#the lake ducks seem pretty married.

[etirabys]

I feel worse eating monogamous animals. like... maybe that guy was married

[mads-nixon]

Hiiii!!!!!!! So I saw your requests are open and I have a Pacific one: headcanons for Chuckler dating an artist (I like to draw so I came up with this), perhaps? Thanks!

Chuckler Dating an Artist Headcannons

Lew "Chuckler" Juergens x Artist!Reader

Masterlist

A/N: Hiiii!! i loooooove this concept so much!! thanks for requesting! please request more if you have any ideas!! this is about the fictional portrayal of H company on the show. nothing but love and respect for veterans on this blog!

Okay, I'm thinking post-war for these...

After Lew comes home and gets settled in Chicago, he's walking down a street in the Chicago suburb when he sees you for the first time...

You're sitting by the side of the road on a stool, overlooking Columbus Park as you sketched a beautiful work of the sun setting over the lake and skyscrapers in the distance.

Your tongue was poking through your lips in concentration, and Lew found himself completely captivated by you. You looked so at peace...something he was still looking for after the war.

He went up and started talking to you, and the rest is history!

Months later, Chuckler's favorite thing is to watch you draw. Seeing you in your element is something that he never gets tired of.

One day, he comes over to your house with a wrapped box and a wide smile on his face. When you open it, you can't believe what he fought you: a hundred-piece drawing set. You know it must have cost him a fortune, and you throw yourself in his arms, thanking him over and over.

On the days that bring back more memories than usual, he'll come over and you can tell by the look on his face that it's not a good day.

Times like that, you'd spend the day peacefully relaxing (a lot of times on the couch or in bed) snuggled up. You pull him into your arms and hold him tightly, letting him be the little spoon for once.

I'd like to think that you live outside the city a little bit and that you have a pretty backyard with a porch with rocking chairs. On the porch, you snuggle into Lew's lap as he rocks the two of you back and forth.

He seems to enjoy the silence of the night and your gentle conversations that remind him that he survived the war, and that he's safe with you in his arms.

Since you started dating Lew, you'd gone through sooooo many more sketchbooks than before, and he starts to get curious.

One day, you're drawing a scene of the skyline when he asks you if he can look through your sketches.

(sure, you'd shown him many before, but he'd never looked through your book)

You nod and get really nervous as you hand it over.

His smiling face falls slightly as he flips through it slowly. Page after page were different sketches and drawings of him. Some were his signature smile, while others were of him fast asleep, his face serene.

You worried it was 'too much' or that he wouldn't like them, but all your fears dissipated when you saw his reaction.

Tears pricked at his eyes as he looked through the book. How did he ever deserve you?

"These," he whispered, voice cracking as he looked up at you, "Are amazing. I love them."

A smile graces your lips and you blush at the compliment, ducking your head bashfully.

Chuckler just lifts your chin softly, the warm gaze from his glossy blue eyes making your heart skip a beat.

"You're perfect..."

You took a deep breath and smiled, leaning your forehead against his. "I love you."

DUDE ASKS YOU TO MARRY HIM RIGHT THERE

You say yes, ofc!!

Y'all have the sweetest life together, and Lew hangs your artwork all around the house, even if you think it's not the best.

THIS MAN...he will never let you talk bad about yourself or your art, and he does whatever it takes to attend all of your art shows, even if he is the only one there (think Pam's art show from the Office and how Michael is the only one to show up type vibes.)

He continues to get you supplies the second something of yours runs low (if one single pencil or paint runs out, he uses it as an excuse to buy you a whole other kit.)

"What? Your green color pencil broke?" He'd ask after you sent him a playful glare (you loved it when he got you stuff, but you'd never admit it.)

"So you had to give me a whole 24-pack?" you tease.

"Yeah. I gotta make sure you're stocked up, doll."

You hug him tightly. "Thank you, honey. I love them."

You eventually become an art teacher in the Chicago Public School System, where you get to share your passion with your students! (you end up having your kids and grandkids in your classes)

Lew never forgets the moment he saw you and took the chance, and he knows it was the best decision he ever made.

tag list: @flowers-and-fichte @footprintsinthesxnd

message or comment if you want to be added to the tag list!

[pjunicornart]

Okay, so, uh... For some reason my ask isn't showing up on any Tumblr feed, so. I'm just gonna make a post. I got the notif that it was answered, but I can't see the post. I dunno, I think Tumblr is shitting itself.

ANYWAY. Yes, @xskywalker21, I do have a gift for you! It's actually a Meet the Robinsons AU of mine. I'll refer to it as "Compass" for now, but you can change it if you want.

Essentially, this is an AU where Cornelius lived in a cozy cottage in the woods with his pet duck Achilles. He's a field journalist who loves nature and the quiet air of the forest. Venturing outside of the forest was a small town square situated on a pier overlooking the ocean. It was here where Cornelius met Franny.

Franny lived in her parent's bakery after a very ugly divorce with Wilbur's birth father. Wilbur was five years old when Neil first met him. Neil would always visit her family's bakery because he loved the chocolate almond bread... One could say he was a liiiiiiiiittle bit addicted. Anyway, Franny's family (her brothers, mother, and grandmother) knew Neil was a good man, and could sense she was becoming infatuated with him.

One thing led to another, and two years later they're married. They all live in the cottage together now, and Wilbur seems to love it! (Especially Achilles.) I left the story off with Franny announcing to Neil they were having a baby.

That's the basic story, but here's some other stuff I thought you should know: - Achilles got his name because of what happens when you tap the back of his heel. He belly flops. - The whole AU was inspired by Cottagecore aesthetics, and the idea of cozy cottage living. Specifically this one playlist I came across really inspired it, which I can find and link if you want. - Franny's ex was a bad person. I haven't fleshed that guy out, but just know that Wilbur calls Neil "daddy", and not him. - Neil does have his family, they just live out of state. They visit occasionally, and of course they were there for the wedding! They all thought he was too wrapped up in his plants to find love. - Speaking of, instead of having a special interest and knowledge in machinery, this AU Neil is knowledgeable of fauna and flora from across the globe! - Franny can play guitar, flute, and cello. - Neil started frequenting the bakery before Franny got divorced, probably about a year before. When she saw him, it was basically love at first sight. - Their dating life wasn't something I had super fleshed out, but one thing I did have down was Neil's proposal to Franny. He proposed to her overlooking his favorite lake. The water was so clean, the moon and stars glistened in its reflection. - Both Neil and Franny know how to sing. Franny because she's just that kind of person, but Neil knows because he took choir in high school. It was a filler class.

The rest is up to you! I'm giving this AU to you because... Well I dunno. I just thought you'd like it. There's a one shot for it on my AO3 (it's in the Songtober fic, it's the "Lullaby" chapter), but that's pretty much it. That was my attempt to spark interest in it again, but meh... It didn't take. So instead of letting it die, I'm gifting this AU to you!

[peterpparkrr]

I love those time travel/different universe stories!! May I request another part of the Anthony Bridgerton x 2022 reader inspired by when he fell in the water in the trailer for season 2. Maybe it can be something when the reader and Anthony’s feelings were ~developing~ and before Anthony is saying ‘let’s run away together and elope u3u’ because those scenes of him sort of flexing his hand when he held her hand and being in the water awakened something in me hahaha

A/N: Oh my god that scene is iconic! Anthony having his Darcy moments is my favorite thing. In the same world as this request.

If there are other scenes/ things you want to see from this universe let me know!

and you can find the 3rd part here.

Pairing: Anthony Bridgerton x f!reader 

word count: 1.4k

The Lake

You’d been wandering Hyde Park when you saw Anthony Bridgerton again after your first ball. After you’d kissed him for the first time. 

“Shouldn’t you have a chaperone?” He asked as he approached you.

“I’m perfectly capable of protecting my own virtue, thank you very much,” You reply, glancing around the busy park, shining in the bright daylight of the early afternoon. You were pretty confident that you weren’t going to be seduced in a crowded public place in the middle of the day.

You now knew that kissing someone you hardly knew, and kissing in general with someone you were not engaged or married to, especially in public was a common cause of someone’s social ruin. 

It all seemed rather antiquated in your opinion, but you still understood that your scandalous behavior would have consequences for you here. And those consequences would affect those around you. People you were beginning to care very deeply for. 

“Lady Briarly should know better,” Anthony continues, seemingly ignoring your response. “Letting you wander the park without a maid or someone, Lord knows how many rakes and cads would be more than happy to take advantage of you,” He mutters, his beautifully handsome face now set in a frown.

You match his frown with one of your own as you look at him with confusion.

“What’s a rake?” You ask.

“A man who… cavorts with women,” Anthony answers after a moment.

You stare back at him blankly. “And you’re not one of those?”

“I have been called a rake before, yes,” He admits.

“I see,” You reply as a small smile creeps across your face. “Maybe I should be worried about you,” You add.

“I can assure you that I am a gentleman,” Anthony replies primly.

“And kissing a woman you’ve just met in a dark garden path, that is gentlemanly?” You ask, your eyebrow quirked up at him as you tease him quietly.

“You are a strange, cruel woman,” He huffs.

“And you are, as you’ve said, a rake,” You shoot back. “Maybe that means we make sense together,” You offer as your teasing softens and you catch Anthony watching you closely. 

“Would you like to feed the ducks?” Anthony asks after a moment, gesturing with a nod of his head towards the lake, and a man selling bags of grain from a cart.

“Oh my god, yes!” You reply happily as you grab his hand and pull him towards the vendor.

Once Anthony had procured a bag for each of you you made your way down the pier on the edge of the lake. Moving to the quiet side, away from the boats, where the ducks seemed to be congregating.

“I haven’t done this since I was a kid,” You tell Anthony as you crouch down as far as you can in your outfit and sprinkle the seeds and grain into the water in small handfuls as the ducks begin to swim over to you.

“Neither have I,” He tells you as he crouches down next to you, glancing over at you, an infectious smile begins to form on his face, one that looks and feels so different from the smirks and over-confident grins you’d seen from him before. You have to pull your gaze away from his face and focus back on that task at hand to keep yourself from staring.

“I thought going to balls, feeding ducks, and generally doing nothing were all you people did?” You teasingly  ask.

“You people?” Anthony repeats, mildly offended. “You’re one of those people too, you know,” He points out.

“Ugh,” You groan. “I guess.”

“Ducklings!” You cheer excitedly as a mama duck and her babies swim towards you.

Anthony goes to sprinkle more grain in front of the ducklings but his hand reaches out far further than the mama duck wants him to and she surges at his outstretched arm, snapping her beak at his wrist, causing him to pull his arm back quickly.

What happens next seems to happen in slow motion. 

From his precarious crouch his sudden movement throws him off balance. He topples right into the water with an unmasculine shriek.

“Oh shit!” You gasp.

“Are you alright?” You ask nervously once Anthony’s head pops up out of the water and he stops sputtering.

Anthony’s response is unintelligible as he angrily begins pulling his now soaked coat off, flinging it onto the pier beside you, spraying you with a mist of lake water that causes you to flinch.

As he rips at the cravat tied around his throat you can’t help but notice the way the thin white material of his undershirt was now clinging to his skin. The definition of each muscle in his arms and chest now clearly outlined by the soaking wet, flimsy material.

Oh my God, is that a smattering of chest hair you can see peeking out from under his shirt?

He moves to pull down his suspenders and your eyes nearly pop out of their sockets

“It’s improper to stare,” Anthony says as he stares up at where you’re still crouched down on the dock, staring at him unabashedly.

“Is it?” You shoot back as you snap out of your daydreaming.

“Just help me out,” He grumbles. 

You’re still laughing as you reach out your hands. As his wet, though still warm hand clasps tightly around yours you realize that your stance is no less precarious than his was and as he pulls down on your hands you go toppling down into the water practically right on top of Anthony.

You shriek as you splash into the water head first. Sputtering and gasping as you resurface and struggle to right yourself once again. 

Now it’s Anthony’s turn to laugh as you try to push the mess of hair now covering your face out of your eyes and mouth. 

Once you can see again and don’t have a mouth full of hair anymore you glare at Anthony and gesture rudely at him before he places his arms onto the dock and pushes himself up onto it and pulls his legs out of the water before turning around and helping you do the same.

You can’t help but laugh slightly as your arms are bracketed by Anthony’s and those strong arms you had just been ogling a few minutes ago now pull you (and the seventy-five pounds of soaking wet clothing on your body) out of the water. Once your feet touch the solid ground of the pier and you realize just how close your face is to Anthony’s as you stare directly into his eyes.

You have to physically force yourself to pull away from Anthony’s tight grip. To not think too much about how your chest tightened as his arms grasped yours, and how it felt to be chest to chest with him again. 

And a myriad of other thoughts floating through your mind that were not appropriate to be thought while out in public in bright daylight.

You grumble under your breath as you pull at your absurd skirts up and try to wring the water out of them as they cling uncomfortably to your body.

When you finally give up you look up to see Anthony staring at you, seemingly tracing the curves of your body with your eyes. Now you realize what you must have looked like a few moments ago.

“Now who’s staring?” You ask with a smirk as Anthony’s eyes snap back up to your face, eyes wide at being caught.

“Take my coat,” Anthony replies quickly as he grabs at the coat on the ground at your feet and wraps it around your shoulders.

Though just as soaking wet as your dress, the thick, dark material helped cover you and give you some semblance of modesty. 

“I guess you are a gentleman after all,” You tell him with a small smile as you look up at him, pulling his coat around your body tightly.

“I can change that if you prefer,” He tells you quietly. His mouth dangerously close to your face as he leans down to whisper in your ear.

You weren’t sure which version of Anthony you preferred more.

[all-might-can-smash-me]

Hogwarts AU Headcanons

Aizawa Shouta/Eraserhead, Toshinori Yagi/All Might, Taishiro Toyomitsu/Fatgum, Mirai Sasaki/Sir Nighteye, Keigo Takami/Hawks

Masterlist

Slytherin 🐍

He was the odd ball though when it came to his own house since he hung out with a Hufflepuff and a Gryffindor

Would every now and then find himself in some trouble alongside his friends with the professors

Especially for being late to class, his two friends goofing off around the grounds, and trying to sneak around late at night.

Was in possession of the Maurader’s map with his friends....but Filch took it...

Also was friends with you as well, ever since the first train ride to Hogwarts, but the two of you start to date in your 6th year.

He excelled with all his subjects and O.W.L.S. and graduated almost at the top of his class

The two of you married not too long upon graduating Hogwarts.

Became an Auror and was pretty great at his job, but with the offer of a position at Hogwarts recommended to him, he decided to give it a go

The two of you move to Hogsmeade to be closer to his work.

I picture him teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts

He’s a strict teacher, but only because he needs the students to know the ways to defend themselves and be knowledgeable of the dangers in the wizarding world.

He is also runs Wizarding Duel Club, which is actually quite popular despite him being so strict with his teaching methods

Enjoys roaming around Hogsmeade with you on the weekends he and over the holidays

Frequents the Three Broomsticks and Honeydukes with you (especially honeydukes when you fall pregnant during his 2nd year of teaching)

Students were SHOOK to see their professor at Madame Puddyfoot’s Tea Shop with a heavily pregnant you on Valentine’s Day

Students since then have introduced themselves to you and enjoy talking to you....despite Shouta wanting a student free weekend in Hogsmeade.

But he can’t help but like it when students request to feel your baby bump and you happily let them....the happy look on your face makes his heart flutter

Will invite you to eat at Hogwarts with the students and professors that stay for Christmas because he feels bad for the students who don’t go back to their families

Gryffindor 🦁

Was extremely popular in his Hogwarts years

Won the triwizard tournament his 7th year

His academics though? They weren’t out of this world, but they were pretty normal, he was better when it came to his extracurricular activities such as Wizarding Duel and Quidditch

He would secretly go to geek out about the muggle world with the Muggle Studies professor every now and then

Upon graduation he was a pretty popular quidditch player for the United Kingdom, but suffered a life changing injury

Decided live in the muggle world and study their way of life for a bit after the injury, he ended up composing a text book with all the basics he scrounged up together

It’s even used for the curriculum at Hogwarts

Though Hogwarts offered him a position as well as the Muggle Studies professor

Hell to the yes he went! He become head of Gryffindor house and helped give pointers to the quidditch team

Started a weekend club where students would meet in the great hall to observe Muggle Artifacts, it wasn’t really that popular, but it didn’t matter, the few students that joined was enough for him.

Met you shortly after beginning to teach at Hogwarts

You taught herbology and would sometimes listen in during his Muggle club in the great hall and would sometimes ask questions about the object he was talking about.

After that he would invite you out to Hogsmeade to get a butter beer and talk about muggle things since you showed an interest in wanting to know

The conversations soon turned into what would go on between two friends and it flowed so nicely, so after that he would ask you to meet up a few more times before going on a date.

The fact that two of you dated was no secret as your dates were of course held at Hogsmeade and the students could very well see the two of you chatting away.

So it wasn’t a surprise when the two of you got married and you fell pregnant during one year of teaching.

He totally invited the members of his muggles club to the wedding and totally didn’t get emotional when they gifted him a rubber duck (his absolute favorite muggle artifact)

Hufflepuff 🦡

Known as the gentle giant while in school

Supper nice and was friendly with absolutely everyone, so he was highly respected and adored by his peers

His academic life was pretty normal, excelling in the subjects he needed to become an Auror, he was also the announcer for the school’s quidditch matches.

Also liked to spend his time in the library to study....also snuck snacks in as well and would share with the other students that were studying

Met you on the train ride to Hogwarts his 7th year, he was trying to enter your train car since the others were full but he only managed to bang his head upon entering

You two were joined at the hip ever since then and started dating

The two of you married after graduation

You came into the ownership of honeydukes at Hogsmeade while Taishiro spent most of his time away for his job as an Auror

Quite his job though once the two of you had your 5th child to move to Hogsmeade to be with you and to help you run the candy shop.

The students love interacting with you and Taishiro, talking about their classes and their stuggles and asking for advice as they would purchase their chocolate frogs and other confectionary

Your older children, who all happen to be girls, love to go visit you and Tiashiro ok the weekends and sometimes hang out with their friends there.

Your younger girls would give advice to the students who are purchasing candy on which one is the best and will also look longingly to them because they wanted to be at Hogwarts already.

They would also brag that they had like five of the cards that a student would get from their chocolate frogs, but Taishiro would soon put them on blast and say they didn’t

Became instant BFFs with the Weasley family thanks to being able to relate on having big families, so holidays together are chaotic but fun

Is a huge advocate for house elves rights along with his daughters and you

Ravenclaw

Was a little quiet during school, a little mysterious

People either liked him or just really didn’t know him, mostly people from his own house liked him.

