves to her waist, snaking up underneath her t-shirt to rest against the bare skin of her stomach.

“This position isn’t exactly indicative of us going to bed.”

“Is it not?” Emma teases, dipping her head down to press her lips to the tip of his nose. “Because I’m very comfortable right now.”

She does a pointed roll of her hips and revels in the way that Killian’s eyes shut at the movement.

“I think the queso is getting to that head of yours.”

Emma shrugs. “Maybe.”

“Definitely.”

And then Killian is tugging her closer and moving his lips over hers, soft and slow and completely and utterly thorough while his hand tangles into her hair, fingers pulling at the strands, and her hands move from his shoulders to his neck, holding him steady. He tastes like her toothpaste, far too minty, and his skin smells like the soap she keeps next to her sink that definitely should not be used for skincare. It’s weirdly refreshing for him to smell like her things, if not a little overwhelming. Last week she used Killian’s bodywash when she was at his place because she didn’t have any of her own, and while she used to be entirely attracted to the smell, carrying it around on her all day was far too overwhelming.

How do men live smelling that strongly of some kind of Irish spring or mountain brook?

That’s not how either of those things smell either. Or, at least, she thinks.

But that’s entirely beside the point when shivers are spreading across her body at the feeling of Killian’s tongue moving inside her mouth. It’s warm and wet against hers, the feeling that same high that she always seems to be chasing with him, and her fingers inch up his neck to curl into the thick strands of his hair while she groans.

“Bloody hell do I love that sound.”

Heat immediately rises to her cheeks, but it’s also curling between her thighs at the heady sound of Killian’s voice and the demanding pressure of his kiss as his legs shift beneath them to move the two of them until Emma’s back is pressed against the mattress and Killian is hovering over her, his lips trailing across the expanse of skin at her neck that has the simmering heat between them continuing all the while Emma tries to catch her breath.

Every time she thinks she’s got it back, though, Killian nips at her collarbone or nibbles on her ear, and it all evaporates into thin air.

“Oh fuck,” Killian grunts, and Emma takes it as an invitation to trace her nails along his back, pressing her hips up to his to get a little more friction. “No, love, fuck.”

Her eyes snap to him at the more pained exasperation in his voice, and it’s then that Emma realizes that he’s stopped kissing her neck and has his forehead pressed there instead, his body not moving over hers.

“Hey, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“My,” he grits, his voice dark but not in the way that she wants it to be, “leg is fucking cramping.”

Emma doesn’t mean to, not really, but the laugh bubbles from deep within her belly until it’s passing through her lips and she can’t contain herself. It’s not really even funny. Cramps and weird noises and all of that jazz are as normal as can be during sex – don’t even get her started on lock jaw – but it’s usually not when they’ve only been making out for five minutes. This is some kind of new record.

“I’m glad you’re so amused by my pain, love.”

“No, no,” she laughs, wishing that she hadn’t but still not able to stop herself, “I promise you I’m not.”

“Then what the bloody hell are you laughing at?”

“Your pain.”

Killian groans before rolling off of her, the loss of his body heat immediate, and she watches as his arm reaches up to pinch the bridge of his nose, his eyes still shut so tightly that those little crinkles have shown up around his skin. It’s adorable even if he’d probably like to chop his leg off right now.

“I hate you.”

“That is entirely untrue,” Emma sighs, leaning down to brush her lips over his cheek before moving across the mattress so that she can grab onto Killian’s leg and rest his calf on her lap, fingers digging into the flesh to start to massage it. “I have it on good authority that you love me in spite of all of the weird things about me like the fact that I laugh at your cramps.”

Killian��s hand moves from his face until his arm is flopping against the mattress in what has to be the most dramatic fashion in the world. “That’s probably the least weird thing about you.”

“Oh yeah? What’s the weirdest?”

Killian props himself up on his elbows, his eyes obviously taking her in as he thinks, and she squeezes his calf a little bit too hard in response. “You put too much creamer in your coffee.”

“That’s a cop out answer.”

“Nope. It’s my honest to God answer, love. That is the weirdest thing about you.”

“The weirdest thing about you is the fact that you organize your t-shirts by year that you got them instead of color or putting your favorites up front.”