Excelled in academics and was at the top of his class and was viewed as the brightest wizard in his year, but sucked when it came to quidditch.

Really, really, really, really loved quidditch though and really wished he was good at it, but you can’t help some things.

Upon graduation he took up a position at the Ministry of Magic as the head of the Department of Mysteries

Worked extremely close with the Hall of Prophecy thanks to his gift of Divination (divination was his favorite course in Hogwarts)

Met you through work after becoming head of the Department of Mysteries

Your were the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement

You two had a meeting for damage control because a worker on the Hall of Prophecy managed to drop on of them and the even needed to be documented

You had a framed signature from a famous quidditch player on the wall that caught his attention after the meeting, which he pointed out and the two of you had a conversation about your shared love of quidditch

After that, he was hooked and asked you out on a date, which went well and the two of you were married a year or two later.

He would read your tea leaves or your palms about your future to impress you

It always impressed you and it will always impress you no matter how many times he would do it.

The two of you live in an apartment in London and will often go to the Leaky Couldron and Diagon Alley

The two of you would deck yourself out in your favorite teams for the quidditch World Cup, which includes painting your face

Gryffindor 🦁

EXTREMELY popular in his Hogwarts years

Literally all the girls loved and pined after him, all the boys wanted to be him, and all the teachers were always impressed with his work.

Was the best seeker for the Gryffindor quidditch team

All around perfect student and he always seemed to do everything with so much ease and stress free

Always managed to dodge the love potions girls would try to slip him.

He met you one day while messing around with his friends at the lake skipping rocks, you were under the shade of a tree studying.

His friends went to start messing with you, which he soon told them too all ‘fuck off’ when he could tell that you were visibly annoyed with them.

Always hung out with you since then, becoming almost like your gaurdian angel

Upon graduation he struck a job being an Auror, you the potions master at hogwarts.

He was pretty dang awesome in his job and honestly everyone knew the amazing work he did as Auror, so he was pretty popular amongst the Aurors as well

He quit his job though to begin teaching the flying lessons to the first years at Hogwarts because he really did enjoy quidditch and flying

Also was in charge of quidditch as a whole

And he also just really missed you

He finally asked you out on a date towards the end of his first year of teaching at Hogwarts and you said yes, then towards the beginning of the next year, the two of you got married

The students love Keigo, he treats them as equals, mostly because he’s honestly not that much older than them and was in their position not to long ago.

Girls swoon over him and are low key jealous that you are married to him.

He likes to pop his head in to bother you during, or before and after your classes

Plays quick games of quidditch on the quidditch field with the house team that are practicing for fun

Will tug you into the potion’s closet for a quick kiss, despite how unprofessional you think it is

[tobealostwanderer]

Faerie Dust

Oberyn Martell x Faerie!Reader

Cw: Fluff, implied kidnapping, destroying of nature, bit of ooc Oberyn, faerie you is centuries old but no taller than a 11 year old.

-

Inspired by "The Willow Maid" by Erutan

He had come over a few times. A strange man in too shiny armor. He talked about marrying you. Bedding you. Taking you away from your home in the middle of the dense forest.

Your wings drooped with every day that he visited. He was becoming more violent with every time you told him no. You don't even know his name. He just referenced himself as "The richest Lord in the area". And he always told you how he would take you away, to his castle.

He also always told you things that he thought should impress you, he talked about his riches and how mant maids he had. He wore purple and green clothes to establish his wealth. He brought gifts. He even left you a horse, who you set free after the Lord left for the day.

You were seated on a branch in your willow tree as you heard the clopping of his horse's hoofs. Something felt wrong this time. Like his coming was screaming 'danger'. More than usual. So you unfurled from your position and climbed further up, seeking out the help of your bird and butterfly friends. Giving them a bit of faerie dust in payment, they went and sought out the bigger animals of the forest.

The Lord came into the clearing. A big, shiny ax on his back which immediatly concerned you. He dismounted and faced your willow tree.

"My fair lady! I have come to unbind you from this place so you can finally join me in your true home, in my castle with our bairns running around." The Lord said. A bird flew back to you, chirping it's message. Swallowing your nerves, you spoke louder than you normally did.

"Sir, I ask you to leave this place alone. Leave. Now." You cringed at how unstable your voice was. You looked at the little tit bird worryingly, and you felt it's worry course through the air as well. To comfort it, you gave it a bit more faerie dust. Then it left again.

"My lady. This is not a way of life! So I shall be starting with taking down this tree to symbolise my love for you." The Lord yelled up to you. You shrieked in fear.

"Don't! Don't touch my tree!" He didn't listen and proceeded to hack into the side. The tree moaned in pain and it felt like you were cut down as well. The century long pact you had with your hometree was being taken away harshly.

Pain coursed through your body and you fell off your branch and landed on the floor harshly. The Lord stopped for a bit to look over at you before continuing. You yelled out in pain, yelled for him to stop, yelled for help, as he continued to hack away at the ancient tree.

Suddenly there is a new sound. More clops of horsehooves. Voices. The Lord stopped, turning to his left to see the horses trot into the clearing. You couldn't see who was there from your position on the ground and your willow stood in the way, but you did see the Lord fall on his knees as whoever set foot into the clearing.

"Lord Brynt. A surprise to see you this deep into the forest. What are you doing here?" A deep, manly voice said. It sounded like honey and a sunny evening at the lake closeby your meadow. It drew you in, unlike the squaky and unwelcome voice of Lord Brynt.

"I could ask the same of you, My Prince. But my reasons to be here are private." Brynt said. You quietly sat up, crawling to the back of the tree where Brynt wouldn't see you, but you could spy upon the new people in the meadow.

There were three people. Two in shiny armor, like Brynt's but these had a sun symbol on their chests, unlike Brynt's who just had a blank chestplate. And in the middle, a man in golden robes. His hair was black and short and he had a neatly trimmed beard and mustache. He was most likely the man who spoke, and Brynt called 'Prince'.

"Hmm.. why are you cutting down a tree in the middle of the forest? There are enough trees around. And if you need more wood you know I can work something out with you, hm?" The Prince said, a smirk on his face.

As Brynt looked around in panic, the Prince's eyes found you without moving his face, like he knew you were there. You locked eyes and he winked before setting his eyes back on Lord Brynt.

The man in question was stammering, trying to make up an excuse why he was chopping down a pretty big tree in the middle of the forest. The Prince just held up his hand.

"I think you by now figured out that you are not supposed to be here. You will leave, now, and you will never come back to this meadow. If you do, you and your family will be banished from Dorne. Go back home, Lord Brynt." The Prince said in a loud and firm tone.

The Lord scrambled up and tried to step towards the tree, but one of the guards cut him off by throwing a spear in front of his feet. This spooked him enough to run to his horse and leave the meadow. The Prince waved the guards off, who, after retrieving the spear, both turned around and left the meadow.

The Prince dismounted his horse and slowly stepped towards you, still keeping some distance as you placed your hands firmly on the tree as a barrier. The Prince smiled softly.

"It's okay, little faerie. Remember me? It's Oberyn." He said.

Your mind whirled as memories streamed through your mind. Meeting a young boy who had walked away from his caretaker and ultimately lost his way in the forest. You had helped him find his way back to the edge of the forest but he came back almost daily for a year, until he never came back.

"O-obi?" You whispered softly, your voice trembling as you gazed at him. In your mind, you placed the boy you knew so long ago next to him. The same kind eyes, the same dark and curly hair. The same bright smile and the same crooked nose. Oberyn's smile widened as you stepped out from behind the tree and raced to him, your arms encircling his waist as you held him again for the first time in years.

He had grown taller and since you hadn't grown much, it must be quite comical to watch a child-like creature hug a grown man like the fierceness you did, but you didn't care. You were glad to have your friend back.

Oberyn talked sweet nothings in your ear as he ducked down to hold you closer to him, his entire body enveloping yours. His hands moved comfortingly over your back as you snuggled deeper into his chest. His comforting smell enveloping you like his body and you sighed happily.

"He wanted to take me away... To his castle... He wanted to cut down my willow, Obi... I couldn't do anything" you said after a few moments of standing there. Oberyn held you impossibly closer at that.

"I knew something was wrong. I wouldn't have let anything happen, little fairy. Your bird friends found me patrolling the land and I came as soon as possible. You don't have to fear anything anymore." Oberyn said softly. He slowly knelt down, taking you with him as he positioned you on his lap. Your arms moved to his neck and you snuggled into his shoulder.

"Why didn't you come back earlier?" You then asked. The years that had passed by were lonely without him. And even though you had your animal friends, it was different with Oberyn.

"I wanted to, but my family wouldn't let me. They had me guarded so I couldn't run off into the forest again. I wanted to come back, once I wasn't constantly followed, but I never seemed to have the time. But I am glad I am back now, my faerie." Oberyn answered. You nodded, accepting his answer. Already glad to have him back.

"I need to heal my tree" you eventually mumbled and got up from Oberyn's lap. He sat and watched as you held your hands above the angry ax marks on the tree. You closed your eyes, sending energy through you into the tree to heal it.

It was too much, you knew it, but you needed to keep your home alive. Without this tree you would cease to exist. You would... Fade. Turn into a flower to eventually wilt and die again. But loosing too much energy, like this, wasn't good either, so as the wounds in the tree closed, your head became light and you fell back onto your behind.

Oberyn was quickly at your side with a water canteen. He held it up to you to drink and you gulped it down quickly. You leaned back against your friend as you finished it, gasping for air and still feeling a bit lightheaded.

"I am here now, little faerie. I am not going anywhere. Not today at least" he said with a smile. You smiled back. "Would you... Would you mind if I took someone with me next time? I really want you to meet someone, my faerie"

"Of course, Obi. As long as you trust them. And as long as I can stay here and you visit me." You said with a smile. And with that, you leaned further into him and closed your eyes, turning out the world, safe in the arms of your friend.

Oberyn smiled down at your sleeping form. He leaned against the tree, stroking your hair as he went over every memory he had of you, waiting for you to wake up again. He didn't care how long he would be sitting here for. He was just excited for you meeting Ellaria, and for finally holding you close again. He had missed you immensely and now he wouldn't let you go like that ever again.

[sasuhinasno1fan]

No relationship is all sunshine, but two people can share one umbrella and survive the storms together- Adrien AUGrest Day 3

Doing this event again and even though there are less prompts, still might only be able to do a few. Still hope you like this though, it a Descendants AU, with Adrien as Rapunzel and Eugene’s son and Luka and Juleka as Captain Hook’s kids, but they were looked after by their mom cause Arnaka is amazing. Umbrella

Adrien wasn’t sure if it was his anger that made him blind to the weather outside. He had a good reason; it was like most of the council didn’t even care about those from the Isle. Most of his classmates thought they were hooligans who deserved to live there. No one deserved to live in complete poverty, with no running water or access to food. That fact that it had been allowed to go on for 20 years and for those heroes who started out from humble beginnings to not care? It filled him with rage he didn’t know he had.

Did he want Mother Gothel anywhere near his mom? No, of course not? She kidnapped her and locked her in a tower and tried to kill his father, not to mention abandon his Aunt Cassandra. But if she had a child, then that child deserved to live life not suffering for food. He didn’t know how many of the villains had changed and cared about their children now, but from what he got from the new VKs attending their school now, there weren’t many. The number of heroes who wanted things to change were so few it was taking so much to even get the council to listen to him.

Maybe dating a VK made things harder but he wouldn’t change that for the world. Maybe he got his type from his mom, rugged guys who had hearts of gold. Though, Luka was nowhere near as vain as his dad could be when he got into one of his moods.

He stared at the rain, thinking about how unfair everything was and how his home was full of hypocrites when he heard a welcome voice.

“Stuck in the rain kitty cat?”

Luka, son of one Captain James Hook, was nothing like his father. He had a mild temper, was a mother duck and didn’t hate the people of Auradon on principal. He said it was because of Anastasia, Cinderella’s step sister, talking about all the good things Cinderella did for her. Adrien just thought Luka had a kind heart to not judge before he met people. Adrien made himself available as a friend when the VKs came to Auradon and Luka just accepted it without judgement. They’d talked and interacted the longest and what had first been a simple flirting to keep the more overzealous girls at bay, turned into giving him baked goods as a thank you then an invite to explore the Enchanted Woods and teaching Luka how to swim better in the Lake and then…the kiss. It just happened, Luka somehow more nervous to swim in a lake than shark infested sea water and holding on to the edge of the stone gazebo, Adrien calming him down, them staring at each other and it just, happening. Adrien felt fireworks and he knew.

Not that anything after had been easy. Telling people turned out to be the worst idea ever. None of his Auradon friends wanted him with Luka, thinking the pirate had spelled him. The VKs that didn’t trust Adrien thought he was only with him for publicity. It was hard and difficult and Luka was so worth it, but he questioned if they were making the right choice. His parents assured him he was.

“When you met someone, you know can change your whole world, it doesn’t matter what anyone else says. You need to listen with your heart.” His mom said.

“Besides, no relationship is all sunshine, but two people can share one umbrella and survive the storms together. that’s what your grandparents told us after we wondered if we could still get married after the whole debacle with your Aunt Cassandra.” His dad explained.

If his parents, who’d been two totally different people made it work, than he could do it with Luka. and so far, despite the storm they faced with judgement, they kept each other warm through it all.

“Hi my jolly sailor.” Adrien loved how Luka looked in his black coat, the snake wrapped around the Jolly Roger living on its back.

“You look upset.” Luka said sympathetically. He always seemed to understand how Adrien was feeling, even without saying anything.

“Meeting didn’t go well. How they can spout about being heroes yet turn their backs on people in need, I’ll never understand. Plus this rain isn’t helping.” Adrien said pouting at it.

“I like the rain.” Luka said.

“But it’s always cloudy on the Isle.”

“Yes. The barrier doesn’t make the weather the greatest but I don’t know. Maybe it was because mom is always with us, but when the rain would turn into a storm and rock the boat, she’d have me and Jules lay with her on a hammock and we’d feel the boat rock back and forth. Even hearing dad yell at the other pirates to secure the boat didn’t bother me. It just felt really relaxing. Honestly, the rocking boat has been the thing I’ve been missing the most.”

“Not your mom?”

“Well, we video chat with her whenever Fairy Godmother can arrange it and speak for ages after that, so it’s not too bad. But yeah, the boat rocking always made me fall asleep easier.”

Adrien didn’t know how he didn’t realise the dark circles under Luka’s eyes. Now that he knew they seemed to stand out more against his eyeliner. Part of him felt guilty that Luka seemed to always be there, even when the night got late if Adrien asked to see him. He opened his mouth to ask when Luka started to pull his jacket off.

“Didn’t bring an umbrella. I was waiting here when it started up, so we’ll have to run fast. I suggest holding on to your bag tight, ok?” Luka said, lifting his jacket so it was over their heads and stepped close to him. “Ready?”

Adrien nodded. While Luka was more open than the rest of the VKs, he would still clam up if Adrien pushed too hard. So he’d have to plan a little.

                                           _________________

“Ok, step up. Oh, sorry!” Adrien said, tilting the umbrella back so Luka wouldn’t get wet again. It was still raining later in the week, which was perfect for what Adrien had planned.

“Kitty, what are we doing?” Luka asked, still obediently covering his eyes with a gloved hand. His hair was starting to curl slightly from the rain.

“You’ll see.” He brought them to the middle, letting Luka stay close so they were both under the umbrella. “Ok, open your eyes.”

Luka did as he as told, looking around at the rather old school yacht they were standing on. The sails were tied up and the seating on the deck were covered to protect them from the rain, but the elegant lines of the 33m VIP ketch still stood out in the greyness of the rain.

“Where are we?”

“On the Flynn Rider, my parents’ yacht. My dad sailed around when he was pretty young so he chooses this one and named it after the name he went by when he met my mom for the first time. It was from a story book he read when he lived in the orphanage. He says if he never read the stories, he would never have met mom later. You said you like sleeping on a rocking boat in the rain. It doesn’t shake that much but it’s still pretty ok. No hammock but you can still feel the rocking on my loft bed. Is this, ok?”

Luka took the umbrella from Adrien to free Adrien up to be pulled closer and kissed him. “You certainly always surprise me kitty. It’s prefect, thank you. you up for cuddling with this pirate?”

“Always.”

[unfortunatelycake]

📓 I'm asking you about the thing.

Yay thank you for asking me about the thing!

Okay so... cliche romcom style kamabushi getting together via playing cupid...

Like, Kama has seen how Iai and Kamikaze look at each other. And she's sure that if they were just put in the right situations - stuck together in a dangerous situation, spending time together somewhere romantic, even set up on a blind date if things got really desperate - they would get together.

The moment just has to be right.

And of course she ropes Bushi into this. There's only so much she can do herself, and Bushi can provide The Male Mindset and help her figure out a way to effectively bully them into doing what she wants them to do.

Bushi is unexpectedly approving of her schemes, and they end up having weekly brainstorming sessions to decide what to do next when the schemes fall through (mostly due to the sheer idiocy of their friends, or the occasional monster-related disruption). Little by little they get to know each other better. Like, they already know each other pretty well, but all the time spent together as a group at training camps and so on is a lot different to the time they're spending together plotting to get their friends together.

Turns out Bushi is super romantic. And totally bashful about it at first too, until Kama stops teasing him for it and admits that his ideas are a million times better than hers and they are absolutely going to try this stuff out.

And 'trying stuff out' is exactly where things start to really change between them.

Because they wouldn't just randomly send Iai and Kamikaze to a restaurant they'd merely heard of. They have to test it first, to see if the food is the sort that their friends would like, and if the atmosphere is romantic enough that Kamikaze won't just sit there and grumble about the low lighting, and Iai won't snuff out the candle because it reflects too much upon his armour (Kama is still working on convincing him to not wear his armour when he isn't on active duty)

And like, Kamabushi need to check that the lake with the swan-shaped pedalos isn't just monster-infested enough that if any of them decide to pop up and cause trouble, Iai and Kamikaze can have a romantic near-drowning interlude. (And if they don't encounter monsters, that the outing is relaxing enough that they might start talking and finally confess to each other)

(Kamabushi had a near-drowning interlude. It wasn't particularly romantic, but Bushi was very sweet about Kama's ruined makeup, and when they reached the shore went to buy coffees whilst she ducked into the public toilets to fix it)

Eventually Kama kind of admits to herself that she's as invested in spending time with Bushi as she is in getting her best friend Iai to get together with Kamikaze. She hadn't really looked at Bushi that way until they started on this scheme, but now she can't stop thinking about him. He's nothing like her usual crushes, but he's so sweet. And he calls her out on her bullshit, which is kind of annoying but he does it in such a nice way that she can never stay mad (she just flirts with him in retaliation, and enjoys how red he turns... and sometimes Bushi flirts back)

Anyway eventually Iai and Kamikaze do end up together (that or it turns out they're already together and practically married; never decided which).