“I don’t believe I asked for your opinion on that.”

“No,” Emma shrugs, squeezing his calf where she can see the muscles twitching, “you didn’t, but I thought I’d give you my opinion anyways since you’re not being honest with me about what you find weird about me.”

Killian rolls his eyes before falling back down to the mattress, strands of hair falling over his forehead. “You have too many blankets. It’s not…I mean, you do a million little things that are different or quirky, but I don’t find any of them weird. Not really. But you collect a hell of a lot of blankets. You’ve probably spent thousands of dollars on them. I swear, you’ve brought a different blanket on every road trip we’ve had this year.”

“That is not weird.”

“Neither is my t-shirt thing.”

“Agree to disagree,” she sighs, pulling a pillow behind her back so that she’s not hunching over. “And you have never complained about having use of one of my blankets before.”

“Nor you my t-shirts.”

“This is true.” Emma keeps working at Killian’s calf, feeling the muscled skin under her fingertips, and she figures now might be the time to talk to him about Ruth. It’s not like he can run away. Well, he could, but she could probably run faster than him now. “So, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Killian’s body stiffens. “And you saved it for when I can’t run away?”

Great minds think alike.

“Yes, because I knew you were going to cramp while we were making out.”

She rolls her eyes but still smiles at the way Killian’s forehead is wrinkled with the raise of his brows. His face can hold so many different expressions – from soft to broody and from sexy to amused – and she likes that he often gives away what’s going on in his mind through them, even if he doesn’t always.

“You are evil like that.”

“I know,” Emma shrugs before putting a little more pressure on Killian’s calf so that he groans. Definitely a different groan than what was happening before. “So, Ruth texting me today and asked if when I wanted to come visit. She’s been on me about it for a few months now even with her coming here, but I probably should go home when the season is over. And I was wondering if you wanted to come with me.”

They’re simple words, but the weight behind them makes Emma feel like she’s just been run over by a truck.

She’s absolutely great at being an adult.

The best.

Her heart is probably going to implode.

“Well,” Killian sighs, propping himself up on his elbows again, “I’d have to check my calendar. You know, I am a very popular man, and many women ask me to go home with them to meet their mothers. I have to make sure that I’m not scheduled to do that with someone else.”

“Asshole,” Emma huffs as she slaps Killian’s leg and pushes it off of her lap so that she can get off the bed. “You’re an asshole.”

“I’m feeling a little bit of de ja vu with you calling me that.”

“You deserve it.”

“Hey,” he sighs, stretching across the bed to grab at the bottom of her t-shirt until he pulls her back down onto the bed with him so that she roughly lands on the mattress and against Killian’s knee. It’s not exactly comfortable, but Killian shifts and caresses her cheeks with his hands, pushing her hair back while he looks at her. “I’m kidding. I would love to get to go to Portland with you to meet Ruth. I really do have to check my schedule, especially with how we do in the post-season, but I’m more than happy to go with you and get to hear all kinds of stories about you as a teenager.”

“Yeah, you’re not allowed to ask for any stories when we go.”

“I’m one hundred percent asking for stories.”

“No. You can’t do that because – ”

Killian doesn’t let her finish her protest, pulling her forward to press his lips into hers, a soft yet insistent thing that has her forgetting her argument. He’s good at that. Probably too good, but that’s definitely something she’ll address at another time.

A time when he’s not doing that thing with his tongue and his teeth that she likes so much.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Emma stops, possibly against her better judgement, and Killian pulls back only to bury his face in her shoulder.

“W-what?”

“My leg is cramping.”

Killian groans into her neck before wrapping his arms around Emma’s waist and pulling her down alongside him so that they’re a tangle of limbs that very well may never be unwrapped. She wouldn’t mind that either, not if she can stay in the dim light of her bedroom with Killian holding onto her and looking at her like she put the stars in the sky and tells them to glow every night.

No one has ever looked at her that way before.

Ever.

She’s really damn happy.

“I love you,” Killian breathes out, and her heart metaphorically skips a beat while she reaches for his chain between them so that she can run the metal between her fingers. “More than anything, I think.”

Well damn. Who knew three little words added to those big three words could completely change the meaning of it all? Or, at least, amplify them.

“I love you too, twenty-nine.”

Killian shifts again, pressing his back into her and pulling her closer, as if that was possible, and she can feel the scruff on the underside of his chin pressing into her temple while he intertwines their fingers and moves their joined hands to rest between her breasts.

“I’m serious, Emma. I know…” Killian takes a deep breath, one that she can feel in her own bones, and she has to swallow down the emotion that she feels at just the gravely sound of his voice. “Thank you for trusting me enough to take this shot with me. I haven’t been this happy in a long time, and I kind of thought that I’d reached the pinnacle of happiness last year when we won.”

“I mean, you did win the World Series,” she says, trying to play off some of the emotions she’s feeling. “What could be better than that?”

“Don’t you know, Emma?” Killian speaks into her hair, pressing a kiss there that has her lashes fluttering closed against her cheeks. “It’s you.”

#catch me if you can #cs fic #cs ff #captain swan fic #captain swan

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blackcatmanor · 5 years ago

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RWBY V7 Ch13 Photo Review- The finale

A solid ending that wraps up V7 decently while still leaving good set up for V8.

The good:

Fights

Fights as usual were good. I liked Winter riding a griffin into battle, and I liked the power disparity between JNPR 2.0 and Neo when the writers forgot what power disparity meant last chapter. JNPR 2.0 was clearly no match for Neo, but they only managed to succeed because of their teamwork. The fights this volume were very, very well done. I hope they retain the same fight animation staff going forward.

More to this point, I thought that Winter or Penny would get the powers, and another Maiden showdown would happen in the Relic Room. I’m actually glad it didn’t. Having the fight stay in the hospital walls was nice. It was a way to force the fight to stay grounded (literally and figuratively) and focus more on cool animation moves rather than just magical beings flying around and smacking each other occasionally like V5 finale. They had a flying bit but it still managed to be grounded to the characters rather than just vague magical beings flying around. Penny’s obvious use of flight and Winter riding a griffin was true to who they are as combatants, and they don’t just rely on some magical plot device that makes them fly around.

James

James has been the strongest Character of this volume, and this chapter was the same. I really liked his quote “All great philosophical points that won’t Matter if Salem wins.” It shows his motivations well, outlines clearly his beliefs, and actually makes a decent argument for doing something that is morally wrong. It was also interesting to see the argument with Oscar go from 0 to 11 SUPER fast, as soon as Oscar accused him of acting out of fear and beginning to say “It’s what we do in fear that shows who we-“ as if to impugn James’ character because of his actions. It was shocking to see him shoot a kid, but his character is staunchly committed to carrying out his plan so it fits. And since Oscar didn’t die it’s still something that James can be redeemed from.

The good, but

Winter Maiden powers.

Fria’s final stand was really interesting to see. BUT if she was going to be so integral to stopping Cinder, it would have been nice to fully understand how these powers affected her life, who she was before and after she got the powers, and more importantly show what the powers are fully capable of. I hate that we never get to see flashbacks anymore, and the story now exclusively exists in the current day. Even Amber’s flashback was just to the day she was attacked, but at least we got to see how she landed in a coma. It’s frustrating we don’t develop anyone anymore with much-needed background and flashbacks, but obviously we have no time and 20 other characters to cram in and under-develop so…. *shrug*

Penny getting the winter maiden powers became kind of obvious as time went on, with as much development as she got this volume. However, I don’t totally hate it because it at least means they didn’t bring Penny back just to kill her again, and she’ll probably be an important character going forward. She may even be a big part of the FINAL battle against Salem, since I still believe that the final confrontation will involve having to get the Maidens altogether, PLUS the relics, plus Ruby the silver eyed warrior to beat Salem. I THOUGHT the writers would be kind of lazy and just find ways to eventually give the powers to team RWBY, but now I think this may not be the case

Cinder’s voice acting

Every bit of dialogue Cinder spoke was trash, but her screams of pain upon getting her arm cut off and growing it back, her screams of anguish upon losing the Winter maiden powers and being banished by Ruby and the team were really, really good! It shows that Jessica Nigri is capable of delivering good performances, but the directors and writers don’t give her good dialogue to say, nor do they pull from her a decent delivery in the lines she speaks.