And Kama and Bushi congratulate each other on a job well done, and there's comments on both sides that they won't have to have those meetings together anymore to scheme their next move; they won't have to test out those date locations to see if they'll work for their idiot friends.

They part ways at the end of practice that day, and it hadn't escaped Kama's notice that Bushi seemed quieter than usual. Relief, she supposes. It had become pretty stressful, trying to get their idiot friends to notice their feelings for each other.

She heads home alone, missing when Bushi would come back with her, and they'd cook together, and plot.

But Kama is no fool. She knows there's nothing between Bushi and herself, and she's not at all the sort of woman Bushi is attracted to.

It sucks, because this is nothing like when she gets crushes on beautiful monsters and Amai Mask. But when it comes to genuine love, it's important to stay grounded in reality, and Bushi is not for her.

She tells herself not to mope over things that can never be, and gets to work cleaning up her apartment (finding a few little mementos of time with Bushi in the process, and putting them all into a box-- out of sight, out of mind, supposedly).

A little later, Bushi shows up at her door, his face as red as the roses he's holding.

"There's a restaurant I thought we could try," he says. "For us, this time."

Kama considers that maybe she is a bit of a fool after all.

(And they absolutely went to the restaurant, and it was as romantic as it needed to be)

[crimsonandcloverwrites]

bhah ch7 can’t stop won’t stop

lmao Dani being like ‘we should wait to discuss kids til after we’re married’ yes doesn’t seem like a giant thing u should make sure u agree on before u make a major commitment at all

Dani is so in love with Jamie sdjkhdfkjg driving to her house on instinct and just like...gazing at her in her old t-shirt and sweats like you’ve finally seen the light girl just kiss her already

god I can’t believe I have 2 more chapters of them as adults just being the absolute perfect match for each other to get through before they finally kiss in ch 11 (i’m maninfesting it no one say anything) I am literally going to scream. Dani will like... feel a little off and it’s all “i need to go to Jamie’s house and also tell Jamie everything and she will make me tea and let me be myself without all the expectations and I will feel better” I AM VERY HAPPY SHE CAN BE THAT FOR YOU BUT ALSO CAN YOU SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE MS CLAYTON (actually I think she kind of does but she must extract herself from her real life first I guess)

oh no the new chapter is almost here I still have so much to read

forget ‘there was only one bed’ this is now a ‘there was only one tent’ stan blog only

thirsty Dani truly is the funniest I am so sorry ur suffering is so entertaining. Dani: literally whacks her finger with a mallet bc horny for Jamie. Me: uncontrollable chortling

the idea of Dani wrangling 8 year olds that are probably just about as tall as her is too funny. tiny legend

aww the lil background Hannah and Owen moments. cute

Dani in a big ol’ straw hat pls that’s so cute

this Jackie and Jamie situation..... GIVE US THE DEETS

hmmmmnnnnnngggg Jamie just straight down on her knees in front of Dani to tie her shoe lace I will absolutely let u have this gay panic Dani u don’t deserve to be made fun of right now

Jamie “I have a story” absolutely NOT

Viola, emerging from the lake in this no ghosts childhood friends story: surprise bitch

these two drunk idiots are literally teenagers dsjkhdfkgjh just get in ur tent

Dani, drunk in a tiny tent w the love of her life: hope this doesn’t awaken anything in me

when we finally get a Jamie on her knees redemption moment-

Dani, drunk in a tiny tent w the love of her life currently taking her clothing off: oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck (y’all really wanted to torture her this chapt huh?)

“dawn was a saffron colored suggestion peeking through a pinhole gap in the tent’s zipper” god that’s a pretty sentence can i pls borrow some talent

Jamie and Dani w kids is sooooo cute they have such a nice balance between them

just thinking about if teenage Jamie desperately in love w her bestie could see things now Dani being all into her w all her lingering looks etc how the fuckin turn tables

“Dani kept a firm grip on her sanity” lol

oh my god they’re both drenched in the tent w the soft lamplight and only their own bodyheat to keep warm whatever will they do

oh wait they also have the heat of their burning attraction to each other they’ll be toasty as anything

hhhhngggg abs

that’s like 4 mentions of Jamie on her knees aklhfdkjgkdjh enough

lads is it gay to imagine running ur fingertips over the scar on your friends back before pressing ur lips to it or...?

Jamie taking the time to teach Dani car things aww

lol not the smutty book

eddie honking at her gets so under my skin like my dude... my guy... stop

Dani thinking so hard about rain damp Jamie and how much she wanted to jump her while she’s in the car w her boyf and MIL. girl

imagine if we had to sit through a dani and eddie wedding before she finally managed to call this off how cursed

ayoooo Carson’s show I cannot wait. omg we get it this chapter too gbless this really is the Dani suffering hours

Jamie just so casually like.... not even flirting w Dani it’s all just kinda observations but every other thing she says makes Dani stop breathing skdhfdkfjh this is so good

Dani has like... a lack of object permanence but with Jamie feelings ok

pleeease the Dani Carson road trip that’s so cute I can just imagine what fun they would have had

uuughhh i wanna go to a sweaty bar n listen to loud music again

also would like a Jamie to press their hand to my lower back n make me lose my mind in a sweaty bar to loud music

this lil jamie dani carson trio is my faaaave

“Girls must be all over you.” and Jamie choking on her drink dsfkjsdhkf oh Dani u beautiful naive angel. god that’s so funny

Robin instantly going for Jamie... same bro

Carson’s lil found family band pls my heart is so full

Carson calling them his sisters n Jamie freezing up bby when are u going to accept these people care abt u and love u like family

Robin is so brazenly just like ‘ur hot’. a voice of the people i love her

Dani being lowkey jealous as IF Ms Taylor has eyes for anyone else babe

Carson knoooowwwwws. When do we get the Carson O’Mara biopic please I want his takes on everything I know they’re excellent

oh my god Jamie knowing Dani’s fave kind of pizza pls I love that so much (I can’t remember if it’s been mentioned in the past few chapters but I remember her being mad that Eddie didn’t in CH1? i love this lil detail) (also I literally just ate vegge pizza I feel so immersed in this experience)

dfkgjhdfkjgh Jamie licking her finger and Dani completely combusting this is so entertaining

fuck n then it gets all soft and about how they’ve been in love their whole lives this is emotional whiplash

Jamie constantly in protector mode but in this really quiet comforting way is so sweet I love her so much

god I just feel so bad for Dani that this kind of insane electricity she has with Jamie has probably never been a thing in her relationship w Ed bby u deserve someone that makes u feel like this

awww Carsons bf

Dani’s soul leaving her body when she sees them kissing oh no

Jamie giving Dani her jacket pleeease I am dying here... the romance of it all

and shariing cigarettes and intense looks these two really are somethin else

lmao even Robin is picking up on their vibes you two could level a building with the amount of tension between u

Dani’s moment of Realisation abt Carson n Jamie just being like... well yeah

lmao Dani subtly trying to figure out if Jamie is gettin’ it sdkgdfhkjgh

when these do two finally get together both of them are gonna be like... taken out by all of this. Dani has only ever known Eddie who just does not get her (and the fact that she is a lesbian so she’s never had real feelings for him in that way) and it seems like Jamie has only ever had surface level relationships with people who never really got her either (while also being in love w her best friend who she never thought would love her back). there’s no way this is wont eventually make at least one person cry a bunch (probably me) with how right all of it is

god Dani is so horny for Jamie sdflkdfjgkfdj preemptive RIP for Ms Taylor when Dani finally does get to live out all these daydreams on her I just know someones gonna end up pulling somethin

Does Dani like.... get that she will never love Edmund that way like is she fully aware of the fact she loves him but she’s not in love with him and all these feelings for Jamie aren’t just because it’s Jamie but because she’s not straight??? have we gone on that journey yet

aw Ed waited up for her

the book the book the book

dsfkdhfgkj oh Dani

“Jamie on her knees, looking up at her” listen-

girl u are so fucked

SIX. SIX MENTIONS OF JAMIE ON HER KNEES pls

THE DREAM

who could this possibly be about hmmmm Dani

christ

THE MEASURES SHE TAKES TO DEAL WITH THE DREAM lordt

“baffled but excited” i think is how I almost always picture eddie lol

dang get it girl take control

aw dani u poor confused little duck. i just wanna give her a hug

Dani dressed as Dorothy is awfuly cute

heh Jamie as a wolf i love her fursona

lmao toto

of course Jamie is well aquainted with the bleachers. cheeky. oh no not the art room. Dani dying inside and then imagining herself there with Jamie girl has got it baaaad u poor lil repressed gayby

Dani is... so thirsty... goddamn

lmao Jamie blatantly checking her out are u trying to kill her she already wants to rip ur clothes off

“To the third floor art room?” dfksdhfgkjdfhgjdhf imagine if this was it they just banged it out in the art room right now n got things sorted

god they go from horny to soft so quick i love the ways they care about each other

Jamie saying the scarecrow costume is fitting for Eddie PLEASE

ooh the infamous hickey

What Dani deseves: snuggles. What Dani recieves: struggles

the MEMES. god bless the memes

this was an excellent companion for my Wednesday hopefully I can churn through the rest of em before we are blessed w ch11 amen

[ssfghfrrggf]

Heavy is the Head Chapter 5: Fight This

ao3 link

“This isn’t going away, is it?” Kelly asks and slips into Casey’s office as the group of white shirts file out.

“The guy is serious about his complaint about Kidd botching that rescue,” Casey replies, letting his gaze linger on the chiefs as they make their way through the bullpen.”It’s not going away and it’s looking pretty serious too. He’s hired lawyers and everything.”

“Serious how?” Kelly asks and closes the door. “What’s she looking at with this?”

When Casey had told him and Stella this was a possibility it had all just been rumor, nothing more than the guy she saved swearing that he was going to have her rank if not her job. Now it’s escalated to official accusations and lawyers, and the worst part Stella seems to not even care.

“Demotion at best. The guy is claiming she’s too incompitent to lead.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Severide spits angrily. She did exactly what the rest of them would’ve done; he feels bad for the guy who lost his daughter but it’s in no way Stella’s fault. She did everything she could.

“I know,” Casey agrees, shaking his head. 

“The white shirts have to know that,” Severide declares loudly, pacing back and forth across Casey’s office. “They can’t be taking this seriously.”

“They do, but they have to take it seriously,” Casey replies, leaning against his desk. “But that’s not what concerns me. What concerns me is Stella.”

“What about her?” Severide demands and stops pacing.

“She doesn’t seem worried,” Casey says with a sigh and folds his arms over his chest.

“She’s not a worrier, Case,” Severide says defensively, but he’s right. When he first told them this could be happening she didn’t even seem a little worried that someone might be coming for her rank.

“I know, but you don’t think there’s something else going on?” Casey asks.

Severide frowns. “I don’t know. It’s been hard to get a read on her since she got back from that call.”

“Did you guys talk about it?” Casey asks, taking on a concerned expression.

“A little bit, but I didn’t push it,” Severide replies; he’s beginning to wonder if maybe he should’ve.

***

“So what are you going to do?” Sylvie asks, sipping her coffee and looking over at Stella.

“I don’t know, Brett,” Stella replies, not looking over at her friend. People can tell her a hundred times over she made the right call that night, but there’s a girl dead. A girl who was counting on her to save her, and Stella failed her. She failed her and her father; the truth of the matter is she’s not even mad at the guy for coming for her rank. There’s a part of her that feels like she deserves it or that it’s the right thing. She made a mistake and it cost someone their life, and she’s not sure how to start processing it. Helping people is in her instincts, it’s where her heart pulls, and if she can’t do that as a lieutenant, if she can’t make the right calls, then maybe she shouldn’t be one. Maybe that will help people in the future.

“Hey guys!”

“Oh hey Chloe!” Stella says and stands up where she and Sylvie are sitting on the top of 81 to wave to Cruz’s wife; she has Brian with her in a baby carrier. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m here to drop off Brian,” Chloe replies with pursed lips as Stella climbs down from the roof of the truck, Brett following her. “I have an appointment I forgot about and I don’t want to take him in with me, and the baby siter-”

“Say no more!” Stella says, guiding the mother toward the doors leading inside. She’s grateful for the distraction even if it’s only a brief. “We’ll-”

“Truck 81, lift assist.”

“Oh, duty calls, gotta run,” she says and ducks off toward the truck. Her chest feels unnaturally tight and it takes a second for her to remind herself to breathe. It’s just a lift assist. She can do that.

***

Sylvie frowns as she watches her friend climb onto 81, there’s something she’s not telling her, some feeling she’s keeping to herself. Something that’s eating at her.

“Here, I’ll take you inside,” Sylvie offers, and finishes guiding Chloe inside as 81 pulls out of the station, sirens blaring.

“Is Stella okay?” Chloe asks, glancing at the truck as they slip through the doors.

“She had a rough call the other night, and it’s gotten a little complicated,” Sylvie explains. “But she’ll be okay.”

Sylvie decides that Stella will be okay, she’ll make sure she is. She’ll make sure the truck lieutenant, her best friend, knows she did the right thing and that she’ll be okay.

“Chloe!” Joe rejoices at the sight of his wife as he runs over to meet her. “And my favorite baby! No offence Capp.”

“Hey!” Capp protests as Tony and Severide both struggle to contain snorts of amusement at the insult that flew so naturally.

“Come to daddy!” Cruz says and undoes the straps holding Brian in his carrier. He scoops the boy out and holds him. “So big!”

“What is going on?” A silence falls over the room as Casey comes in with his hands on his hips. He looks pissed, not necessarily about there being a baby in his station, he just seems to be having a bad day and this is adding to it.

“Chloe has an appointment so I said I’d watch Brian here for her. We don’t want him picking up any germs or anything-”

“And what if we get a call?” Casey demands, Cruz looks both hurt and surprised. “Who’s going to watch him then? You should’ve checked with me first, or gotten a babysitter.”

“I’m sorry Captain I thought it’d be okay…”

Sylvie catches a very brief yet meaningful exchange of looks between Severide and the chief, and Casey softens. 

“It’s fine, just… don’t let Tuesday eat him or anything,” Casey sighs and shaking his head, leaves the room.

Severide gets up and follows him. Sylvie is about to go after the squad lieutenant but he gives her a little wave that says he’s got it.

“I can take him with me if you’re going to get in trouble with Casey,” Chloe says hesitantly, glancing around the room. “I didn’t realize it’d be an inconvenience.”

“Nonsense, there’s just a lot going on with Casey right now,” Sylvie assures her. “We’ll take good care of Brian.”

“Yeah, we’ll let him climb the ariel,” Cruz says, cradling his son close. “Does he want to do that?”

“And I won’t let them do anything stupid,” Sylvie adds, as she and Chloe laugh at Cruz’s comment that could only be construde as a joke.

***

“Casey, what was that?” Severide asks following the chief into his office. They’re both stressed right now, but he’d come down on Cruz pretty hard, especially since it’s more than normal for Chloe to bring Brian to the house. They’re family.

“Don’t start Severide,” Casey says shortly.

“I’m not trying to start anything, Case. I'm concerned. I know you're stressed but what are you laying into Cruz like that for?” Severide says defensively. He’s beginning to second guess his decision to follow Casey into his office. Right now it seems a little like he’s decided to follow a hungry bear into its den.

“You ever feel like you’ve bitten off more than you can chew?” Casey sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustrated exhaustion.

“Yeah,” Kelly replies. With this conversationI he adds silently in his head.

“I don’t know how Boden did this. I’ve been chief for a couple weeks and everything’s gone to hell,” Casey huffs eyeing the mountain of paperwork on his desk.

“You’re having second thoughts?” Severide asks, raising both eyebrows. This is the third time Casey’s been promoted since Kelly’s known him. Each of the previous times he’s had his rough patches getting started, but he never once considered quitting or regretted his choice to accept the promotion

“Yes- no- I don’t know!” Casey cries and throws his arms in the air. “I feel like I’m juggling a million things, and none of them are getting my attention or the attention they need.”

“Well you gotta get it figured out man, or the house is going to start feeling it,” Kelly replies.

“That’s really not helpful.”

Severide is about to open his mouth to defend himself but is interrupted by the bell.

“Squad 3, engine 51, additional resource request. Structure fire.”

“I’ll be back,” Severide says as he heads for the door.

“Don’t bother,” Casey mutters.

“Come on chief-”

“You have a call, Lieutenant.”

“Yes sir.”

***

“And what could be through this door?”

Casey looks up at the sound of Brett’s soft playful voice and sees her poking her head around the door frame with Brian in her arms. 

“It’s the big grumpy chief,” she whispers and sticks her bottom lip out at Casey when she sees him looking at her.

Casey sighs and leans back in his chair, folding his hands in his lap. “I was a dick-”

“Not in front of the baby!” Sylvie scolds, standing upright and walking into the room, bouncing the baby on her hip. It looks so natural, like it’s second nature to her. Matt thinks he’d be the luckiest man alive if she’d one day do that with their kid. “What are you smiling at?”

“Nothing,” he says, and gives his head a little shake, but the daydream lingers. He wants to marry her.

“And yes you were, by the way,” she adds, but it’s accompanied by a loving smile.

Matt snorts in amusement. She’s definitely right, Cruz and Chloe didn’t deserve to be on the receiving end of his frustration, and he really feels bad about it. Brian will always be welcome in this house, even on day’s when Matt’s feeling stressed out of his mind.

“Severide seems to agree,” Casey mutters.

“Matt, talk to me,” Sylvie says and sits down in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

“I feel like I’m drowning,” Casey admits, like he’s trapped in heavy wet bunker gear that’s dragging him to the bottom of Lake Michigan. “I’m trying to juggle a hundred different things, and I’m also trying to stop Stella from getting dragged down by this mess with that call, because she isn’t, but I got nothing. I’ve been chief for all of like two weeks so I don’t even have any favors I can pull.”

“Have you thought about calling Boden?” Sylvie asks, picking Brian up so he’s resting on her shoulder.

“No, I’m not doing that,” Casey says. That's the last thing on earth he wants to do. He can’t just go crawling to his retired chief everytime he has a problem.

“I’m not saying you have to ask him to pull in a favor, but go to him for advice. No one’s expecting you to be perfect at this from the start. I can almost guarantee it took Boden a while to become the old wise chief we all know. You’re new, you’re learning. There’s nothing wrong with getting advice,” Sylvie argues. “If you’re drowning, it’s okay to grab onto the life line for help. No one’s going to judge you, and if they do, they’ll have to deal with me.”