Watts

Am I glad he’s not dead because I think he’s a great villain? Yes. But am I also annoyed he’s back because it negates Chapter 11? Also yes. So as it turned out, Chapter 11 accomplished nothing, and was ultimately undone by Chapter 12 and 13. At least Tyrian escaped custody because of his own cleverness (And Qrow’s idiocy). But we don’t have any idea how watts mysteriously survived being dropped into lava pits without aura, seemingly unscathed. James’ sacrifice of his arm was for nothing, and it’s SUPER TROPEY the whole “no body, no death” thing. I hate the writers played into that stupid cliché

The bad:

OMG Cinder die already!

I really appreciated Jessica Nigri trying her ass off, but the writers just REFUSE to give her a character. When she started talking I thought the writers were finally going to heed everyone’s complaints and give her some sort of character, but with each sentence I literally groaned louder and louder. No backstory, no motivation, just more cobbled-together edgelord lines about being hungry for power. We already know Cinder wants power- since volume 3. THIS ISN’T CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT! Either get a character or die.

Ren

Ren sucked this volume. And it’s not fair to say he sucked, it’s more like the writing SUPER sucked. They kept having his emotions all over the place- sometimes he’s totally fine and then suddenly he’s SUPER angsty. They didn’t grow or develop it, they just kept randomly looping back to it. I get that V8 is a straight continuation of this volume, so they weren’t going to RESOLVE it, but we don’t even get a set up for these problems, we don’t understand what is happening whatsoever, and they didn’t seem to evolve. It’s just jarring, and him suddenly becoming dumb and thinking Neo/Nora was Nora so he can get hit in the face was just weird. He knew who it was, it was just probably some arbitrary reason for Ren to blame Nora for his inability to focus. *Groan*

Random thought: If the fight between JNPR 2.0 and Neo was just going to end with Neo taking the lamp- why did she even stick around to fight in the first place when she had the lamp before Oscar punched her?

Overall: 7.5/10. It was solid. The character’s actions actually made sense this episode, and no one did anything super stupid just for plot’s sake. The set up for volume 8 was good while still wrapping up the story of volume 7 (I had a weird feeling that the Winter powers would be a cliffhanger but settling on Penny was nice, and RWBY on the run was a nice ending to how things unfolded).

The chapter was slightly hindered by good things having huge drawbacks, like Fria ending up an important climax dues ex Machina despite lack of development, and Watts just coming back again because...of course.

Unpopular opinions for V8:

JNR should leave

JNR should head to Vacuo for reinforcements in V8 and leave the cast. I think they’ve peaked in usefulness, and now Oscar seems split off and trying to do his own thing they especially won’t matter. It will give the writers time to develop RWBY and Penny and Oscar. They were severely minimized this volume and it didn’t hinder the story at all, so we can actually have them doing their own thing and we can occasionally check on them without missing much. With Ren’s “issues” I doubt they’ll just leave for volume 8 but I wish they would

Qrow needs to go, too- it looks like he will be a martyr and be locked up in V8, which I would love. If not HE needs to head out to Vacuo to try and get reinforcements. I’m done caring about his character. He’s a one-dimensional pit of sadness that is becoming boring to watch. We actually saw a glimmer of hope that he would become something other than a writer punching bag, but it didn’t happen and the writers insist on just finding new, contrived, and sadistic ways to continually torture him. Oh look- a friend to cancel out your bad luck? BAM, DEAD! It’s getting old, so I just hope to not really see him next volume.

It turns out Salem has been lagging behind because she was picking out her prom dress.

#rwby spoilers #rwby volume 7 #rwby v7e13 #rwby vol 7 #rwby finale #ruby rose #yang xiao long #blake belladonna #weiss shchnee #winter schnee #james ironwood #oscar pine #nora valkyrie #lie ren #jaune arc #ace ops #qrow branwen

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calliecat93 · 5 years ago

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Well everyone… Chapter 11. We are in the home-stretch now. At this point, IDK what’s going to happen. Things seem okay. Mantle trusts Ironwood again, the Grimm are under control, Watts and Tyrian are being confronted everything seems to be going our heroes way. I’ve had my problems with these past two chapters, but I’ve still been extremely anxious for this one. Everything seems to be going right, but can it last? Or are we about to approach our darkest hour?