“Thanks Sylvie,” Matt replies, but all the advice in the world isn’t going to do him or Stella any good if she doesn’t stick up for herself. They could have the best argument in the world, but if the lieutenant who made the decision doesn’t stand up to defend herself it makes her look guilty.

“Why don’t you take a break for a couple minutes and come help me change Brian’s diaper?” Sylvie asks. 

“I don’t really have-”

“Matt, come on. Take a breath, just for a couple minutes, okay?”

“Okay,” Matt agrees, knowing he’s not going to win this fight, and it seems like there’s something else on Sylvie’s mind. 

“What about you?” he asks, following her out into the bullpen. “What’s on your mind?”

“Now’s probably not the best time,” Syvlie says with a shrug handing Casey the changing mat to lay out on one of the empty desks.

“Come on,” Matt insists.

“Matt you just finished explaining to me how overwhelmed you are right now. You don’t need me throwing more onto your plate,” she replies and sets Brian down on the mat. She’s not upset or angry, just matter of fact.

“Hey, I don’t want this getting in the way of us,” Casey says and turns her so she’s looking up at him.

“Fine,” Sylvie sighs and turns back around to undo the baby’s diaper. “My family wants to come up for Christmas, and I want you to meet them.”

“Oh,” Matt says. He’d asked her for it and it’s even something they’ve talked about briefly before, but somehow it takes him by surprise and he’s not sure what to say.

“Chief, you have a call from chief Conway,” Kylie calls to him before he can reply to Sylvie.

“I gotta get that- we’ll talk…”

“Okay,” Sylvie replies and the disappointment and slump in her shoulders hurts him like a punch in the stomach.

***

“Squad 3 are you available to go back into service.”

“Yes, where do you need us, Main?” Kelly asks, picking up the radio. He was hoping to expend some energy on the last call, but it turned out to be not much of anything and they probably didn’t even really need the squad assist.

“Rescue assist from truck 81.”

“You got it main,” Severide replies and gives Tony the nod to hit the sirens.

“What are we looking at?” Severide asks, climbing out of the truck and putting his helmet on his head as he does so. 81 already has traffic blocked on the bridge.

“Guy hit the median, and got ejected,” Stella explains, then points to the other side of the bridge where a whole long section of the chain link fence to have been taken out. “He took out the fence and got tangled. Now he’s dangling from it over the water.”

Severide pears over the rail and sure enough their victim is hanging a good 10 or 15 feet down from the piece of fencing hanging down from the bridge.

“Damn, okay I’m going down to get him. Cruz get the rope rescue equipment, and I need 81 in position, we’re going to need the ladder to get me out over the edge,” Severide says, straightening up to give out his orders. Stella doesn’t say much of anything. She just waves to Mouch who starts moving the ladder truck, Severide can’t help but notice how willingly she was to relinquish her command of the scene; he’s so used to Casey who always seems to go overboard when it comes asserting his dominance.

Severide hooks himself into his harness as Mouch gets the ladder into position. Then before long he’s clipped in and making his descent to the unconscious man. He’s halfway through getting webbing attached to the guy to stabilize his position when the whole mess of wire hanging off the bridge shifts and the man shifts. He bites back a cry of pain as the man’s full weight is suddenly pulling his arm. There’s a terrifying second where he thinks the man’s dead weight is going to pull his arm out of its socket, and if the rest of the fence comes down, it actually will.

***

“Severide! Are you okay down there?” Stella shouts down to Kelly. She can see him struggling with the victim, but she can’t see exactly what he’s doing.

“Yeah,” he calls back, but it’s not very convincing. His voice is strained and it sounds like he’s hurting. “Pull him up, I’ve got him hooked up!”

“Pull him up!” Stella relays the order.

“Hey, what happened?” Stella asks once Kelly is back up safe.

“The fence shifted and pulled all his weight onto the arm I was holding him with,” Kelly explains with a nonchalant shrug and unclips his harness.

“But you’re okay?” she presses, looking him up and down. She knows he probably wouldn’t tell her if he was hurt, but she has to ask.

“I should be asking you the same thing,” he says, squinting at her.

“Why’s that?” she asks with a frown.

“I might not be the best with emotions and stuff, but I’m not blind Stella Kidd,” he replies, taking both of her hands in his. “There’s something bugging you and I have two guesses-”

“Kelly, I've got it handled,” she promises. She’s not sure how to explain to him, what needs to be explained to him, and part of her doesn’t even want to tell him she’s not planning on fighting the action against her. She’s scared of what she’ll see in his eyes, anger, disappointment, sadness, or worse that he’ll go cold and silent on her. Or he might try to fight her on it and she’s too tired to fight him.

“You know you can talk to me,” Kelly says, and looks a little hurt, like he doesn’t believe her and like he wants her to just talk to him, but he doesn’t push her. “I know I’m not the best with advice, but I can try if you’ll let me.”

This stops Stella where she stands. It hadn’t really occurred to her until now that he might think she doesn’t want to talk to him because he’s bad at talking. 

“We’ll talk, I promise,” she says and pulls her hands away from his. She turns and heads for 81, but Kelly stops her.

“Hey, you know you got this Stella Kidd,” he calls after her, and it stings. She wishes she shared that same unwavering faith in her.

***

“Smoke break?” Severide asks, holding up two cigars as he pokes his head into Casey’s office. Matt knows he shouldn’t, there’s entirely too much going on right now, but he really needs a break from everything… just 10 minutes. Just a 10 minute break to blow off steam with Severide.

“Yes, let’s go,” He says and stands up, trying not to sound too enthusiastic about it.

“Things not going well?” Severide asks as they walk outside, he sounds like he already knows the answer.

“Don’t even get me started,” he grumbles and leans against the front bumper of the squad. The higher up chiefs have been calling non stop, and even a couple lawyers.

“Case, what’s going on with this whole mess?” Severide asks, lighting up his cigar. “I tried talking to Stella at that last call but she blew me off. Like I know I suck at talking about feelings, but I just wish she’d tell me what’s going on in her head. I can tell she wants to.”

“Getting advice from you is like getting advice from rock,” Casey comments, not really sure what to tell his friend.

“Well you’re not much better,” Severide mutters and blows out a breath of smoke.

“Brett wants me to meet her parents,” Casey says, changing the subject.

Severide looks over at him with both eyebrows raised. “What’d you say?”

“Nothing yet,” Casey says and scratches his head. “Which I feel like might’ve been a mistake.”

“Probably sends the wrong message,” Severide agrees, which isn’t really helpful.

Before Casey reply two chiefs buggies pull up the house.

“Smoke breaks over,” Casey sighs.

“Let me know what’s up,” Severide as the white shirts get out of their cars.

“Will do.”

***

“You guys are so down in the dumps,” Nathan comments as he turns on the stove to start making dinner for everyone. He knows everyone’s a little on edge because the chief is stressed, and lieutenant Kidd is currently under scrutiny for the call she made the last shift, but the house could benefit from being a little more lively. Moral being down is never a good thing.

“It’s called laying low and not getting your head bitten off by your chief or two of the three lieutenants on shift,” Gallo says sinking a little lower into his chair and pulling his hat down over his eyes.

“Laying low takes the stress away,” Mouch adds from his spot on the couch. “I’ve weathered out more than one hurricane Caseys in my days, and laying low, being quiet and staying out of the way is the best way to survive.”

“Yeah, you don’t want to be caught on the wrong side of his anger,” Ritter says, letting Tuesday lick the peanut butter off his spoon. “Gallo can tell you all about that.”

“We need something to do around here other than sit around and watch tv,” Nathan says decidedly. He understands wanting to sit down and relax after a call, but it gets boring and he wants to be doing stuff. “We should get a ping pong table or air hockey table.”

Mouch, Herrmann, and Cruz all snort in unison. 

“No we shouldn’t,” Cruz is the first to actually say anything. “I’m pretty sure there’s still glass on the floor outside the briefing room from when we broke the door.”

“You guys broke the door?” Gallo asks, sitting up and lifting the hat from his eyes.

“We shouldn’t do anything competitive, unless it’s who can vent that roof the fastest,” Mouch says disinterestedly without offering much explanation.

“We have fun, but always goes a little too far,” Cruz adds.

“I thought Casey was going to choke Otis out when he went through that door,” Herrmann laughs to himself. “We had too much fun with that thing.”

“And the foosball table?” Cruz adds, laughing to himself and pats Brian on the back. “I’m surprised no one lost their job over that one.”

“What did you guys do?” Nathan asks, looking between the three older firefighters in bafflement. Foosball is an intense game, but he’s not sure how it could result in potential career loss.

“Cruz was spinning,” Herrmann says defensively.

“I was not!” Cruz objects, trying to keep his voice quiet and civil so as not wake the sleeping baby on his chest. “You just can’t admit that I was winning fair and square! And the refs didn’t call it-”

“Well that’s what happens when you make  Capp and Tony the refs!” Herrmann shouts and stands up angrily.

“Hey! We’re great refs!” Capp says indignantly.

“You know what,” Cruz says and stands up to face Herrmann. “Mouch, hold the baby,” he hands Brian off to the firefighter sitting peacefully on the couch. Then gets right up close to the engine lieutenant. “We need to settle this once and for all.”

“You’re on,” Herrmann says glaring down the much bigger firefighter.

“Probie, what did you do,” Gallo whispers to Nathan, who quite frankly has no idea what he just started. All he wanted to do was make things a little more lively in the house and boost moral a little. Not start a feud between Herrmann and Cruz.

“Molly’s, tomorrow night 7:00 pm,” Cruz replies without flinching.

“I’ll bring the foosball table.”

“And I’ll bring the ref.”

“What are you boys fighting about?” Mackey asks strolling into the common room, and probably interrupting what was about to turn into an all out brawl between the squad firefighter and the engine lieutenant.

“This cheating disgrace,” Herrmann says, gesturing to Cruz as he steps off.

“They’re fighting about a foosball match that happened like 12 years ago,” Mouch explains, bouncing Brian on his knees.

“I am the queen of foosball,” Mackey says and plops herself down into a chair. “I’ll face the winner… and win.”

“Those are fighting words young lady, better be careful with them,” Mouch warns.

“Herrmann’s too old and slow to beat me, and Joe can’t beat me because I’m like his kid sister.”

Herrmann looks like he’s about to blow a gasket, but before he can the bell rings and calls for the engine company.

***

Severide sees the chiefs leave and takes that his queue to head toward Casey’s office to catch the tail end of whatever conversation happened between him, the chiefs and Stella who’d been called into the office not long after the chiefs had showed up. Chief Conway has a smug look on his face that Kelly doesn’t like.

 He’s halfway through the bullpen when Casey’s door opens and Stella walks out, visibly upset. She pushes past him without so much as a glance. Severide looks to Casey and all the chief has to do is shake his head for him to finally understand, understand all of it, why Stella has been ducking around and why she hasn’t wanted to talk to him, not to mention how strange she’s been acting… she’s not fighting the action against her. Severide turns around and goes after her. 

“Stella, what the hell are you doing?” Severide says catching the door to her quarters with his boot before it can swing closed.

“I don’t want to hear it, Kelly!” She snaps back, spinning on her heels. There’s hurt in her voice and it’s not because he’s challenging her most recent life choice.

“Well that’s too bad! I’m not going to let you roll over and swallow this!” he retorts. “You worked too hard to just give up!”

“It’s not up to you!” she shouts.

“Stella! This guy is out of his mind. Any of us would’ve made the exact same decision. You made the right call! You have to defend yourself on this,” Severide insists. 

“I can’t Kelly!” she cries, throwing her arms in the air. “I can’t do that Kelly!”

“Why the hell not?!” Severide demands, trying and failing to regain his composure and return the calm into his voice. She worked so hard for her promotion and now she’s just letting it slip through her fingers without a fight. 

“How can I defend a decision that I don’t even know was right?” she shouts back, tears coming into her eyes. “A girl died because of the choice I made, Kelly. I am responsible for that. I was responsible for running that scene. Those victims put their trust in me and I let them down. I let them down… I can’t Kelly. I can’t defend myself if I’m not sure of my choice.”

Stella’s words take the wind out of his fight and he lets out a slow breath. “That’s why you're just taking this without a fight?”

“I can’t fight. I made a mistake,” she says, her voice softening to something heart broken and desperate. “I made a mistake and someone died, I can’t defend that. I can’t fight for a position that I’m not ready for especially since it will only put more people in danger.”

“Stella, any one of us would’ve made that same decision,” Kelly says gently and steps close to her, and reaches for her hand but she pulls away from him. “Stella-”

“Don’t lie to me just to get me to fight this.”

“Stella Kidd, I wouldn’t lie to you, especially about this. Moving the car could’ve caused spinal damage to both victims and it would’ve only saved you seconds. Seconds that wouldn’t have helped that girl, and if you’d waited any longer with the dad, he probably would’ve died,” Kelly insists.

“You don’t know that.”

“And you know for a fact that those seconds would’ve saved that girl?” Kelly replies, locking gazes with her. “If you can look me in the eyes and tell me that you know for a fact that those seconds would’ve saved that girl's life then I’ll drop it and walk away. I’ll let you give up.”

Stella closes her mouth.

“You can always go down the hole of what ifs, Stella. But you saved a life last night. Maybe it wasn’t the one that dad wanted you to save, but you saved someone so if you find confidence in nothing else, find it in that,” Severide says. “What if’s go both ways, what if you tried the other way and they both died? It’s easy to judge yourself after you know how things end, but it’s not so easy making choices when it’s in the moment. And in that moment you looked at what you had and you made the decision you could and you saved someone.”

Before Stella can reply, the bell rings.

“Squad 3, water rescue, ambulance 61 med stand by for water rescue.”

Severide hesitates before leaving. “We can’t save everyone. Don’t throw away everything you worked for because of it.”

Stella doesn’t say anything as he leaves.

“Is everything okay with you and Stella?” Sylvie asks, giving Severide a concerned look as they head for the trucks

“No,” he says bluntly, too angry to be quoi. “She’s not fighting the action against her.”

“She’s not what?” Sylvie demands, sounding shocked.

“She’s not fighting it. She says she made the wrong call and can’t defend her actions with a clean conscience,” Kelly replies, and swings up into the squad truck.

***

“Hey Maggie, can I get you to do a huge favor for me?” Sylvie asks, stopping the ED nurse as she finishes up her paperwork.

“Sure, what do you need?” the nurse asks, stopping whatever she’s working on to give Brett her attention.

“The dad whose daughter coded in our ambo last shift, what can you tell me about his condition?” Sylvie asks, leaning on the counter.

“I’m not supposed to share anything,” Maggie says apologetically.

“Look, Kidd is facing a lot of heat over this and she’s not fighting any of it because she thinks she made the wrong choice in not moving the car on the call,” Sylvie explains.

“She thought about moving the car? And she’s facing heat over all this?” Maggie says, sounding surprised.

“Yeah, why?” Sylvie asks cautiously.

“No one from the CFD has been by to get medical records, and they definitely should’ve. Especially if moving the car was an option.”

***

“Severide, calm down,” Casey says, trying weakly to talk down the squad lieutenant pacing angrily in his office. “The department is still planning on fighting the case on her behalf.”

“Yes, but if she doesn’t give a statement, the lawyers will eat it alive,” Severide argues.

“And what exactly do you want me to do?” Casey says helplessly.

“Hey, where’s 81?” Sylvie asks, poking her head into Casey’s office, interrupting their conversation. 

“Out fueling up, why? Casey asks.

“Because I need to talk to Stella,” Sylvie says. “I’ll go wait for her in the bay.”

Before Matt can say anything to her, she’s ducking out again and closing the door.

***

“Stella, we gotta talk,” Sylvie says to her best friend before she’s even all the way out of the truck.

“Kelly put you up to this?” the lieutenant asks flatley, looking unpleased with the notion.

“No, he’s too busy running around like chicken with its head cut off in Casey’s office. I’m not really sure how either of them ever get anything done to be honest with you,” Sylvie replies, and gets Stella to crack a smile. “I took matters into my own hands.”

“So this is about that,” Stella says with a sigh and closes the door to 81.

“Yes it is. And I am here to tell you, you can not throw your career away over that call, Stella,” Sylvie says, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Brett-”

“C2 through C5,” Sylvie blurts, interrupting Stella. “Those were the vertebrae broken in the girl’s neck. And L3 and L4 were broken in the dad’s back and he had a punctured lung. If you’d moved the car it would’ve killed the girl by fracturing her neck all the way, the dad probably would’ve been paralized from the waist down, and extricating him last could’ve killed him.”

“Where-”

“While lieutenant dumb and chief dumber were busy panicking, I went to Med and talked Maggie into giving me the details on the victims. There was nothing to you or anyone could’ve done for that girl, and you saved the dad by making the choice you did.”

“You mean…”

“You made the right call, Stella,” Brett reaffirms her, and the look of pure relief that crosses Stella’s face is like nothing Brett’s ever seen. “Nobody is more deserving to sit in that officer’s seat. You have to fight this.”

Stella nods and opens her mouth, but gets interrupted.

“Truck 81, Engine 51, Ambulance 61, Squad 3, residential structure fire. Smoke and fire showing.”

“I will, Brett.”

“And you should probably talk to Severide before he loses what little mind he has left,” Sylvie jokes, already feeling lighter right along with her friend.

“As soon as we get back,” Stella promises, stepping into her bunker pants. “Come on girls! I’ve seen candidates get geared up faster than you!” she shouts redirecting her energy to her crew. “No offense Nathan.”

***

“81 I want you guys on ventilation and primary search with squad, 51 i want you guys to start knocking this mess down,” Casey orders as the trucks begin to roll onto the scene after him and people start getting off. There’s one minivan parked out front and no one standing outside the house, meaning people are probably home and still inside. And it’s a saturday which means the kids they probably have are most likely home too. The smoke hasn’t turned black and violent yet which means they’ve got time

“Mouch and Marks, I want you guys on the roof ready to go when I know what we’re looking at inside,” Stella orders, and she seems to have a new energy that she didn’t have this morning. There’s a spring her step and confidence has returned to her voice. “Gallo, you’re with me.”

“Tony and Capp take the 1st floor. Cruz you’re with me, we’ll take the 2nd floor with truck,” Severide says, and Casey catches the lieutenant casting a quick glance at his girlfriend. He seems to notice Stella’s change in stride as well.

***

“Fire department! Call out!” Gallo shouts, echoing his lieutenant’s calls as they work their way down the upstairs hallway, the squad 3 firefighters not far behind them. It’s dim and smokey, the only clear light around them is the fire dancing dangerously up the sides of the walls, but it’s wild and confusing and disorienting. It makes everything look the same, but he keeps his breathing slow and calm, and his ears pricked for the sound of anyone calling out for help.

“In here!” Comes a weak reply to their shouts that ends in a cough.