Overview

We pick up right where we left off with Watts vs Ironwood. As always, describing fight scenes in these reviews is always hard since I can only really say ‘this is awesome!’ Which it is! Ironwood is clearly stronger physically and just as strategic as Watts. But not only is Watts actually capable of defending himself but since he has control over the biome system, he has the battlefield advantage. It’s a very badass fight, and to top it all off we get an awesome new song. And to my shock, ti is sung by Caleb Hyles. For those who don’t know, he is a cover artist (mainly of anime) and he actually did a cover of Red Like Roses Part II with Casey last year. Which is likely how he got the gig, and I ain’t complaining cause the song is awesome. Is the soundtrack here yet?

Eventually though, the two combatants come to a standstill. They’re both out of bullets… but Watts is already one step ahead. He’s able to trap Ironwood by using his rings Hard Light Shield to trap Ironwood’s arm in the grates. Any attempt by Ironwood to pull himself out only burns him and burns him badly. Watts resumes his work looking for something within the tower’s databanks… but is shocked when Ironwood frees himself. It leaves his arm severely burned, but he’s free and he pumbles Watts into the ground. He soon has him down, and he holds him over the lava field below. Ironwood says that he’ll sacrifice everything in order to stop Salem. Watts’ response? That he indeed hopes that he does. We don’t see if Ironwood drops him or not, leaving his fate currently in the air.

In Mantle, Qrow, Clover and Robyn face Tyrian and manage to take him down. So… that’s it. Watts and Tyrian are down. The bad guys lost. The good guys won! Right? RIGHT?! Well… looks are deceiving, aren’t they? Ironwood returns to his office, his arm bandaged and he has Watts’ briefcase. But he stops in his tracks and his expression shifts from exhaustion to horror. He calls Winter, asking her if anyone had gotten into the Academy. She says no, clearly confused and shocked. She runs back inside, Cinder watching from afar. Due to this, RWBYJNR and Ace-Opa are called back despite evacuations still going on. They are all understandably confused. JNR decides to go and get Oscar while RWBY goes on ahead with Ace-Ops to meet with Ironwood.

RWBY and Ace-Ops (minus Clover) enter Ironwood’s office, and the headmaster/general is not happy. Why? He reveals what he found: a chess piece. To be exact a Black Queen chess piece. The same symbol that Salem used when she attacked Beacon. When she took over Ironwood’s forces. This re-triggers Ironwood’s paranoia, realizing that Salem was one step ahead of him once more. Now he’s questioning everything. Salem’s forces are in Atlas. Was this all ehr plan For Atlas’s forces to rescue Mantle? For this to distract the heroes so that she could accomplish this? Even when Weiss reminds him that Mantle is back on their side, all it does is anger Ironwood more to the point that he punches his desk. You know how he cracked Jaques when he did this in V4? Yeah deja vu, huh? But needless to say, the general is losing it.

Ruby notices that the chess piece is made of glass. Black glass. Yep, it’s Cinder. This concerns everyone, and now Ironwood worries that Hazel is there as well. The RWBY girls try to calm him down, assuring him that they can figure this out… but the general is doubtful. Not just about the situation, but of them. It’s at this point that he questions how Robyn knew about the Communications Tower, forcing Yang and Blake to confess. Ironwood and the Ace-Ops are furious to hear of this even as Blake and Yang try to say they only wanted to help and that Robyn could be trusted. Everyone begins arguing and poor Weiss looks like she’s going to lose it when she says none of this matters. But to Ironwood loyalty always matters, and RWBY has broken his. During this, we see Watts’ briefcase move… and we finally get to see what’s inside it.