“That was off to the right, through that door,” Gallo says, patting Stella on the shoulder to get her attention. 

“Alright, let’s go get 'em,” his lieutenant replies and works her way carefully across the hallway, moving with ease and grace. Part of Gallo can’t believe she’d ever question her place on this job or as a leader. She’s a natural, fluid and thorough.

“Keep searching the rest of the hallway,” she calls to Severide before shouldering her way through the door. He’s not sure if it’s just that they’re on a structure fire which makes everyone a little happier, or if something else happened, but she seems more sure of herself and comfortable than she has all shift.

There’s three kids in the room, an older brother who’s maybe twelve and two smaller girls who look like twins.

“Hey, we got you guys,” Gallo promises and gets down on one knee with Stella in front of them. They’re wide eyed and terrified, the brother clinging onto the girls like their lives depend on it.

“Come here kiddos,” Stella says reassuringly and gently pulls the two little girls toward her. “You two are going to come with me.”

“What about buh-buh?” One of the little girls asks, her voice quivering in fear as Stella scoops her up .

“I got him,” Gallo promises.

“Yeah, I’ll be with the other firefighter, Lacy,” the boy promises as he ruffles his sister’s hair.

“You got em?” Gallo asks as he picks up the boy.

“Yeah,” Stella says, adjusting both kids so she has one on each hip. “Let’s get the hell out of here. Chief, this is Kidd and Gallo. We’ve got three kids and are heading out.”

“Tony and Capp, we’ve got the parents and are heading out too.”

“Cruz and Severide, we’re blocked off in the delta side corner, second floor.”

Gallo can hear Stella stop behind him, and he knows exactly what’s running through her mind.

“Lieutenant, we gotta get these kids out of here,” He says looking over his shoulder at her. The smoke is starting get darker and hotter. “They’re smart. They’ll figure their own way out.”

“Yeah,” she says swallowing. “Let’s keep going.”

“We’re bailing.”

“Chief, the roof’s getting soft,” Mouch reports when Gallo’s halfway down the stairs, Stella is a couple steps behind him. “We’re heading back down.”

No sooner has he spoken than the ceiling above them lets out a loud groan.

“Run!” Stella shouts.

Human instinct tells Gallo to look up, but his trust of his lieutenant is stronger. If she says run, then that’s what he’s going to do without looking back and without forethought. He’s known her long enough to where he’d follow her blindly- hell, he has followed her blindly through pitch black smoky hallways. He speeds up, skipping steps as he goes, and he’s only made it down about four when a massive wooden beam crashes down from the ceiling, only missing him by a couple feet. He can hear the girls with Stella scream, and he stops and spins around.

“No!” The boy in his arms shouts and starts fighting him to be let down.

“Lieutenant!” Gallo shouts, his heart pounding in his throat. She’s somewhere blocked off by the flaming beam completely blocking off the stairs.

“We’re all okay,” Stella shouts back, but Gallo still can’t get eyes on her. “I’m taking the girls back up to the room. We’ll bale out from there! Get out of here.”

Gallo hesitates, the boy in his arms still struggling to get free. “Copy that!”

“No! What about my sisters!” The boy protests, clawing at Gallo’s arms.

“They’re safe with my lieutenant,” Gallo promises and  turns his back on the stairs and heads for the exit.

***

“I need a ladder to the alpha side window. Stairs are blocked.”

Severide’s chest tightens as he hears Stella call come in over the radio. The second floor was in bad shape when he and Cruz made their bale.

“Mouch, Marks, get a ladder up there now,” Casey orders, but the two truck firefighters are already rushing toward the window with a ladder.

“Brett!” I’ve got a kid, smoke inhalation and minor burns!” Gallo shouts coming out of the house, holding a young boy in his arms. It grabs Severide attention away from the window and the danger that Stella is currently in only for a couple seconds. The young firefighter has a haunted expression on his face as he takes his helmet and mask off while Brett runs over to check out the kid he’s pulled from the house. Then the glass of the upstairs window is being busted out, and Severide returns his undivided attention to the window. He wants to be on the ladder helping Stella to safety, but Mouch has already beat him to it. Stella hands the first kid out the window and helps her find the rungs on the ladder with her feet; then Mouch begins his descent down the ladder, keeping one hand on the kid, helping her. Then Stella is coming out of the window with the other kid, and Severide allows himself to breathe.

***

“Hey, Stella,” Kelly grabs Stella’s arm and spins her around her to face him, interrupting her trek to the truck to rest for a couple minutes and get her nerves under control. She can still feel herself shaking. That beam had been less than foot from crushing her and the two little kids she had with her.

“Kelly-”

“No, just listen for a second please,” he says quietly. He always gets a little flustered and unsure when it comes to expressing his feelings, and she can tell that’s what this is. He’s worried, she can see it his concerned blue eyes. “I came at you harder than I meant to earlier-”

“Kelly, it’s okay-”

“I just need you not to give up. You’re meant to do this, you’re an amazing firefighter and great lieutenant. You already have it together better than me and Casey did this early into our command-”

“Kelly, I’m going to fight it,” Stella says, sliding both hands around the back of his neck.

“You-” He stops mid sentence like he didn’t quite register what she just said at first. “You are?”

She swallows and nods her head. “Yes. I am.”

“What changed your mind?” he breathes, relief flooding his face.

“Brett got the medical report from the call. Moving the car would’ve made things worse,” she says. “And I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you about it. I was scared, I guess.”

Kelly just shakes his head a little and then grabs her and pulls her into a tight hug. “I meant what I said. You got this Stella Kidd, always.”

Stella hugs him back and runs her fingers through his short hair on the back of his neck. It’s good having him close to her again.

***

“Brett!” Casey calls to the paramedic, stopping her as she makes her way to the front of the ambulance. The other ambulances have already taken all the victims to the hospital. 

“What can I do for you chief?” she asks, stopping her hand on the door handle.

“You can tell your family I’d love to meet them for Christmas dinner,” Casey says, sliding his hands into his pockets and giving her an apologetic smile.

She lets her hand fall to her side and a ghost of smile slips across her face. “You’re sure?”

“Of course!” Casey says. “And I’m sorry if I ever made you think otherwise. I would love nothing more than to meet the people who raised you and helped you grow into the amazing woman you are today.”

The grin that comes across Sylvie’s face sends happy butterflies through Casey’s stomach, and for the first time since Chief Walker came into his office to tell him that there was an action being filed against Stella, he’s actually happy- like filled with real genuine joy that makes him feel warm and happy inside.

“Sorry I brought it up when I did,” she says, taking a step toward him and taking both of his hands in hers.

“I’m the one who asked,” Casey replies softly, and plants a kiss on the top of her head.

***

“I’m going to report to headquarters and give the chiefs my statement on what happened on that call, as soon as shift’s over,” Stella says, and Sylvie can see how relieved it makes Matt and Severide and she herself is very proud of Stella. It was a rough call, but she made the call all the way.

“Who’s the chief in charge of the case?” Sylvie asks. It’s been bugging her since she talked to Maggie at Med, in a case like this medical records seem like they should be the first that get looked into.

“Conway, why?” Casey asks, sitting back in his chair, and turning his attention in Sylvie’s direction; Severide and Stella do too.

“When I talked to Maggie earlier she said there hadn’t been requests from the CFD for the medical records regarding the call,” Sylvie says, Stella looks a little confused but realization dawns on both Severide and Matt’s faces.

“What…?” Stella ventures after a couple seconds.

“In a case like this the medical reports should be the first thing pulled in for review,” Casey says. “Half of these cases get tossed just after looking that far, and in this case it definitely would’ve.”

“So you’re saying Conway botched it?” Stella asks, looking between the three of them.

“Maybe he just missed it, but I’d be careful of him,” Sylvie says. “If he did it on purpose-”

“If he did it on purpose, he should get fired,” Severide jumps in angrily before Stella can express her own indignation.

Casey lets out a deep sigh. “I don’t want any of you guys trying to go talk to him. That could make whatever it is he has against Kidd worse. You guys need to let me handle this okay?”

“It’s me,” Severide huffs, visibly frustrated. “I’m what he has against her.”

Then before anyone can say anything else, he pushes his way out of the office.

“Kelly-” Stella calls, trying to stop him, but doesn’t quite say it fast enough. “Not this again,” she grumbles rolling her eyes. “We’ll be back.”

“Is it possible for someone else to take over this case?” Sylvie asks, watching Stella chase after Severide.

“I’m going to try my very best to get someone else on it. And I can be a real pain in the ass.”

***

“Kelly!” Stella snaps, finally catching up to him out in the bay. “Stop for five seconds.”

Severide clenches his jaws and swallows, but doesn’t say anything. He has that dangerous stark expression on his face that means things are about to get shot to hell, again. The face that says he’s about retreat into his unreadable shell of silence.

“Don’t shut down on me,” she says firmly. “Please.”

He opens and closes his mouth, but no words come out.

“Kelly.”

He closes his eyes and lets out a slow breath. “He’s coming after you because of us. I knew this would happen from the start. Right from the beginning.”

“No, Kelly,” Stella says, shaking her head. “He’s trying to screw this up for me, because I am a woman. If it wasn’t me being with you, it’d be something else. I lost my footing with this. I didn’t tell you what was going on at first because of it, and that was a mistake. But we’re stronger together, and if I have a chief gunning for me I need you to have my back.”

Kelly doesn’t say anything for a long time, and there’s a terrifying second where Stella’s scared he’s not going to say anything at all, but he finally opens his mouth and speaks. “I’ll always have your back, Stella Kidd.”

***

“You guys are seriously doing this?” Nathan asks as Herrmann, Mouch, Cruz, and Capp bring the foosball table into the bar through the back door.

“They better be, because if they aren’t that means I drove all the way here for nothing.” there’s a cheer from all the 51 firefighters in the bar, as Boden makes his presence known.

“Hey! Chief!” Gallo and Ritter both cry in unison and hop off their bar stools. A couple others give cries in greeting.

“Hey! I’m right here!” Casey protests jokingly, sending up laughs around the bar. The former chief flashes the new chief an amused grin.

“So that's the ref you brought in,” Herrmann says schematically, eyeing the former fire chief. “He didn’t bribe you did he?”

“Shut up and give him a proper greeting,” Cruz scolds and gives Herrmann a little shove.

“He’s a regular!” Herrmann protests.

Nathan smiles to himself. This wasn’t really what he mean when he said they all needed to be more active, and there was no way for him to see this as a possible outcome of the suggestion, but he’s glad he made it. Since coming to 51 things have seemed so tense and on edge, and this the first time people seem to be really letting lose, and he’s happy his suggestion lead to this. Even Chief Casey is laughing and he’s been the most tense of anyone. The only people not laughing and having a good time are Lieutenant Kidd and Severide who aren’t in the bar at all.

“Hey, I’ll be back in 20,” he says to Ritter and Gallo before heading for the door. The two lieutenants were on edge the whole shift, and they should be here for this. They should be laughing and having a good time along with everyone else, especially since things are starting to look up with the action filed against Kidd.

***

“What are you doing here kiddo?” Kelly asks, opening the door of the apartment for Nathan, who’s fidgeting in the hallway.

“What are you guys doing?” he asks, shifting slightly.

“Blackhawks and beer,” Kelly replies, glancing over his shoulder at Stella who’s sitting on the couch watching tv contently. She’d gone to headquarters and put in her official statement defending her actions on the call, and they’d both decided on taking it easy for the rest of the day. “You wanna come in?”

“No, and I have a better offer than Blackhawks and beer,” Nathan says, putting his hands in his pockets.

“Now this I gotta hear,” Stella says, getting up off the couch to come stand next to Severide. “Not much beats Blackhawks and beer.”

“How about a Herrmann vs. Cruz foosball match?” he asks.

“Your candidate drives a hard bargain,” Kelly says tucking one arm around Stella’s shoulders. He doesn’t want to make her go out if she doesn’t want to, goodness knows she deserves some rest and relaxation, but watching that match does sound like fun, and it’s something he’s seen since before he was a lieutenant of squad 3.

“And beer?” the candidate tries.

“A hard bargain, indeed,” Stella agrees with a smile. “And I don’t see how we can argue with it.”

“So you guys will come?” Nathan asks excitedly.

“Give us five minutes to get ready, and we’ll be there.”

***

“You by any chance want your job back?” Casey jokes as Boden sits down next to him at the bar during the so call half time of the foosball match between Cruz and Herrmann.

“Harder than you’d thought it’d be?” Boden chuckles and sips his beer.

“I don’t know how you put up with so much of everyone’s crap for so long,” Casey replies. He’s been chief for just under a month and he’s already more tired than he’s been over the course of his whole career. “What was your trick?”

“Not forgetting it’s family and remembering every day on the job is a gift and a blessing,” Boden replies, this time completely serious. “Very few people get to wake up and do their dream job. Don’t forget why you started doing what you do, and you’ll be just fine.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Casey says and clinks his beer against the old chief’s. Sometimes he wishes the man was still in charge of the house, everything seemed to go much smoother, but that may have just been because he wasn’t the person running the show.

***

“Hey man, you okay?” Ritter asks sitting down at the bar next to Gallo, who seems to have withdrawn into his own head space. It’s not like him to duck out when everyone’s laughing and having a good time; usually he’s laughing it up right along with the group. But tonight he’s tucked himself away.

“Yeah,” he says, quite unconvincingly and swirls his drink. He’s sipping on something harder than beer tonight, which means he definitely has something on his mind. 

“Come on, what’s bugging you?” Ritter presses. Really he’s been quieter than normal ever since the house fire call, which is also unlike him. Usually he can’t stop talking after a fire, especially one where he makes some great save. He talks it up, and even gets a little boastful, everyone does.

“Nothing, I’m fine. Just a little tired, you know? We had two late night runs last night,” Gallo shrugs and sips his drink.

“No, something’s definitely up with you,” Ritter says, decidedly. “What’s wrong? Bottling stuff doesn’t work in this job. It sounds sappy, but you gotta talk about it.”

Gallo exhales slowly and sets his drink down on the table. “Fine. That fire call, it kinda threw me for a loop.”

“Why’s that?” Ritter asks, searching his friend’s gaze for answers.

“That boy I pulled out. He was sheltering his sisters when we found him. He went to get them, then when me and Stella were bringing them out and the beam fell from the ceiling and separated us he was clawing at me to get free and go to them. He was trying to save them,” Gallo explains slowly and takes another sip of his drink. “He did all that, he was willing to face that fire to get them.”

“He’s a brave kid.”

“And…” Gallo trails off and slips back into his own thoughts again.

“And?” Ritter prompts.

Gallo keeps his gaze staring off into space as he replies. “And all I did was hide in a closet.”

[ymnfilter]

Olicity Fic Snippet

Oliver first meets Felicity Smoak when she’s four years old. 

She’s the daughter of the man who works as the CTO in his father’s company. Noah Cutler and Robert Queen, along with the CFO Walter Steele are the backbone of Queen Consolidated. Three integral cogs of a well oiled machine that is his family’s company. They are also quite close friends outside of business. 

It’s the first time Oliver will be meeting Felicity however. She’s only come to live with Mr.Cutler in the past couple of months, after her mother, Donna Smoak, a cocktail waitress in Vegas passed away in a hit and run case involving a drunk driver. 

Donna and Noah had a peculiar relationship. They weren’t married. They were barely acquaintances. Felicity had been a product of a highly scandalous weekend rendezvous involving cheap motels and  unlimited alcohol in Las Vegas gone wrong. Any other man of Mr.Cutler’s status would’ve in his position, tried to cover up the affair and it’s by-product as well as he could. But, to someone like Noah, a mad-scientist level genius with no intentions of settling down ever, a protege that was genetically his without all the fuss of marriage or commitment had seemed like the perfect solution.

And so Felicity Smoak had grown up, mostly in Las Vegas with her mother, but she had also spent a lot of time in the company of her father. She developed a love for technology of any sort at a young age thanks to him, and they would discuss wires and circuits and motherboards for hours on the phone after school, till her mother called her down for dinner and homework.

Felicity grew quiet though, after her mother died. The little fair girl who babbled endlessly about anything given the opportunity, had grown quite sullen during her move to Starling City. Noah Cutler was a lot of things, a scientist, a great mentor, a good friend, but he wasn’t really paternal. And so, though he tried to improve her mood by showering her with knowledge and freedom, there wasn’t much he could really do to make her feel better as her father.

Oliver meets her by accident. His family is attending some sort of an event that night- it’s a name he can’t quite pronounce or understand- but he knows it’s for charity. He’s seven years old and dressed in a pair of pressed dress shorts, suspenders, white shirt and a dinner jacket. He’s highly uncomfortable and bored because even though there are kids present, Tommy isn’t. Tommy has a fever, so neither him or his mother Rebecca are attending tonight’s function. Oliver’s basically sulking in one of the corners of the hall, lips in a pout and arms crossed over his little chest, when he sees it-

There, right across him on the other side of the hall, he’s quite sure he saw the tablecloth dangling from one of the buffet tables move. His eyes narrow, suddenly curious, Oliver’s half hoping that a kitten has maybe snuck inside the hall. It wouldn’t be the first time, really. And the last time it had happened, the way the elite socialite women of Starling City had screamed and panicked had been quite entertaining to watch. 

So, Oliver walks over to the other side of the hall sneakily, looks both ways to make sure nobody’s paying any attention to him, and then swiftly ducks under the buffet table in one movement-

It’s not a cat.

It’s a girl.

A couple of years younger than him, maybe. She’s tiny. One of the shoulder straps of her bright pink frock is falling over her small frame, and her dark curly hair tied up in two pigtails on either side of her head looks so soft and shiny for a second there, he almost wants to pull-

It’s the look in her eyes though- bright blue but watery as if she’s been trying not to cry- as she looks up at him, that stops him from going any closer.

“Hello.” He greets, extends a hand exactly like how his mother has taught him to, “My name’s Oliver Queen. Who’re you?”

She looks at his hand for a moment as if she has no idea what she’s supposed to do with it, before taking it nervously and shaking it, “Felicity. Smoak.”

“Nice to meet you, Felicity Smoak. What are you doing here hiding under the table?”

Felicity frowns at the question, takes her hand away to cross her arms over her chest petulantly, “Carter Bowen keeps pulling at my hair. I’m hiding.”

He looks back up at the pigtails, notices how one of them is a bit more lopsided than the other. Irrationally, he’s mad at Carter Bowen. No doubt he’s the boy responsible for making her cry. It doesn’t matter that Oliver had the same urge to tug at her hair himself, he wouldn’t even think of doing it now that he knows that she hates it.

“I can fix it for you, if you like.” Oliver offers, 

“What?”

“Your hair. I can fix it.”

She gives him a skeptical look, like she doesn’t believe him, “Really?”

No. Oliver’s never made his own hair before, let alone a girl’s. But really, how hard can two pigtails be? “Sure.”

Turns out, it’s really difficult to do a girl’s hair.

Felicity’s hair is just as soft as it looks, and Oliver sort of never wants to stop touching it. But, his hands might as well be the clumsiest in the world with how they work with her strands. He’s as gentle as he can be with her, and apologizes profusely every time a tangle gets caught between his fingers and he ends up tugging a little too hard. The ribbons that had been tying her hair together before he unraveled them both are bright blue and as slippery as fresh lake water. He does his best to gather up her hair in parts and tie them up with them, but they fall apart every time no matter how hard he tries.

He takes a step back after he’s done to get a better look. Her one lopsided ponytail has got nothing on the mess he’s made of her hair now. It’s everywhere, with ribbons more tangled in her hair than holding them together and looks like it could all fall apart with a shake of her head. And yet, she has a smile on her face now, her cheeks flushed and the brightness in her eyes has nothing to do with tears anymore and everything to do with gratitude at his attempt to help-

“Does it look pretty?” She asks him, 

“You look like the prettiest girl in the whole world.” He answers, 

And to him right then, it’s the absolute truth.

[everlarkbirthdaygifts]

Happy Birthday, mega-aulover!

Happy Birthday, @mega-aulover​! We hope you’ve had a wonderful day so far, and that you got exactly the presents you were hoping for! To keep your party going a little while longer, the lovely @endlessnightlock​ has written a story just for you!

Happy birthday @mega-aulover! Here’s something a little spicy, a little sweet for your day. Soul-mark Everlark. Rated M for non-explicit sexual content.

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

The first time I remember talking to Peeta, we were five, and it was a fall day, much like today- cool and windy, a welcome cool down from the heat of summer. He was standing at the bakery’s back door with his father, his little round cheeks pink from the heat emanating from the ovens. The heat was so intense from the kitchen you could feel it out on the step, and his eyes were the bluest things I’d ever seen. I think I fell a little bit in love with him then.

We were there that morning because my father took me along with him to trade with the businesses in town. It was a day of a lot of firsts: not only did I meet Peeta, but I also had my first Mellark’s fall apple muffin- I’d never tasted anything so delicious in my life. Since that day, I’ve had lots of baked goods from Mellark’s, and while my favorite is probably the cheese buns Peeta makes especially for me, I’ll never forget those apple muffins- they were like magic.

That day also marked the first chance I had to spend the morning in the woods with my father, tagging along behind him as he hunted and checked his traps. Prim was just a baby back then, and in my hazy memory of the day, I think she was teething, and Mother needed to sleep; that’s why I got to spend the day with Father. It was such a good day, and meeting Peeta was the icing on the cake.

My father is a hunter-gatherer, and we live in a small house in the woods close to where the fence used to run, separating it from the district boundary. It isn't far from town because my mother is one of the district healers, and there was school in town that my sister and I needed to attend, of course. It’s been a wonderful place to grow up, straddling that line between wilderness and civilization. My family is a happy one.

According to my parents, our life looks entirely different from how things were even five years ago now that our country is the New Republic of Panem. 

When my parents were teenagers, the Great War erupted, and the districts, with the military backing of newly rediscovered Thirteen, rose together and defeated the Capitol’s heavy hand of oppression. They’d taken everything away from the districts for so long- food, freedom, hope in addition to the two children a year, forced to fight to their deaths in the Hunger Games. 

After the war that ended in the rebel’s victory, citizens of Panem were free in ways they’d never been: free to travel, free to pursue higher education, and in Twelve, they were free not to work in the mines for a pittance until they died an early death from miner’s lung or cancer. The possibilities to choose the path of your own life? They’re endless now compared to what they used to be. 

The only place where we are not so free is marriage, which wasn’t the Capitol’s doing. That’s because of the soul marks. 

A soul mark is a pattern that emerges on your body through your teen years, eventually pairing you with your soulmate when you reach adulthood. If you’re going to get one (not everyone does), the beginnings of it show up around puberty, and the pattern typically doesn’t fill in entirely until you reach the age of eighteen. Once you hit your eighteenth birthday, you are considered ready for marriage as soon as you find the person with the other half of your soul mark. There’s a ceremony during the first day of the Harvest Festival where the eighteen-year-olds participate; it’s when the couples typically pair off. 

We’re all told from an early age about the force that draws you to your mate; the older couples in the district are continually telling us younger ones there will be no doubt who your soulmate is when your time to meet comes.

I have a soul mark- it looks like a series of lines on my right hand in the space between my thumb and pointer finger; it’s a long line, with a series of eight identical hash marks that meet it vertically, leaving me with a soul mark that forms what I think must be the bottom half of a barcode. I’m not entirely sure that’s what the mark represents or what it is supposed to be.

Some of my friends have the marks; some don’t. Delly has one on her thigh, and Madge has one on her back. Peeta, my closest friend, and the person I have so many confusing feelings for, has a soul mark; when I asked him where it was, he flushed six different shades and told me he couldn’t let me see it.

I don’t think Peeta knows this, but I got a good look at what had formed of his soul mark when we were fifteen. That summer, a group of us hiked to the lake hidden in the woods to swim. Madge and Delly and I wore our darkest bras and underwear, we’d been before and knew what the water would do, while Peeta and Gale wore their boxer shorts. Peeta wore a pair of boxers that were unknown to him, transparent from behind when wet. 

That’s pretty much when all the confusing thoughts I have about him began. I’ll never forget how dry-mouthed and hot I felt looking at him that way- I could hardly take my eyes off him. Peeta’s frame wasn’t as large then as it is now, and he wasn’t so muscular either, but it was still wholly overwhelming. He was all thick legs and broad shoulders even then, with the thin, wet material of his boxers leaving little of his backside to the imagination. 

I’ve spent a lot of time alone in my bed at night thinking about that day, not just because of the way he looked and the way it made my body tingle (of course, that was part of it), but because of his soul mark. On one side of Peeta’s, err, butt, I guess you’d call it, were a few curving lines I could just make out through the thin material, which I kept sneaking glances at when no one was paying attention to me. 

Like mine, I couldn’t determine yet what Peeta’s mark was supposed to be, but the curving lines reminded me of a loose sketch of clouds I’d watched him sketch once. Clouds and barcodes? Those two things were as unrelated to each other as doorknobs and jackrabbits. And it made me sad, realizing that his mark and mine were so different because that meant we were both destined to be married to someone else. 

I don’t know why I felt like that- I didn’t even know if I wanted to get married; it was just that if I were, Peeta was the only boy I could picture myself spending the rest of my life with. He’s my best friend- he makes me laugh and makes me feel comfortable just being myself, and lately, I find myself thinking a lot about what it would feel like to kiss him, among other things I’m too embarrassed to mention.

The fact that I’ll never have any of the answers seems impossible to stomach, and today is the day- Match Day, the first day of the Harvest Festival. I’m so scared of what it’s going to bring: both who I’ll end up matched with and who I’ll watch Peeta walk away from the square with. Both are reason enough to make me want to run.

In the square with the other girls, I’m here, waiting with Madge and Delly for Mayor Undersee to stand on the stage and give out instructions for finding your mate in the crowd; if your mate is of age. If you couldn’t find your mate today, you keep coming back every year until you met the person with the matching soul mark. Twelve isn’t a large district, so there aren’t many young men and women here, maybe fifty. I’d say a quarter of them are a few years older, like Gale, who hasn’t paired up yet.

I scan the crowd, and my eyes briefly catch Peeta’s. He stares at me intently, something in his eyes I can’t name. It doesn’t look like the fear that I’m sure mine hold. I don’t know what he’s thinking, so I look away from him quickly, my stomach sinking at the reminder that he will never be mine, not the way I wanted. 

Why couldn’t it have just been him? Why did we have to have these stupid marks on our skin anyway? I stare ahead at the stage, not looking to the left or right after escaping the razorlike sharpness of Peeta’s gaze on me. 

And then, it’s time. Mayor Undersee appears on the small stage erected in the square just for this occasion. He stands in front of the groups of young men and women gathered near the front while curious onlookers and family of the soon-to-be-matched stay towards the back. Mayor Undersee looks out, smiling benevolently at us all.  “Welcome to the matching ceremony!” 

I feel like I’m going to be sick. I think panic might be setting in. Because I’m so nervous, I can’t concentrate on what the Mayor is saying; every noise around me sounds like buzzing and droning. Words bounce around inside my head, but very few of them form a coherent thought. 

Meanwhile, my only real thought is- 

I can’t do this. I can’t do this-

And so, as Mayor Undersee is wrapping up, as I’m panicking, as I realize that I’d be just as happy living alone in the woods for the rest of my life as I would be married to anyone other than Peeta, I come to a decision. As unobtrusively as possible because I don’t relish the idea of making a scene, I turn around and, ducking my head, elbow my way to the back of the crowd. When I get to the end of the girls’ group, I take off running without looking back. 

Getting further and further away from the crowd, I hear someone call out my name, but I don’t stop.

I run for the first place I can think of, the bakery. The business is closed for the matching ceremony since Peeta is running it now; he has been since we graduated in the spring. At the time, Mr. Mellark moved into his new wife’s home. He still works at the bakery, but he wanted to make way for Peeta to have a place to bring his new wife. 

Surely Peeta won’t come back here right away with his match? He’ll have to meet with her family and make plans for their wedding first. I know I should go somewhere else, I tell myself as I run up the back stairs that lead to his living quarters above the business, but I want the comfort of being here one last time before I lose him forever.

Letting myself into his kitchen, my favorite room in this space because it reminds me of time spent here with him, I drag myself over to his table; it’s old, it’s wood worn smooth and soft over time. Pulling a chair out, I slump down into the seat and let my arms drop to the tabletop, laying my head there.

Eventually, I hear heavy footsteps coming up the steps. When they stop, I look up to see Peeta standing in the doorway. “Are you alright?” he asks, sounding out of breath as he approaches me.

I laugh derisively. “What are you doing here? You should have stayed. You’re going to miss your match,” I tell him, although I’m glad he’s here, secretly, even though I know it’s just going to delay the inevitable. Peeta’s still going to match to a girl who isn’t me- someone who’s soul mark matches his.

“What happened?” He asks gently, ignoring my words. He pulls out the other chair and sits, scooting his chair close to me.

Instead of looking at him, I stare down at my hands; the breath caught in my throat. I’ve never been hesitant with Peeta, but my heart is thumping oddly inside my chest, and warmth is spreading through me. What I’m experiencing is similar to how I always feel in his vicinity, but greatly intensified. I sense Peeta watching me, waiting for an answer. When I glance over at him, he’s staring at my mouth. His tongue darts out, and he licks his lips; it makes my whole body feel tight.

“I can’t do it,” I say, tearing my glance away from his mouth, “I can’t marry some random man from the district. Not when, if things were different, it could’ve been-” 

I’m trying to say it, trying to tell Peeta why I can’t go through with the soul marks match, but my words trail off when he moves into me. What I soon discover are his impossibly soft lips are on mine quicker than I would’ve thought possible, and oh, the feeling. At the first touch of his mouth on mine, heat spreads through me. It travels down to the tips of my toes and fingers, snaking its way through every fiber of my being. Peeta wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me down to the floor. We’re kneeling together when he pulls me against him again. I go without any hesitation; I want to keep kissing and touching him so badly.

“We can’t- we can’t do this,” I say, finally fighting against my wants as I attempt to pull away from him. I’m so weak, though, giving in to him when he chases me with his lips. Everything feels so good; I feel more alive, more right than I have ever been.

“Why not?” Peeta asks softly. His hands are everywhere, and I don’t want him to stop. I want to climb on top of him; it’s an overwhelming, powerful need. “Katniss, I love you-”

I give in because he loves me too, throwing myself at him with such force, I knock Peeta off balance. We tumble to the floor, landing side by side with our arms entwined around each other. “You shouldn’t say that,” I tell Peeta as my mouth drops to his neck. It feels like my brain and my body are directing two completely different courses of action, and I can’t seem to stop either one of them. 

“Why?” Peeta moans as I suck on his skin. 

“Our marks don’t match.”

“Do you want me, though?” he asks, sounding serious as he pulls away. We’re both harshly breathing as we stare at each other. “Do you want to be with me?” he repeats.

“Yes,” I whisper, searching his eyes, “Of course I do, but-“

He interrupts me, impatient with my reasons. “How do you know we don’t match? You’ve never seen my mark.” Peeta quickly sits up, rising on his knees. His hands drop, and I watch him tear frantically at the button and zipper of his pants. It’s surreal, lying on the floor beside him. My body is buzzing in a way that feels amplified times a thousand as I watch him unbutton his pants and pull down the zipper. 

I know I should look away, but I can’t- for the first time in my life, I let him see that I’m looking at him, that I’m fascinated by him, and I want to know all his secrets. As he pushes his pants down to his knees, the tails of his shirt drop, obscuring his front so that all I can see are his muscular legs. 

I don’t know what to do- Peeta is naked under that shirt, and I just-

He shifts a little, moving the bottom of his shirt to reveal one side of his behind, and I finally have a good look at him. I’m instantly distracted.

Wow, he’s got a great-looking behind. Gorgeous, really; in fact, I have a crazy urge to sink my fingers into it. 

I tell myself to snap out of it because it makes things a little weird with me lying on the floor next to Peeta, staring up at the side of his butt. So I sit up; when I’m upright, I move the portion of Peeta’s shirt away that’s obscuring my view since I still couldn’t see his soul mark.

Peeta shivers when my fingers brush against him, exposing his bottom while I remain silent. I stare at the sight that greets my eyes, and he glances over his shoulder at me expectantly with eyebrows raised. 

All I can do is drop his shirt, concealing his bottom again before covering my face with both hands, trying to keep the happy laughter escaping me from crossing over into hysteria. 

I absolutely cannot believe this.

“Don’t laugh!” Peeta says, but he’s smirking himself. “I know my mark looks ridiculous, but I told you we matched.”

I sit back on my heels- my body shaking with the effort of trying to hold my laughter in. I cannot believe this- I’m thrilled. I’m getting everything I want. 

Peeta turns to face me. He’s still on his knees, and his pants are still in a puddle around his legs, but he doesn’t hesitate to put his arms around me, pulling me close to him. “I love you,” he says as I get my laughter under control. I can feel him smile against my scalp.

“I love you, too,” I mumble, happy tears streaking down my face and wetting his cotton shirt. I’m probably getting snot on him by now, but he doesn’t seem to mind.

Peeta pulls away, looking down at me. He uses one hand to wipe my eyes, and I take the opportunity to wipe my nose on the sleeve of my dress. I know it’s gross, but I guess some excess body fluids aren’t much to consider- he and I will be married soon. The corners of his mouth turn up in a smile as he watches at me. “You love me- for real?”

“Real,” I say, wiping my face with my sleeve again, just to be sure I got it all. “I love you.”

When my face is dry, I kiss him again, eagerly. I’m so happy, and I want him to know the way I feel. I love Peeta so much, and I want him so much. 

We’re kissing intently, and I’m urging Peeta to lay on top of me again as he slowly undoes the buttons of my dress, when I have an epiphany. What’s happening between us right now, this all-consuming hunger must’ve been what the older soul-matched couples referred to when they (rather knowingly now that I think about it) told soul-marked teens they’d know their mate when the time came. 

Apparently, in Peeta and I’s case, at least, “knowing when the time came” meant a quickly-awakened, unbridled desire for each other. Not that it took much for us when the love between us was already there, fully formed. I know this would’ve happened anyway.

It doesn’t take long for things to become even more heated between us. Before I know it, I’m lining up Peeta’s soul mark with mine when I reach behind him, grasping a handful of his delicious rump. My forwardness must surprise him, catching him off-guard in the middle of kissing a line down my neck and into the valley between my breasts, because when I do it, he grunts. HIs pleased noise makes my pulse race, so I do it to him again.

As for our marks? Of all things, Peeta’s is the top of an apple muffin, while mine is the bottom half. His curved lines and my rigid ones- they’re a lot like him and myself. Together we’re delicious. Although him on top and me on the bottom doesn’t last very long, just until he rolls us over and pulls my dress up and over my head, telling me he wants to look at me.

A while later, when the back of his head thunks against the wooden floor in bliss, I realize that maybe those apple muffins were pretty magical.

[lieslidoo]

The beauty in the mundane Howl Jenkins X Painter!OC

Part 1: an uncharacteristically early start.

this is really not book or movie accurate I just like the characters so like, MAJOR cannon divergence, love y’all. Have mercy on my soul dear reader, for I have not proofread this fic.

Far beyond the bustling coasts of Porthaven and the lush greenery of the folding valley lay the small village of North Bexley. Surrounded by two mountains of admirable size, it stood snugly as if it had always been there, and as far as Agatha Havenglow was concerned, it had. 

Miss Havenglow was perhaps one of the most well known inhabitants of this charming Hamlet. Had you gone to the village folks and asked about her, many of them would have told you that she was a strange young girl who would have been unbearably lonely if it wasn’t for her sister, Emily Havenglow. 

Some of them, more knowledgeable, might show you around the town and point out the many things she had painted : various hanging signs, storefronts, advertisements and the occasional mural. And If you had asked Mr. Tailor, the town’s baker ( who funnily enough married the village tailor’s eldest daughter Ann) he’d tell you she was “too good for this small town” and that  “She ought to leave us for South Bexley”, by which he’d mean that she should leave North Bexley for better, bigger towns and not, as it may seem, the actual town of South Bexley, which has, as of yet, not been located (and nor do I believe it ever will be). He might then point you in the direction of the Havenglow’s home, at the edge of Silverkeep lake more commonly known as North Bexley Orphanage, where our story begins.

On the first day of the month of may, Agatha was getting an uncharacteristically early start to her busy day. She put on the pair of woolen socks Mrs. Havenglow had gifted her for their last birthday and threw her shawl around her shoulders. The dark herringbone floor creaked as she moved to her nightstand and picked up her journal and her charcoal pencil. And, as she had done every morning before, Agatha drew back the green velvet curtains, opened her blinds, sat on the windowsill and started to draw. She drew the camellias and Irises that Her mother loved so much and the arrowwood her sister had cared for, the wrought iron swing that her and Emily bickered over and the wooden one that Mrs. Havenglow had put in next to it in a futile attempt to bring peace to her garden. The small pond that emptied into Silverkeep lake where the children would once go to capture frogs and feed ducks. Everything held a story, a memory and try as she might, she always felt she failed to adequately draw them.

She was hard at work sketching the small tree stump on which she had once twisted her ankle when her door opened and the familiar scent of Emily’s cinnamon basil tea filled her room. “You’re up early today.”

“You’re painfully observant today.”