It’s a Seer Grimm. But not just any Seer. We hear someone talk. Salem. The Seer cracks and falls to the ground, and out of the crystal ball emerges an apparition of the Grimm Queen herself. Everyone is shocked… well, except Ruby who immediately points out that they beat Watts and Tyrian. However, Salem reveals the true extent of her plans. She never intended to win. She only sent Watts and Tyrian to set the stage… for her. That’s right folks, Watts and Tyrian were only there to cause chaos and allow Salem to make her move personally. She tries to tell Ironwood to surrender for the good of Atlas, but he refuses. Salem continues, essentially telling him that defiance is foolish and to just make it easier one everyone by surrendering.

Ruby refuses. She points out that they know everything. That Salem is immortal. But it doesn’t matter. She has still failed. She still hasn’t won. She may be unkillable, but she isn’t unbeatable. Ruby swears then and there that they will stop her. Salem turns to face her… and says that her mother said the exact same thing. This shocks Ruby, and it only gets worse when Salem says that Summer was wrong too. We see flashes of a downcast Summer standing before a grey sky, a dark parallel to when we first saw her last volume. Ruby, who may or may not be seeing this, starts to unravel. Tears pour down her face and her Eyes fluctuate, even briefly unleashing the light at one point. By the end, Ruby crumbles to the ground and breaks down. Yang can only console her as Salem’s apparition fades away.

Everyone is stunned, especially since Salem is now on her way. Ace-Ops is stunned that this wasn’t detected. As it turns out, the alarms are offline, either turned off… or already destroyed. With this revelation, Ironwood makes a decision. He informs Weiss that he’s already sent Winter to claim the Winter Maiden’s powers, despite Fria not being dead. He intends to keep the Staff and Lamp away from Salem, which a still tearful but calmer Ruby questions. After all, he allowed them to keep the Lamp. But that was before the secret was revealed, so he feels that he has no reason to trust them now. But that’s not all. Yang has realized that Amity isn’t done and it was just a lie to lure out Watts. With time gone, Ironwood decides to use the power of the Staff to raise the Kingdom even higher. So high that the Grimm can’t ever reach them again. But if he does this, recall all the forces and make the kingdom unreachable, he will leave Mantle to die.

None of RWBY is okay with this whatsoever. Ruby begs Ironwood to hold his ground with Mantle but he only says that sometimes to do the right thing, hard choices have to be made. RWBY refuses to allow this… but Ace-Ops support Ironwood. The girls are shocked, Weiss even asking about how the council will react. But Ironwood says that they’ll say nothing… when he declares Martial Law. That’s right folks, we’re at that point now. They protest and when their loyalty is questioned, Ruby says that they’re loyal to those counting on them. But she’s stunned silent when Ironwood coldly replies that they’re saving who they can... and that RWBY is in their way.

At this point, Ruby’s Scroll goes off as Jaune tries to contact her. Ruby, using her Semblance to get out of Ironwood’s range, informs not just Jaune but also Qrow, Robyn, Clover, Winter, and Penny about the general’s plans for Martial Law. Before she can finish, however, Ironwood blocks the comms. He declares that until Atlas and the Relics are safe, RWBY is being put under arrest. Ruby points out that they aren’t just going to let them take them. Ironwood knows… and leaves the girls to face against the Ace-Ops. Back with JNR, Jaune is understandably shocked about what’s going on. But the reason why he called? JNR is outside their trashed room. The place is a wreck, torn up robot parts everywhere. But worse of all, Oscar is gone. And I don’t think that he left to get a change of clothes this time.

Review

The Overview alone was three pages long on Google Docs. I think you can tell that this was a Hell of an eventful chapter based off of that. So, first of all… CRWBY I am so, so sorry that I ever doubted you. I was not happy with how these past two chapters were handling things. I didn’t hate it mind you, but it felt so… easy that all of a sudden, everything was going the heroes' way. All the secrets came out with no backlash. Everyone was suddenly able to work together. Ironwood handled the revelation far too well. But now? Now I know why it felt that way… because it was too easy. They lulled us into a false sense of security and then dropped this on us.

CRWBY, you bastards. I love you.