The girl joined her sister on the windowsill and, with her tea tray in her lap, waited for her twin to finish her drawing. She had learned a long time ago that this was to Agatha what gardening and baking was to her, her way to make sense of the world around her and to safely interact with it, and there was nothing in the world she loved more than watching her draw. After a few minutes, the pencil stopped moving and the handkerchief stopped smudging and there was peace, both in Agatha’s room and mind.

“Are you done?” “Yes.” “Let me see.” She handed her the journal and took one of the warm cups of tea in exchange. “I don’t know how you do it. It’s so…”  “So what?” “So alive.” The artist snorted at her sister’s praise and took back her journal, setting it on her dresser a bit harsher than she normally would have.  “How was the may dew?”  Agatha asked Emily, her voice still rough from sleep. 

She was referring to a strange custom the girls of Bexley had been doing for centuries. On the first morning of may, all young maidens would run out to the nearest prairie and dutifully wash their faces with the morning dew. It was a sight to behold, pretty women, all in their white nightgowns laying on the green grass and waiting for the sun to shine on them away from the hungry gaze of men and the pressures of marriage. 

“It was intimate, and invigorating.” “Did you go with the other girls?” “Of course! Praying is best experienced in the company of your peers.” “And by praying you mean rolling around in a prairie for half a sunrise?” Agatha mocked. Her sister sneered at her and dangled her legs out the window. The air was crisp and the sun was warm. 

“Oh! The bannocks!!” Emily cried out “I thought you had forgotten” “I could never! its tradition.” Agatha laughed at her sister’s earnest response to what she clearly said in jest. Try as she might she could not recall one time where her sister had forgotten a celebration ; be it holiday or name days, she never faulted. The girl handed her a small bun and took hers, raising it towards the sky. “Merry May-Day Aggie” “Merry May-Day lily.” The bread was still warm and smelled of rosemary, lavender and honey. As the bannock touched her mouth, she thought of the village fête tonight and felt a strange sense of trepidation, something that was quite rare in a village where familiarity and predictability were king. “Are you going to say yes tonight?” She asked. “To what?” “To Lawrence, are you going to say yes?” “If he proposes, yes.” Emily stated, sadness burdening her normally sweet voice “There must be something we can do, have you asked Mr. Tailor? he’ll help us, I’m sure.” “He doesn’t have the money. Lawrence is our best solution, our only solution.” There was a moment of silence and Emily braced herself for what she knew her sister would offer. This room had heard this particular argument unfold a myriad of times and for a moment, Emily was saddened that this was probably the last. “We could run.” “Aggie, no.”  “You could open an orphanage where you want, Agatha argued, you don’t need it to be in boring old Bexley” “Well I like boring old Bexley, and I love Havenglow cottage, and I won’t see it go to waste on some rich stuffy old man who will only use it in the summer.” “So you’ll marry a rich stuffy old man instead?” “Lawrence is not old.” He wasn't, not particularly

“No he’s just boring.” He was, most definitely “What a wicked thing to say!” Emily chastised. “A wickedly true thing to say. He’s not worthy of you goose.” “Agatha…” the girl softened at the old nickname, “don't start, please.” “If you just moved away to a city, even for a month,” Agatha started, “I’m sure you could see that Bexley cottage is not the be all, end all of your life, and even if you don’t, I'm sure you could find a better, handsomer, RICHER man to take Lawrence’s place.”

The girl was not wrong. Emily was certainly the most coveted maiden in North Bexley. A born homemaker, she could steal any man’s heart with her baking prowess and her angelic singing voice. Although her heart had, as of yet not been moved by anyone.

“We don’t have a month aggie, and who’ll take care of this place? Who will make sure no children are turned away?”

“We haven’t had a child in 5 years Emily.”

“Then it should happen any day now.”

“Oh for the love of god!”  Agatha exclaimed, snatching her sister’s hand with her own “Promise me, if there’s a possibility, even a small sliver of a chance you could escape this wretched, pathetic excuse for a…”

“Aggie…” Emily warned

“Marriage, you’ll take it. You’ll try.”

“Aggie, its…”

“Please, for me.”

The girl mulled it over and sighed. Emily could never say no to her sister, being the second born, she always felt like Agatha knew best and she had been shown to be right many times before. The eldest Havenglow seemed to have a sharp sense of intuition and often knew something would happen before it did (be it a stranger entering town, an unknown illness falling upon a villager or an unpredicted visitor at the cottage door). When the girls were children, Emily used to swear that Agatha possessed magic powers, but the girl relayed it to having spent all her life in a predictable and boring small community. After all, she reminded herself, sorcerers were few and far between and she would most probably never meet one in her lifetime, so the idea of her being such a creature was absolutely preposterous.

“Fine, I promise. But if by the time of his proposal I don’t have a better, safer option I will say yes, and I will go through with it. And that’s final.”

Agatha considered arguing further but, feeling the time wasn’t quite right, laid her head on Emily’s shoulder and chipped away at her bannocks.

 A heavy silence fell over the room as both of the Havenglow girls ate their breakfast, their linen nightgowns floating in the wind and their feet snuggly kept warm by the impeccable knitwork of the late Mrs. Havenglow.

Hello there, no Howl in this chapter, but lawd he coming. Had to set stuff up :)

[libsterslobsters]

Communication Breakdown

Summary: Friends make life much sweeter. That is, until you realize that you've accidentally fallen in love with your only friend. But that's not a problem. The reader can just keep pretending that she has absolutely no romantic feelings for Bucky whatsoever... right???

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x fem! enhanced! Reader

(Reader sees bits of the future, understands all languages, and processes information abnormally quickly)

Warning: Angst, fluff, strong language, and truly terrible communication between two grown adults who should really know better

Author's note: As per usual, the reader is unnamed so that this can be read as a self-insert if that's your jam, but when I'm writing this particular character, I call her Violet.

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

 They day starts out the way most days do. There’s the normal ding of her phone at seven a.m. signaling that she’s received another “Good morning” text from Barnes (six months, and he’s yet to miss a day). As usual, she sends back her own “Good morning” and they exchange a few well wishes for the day ahead. Only this time, a pang goes through her heart as she turns the phone to silent and places it in the drawer of her desk in preparation for her first class. Pushing it to the side, she greets her students and starts in on her lecture about verb tenses.

 She’s almost forgotten her momentary lapse in feelings when her phone rings at twelve. Time for their daily lunchtime phone call. There’s nothing out of the ordinary about the words they exchange. He’s doing laundry today, does she want him to stop by and pick up hers as well? Yes, thanks, that’ll save her some time since she has a mountain of papers to grade. Does she need to reschedule tonight’s dinner? He doesn’t mind if she does. No, she has time. Can she bring anything? No, just herself. Then a joke about how hasn’t she heard that one somewhere before. She almost slips up and tacks an “I love you” onto the goodbye, but remembers just in time. That’s not a thing friends say to each other (or at least, not in this friendship). Of course, friends also don’t spend far too much time imagining what the other person’s lips would feel like against theirs and their skin doesn’t tingle like they’ve received an electric shock every time they so much as brush hands.

 “You got a boyfriend, teacher?” One of her students ask teasingly as she puts her phone away.

 “No, nothing like that. Just my friend.” 

 Her afternoon is a blur (the only part that stands out is when one of her students is asked to form a sentence in the present tense, and his example is, “I am asking teacher to marry me.”; it was a joke, and she responded with, “Teacher is flattered, but she is saying no.”), and by the time she’s on the bus back home, a backpack full of papers in the seat beside her, all she wants to do is sleep. Of course, then her phone dings with, “Be at yours in thirty.” and she finds she has a little more energy.

 It’s unhealthy, a sign that she doesn’t know when to quit, but as usual, she begins to pretty herself up a bit before he arrives. She should just stop. They’re friends. Bucky is her friend. All he will ever see her as is a friend. What does it matter how she looks? Frustrated, she throws her hair up in a ponytail (she wasn’t succeeding in getting it to lay right anyway) and pulls on an old flannel with several holes in it over her shirt. There. She’s got this completely in control.

 She’s just finished washing the makeup from her face when, right on time, a knocking comes from her front door. It’s just a formality at this point; he has a key. Speaking of… she shoves a pair of socks that got mixed up in her laundry last time she did both of theirs in one go into her pocket and goes to answer.

 “Hey.”

 As per usual, they share a hug, and a part of her whispers that hugs between friends don’t last this long. She knows it’s foolishness, though. She hasn’t had a friend in years, so she’s remembering things wrong more than likely. He doesn’t get much interraction outside of her, not much touch, so that’s why he doesn’t let go. That, or he doesn’t want to hurt her feelings by pulling away.

 Eventually it does end, and she can feel that her cheeks are warm.

 “Hey, Doll. Ready to go?”

 She swallows hard. It’s a sweet nickname, one that from what she’s read, was a common way to address females you’re familiar with back in the days before he went in the ice.

 “Sure.” She pastes a smile on her face and closes the door behind her.

 They’re in the elevator before he speaks again.

 “That shirt-” His fingertips brush the skin on her wrist as he examines the cuff. “-it looks kinda familiar.” Her mind has gone all fuzzy, but it’s still clear enough that sudden realization dawns on her; it’s actually his. A loaner from months ago when it was colder than she had expected by the time she got around to leaving his apartment far later than she really should have. She can’t believe she never got around to returning it.

 “Shit. Sorry, Buck. I’ll wash it and get it back to you.”

 Yet another reason why he would never be interested in her. She’s absentminded. Seeing bits and pieces of the future leaves her so scattered that she forgets what she’s supposed to be doing in the present. In fact, for the first month or so after they really started to become friends, it was a constant struggle; her asking him about something she could’ve sworn he told her, only to find out it had yet to occur, or worse, it had happened but he sure as hell hadn’t mentioned it. These days, whenever she makes a mistake with her timing, he just responds with a joking, “You’re ahead of the game again.” She’s lucky to have him as a friend.

 “Nah, don’t worry about it.” The doors squeak open as they reach the ground floor. “Looks better on you anyway.”

 God, she wishes he’d stop saying things like that, stop being so kind. It only serves to make things get even more tangled in her mind. She needs a distraction. Now.

 “So, what’s tonight’s plan?”

 He chuckles.

 “If I tell you, it’ll ruin the surprise.” She doesn’t even bother to supress a groan at that.

 “I think I have enough surprises in my life already.”

 “Funny thing to say for a girl who sees the future.” Not like she can argue with that. “Just trust me. You’ll like it.”

 She does trust him, and that’s part of the problem. It’s been a long time since she’s had anyone in her life that she can honestly say she relies on.  She needs to stay in control, or else she’ll lose him like she’s lost everyone else.

___________________________________________________________________________________

 She’s oddly quiet tonight, reserved. Maybe even a little sad. Bucky shakes his head, silently chiding himself. He’s imagining things. If something had happened, she’d tell him. She’s probably just tired. It’s the middle of the working week after all, and she’s having to do one of her least favorite tasks as a teacher: prepare exams. She’s told him many times how much she hates it because, “I don’t feel like it’s an accurate gauge of how much they’re really learning. Lots of people do poorly on tests because they get nervous but do well in class discussions and on the homework. It shouldn’t count for so much of their grades, but I have to stick to the rules.” It’s yet another reason he loves her, even if he hasn’t said as much.

 As they stop by different street vendors, collecting what they need for the night ahead (which he still isn’t one hundred percent certain will be a success, but after copious amounts of internet research, it was the only thing he could come up with that would fit  the current bounds of both budget and time), he asks about her day. Usually she gives an animated account of everything that happened, but this time, she just sticks to the basics. Even when she shares that a student teasingly proposed to her, the smile on her face seems hollow, unreal. Okay, maybe he’s not imagining things.

 When they’re a block away from their destination, he stops and turns to her.

 “Close your eyes.” Her response is a frown.

 “I think I’ve heard this one before, and I’m not falling for it.”

 “Come on.” Nope. Still nothing. Time to pull out the big guns. “What was that about trusting me?” It’s a guilt trip, and he hates to do it, but it’ll be worth it.

 “Fine.” She groans, and her eyelids lower. “But if you’re about to put a spider on me, I’ll smack you. I don’t care that it’ll probably break my hand.”

 He snickers.

 “No spiders involved. Promise.”

 It’s not the first time he’s held her hand, but as he covers her smaller one with his, a rush of warmth travels from his fingertips up his arm. It’s so hypnotizing that he almost forgets he’s supposed to be leading her. Almost, but not quite.

 “This way.”

 “Don’t let me fall.”

 “I won’t.”

 If anyone notices that there’s a woman with her eyes closed being led around by a man in a baseball cap and sunglasses even though the sun is setting, they don’t show it, and it’s a relatively peaceful walk into the park. Now, he remembers there being a bench… there. Great. And the lake is completely theirs. No other people around.

 “You can open them now.”

 The look of cynicism melts from her face as her eyes open and she takes in the scenery surrounding them. In a bustling city, they’re in one of the few places that is completely green. More than that, there’s-

 “Ducks!” She laughs, and he can’t help but chuckle at her enthusiasm. “In the middle of the city! Wild ducks!” Looks like his gamble paid off. “How did you-”

 “I didn’t know for sure.” And in truth, he felt a little silly googling ‘parks in Bucharest with wildlife’. “But there was a web page that mentioned wild ducks tend to populate lakes, swamps, and rivers even here, so I took a shot that, maybe since there’s a lake here, there’d be a few.”

 “Is that what this is about?” She taps the loaf of bread they aquired on the way over.

 “No, that’s actually part of dinner. This-” He hates to do it, but he has to let go of her hand to dig in his pocket, finally producing a bag of oats. “-is for the ducks.”

 She smirks. “You’ve done your research.”

 “Be prepared.”

 “Alright, boy scout.” Even as she says it, she’s staring out at the water.

 “I know it’s not ‘catching a mouse in your apartment’ different, but-” The corners of her lips quirk up at the memory. “-I thought it might be a nice change from sitting around watching movies.”

 “Thank you.” Even though it’s getting chillier with the sun going down, that smile more than makes up for the lack of warmth. “You didn’t have to do all this-”

 “No, but I wanted to. Thought it might make you smile.” That’s apparently the wrong thing to say, because she freezes, and that smile melts into a frown. “Everything okay?”

 She starts to nod, but then stops short.

 “Bucky, I can’t keep doing this. I’m sorry.”

 Without any other explanation, she’s off, heading back in the direction from which they came. And, like that first day all those months ago, he chases after her.

___________________________________________________________________________________

 

 “Hey! Slow down!” Ten seconds. He must not’ve had his Wheaties this morning if it’s taken him this long to catch up with her. Still, just this once, couldn’t Barnes not follow her? Take it easy on a girl for a change? That’s the whole point of running away, after all. To put some distance between yourself and whatever it is you’re running from.

 She keeps moving, walking fast, but he’s right on top of her.

 “When are you gonna stop running away from me?”

 “Depends. When are you gonna stop chasing me?”

 “I’m not. Thought that was understood.” He takes her hand (when did they start doing that? Most friends don’t… then again, what does she know about friendship) and she has no choice but to turn around and look at him.

 “Talk to me.”

 She can’t. If she starts, she knows those tears she’s keeping at bay will spill over.

 “Alright.” Dropping her hand, he crosses his arms. “I’ll wait, but it’s starting to get dark, so I’d appreciate it if we could do this sooner rather than later.” Dammit.

 “I just can’t do it anymore.” Deep breath in. Deep breath out. No tears. “You’ve been nothing but kind to me. You’ve never lead me on or acted like anything other than a friend, so please don’t think you’re the problem.”

 “Problem? Doll, what-” She pushes ahead, ignoring his confusion.

 “The problem is me. Somewhere along the way, I got my wires crossed.” Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Now keep going. “You’re a good man, Bucky Barnes. And a-” Her cheeks are on fire. “-a good-looking one too. Anyone would be lucky to have you. And selfishly, I started wishing that “anyone” was me. I didn’t mean to, but I fell in love with you.” She has to finish it, or else she’ll regret it. “I just can’t keep going like this. It hurts too damn much. I’m sorry. I need to not see you for a while, and I get it if you never want to talk to me again.” It’s no use. The tears fall, and she starts walking again.

 “When the hell did I say any of that?”

 She can’t stop. She can’t do this. Not now.

 “Will you stop running away from me? Just for five minutes?”

 He hasn’t touched her, but it doesn’t matter. She freezes in place, just as if he’d grabbed hold of her and held her there.

 “Please, just this once, let me walk away.” Can’t he spare her that one last dignity?

 “You wanna walk away? Go ahead. But like I said, I’m not gonna stop chasing after you. Not until you hear me out.”

 He’s in front of her now. There’s no way of hiding that she’s full-on crying, so instead she shuts her eyes so she won’t have to see his face.

 “Dammit.” She couldn’t have said it better herself. “None of what you just said made any sense. You want us to stop seeing each other because… you’re interested in me. Have I got that part right?” She nods, still keeping her eyes closed. “That’s what I thought. See, the part I’m a little confused about is, why would that be a problem?” She opens her mouth to explain it all over again. “I thought it was pretty clear I’ve been trying to date you for the past six months.” What? She’s never been more befuddled in her whole life. It’s enough that she has to open her eyes. “Not as clear as I thought, obviously.”

 He’s scratching the back of his neck, something she’s realized over time is a nervous habit.

 “This is my fault. I should’ve come out and said something, but I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable or…” He clears his throat. “...well, sound dumb if I’m being honest. Granted it’s been a while since I’ve done this, but seeing each other pretty much whenever either person has free time, eating together and watching movies, phone calls…” He trails off. “...I thought that was dating.”

 Oh.

 “So, all this time-” She starts.

 “Looks like it. Sorry.” He grimaces. “Not that I wouldn’t want to be your friend, if that’s all you wanted. I mean, you’re a great person and I like you in more than just THAT way. I just sort of assumed.”

 She can’t help it. A laugh slips out.

 “God. This would’ve been a hell of a thing to have a vision about.” Good. He’s smiling. At least they’re starting to recover.

 “I thought for sure you must’ve; something at least, with all you see me doing before I do it.” Sometimes, she really hates her powers and how selective they can be. “Figured it was just one of those things you don’t talk about but you both know. Pretty dumb, in hindsight.”

 “No…” She reaches out to grasp his arm, but stops short. “...I can see why you’d assume-”

 “You too, now that I think about it.” He chuckles. “This is a nice mess, huh?”

 “One of my best, I think.” Honestly, she could’ve avoided all this trouble if she had taken a cue from third graders and passed him a note that said, “Do you like me? Check yes or no.”

 “Can we start over? Maybe have a redo with less assuming and more actually saying things?”

 She nods, a genuine smile on her face.

 “I’d like that.”