There is so much to go over. I guess the best place to start is the main act. Which means we need to talk about Ironwood. As I said in my Chapter 7 Review, Ironwood is one of the most complex characters of the series. Throughout this volume, and the past volumes, we have seen how he is a well-intentioned person, but he makes all the wrong choices. He’s trying so hard to be this strong figurehead. Trying to be like Ozpin. But he isn’t. He is a broken man who doesn't know what to do. He was close to shoving away his humanity altogether, but the past two chapters seemed to fix this. He reached a breaking point and Oscar helped him through it. He revealed the truth. He accepted the revelations from Oscar. He started to do everything right… until now.

All it took was a chess piece. The same symbol that broke him before. That was all it took to re-ignite his trauma and snap completely. He told Watts that he’d sacrifice everything to stop Salem, and he meant it in the darkest way possible. Watts knew it too. He lost the fight, but he still beat Ironwood because he knows that Salem is coming. He knows that he’s pushed Ironwood over the edge. He didn’t know about Cinder’s part, but even so, he did his job. And Cinder, who wasn’t in on any of this just had to leave her calling card to scare him. She said as much in the last chapter. And it worked. Ironwood has turned on RWBY. He is declaring Martial Law. He is leaving Mantle to die. He is doing exactly what Salem wanted; divide them.

Ironwood isn’t evil. He isn’t. When you look at everything as a whole, you can see why he’s doing what he’s doing. He is trying to do the right thing. He feels like he has no choice and is doing what he can to save as many lives as he can. Like he said, doing the right thing means hard choices. This is one of them. But it doesn't change the fact that he’s leaving innocent people to die, even though they have the situation under control. If they kept going like they were, they might have had a chance. Thy had Mantle on their side. They had the people united. All they’d have to do is plan how to track down Cinder and prepare for Salem’s forces. But unfortunately, Ironwood’s paranoia consumed him. You feel for him but there is no denying that he’s crossed the line. He’s trying to save his kingdom, but I think that his choices here may just rob him of everything, especially himself.

So how much of this is RWBY’s fault? Well… a little bit, but overall this isn’t at all their fault. Yes, Ruby held back Salem’s immortality. But when that came out, Ironwood accepted it. He might have been shaken, but it wasn’t enough to make him angry until he saw the chess piece. Saw that Salem outplayed him once more, and even then she technically hadn't. Cinder left it just to mess with him, and it worked. We can debate forever if Ruby made the right choice or not. But Ironwood’s paranoia was a problem long before the heroes arrived. We saw Ironwood upsurge control from Oz in V2, feeling that he was in the right, and of course, we know how that went. We saw him slowly unhinge in V4, and we see the full extent here. The embargo, robbing Mantle of resources, the police state. He went to extreme measures, hence why the heroes were reluctant to trust him to begin with. It didn’t matter if Ruby told him sooner or later, this was likely always going to happen from the moment they entered the kingdom. From the moment that the Fall of Beacon happened.

In the end, RWBY’s biggest offense was keeping the secret about Salem’s immortality, and Yang and Blake about Robyn. But those are ultimately minor details that don’t matter amid the current crisis. Yes, it ultimately made Ironwood no longer trust them, but again that likely only happened because of his re-ignited trauma. RWBY tried to be reasonable. And unfortunately, that failed. They lied, and now they’re paying the consequences. Would them doing it differently have changed anything? I don’t know. I doubt that they do either. But no matter what, Ironwood is again making all the wrong choices. RWBY knows this. In the end, they are devoted to protecting everyone and they know that there are better ways than allowing a whole city to die. But they can’t reason with Ironwood, and so far it doesn't look like Ace-Ops are going to bend either. This is bad. Really bad. But after how annoyed I was at the lack of consequence and the resolution being too easy, I am glad to see this. Actions have consequences. Things aren’t just this easily resolved. We’re seeing everything come to a head now, and I am terrified about it.

But on top of all of that, we have Salem. Oh God, Salem. I think we all kinda knew by now that the whole plan was to cause chaos to allow the Wicked Witch to attack. Like last volume said, “You want something done, do it yourself.” The Flying Monkeys are coming folks. It was such an eerie scene. How Salem maintained this calm, almost motherly presence as she tried to make Ironwood surrender for Atlas’ sake. This woman only gets more and more terrifying with every volume. But then there is her interaction with Ruby. This is something that I’ve wanted for so sooooo long. We see Ruby talk back against Salem. She speaks how they know everything and they’ll win regardless. We see Ruby the most determined that she’s ever been as she stares down this Grimm woman, and it is one of her best moments thus far.

But Salem breaks her. All by bringing up Summer. How she had been wrong just like Ruby. It’s… such a painful scene to watch. We see Ruby shocked as she puts the pieces together, and she loses it. The emotions overwhelm her. So much so that her eyes go haywire. For so long. Ruby has concealed her feelings and hidden behind a mask of optimism. It was always for everyone else’s sake. But she can’t with this. The revelation that her mother died at Salem’s hand. It overwhelms her and she finally, finally breaks down. The others reactions also hurt. Weiss is just shocked. Blake clearly wants to console Ruby, but she doesn't know how on top of her own shock. But Yang? She immediately tries to console her sister, but you can see the pure agony in her expression. After all, Summer was her mom too. She puts it aside because Ruby needs her, but you can just see that this hurt her just as much. It’s such a well done, but emotionally crippling scene.

But this whole episode just re-ignited how much I love Ruby. Before the big reveal, she doesn't even flinch when she sees Salem. She points out more or less to her face that they know everything about her, and they will defeat her. Then after her breakdown, what does she do? She stands against Ironwood, refusing to let the people of Mantle die along with her team. When Jaune contacts her, she immediately informs him and everyone else about the Martial Law. Even at her lowest point thus far, Ruby stood up and did what was right, And she had her team there, standing by her side. I thought we were heading to another V5 situation where Ruby’s development got wasted. But I was wrong. Not only is she facing the consequences of her choices, but she’s being the hero that she is meant to be.

But even so, it’s bleak. This is indeed the darkest hour. The moment where everything has gone downhill. On top of all this, we have Cinder going after the Maiden. We have Winter and Penny at the facility, and I get the feeling that one or both aren’t coming out unscathed. On top of WInter potentially killing an old woman. Then Neo has supposedly kidnapped Oscar, and only JNR knows it. Will they try to track them down? Try to help RWBY? I don’t know. All I know is that I don’t think that this volume is going to end happily. At all. Like Penny said before, “It’ll be just like Beacon again!” She was right, in the worst way possible.

Still, we had good stuff. The Watts vs Ironwood fight was freakin’ epic. They both have their own skillsets and it shows. Add that to the badass Caleb Hyles song, and you have a very memorable fight scene. The Tyrian fight was kinda anti-climactic, but not bad. Robyn’s dart blowing up and her kicking him in the face were a delight. The musical score was freakin excellent as well, especially during the Salem scene and the final few moments. The pacing was strong, especially compared to the past two. Honestly, I can forgive that now because I now see why they did it that way. It was all for this. And they did so flawlessly.

Chapter Twelve Predictions

Oh God… I really don’t know. I’m hoping that Marrow will turn on Ace-Ops and use his Stay power to let RWBY escape. He definitely appears to be the most reluctant about all of this, so it’s possible. Cinder’s likely gonna interfere in the Maiden transfer and it’ll be her against Penny and Winter. Still pretty sure that Winter isn’t getting those powers. Neo has Oscar but if he’s still free, we may see him fight back. Who knows what Ironwood is going to do right now. We have to see what Clover ultimately does, and if he sticks by Atlas, it’s likely gonna be him against Robyn and Qrow. Oh and Tyrian is still there so he could use this to escape. Really I only know one thing: it's gonna be Hell.

Episode Stats

Favorite Character: Ruby Rose Favorite Scene: Ruby confronting Salem Least Favorite Scene: Tyrian Fight Favorite Voice Actor: Lindsay Jones (Ruby Rose) Favorite Animation: Watts vs Ironwood Rating: 10/10

Final Thoughts

I loved this chapter. It’s the first all volume that I’ve given a perfect score. The past two really did have me concerned about the direction, but this? This was perfect. All of my concerns have been alleviated. The action was good, the drama was on point, and it left me with so much dread but so much satisfaction. We have two chapters left folks. It’s gonna be one Hell of a conclusion. Can’t wait~!

#rwby #rwby7 #rwby reviews #callie reviews

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