 “Okay.” Clearing his throat, he sticks out his hand. “Hi, I’m Bucky. I’m the man who’s been falling in love with you for the past six months, and if it’s alright, I’d like to be your boyfriend. Or, whatever the term is these days.”

 “Pleased to meet you.” She’s struggling not to laugh as she shakes his hand. “That term’s kind of cringey, but I think it’s still in use. And if it’s alright with you, it’s alright with me.”

 It’s been long enough; she really should let go of his hand, but she can’t bring herself to. He seems to be having the same problem, so instead, he takes a step closer, and she does the same in response.

 “I have one more question, and I’ve been meaning to ask it for a while.”

 They’re chest to chest now. She can almost feel it every time he takes a breath.

 “Shoot.” 

 “Can I kiss you?”

 This must be what people mean when they refer to getting butterflies.

 “You’d better.”

 It’s not her first kiss, and if she had to bet, it’s probably not his either, but it’s unlike anything she’s felt before, making everything else pale by comparrison. They may have gotten off to a rough start, but at least for now, they’ve ironed it out. Oh, and he loves her too. That’s also good.

[hiimsociallyawkward]

the darkest hour pt 2

i'm back with my bs. this is for my bestie @lady-ofmagic-andstars. basically, all of my dumb thoughts while i watched 'darkest hour pt 2', 04.02 of merlin. in case you weren't aware.. ✨spoilers✨

right off the bat i'm sad

ok when i first watched this i was really confused. i mean, you see others when they interact with the dorocha have that perpetual frost on their face right? all of them, every single one. so imagine my surprise when merlin has no frost on his face, and he's miserable yea- but he's not dead??

like tbh, watching this again, ik why but when i first watched this, i was SO confused.

arthur looks so worried slkdjfalskfsd

him being willing to abandon the mission to get merlin back to camelot to be treated 😔🤪😎🤤🤩 lots of emotions

LANCELOT. of course it's lancelot. santiago is perfect. actually.

merlin looks so SICKLY. it physically pains me to see him like that

okok hahaa. the scene where percival is carrying merlin. i have several notes on that.

1) ik it's supposed to be all 'noble' looking. yk? them walking in slow mo, percival carrying merlin like he's been slained in battle. knights looking knightly

ALL I CAN FOCUS ON IS THE LACK OF PROPER NECK SUPPORT FOR MERLIN. PLS TELL ME I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE.

like pls

second note, idk why this remind me of hagrid carrying harry back

idk maybe that's just me but it feels oddly reminiscent

colin is SO pale my heart is actually hurting for him what the heck

asf;lsdjfa;lsdfj 'take me with you' stop.

dude they ACTUALLY care about each other. i just love them. arthur is so worried rn and while i'm like 'alsjfalsdj i don't want arthur to be sad and worried' we can see just how MUCH arthur cares about merlin.

like yea, we KNOW that they care about each other. but arthur is the prince and merlin's a servant so arthur can't have friends, but they're friends, and they care, and it makes me happy

ok it's sad and everything that merlin's basically dying but is it bad of me that i chuckle at merlin SLUMPED over on his horse?? probably.

but i mean, merlin is already raising himself up so he can sit more comfortably on the horse. ik that doesn't mean that he's in the clear yet, but he's doing a LOT better than the other people who ran into the dorocha. idk where i'm going with this

to quote the destiny and chicken podcast (who i love btw, if you want an awesome merlin podcast, check them out), they stay on arthur's face for SO long after merlin and lancelot leave.

i feel EVERYTHING that arthur is feeling in this moment. he's so pretty

there's another beautiful landscape. i'm not even sorry i'm gonna attach them ALL.

tell me that's not gorgeous

LMAO WHAT IS GWAINE DOING IN THAT TREE.

gwaine is the EMBODIMENT of 'boys will be boys' when he sticks his hand into that tree and gets swarmed by bees.

he's adorable and i love him

ok but also, someone tell me why capes are so hot. someone TELL me.

separate from the episode but on the note of capes being hot, i want a cloak SO BADLY. like the whole gist. floor length, big hooded cloak. why?? it's not like i'm sneaking anywhere but still. ✨cloak✨

ok the line where leon goes 'if anyone can get merlin back to camelot, it's lancelot' and arthur's face?? idk what to make of it. someone help me pls.

ok actually this probably isn't the best reaction shot but someone please help

the only thing i can think of is that arthur momentarily forgot and was reminded that merlin was in danger bc of him?

another thought is that he thinks he should take merlin back instead of lancelot?

ik for a fact you guys are better at analysising this stuff than i am so pls, thoughts?

i love lancelot so much. first time i watched this, i was CRUSHED

him carrying merlin to the lake(?) pond(?) area and then covering him with his cape? i love it

ok idk why but i love the idea of merlin instinctively going towards the water

it makes me think back to how he's made of magic and basically everywhere, espeically nature, has magic and instinctively- he wants to connect with nature as much as he can so his body just puts his hand in the water

a dumber thought i had, his hand is ✨sparkly✨in the water HAHAH

omg when the water called lancelot i deadass thought it was freya. i'm actually dumb i have WATCHED this before and i STILL thought it was freya

'a future that has been written since the dawn of time' makes me so proud but also so sad at the same time

it's like, yes, merlin is going to 'save the world' but it's like he's there just to do that. anyways, i just want him to be happy

MORE SPARKLY

these water spirts are op but also MORE SPARKLY. hehe i thin kthat's so funny

also, i'm literally only like 7 mins in. buckle yourself in

l;askdjflskdjf arthur going into the tunnels with the wilderons?? i miss merlin ouch. AND THE GAJA BERRIES. arthur misses merlin.

ok percival tackling gwaine?? cuties ;))

heheheeh gwaine kicking a skull and then running directly behind arthur for protection?? pls stop. i already love you

HAHA OK. THEM WEARING THE GAJA BERRIES ON THEIR FACE REMINDS ME OF THIS FACE MASK . THAT'S LITERALLY HOW I LOOK WITH THAT THIS FACE MASK ON HAHAA

yes im dumb, but the 5 of them slowly peeking over the rock and then ducking back down?? i love that so much they're so cute

omg what's wrong with me. not these knights literally FEARING their lives and me going 'they're so cute'

ANYWAYS

gwaine you absolute dumbass. smh merlin just took it but you just HAD to stab it. #cancelled

FRICK. YOU. AGRAVAINE.

YES. i have a love hate relationship with gaius, but BUST into the council room. king energy right there

smh gaius you pUSH over.

I LOVE GWEN RIGHT HERE

YES

FIGHT FOR WHAT IS RIGHT

DON'T LET ALL THOSE SMELLY OLD COUNCILMEN PUSH YOU AROUND

THIS IS ACTUALLY QUEEN SH!T RIGHT HERE EVERYONE ELSE CAN LEAVE

stfu agravaine 'gueniviere'. ST F UP

ok gwen. pop OFF

you KNOW that arthur would've fought agravaine on this. GO GWEN for speaking her mind

oh look at me with anotehr fic rec. sort of, not really. ok but this scene with gwen talking about all the villagers remind of this fic called To Love, Honor, and Piss Off by @thenerdyindividual .

ok so it's basically a fic where basically merlin and arthur have this 'arranged marriage' type thing for 3 years, and merlin is arthur's 'common consort'. what that means is that arthur marries merlin as a show of good faith and to learn more about what it means to be a commoner- merlin giving arthur the tea about commoner life

anywAYS. check that our if you want, but i loved it

stfu 'i feel the pain as much as you' agravaine. hop off my dick

YES. GWEN. PLANT THAT SEED OF DOUBT THAT AGRAVAINE MIGHT NOT BE ALL THAT HE SEEMS. i love gwen :,)

wow when she's intellegent with her speaking so everyone HAS to side with her but also respectful so NO ONE can get mad at her?? i stan. i ACTUALLY stan

santiago is so pretty

the PANIC in his voice. i stan.

HAHA AND MERLIN'S SNARKY 'SHH'

merlin is ready to GO. he's like, sorry for almost dying. that was ill advised of me.

i'm actually soft for any displays of friendship ever. what does that mean about me 💀 KIDDING. anyways..

i love the *swing* *duck* 'yea, not as quick as arthur

sa;kfs;akdfj lancelot insisting that merlin go back to camelot and merlin just nOt

LADS

stop rn. lancelot's face when merlin turns away. i am in pAin. I AM SO SAD OVER LANCELOT. PLS LANCELOT.

this isn't exactly, but morgana's paleness from here on out reminded me of merlin when he was literally DYING.

anyways, that's my note on that

like, yes- i get it- morgana is evil now. but idk should i feel bad for her? she looks so pale and ghasty and just :(

aksfhaskdjfas;ldf morgana

HAHA MORGANA IS SO EDGY IN THIS MOMENT. 'I'D RATHER DROWN IN MY OWN BLOOD THAN SEE THAT DAY' SO DRAMATIC. WHY IS SHE SO EMO/GOTH. LIKE IK I SHOULD BE SCARED FOR WHAT THAT MEANS BUT I CAN'T STOP LAUGHING

stfu don't kill gwen i'll KiLl you

agravaine literally needs to die

stop. i am literally SCREAMING when agravaine is asking gwen to meet him in his chambers. PLS. STOP. STOP STOP STOP. I NEED A WHISLTE. I BITE MY THUMB AT AGRAVAINE. HE NEEDS TO SACK THE HATEFUL MANSION. BETTER YET I'LL BURN HIS MANSION

again, someone tell me why capes are so hot. especially these red ones?? i'm in love with them.

ok see this guy?? he just died with the forst on his face. not merlin?? he started getting better. surly that should've tipped them off that merlin was different

merlin's little head quirk when he does magic. ALSFJASLDFJAS MERLIN. NO ONE SAID YOU WERE USELESS. AND IF THEY DID I WOULD BEAT. THEM. UP. GIVE ME ADDRESS RN.

wow. seriously. i'm gonna attach all the pretty landscape pictures

morgana's like 'i'll cut a b!tch'. ok ik morgana's evil and everything, but morgana flinging that guard against the wall is bad ass

oh this is weird but gwen telling agravaine to 'show courage' but the whole room tinted green? ik this isn't harry potter or anything but idk i thought that was interesting. i'm not abt to go into if i think agravaine is a slytherin or what but still

STOP. GET. YOUR. HANDS. AWAY. FROM. HER. I ACTULALY HATE HIM. SHE'S SO UNCOMFORTABLE. BACK THE FRICK UP AGARAVINE.

morgana :( smh you can't deny that morgana and gwen carried for each other and morgana flinging gwen away is making me sad. don't touch me

asldjfasldasd 'you're never alone' elyan i love you

lancelot and merlins being lads. omg no them talking about gwen

lancelot is SO noble. stop this reminds me of Die for you in secret by @emrysofmagic so much right now. not gonna lie. your fic LITERALLY lives in my head rent free and sometimes i think of it and my heart just HURTS in those last few chapeters. PHYSICALLy. i am in pain. anyways.

stop the trope where it's like "i love them, but i just want them to be happy. it doesn't matter if they're with me or not. i just want them to be happy"

I WAS LITERALLY SCREECHING AS MERLIN WAS CALLING KILGHARRAH i'm not even capping

ok so it's been like a month ish since i've watched merlin bc i was waiting for @//f-f-podcast 's destiny and chicken podcast, so i don't exactly what terms kilgharrah and merlin are at right now

still i think it's very sweet of merlin to bow slightly when kilgharrah looks at him

'the bravest and most noble of them all' 🥺

aw. merlin is really saying good bye right now

ok this scene is weird bc like i said, i don't rlly remember how merlin and kilgharrah are right now but it still makes me sad

asldjfslakdjfasd merlin and kilgharrah are old friends now. that makes me happy but sad at the same time

ok the 'it will be an empty world without you, young warlock' kills me.

obviously, we know that even though they butt heads, kilgharrah and merlin both care about each other

not only is kilgharrah being forced to let merlin go right now, but he's making peace with the fact that he'll be alone

the last dragonlord is planning to die. and kilgharrah is going to be alone again, like he was in that cave.

another thing is that if merlin died rn then we would never have aithusia. i'm kinda going on a tangent now but idk this scene is sad

this forest is so pretty

literally just lancelot's face and lancelot in this whole episode.

that's my note

HAHA GWAINE BURNING IS SOCKS

LADS BEING LADS

I LOVE THEM

omg i always see posts about this.

like merlin and lancelot planned that lancelot was going to walk in first and trick them and THEN merlin walked in

that's so funny to me. they're SO dramatic HAHAH

merlin looks so happy

BRO

ARTHUR

JUST HUG

HIM

PLS

STO

P

JUST HUG HIM WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM

Tell me why they actually look MARRIED here. PLS

🥲🥲 SELF SACRIFICING IDIOTS I LOVE YOU BOTH YOURE BREAKING MY HEART

LADS I LOVE THEM

🤠🤠 arthur wanting Gwen to be happy is KILLING ME. He loves her so much

This is so pretty. Honestly like how

Who let merlin have this many pretty landscapes

HOENSTLY

Lajs;dlkfajd buds in a boat together.

This reminds me of going to amusement parks and there’s always that boat ride

They’re the cutest

Ok so they also have this picture. It’s actually 3 pictures spliced together because the episode pans down and it’s really badly spliced (sorry) but LOOk how pretty that is.

WTF

Omg not me literally copying merlin with his slow mo head flick at the wyverns to make them go away

;sldkfjasdlkjasd leon percival and elyan and my heart.

Ok i’m not even gonna try to lie. They all have my heart

Frick you cailleah

Omg i was like ‘gwaine you dumbass’ jK i love him. Pls don’t come for my neck

Asldjfasldjfka ‘i’m prepared to pay whatever price is necessary’

HAHA CAN YOU NOT. WHAT IS WITH THIS CREEPY ‘COME HITHER’ HAND MOTION MS CAILLEAH

Stopp rn. ‘It’s my density

STOP. I AM HOWLING. LANCELOT

WHY

COME BACK

NO NONO PLS. YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME.

stop rn merlin is all alone.

PAN TO ARTHUR WHO IS LITERALLY SURROUNDED BY EVERYONE.

Stop they all look so sad. I’m so sad.

merlin looks like he’s cried

I’m not sure abt arthur with his ‘no man is worth your tears’ type business but still

I am ✨sad✨

I screamed at this picture. I am depressed

Anyways

Gwen’s face is killing me

I’m so sad i don’t even want to write commentaries

Arthur realizing that lancelot only died because he loved gwen

Gwen standing in front of the fire

Aslkdfjasldjfa im so sad

HER STANDING IN FRONT OF THE FIRE ALL ALONE.

I. AM. SO. SAD.

STFU THAT THRONE IS NOT “RIGHTFULLY” YOURS MORGANA

STOP PLS GET AWAY

WHAT IS WITH THIS WEIRD TENSION

PLS DO NOT STAND WITHIN KISSING DISTANCE

IK YOU’RE NOT TECHNICALLY BLOOD RELATED BUT STILL.

PLEASE.

STOP.

I HATE AGRAVAINE

✨we hate agravaine in this house✨

😭😭 not merlin having ANOTHER secret. I’m so sorry bby

Anyways! I’ll be back next week to rant more about the wicked day so I’ll see you then! thanks I love you bye

[chilling-seavey]

what ab a amourex (i cant spell lol) AU where she ends up with christian and what daniels and her life would be like

Omg stop the way I love this. This idea is fricken impeccable. Ok we’re saying Daniel was still banished from England and Louisa never went after him for this AU 

(Also I can’t spell Amoureux half the time either dw. I made it so difficult for myself with that title PFF)

It’s fair to say that Louisa did love Christian but she wasn’t in love with Christian and her feelings certainly were rocky after seeing how he could so easily threaten his own brother’s life. Regardless, Louisa and Christian got married the same week Daniel was shipped off to Spain.

Let’s focus on Daniel first. He literally gets put on a ship with his bags and nothing else. Good freaking luck, kid. He gets off in Spain and honestly spends a few nights sleeping on the street which is very out of his comfort zone since he was raised in velvets and gold and silk bedsheets. Definitely gets robbed one night because who wouldn’t rob the tiny sixteen-year-old who is sleeping beside gold-trimmed trunks that are filled with the finest of linens and items. He was literally a sitting duck.

Honestly Amoureux Daniel is so young and naïve and knows nothing about working class life that he probably is downright miserable and I see him suffering a lot…crying himself to sleep on streets…begging for scraps of food in taverns and hostels…and rinsing off in the rivers and lakes (and probably gets nipped by a fish and sends him running naked out of the water, screaming). Poor little baby honestly I’m just making myself sad, but that’s the most realistic fate he would have. He also doesn’t know any Spanish (he never liked paying attention in his lessons with Jonah) so he can hardly even talk to anyone and ask for help.

I think eventually he’d manage to get a job at a hotel/hostel/tavern where he would clean the floors and things in exchange for food and a bed. He grows up there, learns Spanish from being around the locals, and just kind of stays around that small village where he works. He never marries…probably shares a ‘fling’ or two with local girls but his heart still belonged to Louisa so he never let them go too far. I guess in that sense he got the reputation of ‘heartbreaker’ around the village. I mean come on, Daniel’s gorgeous and cheeky and flirty and everyone seems to want him but the feelings are never reciprocated.

Louisa, on the other hand, still has her assured life of riches and as future queen she’s thriving. Well, thriving with a husband she’s not infatuated with. I don’t want to diss Christian too much because he doesn’t deserve to be slandered but literally every single time he kisses his wife or takes her to bed, she’s thinking about Daniel. She’d die before she admitted that, however.

When the next heir to the British throne is born, he 100% looks like Daniel and it pisses Christian off. (Since in this AU, Christian never fell for someone he couldn’t have, he never forgave or understood his brother’s actions). Between the times as well as Christian still being angry at anything to do with his brother, he doesn’t have much to do with his son for a while, leaving Louisa and the nannies to keep the kid busy.

In our main storyline, Daniel and Louisa have six children but, in this AU, Christian and Louisa probably only have two children at most, mostly because she never really wanted to go to bed with him. Like usual royal couples in the early-mid-1800s, they shared separate beds in separate rooms and their marriage was…well strained is a harsh word but it certainly wasn’t happy. Despite Louisa living a lavish life as future queen, there is not much to say about her experiences. She had her place in society as wife to the heir and that was her generally only purpose. She lived in a constant state of melancholy where she wasn’t sad – she had no reason to be – but she wasn’t happy either. I suppose Christian was the same. He eventually became King, had his wife that he had fought for (and banished his brother for), and two healthy heirs of his own, but Louisa’s constant bleakness towards him kept him feeling pretty hollow.

Honestly that would have been their futures…not terribly exciting and not terribly joyful either. Damn though…I’m kind of glad I gave them the future they have in the main AU. Thoughts?